Greenwood/Elk columns

March 4 ~ April 29, 1993

March 4th.

I know a lot of us are recovering from the various storms, so to give us a break, I would like to relate a story I recently heard while working at the Elk Garage.

Steve Sinclair stopped in to get a couple of tires put on his car. As I jacked up the car, removed the tires and commenced breaking down the old tires and putting on the new, Steve told me about the Shoreline Rodeo, he and his family attended last August, up in Fort Bragg. The first thing he told me about was an event for young children called Mutton Busting. Young kids getting a chance to see how far they can ride sheep.

Lloyd, Steve's number two son, entered the event and unlike all the other kids who just hang on for dear life around the sheep's neck, when it was Lloyd's turn he came out of the chute with two hands full of fleece, leaning back and spurring the sheep on, just like the wild bull riders you see on TV! It was quite a show and got the crowd up out of their seats.

The second part Steve told me about was called the Hide Ride.

Steve and Connie's number one son, Ling wanted to try that, even though it is an event aimed at the late teen and early twenty age group. Steve finally agreed to see about entering Ling.

The woman signing up the entries told them that it was a team event, they needed two people, someone with a horse and some one to ride the hide. Steve told Ling that if he could find someone with a horse to give him a ride, he could enter.

Away Ling went. Searching for a cowboy.

After a while Ling returned and sure enough, he had found a man who had a horse and needed a partner, even if he was just a kid.

Soon the Hide Ride started and various contestants gave it a shot, one after another.

The way it works, the horse and rider come flying into the arena towing a cow hide on a long rope. The 'hide rider' waits at the other end of the arena by a pylon. When the horse and rider swing around the pylon, the contestant runs over and attempts grip the hide and hang on for dear life while the horse and rider beat it back out of the arena. The lowest elapsed time wins.

The young men, as they came out, wore, coveralls, knee pads, elbow pads, helmets, goggles and bandannas over their noses. It is a dirty, bruising, dusty ride.

Finally it was Ling's turn. Out he walked, wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a A's base ball cap. That's all.

Ling's horse and rider bolted into the arena and raced towards the pylon. Ling waited until they had swung all the way around the pylon and then, as the rope and hide straightened out, just at the last second, Ling made his lunge for the hide. He hit it square and spread his legs to keep from rolling over.

The cowboy glanced back to see if the kid had got aboard, and, by god, he had, so the cowboy gave the horse the spurs and gave the kid a ride. They headed for home, to a rousing ovation.

Most of the times, recorded for the event, had been fourteen seconds, fifteen seconds, and so on. Ling and the cowboy came in at eleven seconds. They won the event and split forty dollars.

Ling will be back next year, after all, he is the defending champ!

From Anne Daniels, Docent:

The Visitors' Center will open March 6. It will be open on Saturday and Sunday for the Spring and Summer weekends. Saturday 10:00 to 1:00. Sundays 10:00 to 12:00

See's candy will be available for Easter. Krystal Spitler, Michael Connelly, and Rosie Acker are taking orders until March 15th. Proceeds to benefit the Food Bank. Call Krystal at 877-3298, Michael at 877-3271, or Rosie at 877-3474.

I was looking around for some good things that resulted because of the storm. Here are a few items I found so far.

1. Because the power was still off, Mary Muto had made a tent of blankets in the living room, the warmest room in the house, picked out her daughter's favorite book for reading and settled in with her for a cozy evening. Before they started, Mary decides to get something from the refrigerator and discovers the refrigerator light is on, the electricity is back! She tells her daughter. Rosie gets a sad face. Mary decides to leave the power off and continue on with the evening, reading stories by candlelight light.

2. Dave Neilsen says the storm improved his life. Dave had been feeling quite whimpy and useless lately. Then wham, the storm tears up the place. Dave re-roofed the house, cut up the downed trees in the driveway, fixed his electrical problems, lost ten pounds. "I feel great!" says Dave.

3. Mel and Jane Matson's garage used to lean towards the North. Now it leans towards the South!.

Rummage Sale. Rummage Sale.

P.S. I hope you have figured out how to get seated at the Saint Patrick's Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. They are going to start at three o'clock, so you might have a chance.

March 11th.

Everybody is coming to Greenwood/Elk, one way or another, for the 100th Saint Patrick's Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner and Dance Celebration.

This weekend, Saturday 13, 1993. Beginning at 11:00 AM, with the open Visitors Center building at the Post Office, and tours around town. At 1:00 o'clock, Mass at the Blessed Sacrament Church. The bar at the Community Center will open at 2:00. Dinner commences at 3:00 with the 500th serving of corned beef and cabbage hitting the table around 8:00 PM. The dance starts at 9:00 with Word of Mouth playing. Centennial book sales, fond memories, raffle, door prizes, oh what a party.

I was particularly struck by the photo, which belongs to Anne Daniels, and can be seen on page fourteen of the Centennial book. I have asked around about it. Mel Matson remembers riding out to Camp Ten, (up Elk Creek) on it, to pick Huckleberries. He said it was a touring car, modified by the shop in the local mill to ride on the rails. I have been trying to find out what kind of car it was, and also, why is the guy steering?

I'm sure, once the old timers arrive for the Centennial, questions of this type will be put to rest.

The Rummage sale had a very successful first day and a "so-so" second day. yet, in these time, every bit helps. The usual cast of suspects did a very fine job of pricing and arranging. There was a surprise object that arrived in a bag of clothing that kept the Civic Club tittering for two days. I can't elaborate on it because, after all, this is a family newspaper, but, like Prue Wilcox said, "Every year, it's always something!"

The opening of the Artists of Elk Show at the Mendocino Art Center was a rousing success in terms of crowd and munches consumed. Everyone had a good time except me. I was still pumping gas when the show opened, then had the town water samples to take before rushing off to a sub committee meeting at Baby Doc Edison's house for a brain storm session about what to do about utilizing the Community Center more.

Skip McLaughlin, Jamie Roberts, Vince Carleton, Lydia Edison and I tried to come up with ideas while Baby Doc mixed the drinks. Bill's idea is that if you consume enough alcohol something is bound to come up. I know, back in my Navy days, that approach worked.

Next morning Bill called bright and early to inform me that I had "volunteered to head up the 'Talent Show Night'".

"What!"

"Yes, and don't forget you and Vince Carleton are going to buy back the 25 inch TV set I donated to the rummage sale and give it to the community center for the 'chill-dren" to use."

"What!!"

I tell you folks, don't ever attend one of Bill's "Think tanks".

Oh, by the way, the Artists of Elk Show will be on display at the Mendocino Art Center all month. Check it out. I'm gonna.

Leah Almondrode informed me that the Greenwood Community Church will hold a non-denominational Service, this Sunday, March 14th, at 11:00 AM. There will be guest speakers from Point Arena and Music by Marion James.

A coffee fellowship will follow. Everyone is welcome to attend.

A log truck flipped over just North of town scaring the bejeebers out of Claudia Pederson, who was out for her morning jog and her daughter Megan, who was waiting for the school bus. The truck, loaded with logs went over between them. Like Joe Bob says, "Eternal vigilance".

Hey, how about a Liver and Onions Night at the Roadhouse "Nighttime Cafe"? Jim Muto and I are kicking the idea around. We know there are some hard core liver and onion freaks out there. We are thinking about April Fool's Day, night. Jim says he has a dynamite recipe.

Interested? Let us know. This event should definitely sort out the wheat from the chafe.

Steve Sinclair is hard at work upgrading his Force Ten business. His shoulder operation and rehabilitation has finally started to pay off and he is beginning to feel his old self again, starting to get the show back on the ...water.

March 18th.

Eleven thirty two, Sunday morning after Saint Paddies, and there is Mary Berry, in the kitchen of the Community Center, still running around with her hands full of lists, overseeing the clean-up crew, as the remains of the One Hundredth Annual Saint Paddy's Celebration is put to rest. I saw one small pan of corned beef left over, almost a complete sell out.

Friday afternoon, two days before, I saw the motorhomes, trailers, and vans starting circling in the baseball field, out behind the Elk garage, the Freddy Pastega crowd from over the hill had arrived. Mixed in amongst them were Buchanans. Bill Matson flew in from Hawaii, Walt and Sheryl Matson dropped in from Tahoe. Big Bear King, relative of the original Greenwood family had returned. Catholic Bishop, G. Patrick Ziemann, from Santa Rosa, Sean Folsom, bag piper from Fort Bragg, Channel Two News, the Inns filled to overflowing, Ed Mckenzie turned his garage into a bunk house. Our population had more than doubled.

I walked past the Catholic Church at 1:30 Saturday afternoon, counted forty seven cars in the parking lot and up and down the highway. Laughter was coming from the church. I hear the Bishop has a real sense of humor. About 2:15 the bag piper made a stately march from the church, down highway one through town, executed a sharp left face onto Lousia street and lead us all straight into Gibson Hall of the Community Center. The one hundredth Saint Paddies, was fully under way.

The place was completely decked out with flowers, banners, green balloons, and hanging on the walls, a great collection of old time framed photos of folks and scenes from days gone by.

The dinner tables filled up and it was non-stop from then on into the wee hours.

There is no way to capture the meeting of old friends and fond memories but everywhere it was in evidence. What a wonderful collection of folks who live here, use to live here, just moved here, or simply love the town and come for the fun of it. The history of Greenwood/Elk runs deep. It is truly a family reunion.

Mary Berry said the only causality was Al Fisher, when he jumped off a ladder, Sunday morning during clean-up, and possibly broke his heel. Other than that, everything went perfect.

The Raffle winners?

1st prize, the cedar chest.- Jenny Berry of Elk

2nd prize, bread maker - Gorge Zeni of Yorkville

3rd prize, hand made afghan - Jack McNulty

4th prize , Ocean rod and reel - Lee Friberg of Elk

5th prize, 17 "Surprise Dollars" Rex Homes of Fort Bragg

6th prize, 100 pounds. Stornetta potatoes - Dave Skilton of Elk

7th prize, Amy's Famous Cake - Jim Cunningham of Gualala

8th prize, Surprise Gift from Ireland, Crystal Leaded Lamp - Gussie Christensen of Irish Beach.

I finally asked Mary the burning question, "Now that it is over, will you do it again?. I had heard that this might be it for you?"

Mary got that gleam in her eye and said. "As long as I'm alive, I'm gonna keep on doing it and make sure you thank every one for all the help and for making this such a success."

I checked out the Artists of Elk show at the Mendocino Art Center. Pretty amazing. A lot of fine work with something to appeal to everyone. I was particularly struck by one of Kendricks air brushed collages and the wonderful frame around it. Mr. LaFrankie's whirligig, Dick Mitchell's portrait of Chrispen Hollingshead. Loraine Toth's thought provoking painting. Peter Allegaert's new painting of baby birds in their nest, Greg Spitler's wood carving of a swordfish. The show last till the end of the month. Stop by.

The Perrill family have moved one house south into the Green Dolphin. Erna Smith is moving into her house which the Perrills had been renting. Erna has plans for a small coffee shop, card shop, book store, something.

Construction is well underway on Eric Hussman's small house which is behind and north of the Greenwood School.

Bridget Dolan's, Leslie Lawson's Irish Pub is almost complete and a private party - open house happened Wednesday evening, March 17th. The new bar, built by Frank Fanto was finished to match the "bar back" Leslie brought from Ireland. Eijler West did the finishing and it is beautiful.

Efforts are underway to hold another Talent Show Night at the community center. Bob Matson has been persuaded, once again, to be master of ceremonies. He promises Steve Sinclair will not sing opera for more than five minutes. Start thinking up your skit and dusting off your talent. No one is exempt. For inspiration, just remember, it will all happen on Armed Forces Day night!

Finally, there will be a special clay oven and bread baking class at the community center, running three Saturdays in a row starting April 17th and finishing on May day with a celebration and a may pole.

Learn how to build a clay oven and how to bake yeast-less bread, using sourdough. Ben Wolcomb of New Zealand will instruct. Class fee is ten dollars and the end result will be a community bread baking oven located behind the Community Center for all to use. Call Vince Carleton 877-3540 or Ben Wolcomb, 937-2957

March, 25th.

The cards and letters are starting to roll in. Liver and onions night will happen April First, seven PM. The trick for you will be getting a reservation. We are only going to serve ten dinners! Yep, the cook, Jim Muto said he wants to be able to sit down and enjoy along with the diners.

I tell you, asking around town if folks are liver and onion aficionados has taught me more than I want to know. For instance;

I have found married couples, folks who have been together for years, split right down the middle on this issue. Needless to say, only one half of the loving team will be present. Some folks are shocked and horrified at my innocent question, " Are you into liver and onions?"

"What? I rather eat the oil filter out of my car!

Ed Bird waxed rather eloquent about the subject. He told me that calf liver is a lot better than beef liver. "Lamb is real good but pig is the best. You take what is called the 'lace' from the 'body cavity' and wrap it around the liver and fry it that way, yum, yum."

Well, sorry, our menu will be based on calf liver, cooked with a special recipe from Florence Italy. Jim asked what kind of vegetable we should include and I decided, since we are trying to keep the crowd down to only ten people,...broccoli. We're talking hard core.

Not a whole lot going on around town recently, now that Saint Paddies is over. Actually everyone is quite busy but dealing with getting their garden ready, trying to figure out what is wrong with the mower, cutting up the downed trees and limbs from the past storms, keeping the old car going a few more miles. The usual stuff.

I have been in the depths of Volkswagen hell trying to get ROADCOW ready for spring break. The ol' trusty bus hadn't mooved a foot since our trip to Baja. I finally had it towed to the Elk Garage, pulled the engine to assesse the damage. I found the crack in the engine case, as expected, and thought about buying a new case to wrap around the innards.

As an after thought I decided to pull the heads and see how they were doing. I discovered both cylinder heads were cracked between the intake and exhaust valves. The valve seats were loose and it is amazing we made it back from Baja at all.

I just happened to have a spare bus that had been used as a office by a friend of mine for several years, and since he had recently moved into better surroundings and didn't really need it any more, I towed it to the Elk Garage and pulled that engine out too.

This particular bus and engine was one that had belonged to some folks from Kentucky. They were traveling along the coast, near Greenwood/Elk when the fuel line broke, setting fire to the engine compartment.

The carburetor was melted into a puddle of aluminum along with the generator, fuel pump, and all the wiring. The battery was a sorry mess but the basic block and heads were okay. I had repaired it enough to make it into a running bus but it soon wound up as an office..., till now.

Out with that engine.

Between the two engines I had enough to make one engine with a unknown number of miles on it and a pile of parts left over.

ROADCOW now starts. It now runs. I guess it will make it to the North end of Death Valley and back during spring break. Son of ROADCOW part two, The Adventure Continues.

Ah Volkswagens. Why do I love them?

Sort of like liver and onions, I guess.

April Fools Day

April Fools day use to be a big deal in my life, back when I lived at a pop corn plant Nebraska. I guess we needed something to break up the boredom. I remember the time mom exchanged the sugar in the bowl with salt. Bob Severson, the hired hand, came in for his regular cup of coffee around ten in the morning and scooped in his usual four teaspoon fulls. He stirred his coffee then took a sip, and another. Finally he finished the whole cup but never changed expression, carried on a decent conversation and then went back to work. April Fools day required extreme vigilance, lest you be made into a fool.

Tonight is the night that fourteen and a half brave fools set off on their voyage to the land of liver and onions aboard the good ship Night Time Cafe, in what was formerly the Elk Garage Studebaker Show Room. A last minute rush is on to stow aboard some licorice ice cream for a fitting finale to our trip.

Some folks think it is just another one of my Nebraska April Fools type things and are quite leery of the whole project. Other folks are taking it quite serious and claim they will have a picket line of animal rights activists on hand. My biggest concern is getting the right kind of music for the event. I have talked Eduardo Smissen into recording some accordion polka music onto a tape for the evenings ambiance. It will either be one big joke or a fantastic success.

I received a wonderful letter from Jan Seibert, all about their love affair with VW busses. It is refreshing to know I am not the only one.

Jan writes:

Every mention of life's vicissitudes with the ROADCOW brings me back to our first VW Kombi. It was the very first one sold in Berkeley, in 1954, and caused endless amusement, head shaking, and questions galore. We'd seen our very first VW bus in a parking lot at the San Diego Zoo, and then and there we were determined to have one of those weirdo's. So we shopped and shopped, from one VW dealer to another, until a used Kombi hove into sight. You ever met a '54 model? Total of 36 horsepower, no interior liners, so the noise was awful, especially when filled with my 17 Cub Scouts, in a pouring rain which turned to hail. Just imagine the racket both within and without--earsplitting, but fun in a negative sort of way, but how great when the sky was clear and we had only our own three young in the bus with us.

We went camping down on the Kern River, and on the way back north to 'El Cerrito, which was home back then, something dire happened at 4:30 A.M. So, we were well and truly stuck. Blessedly, we weren't too awfully far from a town, and somehow or other, we were towed to a VW garage by some kind soul. Big problem: it was going to cost $100.00 to get it fixed, and both Ells and I were going to be fearfully late to work. Neither of us had enough even to buy breakfast for all five of us, let alone enough to pay the bill. This, mind you, was before credit cards had been invented for the likes of us. We bulled our way through that one by some sort of magic and were on the road home later that same day. My money says the garage mechanics were only too happy to do a rush job to get our inquisitive kids out from under. We drove and drove that Kombi until it purely couldn't go another mile. Then we traded it in on a '58, which was sheer luxury--it had ceiling liners, so the noise was vastly reduced, and the seats were scads better than in the '54. Also, the engine cover was hinged ABOVE the engine, so you could expose the entire thing in one swoop, as opposed to the Kombi with its dinky little cover.

Can't for the life of me remember just what the problem was on the Kern River trip, but recollection says that we threw a rod right through the engine. Anyway, in the ensuing years that we had the Kombi, troubles stalked us every so often, but thank God, always when we were in civilization which sported a VW garage.

When I went back to work on the Berkeley campus, there was no place big enough for a lowly worker to park a big vehicle, so we bought a '57 Bug, which I drove with joy in my heart for many a year until our daughter was old enough to total it one night on the freeway median. Hadda have wheels to get to work--no public transportation made the route then--so traded in the totaled Bug for a 1966 model. Sheer heaven! It even had a gas gauge. No more keeping track of how much gas I'd put in on the last fill-up, for I could actually SEE how much was in the tank, at least almost see it. Ells continued to drive the bus to work, while I tootled in my '66, happy as a lark, believe you me. Kept adored Bug until 1980, when I sold it up here in Mendocino. You may believe me, though, that every time I see a VW Bus, my heart goes out to it. What wonderful times we had in it and its predecessor, and how I love VW driving. My current old Datsun is a jewel, which I love dearly, but every time I see you in the ROADCOW or even anyone in a Bug, I yearn for those old days of happy times.

Bless you Jan. You made my day and my column.

Vince Carleton stopped by the Elk Garage and told me about an ongoing project at the Greenwood Elementary School. He and Carolyn and Andrea Marks are teaching twenty two children how to spin wool, dye it with mushrooms, and weave into pouches. March 30th, the class is going on a field trip to Greenwood Commons to cut Alder wands to be used in making bow looms. This class is happening every Tuesday, all day, and is open to the public. "Help," says Vincent.

April 8th.

Saturday morning, April 3rd, the town is full of cars and people attending the Bar mitzvah of Jonah Steinbuck. Around noon the proceedings moved up the street from the Greenwood/Elk Community Church to the Community Center. What a splendid turnout of friends and neighbors for a fine young man.

Mixed in amongst all this was a wedding at the Greenwood Pier, Friday night, and the arrival of the Abalone hunters for the weekend. The town was definitely full.

I got to listen to various bits and pieces of the Forest Advisory meeting, up in Portland, on KZYX last Friday and then, that same evening, got to see the whole thing on C-Span.

There were a lot of eloquent speakers and a few really scary ones. The woman representing some high tech lumber company talked about value added processes and laser thin veneer log shaving and so on, she had all the right words and gestures and eye contact; she could sell vacuum cleaners to cave men, but the small time lumber guy that followed her, the guy who has actually worked in the woods, knew the nuts and bolts. In his case, I felt I was listening to a real person.

I found that quite interesting. The difference between "real People" and the "flacks". I believe the flacks would sell anything to any one to make a buck. Want to buy some uranium mouth wash? No problem.

Once again I was impressed with Bill Clinton. It is one thing to listen to the various radio talk shows hosts tear him apart. They complain about how he wiggles out of this, changes his mind about that, slick Willie, etc., but to watch him on that Forest Advisory panel, listening to all these folks and responding with real questions and heart felt response, without notes and a bevy of back up of script writers, well, George and Ronnie could never do that.

Environment and jobs will be a tough problem to work out and no one is going to be happy, but I ended up feeling that at least Bill Clinton is really trying to understand all the various aspects of the situation before he draws the line in the sand. The real question is whether he can do the right thing for people and environment without getting totally trashed by the multinational corporations.

There are two things you don't do in life; argue with Rush Limbaugh and lose a historic photo belonging to Anne Daniels.

The other day Al Fisher called and said, "You remember that photo of the touring car on the rail road track you borrowed for your column? Anne would like it back".

No problem. I hung up and proceeded to look for it. It wasn't where I thought I had put it. I dug deeper.

Now, I don't live in a very large space and it didn't take long to turn my place up side down. No photo. I got up extra early the next morning and rooted through everything again. No photo. All day, while at the gas station, I tried to remember what I could have done with it, how to tell Anne. The next day, after another futile search, I was consulting maps, wondering if I would ever be found in Yuba City.

Saturday, I crept into the Elk Visitor's center, Mary Berry and Sharon Mitchell were at the desk. Fortunately I didn't see Anne.

"Excuse me, is Anne around."

"Oh yes, she is in the other room sorting HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS, go on in.

Oh god. "Hi Anne, I er, have something to tell you."

Well, she didn't kill me. She didn't have a heart attack. She just said that she was sure it was still around, keep looking.

Well I did, but I knew it was gone. I had a major clean up a few weeks earlier and somehow it must have been tossed out with the trash. I called my Editor at the Beacon Monday morning to see if it was possible to get a copy from the negative that was used in my column. That, at least would be better than nothing.

"Why?"

"Well, because I lost the original!"

"No you didn't, I have it right here on my desk! You forgot to pick it up"

"You're kidding. You mean I don't have to die and move to Yuba City?"

Thanks Anne for putting up with me.

April 15th.

Today should be the day Leslie Lawson gets the go ahead for her Irish Pub, "Bridget Dolan's".

Hopefully.

Local folks have been writing letters of support and traveling over the hill to planning meetings to show support. Today's trip should be the last one.

After endless hurtles it has come down to the question about Caltrans fifty foot setback requirement. The fifty foot set back requirement for new construction has come into the scheme of things fairly recently, I believe. The first I heard of it was when Steve Acker began thinking about building a house on his property just north of the Elk Garage, He had to honor the set back rule. I'm sure the future location of the Greenwood/Elk Post Office also came under that rule.

I guess the thinking is that some day there may be a need to put a three lane highway through town and Caltrans is just looking ahead, but if you actually go around town and pace off fifty feet from the centerline, towards the Elk Garage, for instance, you end up standing inside the building at the cash register! Fifty feet towards the Elk Market puts you in amongst the spaghetti and noodles! Forget the Abalone house, The Country Store, The Greenwood Pier Cafe, Anne Daniels house and so on. A one hundred foot wide swath through town would be the end of town as we know it.

The town Upton Sinclair wrote about, back in the good ol' days was very upset with his story, but now that their states' version of Caltrans wants to put a five lane highway through town, wiping out all the buildings and homes Upton wrote about, the town is trying to get on the historic register, using the very fame Upton brought to it, to save itself. It might be a good idea to recognize the historical significance of Greenwood/Elk also and roll back the multi lane idea.

Lee McKnight, Harold Searles, Jason Boone and others have been in the process of remodeling the office of the Firehouse. The south wall of the office has been opened up and expanded into the former water district storage garage. Part of the reason was to make more room for the new Emergency Rescue truck. The former office had to be narrowed at the north end and squeezed out to the south. It was a tricky problem but end result will be a great improvement.

Folks are starting to respond to the request for participants in the 2nd Greenwood/Elk Talent Show Extravaganza. Bill Edison and I sent out one hundred letters to locals and friends of Greenwood/Elk. So far I have received one letter and one crank call. That may seem pretty dismal, but by also keeping my ear to the ground, I have heard the rumblings of several groups, with ring leaders I won't mention by the name of Isabel, Prue, and Leslie, starting to get their skit together. So, without even really trying there are possibly six acts, well, okay, five, coming together already.

Skip McLaughlin has volunteered to play piano for anyone, or group, that needs musical back up. If you have had the opportunity to hear Skip play, well, there you have it.

Give me a call at 877-3216 and I can put you in touch with Skip, or, even if you don't need Skip, dig that letter back out of the trash and send it to me at Box 2, Elk, 95432.

A meeting was held to discuss the purchase of the Greenwood Methodist Church. A proposal will presented to the Redwood Methodist Empire on April 15th. If you have any ideas, or can help in any way, please call Roff or Linda Barnett, 877-3436.

This weekend, the first session of Cow S--t and Clay. Saturday morning, April 17th. The objective is to learn how to build a clay oven and put it use. The second class will be April 24th and the final one, May 1st. The oven that is built during class will remain for the future use of anyone interested in baking bread in a wood fired oven. The classes will be held behind the Greenwood/Elk Community Center. For more information call Vince Carleton at 877-3540.

Well, that's it. Time to pack up the ol' ROADCOW and head for the desert. I have cobbled together an engine out of three different busses. It sounds pretty good, doesn't leak bad. Now for the shake down cruise. Spring Break is here.

Note. I will try to fax a column in from OUT THERE next week.

If you don't hear from me it is most likely that the hot spring is too far from a fax machine.

April 22th.

I'm back. I didn't have to fax my column from "Out There" after all.

For you folks that aren't paying attention, Lolli, Ed and Suzanne, and I have just returned from our annual Spring Break vacation. It was spectacular as all trips involving VW busses should be. The first night involved attending Taylor Lockwood's Beer and Garlic bash in Mendocino. We fortified ourselves for the upcoming trip and then camped in his back yard. The next morning, ready to go, the bus wouldn't start; dead battery. No problem, that is why I carry jumper cables. Of we go to Ukiah.

We stopped at our friends, Doug and Jan, in Ukiah, for a short visit. The bus won't start; dead battery. Well, enough of that, off to the battery store. I knew I should have replaced that battery before I left home. With the new battery installed, we head east on Highway 20, we were finally off on the official portion of Spring Break.

As we approached the first stop light in Yuba City, I noticed the oil pressure gauge start to fluctuate. I called Ed on the CB and told him to find a place to pull over, quick. We pulled into a bank parking lot and got out for a look. The first thing I noticed was the trail of oil up to where I had parked. I looked under the bus and there was a growing puddle, as oil drained out! End of vacation. Why oh why did I ever cast aspersions on Yuba City. Now what?

After laying on our backs and pondering where the oil seemed to be coming from, we decided it must be the main oil seal behind the fly wheel. Lolli and Suzanne made coffee on the Coleman stove, while Ed and I went over to a Jiffy Lube to talk to the folks, and see if they new where we could get equipment and parts. We got all the information we needed and headed off in Ed's bus to the Foreign parts house to buy the oil seal and then to a tool rental place to get a transmission jack.

Back to the bus.

I added a quart of oil to get us over to a vacant blacktop road where a farmer was busy disking a field. We parked the busses, got out the tools and tranny jack, Suzane and Lolli got out their respective novels and folding chairs. Ed and I attacked the bus. Each time the farmer made a pass, the bus was further disassembled. Bumper, sheet metal, engine, clutch, fly wheel and finally oil seal. Then in reverse order.

In two hours and ten minutes we had pulled the engine, removed the seal, replaced the seal, replaced the engine, The farmer was still disking. The bus was up and running with no leaks. The folks at the Jiffy Lube, the Parts house and the tool rental store were all friendly and helpful. I will never cast aspersions on Yuba City again.

Yippee, vacation continues. Nightfall found us on the far side of Reno.

The next day we zoomed down 395 to Big Pine and then left the security of blacktop and headed east for Eureka Valley. We spent our second night in the Last Chance Mountains, surrounded by nothing, except desert flowers and silence. The next day we drove past Crankshaft Crossing and headed for Ubehebe Crater. There were too many people there for my taste, at least five, then headed for the Racetrack and the moving rocks. Once past Teakettle Junction, that was the end of the crowd! After visiting the Racetrack we reached the Lippincott mine and the turnoff to Saline Valley.

I had heard about this approach to Saline Valley five years ago. It was said you might be able to go down it, but you could never get back up. We pulled up to the lip of the canyon and gazed down into the distance. Saline Valley shimmered below. I noticed previous tracks.

"Yep, I hollered at Ed, somebody went down, the road must be open."

We shifted into first gear and started down over the boulders.

According to the map it should only be about five miles down through the canyon. At the second switch back the ladies elected to walk. Just as well. Ed and I needed someone to move rocks out of the way, fill in the washouts and explain what happened to us if we slipped off the edge, that is, if they ever found their way back to civilization.

I had just turned fifty two the day before and in all the rambling and poking around I have done over the years, this little road turned out to be the most exciting road I have ever traveled. Better than Baja. Better than Alaska. Ed said it was more scary than sky diving. It definitely held our attention!

Five miles and two and a half hours later, we finally reached the alluvial out flow of the canyon, found a relatively level spot, and established camp "Jubilee! We were so glad to be alive and undamaged, we stayed put for a day and a half and read books! Ah, what a vacation.

The rest was relatively tame. Out the south end of Saline Valley, Two nights in Panamint Valley. A visit to friends in Darwin. One night at the Pinnacles in Trona. Up over Walker Pass and home again, stopping off for a fine dinner at the Basque Restaurant in Winters.

Another Spring Break in the bag. Major engine repair and maximum bad road. It's going to be tough to top this one.

The start of Cow S--t and Clay oven making and bread baking classes have been delayed a week due to rain. The first class will be April 24th, the second on May 1st and the wrap up, May 8th.

The Greenwood/Elk Talent Show will have it's first rehearsal Saturday April 24th. Check the posters around town.

Pepper Martin Softball, Sunday May 2nd, 2:00 PM., featuring a triple header, food, margaritas and awards.

April 29th.

Wow. All of a sudden everyone is busy. The grass and weeds are shooting up. Parties and weddings are in full swing. Every event seems to have conflicting events happening on the same day and even at the same hour. There suddenly isn't enough time to do everything. Winter is over. It is no longer safe to cross the street!

I went over to the Community Center to attend the first rehearsal for the up coming Elk Talent Show. Out behind the building a group of folks were busy erecting the Cow S--t and Clay oven. Construction is well underway. A base of logs support the floor of the oven at waist level. Upon the logs is a bed of clay and fire brick. As I left, the frame for the door and a network of willow branches were being bent and interlaced to form the actual oven chamber. They will support the cow s--t and clay , (basically adobe), that will be plastered over the form and allowed to dry. The first fire will burn out the supports and then it will be a freestanding domed oven. It is quite ingenious and definitely something to see. Stop by anytime for a look or attend the next class this Saturday. Call Vince Carleton at 877-3540 for more information.

Meanwhile, back in the Community Center, folks were showing up concerning the Talent Show. Although things were off to a slow start initially, the idea seems to be gaining momentum and now looks inevitable. At this point in time we have ten acts offering everything from full on musical talent, Zoe Colbey, to sick humor, Bill Edison. There will be a fashion show, slap stick, juggling, and things I can't divulge at this point.

Set aside the evening of May 15th for some full on talent and humor. It is surprising what lurks just below the surface!

"The Event" will start at 7:30 and wrap up around 9:00. Food will be on hand and Baby Doc Edison will have his bar set up. It's not too late to call me and join this ship of fools. 877-3216.

From the Desk of Baseball Commissioner, Baby Doc Edison:

There's been a rumor going around Greenwood/Elk that the Pepper Martin Softball Game is traditionally "for the chill-dren". I would suspect this is only a half truth and that this unique extravaganza is really the promotion of old men with a child inside saying "Play ball"! Tears come to my eyes each Spring when Laurie and Denny have cut the grass on our Field of Dreams and all the little gopher holes are exposed once again. I know then that Pepper Martin will slide again and that the great American pastime, as Greenwood/Elk interprets it, will bring joy to grown ups and chill-dren alike. The old duffers like Raven Earlygrow from Point Arena, Paul Katzeff from Mendocino and Richie Pechner from Marin will make a pilgrimage to compete for the Pepper Martin Spittoon. I can still remember Jerry Huckaby, at age 56, doing his belly-flop slides to capture the award in 1987. Believe it or not this will be the 11th year of such shenanigans. The reason we had to move the game from Mother's Day to this Sunday, May 2nd, at 2:00 PM is that we found out much to our chagrin "Pepper" never had a mother. Ted Galletti, the only local actually to see the "Wild Hoss of the Osage" play, will throw out the first ball. Ed Bird will umpire and serve margaritas, Lorraine Toth and Leslie Lawson are planning a barbecue after the game. Finally, that old lady, Carolyn Carleton, has promised a major comeback in centerfield (after two years of maternity leave). Who says Pepper Martin Softball is just "for the chill-dren"?

Baby Doc Edison

Speaking of baseball. The ladies of Greenwood Elk are playing baseball every Sunday at 11:00 on Bill's Field of Dreams unbeknownst to Bill. (Everyone knows that this is Bill's nap time.) Rumor has it that the ladies are going to field a team that will put the "Old Farts" to shame.

Come on out at 2:00 PM this Sunday, May 2nd, and find out.

The entryway to the Acker property, between the Elk Garage and Norm deVall's is being widened to meet Cal Trans requirements.

Steve Acker will be starting his house this summer, just north of the Elk Garage.

To the north of Steve and in front of Charlie Acker, the new Greenwood/Elk Post office should start taking shape.

The exterior shingles are almost complete on Eric Hussman's cabin just north of the Greenwood Elementary School. The interior work is next.

Negotiations for the Sale of the Elk Store and the Methodist church continue. It's going to be a busy summer, folks.

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