Saturday is River Clean-up Day
The 31st Annual San Lorenzo Valley River and Road Clean-up, organized by The Valley Women’s Club is Saturday, Sept. 16, at locations in Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Felton, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Back to School Photo contest
Back-to-School winner! Bay Photo has selected Collin Donagher of Scotts Valley as the winner of the 2017 Bay Photo Back to School Photo contest! Collin, a first grader at Ocean Grove Charter, will receive an 8x10 Dream Print mounted on a Bamboo panel. This photo was taken by his mom, Kim Pinard.
Sun and Fog on Eclipse Day
While 2,400 students at Scotts Valley Schools, like many of their counterparts across the county, stared at dense fog with and without special UV-shielding glasses on Monday, Aug. 21, about 100 Boulder Creek Neighbors, fans of the popular Facebook page, gathered at Crest Farm near the of the tallest mountain in the San Lorenzo Valley, Ben Lomond, overlooking Boulder Creek. There, above the morning fog, they relaxed in the morning sun, and with cameras, telescopes, pin-hole cameras, and special sunglasses, observed a solar-lunar phenomenon that captured the imagination of much of the U.S.
Back-to-School Photo Contest
Announcing: Bay Photo of Scotts Valley is sponsoring the 2017 Back-to-School Photo Contest in the Press Banner.
Bear Creek pool is open
The new Bear Creek public pool in Boulder Creek is now open to the public, but on a limited basis.If someone from the general public wishes to swim on a “pay-per-swim” basis – $8 per adult and $5 per child under 18 – he or she can only swim 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays for recreational swimming, and 6-7 p.m. Thursdays, and 9-10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays for lap swimming only.The Boulder Creek Parks and Recreation Department, which operates the pool, is selling monthly single and family pool memberships and annual tennis/pool and tennis-only memberships.The pool members get half-price discounts on recreational swimming and have special members-only times and days: 1- 4 p.m., Mondays and Wednesday, and 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.Members also can use the pool for lap swimming at no extra fee, 6-7 p.m. Thursdays and 9-10 a.m. Saturdays.The pool, which held a grand opening event on July 7, is the former Bear Creek Country Club, at 15685 Forest Hill Drive.
Pancakes, parades and fireworks
Thousands of residents of Santa Cruz Mountain communities, plus equally as many visitors, ate pancakes, watched parades, played in the sun, and watched fireworks on Independence Day.
Students paint mural in Siltanen Park
A team of 30 students from all grade levels in Scotts Valley school are spending portions of their summer break working on a bright new mural at Siltanen Park.
Small Business of the Year
Though probably not a surprise to loyal customers, the owners of Mountain Feed and Farm Supply in Ben Lomond were taken aback when they learned they had been named regional small business of the year.The Small Business of 2017 honor was given earlier this month to about 80 private business owners out of roughly 3 million small businesses in the state.The all-purpose feed-and-farm supply store on Highway 9 was honored this month as the 29th Assembly District’s winner.“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Jorah Roussopoolous, who owns the store with wife Andi. “It’s sort of the American dream.”The elaborate feed store was nominated by occasional customer Mark Stone, Assemblyman for the 29th District.“Owners Jorah and Andi Roussopoolous provide our region with invaluable resources for sustainable independent living and homesteading,” Stone said. “They are an important part of our local economy.”The business owners traveled to the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento to receive the honor, and were given a tour of the State Capitol by Stone. “It was a warm welcome,” said Roussopoolous. “It made me proud to be a Californian.”Customers travel to Mountain Feed and Farm Supply from as far away as Carmel Valley and San Francisco.The store, composed of a warren of connected smaller buildings, serves as a hub for classes, nursery items, small-scale food production, housewares and sustainable methods of farming.“It feels like home,” said Ben Lomond resident Cheryl Martin, who has been shopping at the store for 10 years. “I can come here for just about anything.”It wasn’t always that way.When the Roussopoolous couple purchased the property in 2004 it was not much to speak of: just the former empty site of then-vacant Ben Lomond Feed.It would be nice to say that Roussopoolous, in their mid-20s at the time, had a dream of building their future. Not so fast.“We were forced to figure out how we would pay the mortgage,” remembered Roussopoolous, who began by opening a small feed store. “It was just youthful enthusiasm.”It wasn’t long before the outgoing couple’s counter became a magnet for residents, who conversed about small-town news on a first-name basis.“It’s not just a store; it’s a community hub,” said Roussopoolous, who lives in Bonny Doon with Andi and children Ember and Reese.Little by little, a vision began to take shape. Nursery pots appeared, the small gift shop (where the couple had lived in the beginning) was transformed, and fences and gates sprouted.These days, the busy store employs 30 workers during peak months — full-time employees who are provided healthcare insurance at no charge.Lisa Berg, a customer since the store opened, treks over from Los Gatos to do her shopping and take her 14-year-old cat, Earl, to the on-site vet.“It’s worth the drive,” she said. “I love the eclectic feel and everything is so high quality.”Roussopoolous said it’s his employees who should receive the award.“I have amazing people, past and present,” he said. “They deserve 100 percent of the credit.”
News Briefs | Published Sept. 12, 2025
Fun run, emergency preparedness fair set for Saturday
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