Village Chat
People were not happy about the air quality around here the past several weeks, with all the smoke in the air from the Carr Fire and the Mendocino Complex Fires. It's bad enough that we're only two months away from the anniversary of our own nightmare, but to have such a tangible reminder is unsettling to say the least. Fortunately, as I write this, the air quality has improved and let's hope it stays that way.
Local firefighters from Kenwood and Glen Ellen haven't been called up at this time, although they are ready to go if needed. However, Jared Hunt who grew up in Kenwood and now works for Cal Fire, has been fighting the Carr Fire for the past couple of weeks, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Mary Caughey, center, and Susan Miron, right, speak at the Treehaven Strong potluck.
Neighbors in the Treehaven area, which was so badly burned, recently got together for a potluck at Cindy and Mark Tucker's property. Cindy wrote, “Our 'Tucker'-built shade structure survived the fire and is still in perfect condition so it was the place for the meeting. We got some business accomplished and then enjoyed hearing what we were all up to and where in our processes we are. Then had a fabulous potluck meal and a table decorated with Gary Chapin's beautiful sunflowers from his garden. It was really great just seeing everyone again. We felt Treehaven Strong and wanted to share a photo.” Thanks, Treehaven people!
It's summertime and people are traveling.
Laura and Patrick Philbin, left, and Erick and Kristin Heidorn getting caffeinated in Italy.

Bernie Cheriff and Penny MacKenzie with the dog cart at Steamboat Lake, Colorado.
In July, two families named Lee were both in Iceland, maybe even at the same time. Shannon and Steve Lee and their kids went on vacation to that “hot” tourist destination, and sent in this fabulous photo. These Lees live in Glen Ellen and Shannon writes the “Glen Ellen Telegram” column for this newspaper. Her pictures from the trip are stunning.
Shannon and Steve Lee in Iceland at ingvellir National Park.
And all this leads me to our summer photo contest, “Pictures with the Press.” As you know, all we ask is that the Kenwood Press be somewhere in the photo. And this year we've decided to lift the ban on doctored or Photoshopped pictures. In fact, we encourage them. For example, if I were submitting that photo of Shannon and Steve, I'd probably stick a gremlin or Viking behind them. You can do whatever you want - just make sure the KP is part of it. For more details about the contest, go to page 9.
That's all for now. Thanks, everyone, for sending us your news and pictures. It's easy to do. Just email ann@kenwoodpress.com, or call 833-5155 and chat me up! - AQP
Email: ann@kenwoodpress.com