Kentucky-Fried

My darling wife of 48 years asked the other day what I wanted for my 68th birthday dinner and I foolishly said "either mac and cheese or KFC". She, being a world-class cook said something like "I can't believe you want that garbage??!!"

So I naturally took the fore-doomed 'it makes all the sense in the world' approach which, after 48 years of marital bliss I should have known was dead before birthing.

"Why honey, it saves money and is what this meat-and-potatoes honey of yours really wants." Right. Those of us who are maritally-challenged may not recognize right off that otherwise bullet-proof arguments simply do not belong in romantic relationships.

Logic, as we were taught in school at least, simply does not work in situations like this. Try the $6 barber haircut vs the $50 hairdo argument if you doubt this wisdom.

But she went to KFC and (I can actually see this in Technicolor) grits her way though an order . . . a big bucket of that yucky fried THING with smaller buckets of gluck (mashed potatoes, gravy, coleslaw, etc.). This was hard for her and in retrospect, I appreciate the sacrifice.

As payment we are having clumpy fried chicken with that brown gravy that looks like drained motor oil for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and yes, breakfast again until I've paid for my error.

This is how it works people . . . take the offered gourmet dinner instead next time.

Trust me on this.

And then a Crewman Came Knocking on our Door . . .

After our story got in the papers I got an intriguing call from a man in Yreka. His name is Verne Kendall and he told me the most amazing story:

In June of 1943 Verne and his parents were living in a trailer alongside Highway 99 where Summit Drive now dead ends. There are some homes there now and the Kendall barn is still standing on the site.

Anyway, they were awakened around 2:30am by the roar of airplane engines overhead. "The sound was deafening" Verne says, "it actually rattled our trailer home it was so loud." Running outside in their pajamas the family looked up and saw a huge bomber above them, heading north with very obvious engine trouble.

It disappeared into the night and then, moments later, they heard it coming back towards them and then the crash and explosion perhaps a mile to the north of their home.

Then, not long after going back in the house they heard a knock on the front door. Mr. Kendall opened it to see a man in an olive drab uniform who very politely asked him for a ride into town, saying he had just bailed out of the plane that crashed nearby.

Verne remembers his dad doing just that and seeing the burned crash remains the next morning from the highway. He also remembers finding 50 cal shells right in his yard, saying "they were jettisoning everything they could to keep altitude so there was stuff scattered all over the area."

While we're pretty sure now that part of the impact site now rests under the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 this last remark further supports our hope that local residents may possess such things. I again appeal to any reader(s) who think they might know someone with such an artifact to contact me, Bruce Batchelder, at 938-0385 to discuss loaning it to the museum.

The most remarkable part of the story of course is that Verne actually saw a survivor and is alive and able to tell about it. Verne and his wife run the Coca Cola Shop in the Bottling Works Mall in Yreka and happy to share the memory with others who are interested.

CC&R Corner for May 2008

By Will Bullington, CC&R Compliance Officer

May 2008

Up Coming Vote on Changes to the CC&Rs

Our current Environmental Control Committee (ECC), in cooperation with the current Board, has developed some proposed rule changes to the CC&Rs. In 2000, the membership of the LSPOA adopted our current CC&Rs. It has been eight years and we have seen some need for changes. The ECC met in 2007 with realtors and contractors, and then in May held a town hall meeting on fences. Through these meetings and literally hundreds of comments, complaints and requests for variances from the rules, developed the proposed CC&R changes.

First you must understand that the CC&Rs are developed by a committee, staff input and association attorneys. It took four years and $40,000.00 just to get enough of the membership (50% plus one) to approve the new CC&Rs. Each unit of the subdivision had to approve at this ratio. These new adopted CC&Rs differed from the original rules in which the old rules said you could have no fences, no restrictions on overhangs and roof pitches. Now the total membership not based on each unit, must vote 50% plus one. Now that we have a much higher population of people who actually live here and over 1,000 homes, I believe the vote will be easier to achieve to pass these changes.

Now, the current CC&Rs have Sections that lay down the restrictions and rules, how assessments are collected, how the Board is elected, etc. There are By Laws that also do much of the administrative part of the Association. For instance Article V of the CC&Rs tells you how an improvement is approved, by whom, and what an improvement is: house, deck, pool, etc. Article VI tells you what the minimum construction standards are: roof pitch, overhangs, minimum size of a garage, etc. The ECC must only approve those improvements that meet the minimum construction standards (MCS). The MCS are very important to planned unit developments like Lake Shastina because they help maintain higher property values than other communities.

Even small sub-divisions have CC&Rs when you build a house because an 800 square foot home is not as valuable as a 2,000 square foot home (duh). O.K. so we have a class act going on here. The original developers had enough forethought to put the power lines and all utilities underground, prohibited fences for a more open “rural” looking community, used a designer from Disneyland to put in ponds and waterfalls, and had engineers develop a master plan for drainage, etc. Once you realize this you really take a harder look at other communities when you are out and about: the solid fences jump out at you like a stockade, and the power lines blot out the skyline, or you see a neon bright yellow house.

As you drive back into Lake Shastina, especially if you have been gone for a while, you smile when you turn off of Big Springs Road and onto our streets. You can’t even find a pot hole in our roads (never noticed that till you are in some of our neighbor cities, huh?)

As we are filling in our empty lots with homes, minimum construction standards and CC&R enforcement are going to become more important. What one person got away with for 20 years all changes when they share a back yard with their neighbor. The ECC recognizes the fact that most new homes require new improvements after people have lived in them for awhile: a new fence for the kids and the dog or a storage shed for tools and lawn furniture because they won’t fit in the garage. The ECC has proposed changes to the CC&Rs in three sections at this time: new rules for storage sheds, fences and for overhangs.

The proposal is to have these three sections of the CC&Rs be regulated by architectural rules that may be changed by the Board. Rule changes would be posted to the membership for 30 days advising the members that the Board is considering a rule change. The Board then holds a hearing and decides on whether to change a rule. Currently, the Board may not create a rule that conflicts with the CC&Rs. Past rules that allowed for 2 x 4 inch mesh wire fences conflict with the CC&R that states the maximum size of wire fencing is 2 ½ inches. The proposal of the ECC is that the membership vote on the following changes to the CC&Rs:

1. Article 6.4: Change “No Temporary Structures” to “Temporary Structures and Outbuildings.” Add: “Outbuildings and sheds shall be built in accordance with the architectural rules adopted by the Governing Board.”
2. Article 6.12: Change section to read: “Eaves and Overhangs. All eaves and overhangs to be built in accordance with the architectural rules adopted by the Governing Board.”
3. Article 6.15: In first paragraph delete “under the following conditions:” and insert “in accordance with the architectural rules adopted by the Governing Board.” Also delete 6.15 (b) and (c). 6.15(d) to become (b) by default.

Please look for your ballot about voting on these important CC&R changes. If you would like to view the CC&Rs go to our web site at: lakeshastina.com. You may also contact staff through this web site for any question you may have.

New: Townhall Meetings for Lake Shastina

The Lake Shastina Citizens Taskforce in collaboration with the Lake Shastina Community Services District, and the Lake Shastina Police Department is sponsoring a series of town hall meetings. The focus of these meetings is to provide information and give members of the community an opportunity to discuss funding issues relating to law enforcement and public safety services.

Included in the Town Hall Meetings will be a review of the results of a study and survey conducted by the Taskforce, and a presentation by Lake Shastina Police Department relative to the Department’s current and future funding requirements and an associated tax initiative that will be on the ballot in the November, 2008 general election. Representatives from the Taskforce, the Community Services District Board, the Lake Shastina Police Department, and Sheriff’s department will be on hand to answer questions.

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend. These meetings will give community members an opportunity to learn about these very important issues and make informed choices at the ballot box.

All meetings will be held at the Lake Shastina Bible Church, 5826 Jackson Ranch Road, in Lake Shastina. Meeting dates and times are:
Saturday, July 12, 2008, 2PM
Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 6PM
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 2PM

Spring Musical The Spitfire Grill to Open April 18th at COS

COS Department of Theatre is pleased to announce the opening of their spring musical, The Spitfire Grill Friday April 18th in the COS Kenneth Ford Theater. It is an award winning American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The Spitfire Grill is a story about a feisty parolee who follows her dreams based on a page from an old travel book. She arrives at a small country town and finds a place for herself working at Hannah's Spitfire Grill. Spitfire is an upbeat, well-crafted and performed show, with an enjoyable folksy score (conducted by Roger Emerson) that works hand-in-hand with its story of hope and redemption. This is new Director of Theatre , Tom Murdock’s first musical at COS and stated of all the shows he has directed as well as been a part of in the past, Spitfire has proven to be something quite special. “I chose Spitfire not only because of its excellent script and score, but also because of the uncanny similarities between its fictional town- Giliad and the town of Weed . The reason many of us are here, is the beauty of this area and its relaxed pace of life. It is human nature to forget what there is to appreciate around us. My hope is that audience members will walk away not only humming the catchy soulful tunes of Spitfire, but with perhaps a better appreciation of how very lucky we all are to be here.” He added that if community members have not been to see a COS Theatre Department production in a while, they should come out to see what we are doing. New faculty, training and energy have resulted in some top notch productions this year. The start up of the COS Theatre Membership fund has also served to energize the program. Our opening night exclusive member’s reception has proven to be a big hit. As a reminder to our members, Spitfires opening night reception on April 18th will be quite special as Café Maddalena will be catering. Each performance audience members will have an opportunity to win a dinner for two at Café Maddelena via a raffle. Spitfire show dates are April 18th, 19th, 25th, and 26th at 8pm, and Sunday the 27th of April at 2pm. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at the Public Information Office. Prices are $10 for General admission, $5 for students and seniors; free for current COS students with proof of registration. If you would like more information or tickets please call the COS Public Information Office at 938-5373. Hungry for great entertainment? Something’s cooking at The Spitfire Grill.


Tom Murdock
Director of Theatre
College of the Siskiyous
Weed, CA 96094

Goodbye, Ed

I'm saddened to report that Ed Dallara lost his battle with a variety of physical ailments and passed away a little before 8 this morning. Those of you who live in this corner of Lake Shastina probably remember seeing him trudging along with his little red walker around the Hogan, Fisher, Muskrat, and Palmer circuit. He did it so faithfully he wore out several sets of wheels. You could even hear him coming before you saw him.

Our dogs will miss him too, he always made a point of stopping and feeding them biscuits. In fact for the longest time he was accompanied by a big stray that Bob and Dodi Dickson adopted until the dog passed away about a year ago. Ed made friends with every dog on the block and went through so many treats that he and Pat had to buy them in bulk at Costco.

Ed had been fighting many ills and at 82 it slowly became a loosing battle. Mercy Hospice was there at the end for him and he died peacefully.

So goodbye old friend, you soldiered on right to the end.

Editor

Doggie Pre-Wash, Going Green

I heard somewhere, sometime that dogs help heal their own wounds by licking them. If true might there be some heretofore undiscovered sanitary ingredient in dog spit that can benefit mankind? Then I read that it's wasteful to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher......... then, aha!

Spot can do the pre-wash for you!! Not only does he gain the joy of pleasing his master but, if one can believe the holistic articles on pet diets, he can gain substantive nutritional value by disposing of limp salad, soggy peas, and other leftovers that really look disgusting in the refrigerator the next day.

This must be what they mean by "going green", right? No only do we ourselves save time and hot water but we benefit our pets both emotionally and nutritionally. Wow, I can do this!

(No author name for obvious reasons)

The Office Depot Deal

Each of these is worth 3 bucks at most office supply stores and while some of them limit you to three cartridges per purchase here's how you can manipulate that:

Office Depot recycles electonics. Old PC's, printers, monitors, etc. They ask that you buy the box(es) to put them in (small $5, medium $10, large $10) but that (they claim) covers their shipping costs.

So I walk in to the Medford Office Depot with 5 used-up ink cartridges and a $3 coupon from an earlier cartridge trade (they'll take as many as you give them but only 3 can apply to a purchase, they give you a $3 coupon for the remaining ones).

In the back of my car I brought an old PC, a busted printer, two bad keyboards, and a box-full of old speakers, and other accessories.

The clerk suggests I apply 3 of my cartridges ($9) toward the $10 medium box and the other two cartridges + my $3 coupon toward a second medium box for a total net cost to me of $2.

Then he grabs a shopping cart, goes out to our car, and loads up all my stuff. After putting it all into the boxes and filling out the forms himself, he asks me to sign and I'm gone.

Maybe 15 minutes but I have responsibly disposed of things I'd have to wait months to do locally.

For 2 bucks.

B-24 Story Continues

As we continue to follow the fate of the aircraft and crew, new developments keep coming in which add flavor to the tale.
For example the student pilot in the left seat who survived the crash also survived the war (and other training exercises). He died in San Diego in 2001. Born in 1918, he would have been 100 years old this year.

And here's an interesting kicker; the instructor pilot, Douglas Thornburg, who also bailed out and survived, was killed only 25 days later on a search and rescue mission around the Channel Islands west of Santa Barbara (can you belive it... looking for two crew who bailed out of ANOTHER B-24 that ditched!). Again, he had two student pilots running the ship but against orders it descended into the overcast and crashed on San Miguel Island. See the full story on www.california.rural.blogspot.com.

I continue to seek descendants of the crew as well as local witnesses who may have souvenirs of the crash to establish for certain that it was OUR B-24E, tail number 42-7119 (for example, the manufacturer was Consolidated in San Diego and they stamped "32" on most parts).

Please call me if you have any parts or stories about this aircraft. A great many local residents scoured the wreck for them and I would like to put together a museum exhibit of this incident with provable artifacts.
Editor

Pine Needles Welcome

As some of you know we have three Shelties and they do the doggie perimiter tour thing morning and night. That is, they stroll around the inside our fenced lot to the point that it's pure dirt.

So we collect pine needles to scatter along their trail and limit the mud that they track into the house.

If you'd like to get rid of your pine needles and save a trip to the burn site just dump them over the fence in our east lot. I'll scatter them and you will have done a "green" thing in the process. All I ask is that they be just needles, not garden debris or garbage, that's all.

Thank you, Bruce & Sally

Free Firewood ! !

If you don't like paying $200 per cord (usually unsplit, in rounds) now hear this:
Two people here in Lake Shastina will DONATE (read give away) the firewood you can harvest from their juniper trees. That's right. Cut them down and haul away next winter's fuel. For NADA (nothing) and buy yourself 13-1/2 dinners out with the savings!
Call Jean Stevens at 937-4673 or Tiffany Young at 938-0121.

How good can it get ? ?