News & Columns > Doe Huff > Our Town, August 29

Our Town, August 29

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

By Doe Huff
Friday, August 29, 2008

First and foremost, I just have to thank everyone for their kind words and support for bringing Our Town to RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. As of writing this week's column, I find that 512 of you have taken the time to read my diatribe. OK, I confess about 15 of those can be traced back to my computer as I checked each day to see the tally, but for the rest of you – including my extended family and friends - thank you, thank you, thank you. No, I do not receive a commission for every hit; but I am amply compensated by the warm and fuzzy feel-good feeling I get from being a part of this wonderful web site.

I had requested Our Town be posted each Saturday, but have decided Friday would be better to give my readers more time to plan their weekends, and boy what a weekend we have coming up. I have already told you about some of tomorrow's events, August 30, like the Lake Gregory Fishing Derby, the Reggie Film Fest and, on Sunday, the annual sand sculpture contest, all taking place at Crestline's Lake Gregory. However, I forgot to remind you about the annual Friends of the Crestline Library annual Labor Day weekend book sale tomorrow, August 30.

Lots of my friends, like Donna Pannebaker and Bill Steiner, are avid supporters of this library. They have made it their personal goal to help raise thousands of dollars on behalf of The Friends to purchase equipment for the new library that just has no place in the county's budget. I hope you will all stop by tomorrow and get a bag of books. Remember some cold winter nights are just around the corner and you and your snuggle bunny will want reading material to curl up with in front of the fireplace.

The Willow Woods Quilt Guild's annual auction is also this Saturday, August 30. Now these are some amazingly talented folks. You really should stop by the auction in Skyforest at Kuffel Canyon Road and Highway 18. For someone like me where the thought of even darning a sock is troublesome, I just don't know how these ladies have the skill or patience to turn out these gorgeous works of art. The money raised at this auction goes to their adopted charity, Camp Paivika, which serves physically and developmentally disabled kids and their families.

Also, don't forget the annual Labor Day weekend spaghetti dinner on Sunday at Crestline's St. Francis Xavier Church and this week's Rim of the World Historical Society's FREE movie night at the Lake Arrowhead Resort. Tuesday night's movie on September 2, is "Gunsmoke". Audie Murphy, who went from war hero to movie actor, stars as a man who knows how to handle a gun in this classic "Bad" guy turns good with the help from the rancher's daughter. Did you know Audie Murphy was the most decorated WWII combat solider? He was awarded every available combat citation, including the Congressional Medal of Honor!

Big Bear News

I also found out lots of fun stuff is happening on the other side of the mountain. There will be a Bear Valley Cruisers' Car Club car show on August 30. Drive on over to the Fawnskin Moose Lodge for a day of family fun. Car show, bake sale, horseshoes and a BBQ, oh my! The car show is free and the BBQ with all the trimmings is just $8.00 per person. For more information, you can call (909) 585-7939.

One of my informants also told me they have a new big screen TV at the Big Bear Bowling Barn just in time for football season. I hear they also have Karaoke on Saturday nights, or in my case, it is more like Croak-eoke. If singing just isn't your forte, I heard Big Bear is also having their first "Movie on the Beach" on August 30 at Meadow Park. The cost is $2 and show time is 8 p.m. You could do this after panning for gold or making pinecone birdfeeders at the Discovery Center. Be sure to check out all of the other fun family things to do at the center at http://www.bigbeardiscoverycenter.com.

Boy, I am exhausted and perplexed just thinking about everything there is to do around the mountain this weekend. If you can't find some reason to get out and around the community, you just must be a hermit in training. Remember, some hermits fall under the category of crabs.

Last week, I received a wonderful, though very sobering, gift from Lee Reeder of a book he and Davey Porter wrote titled Hell on Earth. How many of us still have nightmares of being evacuated during the 2003 fires and again last year?

At first, Davey Porter set out to chronicle the wildfires of 2003. However, the more he worked on the book; he began to realize there was a much bigger story there. In 2006, Lee was enlisted to help with the project and they began researching fires all over the world. In their book, they predicted the firestorms of 2003 would be repeated in Southern California and of course, we all know that happened last year. On the back of the jacket, it tells us only Hurricane Katrina rivaled California's 2007 wildfires for destructiveness. The 2007 wildfire season reported 85,583 fires and burned 9,318,710 acres! I truly believe this book is a must-read for every one of us! The book is available at McCabes Book Store in Crestline.

At this year's 4th of July Old Fashioned Community Picnic, we added a wonderful new dimension to the festivities. Under the direction of Rachelle Norton, mountain school children in Our Town were asked to write an essay on why they love the San Bernardino Mountains. Hubby Jim, aka Captain Power Point, plans to put together some kind of brochure highlighting those entries this fall. Right now I have him working on my 40th (gosh, I'm old) high school reunion memory book and a mountain history presentation. In the meantime, I thought each week I would bring you one of the entries. The following was submitted by Clair Collins who won first place and was honored as our Queen of the Mountains during the JAM Days parade.

I love the beauty of the San Bernardino Mountains. I think the tall trees and fragrant flowers are pretty. I love the cool refreshing lakes and skies. Our mountains have amazing wild life too.

I love the tall pine trees and oak trees and the fragrant flowers. The outside air smells fresh and new. I love the sound of the crackling noises of the wind in the trees. I love the color of the yellow daffodils, purple lupine and blue verbena flowers.

We have bears and mountain lions, but we hardly ever see them. It is common to see a coyote walking down the street. We see raccoons, squirrels, skunks and beautiful birds all the time. I love the animals on the mountain and I love living in the San Bernardino Mountains.

All I can say is, wow. Speaking of our mountains, how many of you knew the answer to last week's trivia question? The area now known as the Lake Arrowhead Country Club golf course was the site of the Joseph Tyler saw mill in the 1870s time frame. After most of the trees had been cut, the lumber companies continued their movement up the mountains. The picture shown below was taken in 1910 when the meadow was used for grazing cattle. The first 9-hole golf course was built in 1924 and later expanded to be the fine golf course it is today.

Lake Arrowhead golf course 1910 (Photo by Rim of the World Historical Society.)

Since so much is happening this weekend in Big Bear, I thought it appropriate this week's question be about that part of the woods. This area has been a vacation destination for over 100 years. Some resort buildings dating back to 1918 are still in existence.

• What is the name and location of one of the lodges in Bear Valley still using some of these structures?

I owe a lot to my writing mentor, Mike Neufeld. He hired me to write for the Crestline Courier when he was the editor and he encouraged me to bring Our Town to RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. He is one great guy and a source I hope to use frequently. For example he gave me the news tip that Allison Stewart, former U. S. Forest Service Mountaintop Ranger based in Skyforest, has accepted a 90 day temporary assignment as Forest Supervisor for the Apache and Sitgraves National Forest in eastern Arizona. She is also the National Press Officer for the Forest Service at their national headquarters in Washington D.C. Our Town wishes her well with her new assignment.

Well the Olympics are over for another two years. Now I am not much of a sports fan, but the Olympics kept me up well past my bedtime for two weeks. If they had a channel surfing event, I could have been a contender! These folks are just amazing. Big Bear had their own Olympian, Ryan Hall. Ryan placed tenth in the marathon and he has been running marathons for only two years. I hear the Big Bear Mayor even went to China to cheer him on at his own expense. Three cheers also for Lake Arrowhead's own Marcie van Dusen who competed at the Olympics in women's wrestling. She dreamed of competing in the Olympics before women's wrestling was even an Olympic sport. A great big Our Town Well Done!

I'm sure most of my readers are aware of the passing of James Mainer. It is truly amazing how so many folks have rallied around his brother Roland during this sad time. A celebration of life is being planned for September 6 at the Lake Gregory ball field. Be sure to watch the Crestline thread for more details.

I know I said I would try not to babble on in this column, but so many things are happening around Our Town I just couldn't leave anything out. Of course, if you know of something I didn't mention, you should feel a little guilty because I tried my best to find out about it! I am still hoping some of you will email me at Doe@rimoftheworld.net with news tips. Surely, someone you know is getting ready to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary or received a special honor worth sharing. Maybe Aunt Minnie is visiting from Iceland or your neighbor just took a new job as Public Relations Consultant for Afghanistan.

Isn't it just great living in Our Town!

This article was first published on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 12:00 am. This article has been viewed 768 times.

Doe and her husband Jim bought their home in Crestline 11 years ago and moved to the mountain full time eight years ago. Doe retired from the Federal government three years ago after working for NASA, The Army Material Command and the Air Force Academy. Doe worked in Colorado, Washington D.C., Jeddah Saudi Arabia, Isfahan Iran, Pasadena, and active duty Air Force at Glasgow AFB, Montana. Jim and Doe share their home with their dog Cassidy, kittens Charlie and Chester, and their 15 year old grandson, Paul.

Doe earned an Associates Degree in Journalism and a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado. Writing has always been a hobby for Doe and since living in Crestline she has written human interest articles for "On the Mountain Magazine" and was a news reporter for the Crestline Courier as well as writing a very popular weekly column.

Together Doe and Jim have three children and five grandchildren. They are both very active in the community. Doe has served as President for the Crestline Communities Development Alliance, was on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of the Mountain Communities when it was formed, is a member of the Lake Gregory/Crestline Rotary and was a Board member for several years with the Rim of the World Historical Society. Doe and Jim organized the first annual 4th of July Old Fashioned Community Picnic and just finished the fifth successful year for this event. Doe has been working for over two years to bring a dog park to Lake Gregory. They received a Certificate of Appreciation from County Supervisor Paul Biane for their commitment to the improvement and general well being of the Crestline Lake Gregory community. Doe is very proud to be a citizen of Our Town.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Doe Huff.