What This Day Means to Me

Unlike many, I am not a veteran. I never fought in any war nor even saw boot camp. Maybe I'm lucky but I feel a little guilty that I never served my country in a military way.

I was born in 1940 so I was too young for WW II but I enjoyed the wonderful 50's despite Korea. I graduated from high school in 1958, after that war ended and went through college married with three kids, so Vietnam was out, too.

So on this day I feel humble. Men and women who never even got out of their twenties suffered and died in order that I could do these things. Some of them never got to even see their 20th birthday.

Put a flag up. They deserve it.

Boeing C-40 Restored from Wreckage

This was Boeing's first passenger "airliner". It carried two passengers in the cabin and the pilot rode in the open cockpit at top. This one crashed near Canyonville in the 1930's, killing the single passenger and injuring the pilot. The passenger was a diamond merchant on his way to market and the stones began turning up in rings and jewelry around the area for years afterward.

Which just goes to show you that every airplane has its story. Our local airplane wreckage group plans to build a small marker this Monday, May 26 to B-24E tail number 42-7119 which crashed here on June 11, 1943. The site is next to Interstate 5 near Truck Village and the event is scheduled for 10 am. The public is welcome and if you'd like directions call me, Bruce Batchelder, at 938-0385.

Author of New Book on Mt. Shasta's Artistic Legacy to Speak at COS May 18

William C. Miesse, art and rare book dealer, art publisher, and lecturer, will present a program about Mount Shasta and its artistic legacy on Sunday, May 18, 2 to 3 p.m. at College of the Siskiyous Weed Campus, Life Science Building, Room 3. The subject of Miesse’s talk is also the subject of his new book, Sudden and Solitary: Mount Shasta and Its Artistic Legacy, 1841-2008, coauthored by Robyn G. Peterson and released this month by Heyday Books. The program is sponsored by the COS Library.

Miesse will show selected slides of paintings and other artwork representing the mountain which was produced over a span of more than 150 years, from the early explorers and artists of California such as Albert Bierstadt and William Keith to the many visionary artists who have been inspired by the mountain.

According to Miesse, “The book is an attempt to characterize what Mount Shasta meant to the nineteenth-century American and Californian, and how those ideas have evolved in the visual arts up to the present. There are many mountains in the West, but few offer the experience that Shasta does of being in a place apart and unique; it is no surprise that it has generated an artistic legacy of such grandeur.” Sudden and Solitary includes contributions by other Northern California writers including William (Bill) Hirt, Neil Schanker, Lee H. Simons, Floyd Buckskin, Frank LaPena, and Caleen Sisk-Franco.

The book will be available for purchase following the presentation and Miesse will sign copies, if desired. The cost of the book is $37.54, including tax. The book is also available for purchase at local bookstores and at the Turtle Bay Museum in Redding.

For more information about the program, contact COS library director Dennis Freeman at the Weed Campus, (530) 938-5331 or by email: freeman@siskiyous.edu

LAKE SHASTINA PARK RIBBON-CUTTING SET

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Hoy Family Park will be held on Thursday, May 15th at 3:30 P.M. The ceremony will be held at the park in Lake Shastina. Included in the ceremony, are the William Hoy Family, members of the Board of Supervisors and other representatives from Siskiyou County. Lake Shastina Property Owners Association Participants will include the Lake Shastina’s Cub Scout Pack, Pastor Nick Toroni of the Lake Shastina Community Bible Church and Kaylee Pimentel, who will sing the National Anthem.

The Park is located off of Everhart Dr. at the corner of Pinehill and Autumn Rd. Following the ceremony light refreshments will be served and there will be time for exploration of the park. Lake Shastina has dreamed of developing the park for years and it is finally becoming a reality. Plans are in place to fund additional amenities for the park. The Hoy Family Park Committee will appreciate donations from businesses and residents. For further information please call the Lake Shastina Administration Office, 938-3281 or Kay Short, Park Committee Chairman, at 938-1777.

Chili Dump is a Sellout

Our 6th annual Chili Dump was a great success with 16 incredible chili's entered. This year's first place went to Sharon Beaudry (see picture below, boy does she look happy!). Roman Dobratz snagged the second place prize and Trish Toler nailed the third. Pictures and details will be in the next Lake Shastina News.

The committee that puts on the event voted to purchase items for the Community Center with the proceeds so that other groups could enjoy the facility as we did. Among the things considered were cold drink dispensers, coffee maker, chafing dish pans, and tables. Proceeds from this latest event are being tallied and we are collecting prices for various things. More details will follow later.




The cook-off contest went so well this year that the planners are giving serious thought to making our next year's event a full-blown Texas-style chili cook-off, with all the proud cooks lined up and serving their own creations. The audience could sample their way down the line and vote for winners on a secret ballot. Again, more details will follow as they develop.

Finally and certainly not least, we planners would like to thank all those who contributed their time and efforts to make this such a continuing success. And especially you, the public, for coming by and enjoying this annual party with us. We look forward to seeing you again next year!


All photos courtesy of John Diehm

Bruce Batchelder and the other Chili Peppers; Ted Pfeiffer, Mike Anderson, Al Brezinsky, Marv Zeman, Art Ackerman, Nick Toroni, Craig Thomsson, Ed Vrable.

This annual event promises a lot of activities and fun. It begins at the Refuge Visitor Center on Hill Road in Tule Lake and looks like it could run most of the day with guided bus tours, mist netting and banding, airboat rides, morning bird walks, live blues music and even food.

We have been to this refuge, which is located on Highway 161 right on the Oregon border. To reach it one drives north on Highway 97 from Weed, through Macdoel and turn east on 161 just a few miles beyond Dorris. It took us about 1-1/2 hours from Lake Shastina.

If you don't have a county map call me at 530-938-0385 and I will mail you one.

The article in the paper recommends calling 530-667-2231 for more info and their website is helpful too: www.fws.gov/klamathbasinrefuges.