Category Archives: Festivals

A Glorious Fourth In Eureka

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Or the past few years I has been my pleasure to volunteer to staff the Humboldt Democrats’ booth at the  Fourth of July street fair in Old Town. With the exception of the Rhody Parade, I can’t think of a more “Eureka Moment” in the local calendar.

Our booth was across from the Chapala so we were at the opposite end from the GOP booth.  We had a lot more traffic than they did because we had life-size cardboard cutouts of Hilary, Bernie and Obama and everyone wanted to take selfies with them.  I had thought about getting a Trump piñata (you can order them online HERE ) but didn’t.

Everyone in town was there and everyone came by.  John Fullerton, Linda Atkins,  Matt Owen sporting an “I LIke Eureka ” ballcap, Kim Bergel helping exhibitors find their spaces.  We registered several newbies to Humboldt including a nice couple from Mariposa. The kids in the booth next to us were from Teen Challenge and if they do everything as competently as they do their tri tip sandwiches I can see why people hire them.  I’m not a big meat eater but their sandwich was delicious.

Bob and Pam Service, Sylvia Scott, Peggy Dickinson  and Jon Yalcinkaya  registered voters.  I had one man ask where he could see the candidates’ debates in view of the fact that he didn’t own a TV, or have  access to the internet.  I asked him to call the Democratic HQ (445-3366) since we will surely have a showing.  It was a good day.

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The Season of Wonder and Light? Bah, humbug.

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They call it the Season of Wonder and Light? I call it the dark-ass end of the year. It comes too soon and even with the extended weekend we had this year, it’s over too soon. I love having the Christmas tree up and lights on the house and I don’t feel like taking them down yet. Christmas lights should be left up at least until Chinese/Lunar New Year. Or Easter.  Call me a redneck, that’s how I feel. I’m lovin’ my lights.

JOIN US! Leave your lights up! Turned on!! How long will you last till peer pressure gets the  better of you? Let us know,

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HALLOWE’EN LIGHTS AND SIGHTS IN EUREKA 2015

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I put out a request on the NextDoor website asking for locations with Hallowe’en lights or displays worth driving by. This is what has been reported so far. Enjoy! and watch out for little goblins.

Cedar Street past the corner of Cypress (the Cedar Street near Lundbar Hills, not the Cedar Street downtown)

Corner of “H” and Manzanita

3400 Block of “K” between Hodgson and Manzanita

London Drive on Humboldt Hill

Herrick between Noe and Bay Pointe (Don’t miss this one! Several figures)

Corner of Chester and Harrison- Spooks dancing around a tree. Excellent!

and everyone’ s favorite, Hodgson Street just before W Street. 

Just In from NN: “We are trying our first ever “Haunted Pathway” this year at our house! It’s not a haunted house per se, but it’s 50ft of Halloween fun with some entertainment, music, and an ending that will leave a lasting impression! Try out your courage, and you will surely be rewarded for your efforts at the end.

South end of D street in Eureka! Just follow the music =).”

 

Finally, I picked up a flyer at the Fresh Freeze which advertises “The Haunted Ghost Ship” which looks an awful lot like the Madaket.  The Ghost Ship will be open Friday and Saturday only from 6 to 10 pm for those 12 years and older, in flat shoes, admission “$10 per soul”.   Tickets sold on the dock at the foot of Commercial Street.  This is a joint presentation of the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum. the Humboldt Bay Air/Sea Naval Museum and the crew of the Madaket. They have a Facebook page right HERE. 

Please write in to share your favorites!  HAPPY HALLOWE’EN!.

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Tower Bridge Fundraiser Sells Out In 15 Seconds

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Sacramento’s Tower Bridge is the venue for a farm-to-fork dinner coming up on September 27 which sold out nearly 700 tickets in 15 seconds. That can happen with online fundraising.  Ticket prices ranged from $175 to $625, and the Sac Convention & Visitors Bureau’s CEO was heard wishing he had a bigger bridge to work with.

Now I’m NOT for one minute suggesting we have a dinner on the Samoa Bridge. People would be shivering so hard the structural integrity would be threatened.  But I think the concept of using an unlikely venue is a great one.  Isn’t everyone tired of the Wharfinger? Everyone is tired of seeing men traipse around in high heels, too. It stopped being funny about forty years ago when women quit wearing them. 

We have some great possibilities here.  The Timber Heritage Society has rolling stock at Samoa that could be used for excursion runs to Eureka. What about the recently closed fire station near Myrtle/West? Everyone loves fire stations. For that matter, what about the OLD fire station on J Street near Eureka High? That is a really neat building inside. Maybe you could charge for giving people a chance to slide down the pole. Hey, I’m trying. 

My point is, before you plan another pancake breakfast or car wash, think about our unique resources and use them as intelligently as the folks in Sac have done. They’re just like us, except they have more money. 

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OYSTER FESTIVAL-Too Big For the Plaza?

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It was only a couple of days before Saturday’s Festival that I took a really good look at the festival map. I discovered to my horror that the powers-that-be at Arcata Main Street had decided to eliminate the parking lot/shuttle stop on Samoa Boulevard down around K Street “due to not enough use”, as the staffer told me when I called to complain. Their revised plan was to cut off access to the Plaza from the North so that anyone who rode the shuttles and got off at their stops on 11th Street had to walk all the way down to 7th Street to get access.

I know three extra blocks doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re (hopefully temporarily) disabled as I am that’s a real issue. I’m using a cane due to a recent knee replacement and three blocks is beyond my comfort zone so I called Arcata Main Street and spoke with a nice person who directed me to their “ADA parking” off 7th Street. Those dear folks, with all the good intentions in the world, had set side a big fat 16 parking spaces for a festival expected to attract 16,000 oyster fans. Even the person I was speaking to realized how silly that sounded. I don’t recall the actually ADA setasides for outdoor Festivals but it’s a helluva lot more than 1 in 1000. 

So we ended up showing up at before 8am in order to get a closeby parking space. In a way, it was great because by the time the Plaza got hot and crowded, we were ready to go home. On the other hand, when you leave at noon you miss a lot of stuff.  I found myself wondering WHY the Festival is on the Plaza in the first place. There’s no connection between the Plaza and the Oysters and the Festival disrupts the Farmers’ Market every year. Moving it to the Community Center would lost the “Festival” aspect. The Festival should be held on the BAY!!  Woodley Island isn’t part of Arcata Main Street’s domain plus it’s too small and getting everyone on and off the island would be a nightmare.  But looking ahead to an era when lots of interesting developments are coming up in Samoa, I hope that one day the Festival will expand its footprint,  reducing the congestion.  We can only hope.

Congratulations to AMS and their volunteers for another successful Festival, but let’s put a little more thought into the arrangements next year. 

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SUPPORT THE LETTER CARRIERS’ FOOD DRIVE

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Tomorrow, Saturday May 9, you have two painless opportunities to do something good for the community. Take that plastic bag that was left for you earlier this week, or any other bag, fill it with food for those in need, and set it out for your letter carrier to pick up tomorrow. Save gas! Save hassle! Help someone!

This is a huge undertaking.  Last year’s NALC (National Association of Letter Carriers) food drive netted 43,409 pounds of food, which amounted to a third of all food donations received by Food for People last year. Food for People helped 12,000 people in Humboldt County last year,  half of whom were children. 10% of our population needs help to have regular meals. You all know the statistics.  They translate into hungry seniors and kids, among others. 

Those of you who have the pleasure of knowing me know that I never give a party without setting out a can for FFP donations. One of my neighbors used to bring over all her expired food.  She’s passed away now but when I think of her, that’s the first thing that comes to mind, that she was chintzy with the food drive. Don’t be that guy! Fill up those bags! (I use Grocery Outlet) and give till it hurts.  Then to reward yourself cruise by the Zoo and enjoy the Brew at the Zoo from 4-8pm.  Another great weekend in Humboldt!

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Have Kids? Take Them to ACV June 9th.

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In a local version of the Harmonic Convergence, our still NOT renamed airport will host BOTH the Wings of Freedom air meeting AND the Goodyear blimp on Tuesday June 9.  The Wings of Freedom event offers a chance to tour vintage Word War II aircraft,  and the blimp!! Well, what can you say about the blimp other than that it is the most recognizable American icon, apart from the Statue of Liberty. 

The festivities actually start on the 8th and the exact date of the blimps’ arrival is unclear (it takes several days to get here from Long Beach) .  Check the papers or  the Fly Humboldt Facebook page for updates.

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The RCMF 2014

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Before the memories have faded, I wanted to say something about the Redwood Coast Music Festival,  formerly the Jazz Festival,  that wrapped up a couple of weeks ago. This year we had the added pleasure of being able to show out-of-town friends why Humboldt is so special. 

The headliners were a mixed bag. Dana Fuchs was very theatrical, very talented but left us cold. Curtis Delgado,  on the other hand, was a complete knockout, and I can’t believe I’d never heard of the guy. He has several songs on You Tube. Other knockouts included the Au Brothers and Miskha Lake, both from New Orleans. 

Then there were the dancers. Ah, the dancers.  How do they learn that stuff? And the kids!  If I had learned to dance like that as a kid…You look around and there are a few faces missing from last year. But there are always the kids.  And there will always be more. 

The Music Festival is expected to raise $300,000 for local causes this year. What a wonderful way to spend a Spring weekend1  See you next year.