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Greenwood/Elk columns November 5 ~ December 24, 1992 November 5th. The Greenwood/Elk Community Center renovation will be complete November 1. The cost of the entire project was $35,732.37. Of this total, the State of California provided $23,000 in grant money, grant money generated from a general bill passed years ago to improve facilities in rural communities. The Community Center picked up the remainder of the cost of $12,732.37. That cost paid for with over $4,000.00 in generous donations from people in the community and beyond. The remaining $9,000.00 came directly from this year's Great Day in Elk sales, which generated slightly more than this amount. At the completion of the project our Community Center will include a large lobby room called the John Frankel Room, which will expand the use of the interior space dramatically for such events as dances and craft fairs. We now have a supply closet which will hold all those awkward chairs and tables plus the complete supply inventory for after school and summer programs for kids. Thirdly, we now have facilities to accommodate handicapped people. This includes the entry way ramp into the building and a complete new bathroom. A great deal of thanks goes to the many people who gave their time and money so generously for the good of our community. Thanks. I happened to be sitting in the Roadhouse Cafe, enjoying a mushroom omelet when in walked Charlie Acker. I hadn't seen Charlie in a while, and I wanted to ask him some questions about a topic I have been curious about for some time now. Greenwood/Elk water. I borrowed a ball point pen from our waitress, Marcia Sloane, a paper place mat from the next table over and commenced taking notes as we talked. I know various folks have noticed a large tank truck enter and leave Greenwood/Elk, several times a day, so I started there. "Who is that guy and what is he doing here?" That guy is Larry Keatley and he was a log truck owner/operator who saw the writing on the wall, removed the log bunks and installed a 3800 gallon stainless steel tank and pump. Larry is currently buying 3700 gallons of Greenwood/Elk water at a time and delivering it to various businesses and residents in Mendocino. He has been averaging a little over one load a day since early this summer. Larry pays the Greenwood/Elk Water District forty dollars a load; twelve dollars per thousand gallons. $12.00 per 1,000 Gallons Larry fills his truck from the eleven thousand gallon redwood tank that is located just across the parking lot from our Community Center. That redwood tank is refilled at a controlled rate of ten gallons per minute, ensuring that our town water pressure is maintained. Also, there is always enough water left in the tank to meet our fire truck demands in the event of a fire. Charlie said that studying the few meters installed in town show that the average family of four in Greenwood/Elk use twelve thousand gallons per month and pay eighteen dollars, or a dollar fifty per thousand gallons. $1.50 per 1,000 Gallons As long as we are talking numbers, Charlie said that Greenwood/Elk uses ten million gallons of water a year at a cost of twenty five thousand dollar a year. This cost is generated by insurance, payroll, electricity, and upkeep. That means our water costs two dollars and fifty cents per thousand gallons to produce. $2.50 per 1,000 Gallons Charlie said that the commercial businesses pay a higher rate and that makes up the dollar per thousand difference between the residential costs and the districts costs. Charlie said the Mendocino Community Services District wanted to buy nine thousand gallons of water a day from Greenwood/Elk recently. We could supply that amount if we had eight or nine thousand dollars up front to speed up the upgrading of our system. It would mean doubling the amount of filtration we currently have and doubling our ozone treatment system. As it is, we are slowly increasing the capacity of our water system and by next summer could probably handle Mendocino's request. We are installing a second ozone generator and injection system and will be adding a second filter system. This is mainly for back up purposes and also because we are getting ready to bring the Bonee Gulch system back on line. The Bonee will require extra treatment because it has more tannic acid, sand, and bacteria from surface water; some of the reasons it was abandoned back in 1978. Charlie said he has opened up "Feeder Five", on the Bonee, which travels through a thirty eight hundred foot long PVC pipe that was laid back in 1978, and it still works! He measured sixteen gallons per minute coming out the end of the pipe, this at the height of our six year drought. Currently, that water is being allowed to run on down the hill because it still needs to be tested, plus the treatment system for it is not in place yet. When that source, and several others in the Bonee Gulch, are up and running, the water district electric bill will be reduced because these sources are gravity feed. "Ah. Making the water bill go down?" "No. But not making the water bill go up either. All savings and revenue from water sales is being put back into the system." Over the years a lot of maintenance has been "deferred." Various sections of pipe in town are very old, left over from the days of the pump at the mill. Also, gradually the whole town will be put on meters for more equitable billing. These meters are being installed, one at a time, as money becomes available but they are costly. And, the extra filtering and ozone generating equipment is being bought and installed as the money "trickles in". We now have, up on the hill, two old wood tanks with a capacity of thirty five thousand gallons, one new steel tank, capacity, eighty four thousand gallons, and, down at the Community Center, a new eleven thousand gallon tank. We have state of the art ozone treatment. We have good water. Final thoughts: "Feeder Five", 16 gallons per minute, 8.4 million gallons per year. Wide open garden hose, 5 gallon per minute, 2.6 million gallons per year. November 12th. I went for a walk up the Bonee Gulch with Charlie Acker and Peter Talbert. We met at the water tanks above town, but before we went on our walk we followed Charlie as he went through the daily water system checks. First stop, an outlet on the water pipe coming from the town well. This sample is collected just before the water goes into the first, eighteen thousand gallon, redwood tank, the "contact" tank. This sample of untreated water will be tested for turbidity. Inside the contact tank the water is treated with Ozone. Ozone is an oxidizer that burns up any bacteria and speeds up the settling out of turbid material, oxidizes iron into iron oxide, and so on. The water in the contact tank is constantly being mixed with Ozone. A second sample is taken of the water coming out of the contact tank, as it is piped into the second eighteen thousand gallon redwood tank, the settling tank. This sample will be tested for Ozone content. The settling tank does just that. It gives the water time to settle out any heavy material. This tank is drained and cleaned once a year. Next the water is piped over to a small shed where it is pumped through a pressure filter system to remove any non settling particles, and then treated with a small amount of chlorine as it passes on out of the small shed and into the main, eighty four thousand gallon, reservoir tank. A final sample is taken just before it goes into the reservoir. This sample is tested for clarity, Ozone, and chlorine content. Charlie also recorded the reading of an 'hour meter' and the reading on the 'flow meter'. These readings are combined to produce the total number of gallons that has passed through the system since the system was last checked. Oh yes. Charlie had also brought a water sample from the tap in his house. That is also checked and recorded. The final product. Now, up the Bonee. We walked up the old road that goes up the side of the Bonee gulch to the headwaters, a little over three quarters of a mile up from the water system. Bobby Beacon had bulldozed a new road into the Bonee back in the late 1970's when the revamping of the Bonee was last attempted. Down the center of the road was buried a six inch PVC pipe. As we walked along I noticed small trees growing in the road. Alder being the most prolific, some over ten feet tall now. Redwood and fir trees have grown to the height of about three feet. Charlie had been up this road earlier with clippers and a chain saw to trim back a path way and to cut through the trunks of trees that had fallen across the old road. In one area there had been a slide. About half of the road had slumped down, exposing the PVC pipe. The pipe is unbroken and small trees have grown up on both sides of the pipe, nailing it in place. We reached 'Feeder Five', a small draw that goes off to the side of the main Bonee. I could hear water running. There, just above the old road, hidden in brush was a redwood collection box. Water was running into it from a three inch collector pipe that was positioned further up stream. The collection box was full of sand and the water was running out over the top. Charlie and I scooped some of the sand out with our hands, we hadn't brought a shovel, and soon had the water going into the outlet pipe where it then went into the six inch PVC pipe for its trip on down the canyon. We went on up the Bonee and soon arrived at the main waterworks of days gone by. There in the draw, at the foot of a large meadow area was a concrete dam. Back when the dam was built, an array of drain field pipes had been laid out and interconnected. These were then covered with gravel. The idea being for the gravel to filter the water before it was collected and piped down the canyon. Over time the gravel's were choked with sand and debris and finally the area was filled in to the top of the dam. The water then just went over the top of the gravel and over the dam, bypassing the collection system. The area now has grown over to become a grassy marsh, alder grove. Water still going over the top of the concrete dam. The gate valve and PVC pipe are still in place, but dry. We looked at the water in the stream and it is the color of tea. Tannic acid, according to Charlie. Vegetable matter, rotting leaves. Off to the side a short distance is a running spring. About five gallons per minute. This could be tapped and piped into the old six inch pipe. This water runs clear. It, combined with feeder five would produce around twenty gallons per minute, gravity fed. Now what would happen if it was run down the pipe into a Pelton wheel before going into the tanks. Could it be possible that the water we drink might also generate enough electricity to cover the cost of treating the water and pumping the water through the filter? Wouldn't that be an elegant water system in this day and age? November 19th. A note from the Greenwood Civic Club: "Elk, a tiny town with a warm holiday heart will have its first holiday festival, December 11-12-13. A variety of activities are planned including a festive Holiday Crafts Fair, open house at four of Elk's most enchanting inns and a traditional holiday tea at the Roadhouse Cafe. "Presented by the Greenwood Civic Club, the festivities will begin Friday evening, December 11th at 7:00 PM. at the Elk Community Center with a musical program presented by the local children and other musical groups. Santa will arrive with goodies for the children and then lead everyone to the Elk Post Office where the town Christmas tree will be lighted. The ornaments will have been made by the children from the community. Following will be a hay ride through town with the singing of Christmas Carols. "On Saturday, December 12, four inns, the Sandpiper House Inn, the Harbor House, the Griffin House, and the Greenwood Pier Inn will be open for three hours from noon to 3:00 P.M. Visitors will be given an opportunity to visit each one on a self guided tour and light refreshments will be served. The Elk Holiday Craft Fair will be held both Saturday and Sunday, December 12-13, from 10:00 until 5:00 PM. at the Elk Community Center building. Recognized locally as one of the most creative fairs in the area, a large variety of last minute gifts, decorations, food and a wealth of other treasures will be available for sale. "Also on Saturday, from 3:00 until 5:00 PM. the Elk Roadhouse Cafe will serve a classical holiday tea with some delicious surprises. "On Sunday, December 13, noon until 2:00 PM. open house and holiday music will be at the Elk Methodist Church and the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. "All local residents as well as visitors to the area are invited to come to Elk, the tiny town with the warm heart and help celebrate a festive season." Oh gag me with a spoon. I hate Christmas. All these do gooders trying to crank up the trade and make you buy some more happiness. Shop till you drop. Even my best friend Lolli is hiding recent purchases under her bed like a pack rat and stacking up rolls of gift wrap in the corner of her log cabin. What is it with this Christmas phenomenon? I know the ladies of the Civic Club have been plotting since last February on ways of cranking up this little town in the dead of winter and, by the looks of the above missive, it looks like they have out done themselves. Hey, ladies. Why do you think it is called the DEAD of winter? But no. Not only do we have hordes of tourists stumbling around in the fog all summer, but now, just when the weather finally gets splendid and the highway is once again safe to cross, you folks are beating the drum to bring on more chaos! "Classical teas, delicious surprises, holiday heart, enchanting inns, crafts fairs, children, and hay rides." STOP. ENOUGH ALREADY. Oh it's no use. It's too late to turn back the tide. Baja is my only hope now. Down in Baja, if I can get far enough away from any remote Mexican village, if I can ease ol' ROADCOW out some horrible rock rutted road, out to the edge of some abandoned shore line where the pelicans dive, far away from any gringo tourist. Hopefully I will be able to sit down in my camp chair, lean back with an Elmore Leonard novel in hand and, as Lolli hands me a cold Tecate, look up, smile and say, "Merry Christmas, sweetheart." NOT. November 25th. "Dear Ron, I was wondering if you could put a blurb in your column on behalf of the Elk Food Bank's 4th Annual Christmas Food and Toy Drive. I'm not able to do all the work I'm used to doing and I need lots of people to help out this year if this is going to happen again. (Krystal had back surgery this year and her recovery has been slow but, hopefully, sure.) Last year we served eighteen families from Elk to Point Arena. I think this year the need is still present. Anyone who is interested in volunteering please call me at 877-3298. Krystal Spitler" A benefit to renovate an additional tanker. There will be a special event, Sunday, December 6th, at 6 PM. at the Harbor House, in Greenwood/Elk. Sponsored by the Harbor House Inn. $35.00 per person includes; Greenwood Ridge Wines, courtesy of Allan Green, 4 course dinner, food and volunteer staff from Harbor House. All proceeds to the Elk Volunteer Fire Department. Reservations, phone 877-3203 I was tipped off that I would be run out of town on a rail by the ladies of the Greenwood Civic Club, if they could find me. It seems my flippant attitude concerning their Christmas Hoopla, in last weeks column, struck a nerve or something. So, now, here I am, trying to write a Thanksgiving column, on the lam. I guess that is one thing to be thankful for, they haven't caught me yet, but then, my dog and I have been laying low, observing things from a distance. I did take a quick survey, before going into hiding, to see if my column was on target. I asked the question; "Do we want more hoopla, here in Greenwood/Elk during Christmas, or do we want less?" Everyone of the guys I asked said, "Less". See? See? Oh well. Anyway, while sneaking around town I did notice the recently disked and plowed field at the base of Mitchell's hill has a nice green haze showing after our recent rains. Ted, Terry Galletti, and crew, have planted a feed crop there. It has been years since that field was cultivated. The last time it was used it was planted in peas, I'm told. And then, this evening, just as it was getting dark, Mr. Huckaby and I went for a quick walk down to the beach. On our way down we noticed how full the lagoon was from the recent rain, yet the "berm" had not yet been breached. We remembered back to several years ago when we had happened upon the same situation; how we dug a trench by hand and started the water through the berm on its final slope to the sea; how the next day there was a gap washed out through the sand six feet deep and fourteen feet wide. This time, as we assessed the situation, we noticed Belvie Rooks walking along the shore line. Soon all three of us were digging in the sand, encouraging the water to follow. Soon we had a small trickle heading for the sea. By then it was getting very dark and we had to leave off without knowing if we had tipped the balance of nature. It might continue to flow or it might not. The trick is to get enough water moving so that it will start to erode the channel deeper. Not enough flow and our fresh dug channel would just plug up. The end result, go or no go, will be visible in the morning. Oh its fun to just be a kid now and then and I'm thankful for friends that will stop and play too. December 3 Just when I start to sink into deep deep depression, in the face of the upcoming, overwhelming, onslaught of holiday festiveness, along comes a note to inspire me and give me hope: ----------- "Dear Ron, "We read with interest the description of the Elk Christmas activities in your recent column. We thought you and your readers would like to know what's happening five miles north. Sincerely, A. Reader ALBION NATION PRESS BUREAU FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: EF! (no phone--leave message at store) "ALBION, a tiny town with a drunken holiday heart, will have its first holiday festival, December 11-12-13. A variety of activities are planned, including a festive Holiday Pot Harvest, open house at four Navarro Beach residences, and a traditional holiday fill-up at the Shell Station. "Presented by self-elected representatives of the Albion Nation, the festivities will begin Friday evening December 11 at the Albion Sport and Video with a musical program presented by four local children: Sunbeam, Earlygrow, Moonglade, and Stem. Santa will arrive with psychoactive goodies for the children and then lead everyone to the Albion Post Office, where the town joint will be lighted. Following will be dirt-bike races at Navarro Beach. "On Saturday, four beach residences--the Rusty Camper, the Hand-Painted Bus, the Ford Wagon, and the Green Tarp--will be open for three hours. Visitors will be given an opportunity to escape from each one, and light weapons will be used. "The Albion Holiday Craft Fair will be held both Saturday and Sunday at the Albion Refuse Transfer Station, across from K Road on Albion Ridge Road. Recognized locally as one of the most creative fairs in the area, a variety of discarded appliances, burned-out grow lights, and unidentifiable matter will be available for the taking. "Also on Saturday, the Shell Station Deli will serve a classical holiday tea with some mysterious surprises. Physician referrals will be available at the scene. "On Sunday, open house and holiday music will be at the Albion Grocery and Liquor, the closest thing Albion has to a church. "All local residents as well as brave visitors to the area are invited to come to the tiny town with the drunken heart and help celebrate a festive season." ----------- Well how about that, friends and neighbors, if Greenwood/Elk is getting too chi-chi for your tastes, there are alternatives. Ah yes, it seems almost everyone is getting cranked up into the holiday spirit, and that's fine, more power to them. I'm sure Greenwood/Elk will have the most splendid, marvelous, beautiful, joyous holiday season, yet. It sure sounds like Albion will, whether they do or don't. Up in Mendocino, Christmas lights are strung up at Friendship Field in the shape of a baseball and bat. But what about the sun! The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day, out. The flowers are still blooming. Even a few pelicans are hanging around. How can you expect me to get into the holiday spirit when it is still summer? There, I just tore the next to the last page off my calendar. Only one month left of "The Year of the Woman". I feel better already. Just kidding. Just kidding. Jeez ladies, it's only my fine, dry, Nebraska humor festering up again. I know, I know. Like my ex wife said, "There are no jokes". She should know, she's Irish. Stop. Enough. I'm only digging myself in deeper and deeper. Mr. Huckaby and I are going to go take a look at the end results of our handiwork from a week ago. I noticed, the morning after we dug our trench in the sand, that the lagoon did indeed follow through and break out to sea. Mr. Huckaby and I like to walk down to the beach, stroll along the breaking surf and ponder the meaning of life and what my chances are of enjoying any. ================ And then the sheet hit the fan. The following are copied out of the Mendocino Beacon and included here for your enjoyment. MENDOCINO BEACON December 10 Editorial Editorials reflect the opinion of the Mendocino Beacon. All other views are strictly those of the author. ---------- What started out as a spoof has snowballed into a matter of annoyance and concern to some residents of Albion. The letter that was printed in last week's Elk column was intended to bring a bit of humor. Instead, it has ruffled more feathers than few things which have appeared in these pages in the recent past. Even though it was thought the piece was too outrageous to be taken seriously, we should have given more consideration to the residents of Albion who take pride in their community, and didn't want it associated in any way with the fictitious use of drugs and/or alcohol. The community of Albion would not condone any of those things mentioned and to infer that it would, make people angry: A number of residents felt that the community was being insulted. This reaction is understandable, but certainly was neither the intent of Beacon columnist, Ron Bloomquist, who has often brought tongue in cheek humor to his column, nor the paper's staff. What was intended to lighten, in fact burdened. ----------- Letters to the Editor EDITOR - I was both saddened and outraged to read Ron Bloomquist's column in last week's (December 3) Beacon. I have rarely, if ever, encountered a column written in such execrable taste. What a sorry state Mr. Bloomquist has let himself descend to, if he can only attempt to be amusing by what must be called "village bashing." One questions the motives of the writer "A Reader" if, indeed, this disgusting missive was not written by Bloomquist himself; certainly one questions the taste (and perhaps, sobriety) of anyone who found this sort of rubbish funny enough to want to print it. I was so disgusted at the "letter" that I almost didn't notice the unbelievably sexist commentary with which Bloomquist filled out his column. I thoroughly respect freedom of the press, but I think a little self control is called for in this case; if that's possible for Mr. Bloomquist, maybe someone else needs to curb what is obviously inappropriate material. A wise man once said, "The Christmas Spirit is not what you drink." Perhaps Mr. Bloomquist and A. Reader should crawl out from under the influence enough to reflect upon their own behavior -- and sense of humor -- before casting any more stones. E. Thunen Albion resident ---------- Offended EDITOR - As a member of the Albion community, I was offended by Ron Bloomquist's column of December 3. Is its his "deep deep depression, in the face of the upcoming overwhelming onslaught of holiday festiveness" that gives him the right to insult the residents of his neighboring community? Mr. Bloomquist, I feel that you owe the people of Albion and apology. I don't think that I was the only one who failed to see the humor in your attempt at satire. Zattu Asa December 10th "To the good citizens of Albion... I am sorry for any misunderstandings my column of last week may have caused you. I included the anonymous letter in my column because I thought it was a funny takeoff on the Elk Holiday Festival. I did not realize it could possibly be taken for anything other than what it was. None of the events listed in that letter are factual, to my knowledge, and it was, I believe, strictly a work of fiction. Period." Where was I? Oh yes, Christmas the joyful season. If anyone happened to notice me helping Bob Matson string up Christmas lights on the Elk Garage I want you to know I was being paid by the hour, it was not a volunteer thing. Later, when it got dark I asked Bob when he was going to plug it in. He said not until Barbara McKnight said he could. What? Yep, seems the plan is to wait until the Greenwood Civic Club has the town Christmas tree up and decorated in the entry way to the State Park Museum building, December 11th. Then, the same evening, this Friday, around 7:00 P.M., Santa will arrive at the Elk Methodist Church, rally the troops, and march everyone over to the State Park Museum/Elk Post Office Building to witness the Lighting of the Town Christmas Tree which should happen at 8:00 P.M. Sharp. At that same moment, everyone else in town is 'sposed to plug in their outdoor Christmas lights, probably causing a massive coastal brown out, all the way to, dare I say it? Albion. Egad. Then, at 8:30 P.M., the survivors and hanger-on's will commence caroling and hay rides. All this being the symbolic kick-off of the Elk Holiday Festival Hoopla. Saturday and Sunday will settle down into some serious shopping with the World Famous Crafts Fair at the Elk Community Center, which will also be a great opportunity to see our newly completed Community Center addition. Also, at 3:00 P.M. Saturday, there is an open house and self guided tour at some of Elk's Bed and Breakfast Inns and a Special Holiday Tea at the Roadhouse Cafe. Sunday, more shopping at the crafts fair. And don't forget, from Noon until 2:00, Music at the Elk Methodist Church and Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. And then. That's it! We can start looking forward to summer. The Elk Volunteer Fire Department had the second session in cliff rescue, taught by Mendocino Fire Captain Danny Hevilla, last Saturday. The volunteers set up and worked the steep cliff side across the highway from the Beacon Light entry. Danny has been good enough to come down the coast and help improve our volunteers' techniques. Cliff rescues seem to be required about twice a year around here and it is always an important but tricky business. The Harbor House hosted a successful and sold-out dinner to help fund the building of a tanker truck for our fire department. Thanks to all involved. Dean and Raye Wisdom had the entire Greenwood Civic Club and their spouses over for an early Christmas dinner party, last Saturday night. Dessert featured a surprise birthday cake for Mel Matson. Mel is only eighty years old. Happy Birthday Mel! The Fourth Annual Christmas Food and Toy Drive is happening. Collection containers are set up in the Post Office and the Elk Market. Krystal would really appreciate any help you may be able to offer in making this year another success. Call Krystal at 877-3298 A rather decent rain is falling as I stagger towards the end of another column. The weather forecaster is saying we have a week of rain ahead of us. That would be great but only a drop in the bucket. December 17th. The Food and Toy collection boxes will be picked up at 10:00 AM, December 19th. The contents will then be distributed at noon from the Elk Community Center Food Bank. Thank you to all who contributed in the sharing of the Christmas Spirit. Greenwood Methodist Church, Tuesday, December 22nd, at 7:00 P.M. Caroling and the Reading of the Christmas Story. It should prove to be a very enjoyable evening. Guess what? Starting this Friday, December 18th we are going to have "Night time in Elk" at the Roadhouse Cafe. Yep, Jim and Mary Muto are putting together an Italian Menu; reasonably priced dinners including salad and bread, house wine, beer and soft drinks. Night time in Elk will be open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. See you there. It is a beautiful summer afternoon as the artisans and crafts people, at the Greenwood Community Center, commence taking down their booths and pack away their remaining goods. Another Elk Holiday Festival in the bag. Things got off to a soggy start on a wild, rainy, Friday evening. I heard the rumor that the hay ride and gathering for the lighting of the town tree was canceled. Great, I thought, nobody in their right mind should venture out on a night like this so I immediately headed up to Mendocino to go dancing with Lolli at the Casper Inn. Saturday morning I arrive back in Greenwood/Elk and get berated by Bill Edison for not "covering" the wonderful Christmas event at the Elk Community Center. "You would have loved it, all these little kids singing." Don't get me started, Willie. Saturday afternoon I wander over to the Community Center to check out the Crafts Fair. Lots of stuff and lots of folks. I had heard that my friend Eduardo was doing a bunch of cheap oil paintings. Sure enough, and there on the wall was one of a mild mannered guy sitting in a green chair, his hair is on fire. I immediately bought it. I'm going to hang it just above my computer screen where I write the Beacon Column. I'm going to try and figure out if it is funny or not. Karen Mathis and Shelly Wingo were in the kitchen and soon I had a great burrito to munch on as I continued to looked around. Then, over to the Roadhouse Cafe to gaze in the window and watch the "upper crust" engage in High Tea. Sue Matson and her daughters and her daughters friends had transformed that old Studebaker display room into something quite magical. Special table clothes, special linens, porcelain tea cups, music, candles, folks dressed up in their finest, and so on. The beauty of it all almost brought tears to my eyes as I huddled in the door way. Sunday, around noon, I fueled up on one of Wayne Walker's Roadhouse Bennies (Eggs Benedict) and then went back over to the Community Center. Shoppers were rather sparse; the consensus was, the Football game on TV was drawing off the hoards. So I took Eduardo on a quick walking tour of the town. I wanted to show him the beautiful churches we have in town. We stopped in first at the Methodist Church to find Mel and Jane Matson, and Dorothy Neilsen hosting, recorded music, the church looking very nice. Then on up the road to the Catholic Church, Mary Berry and Joan Valenti hosting, Louis Martin playing the organ. Beautiful church, the sign outside, 1886. On our way back to the Community Center, I pointed out the other highlights of our town. The Elk Sidewalk, the Elk Palm Tree, Li Foo Gulch, Anita Allegaert, the Mole Ranch, and the Supervisor Office in the Parks and Wrecks Mill Office. We also inspected the architectural drawings, posted on the bulletin board in the current post office showing the plans for the new post office to be built across the street. Eduardo headed back to his booth at the Community Center and I headed for my dingy hovel to collect my thoughts for this column. Congratulations to the Greenwood Civic Club and the huge effort they, and the whole town, put out to make the Elk Holiday Festival a success. Even I liked it. December 17th. -------- Letters The outrage continues. ----------- Not In Good Taste EDITOR---Please note that there are many residents in Albion that do not think your column submitted by Ron Bloomquist was in very good taste. Maybe Mr. Bloomquist did not write the article but he did submit it in his weekly column. And maybe the article does not reflect the thoughts of the Beacon staff, but you did print it. When such garbage is printed in the Beacon it makes me think you need a new staff. And definitely a new columnist for the Greenwood/Elk column. Sounds like slander. It might be in good taste to apologize to the named persons and the businesses such as the Albion Sport and Video, and the Albion Shell Station Deli. I Personally have lived in Albion since 1950 and own the twenty acre parcel across the K Road mentioned in this article. You best hope no one comes to my land looking for the Albion Holiday Craft Fair. Janet Eklund Cook Albion. ----------- Ron Bashes Us And We Love It EDITOR---We citizens of little Elk don't understand why our Albion neighbors are so sensitive and totally lacking in a sense of humor. Ron Bloomquist has used his sometimes mordant humor to bash us consistently in his column and we love it. He has made us realize not to take ourselves so seriously, whether the subject is Christmas, motherhood or apple pie. In fact we pay Ron to take a two week holiday vacation to Baja California each year. Any donations from Albion? Bill Edison Elk December 24th. Well, this is it. My last column. For this year. Ha, ha. Thought you had me there for a moment. Not. Lolli and I are heading down to Baja for a couple of weeks. There is a nasty old road we saw down there three years ago and it has bothered me every since. Where does it go? Why is it there? I intend to find out. But in the mean time I am rushing around trying to get everything done and ready before we leave, plus, various friends are hosting early Christmas parties for us since we will be long gone by the time Christmas actually arrives around here. Also, at this time of year, I round up all my columns from this past year and put them together in book form collection. I then take them to Copy Quick in Fort Bragg, have a bunch of copies made, take the copies back home and bind them into booklets. One copy goes to the Greenwood Civic Club for the archives and the rest I give away as Christmas presents to friends and relatives, all this has to be done before I leave town. This year it was a considerable job putting the columns together because over half of the year was written on my old computer, the rest on the new one. I had to retype the former and then combine the whole works into one long document to get the page breaks right. My old dot matrix printer does the job but isn't happy doing typesetting with a graphic type computer program. The total document turned out to be 98 pages long and it took almost ten hours for my printer to print it, ten pages per hour! I know, I know, a laser jet printer could do it much, much quicker, but I don't have one. Anyway, once the whole document was in the computer I asked the computer to do a Word Count. Boom! Just like that it told me. 35,517! Looking over the previous year of columns I was surprised to find that this was the year Lolli bought the Japanese car from the Russians in San Francisco. It somehow seemed a lot longer ago than that. This was the year the Community Center got its beautiful addition. The year the Parks and Wrecks finished the inside of the supervisors office in the Visitor Center and the Visitor Center finally, tentatively opened. Isabel and Kendricks Garden Shoppe opened. Elf and Raoul still fly around it. Isabel is still recovering from her broken ankle. Leslie Lawson is making slow but relentless progress towards establishing an Irish Style Pub, here in town. Greenwood/Elk has a new Fast Attack Fire Truck. Our population is currently holding at around 112. The 99th Annual Saint Patrick's Dinner and Dance was a nice warm up for what is going to happen next year. Pepper Martin Baseball Extravaganza ran three games this year, followed by a lavish dinner. Great Day/Great Night was the most successful one yet and not just in money. The first Elk Holiday Festival was well attended and much enjoyed. Eva Katz and Paul Thunstrom are off touring the world. Doug Blaine and Patty Brady moved to the Eastern California town of Bridgeport. Don and Judy Howard, Leah Woody, Eduardo Smissen, and Lisa Hodson moved to Elk. "Night Time in Elk", Italian dinners at the Roadhouse. And so on. Who can keep up with it all? I know I can't. Don't forget the final wrap up. New Years Eve at the Elk Community Center. Reggae Rockers, Makka, King Scocsha and Sister Jasmine. 8:00 PM. and on into the New year 1983. What a year. Peace. |