12/01/2023

HO-HO-HOLIDAY DINNER!
• Reminder, this Saturday evening, December 2nd, is the Holiday Dinner in the Johnson Valley Community Center, and everyone is invited to come and enjoy!!
The menu features delicious ham, baked macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables, salad, and rolls. Choose pumpkin pie or apple pie for your dessert!
Best of all, this feast is only 15.00 per person; kids plate age 12 and younger, only 8.00.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner is at 6:00.
Stay for the General Meeting after dinner! You do not have to be a member to come to any event at the Center.

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BURN PERMIT UPDATE
• San Bernardino County residents with burn permits in CalFire State Responsibility Areas (which include Johnson Valley) are currently allowed to resume burning residential landscape debris.

Before you burn, you must verify it is a permissive burn day with our local air district. The contact phone numbers appear on your permit.

Burn hours for residential burning are 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
For more information, to get a permit, and to review safety requirements, go to https://burnpermit.fire.ca.gov

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GET RID OF IT RIGHT!
• Gather up that accumulation of household hazardous wastes and get rid of it all, this Saturday morning, December 2nd, from 9:00 a.m. till noon (less than a half-hour drive from JV, behind the firehouses on Hwy 247 in Lucerne Valley).
    •    household-generated motor oil & oil filters (no oil containers over 5 gallons)
    •    antifreeze
    •    auto & household batteries
    •    latex and oil-based paints
    •    medical needles
    •    fluorescent tubes & bulbs
    •   ALL electronic waste (E=waste)
Please no trash – nothing else

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I-15 ROADWORK
• To our weekenders who usually travel the Interstate 15 freeway, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has closed the Northbound Bear Valley Road off-ramp to traffic through 7:00 a.m. on Friday, December 8th.

The closure is part of a $122 million project to rehabilitate and repave traffic lanes and ramps and to upgrade the drainage systems in Hesperia to Victorville in the center divider/right shoulders on Interstate 15.

Between December 11th and 22nd, the second phase will close the Northbound Main Street on-ramp.

New traffic patterns will go on for months from Oak Hill Road to Bear Valley Road in both directions. Connector closures are in place at the NB/SB I-15 to NB/SB Hwy 395.
Watch for signage displaying alternate routes.

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CRASHES ON HWY 247
• Last week, we hesitated to make comments on the two tragic fatal crashes in Johnson Valley on Hwy 247.

The location has been notorious for years for being the scene of far too many fatalities.

The driver on northbound 247 passes over many hills and dips, but just beyond Wheeler’s Ship-It-Shop, the highway rises to another crest but suddenly meets a hidden left curve.

If it’s the first day of the rest of your life, you turn smoothly with the curve and head due west between the Johnson Valley community and some of the most spectacular desert scenery in the state.

To the misfortune of some unlucky folks, traffic headed in the opposite direction climbs a slight grade up to that curve. Big trucks or RVs can be slowed by the upgrade. They may be followed by an impatient passer who speeds around them up to the hillcrest. He cannot see or avoid an oncoming vehicle at the hillcrest.
No-Passing center striping does not prevent a head-on collision.
See the recent record at https://www.hidesertstar.com/news/two-more-drivers-killed-at-deadly-spot/article_fa3949fa-8eef-11ee-bb6c-8725f47da365.html

Years may go by without one of these disasters. Locals familiar with the stories are wary. To have travelers involved in two fatal accidents in only four days, one actually on Thanksgiving morning, is shocking.

Please drive carefully when you come our way.
And yes, complaints have been made to Caltrans.

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A MUCH BRIGHTER NOTE:
Lucerne Valley glass artists Jon and Sheri Bush have been crafting exquisite, Tiffany-inspired works of glass art at their Hot Glass Ranch studio for over two decades now.
If you are looking for unique gifts, you will find a huge selection when you come to their annual holiday open house, Saturday, December 9th, from 10:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. with glassblowing demos and sales of gift items.
Among the treasures every year, LOTS of dazzling Christmas ornaments of many designs and colors – perfect for gifts! I liked my selections so much that I kept them. Three sit in a big glass cylinder on a windowsill. Eye candy every day.

The photo below shows a couple of Hot Glass one-of-a-kind vases. 
I know, a glassblowing artisan in the desert? When I first met Jon, I was a newcomer, and that was my reaction, too. But the first time we went to the holiday show, I was hooked.

Hot Glass Ranch is only about a half-hour drive from JV, at 11180 Post Office Rd. in Lucerne Valley. Turn right (north) from Hwy 247, 11180 is less than a mile on your left.  Find the amazing glassblowing demos and displays at the back behind the house.

No jokes this time, just a feast for the eyes.
Betty

Betty Munson
760-364-2646

Flower
JOHNSON VALLEY WEATHER

Johnson Valley Weekly Neighborhood News
by Betty Munson