A tree-covered hillside not far from the Del Norte-Humboldt County line, will be the scene Aug. 27 of an unusual event.

President Nixon has arranged what must be termed an unusual birthday party for the former president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Nixon will dedicate the Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Redwood National Park. The dedication will be at the same location that Mrs. Johnson dedicated the national park last year.

An invocation will be delivered by Billy Graham and the public will be allowed to see the president at either Orick or at the airport.

Medal for war hero

Rich has the distinction of being a member of the last class to graduate from the old high school, which was located at 9th and H streets. Many people remember best the running backs, quarterbacks and pass receivers that make big plays everyone sees. Old coaches like myself like to remember those offensive linemen that made the big plays by the skill people possible.

Rich was one of those. He had the privilege of blocking, so that outstanding Warriors like Bill Sullivan, Drew Roberts, Dale Nickels and Danny Sousa could display their talents.

After graduation, Rich led a very interesting life. He first attended Santa Rosa Junior College for two years. After JC he came back to Crescent City and worked for his dad Buck Gurney at the Surf Cafe Bar and Restaurant. This business was one of those destroyed by the 1964 tsunami. It was later rebuilt and opened as the Tidal Wave Room.

He described how he and a couple of buddies set out from San Francisco “two summers after the summer of love” in a van they converted into a hippie-mobile. The trio held three of the 180,000 festival tickets that were pre-sold for $18 each when the event was planned for Wallkill, near Woodstock, New York.

But opposition by local residents resulted in a late change of venue. Festival organizers considered fencing off the hastily leased 600 acres of Max Yasgur’s dairy farm, but with bigger challenges to tackle, the “3 days of peace and love” became a free concert. By the time they got to Woodstock on August 15, 1969, Bateman and his friends were among a half-million concert-goers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Two things about Bateman's column struck a chord with me. The first was about his ticket. Bateman realized during the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Woodstock that his ticket might be valuable. But he couldn’t find it. I know the feeling. I lost my Beatles ticket before their 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert. I got to see the concert be­cause I convinced a sec­urity guard that if no one else showed up to sit there, the seat was mine.

After all, no one denies that some customers of Jerrold Young’s Crescent City insurance company paid for insurance they never got.

Young, who initially faced 28 felony charges, has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 2007. He said to the extent wrongdoing occurred, it was perpetrated by one of his employees without his knowledge.

Judge John Morrison disagreed when he sentenced Young to 30 days in jail earlier this month, saying, “As the head of that agency, it’s your responsibility.”

And yet, there was Morrison philosophizing from the Del Norte Superior Court bench less than 10 days later, saying he had reconsidered. Thirty days was too harsh, the judge said, especially since the jail time could result in Young losing his job as a prison correctional officer.