Have You Heard of This Man?

The date is 1946 and the man in the photo is Jens Hopen, father of Lt. Roy Hopen who was killed in the crash of his Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter near the Altoona Mine just across the county line in Trinity County. The date of the accident was Nov. 14, 1945 and our aircraft archaeology group has located and documented the site. The pilots remains were recovered the following year by the Navy and rest now in the Arlington National Cemetary.

But the father, Jens Hopen did not know this in June of 1946 and, overcome with grief, withdrew his entire life savings of $900 and drove across the country from New Jersey, leaving his wife at home, to try and find his son.

On June 12 he arrived in Weed and spent the next two days flying back and forth over the mountains looking for the wreck. On the 14th he hired two local guides and began a 30 day camp-out on Eddy Creek, searching China Mountain, Scott Mountain, Mount Eddy, Cory Peak, and others. He rented horses and at one point he made his own skiis to cross snow fields to range over the terrain eight hours every single day.

But in the end he failed. Money gone, he told his guides he simply could no longer pay to feed the horses or buy supplies for themselves and he returned home hollow-eyed with loss.

No local news stories have surfaced about this quiet desperate visit. No accounts have appeared anywhere that we can find so the question is did he leave a trail here? Has anyone heard about this man?

It is more relevant now because some Hopen relatives are planning to come to the Montague Airport on August 21 for the annual Aviation Day where our archaeology group will display artifacts from the Hellcat site. On hand will also be the brother of the B-24 co-pilot so this will be a family reunion of sorts.

Please call or write if you know of anyone who has information on this sad story that we can share with family members who are still looking for closure.

Bruce Batchelder 530-938-0385 bruce@realestatelakeshastina.com

PS: for a more readable copy of the clipping go to our website and click on Aviation, www.realestatelakeshastina.com.

A Community Perspective

By Will Bullington, CACM
CC&R Compliance Officer

August 2010

Bark Beetles, High Weeds and Abandoned Properties

Have you noticed that the bark beetles are active in Lake Shastina? We are experiencing groups of trees being infected in various parts of our community and, while we are in no way at an epidemic level, we have noticed an increase in their activity. This continues to be a statewide program and much of what I am writing I learned from an article written by a compliance officer for the Pine Mountain Lakes Home Owner’s Association outside of Yosemite.

There are over 20 invasive species of bark beetles and the and the most prevalent is the engraver beetle which goes after the tops of pine trees and the red turpentine beetle attacks the lower portion of the trunk. Bark beetles have a keen sense to recognize trees that are stressed or weakened in some fashion. Recent years of drought have created stress in many trees. A lack of water adds to a trees inability to produce pitch to stop the beetles. Trees compete for water from shrubs, new ornamental trees for landscaping and of course the Juniper tree drinks up to 150 gallons of water a day!

What can you do? Thin out competing vegetation that is fighting for sunlight and water. Prune and removing dead limbs increases a trees health too. There is some chemical control available to prevent the beetles and I would advise visiting www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7421.html for further information. Needless to say a dead 50 to 100 foot pine tree is a threat to life and property. It is your responsibility to prevent such trees from falling down in a good wind storm. Act quickly to cut down and remove the infected tree and all its limbs and wood.

The other area of concern for fire danger is the extremely high weeds due to the late winter and spring storms. Many of these weeds are seen on properties that are abandoned and “waiting” to be taken over by a bank and sold. Sometimes this happens very quickly but most times the bank does not want the property in their bad debt inventory and the property will sit with the water shut off (yep, they don’t pay their water bill too) and the landscaping dies.

It can be very aggravating for a homeowner that lives here and maintains their own property to look next door at a lot full of weeds. We are working with real estate agents and the Board to address these issues. The Board will send a 30 day courtesy notice and then after that must schedule a hearing with the owner. The Board may rule to hire a contractor to go in and abate the nuisance and charge owner. If it is bank owned and there are already numerous liens for taxes, bad credit and home owner’s dues it may not be a good business decision to do this. Each property has to be researched and then weighed as to what is best for the community. Sometimes the property is listed with a real estate agent and a simple phone call will get the weeds mowed down, the water turned back on and the property made more presentable. (Why we need to explain curb appeal to real estate agents floors me). It seems the further away from Lake Shastina the agent is the less concerned they are for how a property looks. “Looks good from where I’m at….”

Just for information our own fire fuel abatement program of mowing unimproved lots is on hold due to the high fire danger. We do not want the mowers to send a spark and start a fire so all tractor work by LSPOA will have to wait for the fall weather to begin.

(Editor's note; "curb appeal" is a basic concept every Realtor knows, what may not be appreciated is that an owner who is upside down on the home has no motivation whatever to take care of it any more. Agents hate brown lawns as much as neighbors do and we realize more than you might expect what that does to value.

I also do not believe that if an agent's office is out of town they are more likely to ignore the condition of a property. If an agent specializes in REO's for example which are homes repossessed by lenders the banks are even less motivated than an upside down owner. We are struggling with an REO sale right now because the bank won't pay overdue LSPOA dues so we can turn the water on just to inspect the home, not to mention green up the lawn and mow the weeds!

In our property management business we have cajoled owner after owner into spending money on bark, mowing, and watering, all for "curb appeal" __ to attract tenants who in turn are required to maintain landscaping in their lease. Most property managers do this very same thing as well, it's just good business.

We will continue to work with the LSPOA in an effort to make our properties strong and attractive members of the Lake Shastina community.)

Aviation Day __ Sat. Aug. 21 Rohrer Field, Montague

Pancake breakfast starts at 8 and if schedules hold together an F-15 from Kingsly will do a low pass shortly after breakfast is over. Cal Fire, CHP, and the Forest Service all plan static displays of their helicopters with a possible rappelling demonstration and other fire fighting tactics.

Every year at this event, sponsored by the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, custom and home-built airplanes from surrounding areas fly in and spend the day too, so there will be some gorgeous aircraft for everybody to see.

Terry Weathers who is the former owner-operator of Rohrer Field will be set up in a hanger with an impressive display of old photographs and historic memorabilia. He does this every year and this time around Terry extended an invitation to our B24 and Hellcat recovery group to display our artifacts and research.

It could not have been at a more opportune moment because the brother of one of the B24 crew is flying out from Florida to visit the crash site and share memories at our table. His name is Stacy Churchwell and it is a rare chance for people to connect with a World War II event that happened exactly 67 years ago this past June 11th.

The warbird recovery group is working on plans to display the B24 artifacts and items from their later discovery of an F6F Hellcat in the Trinity Mountains to honor our veterans. The hope is to build display cases for viewing in the Armory at the fairgrounds so there will be a donation jar on their table, too.

Natural Deer Repellent Recipe

(Courtesy of Carol Cupp, High Desert Gardening Club)
In the spring as soon as the buds start coming out use this spray weekly. The deer won't touch the roses.  But in the fall quit spraying and the deer come in and do the trimming for you.
                         
                    Mix in a blender:
            1 cup water
            3 eggs
            1/3 cup tabasco sauce
            1/3 cup liquid dishwashing soap
 
                    Pour into a gallon sprayer and fill with water.
               Spray thoroughly once a week.
 
 
            You can also add a cube of beef bouillon but you may not need it. Recommend you wear gloves and goggles when spraying because the tabasco sauce can be painful. 

The Champagne Connection

As you can see have never done this and would probably never have thought of it but our daughters did and they bought this treat for us as our anniversary gift. That's Ed Steele, owner of Shasta Valley Balloons (.com, to see his website) who has been doing this over 15 years and you will be amazed at his flying skill. We of course were at the whim of the wind at all times but the pilot controls altitude and if he's good enough like Ed there are times when the basket can be just inches above the pasture grasses.

This is what the balloon looks like inside as it's being inflated. More accurately a fan (in the distance to the right of the basket) is fluffing up the envelope so that when Ed fires up the propane heaters they won't be anywhere near the nylon fabric. Sally took this shot from the air vent that the pilot opens when he wants to let out the hot air and descend.

This is Rohr Field from about 1,000 feet I think, directly after liftoff. You can see the flight activity in progress. Today was Young Eagle Day where the local chapeter of the Experimental Aircraft Association takes kids on rides. There were an awful lot of happy children down there when we landed who had never before been in the air.
And this is the top of a willow tree about 40 feet off the ground. From about 4 feet away.... Ed is so good we never touched it. Just after this we coasted across a pasture with the basket brushing the grass tops and never the ground. He's that good.

Oh, and before I forget there is a champagne brunch following. Strawberries (that you dip in sour cream and then in brown sugar), crackers and brie cheese, quiche, and of course, the bubbly (with orange juice if you prefer mimosa). Coming full circle, Ed explained that ballooning began in France in 1783 when they simply started a fire in the basket and hoped the silk envelope didn't catch on fire.

The problems however got worse when peasants in the countryside where the balloonists tried to land became hostile, thinking they were English invaders. Being creative, the balloonists knew that there was nothing more French than champagne and so they began dangling a bottle beneath the basket to assure the natives that they too were French.

Voila.

Don't wait 50 years to do this folks, it's something you'll never forget.

Not a Good Thing to See When You Come Home

That's our driveway on the left just in front of the green Forest Service pumper. We'd been off on a hot air balloon ride with Ed Steele early that morning to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, a gift from our two daughters, and this was the scene when we drove in.

We'd known it was a wildfire drill as had the whole neighborhood but it was a bit of a surprise nonetheless. They were right smack in front of MY HOUSE and well, what would anybody think with such a sight?

They're gone, even moments later as I write this, suffering what is forecast to be in the 90's today in their yellow fire resistant outfits to protect us in case of another wildfire like the Hoy Fire a couple years back. That one was such a close call that we got ordered by our home insurer Allstate to clean up the pine needles. This is what it looks like now:

For a free Cal Fire inspection of your home (before you get a call from your insurance company) call Suzi Brady at 842-3518 or email her at suzanne.brady@fire.ca.gov. I found her to be very knowledgeable and reasonable, too. For instance if needles or bark are less than 2" deep she will allow them to remain (and your insurance company should too).

More on the balloon ride shortly.

The Leap to Cheap

The graphic pretty much says it all. Consumer spending is a frightenly large part of our economy. When we slow our buying Wall Street shudders.

So the producers of consumer goods hire expert marketing firms to press every one of our buying buttons. It's scary how well these companies know us. What aromas, what slogans, what colors, what graphics seem to trigger our spending.

It's an art form, really. And mega-companies are born and die on consumer whims, the vagaries that are generated and nurtured by the marketing and advertising firms who plumb our psyches.

But there is a revolt afoot. It is fueled by the simple lack of money in our wallets and it is worrying the marketing people. Frugal is in and the tide seems to be going out. This is not good for marketing people and sadly, perhaps a wake-up call for our country as well.

Maybe we should be based on making things and creating ideas instead of building Hummers or importing Gucci purses. Maybe we should try to return to being exporters and not importers. You know, kind of like China is.

PS: sorry for the lapse in articles. We've had problems with Blogspot and are changing to a new format so this doesn't happen again.