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.

Full disclosure: I don’t like the taste of eel. Frankly, I’m not big on salmon, either. When it gets right down to it, I’m a cold-blooded East Coast transplant who won’t even clean her own crab.

But while I may not like eel, it ranks high with local foodies for a good reason: Its meaty taste is both filling and exquisitely fishy. And no matter how your taste buds may vote, just seeing eel roasting on a stake should count as a treat, because eel means more than its meat.

From its life cycle, to the way it’s hooked, to the way it’s roasted, eel serves as a connecting link between local people and a local food tradition that goes back to the beginning of time. Eel means powerful ocean; eel means manhood and respect for the river; eel means life renewed.

On the other hand, “eel” doesn’t mean eel at all. What we call eel in Del Norte County is actually lamprey. Zoologically speaking, real eel taxonomy is quite different from that of the lamprey; lamprey don’t even count as a fish. For one thing, they don’t have bones. Like sharks and rays, lamprey hold themselves together with cartilage. That’s one of the reasons our “eels” are so hard to hook — they writhe and twist with more flexibility than a Circ del Solei acrobat.

It’s eeling time now on the Klamath River. Hooking eels requires a great deal of athleticism, cooperation, and respect for the river. Eelers wait near the mouth of the Klamath for a surge of the sleek, white creatures making their way upstream. Lamprey, like salmon, return to fresh water to spawn and die, so eeling takes place at predictable times during the year.

Clark Moore

Now that the election is over and we breathe a collective sigh of relief, I would like to thank my supporters for their vote, those who, win or lose, ran for public office and to each and every one of you who turned out to vote.
During the course of the campaign, the lack of awareness of the Del Norte Healthcare District disappointed me. Whether it was the very minimal coverage from the local media, the tendency of the of the district’s directors to be very low-key about their actions or simply not knowing about the district simply does not matter. The district is an essential part of the Del Norte health-care system.