Is there anything tastier than fresh baked bread, still warm, smeared with a bit of butter? Not many things can compare.

Of course, foods we eat containing concentrated amounts of fat from animal sources should be organic. The fat from butter contains good things for our bodies like vitamins, minerals, an anti-arthritic compound, a natural liver cleanser and even oleic acid (same as in olive oil).

If it’s not organic it can also contain high amounts of pesticides, antibiotics and added growth hormones. From a gourmet standpoint I choose organic foods as often as I can afford because they taste better, too.

Cohen Demuth peers out of a pumpkin cut-out during a harvest celebration in Crescent City last year. The Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Summer is over, the air has a slight chill, the leaves are changing, but it’s not quite winter yet — maybe that’s the reason to celebrate.

There’s a lot going on in October: Halloween, a time to dress-up for spooky fun; Oktoberfest, an annual festival that originated with a royal Bavarian wedding in 1810; and the harvest, marking the end of the growing season.

All are being celebrated locally this month.

First place and an $800 prize went to Laura Zugzda for “War Games.” Laura Zugzda

This year’s show, comprising 101 photographs, was chosen from over 130 entries from a region extending from Florence, Ore., to Morrow Bay, Calif., and as far east as Mt. Shasta.

The entries included black and white, color, film, digital, and a wide variety of subject matter.

Bryce Jacob Nomura was born Sept. 28, 2011, at Sutter Coast Hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 21 inches. He joins sister Peyton and brother Scott. His parents are Nicole Blaylock and Kellen Nomura of Crescent City. His grandparents are Melissa Tuttle and Robert Nomura of Crescent City. His great-grandparents are Juanita and Leo Shaft and Sherry Skaggs, all of Crescent City, and the late Vestal Skaggs.

Breanne Sorrells of Open Door Community Health Centers, far right, introduces conference attendees to the new community garden at the Del Norte Wellness Center during a community gardens tour. Submitted

The event was sponsored by the Community Clinics Initiative (CCI), a joint project of Tides and The California Endowment, that is also supporting the on-going development of the community garden and playground at the Wellness Center.

CCI grantees from as far away as San Diego joined local community gardeners for a day of learning and sharing about gardening and building garden communities.

Crystal, Justin and Junior Rodriguez of Reno, Nev., study the before-and-after photos of the March 11 tsunami at Crescent City Harbor recently. Del Norte Triplicate/Rick Postal

Twenty-eight students from the  Crescent City and Brookings Harbor areas came together this month as part of the Ford Institute Leadership Program, which works to enhance the vitality of rural communities.

Through a series of videos, lectures and educational classes, the students became one team with one goal, to beautify the ports of Brookings-Harbor and Crescent City.

Savanna Marie Woodley was born Sept. 28, 2011, at Sutter Coast Hospital. She weighed 6 pounds, 12.8 ounces and measured 19 3/4 inches. She joins sister Sarai. Her parents are Nina and Michael Woodley of Crescent City. Her grandparents are Tammie Hicks, Boon Hakchaleun, Sooth-ta Hakchaleun and Elynn Boshear, all of Crescent City, and David Woodley of Tampa Bay, Fla. Her great-grandparents are Vivian Heriford, Bertha Droane and Seth Hakchaleun, all of Crescent City.

Dani’Kah Myshell Armendariz was born Sept. 17, 2011, at Sutter Coast Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 19 1/4 inches. She joins siblings Bre’Nitta, Roshieak, Henry, Adrean and Daniel. Her parents are Daniel and Michelle Armendariz of Klamath. Her grandparents are Debora Kleinhans of Klamath, and Jennie and Daniel Armendariz Sr. of Bloomington. Her great-grandparents are Mona Gaches of Klamath, and Manuel and Petra Rodriguez of San Bernardino.

DeVen Viall and Jeremy LaFazio of Crescent City are engaged to be married June 30, 2012.

DeVen is the daughter of John Viall of Roseburg, Ore., and the late Melinda Keene. A 2009 Del Norte High School graduate, she is currently attending College of the Redwoods, Del Norte.

Jeremy, also a 2009 graduate of Del Norte High School, is the son of Leonard and Susan LaFazio of Crescent City.

Wedding attendants will include maids of honor Sonia Evans and Lauren Morrow; best men Benj and Nick LaFazio; bridesmaids Kristi Rippetoe and Kacia Davis; and groomsmen Brock Coulson and Austin Holt.