Something I always enjoy is reflecting on friends and teammates that I had all the way through high school. 

One whose memories I will always cherish is 1951 graduate Bob James. Bob and I played varsity football together for three years and varsity baseball for four years. 

Bob had to wait until his sophomore year to play football because as a freshman he was only 14 years old and state rules say you must be 15 to play varsity football. Del Norte did not have a JV team back then, but as soon as Bob hit the field he became a starter on defense, a position he filled for three years. 

Bob made the varsity baseball team as their starting center fielder as a freshman and held that position for 4 years. 

House Calls runs every other Saturday. Today’s column is written by Trish Walker, a registered nurse with Sutter Coast Home Care. It is the first in a series addressing heat failure, also known as congestive heart failure (CHF).

Heart failure (HF) is the fastest-growing diagnosis in the world today. It affects nearly 6 million adults. There are approximately 450,000 new cases diagnosed annually, and 20 percent of those diagnosed will die within the first year, 50 percent within five years.

HF is also the most frequent cause of hospitalization in adults over 65. The numbers are staggering. There are approximately 900,000 people hospitalized with HF annually, and of those, 250,000 die.  The costs amount to roughly $40 billion annually, with emergency room costs at around $15 billion.

Rep.-Elect looks ahead

With the election over, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the more than 160,000 voters from throughout this great coastal district — from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border — who placed their trust and confidence in me to represent them in Congress.  

Our strong victories in both the primary and general elections wouldn’t have been possible without my first-rate campaign staff and the hundreds of volunteers and grassroots supporters who worked so hard on my campaign over the past eighteen months. My sincere thanks to all of you!

From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, November of 1942. 

A Victory Ship built by the Bechtel Company, Marin Shipbuilding Division, will probably be christened the “J. T. Wall,” as the result of action by Fred Endert, who submitted this name to the firm in response to its request for names of famous pioneers of California to be applied to ships of the new Victory Fleet. 

J. T. Wall constructed several ships, one of which was a windjammer named “J. T. Wall,” of which it is told that at one time 58 days were required for it to come from the Golden Gate to Crescent City because of severe storms. 

In the fall of 1947, as I entered Del Norte High School, I remember being nervous, like many new Warrior boys. 

At that time it was before the laws regarding hazing or at least before there was a real effort to eliminate it. The upperclassmen had the reputation for making life a little miserable for incoming freshman boys. 

I found that this was more than a rumor, but I remember one senior boy, who I will always remember with the utmost respect, and he is Wayne Miller. Wayne was a multi-talented athlete and was also a respected student leader. He treated everyone with respect including freshmen. When Wayne was a freshman he was elected a class officer by his classmates, and the respect his classmates had for him carried on for his entire school career as he was regularly selected to serve his class.

Why I'm a Republican and why Dems make trouble

A very good friend who just happens to be a Democrat asked me recently after the (thank God it’s over) election, “Why are you a Republican?” which made me start thinking, why am I a Republican? After some thought I came up with my answer. 

Do you wonder why we have to stop working on our harbor by Nov. 15
and can’t start again until June? (Where’s our resident costal commission person?) Do you wonder why
we cant dredge our harbor, and if and when we are allowed to we have to barge all the dirt from here to off of Eureka? 

As a former Warrior player, former Warrior coach and now an avid Warrior fan, it is always exciting when names of players from the past that I had the privilege of working with come up and spark really pleasant memories.

When I see the name Ron Gastineau, I immediately think championship football. Ron is a 1984 Del Norte High School graduate who was an excellent athlete while wearing the Blue and Gold of the Warriors. I think championship football because Ron was an important member of the 1982 Warrior football team that won the first league championship in 20 years and was the first football team from Del Norte to make it to the Northcoast Section playoffs.

The Warriors lost that game on a stormy night in Santa Rosa to the team that went on  to win the section championship. In Ron’s senior year  he continued to show his outstanding play on the line and his leadership caused his teammates to elect him one of the captains of the football team. Ron was also one of those who took his talents from the football field to the gym as soon as football season ended.

Here are excerpts from a speech at the annual Meth Summit this week.

I remember being here seven years ago in October 2005. I’d been here less than a year and had the honor of speaking that day.

If I had to pick one of my favorite Del Norte days, a day when this county’s true colors shined, it was that Saturday. First, the people of this community turned out to speak out against an epidemic we continue to fight here today. Later that afternoon, I watched as Sandy Morrison realized her dream of opening Del Norte County’s first residential rehabilitation house, the Jordan Recovery Center, and later that night, the people of this community held a benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina at the Veteran’s Hall.

In disaster's wake

We’ve suffered a national disaster, which is still going on with snow on top of all else. Have any countries offered assistance? We should still help others, when we can, but it’s interesting that we stand alone? I’m still hopeful for our nation and praying that Obama and our nation are able to solve our many problems; if we all work together, we can do it! Good thoughts to all as we give thanks for having been blessed by being born Americans. Let us focus on what we have, not on what we don’t, and as JFK said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” 

California Martin, Crescent City

From pages of the Crescent City American, November of 1931.

Male birds running with the poultry flock will keep eggs fertile, but the fertile eggs will not keep. The hens will lay just as many eggs if there are no male birds running around. Excepting in cases where high-priced male birds have been purchased to use this past season in the flock, it will be cheaper to dispose of all of the male birds than to feed them until the next breeding season. One of the best ways to handle them is to just can them. 

Editor and wife on trip south

Howard F. Griffin, editor and publisher of the Crescent City American, left early Sunday morning in company with Mrs. Griffin for Pasadena, where this week he is attending the state convention of Kiwanis Clubs as the official delegate from the local club.