The consequences of drunk driving will be on display at Del Norte High School as it holds its Every 15 Minutes program Thursday and Friday.

A group of selected juniors and seniors will leave class Thursday morning and don makeup designed to make them look like the “living dead,” said Principal Coleen Parker. These students were asked to write their own obituaries prior to the event. They will read their obituaries in class, she said.

Once these students receive their makeovers and read their obituaries, they will go to the back of the class and remain silent, Parker said. The students will have no contact with their families for 24 hours. They will spend much of their time at a retreat.

“They will write letters to their parents, and their parents will write letters to them,” Parker said. “The crash scene that happens looks like a live crash scene and all emergency services treat it as a real crash scene. The juniors and seniors will go out and watch that happen.”

Washington Boulevard from Inyo Street to Del Mar Road will be closed from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday. Washington from Leif Circle to Summer Lane will also be closed from noon to 12:15 p.m. Thursday.

Paul Madeira checks out a previous year’s strawberry harvest, above. The berries are ripening now, as is rhubarb. Del Norte Triplicate file / Bryant Anderson

Our rhurbarb was as confused as we were and has sent up its “white flag,” the mighty seed stock. Though it’s a magnificent sight, I’d rather the plant be focused on more established roots, and bigger stalks at this point in the season.

After all, strawberry-rhurbarb anything (pie, cobbler, crisp, jam ect.) is an all-time favorite seasonal treat, and the strawberries are just starting to ripen.

That’s right, good news for all, the strawberries harvests are soon to begin again!  Talk about a wonderful season opener. Delicious gems, mounding in those little green baskets, a perfect componet to kick off the Farmer’s Market season slated for June 1.

We can’t wait to see ya all there! Bok choi, chard, kale, lettuce, peas, radishes and green onions should all be there too. Mark it on your calendar.

By the way, for our growing region, based on historical records, we should no longer have to worry about frosts.  Plant with more confidence from this point forward.  

As your seeds emerge and turn into seedlings, envison each plant fully grown, think about the space it will need, and thin accordingly. It’s a very common struggle with new gardeners, not wanting to kill healthy young seedlings, but aged gardeners will tell you it’s worth it in the end.

3 Leg Torso performs Saturday, June 15, in the Pistol River Friendship Hall. The ensemble creates modern gypsy chamber pop music. Photo courtesy of 3 Leg Torso

The Pistol River concert will be Saturday, June 15, at 8 p.m.

The ensemble is a three-time winner of the Portland Music Award for “Outstanding Achievement in World Music.” Its past two CDs, Astor in Paris, and Animals and Cannibals, have both won “Album of the Year” from The Oregonian newspaper and Portland Music Awards, respectively.

3 Leg Torso creates modern gypsy chamber pop music infused with the authenticity of folk music, the passion of world music, the precision of chamber music and the enthusiasm of rock ’n’ roll. Utne Reader describes it as “passionately sophisticated music.”

Tickets cost $15 and are available at Wright’s Custom Framing in Brookings and at Gold Beach Books in Gold Beach. Tickets may also be reserved online at www.pistolriver.com or by calling 541-247-2848.

Influenced by tango, Eastern European folk and other world music traditions, 3 Leg Torso’s cosmopolitan musical style flaunts wit and humor while holding true to the tenets that  its music should be laced with sublime and uncommon beauty.  A 3 Leg Torso concert takes the listener on a musical travelogue equally embracing the high energy of pop/rock, the complex structures of chamber music, and the improvisational qualities of jazz.

Redwood National and State Parks will host a Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program this summer for ages 15 through 18 to participate in conservation work throughout the parks.   

This year’s eight-week program runs from June 24 to Aug. 15. Applications are due May 24.

Five male and five female participants will be selected from Humboldt and Del Norte counties at a public drawing. Participants will earn $8 per hour working four 10-hour days each week. All participants must bring their own lunch and provide their own transportation to and from either the Parks’ Crescent City Headquarters or the National Park Service’s Arcata office. 

CCPOA Pelican Bay chapter members (from left) vice president Jim Holden, president Mary Statham and representative Mark Foley present a donation to local Relay For Life board members Bonnie Strickhouser and Jeri Ann Scherer. Del Norte Triplicate / Laura Wiens

Members of the Pelican Bay Chapter of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) presented a check to committee members of the local Relay For Life during a meeting held at the Del Norte Health Care District.

“This is our 14th year donating to the local Relay For Life,” said Mary Statham, president of the Pelican Bay chapter of CCPOA. “Relay For Life has supported our members, those who have passed and those that are still with us, through the years.”

Jeri Ann Scherer, the event chairperson for the local Relay For Life, said she was very pleased to be the recipient of CCPOA’s generosity again this year. “It’s awesome to receive such a large donation,” she said. She wanted to pass on “a huge thank you” to CCPOA.

Jeri Ann has been involved with Relay For Life for 10 years. Three years ago she herself was diagnosed with cervical cancer. “I was lucky,” she said, “they caught it very early.”

The local event will be held overnight July 20-21 at the Del Norte High School track.  But Relay for Life events are widespread to raise money for cancer research, assist those who are suffering, remember people no longer with us and honor survivors. “We’ve got to do all we can do to fight back and bring awareness,” Jeri said.

In addition to the participants doing laps, the event includes raffles, silent auctions and games “to get the community to come and hang out with us,” Jeri said.

Members of the College of the Redwoods Class of 2013 pose for a photo during commencement exercises held Friday night at Mary Peacock Elementary School. Courtesy of Jim Graham

The speaker was Dr. Anthony Iton, vice president with the California Endowment.

CR President/Superintendent Kathryn Smith and CR Del Norte area Trustee Rick Bennett presented diplomas and certificates to graduates.  Casey Barrington was honored as the outstanding graduate. 

The Del Norte High School Stage Band and the North Coast Chorale provided musical entertainment during commencement and a reception that followed.

Del Norte’s Faculty of the Year is Professor Mark Renner (Geology/CIS) and the Associate Faculty of the Year is Sara Broderick (Art). The Classified Staff Member of the Year is Kelly Wilson (Student Services).

Jessica Ciara Owen

She is the daughter of Chris Owen of Gasquet, and Tom Owen of Crescent City. She is a graduate of Del Norte High School, class of 2002, and UC Berkeley, 2007. 

Jessica was a member of the 2012 and 2013 Jessup International Law Moot Court competition teams, each of which won the Western Regional Championship and reached the quarter-finals of the International tournament in Washington, D.C. 

After taking the California Bar Exam this summer, Jessie will join the California Attorney General’s Office in Los Angeles.

Redwood School

• Students of the Month (April): 

Benjamin Borges, Alexa Diaz, RJ Loftin, Abigail Brown, Matthew Stephens, Alysha Sanchez-Lee, Rachel Berry, Brock Trone, Vinny Diaz, Jacob Cowen, Matthew Stevens, Taylor Broadbent, Sarah Lambert, Ashli Dickinson, Rylee Beasley, Steven Sills, K’Marie Magray

Melissa and Chuck Blackburn during their recent visit to the Pacific Island in Kauai, Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Chuck Blackburn

Trips to islands offer more than just a change of scenery

As we travel through life we have the opportunity to experience new countries, states and communities.

As I am now 76, I reflect many times back on those enjoyable times. As a young boy growing up, it was with my father Wes who tried to show me it all. I treasure these memories and now have allowed myself to reach out and experience new people in new areas. My wife Missy and I are pretty much on the same track in this frame of mind.

I am writing this story sitting in a lawn chair feet from the Pacific Island in Kauai, Hawaii. I sat very close to this very spot eight years ago with a note pad and the tape recorder and at Missy’s urging, “Get off your butt and start writing your book.”

I grabbed my tape recorder and took a deep breath and started to record my thoughts. I stopped after about three minutes and decided to replay back a little to make sure it was recording correctly. To my delight I heard my voice, but the sound of the surf was more pronounced. I solved that somewhat by putting a handkerchief over the microphone as I had to do in my broadcast days during a windy football game. At least my voice could be heard over the surf or wind.

Our first visit was to attend the wedding of Missy’s son Matt Starcke to his new wife Deziree. Both Matt and Dez earned their master’s degrees from Texas A&M University. It was a private wedding at Shipwreck Beach at Poipu. The Hawaiian minister administered the vows in English and the native tongue. We loved the setting and the friendship that abounded here.