Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

From Sierra FoodWineArt magazine:

“PEOPLE BELIEVE THE CAROL TRADITION is old in Grass Valley, but few realize it’s as old as the city itself,” Gage McKinney writes in When Miners Sang—The Grass Valley Carol Choir. The choir, originally made up of Cornish gold miners, has a famous past. In the ’40s, the Grass Valley choir sang Cornish Christmas songs from 2,000 feet underground in the Idaho-Maryland gold mine.

Nowadays, the choir’s appearance is a highlight of Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas celebration. It is a magical holiday getaway. Now in its 44th year, the family celebration in the streets of downtown Grass Valley is filled with the sights and sounds of Cornish-costumed street vendors, children entertainers and roasting chestnuts.

Handcrafted gift items and edibles are for sale, and all the stores are open. Children can go downtown to visit Santa Claus from Thanksgiving until Christmas. This year, Cornish Christmas is on Fridays from 6-9 p.m. on November 25, December 2, 9, 16 and 23. A Beale Air Force Appreciation Day, welcoming military families to the event, is on Dec. 2.

While walking downtown, one of our favorite holiday treats is a Cornish pasty (pronounced past-ee) at Marshall’s Pasties at 203 Mill St. They are prepared from scratch and rolled by hand, an edible reminder of the past. For more information, go to HistoricGrassValley.com.

HANUKKAH TREAT

This year, Hanukkah is from Dec. 20-28, when Jewish people light the menorah and exchange gifts. On December 20, Tess’ Kitchen Store in Grass Valley will celebrate Hanukkah with a cooking demonstration of Latkes, a popular treat during the eight-day Festival of Lights.

Called Latkes in Yiddish, the shallow-fried pan- cakes of grated potato, flour and egg, are often flavored with grated onion and topped with sour cream or apple sauce. The oil isn’t just for cooking. It’s a reminder of the oil that lit the menorahs in the Jewish Temple and miraculously lasted for eight days.

Tess’ Kitchen Store
153A Mill St.
Grass Valley
530-273-6997 TessKitchenStore.com

CANDLE-LIT CELEBRATION

THE FOOTHILLS ARE RICH IN HOLIDAY traditions. On Dec. 11 at 1 p.m., Foothill Flowers in Grass Valley will host its 24th annual Santa Lucia celebration.

The Scandinavian holiday consists of a pageant portraying Santa Lucia with court of Lucia brides and star boys. Legend has it that Santa Lucia’s apparition appeared to stop a famine in Sweden with gifts of food.

Santa Lucia Day has been celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Italy.

For more information, call
Foothill Flowers
530-273-2296 FoothillFlowers.com
102 W. Main St., Grass Valley

(photo credit: Kial James)

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“As shoppers converged on retailers around the country looking for Black Friday deals, authorities reported scattered problems,” according to the L.A. Times.

“In Porter Ranch, a woman pepper sprayed customers at a Wal-Mart in what authorities say was a deliberate attempt to get more ‘door buster’ merchandise. In San Leandro, a Wal-Mart shopper walking to his car was shot and wounded in a suspected robbery early Friday.

“Another shooting was reported at a parking lot next to a Wal-Mart in South Carolina, also a suspected robbery attempt. Officials told WMBF-TV they believe the robbery was tied to Black Friday.

“At Porter Ranch, 20 customers, including children, were hurt in the 10:10 p.m. incident, officials said. Shoppers complained of minor skin and eye irritation and sore throats.”

The rest of the article is here.

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Nevada County Tea Party Patriots Founder and President Stan Meckler lost his bid to be elected to the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce, according to my sources.

An official announcement of the results is expected soon.

Meckler was one of seven candidates running for five board seats on the Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce for next year, according to a ballot that was circulating to members. Meckler said he planned to resign as tea party president at year-end.

The winners are all currently active in the local business community, ranging from the fairgrounds to hotels. It is a going to be a strong Chamber board. So is the Nevada City Chamber board.

Meckler is active in the Tea Party. Meckler’s son, Mark, is a founder of the national Tea Party. Both are vocal political activists.

This is not the first recent attempt by political activists to politicize Chamber activities. Another example is here.

Here’s the bottom line: A “silent majority” of people help to guide public decision-making here, not a vocal minority. The outcome of some local political races last year has confirmed this as well.

Let’s hope more of our “electeds” and decision makers get the message and don’t get caught up in it.

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Editor’s note: Here’s an example of our incoming Congressman working with both sides of the aisle on a pragmatic issue that helps his constituents. It’s refreshing compared to our current Congressman, who said he wanted to replace the “left-wing clerk recorder,” or who advocated “agitate” to his like-minded tea party constituents, or who lectured the Mexican president on immigration policy. We need pragmatic representatives, not ideologues.  

“President Obama has signed a bill written by Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, that repeals a 2006 law requiring governments to withhold 3 percent of payments over $10,000 to contractors,” according to ChicoER.com

“Bryan Cleveland, a spokesman for Herger, said the law that would have allowed withholding a portion of payments to contractors was designed to make up for funds lost when some contractors didn’t fully pay their taxes.”

“It was a case of punishing all contractors for the misdeeds of a few, Cleveland said. Herger thought it was a terrible idea and wrote a law to repeal it, Cleveland said.

“He worked on getting co-sponsors and re-introduced it in several sessions of Congress. This year, when it had 269 co-sponsors, both Republicans and Democrats, the bill, House Resolution 674, passed both the House and Senate unanimously.

“Canceling the withholding means contractors will have more money to create jobs, he said. Herger was quoted in a news release as saying the “signing of (the) 3 percent withholding into law demonstrates that both parties can work together to encourage job creation.”

The rest of the article is here.

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