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Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Mattole Notes

by Marian Hoyle

A dead male sperm whale washed up onto the beach at the mouth of the river a while back. It’s always sad when these things happen, but it does provide an opportunity for whale researchers to gain a wealth of information. Several people, including Irene Wallace who delivered an early picture to a Eureka newspaper, managed to get some great photos before the HSU investigatory slice and dice team arrived on the scene.

Lorene Etter was honored at a memorial for her, held at the Mattole elementary school library. A lot of planning went into this event, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much advance publicity. The Cat in the Hat (Andrew Nash) made a delightful appearance and read to the kids. Several tributes to Lorene were also read, and people shared cute stories about her. Debbi Sholes is painting a special sign for outside of the library, and this should be installed soon. Lorene served as school librarian for many years and served as a positive influence for the children under her care. It is really appropriate that the library be dedicated to her.

After a filling pancake breakfast at the grange on Sunday last, a large contingent of Honeydew firefighters and friends met outdoors (where else?) to roast and toast Steve Bowser, a remarkable board member and their chief financial officer. Many people commented on his dedication and service to his community. A quiet, unassuming and highly competent man, Steve has been an active volunteer with the group for twenty years and is anticipating some calmer days ahead in retirement with his wife, Souza.

Yay-hey, the turkey vultures are back, and even though some say they don’t migrate, we never see any in the dark days of Winter. You can spot these huge birds, soaring through the skies on almost any given day now. Ugly they may be on the ground, they do a great job in cleaning up the countryside. Any animal that can eat the carcass of a rabid skunk and leave little more than a whiff of stink in its place has my vote for American bird.

The kids from Mattole Elementary, Triple Junction High and Independent Study joined together to share their projects at a Science Fair at the beginning of the month. Everyone enjoyed a potluck lunch and a demonstration of Motion and Force from high school teacher, Burt. Gordon Hunt’s students have gone on to HSU to enter their project which involves using mushroom spores to clean up diesel spills. The schools also had a visit from guest poet, Dan Levinson, who spent two weeks, teaching poetry as part of a GATE project.

Thursday, 17 January 2008

Mattole Notes

by Marian Hoyle

Joe and Irene Wallace hosted a great pre-Christmas party at their beautifully decorated home up near Prosper Ridge. The weather was a bit cold, but the views are always oustanding from their deck. Lots of delicious food made some of us start thinking about those resolutions a bit early. It was a fine way to usher in the season and put everyone in the mood.

Christmas lights were seen at several locations throughout the valley. Carson Morgan said that since his house made the newspaper last year, he was going to have to go out and buy more lights this season. The Madsen and Littleton homes near the park were lighted as well as the Trower and Evans places further up the road. The newer LED lights use far less electricity, so perhaps this indicates a return to the old days when many more homes were illuminated.

The Mattole Valley Women's Club held their annual Christmas party a few Tuesdays ago. The date is always tweaked to allow Terry Strong, well known man about town, to attend. Besides, Terry always gives us calendars. The women pot-lucked their lunch and played The Game. The game is an almost knock-down drag-out funny experience which is in direct contrast to the warm and caring concern we show the rest of the year. Needless to mention, you do NOT want to get between one of these ladies and a gift. A hilarious time was had by all.

The valley was saddened to lean about the death of Ray Azevedo. Ray served as teacher and teacher/principal at Mattole Elementary for 27 years. A memorial is planned for January 19 at 1 p.m. at Mattole Elementary.

There was a Neighborhood Emergency Services Team meeting at the Petrolia Community Center. The NEST list was generated years ago and divides Petrolia into neighborhoods, each with its own coordinator. Every person in that neighborhood is listed with a telephone number. The idea is to have the list ready so that people could be contacted after a major disaster to be sure that everyone is accounted for. We can also be warned of any upcoming emergency in order to increase individual preparedness. It is important to have this plan in place before anything happens. The present list is being extended upriver and will eventually include Honeydew. Ken Young guided the coordinators through their lists to insure that all the information is accurate and up-to-date.

The Wildcat Road almost claimed a fatality last week. John Isom thinks he hit that series of large pot-holes which threw his truck out of control, and he rolled. He was taken to Redwood for repairs and observation and is happy to be walking and talking, considering the beating he took in the accident.

Harold Hough and Bev Cardwell rounded off the holiday season with a New Year's Eve party at the Hough Ranch. The Upriver Social Club and many friends were in attendance. Fortunately the witching hour starts at 9 p.m. on the East Coast so many of the participants were home in their beds well in advance of midnight here. You can tell this is a wild bunch. Happy New Year to all!