Thanks to Neighborhood Watch for PANCAKES!!

Neighborhood Watch Volunteers fixing a delicious Pancake Breakfast before the parade.

Neighborhood Watch Volunteers fixing a delicious Pancake Breakfast before the parade.

Bigfoot jamboree is a great time to enjoy a Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes, eggs (done just the way you like them) and all the other good stuff!

The Elementary School was the scene of the Pancake Breakfast this year on August 31th. Just in time to have a hearty breakfast and then go see the BIGFOOT JAMBOREE parade

Seiad Day before the Fire!!

Dave Timbrook Drove in the Seiad Day Parade!!

Dave Timbrook Drove in the Seiad Day Parade!!

Saturday, was Seiad Valley Day and the parade started at 10. There was a mobile home fire late last night and all the Seiad Volunteer Fire Department was there to fight it. Thankfully, there were no injuries or deaths among the people. Engines from the Happy Camp Complex Fire joined the local Crew and kept the fire out of the woods.

Only one of the Seiad Fire Trucks was in the Parade as the Fire Chief Tom Mopas let them go home to bed instead!! Sensible move I thought, they no doubt needed the rest! Tim Pinkos and Barbara Geidel were in the Seiad Valley Fire Truck leading the parade. Roy Hetherington drove his beautiful 1953 Bentley. It is quite the beautiful car! Dave Timbrook was out of his wheelchair driving his orange 44 Model B Allis Chambers Tractor thanks to the guys who didn’t want him to miss driving in the parade this year!! Thanks for the cooperative effort!! Patrick Ayres was driving his 1942 Jeep and Jim Dwyer came next in his 1930 Model A Ford.

Bob Humphries was there with his tractor which had the Chicken Poop Bingo!! It was a busy week for him and the teachers coming back from the summer with in-service training. On Wednesday’s trip to Mount Shasta the white school van had been run into by a bear! Margaret Colas, the new High School Principal, was concerned about the bear, but it had run off. Bob told her another bear had been killed by collusion on the road the next morning as well. This is a cautious time to watch for the wildlife that acts upset and confused by all the smoke and fearful as well.

Next in the parade there was a John Deere’s “Club,” Rick Jones, Richard and West Timbrook. Tom Mopas, parade announcer said the next was the Seiad Calvary! It was Bill Roberts, Peggy Goshgarian and Chris Olson under original Horsepower—horses and mule train coming down the street. I should have had names of the horses and mules, as I’ve forgotten their names since Bill introduced then. Maybe that’s okay, they probably don’t read the paper anyway so I hope tha

Bob Humphries Chicken Poop Bingo game

Bob Humphries Chicken Poop Bingo game

t they won’t feel slighted!
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Lolly Jones was going to march for Adopt a Highway and encourage everyone to pick up litter, but got drafted to direct traffic for the parade as well. Last, but certainly not least came a CalTRans vehicle!

After the parade, the festivities at the Fire Hall in the center of Seiad Valley began. The little kids had wate-rslides and the bounce house to work off all their energy, and then snow cones and cotton candy to revive more energy. As if they need it!! We ordered a cheeseburger from Annie Buma as Larry Wright grilled the hamburgers and Cathy Bishop put them together. It was such fun as always to see our Klamath Neighbors who we don’t get opportunity to visit with often enough.

Editor’s note: It was also great to have that happy time just before the Frying Pan and Falkstein wildfires of the Happy Camp Complex got more active resulting in advisory and mandatory evacuations. Seiad Valley residents had that experience last year with the Fort Goff fire and I hope that it doesn’t happen again. As far as I know, no structures have been lost to this time and out thoughts and prayers are with out neighbors!

Neighborhood Watch Meeting

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Leaders in the Neighborhood Watch: Randy White, Lisa Scott, Becky Tiraterra, Doreen Mitchell and Deputy David Nye welcome volunteers to help keep the Klamath River Neighborhood free from crime!


After a busy weekend. Monday was the Neighborhood Watch scheduled meeting. Last month the Neighborhood Watch started to advance in organizing the group. . Lisa Scott agreed to serve as President of the Neighborhood Watch and we greatly appreciate her willingness to volunteer and help! She will be joined by Randy White who is working in security areas for the Karuk Housing to be the vice president and we appreciate Randy being willing to share his professional acumen with us. Becky Tiraterra has the major concern for the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Doreen Mitchell will serve as Secretary/Treasurer and liason with Karen Derry of the Happy Camp Famiy Resource Center. Deputy David Nye has served as Deputy Dare and also helped the community to get the Neighborhood Watch off the ground.

Since our busy training session on a hot weekend in the summer, there has been continued interest in having more training for the CERT. A CPR Class is in the planning stages so if you are interested, the more people in the community that are prepared for such an emergency the safer our Klamath neighbors, and our own families are. It was also decided to have a Saturday training session on Patol and that will be coming up soon so be sure to sign up.

Please consider whether you can become involved in some small way or large in the work of helping your friends and neighbors in the Neighborhood Watch.

There have been things that need keeping an eye on, such as the disappearance of the Cemetery Flag, that need watching.

Happy Camp Community Resource Team is Ready to Go!

Happy Camp CERT Training Class, July 2013

Thanks to Doreen Mitchell and Deputy Dave Nye and all the instructors especially Lynn Corliss, Linda Nellist, Jerry Havac, Flo Lopez and Dale Bridges, who taught members of our community how to help in the case of an emergency. As members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) we don’t do the job of the the professional sheriff deputies, fire or ambulance and EMT people in an emergency. We have had the introduction to a system that will help our community assist these trained professional workers in order to help ourselves in the case of a natural disaster or other horrific event.
It was a very busy weekend. The weather was hot and we had to go out in it to extricate a victim from debris that had fallen upon him or her (it is hard to tell with a dummy). We suited up in hard hats, goggles, vests, gloves and knee pads as that is what disaster workers need to do as safety is constantly emphasized in the training. One incident where CERT teams saved over 700 victims also found that those who came to help also had about a hundred accidents! Since that diverts much needed help to heal or medical care, the first and most important rule constantly mentioned is to keep yourself safe.
Indeed, if there were to be a flood, wildfire, earthquake, tsunami, or something like the snow storm that isolated many Happy Camp residents last winter, the first thing to do for each of the volunteers is to be sure their home and family are safe before going to a central location to begin helping to evaluate and gather information on the needs of the community. That’s only common sense. You can’t help others otherwise. A CERT volunteer works as a team, with a leader, scribe, medical person and other positions as may be needed. By the end of the third day we had a real great comradeship among all the friendly classmates and were able to learn from each other’s questions and experiences also.
Having a backpack ready to go with protective gear, first aid supplies and other helpful items is our next project and the instructors contributed to our store of supplies with daily drawings for tools, and other things for the kit.
Have you ever used a fire extinguisher? Rather than wait until we are in the emergency situation where we desperately need the fire extinguisher, we tried it out and learned how to operate this tool without taking time to read the instructions at a time when it is needed! I’m grateful for Catherine Meinert who was my backup in putting out a fire in the elementary school playground and I did the same for her next. Rachel Lent put splints on my broken arm and leg and monitored whether I was having difficulty breathing, bleeding or going into shock! This sort of practice made us feel more comfortable knowing what we would need to do in the case of an actual emergency.
Our group of volunteers who took the course were as varied as the Klamath River Community. We had young men, Eric Paul, Justin Smith, Kris Martin, David Poeschel and Aaron Martin who excelled in the practical exercises. We had new comers to Happy Camp like Catherine Huggins who’s been here 7 months and Catherine Meinert who returned to her roots here. We had Dan Effman, a Chamber Board member, and Kris McGraw who recently joined the Chamber. We had people who didn’t even know we had a Neighborhood Watch as well as long time volunteers with the program like Mike and Becky Tiraterra, Dan Effman and Tara Haute.Some like Russ Scohy had to hurry off to feed his critters at the end of class. Lisa West had some delicious baking to do for the Deli. Some of the students had more experience with first aid CPR and other training that could be helpful, and our very own Flo Lopez from the River is a trainer with many years experience from when she worked with Wes and Marion Curtis and instructed us in this training. We all learned something new and I know that I learned many new things!
One of the most interesting parts of the training is what we are NOT equipped to handle. If there should be a terrorism event locally, the expert law enforcement officials would be the one to handle that type of disaster, although we might be of help in keeping eyes and ears open for suspicious activity. If there is a hazardous spill on the Klamath River Highway, there would likewise be the need for experts to deal with the situation, but by recognizing the signs we would know to stay away from the hazard.
Some of the instruction was very scientific such as the faults that cause earthquakes and what could cause Mt. Shasta fifty miles to our east to become an active volcano. Some training was about medical issues by public health workers, with updates in not applying tourniquet except as a last ditch effort. Some are old problems, wildfires, and floods that have happened along the Klamath River for eons of time. Some are newly recognized dangers such as the tsunami warnings fifty miles to the west of us at the Pacific Ocean or terrorism events. Even the physiological and psychological stesses on individuals and how to counteract these stresses were part of the training. This is only the introduction to further training that will be held on a monthly basis by David Nye and others who have more to teach us. If you are interested in how to be a great help to our community in case of a great need, be sure to plan to attend the August 19th Neighborhood Watch meeting in Happy Camp.

MAY Gov’t to Gov’t Coordination Meeting

Wednesday evening was also a Happy Camp Coordinating Committee of Government to Government meeting. The panel there was from the Forest Service, Community Services District, Fire District and Happy Camp Elementary School as well as Buster Attebery from the Karuk Tribe. The importance of getting input during comment opportunities about proposed Forest Service projects was emphasized. Buster Attebery, Tribal Chairman, shared that the 2010 Ordinance makes consultation with the Tribe not only desirable, but they “must” consult with the Tribe. Several projects and possible shut downs of local sales were discussed and will be further researched. It was appreciated how tribal ecological knowledge and that of other local long time residents would be invaluable to the successful efforts to improve the forests for the vegetation, wildlife habitat, jobs and fire safety. The heavy load of forest fuels for coming fires in the dry summer seemed to be a universal a concern of all those participating.

Several questions were also asked about Siskiyou County Roads work from Bill Lahue. He mentioned that not being able to afford update equipment, and the price of materials like asphalt continue to rise. We may take the Road Department for granted, but it would be quite serious if we had no one to plow the roads when we have a serious snow incident such as we did at the end of December last year! Tentative date for the next Coordination Meeting is June 25th at 6:30 at the Grange.

Chamber’s Annual Elections 2013

Next week is the Annual Meeting for the Happy Camp Chamber of Commerce. This is the 27th year that the Chamber has been working to promote the business and commerce and quality of life of Happy Camp and the Highway 96 Klamath Corridor!

Membership renewals are up and we’ve been happy to see people stopping by the office next to the Post office to ask for membership forms in order to join or renew. Keeping the office full of business cards and brochures of local attractions makes it a wonderful place for visitors to our community to stop in for information.

We also get phone calls and e-mails with people asking where to get Wi-Fi, when the road is open, where to stay, where to eat, and what there is to do in the area. It is great to be able to help those who call.

We recently had a call from the Cloverdale Historical Society that wanted to contact the widow of our former dentist, Dr. Harold Ives, We were glad to be able to help him contact the family and find out that Ellie is in Missouri. Dr. Ives’ dental office in Cloverdale before he came to Happy Camp was in a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and since that area is celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright next week, they needed more information.

We are also happy to have local visitors to the Happy Camp Chamber office. We have some copies of photographs of life on the Klamath River in olden days. We really appreciate when people stop by and identify persons in the pictures, and sometimes can tell us what event is depicted and other details about the photo. We wish we could get people to stop by and tell us all their memories of Happy Camp and life along the Klamath River as it helps a great deal.

We also have Naturegraph books and other items for sale, Of course, our best sellers are “Dear Mad’m” by Stella Patterson and the rest of the story of Stella’s life by her grandnephew and his wife, “Dear Mad’m Who Was She?” by Peter and Elizabeth Lismer. We also get requests for “Land of the Grasshopper Song” The newest young adult novel is by a local author, “River Girl” is by Linda J. Martin. It’s the story of a young girl and her brother who moves to Happy Camp and the adventures that she experiences, people she meets and what she learns.

If you would like to join the Chamber and work together to promote and encourage business, commerce and quality of life for citizens of Happy Camp and the Highway 96 Klamath River Corridor, give the Chamber volunteer a call 4923-2900 weekday afternoons or leave a message on the machine any time. Thank you for the way the community cares and works together in such a wonderful way!

Not only did we celebrate George Washington’s Birthday recently, but this is a busy time for birthdays along the Klamath River also! Ryan wanted me to say Happy Birthday to Mitch Hokanson. Happy Birthday Mitch! A bunch of teenagers were abroad in Happy Camp last Saturday night in celebration of this important milestone! They were looking for a bunch of unusual things: a pink toothbrush, a pine cone. OK, a pine cone isn’t unusual in Happy Camp with all the trees. It is unusual for the kids to be looking for one! Didn’t find out how it went.. Hope the Scavenger Hunt was successful!!

Thursday two important ladies at Happy Camp High School will also be celebrating their birthdays, Happy Birthday Dorie and we miss you! And Robyn Eadie is also having a birthday on the same day. Robyn celebrated by bringing her pennies for the bank at Happy Camp Christian Fellowship on Sunday so perhaps this is birthday week. Might as well celebrate all week, if one must get older.

At our house we celebrated Thanksgiving Sunday since we didn’t have a birthday.. The calendar may not say November, but there are always so many blessings for which to be grateful that we can do it all year round! Actually, son, Stephen, and Geneva went to visit her brothers and family in November and planned to have a Thanksgiving Dinner with us at a later time. They came up in December for that meal, and there was no electricity which made cooking on the electric range difficult so it was again put off. Sunday we had the turkey, potatoes & gravy, and finished up with apple pie alamode. Then the younger set invited us to go for a walk up ‘Curly Jack Road and we took along my Aussie, Adom, who loved the exercise.

Then Dan, Hubby, took a nap and I’m typing away to you. The younger set is still energetic and went on a hike the other way on Curly Jack to visit a friend.

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