Best Local Celebrity

Sara Bareilles

If we're being real, Ferndale-grown celebrity chef Guy Fieri seemed poised to make a run here. After all, his spikey haired mug is plastered across a billboard on the Las Vegas Strip, his flagship show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives turned 15, he'd launched a new show (Guy's Game Night) and expanded his restaurant empire to more than 85 worldwide, all while in the midst of a massively lucrative Food Network TV deal.

Eureka's Sara Bareilles clearly had to up her game if she wanted to keep her Best Local Celebrity crown. The Eureka native was not daunted, it turns out, and sauntered past the Eel River Valley, asking Fieri to hold her proverbial Donkey Sauce, on her way to an epic homecoming, throwing a massive, free concert that drew some 15,000 people to Eureka's Halvorsen Park, making it one of the largest events in the city's history.

And when Bareilles took the stage, she simply wowed with a 17-song set that included her biggest hits, played through a world-class sound system from a professional stage her crews had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Perhaps more importantly, it was authentic. While her talent was on full display, so were her care, humility, kindness and strength, as she thanked everyone who'd had a hand in making the day possible, implored the crowd to be good to one another and urged everyone to fight for a woman's right to choose.

"It's my prayer for the world — that we not give up on each other," she said from the stage as the sun began to set over Humboldt Bay.

What could be better?

Thadeus Greenson

Best Local Sports Program

Humboldt Crabs Baseball

Ah, the old ball game. Sun shining, the aroma of grilled burgers, hot dogs and fried mini donuts. Smiling, sunglass-wearing beer stewards slinging frosty ones to regulars who've brought their reusable steel cups. Add to this scene a field of freshly cut grass surrounding a raked dirt diamond, a joyous crowd of diverse fans and an orange crustacean in a snappy white uniform shaking claws with fans and posing for pics. Yep, you're at a Humboldt Crabs baseball game at the Arcata Ball Park.

Humboldt Crabs games are the epitome of small-town, community baseball — that perfect blend of nostalgia, camaraderie and a genuine love for the sport. You're bound to run into half a dozen friends, neighbors, colleagues or that guy from the plaza whose face you've known for years. Strangers in the stands quickly become friends as the World Famous Crab Grass Band honks out "Sweet Caroline," tucked in with the hecklers and diehards on the first base line. Kids, decked out in Crabs gear from head to toe, race to and from the snack bar and run the bases on Sundays. It's no wonder Journal readers have voted the Crabs the Best Local Sports Program.

And let's not forget our house, Arcata Ball Park. It's got shiny new, sturdier bleachers and cap tips to the trailblazers — those wooden replicas of Crabs jerseys hanging on the chain link fence immortalizing Crabs founders and players. We're proud of our Crabbies, the oldest continually operated summer collegiate baseball team in America, doing the deal since 1945.

Kali Cozyris

Best Stand-Up Comedian & Best Vocalist

Calista LaBolle

Humboldt's best vocalist and stand-up comic walk into a bar, and they're both Calista LaBolle. Her last name may be familiar since her father is drummer Mike LaBolle. Her mother Brooke Exley sang with some bands locally in the '80s as well — a strong musical pedigree for the singer/songwriter. "I'm really bad about getting them recorded but I have a couple songs on Bandcamp," she says. There you can sample her clear, strong voice singing soulful ballads like "Last Night," "Believe" and "It Takes Work." Lately she's been playing piano and singing with guitarist Sam Borrello, and you can catch her singing at Living Doll Vintage in Eureka during Arts Alive in September.

Comedy came later, after about a year of sitting in the audience at stand-up shows and making her own notes, Calista LaBolle finally hit the stage herself in 2019. Initially, her material was "a way to make fun of my dating experiences," including the raunchy, awkward and sometimes depressing business of meeting people on apps and/or in our small social pool. Sex, she noted during one show, "is great foreplay for when he leaves." She produces a monthly show at Humboldt Bay Provisions each Thursday before Arts Alive — if you pick this up in time, she'll be there Aug. 3. — and is frequently on the bill at the Savage Henry Comedy Club. Don't be surprised if there's a little singing.

Jennifer Fumiko Cahill

Arts & entertainment

Art Exhibit

The Epitome Gallery 420 Second St., Eureka (707) 798-1541 theepitomegallery.com

Art Gallery

The Epitome Gallery 420 Second St., Eureka (707) 798-1541 theepitomegallery.com

Artworks: Mural

Murals under Samoa Bridge eurekastreetartfestival.com

Band: Cover Band

The Undercovers theundercovershumboldt.com

Band: Original Band

Object Heavy objectheavymusic.com

Beer Festival

Hops in Humboldt hopsinhumboldt.com

Bowling Alley

Harbor Lanes 2136 Broadway, Eureka (707) 443-4533 harborlanes.net

Casino

Bear River Casino Resort 11 Bear Paws Way, Loleta (707) 733-9644 bearrivercasino.com

Club DJ

DJ Gabe Pressure [email protected] instagram.com/gabepressure

Craft Artist

Mark Campbell Ceramics markcampbellceramics.com

Cultural Event

Fourth of July on the Arcata Plaza G and Eighth streets, Arcata

Dance Crew

Va Va Voom Burlesque Vixens vavavoomvixens.blog

Drag Artist

Tucker Noir instagram.com/tuckernoir

Filmmaker

Tracy Boyd linkedin.com/in/tracy-boyd-5b195069

Fundraising Event

High Heels for Healing soroptimistofhumboldtbay.com/high-heels-for-healing

Golf Course

Baywood Golf & Country Club 3600 Buttermilk Lane, Arcata (707) 822-3686 baywoodgcc.com

Holiday Light Display

Eureka Truck Parade rexandfriendstruckersparade.com

Humboldt Clothing Line

Humboldt Republic 535 Fourth St., Eureka (707) 497-6270

Karaoke

Richards' Goat Tavern & Tea Room 401 I St., Arcata (707) 630-5000 richardsgoat.com

Live Music Venue

Arcata Theatre Lounge 1036 G St., Arcata (707) 613-3030 arcatatheatre.com

Local Actor

Mathew Lewis TikTok.com/@MxMathewLewis

Local Artist

Margriet Seinen artsatheart.com/margriet-seinen

Local Celebrity

Sara Bareilles sarabmusic.com

Local Sports Program

Crabs Baseball Arcata Ballpark, F & Ninth streets, Arcata humboldtcrabs.com

Local Tour

Kayak Trinidad 322 Main Street, Trinidad (707) 329-0085 kayaktrinidad.com

Movie Theater

Minor Theatre 1001 H St., Arcata (707) 822-3456 minortheatre.com

Museum

Morris Graves Museum of Art 636 F St., Eureka (707) 442-0278 humboldtarts.org

Music Festival

Redwood Coast Music Festival rcmfest.org

Musician

Brian Swislow instagram.com/bswizlo

Place to Shake Your Booty

Arcata Theatre Lounge 1036 G St., Arcata (707) 613-3030 arcatatheatre.com

Place to Shoot Pool

Logger Bar 510 Railroad Ave., Blue Lake loggerbar.com

Places to Play Games

Hatchet House Arcata 737 G St., Arcata (707) 630-5203 hatchethousethrowing.com

Pumpkin Patch/Farm

Organic Matters Ranch 6821 Myrtle Ave., Eureka instagram.com/organicmattersranch

Stand-Up Comedian

Calista LaBolle instagram.com/calistabobista

Tattoo Artist

Ashlie Franks at Sangha Tattoo 527 F St., Eureka (707) 476-8282 instagram.com/sanghatattoostudio

Theater Company

North Coast Repertory Theatre 300 Fifth St., Eureka (707) 442-6278 ncrt.net

Vocalist

Calista LaBolle instagram.com/calistabobista

Weekend Getaway within 150 miles

Benbow Historic Inn 445 Lake Benbow Drive, Garberville (707) 923-2124 benbowinn.com

Wine Festival

Fieldbrook Art and Wine Festival 4241 Fieldbrook Road, McKinleyville (707) 839-4140 fieldbrookwinery.com