If disaster should strike Del Norte County, Red Cross CEO Dave Bosteder and his volunteer staff of 89 stands   ready to swing into action.

There has been a local chapter since 1917, according to Bosteder, and on a recent tour of the headquarters, I was impressed.

Ninety-seven percent of the workforce consists of volunteers: board members, disaster action teams, CPR instructors, and scores of others — the people who make this chapter a viable unit.

From editions of the Del Norte Triplicate, January 1939.

There is still a possibility that a Coast Guard Station may be built here within the next couple of years, according to word received yesterday by the chamber of commerce  from R. R. Waesche of San Francisco, rear admiral in the United States Coast Guard Service.

Waesche informed C. A. Cronkhite, secretary of the chamber, that the site at the shore end of the breakwater had been approved, but that there are no funds available at this time.

The department plans to include the project in the appropriations bill to be passed by the present session of Congress, the construction to be financed through the Public Works Administration.

Whenever a discussion about former Warrior greats occurs, the name Bill Sullivan always comes up.
Bill was a 1958 graduate that played his football and basketball for coach Tex Gatlin and baseball for coach Wally Maciel.

During his junior and senior years Bill was the Warrior quarterback, winning all league and white star honors both years. He was a true triple threat back as a great passer, a great runner, and a great kicker.

One of his exploits as a punter is still talked about. Del Norte was playing Fortuna on the old Pykes Field where the goal pasts were close to what is now the rec gym. Late in the game, with the Warriors leading by a small margin, Del Norte had the ball on forth down on the Fortuna 25-yard line.

Our quiet Christmas at home was filled with good food, good books and some time for reflection. In the days before and after Christmas, I received emails, text messages and calls from family and friends updating me on snowfalls and ice-overs from Seattle to Grants Pass. With all of us warm, dry and safe in our respective homes, I was thankful no one in my family was on the road.

Whoever built our home on Freeman Street, or I should say, whoever added the second story, understood our local winter storms. The master bedroom is buffered from the wind and rain by the adjacent family room. With its three walls of windows, the family room is a cheerful, bright, solar-heated space on sunny days and the perfect vantage point for storm watching when foul weather rolls in.

Just one more day and 2008 will be over. We have one more night of drunken revelry to survive, and I intend to do it by remaining safe at home with a good movie, a can of cashew nuts and a bottle of sparkling juice.

There was a time when drunken revelry was right up my alley, but even then I stayed home on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve is for amateur drunks. They don’t know how to handle their booze and can be downright dangerous in all sorts of ways, including driving, hitting and other unacceptable behaviors.

Sometimes, everything comes out right.

The Rose Garden gleamed in the early darkness as the train raced east. My son and I had boarded in Hillsboro, near the western terminus of Portland’s light rail. It was Dec. 27, and we’d left the lingering family Christmas party at my brother’s house to indulge our longtime mutual interest: Blazermania.

With basketball season on us I was thinking back at teams and players from the past. Lawrence “Larry” Taylor was a 1953 Warrior graduate.

While Larry was also a good baseball player, he was best known as an outstanding basketball player. Larry started out playing lightweight basketball since he was small when he started high school. In those days there was no junior varsity or freshman teams, only lightweights and varsity.

From editions of the Del Norte Triplicate in December 1970.

Roger Buckskin of Smith River was crowned boxing champion of the West Coast after whipping Tony Ortega of San Diego Monday night, Dec. 24, at Hamilton Air Force Base.

Buckskin will go to Denver in January to battle in the East-West Boxing Championships. The winner of that event will then be the U.S. National Team that will fight the Russian team in Las Vegas on January 23.

Dave Kibby of Smith River lost to Rick Carreras from the state of New York, fighting for the U.S. Air Force. Another Del Norte fighter taking part in the Monday night competition was LeRoy Blackeyes, who lost to Richard Jacobs of Washington, D.C., fighting for the Job Corps.

Do you ever lie in bed at night unable to fall asleep? For the last few weeks, since I discovered that none of my children would be coming home for Christmas, I’ve been counting Christmases at night instead of sheep. Thirty of them since I’ve had children.

Some are easier to remember: the twins’ first Christmas in Hawaii, 1977. They were 6 months old and oblivious to the presents. They preferred to sit on the bench of my old piano in their diapers, banging on the keys, looking up at me with big smiles. That’s one of my favorite photos.

There would be three more Hawaiian Christmases if you count 1980 when we boarded a plane in Honolulu on Christmas afternoon and flew to Portland, Ore. All our earthly belongings including our Dasher wagon had been shipped in a container to the port of Portland. We spent the day after Christmas at the sales in Lloyd Center buying jackets, boots and gloves before driving to Grants Pass to find a home for us and our stuff.

I have a confession to make, and since everyone’s so “Hail fellow, well met!” this time of year, so willing to accept differences that they’d never tolerate in July, I may as well spit it out now.

We don’t all celebrate the same things, which accounts for Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, the Feast of Santa Lucia and New Year’s Eve.