Page 41 - Sonoma County Gazette August 2019

The fog has lifted and my airy cyber-hut is surrounded by tall redwoods basking in the sun!
The dog days, they call ‘em in Saint Loouie, on account of the joys of grinding out pennant race baseball in the St. Louis heat. Hot August Nights, they call them in Reno on account of making the desert climate from a bug into a feature. Out here, we just call it summer, and summer is when Camp Meeker shines. It may be dog days and Hot Nights elsewhere in wine country, but under the shade of the Redwoods Camp Meeker sits quiet and cool. We got it made in the shade, baby. The only time we venture out from our sylvan glade is to partake of the summer festivities nearby. The Rodeo, the Civil War, VFD barbecues near and far, dunking in a quiet swimming hole up Austin Creek. Lather, rinse, and joyfully repeat.
It has been a busy summer and one of the most enjoyable events was the recent Salad Luncheon organized by the St. Colman’s Ladies’ Guild! This year this very festive fund-raiser was held at the splendid and spacious barn at Canelis’ Crow’s Peak Ranch. Over 100 attended, with great food, terrific raffle and gracious ambiance. All I can say is WOW!
The Cazadero Community Club reminds you that tickets for the fabulous Cazadero Old Time BBQ, Steak or Chicken with all of the fixins’ to be held
on Sunday, September 1st at the Performing Arts Camp, are now available from brownpapertickets.com/event/4229602. Presale is preferred. Pie
contest entrants should call Sallie at 632 5211. There will be a great dessert booth sponsored by the Cazadero Community Church, beer and wine from the Cazadero Volunteer Fire Dept. Bingo, live music, childrens’s games, face-painting and more! Remember that funds raised go right back into the community with donations to the CVFD, Montgomery Elementary School, college scholarship help for recent El Molino grads, community Sky Garden and other worthy groups. The Club greatly appreciates the recent $1500. donation from Russian River Rotary to help with our ongoing projects.The next meeting of he Caz Club will be on Tuesday, August 6th-7 p.m. at Firehall #1. Join your neighbors in helping to plan these great events!
Business continues at the Park and Rec Board. A close perusal of the meeting minutes and Agenda items (you can find it on their recently revamped web page at campmeeker.org) shows that although there is shortage of sexy and controversial issues in the Park and Rec Board meetings, the board gets together and knocks out the mundane but necessary issues like Bill “No Hands” Mazeroski turning the double play (he got that nickname because the ball appeared to spend no time in his hands as he relayed the toss from Gene Alley before stepping like Gene Kelly on the keystone whipping it over to Donn Clendenon at the primary sack. A regular Tinker to Evers to Chance is our Board: paying the water bill here, moving money strategically between accounts there, keeping Anderson Hall safe and properly maintained there. With the present thus squared away, I ever turn my musings to the past.
Be sure to attend the MAC meeting at 5:30 on Thursday, August 15th at the firehall. Recommendations are then made to the Supervisors which
There used to be a railroad that ran through Camp Meeker. It was called the North Pacific Coast Rail Road (at least at first), and it ran from Sausalito to Cazadero from 1877 to 1931. It was built to carry the redwood lumber from the sawmills that dotted the area like mushrooms after the rain. Business was good until they ran out of old growth redwoods. That’s when the magic word “tourists” occurred to them, followed shortly by “vacation destination” and “Redwood Empire”. This was before people could fly off to Rio on a credit card, and before “Take Me To The River” was a pop song. The River was
greatly impact our quality of life (and roads) here in Cazadero!
This is a fine time of year to head out to Duncan’s Mills and enjoy the many shops and restaurants, many operated by Cazaderans. Gold Coast Coffee and Bakery has a great back deck where you may partake of their yummy pastries, pizza and coffee drinks. Treats and Toys, next to the P.O. has delicious truffles, other candies and interesting gift items. The Cazadero and Duncans Mills General Stores offer a wide variety of groceries, great sandwiches, and locally produced wines, meats, and body products. The Duncans Mills Tea Shop
big. Big crowds at the railway station, big bands on the bandstand during the weekend dances. What, you think we were always a sleepy backwater? The river was jumpin’!
has tasty teas and related items. Try Cape Fear Cafe’s New Orleans inspired food, including oyster po’ boys and a great variety of egg benedicts. Check out clothing store Mason/James, with women’s and men’s clothing. Tel # is 872-7482. Cazadero Supply continues its 1st Saturday 15% Discount day with a tremendous variety of household, motor vehicle and garden supplies. caz Central has locally made art and is open on the weekends. Raymond’s Bakery has Pizza and Music on Fridays until 9 p.m.
It’s all gone now. The logs are long gone, and the tourists had other choices after the Golden Gate opened things up for motorcars. The last train left the station in 1931, the tracks got pulled up a few years later, and the railroad gradually disappeared.
I wish to extend a belated Very happy 90th birthday to Vera Bohan, a true local treasure!
There are still signs of the old railroad, if you look hard enough. Bits of the right of way are still visible, although Bohemian Highway covered the great bulk of it. You can see pictures of Brown’s Trestle at the Union Hotel, at one time the highest man-made structure west of the Mississippi. And there’s a tunnel. That’s right, there is an abandoned railroad tunnel just a mile or two down the road from us.
Very happy August Birthdays to Ben Radtkey on the 5th, Ted Parmeter on the 8th(feel better), Nicole KIng celebrates on the 9th, Becky Chambers and Lena Brown share the 22nd, Ryan Hartnett on the 23rd, Mari Parmeter on the 27th, Elizabeth Moeckel on the 30th and Michel Orlando-Griggs on the 31st.
Enjoy summer, trim your brush, drive carefully and call me at 632- 5545 or email mayawrld@sonic.net with info for your Cazadero column!
I found the south entrance first. I was walking on an extraordinarily wide and flat trail I later realized was the railroad right-of-way. The creek was gurgling along noisily below me, and it was a perfect day. All of a sudden the trail disappeared, and a giant pile of dirt tumbled down from an old gash in the hillside. Mudslide, I thought. I climbed to the top of it, and what do you know? There was the top two or three feet of...a tunnel. Carved into the rock 140 years ago, give or take. I could have gone in there, but I don’t think I could have gotten out. Besides...that’s where Injun Joe was hiding! This Tom Sawyer’s no dummy.
August 15 ~ Joint Sonoma Coast & Lower River MAC Meeting
Senator McGuire will give an
update on state fire safety legislation
5:30pm at Cazadero Fire Station, 5980 Cazadero Hwy, Cazadero. Take River Road to Cazadero Hwy just east of Duncans Mills. Allow 20 minutes from River Road to the Fire Station.
INFO & Agenda: sonomacounty.ca.gov/sccmac sonomacounty.ca.gov/lrrmac
Well, after this I couldn’t stop. I had to see the other side. The problem is,
the tunnel is almost completely filled in by 80 years of erosion and neglect. I couldn’t just walk through; I had to climb up and over, or inch my way along the cliff. Up and over I went. That was a little hairy too, but I made it all right. After taking a bit of a rest on top, I started down the other side...and there was the north entrance. Even better, there were the remains of a small trestle leading up to the entrance.
The timbers were pretty old and rotten, but you could squint your eyes, look at those timbers and see locomotive no. 9 chugging out of that old tunnel. I closed my eyes and went back in time. When I opened them, I looked down and saw an old railroad spike just lying on the ground.
It wasn’t a dream. Our history lies under our feet.
8/19 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 41