COBB, Calif. – On Saturday, Nov. 10, the Friends of Boggs Mountain will be hosting a mushroom foray for beginners.

The event will feature Darvin DeShazer, co-founder and science advisor of the Sonoma County Mycological Association ( http://somamushrooms.org ), and chairman of the science department at St. Vincent High School in Petaluma.

A brief talk on mushroom collecting and etiquette will start at 10 a.m. at the tables across the main parking lot/kiosk, followed by a walk in the forest to hunt, collect and identify fungi.

Once a good variety of specimens have been collected, the group will return to the tables with their mushrooms which DeShazer will help identify.

Participants are advised to bring a sack lunch/drinks, rain gear, and to be prepared for the cold, wearing non-cotton layers, and water-resistant trousers.

Also recommended are knee pads, a pocket knife, a medium-sized basket, a cheap but new 1-inch paint brush to clean your mushrooms and a field guide by Sonoma resident and author David Arora, “All That the Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms,” available at bookstores and www.amazon.com .

The Boggs Mountain State Forest entrance is located off Highway 175, just one and a half miles north of Cobb Village, at the blue Fire Station/Boggs Mountain Forest sign.

Heavy rain will cancel the event; please check the Friends of Boggs Mountain Web site, http://boggsmountain.org , the day of the event.

For further information, please contact Gigi Stahl at 707-809-5299.

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