Town Meeting: Jefferson Proposal Discussions

Happy Camp is our town!

Happy Camp is our town!

Thanks to those who came out for the Community Solutions and Neighborhood Watch meeting Monday evening. It was great to have Deputy David Nye with us again and he brought Deputy Dennis Mellum with him!

Deputy Mellum has been Deputy Dare for most of our children and was involved with Happy Camp Neighborhood Watch when it was tremendously successful in the past. You will not want to miss the September 9th meeting when a chairperson is elected and Neighborhood Watch launches forth with renewed enthusiasm!!

Thanks to those who came out and supported the Town Meeting the previous week also. It was great to have our Sheriff, Jon Lopey, with us and despite the good size crowd, he committed to let everyone who had a topic to discuss would be heard. This was appreciated.

Even though the meeting began at 6 and didn’t wrap up until 9:30 there were many things discussed that needed to be brought up for solutions. Thanks to Doreen and Becky for posting information, as well as Nadine who e-mailed to get people informed. So grateful when Becky Tiraterra brought in platters of watermelon and grapes! Javabob brought the coffee machine ready to go, Dan Effman had BBQ hot dog slices and other Chamber members provided the cookies. Doreen made the lemonade and we were so grateful for the Grange providing the place to meet. Thank you Ruth!

If you are curious about the Jefferson proposals, be sure to check out the information at the Grange tonight (Tuesday evening) at 6 at the Grange.

Tomorrow school begins for the elementary school, Wednesday, August 21 while the high schoolers start next Monday, August 26th. Still it is that time of year!

Do you remember all of those first days of school?… What are your memories of heading back to school? In An Old Man’s Thought of School, Walt Whitman writes,

“An old man’s thought of school,
An old man gathering youthful memories and blooms that youth itself cannot.
Now only do I know you,
O fair auroral skies–O morning dew upon the grass!
And these I see, these sparkling eyes,
These stores of mystic meaning, these young lives,
Building, equipping like a fleet of ships, immortal ships,
Soon to sail out over the measureless seas,
On the soul’s voyage.”

Happy Camp

Happy Camp, as seen from the Town Trail

Seiad Day is Saturday, August 24th. Don’t miss the parade there!!

Bigfoot Jamboree is Saturday, August 30, 31 and September 1st which is the Disney parade! (See bigfootjamboree.org)

Dear Mad’m Days is coming soon, October 11-13 (friendsofdearmadm.com)

Thank you for your active interest in our community!!

Empty Handed

April 11, 2013

One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most.
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.

Then I walked earth’s highway grieving,
In my rags and poverty;
‘Til I heard His voice inviting:
Lift your empty hands to me.

So I held my hands toward Heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches,
‘Til they could contain no more.

Then at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God could not pour out His riches
Into hands already full.

-Martha Snell Nicholson

Coming Empty handed

One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most.
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.

Then I walked earth’s highway grieving,
In my rags and poverty;
‘Til I heard His voice inviting:
Lift your empty hands to me.

So I held my hands toward Heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches,
‘Til they could contain no more.

Then at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God could not pour out His riches
Into hands already full.

-Martha Snell Nicholson

The High School Built of Logs Poem

We are grateful to Bill Gates ‘37
author of this poem for sharing it!

Where the Indian met the Klamath, and the Klamath flowed to the sea,
Through the canyons and the chasms full of magic mystery
Where old Preston towered o’er Baldy an Baldy towered o’re Cade
And Cade looked down on a little town in a lovely little glade.
There in the summer sunshine and in the winter fogs
Was the most wonderful of high schools, entirely built of logs.

Still the Klamath meets the Indian where the float is flecked with foam
And the salmon and the steelhead search the shallows for a home
Still the pines and fir and cedars cast their cooing, soothing shade
On the hamlet queer and the high school dear in that lovely little glade.
Now I am old and far removed and my reverting memory fogs
Built I still return affection for my high school built of logs.

For Information on the Log Memorial Building that was built with community effort in 1933 see Community page.

Local Poet Published in the Book of Hope

Judi Armbruster, known locally for Bigfoot Cookies and the poetic meditations she leaves on Happy Camp bulletin boards, had her work chosen for an international publication commemorating the 911 disaster in New York City.

The Book of Hope compiles the inspired work of numerous poets from around the world. The anthology starts with a poem by the Dali Lama and ends with Judi’s poem, Meditation.

On May 18 the St. Agnes Library in New York City hosted a reading of this poetry. Editor Birgitta Jonsdottir from Iceland and twenty contributors read from the companion anthologies, The World Healing Book and The Book of Hope. Although Judi couldn’t attend, she had a friend, Candice Falloon, there to read her poem.

“The anthologies were a direct response to the fall of the towers and its outcome around the world. Major poets, artists, writers, and spiritual leaders contribute to the books with their thoughts and anyone reading the two books will hopefully feel joy, hope and understanding,” said editor Birgitta Jonsdottir.

The two anthologies are published by Beyond Borders, an Icelandic publishing house. Additional information can be found at http://this.is/poems/hope.

Judi, a descendant of natives Ah Ish K’ and “Shorty”, came home to Karuk ancestral land a few years ago after living in Sacramento. Her father, Weldon Edward Brannan, was a member of the Karuk Tribe.