Emily and Thomas Reed

Emily is the daughter of Janelle and Earl Brown of Smith River, and Eddie Owings of Crescent City. She is employed with the Del Norte Triplicate.

Thomas is the son of Steve and Tammy Jo Reed of Crescent City.

The couple honeymooned in Ashland, Ore.

Hatchery manager Andy Van Scoyk tosses a salmon back into Rowdy Creek. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

Dedication, derbies create and pay for Rowdy Creek

It took a very special group of people who had the vision and the passion to create and sustain the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery on Fred Haight Drive in Smith River.

Rowdy Creek is a private non-profit hatchery sponsored by the Smith River Kiwanis Club.

The project originated in 1968 with a proposal drawn up by Art Lawn to make sure the Smith River would always provide a lot of salmon and steelhead for fishermen on the river. John Fraser, Chopper and Hank Westbrook, along with fisherman Len Goodwin spearheaded this effort starting in 1970.

John Fraser actually won a seat on the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors in January of ’70. John was able to contact two state senators, Randolph Collier, who represented Del Norte, and Jack Schrade, who represented southern interests.

It proved to be a long, tedious effort as the group’s members flew to 10 different state Fish and Game hearings around the state. Finally with the state senators’ support, they received a permit to build and run a hatchery under state Fish and Game guidance. Cash donations were the only source of funding at first, with other donations of material and labor.

Simonsen Lumber Company’s Leland Simonsen was a fine contributor in those early days. The Kiwanis Club of Smith River had 15 members in the 1970s, including the key folks that I have recognized.

Another key was the local farmers who donated the old Del Norte Creamery site on Rowdy Creek to the Kiwanis for the hatchery. This was projected to cost $1.2 million for construction of five units, each containing four rearing ponds, 20 by 80 feet, and capable of holding 200,000 salmon fingerlings.

As a program of Samaritan’s Purse, which began in 1991, and is now headed by Franklin Graham, the Operation Christmas Child caused a flurry of activity during November in Del Norte County and the Brookings/Harbor area.

Hundreds of people joined others across America in filling shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items, clothing and toys as Christmas gifts for thousands of children all over the world who may have never before received a gift.

There were many individuals who participated along with 15 local churches in filling the shoeboxes.

The filled and wrapped shoeboxes were then taken to the local relay center at the Pelican Bay Evangelical Church on Blueberry Lane the week before Thanksgiving. There, an eight-person crew put from 14 to 22 shoeboxes into each larger carton and sealed them. At the end of the week they trucked them over to the collection center in Central Point, Ore., for processing.

After processing, the shoeboxes were then divided into cartons according to the intended age group and whether they were for a boy or a girl. They were then ready to be shipped to one of the several pre-chosen locations all over the world to be given to the children at those sites.

When the shoeboxes are handed out, each child is offered the opportunity to attend a 12-week Bible Study called “The Greatest Gift of All.” At the end of the 12-week session, the child is given a certificate of completion and a New Testament in his or her own language.

“The Greatest Gift” was written with the help of the Billy Graham Association, which is now also headed by Franklin Graham since his father is slowing down a bit at the age of 94.

Some people are already gathering items for the shoeboxes in 2013. They feel they do not notice a few dollars a month for the purchase of the items as they would if bought all at once next November. When asked whether this is the only Christmas project in which they are involved, the answer came, “No, we participate in the community programs as well so our local children may benefit.” 

The Christmas spirit seems to be contagious and spreads all over the world.

Effort supports wounded U.S. soldiers in hospital

Del Norte Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution sends supplies to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany for American soldiers. 

On Oct. 6, the chapter held its rummage sale in the Ocean View Inn’s parking lot; the chapter converted the proceeds collected into supplies and sent them to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for wounded American soldiers. 

Landstuhl is the largest American hospital outside the United States that is operated by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense. It is the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. It serves military personnel stationed in Germany as well as their family members.

Landstuhl’s yearly requests are for supplies to meet the needs of soldiers at the hospital for treatment, such as sweat pants, undergarments, socks, and T-shirts for both men and women and other personal items.

This year several Daughters donated toys for the children hospitalized. Also, letters of support for the soldiers from Barbara Freeman’s sixth grade class-team No. 4 were given to the chapter to send along with the supplies.

A special thanks to Hector and Eileen Brown for the use of the Ocean View Inn parking lot for the rummage sale and donating coffee for the public. Also sincere thanks to the Mail Room, which graciously donated boxes for shipment for the last three years.

Very special thanks go out to Barbara Freeman and her students for their show of support.  

All items were sent through the American Red Cross for the benefit of our American soldiers.

Bess Maxwell 

• Students of the Week: 

Brook-Lynn Jones, Alanns Yang, Devin Vang, Said Pena Colmenare, Mia Vue, Joanne Lowry, Reggie McCovey, Sergio Ochoa, Jakalyn Shelton-Evans, Deekon Evanow, Benny Ochoa, Annamarie Savoy, Ricky Xioung, Lily Sherman, Jessica Gomez, Aidin King, Joseph Graham

• Students of the Month: 

Saraya McClendon, Frankie Alanis, Tarzan Yang, Taim Folkins, Terran Shafer, Gavin Green, Noah Yang

• Character Counts: 

Ethan Werner, Anthony Lee, Ying Yi Chen

• Noteworthy: 

Veloria Fisher

• Mathematicians: 

Nattia Broutis, Samson Brown-Uptegraft, Kaleb Price, Axel Aguilera

• Study Island Graduates: 

Florence Dubray, Karmen Lucatero, Rickey Thomas, Vincent Park, Malcolm Colburn, Meliss Gonzalez, Debbey McNeece, Kyle Sydathong

Free tours offered

The Del Norte Historical Society’s Museum is giving the community a gift for the holidays — free tours this Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at  577 H St.

The museum offers not only a large collection of Del Norte County artifacts, but also a gift shop featuring local history books, ornaments, nautical-themed items and Battery Point Lighthouse memorabilia.

For information call 464-3922.

Tours of Battery Point Lighthouse tours are offered Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., tide permitting. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for ages 5-17 and free for kids under 5.  

For an accessibility schedule, call 464-3089.