Toys for Tots will carry on this December
Tom Evans let me know this week that the Marine Corps League is going to conduct its annual toy giveaway this year despite the virus.
Evans reported that due to COVID-19 health restrictions, the Marine Corps League members are required to limit the number of clients they can serve and how the giveaway event is conducted. Sign-ups are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Yolo County Health & Human Services Agency parking lot.
Marines will be out collecting toys from Nov. 2 through Dec. 11, so look for their white and red boxes in local businesses soon. The giveaway itself will be serving only 100 clients a day from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 14 through Friday, Dec. 18.
Evans also noted the Yolo County Fairgrounds has canceled most events this year the toy giveaway “so we are lucky and thank them very much.”
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Mountain Mike’s Pizza recently reported it is opening a restaurant at 1411 W. Covell Blvd., Davis, under a “unique business model.” The Davis location is owned and operated by the franchise group, Mann and Kumar Pizza, Inc. made up of Gurjeet Mann, Hanish Kumar and Sumeet Benipal, who’s a 2019 UC Davis graduate. Mann, a longtime Mountain Mike’s franchisee with eight locations throughout California, opened the Davis location in partnership with two of his former restaurant managers. Mann offers his most talented managers the opportunity to be partowners at select locations to grow with the brand.
OK. That’s one bit of Mountain Mike’s news which probably doesn’t concern too many Woodland residents, who already know Mountain Mike’s has an operation at 375 W. Main St., near Raley’s. What you may not know is that Mountain Mike’s has also taken out a Fictitious Business Statement for another restaurant at 171 W. Main St., which would be at the former Rico’s Pizza that has been up for sale the past few years. The new location is tentatively scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2021.
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YoloArts held its annual Art Farm this past weekend and reported that although it had to be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, it still raised $33,000, which isn’t bad.
The sponsors this year were Frank and Nancy Muller, TS&L Seed Company, Chamberlain Farms, Todd Montgomery, CPA; Farm Credit West, Edward Jones, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Bayer Crop Science, Beth and Joe Coehlo, First Northern Bank, Debra Gonella and Whit Manley, Beth and Tom Jackson, Grow West, Neil and Becky Dougherty, Remy Moose Manley, LLP; Tauzr Apiaries/Sola Bee Farms, Yolo Federal Credit Union, Dan andLaura Flory, Tiffany Wright, Supervisor Jim Provenza and Tri Counties Bank.
For those who weren’t able to look and buy any artwork, there is still some remaining artwork available for purchase at Gallery 625 through Nov. 18. Gallery 625 is located at 625 Court St., the Erwin Meier Building. Proceeds benefit the Art & Ag Project, the Yolo Land Trust, Yolo Farm to Fork and participating artists.
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For those who want to attend another online event, on Saturday, the Village Feast in Davis will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. It’s free to attend the Virtual Village Feast 2020 and includes an online auction with items donated by chefs, restaurants, wineries and community members; and a live Zoom hosted event, where participants will share their home feasts virtually, play trivia games, and bid on auction items. People wishing to participate may register for the event at https://thevillagefeast2020.eventbrite.com.
Beneficiaries of this year’s “Feast” include Davis Farm to School and Les Dames d’Escoffier, Sacramento Chapter, who work together to support education programs around food and agriculture.
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The Hive on Harter just got its PG&E electrical hookup last week after being delayed because of the monumental wildfires, which has kept work crews busy in fire-swept areas of the state.
According to Josh Zeldner, nectar director of Z Specialty Food, which is building the new facility at 1221 Harter, the “Hive” will be buzzing by the end of this month. However, because of the coronavirus, there probably won’t be a formal grand opening until April 2021.
Josh reports that the next major phase of construction involves the installation of landscaping.
And in another bit of honey-related news, Christine Casey of Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is reporting that there will be free bee gardening Zoom classes offered in November.
Christine says people can join remotely at 6 p.m. on the first three Mondays in November to learn about gardening for bees as you plan your 2021 garden.
For information, contact Christine at 867-9429, or email her at cacasey@ucdavis.edu.
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Mark Anderson, who writes for the Sacramento Business Journal, reported this past week that Hamama Inc., of West Sacramento, has raised $2 million to improve its business of selling microgreen indoor garden kits.
Hamama makes seed quilts, which are seeds placed in a growing medium. The user soaks the quilt once, and, depending on the variety, they can be harvested in as little as a week. The seeds are grown in either plastic or ceramic trays, and they don’t have to be watered after the initial soaking, according to Anderson.
According to funding tracking website Cruchbase, Hamama was founded in 2016. The company’s seeds are all non-genetically modified organisms, and most are organic, according to its website.
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Finally, we want to note a donation to the Yolo Food Bank from West Sacramento-based Nor-Cal Beverage. This past week, Grant Deary, Nor-Cal’s executive vice president, marketing and external affairs, donated $10,000 to the Food Ban’s Executive Director Michael Bisch in combined cash and products to #NourishYolo. The Yolo Food Bank has been hard hit because of the coronavirus pandemic, seeing less money but increased food insecurity by those who have lost their jobs or had their working hours cut.