Greenwood/Elk columns

October 7 ~ December 9, 1993

October 7th.

Well, we survived "Meat and Skeet" last Saturday. I'm told about thirty father and son combos showed up for skeet shoot and meat eating. Before the event, one of the local ladies cornered me and expressed her wonderment at such an event happening "in this day and age". She said she isn't a feminist, but....

When it was all over I was brought up to date on some of the highlights. For one, Ramone couldn't hit...Sheet! At the other end of the spectrum, Ling Sinclair was hitting seven out of nine. Not bad for a ten year old. When I saw Ramone Monday at the gas station I mentioned these facts and he told me; "Well, I taught Ling everything I know, therefore I now know nothing".

Denny Lundsford blew a hole in the ground, "Gee, I didn't know the gun was loaded"! Vince Carleton was grumping that his twenty dollar leg of lamb got over cooked, "incinerated", but, overall, it seems a good time was had by all and, I'm told, there was even some of that dreaded "Male Bonding" happening.

I saw the North Greenwood Community Association out alongside the highway, picking up litter, last Sunday. Rusty Gates, Dave Neilson, Dean Wisdom and maybe some others I missed. I later asked one of them if they found anything interesting.

"Yep. We found seventy six beer cans along our two mile strip. One Coors, Two Hamms and seventy three Budweiser. We also found some trash that contained the name and address of a prominent Elk Resident!" Whoa! The trunk musta blew open.

There will be an artist pot luck at the Mendocino Art Center this Friday. I understand it is open to any artist. Bring something to eat and something to hang on the wall. Sounds like fun. I'm not sure of the time, give the Art Center a call. Probably five-ish.

The latest update I have been able to get concerning the opening of our new post office is...about three more weeks. Waiting for office furniture, desks and what not.

The cemetery North of town has caught my eye lately. You know how everything has been shrouded in fog lately. Well the cemetery is all muted in gray tones too but accented with a low lying splash of bright pink, caused by the blooming of, what we locally call, "naked ladies". A real photo opportunity.

Bad news! Bridget Dolan's is closing for ten days! Yep, Leslie is going to take a vacation and "shut her down" from the 9th until the 19th of November.

Then, for the double whammy, I find the Road House Cafe is going to close for TWO MONTHS! Sue Matson said she is going to knock off serving breakfast and lunch during the month of December and January. Fortunately, Jim Muto and his Nighttime Cafe, "Somewhere in the heart of Elk" will press on serving great Italian food during the evening at the Road House Cafe, Friday through Monday.

Looks like it will be back to hanging out on the porch of the closed Oasis, drinking Budweiser and eating chips from the Elk Market. Winter is tough around here for bachelors.

Speaking of eating establishments, I hear that Isabel and Kendrick are going to have Steve Hale tear down the Greenwood Pier Cafe and rebuild it into a much more functional eatery. I must say, while it lasted, it was funky but cozy and a great place to duck into, out of the rain and wind, and watch Mr. Huckaby wash dishes.

I forgot to mention, in last weeks column, that local artist Steve Garner received a first prize ribbon for his Marine seascape at the Boonville Fair. His lady friend, Erika Lindsay, also got a ribbon, her first, in the portrait division. Congratulations.

If you read Scott Butler's letter to the Editor in last week's Beacon I hope you read my column of September 23rd. There are two sides to every story.

I notice various inane posters, hanging up around town, fading in the fog. Bill Edison is back and he is bored.

The Elk Market is now carring Gowan produce. Yippee.

October 14th.

I received the following letter in the mail. Most of us who live in Greenwood/Elk did, but to spread the news further afield for any input you may have;

"Elk Post Office Customers, P.O. Box or Rural Delivery,

As you probably know, the Elk Post office is going to be moving from it's current location to the newly built post office across the street. The move will probably occur in the next 3-6 weeks. Most of us will miss the charm of the old post office, with it's collection of old P.O. Boxes, odd numbering sequences, and that it has been in the current building for over 70 years (0ver 100 years in town).

Don't despair, we are going to save the old post office just the way it is today and it will be part of the visitor center-museum that is under construction at the mill office building. This is a unique opportunity to freeze the Elk Post Office in "Fall of 1993" for future generations to see. There are very few historic post offices like ours preserved in California and the U.S. Postal Service has agreed to donate all the equipment and fixtures to our visitor center.

We would like to keep it looking like a working post office, or as I have described it "as if Erna, our post master, has just left for lunch and will be back any moment". If you would like to help us preserve the character of the post office, you can fill out the form on the back side of this page allowing us to leave your name on the inside of your P.O. Box. Erna has our last names on labels so it is easier to sort mail, you can only see these labels from the inside of the post office.

Also, if you could write/type us a note or letter telling us how long you or your family have been a P.O. Box holder (or receiving rural delivery) along with any stories of memories you have of the Elk Post Office over the years, please include that with the form in the enclosed envelope. Thank you for helping keep alive a part of our history for all to visit and enjoy. If you have any questions please give me a call or catch me in town.

\tab\tab\tab\tab Sincerely,

\tab\tab\tab\tab\tab Kevin Joe, State Park Ranger

\tab\tab\tab\tab\tab P.O. Box 55 Elk, CA 95432"

The form asks Yes or No, I would like my name displayed on the inside of the P.O. Box or rural delivery slot.

Your signature, signed and also printed, the date. P.O. Box number and phone number.

A note telling how long you have been a P.O. Box holder and any stories or memories you have concerning the Elk Post office.

Well, we are finally getting a little rain. The fire season has been declared officially over. Last Monday morning we had six inch rain for a little while.

Six inch rain? Well yes. I lived in Washington State for over twenty years and became quite aquatinted with different types of rain and invented my own means of describing rain. Six inch rain is rain that comes down with drops six inches apart. Half inch rain is a real gully washer! Of course there is always something to confuse the issue and that is drizzle or, as they call it around here, Oregon Mist. (It missed Oregon.)

An old friend of mine and many folks around the Mendocino area, John Paul, will be playing at Bridget Dolans this weekend. Check with Leslie, 877-1820, to confirm the time and date but don't miss him. John Paul is a wonderful musician and story teller.

I went over to KZYX last Wednesday, to be in the studio when Jamie Roberts officially launched Ruby Three into Mendocino Mind Space. This week I will miss part two because of a water bored meeting but the series runs a total of ten weeks with a recap at the start of each program so I will be able to catch up. I know Ruby, the intergalactic gum shoe, isn't every one's cup of tea but for us enthusiasts, it is one of the best "theater of the mind" programs going. Jamie's show, Radiogram, is on KZYX, 8:00 to 10:00 every Wednesday evening with Ruby Three starting at 9:00. Turn down the lights, turn up the radio and enjoy.

Welcome back from Scotland, Lolli, and not a moment too soon.

October 21st.

Not too many years ago, there was a very small group of folks in this county who wanted to have a radio station, while the majority of folks in this county could care less. The majority were happy sucking their thumb, listening to chain saws, playing tapes of rock and roll on their boom box, watching MTV, or just quietly sipping white wine and gazing out to sea. A local public radio station? Who needs it, who cares.

But the small group persisted. They remembered listening to KPFA or KQED and hearing "informative controversial radio" or some, like me remembered Don McNeil's "Breakfast Club" on WOW, Omaha, while marching around the breakfast table. Yeah, Yeah, let's have something interesting to listen to, for a change.

KZYX was born. KZYX!. Even the call letters were crazy and inspired, and Philo?, a radio station in Philo? Are you kidding? It's perfect.

The few persisted and got it started, overcoming extreme odds and, once on the air, they gradually excited others and the never ending struggle for funding, grants, equipment and members began. Nothing was easy and it was true, just like the wise sage once said," The only thing worse than wanting something...is getting it".

Marathons. I hate them. I call in as soon as one starts, pledge what I can and switch over to Rush Limbaugh, Jim Eason, Bernie Ward, old farts on ham radio, talking about their folded dipole, anything less painful. Then, when the marathon is almost over I try to get to Philo in time for the popping of the champagne cork and the celebrations in the sweat soaked studio.

Once again, against all odds, the radio volunteers and surrounding county folks poured out their pennies, love, and support and, once again, we're home free for another six months. What an amazing radio station. What an amazing group of folks.

And now? The possibility of going back to back to sucking our thumb, rev up the chain saws, plug a tape back into the boom box, MTV on the toob, white wine gazing on the ocean..

Why? Because Beth Bosk can't get along with Phil Tyman, or, before that, Susan Newstead, or Sean Donovan, or Johnny Bazzano, a host of other station "authority figures", and the majority of the station programmers.

It is too bad that with all the good work she has done, over the years, with her Fourth Gate Gazette radio program and her New Settler Magazine she has somehow boxed herself into a destructive "I'm the only one who is right" position and to hell with the rest of you.

If we allow Beth to disrupt and dismantle our hard fought for and much loved public radio station, then we get what we deserve...DEAD AIR, and just before that moment of "dead air", most likely we will hear a recording of Greg Brown singing the very same song we heard when the station first came on the air, "Who da thunk it"!

There will be a public meeting to discuss measure C, 7:00 P.M. October 21 at the Elk Firehouse/Community Center. It will be explained why a YES vote is so important on District Measure C (The Gann Limit). Please attend.

There was a wonderful turn out of friends and loved ones at the Greenwood/Elk Community Center for the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Dave and Audry Skilton, last Sunday Afternoon, the 17th of October. Great food and fond memories. Congratulations Dave and Audry.

My friend Ed McKinnley is rather strange. He not only has over two hundred jumps out of a perfectly good airplane under his belt, now he tells me he is jumping out wearing weights! "I wasn't falling fast enough!" he explained, "I have to strap on four to six pounds".

It turns out he has started doing "relative work" which is where you jump with a group of other folks and link hands, feet, what-ever, and make patterns in the sky as you fall to earth. He was too light and couldn't keep up, hence the wearing of weights!

Egad! I think I rather argue with Beth Bosk.

October 28th.

Our foreign correspondent Molly McLaughlin, currently attending College in Santa Cruz reports;

"I'm sitting at a light in my Honda. A big shiny black Corvette pulls up, big guy powers down the window and asks, 'What country is ELK? I've been all over Europe and I've never heard of that one'.

The light changed just in time for me to wave and drive off, which must have left the guy really in the dark as my little Honda is now burning a little over two quarts of thirty weight per tank full."

Thanks Molly and remember folks, ELK bumper stickers are available at the Elk Garage. $2.00 each, the proceeds from each sale go to the Elk Volunteer Fire Department.

From Ridge Dweller Greg Stevens:

"The Elk Food Bank is hopefully back on track again, last Saturday of each month at the Elk Community Center, noon until one. We're trying to get a big food bank together for Christmas. That particular Food Bank will be on Saturday, December 18th, same place, same time.

Anyone wishing to donate food or whatever should either bring the stuff to the Community Center the morning of the 18th, or call Mary at 877-3405 or Greg at 877-1827 and we will pick it up."

Greg Stevens is one of my favorite most writers on the coast. You can read him in "MEMO", a free local paper. Greg really catches the joys and frustrations of coastal life and life as a single father. His latest adventure concerns the trials of teaching his teenage sons to drive. The next issue of MEMO will contain part two of the continuing story. It's title is, 'Tranny Soufflee9"! I can hardly wait.

The members of the Elk Volunteer Fire Department were at their meeting last week, ready to explain the importance of voting YES on Measure C, in the upcoming November 2 election, to the crowds of folks that turned out because of my announcing the Measure C information night in last weeks column. Well, to make a long story short. None of the public showed up.

Well, okay. I know it is hard to leave the comfort of the evening fire so here is what you would have heard if you had.

Measure C is required to complete the formation of our local Community Services District. It is a formality that affirms our meeting the Gann Limit, which we already do. It will cost us nothing if we approve Measure C, but if for some reason it was voted down (some folks vote no on everything, whether they understand it or not), and it goes down to defeat, we will then have to hold a special election and that WILL cost our Community Services District around three thousand dollars.

Okay, to make it simple... Vote yes on Measure C. As for the rest of the stuff in the Voters pamphlet, I swear, they make it harder to understand every year.

I know last week I said I pledge early during KZYX marathon week and tune out until it is over, but I lied. I have listened to a lot of this Fall Marathon and it has been an amazing time. On occasion, positively riveting, and the outpouring of money, support, and new members has been absolutely wonderful. The Bosk/Tyman blow-up, just before the Marathon, put fear in my heart for the future of the station but I had lost sight of the bigger picture; Mendocino County, Sonoma County, Humboldt County Lakeport County and all the folks in the hills, valleys, and towns that love that little station and want it to continue, want it to improve and expand in many directions with great variety. Local news, National news, Classical Music, Rap, The Slick and the Awkward, Strong personalities, and the soft spoken word. How all this can fit under one roof is a severe test of democracy but the support for this to happen and continue to happen was overwhelming. Stress, strain, and conflict will continue to be the way of life for our local public radio, considering the cast of characters involved but, scratch the surface and, that's the way it is in any healthy community.

Congratulations KZYX.

By the time you read this the framing should be well underway on Steve Acker's new home just North of the Elk Garage. Last weekend the forms came off the foundation and today the floor joists were in place. Robert Van Peer is the contractor and he said as long as the sun shines, they are going to work, seven days a week, to complete it before the rains come.

November 4th.

Its been sort of fun watching out of town folks drive up to our new Post Office, hop out of their car with a hand full of post cards and run up to the closed door. Soon they figure it out and go to the old Post Office. Erna, Mistress of the Post, told me one time a tourist, asked her, "How come we have two Post Offices in this town?". She replied, "So we don't have to cross the street!"

Last week a truck load of furniture and fixtures arrived at the new Post Office. The Grand Opening should not be too far off in our future.

We have had an incredible string of beautiful warm days here on our little coastal shelf, and most of Northern California, for that matter. Usually, when it gets warm and nice around here, the fog rolls in. When that happens it usually gets light about dark!. Also the sunsets have been spectacular and the Moon! How 'bout that moon.

Speaking about light about dark. This falling back to Standard Time always gives me jet lag for a week or so. It is amazing how a shift of one hour effects things. Now I need a flashlight to read the numbers on the pumps at the gas station at closing time, 6:00 P.M.

Last Sunday I noticed there wasn't any activity at the site of Steve Ackers new home. I pointed this out to Robert Van Peer, who was enjoying breakfast at the Roadhouse. In a previous column I had said Robert was going to be working seven days a week. Was he making a liar out of me?

"Watch this:, he said, got up, walked over to the job site and moved one two by six from one pile to another. "There", he said.

Actually, he and his crew are moving right along and doing a fine job. Earth quake clips, two by six framing, and all the required features of construction in this day and age.

Last night I heard that one of our local young men drown in the San Diego area, or possibly Baja. Tab Verdon had just left a week or so ago on a sailing trip to Mexico. He lived in, what we locally call, the Abalone House, here in Greenwood Elk. Everyone who knew him was excited about his up coming trip. He was a good diver and had rescued more than one person here on the Mendocino coast. At this point I don't know what happened but it sure is hard to believe. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and loved ones.

November 11th.

A memorial service was held, Saturday afternoon November 6th, on Greenwood Beach for Tabb Stewart Vadon. Friends from far and near gathered to share memories and witness his ashes being scattered upon the waters of Greenwood Cove.

The following is an excerpt from an information sheet posted by the family at the Elk Market:

"Tabb drowned while free-diving off Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands on October 31, 1993. He was 27 years old.

Tabb was born and raised in Cloverdale. He graduated from Cloverdale High School in 1984 and played on the Cloverdale High School basketball team that won the CIF State Championship in 1984. Tabb attended U.C. Santa Cruz and was finishing his degree at College of the Redwoods, Fort Bragg. He was living at Elk and had started his own business venture, Waterdog Adventures, guiding kayak trips and diving on the coast. He was a marine biologist, an expert diver, and ocean diving instructor.

Tabb was on a sailboat voyage from Mendocino to Cabo San Lucas on the sailing vessel Argosy Venture when the accident occurred. The voyage was being filmed for National Geographic with Tabb as one of the main characters. He was being filmed in his kayak and while diving and playing with the dolphins.

The following is a quote from Tabb's diary while anchored near Hermosa Beach on October 27th: "A huge pod of dolphins were bow-riding and I went down on the anchor and touched them and talked to them - indescribable! They would turn sideways to look me right in the eye and they were whistling and they would blow the surface of the water up before they would break the tension with their breath. They blew it right in my face. I left my hand on the surface and they would come up and touch it with their backs and their fins. It was a magic instant in my life that will never pass. I sat there hanging on the anchor for a long time after they had gone. They were asking me to come play with them. It just hit me, hanging there; next time I must be ready to take a scooter and play with them."

Tabb's family feel he is now swimming peacefully with the dolphins. He loved the ocean.

Tabb's favorite quote was "You can't change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."

Donations in Tabb's memory may be made to Salmon Restoration Association, PO. Box 1448, Fort Bragg, Ca. 95437."

Local writer, news stringer, and dish washer Louis Martin relayed the following information to me during the aftermath of the recent fires in L.A.

Louis's parents Martha, age 75 and Robert Martin, age 77 survived the Las Flores Mesa fire by staying in their swimming pool, with towels over their heads, for over two hours while watching their house burn to the ground. According to Louis, his mother said that one of the saddest moments, while in the pool, was watching her mother's wonderful old upright piano go up in the flames. They could see it, inside the house, through the window.

Martha and Robert had built their home over fifty years ago and it was full of clothes collections and other collectibles from over the years. Louis said his mother never threw anything away. Now it is all gone. When it was safe to leave the pool they found one car still operable and drove to a restaurant to warm up and eat (the pool water was quite cold), then checked into a Holiday Inn to rest and start life over again.

Their home was about one hundred and eighty feet above the famous Sea Lion Restaurant. Their home had survived an almost identical fire in 1956 but that time the fire trucks had been able to arrive. This time, the fire trucks never came.

Due to extreme backlash the Roadhouse Cafe has revised it's planned closing for the months of December and January. Thank you.

The latest up date is;

The Roadhouse will be open for breakfast and lunch, Thursday through Saturday, 8 AM to 2 PM. Sundays 8 AM to 1 PM. They will be closed December 13 through the 29th, open December 30 and 31st, closed January 1 and open January 2.

Bridget Dolan's will be closed from the 9th of November until the 18th. Reopen the 19th. A little break for some renovation and rest.

The Greenwood Community Church is pleased to report that almost all pledges have been met and many other contributions have been received. We wish to express our appreciation to all who have contributed on behalf of the Greenwood Community Church. Since there are still some moneys due to close the escrow, we ask that any unpaid pledges be sent as soon as possible and that anyone who has not made a contribution and who is financially able, please help us now. Even small monthly payments of $2.50 help pay our bills.

On Sunday, November 21, 1993 at 11:00 an Interfaith Ceremony will be held to dedicate the Greenwood Community Church as a House of Worship and Fellowship for all Faiths. We urge you to come and share this joyous and historic occasion. There is planned a series of short presentations by representatives of various groups active in the past and future life of our community church with inspirational music and group singing. A happy gathering of friends will follow with a pot luck luncheon at the Community Center.

For and update or additional information, please call any of the members listed here.

Ad Hoc Committee: Roff Barnett 877-3436, Charles Acker 877-3474, Dean Wisdom 877 3224, Lea Almanrode 877-3517, Dorothy Nielsen 877-3511.

Any tax deductible donations or pledges, send to Greenwood Community Church PO. Box 56, Elk, CA. 95432.

November 18th.

Big wedding last Saturday afternoon as Kay Curtis and Steve Acker tied the knot. I was hoping to attend but wound up being a gas pump jockey as station owner Bob Matson traveled hither and yon in his tow truck, I remaining behind to top off tanks for tourists and answer the phone. I did manage to get to see the wedding party as they wandered past the garage, alongside Highway One, from the wedding site at the Greenwood Community Church, to the Reception, 'round the corner at the Elk Community Center. Kay looked great in her wedding dress and Steve looked like a CEO from some huge corporation in the Bay Area. Steve? Steve? Is that really you?

As they passed, Kay's oldest son played, "When the Saints go Marching in" on his saxophone. A glorious afternoon sun over the Pacific in the background.

Two hours later I arrived at the reception in time to find the sideboards still groaning with food and the place packed with well wishers. Soon a skit was enacted by Ellen Sax and Ron Karish, something about twenty five years of marital bliss involving throwing a cream pie in each others face five times. This greatly inspired the short people to follow suit and the evening was off to a rousing start. As the band tuned up, Lolli and I had to leave to catch up with visiting guests from Sabastapol, up in Mendocino. Too bad, for I hear it continued to be a great evening.

Kay tells me there will be no honeymoon travel at this point, they are much too busy overseeing the building of their new home. "Maybe next year".

The latest on our new post office is that it will either open in a week or not until after the New Year!

Another version of why we have two post offices;

One is for the rich, the other is for the poor. The one for the rich is nice, clean, freshly painted and locked up all the time. The one for the poor is rough looking, grungy, and open all hours, day or night.

More construction is looming on the horizon. The Greenwood Pier Cafe will be having a major remodel in the near future and I hear the former Brady/Blaine residence will be torn down and rebuilt into a two story structure.

Last Saturday a couple of guys from Pac Bell were wandering up and down Highway One, through town, checking things out for the up coming under grounding of the Power, phone and cable lines. I don't know of any definite starting dates but it seems to be a project that is lurching ever closer.

The Elk Volunteer Fire Department and Community Services District wants to offer a special thank you to Ed Taubold for providing the needed engineering and architectural drawings for the future Greenwood Ridge fire house. Ed offered and did this work at no charge and helped the project move closer to reality.

This just in from the Greenwood Community Church Ad Hoc Committee:

Mark down Sunday November 21 for a major event.

For one hundred years, Elk had the Greenwood Methodist Church. For one year the building was dangerously close to becoming real estate. Now, due to determination, belief in God and through creative problem solving, the money has been raised so the church can start it's second one hundred years as the Greenwood Community Church. Owned as it was in the beginning by the people of Elk.

So we're ready to celebrate on Sunday November 21, at 11:00 o'clock, with music played by local musicians including Walter Green and Carolyn Steinbuck, singing and sharing of memories, and hopes for this enduring spiritual center by town people, friends and clergy of several faiths.

My friend Ed McKinley reports that he has now made two hundred and three jumps out of perfectly fine aircraft. He has clocked three hours, four minutes, and seven seconds of free fall. The combined distance he has traveled during free fall and under canopy is more than half the distance from Fort Bragg to Seattle, 437 miles. During this time he has hauled approximately twice his body weight, in lead weights, back to earth. My friend Ed McKinley is nuts, but boy, is he lively.

November 25th.

Dean and Claudia Pederson recently returned from their "Vacation in Hell". They were visiting a B&B on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and had their rental car broken into and all their luggage and Dean's wallet, money, credit cards, passport, etc. taken. They returned home in time for Claudia to rush off to attend her mother who had to have knee replacement surgery. While Claudia was gone Meghan, their youngest daughter fell while playing on the basketball hoop, at the Greenwood Elementary School and broke the ball off her femur in the shoulder socket. Doctor Buckerfeld in Fort Bragg put it back together with three stainless steel pins. No cast required, just a arm sling for a while. Dean would like to express a special thanks to the teenagers of Elk who cared for Meghan, on the ground, until help could arrive, especially Reo Russell who knew what to do and "kept cool".

I attended the recovery of whale bones last Sunday, November 21. Three months ago a forty two foot, forty two ton, female humpback whale beached itself south of Point Arena at Schooner Gulch. The carcass had decomposed enough to allow the recovery of the bones and Bob Matson and Jeff Schlafer with the Elk Tow Truck and flat bed truck had been tapped for the job by the College of the Redwoods Marine Sciences Department. I went along to video the event and ended up flagging traffic. The whale was located about two hundred and fifty feet below highway one, almost straight down. The Marine Sciences Society, a social and serious group of students from the College of the Redwoods were on the beach getting things ready for recovery when we got there. In two hours the cranium, one jaw bone and several ribs had been raised from the beach below and loaded aboard the flat bed. From there they were taken to the campus in Fort Bragg. The students and instructor were all friends of Tab Verdon who recently died in a diving accident and they worked with his spirit in mind.

An extraordinary dedication ceremony for the Greenwood Community Church happened November 21. While I was attending bones rising from the sea, one hundred and fifty folks were attending hearts and spirits rising to the heavens. All the folks I talked to after the event were still filled with amazement. The ability to witness Rabbi Margaret Holub, Mendocino Coast Jewish Community, Monsignor Walsh, Blessed Sacrament Church, Susan McNeil, Lay Minister Fort Bragg Methodist Church, Charlie Acker, Transmission Meditation, Kate Daugherty, Vipassana Meditation, Rasuna Katz, Subud Mendocino and Black Elk's account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux all spoken under one roof, in peace, well, only in Greenwood/Elk.

Various speakers recounted the joys and sorrows experienced in the church in years past and other speakers relayed plans and hopes for the future.

A woodwind quintet, group singing, some Mozart and a special additional verse to Amazing Grace highlighted various points of the dedication.

A circling of the church with singing sealed the event and then everyone retired to the Community Center for a huge potluck.

The final verse to Amazing Grace?

Amazing Grace! How sweet the town.

That saved a church like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

In Elk, beside the sea.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

December 2th.

Rain. Finally, some rain.

Driving past the Navarro campground at the head of the Navarro River the situation is looking pretty dismal. The mouth of the Navarro is still closed and the river has been held back for some time now. The water is up and threatening the campground. If the berm doesn't break through soon and the rain continues, it looks like the place could be flooded. Of course there are those who will be elated if the homeless are washed away. This area has a history of letting the ocean wash away its castoffs, just dump it in the ocean and it's gone. No problem. Much easier than trying to solve the problem.

Speaking of water, the Elk County Water District put a flow meter on the outlet pipe from the main storage tank one year ago. Last week the meter clicked over. One million gallons has been used in one year.

Saint Michael and all Angels Episcopal Church, Fort Bragg, congratulates the people of Greenwood/Elk in their successful efforts to preserve the Greenwood Community Church as a house of interfaith worship.

Saint Michael's is sponsoring a mid-day worship service every Sunday at 2:30 PM at the Greenwood Community Church. Everyone is welcome to attend. For further information, contact Linda Leitner, 964-7673

Thanksgiving weekend proved to be a big day for the town of Greenwood/Elk. The new owners of the Elk Store said they had some of the busiest days yet. The Elk Gas Station pumped a lot of gas in part due to their new lowered prices. Leslie Lawson said that one day, Bridget Dolan's provided about forty more dinners than they usually do. Gang busters! I know all the inns were full.

Speaking of Bridget Dolan's. They have now posted their new winter hours. They are going to be open seven days a week! Now those are the kind of winter hours I like.

Wednesdays, when they use to be closed, will now feature darts and pizza. Mondays will feature Mexican food! Just a wee change for an Irish Pub. Sunday afternoon/evening live music. Open every day 3:00 on.

Jim Muto closed down his Nighttime Cafe, Somewhere in Elk. He is going to try his hand at some other endeavors and we wish him well.

The Greenwood Pier Cafe is serving dinner with reduced prices for locals, Friday and Saturdays from 6 'til 9. Lunch on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 11 'til 3:30. Isabel says they will continue this schedule until the bank loan comes through, around the first of the year, when they will close down for a face lift.

Isabel also reminded me that the Country Store is chock full of Christmas goodies for you shoppers out there. Come take a look and be surprised.

Speaking of Christmas, Prue Wilcox reminded me that the Greenwood Civic Club will erect the town tree this Wednesday, December 1st, or maybe Friday December 3rd, depending on the weather. The Tree will be in front of the Roadhouse Cafe this year instead of the old Post Office/Visitor Center entry way. Next year they hope to have erected a live tree in front of the new post office which will be used each holiday season from then on.

Greenwood/Elk's Annual Holiday crafts fair will be at the Elk Community Center December 4th and 5th. Open from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

December 10th, Friday evening there will be the annual Holiday Program at the Community Center, starting at 7:00 PM. This year will feature a multinational celebration with something for everyone.

Now, before I escape all this madness and head for Baja, do I dare ask what that lovely town to the north, Albion, is up to for the Christmas season?

NOT.

December 9, 1993

I go home to write my column and find my answering machine light blinking. Seems some of the locals are upset over something Bruce Anderson wrote in his Anderson Valley Advertiser. Something about Elk needing "an ethnic cleansing and a drive by shooting". I understand there will be a letter to the editor addressing this comment elsewhere in this paper. Myself, it seems to me that anytime you respond to something Bruce writes you just add to what he claims to be all about; "Feeding the flames of discontent". Who needs it.

I don't know, seems like there is all kinds of uproar around lately.

The State Parks wouldn't allow the town Christmas tree to be located in its usual place, the entryway to the visitor center, so Bob and Sue Matson offered the deck of the Roadhouse., which is fine except, you can hardly see it and the wind keeps blowing the ornaments off.

There has been an ongoing beef about the lights being on at night in the New Post Office, even though the building is not in use yet. Some folks taped cardboard over the offending windows, blocking the offending light. The next day the contractor of the building tears the cardboard back off. Back and forth. Talk of using infra-red sensors to turn on the lights, when needed at night, seems to fall on deft ears.

And then it seems there is a problem over the color of the new Post office shingles and exterior paint. The contractor has about had it with this project and who can blame him.

In the background, and farther afield to all this, has been the ongoing search and sad story of Polly Klass. A sadness and frustration which covers us like a fog. The radio, TV, and print media has been on this like a feeding frenzy. Bad news seems to hold our collective attention and shrink us further into ourselves and yet...

Last evening I watched a man and a woman replace solar panels on the Hubbell Telescope. In the background I could see the land mass of Africa, wispy clouds and the Red Sea move slowly by. Every ninety six minutes they traveled around the earth passing into night and again back into daylight. The damaged solar panel the woman finally held up in her hands weighed over four hundred pounds. She, the panel, the robotic arm she was standing on, and the space shuttle were traveling over five thousand miles per minute. She gently let go of the panel and it gracefully tumbled away into the distance, to be eventually burnt up when re-entering to the earth's atmosphere, a year from now.

The human condition. So filled with frustration and despair on the one hand and bright with promise on the other. Strange times. I guess it all depends on what you decide to focus on.

Erna Smith and her sister, Midge, will open their proposed used book store and gift shop for coffee and cookies, these two weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They would like your ideas and suggestions and offer you a chance to see how things have progressed so far. They have some Christmas items which makes their place another possible source for Christmas Gift ideas. Stop by and check it out.

My uninformed source tells me that there was a rather good turn out for the Holiday craft fair at the Community Center last weekend. "Folks were even buying things"! My source claimed there ought to be a law against letting the Elk Altar Society set up the table of baked Christmas goodies, cookies, upside down cake, etc., next to the entry way. "The wonderful smell caused me to spend all my money right there before I got to look at anything else!"

Finally, don't forget this Friday Evening, December 10th at 7PM. The Annual Holiday Program at the Elk Community Center. A Multinational Celebration with something for everyone.

P.S. A correction.

Last week I mentioned that Greenwood/Elk had used one million gallons of water in one year. Well, I was off a little wee bit. Actually I was only nine million gallons off. The correct number should have been ten million gallons! Which means we have an average usage of 342 gallons per hook-up, per day. Seems I missed a zero somewhere. Sorry.

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