2021 in Review
Photo by Mark Larson
March: A favorite sign of spring's arrival is when Marsh Wrens show up at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary and defend their territory.
Photo by Mark Larson
April: On one of our hikes, we found Master Builder Walt Lara Sr. inside the framework of the women's Dressing House under construction at Sumég Village in then-named Patrick's Point State Park. "My favorite part of the project has been watching the boys do the work," said Lara. "They're a pretty good crew and it's important that traditional people are here doing it."
Photo by Mark Larson
June: In what seemed like almost a surreal moment of relief to be out in public again and listening to live music, we watched North Bay Shellfish staff barbecue fresh oysters on site for lots of hungry customers at the Oyster Festival. It had been moved to Arcata's Creamery District from the Plaza.
Photo by Mark Larson
June: After years of lobbying to remove this recognition of a racist person, personnel from Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park removed the Madison Grant plaque from this stone monument on June 14 and then used a large CAT hydraulic excavator to remove the large stone monument from Elk Prairie in Redwood National and State Parks onto a waiting flatbed trailer. The boulder will be placed on the east side of the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Later the Madison Grant plaque was placed in State Park District Superintendent Victor Bjelajac's vehicle for delivery to State Park storage. The plaque read: "Madison Grant Forest and Elk Refuge Dedicated to the Memory of Madison Grant, 1865-1957. Conservationist. Author. Anthropologist. A Founder of the Save-the-Redwoods League. This area of 1600 acres, habitat of the last surviving herd in California of Roosevelt Elk is established as a memorial by De Forest Grant, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Archer M. Huntington, New York Zoological Society, Boone and Crockett Club, National Aududon Society, American Wildlife Foundation, Save-the-Redwoods League, California State Parks Commission. 1948"
Photo by Mark Larson
June: In yet another moment of the Grand Opening weekend of the Redwood Sky Walk, three yoga instructors, Ben and Rupali Brown and Serena Ahlgren from the Pali Yoga Studio, led a yoga class spread out on the suspended walkways and tree platforms.
Photo by Mark Larson
July: This year, Friends of the Dunes held its annual Sand Sculpture event in a dispersed way throughout the month, starting with a few invited sand-sculpture artists to kick off the event on July 3. These participants from the North Coast Environmental Center included (from left): Ivy Munnerlyn, Casey Cruikshank, Chelsea Pulliam, Carrie Tully, Megan Bunday, Caroline Griffith and Bryon Duty.
Photo by Mark Larson
July: A memorable Baduwa't Festival: A Gathering of the People (formerly known as the Mad River Festival) took place in Dadiqhoughuk (Blue Lake) and began with Opening Celebrations at Dell'Arte's outdoor performance space. Wiyot Tribal Chair Ted Hernandez turned to introduce members of the Two Feathers Native American Family Services Youth Ambassadors who sang and read poetry created in their workshop as part of the Opening Celebrations.
Photo by Mark Larson
July: A special feature of the Baduwa't Festival: A Gathering of the People included a work-in-progress preview of Michael Fields' new production company's MADSUMMER Night's Dream. The Dell'Arte House Band accompanied Bob Wells and others as chorus singing "My Generation." Fields described the moving song-fest as "a first showing of a very free and loose jukebox musical adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with all the lovers over the age of 60, set in a nursing home during a pandemic, with the staff of the home-like Cirque on steroids (but making minimum wage)."
Photo by Mark Larson
July: An eclectic mix of excited participants in Arcata's July 4th parade gathered in the Creamery District before walking to the plaza and then made three loops around the square.
Photo by Mark Larson
July: Following the end of Arcata's 4th of July parade, several persons walked around the Arcata plaza silently carrying signs with reminders of current news events and protests around the nation.
Photo by Mark Larson
August: During this month and on into the fall, we frequently observed the return of large flocks of brown pelicans to Humboldt Bay and Klopp Lake at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary. The brown pelicans make frequent splash-and-crashes into the water and pick up stunned fish to eat. Local Covid-19 positive tests rates and hospitalizations soared and we began again avoiding any large gatherings of people.
Photo by Mark Larson
September: At one of the Migrations procession stops across Arcata, dancers from Centro del Pueblo carrying pineapples performed a dance called "Hermana Flor" (Sister Flower) in the garden at the Jardin Santuario.
Photo by Mark Larson
September: At another stop in the Migrations procession, Deborah Ketelsen (left), Vicky Ozaki, Barbara Rich and Chiemi Lehner joined Gary Ronne and other members of the Humboldt Asians & Pacific Islanders group in taiko drumming at Stewart Park.
Photo by Mark Larson
September: The successful Live In-Person Silent Auction of these and other painted otters in the North Coast Otters Public Arts Initiative was held in the Clarke Plaza, Eureka, on Saturday, Sept. 11. Foreground otter created by artist Holly Harvey, Kawa wa Hitatsu (All Rivers Are one).
Photo by Mark Larson
October: Participants in the second annual Witches Paddle paused at the foot of F Street along the Eureka Boardwalk to enjoy being out of the wind before turning back to their put-in site at the Eureka Boat Basin Public boat launch dock.
Photo by Mark Larson
October: Halloween on the Arcata Plaza organizer Shoshanna Rose stopped for a photo with her friends Melissa and Lee Lazon.
Photo by Mark Larson
October: Pastels on the Plaza artist Haley Davis lowered her mask briefly to reveal her face for the photo as she finished creating this pastel panel for a local organic farmer. To reduce chances of Covid-19 exposure, artists were split into small groups divided into time periods over two days.
Photo by Mark Larson
October: A new entrance sign for Sue-meg State Park was installed this month once the park formerly known as Patrick's Point State Park was officially renamed.
Photo by Mark Larson
November: A large flock of sandpipers blasted off from Humboldt Bay mudflats at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary. Huge numbers of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds arrived in this month as usual.
Photo by Mark Larson
December: Over 150 mostly masked attendees listened to the TubaChristmas performance directed by Fred Tempas at the Gazebo in Old Town on a Saturday afternoon. They followed this event with another performance in McKinleyville later in the day. All tuba players were required to be vaccinated.
Photo by Mark Larson
December: In an attempt to return to normal, starting on Dec. 1 all attendees at HSU basketball games or other campus events had to wear masks and show proof of vaccination or negative results of recent Covid testing to enter the gym. Bryce Mitchell (#24) drove for a layup in a game against San Francisco State University.
Photo by Mark Larson
December: For the second year in a row, the Commercial Fishermen's Wives hung up the holiday lights on the Crab Pot Tree on display at the tip of Woodley Island Marina in Humboldt Bay. They created the Crab Pot Tree using approximately 115 crab pots and the tree's star faces out towards Humboldt Bay to welcome home the fleet.
Photo by Mark Larson
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Photo by Mark Larson
July: A memorable Baduwa't Festival: A Gathering of the People (formerly known as the Mad River Festival) took place in Dadiqhoughuk (Blue Lake) and began with Opening Celebrations at Dell'Arte's outdoor performance space. Wiyot Tribal Chair Ted Hernandez turned to introduce members of the Two Feathers Native American Family Services Youth Ambassadors who sang and read poetry created in their workshop as part of the Opening Celebrations.
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