December 2020 Homestead Headlines

Volume 65, Issue 12 | December 2020

Download the Headlines here

December 2020 Community Center Calendar

Public meetings and gatherings are cancelled until further notice due to the shelter-at-home order.

1 | HVCA Board |

8 | HVLT Board |

15 | Firewise Committee |

22 | Sanitary District Board |

1st/3rd Wed. | Tam Design Review Board |

Saturdays | A. A. Meeting |

Wednesdays | Mill Valley Zen Meditation |
Fridays | SingDancePlay - Music Together |

Community Center Updates

Holiday S'mores

Kids young and old say

"Thank You!" to

The Troop, Chelsey Susin Kantor and Camp Toasted

for providing free s'mores to Homestead Valley families to kick off the holiday in a truly tasty fashion!

2021 Homestead Valley Annual Meeting

Thursday, January 21 - 7:00 PM

via Zoom

Updates, Elections and Recognitions

MHS Update

Marin Horizon School/Homestead Valley

Joint Committee Meeting

Monday, December 14, 2020

7:30 - 8:30 PM

via Zoom

The Joint Committee is co-chaired by Bill Perrine, Head of School (415.388.8408, x 225) and Christina Oldenburg,

long-time Homestead Valley resident (415.388.9315).

Meetings are open to the public and the community is invited to attend and share any issues which are of joint concern to members of the Marin Horizon School and Homestead Valley communities.

Additional Agenda items may be submitted in advance to the co-chairs.

Land Trust Notes

The Peopled Part

The trails of the Land Trust's open space and the G.G.N.R.A. are the usual province of this column. But I enjoy as well the houses, yards, and lanes of Homestead, especially when I am on foot. Then I can see the delicious details: what fence is new, what tree has blown over, what flowers are blooming, or how certain views change with the season, the weather, and the light.

I particularly enjoy the gardens of people who've lived here a long time, who've developed a balance with the weeds and ivy, who've blended their own personality with the land.

Now it is chilly December, the time of longest nights, when our homes become even more important as snug havens, as centers of family life and celebration.

Being a dog owner, I often find myself out in the dark walking the byways with that creature of olfactory sensitivity. While she sniffs and listens, I stroll and think. Thoughts about life in Homestead come to me, of how people have been coming here as a refuge from urban travails for 80 years or so. I feel how the weary worker's step lightens as he or she sees the familiar path, the glow of warm light in the trees around home.

I think of all the building and gardening, all the give and take of family life, all the meals prepared and floors swept. Most houses have seen babies come, children grow, and young adults returning for visits. Everyone has woken up to a winter gale, a chorus of birds, or the glory of dawn light flooding the trees and hills.

All the decades and generations of human enjoyment and striving suggest themselves to me on Homestead lanes at night. Thus enveloped in sweet nostalgia, I pass on, following the canine footsteps through the darkness.

December 1987

These timeless articles are reprinted from "On Foot in Homestead A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," by Matthew Davis, 1988. Matthew Davis (1935-2015), a former HVLT Board member, wrote articles which appeared in the Homestead Headlines beginning in 1984. In 1988 Matthew compiled his columns into a book "On Foot in Homestead - A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," published by the HVLT.

Homestead Valley Vignettes by Chuck Oldenburg

Community Centers

In 1908, the Vallecita Ladies Outdoor Improvement Club acquired a lot on what is now Linden Lane. The Club held dances at Homestead School to raise money for building a community center. The grand opening of Vallecita Hall occurred on April 2, 1910. Over two hundred and twenty people attended. In August 1910, Vallecita Hall was the local precinct's polling place. The building was the center of Homestead Valley's community activities: meetings of several organizations, political debates, movies, dances, special events, etc. In 1918, catechism classes began to be held there every Wednesday afternoon. Vallecita Hall later became known as Scout Hall and then Homestead Hall. In 1933 after it had been sold and renovated as a home, Brown's Hall on Miller Ave. became the community center. In 1972, Brown's Hall was sold to the Buddhists of Marin for their temple. A home on Montford became the present day community center.

Homestead Valley & COVID-19

We hope this finds all our friends and neighbors healthy, happy and safe at home in these continuing turbulent times. As of this writing, the shelter-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues. All public meetings and gatherings are cancelled indefinitely.

"To me, life is a gift, and it's a blessing to just be alive. And each person

should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get."

- Tony Bennett

Useful links:

HVCA contact information:

info@homesteadvalley.org

Marin County Coronavirus website:

coronavirus.marinhhs.org/

Marin Recovers

marinrecovers.com

Individuals may contact Marin Health and Human Services with non-medical questions about the coronavirus by calling (415) 473-7191 (Monday - Friday, 9:30 AM to 12 Noon and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM) or emailing COVID-19@marincounty.org.