Page 41 - Sonoma County Gazette - May, 2018

Well, hello there ya’ll—I can’t quite fathom that another month
has rolled by already, but here we are. The Fool’s Parade was awesome as always, I love that my home-town can still bring out the freaks and weirdo’s in profusion. Many thanks to the Hubbub Club for leading the silliness around town and to good old mother nature for cooperating with decent weather. I don’t know their name, but the band who played in front of Hand Goods was great as well. Kudos to the Arts Center folks and their inclusion of the Bill Wheeler tribute song, nice touch.
Dear Gazette Readers, I need help. As you may recall, I have signed
up to participate in Climate Ride California 2018. On May 20th through 24th I will be part of a 150 person group riding our bicycles from Fortuna to San Francisco (apprx. 320 miles) to raise awareness and funds for charities that are involved in efforts to combat climate change, and environmental/social justice issues. These non-profits are doing good work around our county, state and world. All participants agree to raise at least $3,000—my personal fund-raising goal is $3,900 as that is my current age. Please help me to reach (and surpass) my goal by visiting support.climateride.org/participant/5996 and making a tax-deductible donation, I and the planet (and some very worth causes) thank you. Any donation large or small is much appreciated. My training and fund-raising are both coming along, but I definitely have work to do on both accounts in the next few weeks before the ride begins.
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One of the groups I am raising funds for is the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. They are engaged in all levels of bike advocacy around our county. They host bike safety clinics, bike give-aways, and work on improving access to safe biking options for the masses.
If you’ve been to one of these before, you know all this and wouldn’t miss it come heck or high water. It’s well worth the price of admission just for all the items above, without even remembering that your donation goes a long way toward funding our Volunteer Fire Department, and let me tell you we get our money’s worth. Living way out here in the forest has its many advantages, but as such we are a little more vulnerable to some things than city folk. Out here, the first responders are more critical than ever (as we all learned last fall), and they are our friends and neighbors in the VFD. It might even be a good idea to chat up a firefighter...about fire safety, of course. There is plenty we could all learn about defensible space, especially as we live in a forest.
Some big things are going on in Sonoma County bicycling possibilities currently. There are feasibility studies being conducted to install bike trails on the lower Russian River corridor, another between Sebastopol and Petaluma, and between Santa Rosa and Sonoma. Imagine how great it would be to be able to bicycle around these immense portions of our county in a safe fashion. Good for the people, good for the planet.
Now I would like to continue a thread I began last fall, in the October 2017 issue. In that issue, I shared a vignette from the biography of Melvin Cyrus “Boss” Meeker, in which he related the courtship of his wife Flavia in somewhat turgid prose (He gently put his arm around her waist, and offered that he possessed a great fortune). I was going to go on from there and tell the tale of how enterprising young Melvin, whose family was possessed
A donation to my climate ride account is also a donation to the SoCo Bicycle Coalition in the hopes that we can make these great trails a reality! If bikes aren’t your thing, your donations will also help fund the Ceres Project, Center for Climate Protection and the Nature Conservancy.
of no great advantages, pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, parlaying a meager bundle of cash from his carpentry earnings into a lumber empire so great that he gave the Bohemian Club their start by selling them a few acres.
OCA: May 5, 6, 11, 12 Occidental Community Choir Spring Concerts 2018 at the Art’s Center. 5, 11, 12 at 8pm, 6th at 3pm. $15 Adults. Kids 12 and under Free. Special discount price $10 for Community First Night May 5.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. That’s all true. But in researching the above, something struck me as odd. If you remember the 90’s, it was one of those things that “make you go ‘hmmmm.’”. What I found was this.
Also at the OCA, on Friday May 18th at 7pm: A special evening with Harvard professor and Occidental native Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of “How Democracies Die.” Q&A, book sales, reception—$5 admission. See the full article in this Gazette issue (page 30) for further details and background.
Melvin Meeker was born in 1841 in Essex County, New Jersey. He began work as an errand boy in a gristmill in Milltown, NJ when he was just eleven. By fourteen he was the foreman. At sixteen, he began service as an apprentice carpenter in Millburn. There he learned sawing, molding, ornamental trimming, and the trade of a sash, door, and blind maker. Then, in 1861, he came to California...Okay, hold the phone right there. Twenty year old Mel Meeker, picks up and moves to California in 1861.
Check out the newly spiffed up town mural when you get a chance, it looks great! Many thanks to Dave Gordon for his artistry. The directory has been updated, and directional information added for the roads leaving town.
What ELSE happened in 1861? Oh, a little dustup we like to call the Civil War. Or the War Between the States. Or, the War of Northern Aggression,
if you’re from the south. Or “the late unpleasantness” if you’re from the
DEEP south. In April 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and in response able- bodied young men from all over the country rushed to join ranks with their countrymen and fight the good fight.
The process of going around town to contact business owners and get updated information and donations was a lot of fun. It allowed me to play a little bit of tourist in my own town game. Not being one to frequent hair salons, I hadn’t been in Bala in many years. They have some absolutely gorgeous art- work in there that’s worth a look, while you’re there purchase some product or make an appointment for yourself (or a friend—great birthday present) with the wonderful ladies who run the place.
So...why didn’t Melvin? Twenty years of age, in the prime of his youth.
Why did he choose exactly then to skedaddle off to California? According to the Official Record, he came to California “as an escort to his sister, whose intended husband was already settled here.” Doesn’t that strike you as just a tad convenient? Young men his age were flocking to recruitment centers, but he had to escort his sister to California? And stay there? Hmmm.
A store I had never been in previously is Boho Bungalow, very cool! Lot’s of interesting stuff to check out and similar to Hand Goods, I think you could find something for anyone on your gift list. Boho Bungalow is about to open a 2nd location on Main St. in Sebastopol, congratulations and good luck to ya’ll! Don’t worry, I’ve been assured they aren’t leaving us, just expanding their reach.
Was that unusual? Over 88,000 soldiers in the Union Army were from New Jersey. Well, heck. As we know, the founder of Occidental, Dutch Bill Howard, was neither Dutch nor named Bill. He was in fact a Danish able seaman named Christopher Folkmann, until he jumped ship in San Francisco Bay one day in 1849. If Occidental can be founded by a ship jumper, I guess Camp Meeker can be founded by a draft dodger.
Department of Corrections: Anyone notice my planetary boo-boo last month? We on Planet Earth rotate around the sun once a year, not once a day, duh. Late night writing to make the press deadline leads to a little brain fog sometimes, bear with me dear readers. :)
t is early May as you read this, and there is plenty of time for you to mark your calendars for the Camp Meeker Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Memorial Day weekend pancake breakfast. It will be at the usual time
and place: Sunday, May 27 from 8 am to 1 pm at the Firehouse. There will
be the usual attractions: shiny red trucks, delicious pancakes, the high-tech rotating pancake cooker, raffle prize, fun and games for the kids, neighborly camaraderie, and maybe even Sparky the fire dog.
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