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Greenwood/Elk columns January 14 ~ February 25, 1988 January 14th. Strange to not write the column for a couple of weeks. For one thing. I noticed the Beacon didn't look any different, no blank space or anything, it looked the same as always. Then Dick Mitchell comes up to tell me my last couple of columns were the best ones yet! Sort of like pulling your hand out of a bucket of water and looking for the hole, but then, I've done a lot of things that don't amount to much, no sense quitting now. "So what did you do on your vacation"? I thought you would never ask. Lolli and I went to Baja in my VW bus with two kayaks on top. It started out like a regular mechanics vacation, crawling under the bus in L.A. to pull the engine and replace the blown oil seal and clutch plate. Things got better after that. We went as far south as San Carlos, on the Pacific side, about 800 miles south of the border. We still like Mulege the best. The people are friendly. Why, with the Peso at 2400 per dollar, I'll never know, but still they are. The sea food was plentiful and cheap, the gas was low octane and high priced (490 pesos to the liter). The road was in good shape, the Mex 1 highway, that is. It was sunny but cool and windy about every other day. We really didn't appreciate the weather until we got back and found out what we had missed out on around here. All in all a great trip but next time it has got to be at least a month. So...What's happening? I found a couple of notes in the drop box at the Elk Store: Stop! Don't throw out those used items such as household goods, books, furniture and clothing you replaced with those great Christmas acquisitions. Save them for the Civic Club's Annual Rummage Sale being held the week - end of March 26th and 27th. This years sale will benefit the Elk Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Service. More details in future columns. This is a dandy sale. I couldn't believe all the items that was piled up in the Oasis last year and what a great job of organizing and pricing the Civic Club had done. It's amazing what we find in our closets. Del Wilcox caught me in front of the Post Office to tell me that the grant money did come through for the multi-purpose court at the Community Center. Amazing! Del really had his teeth sunk into this one and just wouldn't let go. Good for him and great for us. And from Peg Frankel: Besides drama and excitement the blustery weather in recent weeks has brought a number of rare and unusually seen birds to the coast. I spotted two Old Squaw Ducks at the mouth of the Garacia River on New Years day and, on two previous occasions saw and heard a pair of Dippers (land birds that feed under water) at Elk Creek. But most exciting was joining a group of birders on the beach at Virgin Creek, January 3rd, to observe a plover that most certainly was not one of the usual coastal species. At first there was thought that it might even be an Asiatic bird, Mongolian Plover, but it was finally determined to be a Mountain Plover - still very rare as they are normally found on dry upland prairies and plains where semi - desert conditions prevail. I just found out that our friend Rob Curl was killed on Highway 128 in a car accident. I'm shocked and sorry. January 21st. Sunday morning, a "pristine" storm rattling my abode, a perfect time to write the column but it is also chancy, never know when the power will fail and my computer lose its memory. One time I had nine unstored pages on the disk and an electrician threw the wrong circuit breaker. Poof! Computer heaven. What a strange feeling to sit and look at a blank screen and realize that it is gone, all gone, my mind as blank as the screen. Well folks, there was nothing in the ol' drop box at the Elk Store so you know what that means. There is nothing going on in Elk. Ain't it swell. So...back to my ruminations. While I was rattling through the Baja Desert, during Christmas, I was thinking about development. Looking out over the cactus and scrub brush I realized the place was as developed as it could get. It was perfect for its location and environment. The plants and animals that live there, and there are quite a few, had developed ways, over millions of years, to live through the long haul, to survive and bloom through lean years and fat, to live with-in their means. Just a few days before we had driven the approach to L.A. and saw one of the aqueducts and some of the power lines that support that environment and realized how temporary it all is. All built up like a house of cards, the removal of any one of its lifelines causing a major disaster. How strange we humans are to turn things around and call natural places undeveloped and cities developed. But then, there are good strange humans. I just recieved a video tape of the Great Arcata to Ferndale World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race. Every Memorial Day Weekend for the past nine years people have been attempting to race thirty five miles along highways, over bridges, down sand dunes, across bays and lagoons and up muddy trails in human powered sculpture. But even if you finish, being first doesn't mean you won. The top prize is awarded by point system. Art 100 points Engineering 75 points Speed 50 points Age 25 points As you can see, the priorities are in the right place and that is what gives this event so much jazz. Mark it down on your calendar and buzz up and check it out or, stop by and borrow my tape or, order your own by sending $19.95 plus tax to Official Kinetic Race Video PO. Box 916, Ferndale, CA. 95536. You not only get the video (about a half hour long), but also the rules book, map and entry form. One other item on my mind and then I'll leave you alone. exploitation 1. utilization for profit: the exploitation of newly discovered oil fields. selfish utilization. 3. the use of public relations and advertising to promote a person, movie, product, etc. At least that's what it says in my Random House College Dictionary, Italics theirs. Seems to pretty much hit the nail on the head. Remember: Off shore Minerals Management Team public imput meeting. Eagles Hall, Fort Bragg. February third. January 28th. Today the drought is upon us. Last week it was winter storms, now we have summer time. Tune in next week! Greenwood Creek is clear and the fishermen are casting spinners into the brush. I haven't seen any results but I have heard a few tales. I stopped by the Greenwood Pier to see how Isabelle and Kendrick's cliff cabins are coming along. Kendrick was putting marble squares up in a bathroom. He told me to go ahead and have a look around. What a project. Mexican tile floors, local rock wall, bevel mirrors, hand painted tiles, spiral stairs and an outstanding view, especially from the upstairs bathtub. I couldn't decide which was more spectacular, the view outside or the decor inside. Kendrick said it will be ready by Valentines day. Isabel has heard that one before. Bob Matson and Lee McKnight returned to Elk with four 15,000 gallon fiberglass tanks. They will be placed by the Elk Fire Department along Cameron and the Greenwood/Philo road for additional fire fighting water storage. Bob said they will be getting four more. The tanks were part of equipment confiscated by CAMP last year and are being given to worthy projects. The Fire Department also received a couple of gas powered water pumps and a chainsaw. While talking about the Fire Department. The Civic Club decided the money from their rummage sale would be used to buy the Fire Department breathing apparatus. An item that is greatly needed. Also the Fire Department has decided to hold a Beef Barbecue Benefit the 30th of April. Most likely it will be like all the others; fantastic food, fine music, great dance and fun people. Our winter map must be coming to an end, signs of spring are starting to show up. For instance: Sue Matson is actually starting to talk about opening the Roadhouse Cafe. That is always a good sign but it is sort of like grounds hog day, maybe yes, maybe no. Last year I got my hopes up too early. Another positive signal is the fact I don't need a flashlight to find my car when I go off work, plus I have noticed various people batting the ball around in the parking lot across from the Elk Store. Yep, the sun is starting to head the other way. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, February 16th. There will be a community meeting at the Community Center at 8:00 PM. We will hear reports from the Fire Department, the Water Board and the Community Center Board. Also, it will be election night for new members to the Community Center Board so you better be there to defend yourself. Actually, this will be a big year for the board with the multi - purpose court being built and plans being made for the stage addition. Exciting times and a good chance to be a part of it. Last Monday there was a parade through Elk which was the second day of "The Longest Parade to Prevent Offshore Oil Drilling". It began in Mendocino and will end up in Trinidad, California. All part of one huge last effort to make people aware of the impending placement of oil rigs RIGHT OUT THERE! and what will result because of them. The FINAL hearing will be at Eagles Hall, Fort Bragg at 9:00 AM, February 3rd. February 4th. I found something in the Elk Store drop box; A reminder... The Elk Altar Society of the Blessed Sacrament Church is having the 95th Annual Saint Patrick's Party on March 19th. Mark this on your calendar. Oh Goodie! This is a fun one and where it all began for me. As you may remember, I was just passing through town and wound up washing dishes after the Corned Beef and Cabbage Feed at the 90th Annual Saint Paddy's Party. Now I'm writing the Greenwood/Elk Column! I've come a long way, baby! I ran across Gary Moran at the Elk Store and asked him how the gig up in Laytonville worked out. I knew they were heading that way because I had repaired a flat on Michael Connelly's station wagon just before their band, "Word of Mouth", loaded up and headed out Friday. He said they got a good response but the eleven hour round trip worked out to about $3.50 an hour. He said they really felt like a band on the road by the time it was over. Michael was particularly excited about playing up there because they provided him with a baby grand. Quite a change from his sawed off upright, bolted onto a furniture moving cart with a saddle stirrup hanging from the right foot pedal! Gary told me they have added another member to the band for a while, a sax player by the name of Richie Flores. I haven't heard these guys play in a while but will soon get the chance. They will be playing at the new Buckhorn Brewery in Boonville the first of March. Gary told me it is and ideal situation because if you fall off you stool the owner is a Chiropractor and lives right next door! If Boonville is too far for you to travel, they will also be playing for the Saint Patrick's Party, here in Elk. I watched the "Prevent Offshore Oil Drilling Parade" go by a week ago Monday from the lube pit at the Elk Garage. I was changing the oil on a car. It gives me mixed feeling. On the one hand I sure don't want oil rigs RIGHT OUT THERE and yet I make my living in a gas station pumping gas and changing oil for my friends and neighbors. Is it my fault, our fault? I'm sure you remember the gas lines back in 1976. I'm sure you remember how we cut out a lot of the driving around we used to do. How we traded in the gas hog for an economy car. How we tightened our belts and found out that life still went on and was even less hectic in some ways. Last week's Mendocino Beacon contained a letter to the editor which told about American Petroleum Institute President Charles DiBona's "wish list", back in 1980, of actions the federal government could take that would be welcomed by the oil industry. "Within three month "our" president granted nearly every wish on DiBona's list. 1.Environmental health and safety regulations opposed by the industry - erased. 2. fuel efficiency standards steadily improving in the 70"s - rolled back. 3. budgets for the most promising alternative energies and incentives - slashed. 4. funding directed by Congress to be invested in mass transit - cut. 5. oil leasing on federal lands and offshore tracts - accelerated. \par 6. an appliance efficiency bill vetoed by President Reagan in 1986, despite overwhelming Congressional support for the measure. I really don't believe it is my fault, our fault. We as a nation can learn to live with in our means, if we have to, but how can we when our "leadership" has unlocked the candy store. February 11th. Two of our friends and neighbors died this past week. Tony Fashaur who was born in Elk in 1909 and Ed Hall who moved here in the late sixties from San Diego. They are missed and the love and support of this area continues to go out to both of their families. I saw a lot of Elk folks at the oil hearings the two times I was able to be there. What a great experience watching the proceedings at Eagles Hall. When I couldn't be there I was listening to the radio and still missed some of the outstanding testimony. People would come up and say to me, "Did you get to hear Alice Walker?" "Did you hear the fisherman?" "Did you hear that Indian woman?" and so on. It was all so hot and exciting and passionate, full of truth and to the point. Afterwards I checked the TV news channels, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN to see their reaction. It seemed like a slap in the face. The same old crap. "Experts" talking about the stock market, the dollar stabilizing. "Views" about the Middle East. "Peace Talks" in central America. Propane truck/car crash. Shootings and muggings. The News! The rest of the nation being lulled to sleep with one minute spots of evening "News". I realize it takes a shooting and burning cars to "make news", and towards the end of the hearings I thought that was going to happen right here in Fort Bragg. The Minerals Management Team had said they were going to listen to all the testimony. Then they said they were going to stop at three thirty. Over seven hundred people had signed up to speak. Only two hundred had. Three thirty was approaching, the crowd was prepared to stay. Minerals Management was preparing to leave. I figured the only way they could get out of the building would be in tar and feathers. Cops started lining the doors, then... Magic Mendocino happened once again. Minerals Management was asked if they wanted to leave? They said they did. Instead of tar and feathers they were given tee shirts. "I SURVIVED THE MENDOCINO HEARING" More truth than poetry in this case and then they received a standing ovation as they walked out into the sunshine. Definitely not "evening news" material but a huge statement about the kind of people that live around here. After they were gone the proceedings continued, video taping and recording those people who didn't get to speak. Evidence to be used to prove that the Department of the Interior didn't hold up their end of the agreement. We won a moral battle but the war is far from won. What else can we do? Since the hearings I find that I look at the ocean more, appreciate it even more and ask myself over and over, what else can I do? What more can I do? I know we have the talent and energy and a very worthy cause. Any ideas that come to mind, please call the California Ocean Sanctuary at 937-0700, and don't forget to tell the tourists, your relatives back east, your friends in high places. If we can win this one we will have added a Yosemite to our national resources. If not, it's going to be "Welcome to HODEL California". In Elk that means 14 platforms RIGHT OUT THERE. Meanwhile, don't forget, February 16th, 8:00 PM. Community Center Town Meeting. Annual Reports and Elections. February 18th. There was no news this week. Wouldn't that be fun? To be able to write...Nothing happened in Elk this week. Usually that seems pretty close to the truth but more likely I just don't know what is going on. My overview is pretty limited, especially when I have a fun book to read. Last summer two people peddled into town on recumbent bicycles and caused quite a stir. One bike in particular was all decked out in electronic gadgetry. I got to talking to these folks and found out they were Steve Roberts and Maggie Vickers from Ohio. They ended up staying the night with Charlie and Rosie Acker. Steve told me he was writing a book, "Computing Across America" so I bought a copy in advance. Last week it arrived and I have had a great time reading it. I learned more about the bike he was peddling too. The 275 pound machine, including trailer, has five computers, fifty four speeds, over two hundred feet of zippers, two solar panels, 80, 10 and 2 meter ham radio station. Packet data communication, 108 feet of tent space, air horns, 1.7 megabyte of memory, a 3.5 disk drive, three modems, one hundred and forty eight spokes, a speech synthesizer, disc brakes, a TV set, digital short-wave radio, telemetry and radio control of system functions, telephone access via auto-patch, a pressurized water supply, digital test equipment, an eight key handlebar keyboard, 165 console switches and displays, seventeen amp-hours of battery capacity, a microfiche documentation library, six lights, one seat, a flute, a six foot four inch pilot, and over fourteen thousand miles on the digital odometer. I remember the bike looked a bit different! The book is more about people and places than computers and he isn't afraid to say what is in his head. I enjoyed the book and am sure there will be a sequel, I sure hope so, and that he and Maggie and the Road are doing fine. There was a water tasting, over at the Court House in Ukiah, last Tuesday. Five entries from various places in the county including one of the bottled waters you can buy in the store. It was a blind test for clarity, taste, refreshing ability and so on. Guess who won? Elk Water!!! Charlie Acker ran tap water into four quart Mason jars at his house and sent it to Ukiah on the MTA bus. Charlie told me that we are back on pump number one and that helped, number two has more iron in it. I watched in despair as Lee McKnight tore up some of the floor and wainscoting in the south west corner of the Roadhouse Cafe, tracking down dry rot. It seems like I am never going to get breakfast in town again. Now they are talking about new window moldings, paint and ceiling fans. I wandered over to the Elk Store to buy another box of Cheerios and they were OUT! Sometimes, life is hard. A reminder to all Elk residents who receive the services of the Volunteer Elk Fire Department and Ambulance service. There will be a rummage sale at the Oasis on March 26th and 27th to raise money for these services. Please save your white elephants and cast offs for this project which will be sponsored by the Greenwood Civic Club. As I write this, tomorrow is Valentine Day. I hope you all had a good one. Love Ron. February 25 I didn't make it to the Community Center meeting last week and apparently, neither did you! So... here is some of what we missed. The new Community Center Board of Directors will be: Rusty Gates, Del Wilcox (going on this third year), Gary Hubbling (manager of the Greenwood Lodge), Linda Barnett, Rosie Acker and Belvie Rooks. The new 11,000 gallon redwood tank is in place and ready. It is located adjacent to the parking lot at the Community Center. It will be used to fill firetrucks and provide a backup for the town water system in case a line breaks. The 84,000 gallon steel tank project is in it's final stages of completion. The old redwood tanks have been removed, the various pieces of the new tank have been sandblasted and coated, the site prepared, the foundation set and the bottom nearly assembled in place. This new tank will be done by summer and will boost our storage from 55,000 to over 120,000 gallons, plus the fire tank at the Community Center. The Community Center lease and the county lease have been signed. The county lease is in regard to the multi-purpose court to be built this year. The Water District has interacted with the State Water Quality Control Board regarding timber harvesting on Greenwood Creek. The subject of cumulative impacts of timber harvesting and water quality is an ongoing issue. Our input on timber harvest issues gets some recognition. We have a good case for creek protection but it requires public comment and E.C.W.D. comment on each timber harvest plan as it arises. I hope we can keep our award winning water...award winning. A world traveling friend stopped by this last Sunday. He is Jens Brandt from Denmark. Of course I had to take him up to Eijler Westh's and introduce them to each other. Immediately they started talking "that talk" and I was left to wander around and look at Eijler's recently completed boat. The boat sure turned out to be a beauty. Finally we left, Eijler and Jens promised to get together again, and we headed back down to Elk. I think they hit it off. Jens has traveled across Russia on the Trans. Siberian Railway. He has been to Sri Lanka, Mexico, and across the United States on a bus. He borrowed my bicycle and headed back to Mendocino where he will be staying for a while. I have been watching the Olympics, off and on. I was particularly struck by the Russian figure skating couple. It is sure hard to believe they are the enemy. They look like us. They act like us. They seem to have emotions like us. They have grace, style, and poise like some of us. Sure hard to believe we have to go a trillion dollars in debt to protect ourselves from them. Actually I am more fearful of those folks down in L.A.}} |