|
Greenwood/Elk columns July 22 ~ August 13, 1987 July 22nd. How time flies when you are having fun. This is my twentieth column but after a week of watching the Contra investigations, reading in the San Francisco Chronicle about the PTL, and attending the local logging meeting, topped off with a week of either high winds or dense fog, I'm ready to crawl further under my stump. No matter where you turn, something is screwed up. I have been told that when things are bad, that is when you learn the most. The alternative to that is fat, dumb and happy. Well, I must be learning a lot. At the logging meeting I learned that L.P. does care. They care about their property because they grow trees and want to come back in fifty years to harvest again. Any bets that they will be around in fifty years? They said that they will not aerial spray the Greenwood Watershed and that ground spraying is not cost effective except, in special cases. Besides, there is no proof that spraying is hazardous to the aquifer. One person at the meeting handed out aerial photos showing the devastation. Another person talked about the rape of the land. L.P.'s response seemed to be, hey folks, this is what logging looks like. People asked about cumulative effects, about the drying out of the hills, about the trees having a hard time coming back, about the shrinking stands of redwoods, the loss of steelhead spawning grounds. L.P. said there is no proof. Overall, I left the meeting feeling worse instead of better. On the way out a friend of mind said that a lot of the folks at the meeting don 't bother to vote, how can they bitch now? I drove home thinking about that. Later on I asked Norman deVall, our fifth district supervisor, about that. He said that the Fifth District has one of the highest voter turnouts in the state. There were around thirty people at the first meeting. I counted fifty two at this one. Now what? July 27th, 7:30 PM. at the Community Center there will be a meeting sponsored by the Greenwood Civic Club. Under Sheriff Gene Lansing will discuss the impact of the loss of one half million dollars in the Sheriff budget as proposed by the Board of Supervisors and what impact it will have locally. Basically, even less coverage. The Post Office Centennial Book is hot off the press and going fast. Only three hundred were printed and they will soon be collector items. Lots of interesting stories and photos. To get one, order from and make the check to; the Greenwood Civic Club, Box 178, Elk, California. Ten dollars plus ninety cents postage. A man from the Wall Street Journal was in town for three days last week interviewing Steve Sinclair about Force Ten. Steve said that he interviewed almost everyone he met, trying to get a handle on Greenwood/Elk. Steve took him out in the two man kayak on the day the winds were gusting to fifty miles per hour. I can't wait to see what he had to say about it all. Steve said the article should be out in a couple of weeks. It has been Steve's experience that the longer the interview, the shorter the column. We shall see. The Elk Store now has a Microwave. Fast Food for Fast Times. Even in Elk. Crank it up. July 30th. A one cent deposit is going into effect on all bottles and cans in this state. I was talking to Ed Bird and he was telling be about his camping trip in Oregon. He said that you can't find a can or bottle lying around up there. At Crater Lake he and his family were going to hike down to the lake and spotted a couple of cans by the parking lot. Ed told his sons, Robin and Connor, they could grab them when they got back, rather than carry them down and back, but when they returned, an hour later, they were gone. The deposit system does work but it will take a while to get things straight around here. I know the Elk Store isn't set up to receive empties yet, the idea so far being that they are to be returned to a recycling center. Where's that? Lillia Davidson is moving to Little River after living in Elk for nine years. She and her sons and daughters have been well known and greatly appreciated around here. They will be missed. Walt and Sheryl Matson are planning on moving to Tahoe around October. They have been trying for several years to move and this time it looks like it will happen. Lots of changes for a small town. Speaking of changes, I was real surprised the other day at the store when a couple guys came in and asked, "Where do you want the phone booth". Phone booth? What phone booth? Well, if you want to see our new phone booth, it is at the Northwest corner of the Elk Store. That makes five, count them, FIVE public phones in this town. Where? Well, two in front of the Post Office, one outside the Greenwood Pier, one outside the door to the Community Center and now one at the Elk Store. I must admit it is handy because I get a lot of tourists stopping by asking for one, but if the town ever decides to have a phone booth stuffing contest, there are not enough people in this town to do the job! Someone lost a large German Shepherd male dog in town weekend before last. A fine looking animal. Smart too because he conned Bob Matson into feeding him and letting him hang out at the Elk Garage. If anyone is looking for a good dog, Bob will part with him. Bob thought he had found the dog a ride to Georgia, but the folks in the motor home changed their minds at the last minute. Bob said "We're calling him Fred at this time but that obviously isn't his name". Nice little rain we had last week. I had forgot what it sounded like on my roof. Sure is a crazy summer. Jane Matson recorded 69 hundredths of an inch. I got a call last week in response to my question, "What's next?", at the end of my article about the logging meeting. I was given the name and address of who to send photos and information concerning stream and watershed violations. It is John M. Ladd, division of water quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Box 100 Sacramento, Ca. 95801-0100. Lolli and I went to see the Wizard of Oz last Friday night. Great performance! I get a kick out of seeing our various local folks; teachers , artists, carpenters, fishermen, radio announcers, transformed into such great performers. The talent around here is astonishing and the special effects alone were worth the price of admission. August 6th. Here it is August already and finally a couple of days of summer, though, here on the coast, there is a bit of a bite in the air. The moon setting over the ocean in the late evening has been something to see too. It must be fall. I have been mentioning the people leaving Elk but I notice there isn't anything vacant around here. There are new people arriving, some just for a season and others planning to stay longer. Jean and Ann deVigneaud have done a remarkable job bringing back from the dead the house just South of the Telephone Substation. That was a real fixer-upper and fix it up they did, all by themselves. Almost every time I go by I notice another improvement. Flora Buchanan's house has had a lot of work done on it also including a new coat of paint. It is such a beautiful house including the fine palm tree in front. Isabel and Kendrick are having two more cliff cabins built right behind the Country Store. It is really quite a structural undertaking. Thirty six holes were drilled down to bedrock and filled with rebar and concrete. Now the foundation forms are in place tying it all together. Thirty yards or so of concrete should be poured this week and the actual carpentry work will begin soon. Stop by and do a little sidewalk supervising, it is a real education. Richard and Cutler have really taken on a jigsaw puzzle this time. Also, in the future additions department, there is Vincent and Carolyn Carleton, Michael and Barbara Conneley and Steve and Connie Sinclair. All expecting babies in the near future and I guess in that order. What do I know? Steve Garner is currently involved in three art shows. He has work at Daley's Mezzanine Gallery in Fort Bragg, a show up in Seattle and also in the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society's Ninth Annual Show at the Port of History Museum in Philadelphia, which is tied in with the Constitution Bicentennial. Steve told me these last two are his first out of state shows, plus "Philly" is his home area so he is really excited about that. The Carletons, Lolli and I stopped in at the Greenwood Pier Cafe last Saturday evening to hear some great music. (I found another pay phone. Number six!) Toby Silverman, jazz singer from San Francisco, Carol DeArment, bass player from Oakland and local piano player John Gilmore were entertaining the house. Toby's singing has great clarity and was a real joy to hear. Carol's stand up bass was an electronic one which is a mere shadow of the real thing but in her hands sounded wonderful never the less. John Gilmore is just plain smooth, smooth, smooth. I was amazed to find that John has been playing at the Pier every Saturday night for over a month and will continue to do so for a while. Come on down and have a cup of coffee, some dessert, or even dinner while hearing some great piano playing. John also plays with the Mendocino Jazz Orphans Monday nights at Caspar while Olaf Palm paints. That is a real treat also. Speaking of treats, I have been wanting to recommend one of my favorite books for some time now. Every time I read about the changes that are happening around here and especially in Mendocino I think of this book. I think it hits the nail right on the head although it is about a town in New Mexico. It is called "The Milagro Bean field War" by John Nichols. I'm sure Tony Mitsak, at the Gallery Bookstore has it and if not I have a couple of copies which I will loan. See me at the Elk Store. August 13th. George Montag called me to tell me that he has been invited to attend the "Tasting of Summer Produce" at the Oakland Museum August 23rd. The "Farmers Market" portion of the day that will be open to the public, between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00. George has been growing specialty vegetables for several years now and is becoming recognized for doing so. George's lettuce, salad greens, Haricot Verts (A type of French green bean), and his Bintje Potatoes are being used by the Cafe Beaujolais, the Harbor House and other local restaurants. If you're down that way, check it out. The Navarro Beach Controversy. This last week a petition showed up at the Elk Store, "Save Navarro Beach!" Almost everyone coming into the store signed it. I didn't understand what changes were going to be made and I wanted to find out. The only complaints I had heard about were those concerning ORV's tearing around and making a lot of noise. Digging a little deeper I found the plan was to put in a fifty car parking lot and up grade the toilets. Eventually there might be charges for overnight use. None of this addressed the ORV problem if in fact they are a problem. Sunday there was a big rally on Navarro Beach. I went down to see what was going on. There were hundreds of people parking all over the place, a flat bed truck set up as a platform for the band, a portable generator puttering away to provide electricity for the amplifiers, lots of people playing music, campfires here and there in the sand, people camping in motor homes, tired old busses, tents, makeshift driftwood shelters, ORV's roaring around down along the beach, the American Flag flapping away atop a drift wood pole and it was all free. It dawned on me what the big stink was all about. Everyone down there was afraid that they would lose the right to party and Navarro is the last party beach around here. No other public access beach would allow what you can do at Navarro. Lots of graduating classes have had all nighters down there. There are gonzo Albione Hunter parties and the generic impromptu blowouts. Also there are a few hippie busses who need a place to live for a while and those folks just passing through on foot, on bicycle, in vans or motor homes who welcome a free place to get off the road. Last winter the wood hogs were busy for weeks. The fear is that a parking lot and upgraded toilets would just be the beginning of the end. As it is, for those who want "organized" camping, hot showers, and perceived security, there are lots of places to go, not to mention the bed and breakfast places for those who like to be waited on hand and foot. But for those who want that rustic freedom of being in the wild beside the sea, Navarro Beach is about the last place left. That seems to be what the uprising is all about. It would seem to me that as long as people are willing to police themselves, honor each other's space, haul their trash and pay the price by cleaning up after those who don't, I too would vote to leave it alone. It is already "developed". It developed into a beautiful place all by itself. Attempts to organize it will make it seem less so. |