Enjoy Mill Valley Blog

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that specific types of retailers would be able to move into “Phase 2” and open for curbside pickup only by Friday, a welcome dose of rare good news during the COVID-19 crisis for a group of businesses that were deemed non-essential at the outset of the first shelter in…

Jake and Claire Counsell. Courtesy image. From Feed the Frontlines Marin and BOL’s Pay It Forward for frontline workers to the new SeedReleaf and Play Marin’s meals for to address heightened food insecurity in Marin City, there have been a plethora of local superheroes that have stepped up amidst the COVID-19 crisis to help their…

Scenes from Apizza’s only current location in San Francisco, at top and left, and its proposed location at 590 East Blithedale, at bottom right. The Mill Valley City Council this week unanimously rejected an appeal by the Freeman Park Neighborhood Association to reverse the Planning Commission’s approval of Apizza’s request to remove a few trees at the…

Artists throughout the world are expressing themselves in myriad ways amidst the COVID-19 crisis, and the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts is among the local arts organizations showcasing such work. “Artists reflect back to society what their values and concerns are, and it’s like, what are they saying now? How are they reflecting the stay-at-home…

We could all use some good new these days, and some just arrived with the revived renovation of one of the City’s great landmarks, the old train depot that is home to the Depot Bookstore & Cafe, the Mill Valley Chamber and a pair of new public bathrooms that conceptually date back to the 1980s.  “We…

The Redwoods. Courtesy image. Need a pick-me-up? Look no further than ​The Redwoods: A Community of Seniors, where a group of residents teamed up for a socially distanced performance of “These Doors Are Made For Closing,” their coronavirus-themed rendition of “These Boots Were Made for Walkin,’ the Lee Hazelwood-penned song made famous by Nancy Sinatra in…

Vasco at 106 Throckmorton Ave. Six weeks ago, having shut down his stalwart Italian eatery in downtown Mill Valley amidst the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent shelter in place, Vasco owner Paul Lazzareschi launched a GoFundMe campaign in a desperate attempt to support his employees, many of whom have worked for him for years. It didn’t…

Poet and/the Bench owners Jeffrey Levin and Bonnie Powers. If the COVID-19 crisis has yielded the tiniest of silver linings, it’s that many businesses deemed non-essential have wisely used the time to broaden their sales platforms and build out their e-commerce stores, setting themselves up for success now and when we return to some degree…

Scenes from the Mill Valley Lumber Yard, whose shops and restaurants are serving up myriad Mother’s Day offerings. Courtesy images. Here’s a dispatch from the folks at the Mill Valley Lumber Yard: Mon Rêve Chocolate Studio has joined with BŌL Superfoods and Flour Craft Bakery to sell beautiful handmade chocolate bags or chocolate hearts both filled…

A scene from the Marin Theatre Company’s production of “Mother of the Maid” in 2019. Photo by Kevin Berne. Just a few weeks removed from announcing the organization’s most painful decisions in recent memory, Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley’s venerable professional theater that rivals in quality much larger production companies in the Bay Area, garnered seven awards…

The Mountain Play and Ross Valley Players garnered a pair of awards at the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle‘s Gala for their 2019 holiday season co-production of She Loves Me. The virtual gala, held on April 30, celebrated the work produced by Bay Area theatre artists in 2019. She Loves Me director ​Nicole Helfer received an award for choreography, while actor…

Three weeks ago, after Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated that mass gatherings were unlikely to be sanctioned until a COVID-19 vaccine is available and herd immunity is developed by people who contract the virus and survive, Gabriella Calicchio, who oversees the Marin County Fair, announced the cancellation of the event. “We have up to 30,000 people or more a…