Whiskeytown Memorial Sailing Regatta 2016

Every year the Whiskeytown Sailing Club hosts a regatta event on Memorial Day. It’s always so very beautiful to see so many graceful sailboats racing on the lake. Here are a few images I captured yesterday. Click to expand.
Kayaks and sailboats at WhiskeytownDucks n chicks at Whiskeytown 2

Ducks n chicks at WhiskeytownI made a short video about the event a few years ago, and I’m re-posting it here:

In Redding we are fortunate indeed to have many lakes and rivers so nearby. Among them, Whiskeytown shines as a special jewel. The regatta event runs today, Sunday too. Well worth the short drive to see and experience.

Talon at Whiskeytown

Lake life; it’s Really Redding.

Oh, those Oregon kids

Every year, I like seeing the videos produced by Oregon college kids letting off steam at Lake Shasta.

Youth!

Unfortunately this year was marred by social media images of trash left behind from partygoers. That’s too bad. Slaughterhouse Island in particular received the brunt of party leftovers. Actions of adults with no supervision.


We humans are a messy species. We all seem to party with our ecosphere like we somehow own the planet. And so I guess we do own it. There’s no other species to tell us we don’t.

We’re all Oregon kids when it comes to our planet. Actions of adults with no supervision.

Historic Redding Theater on California Street

Facebook friend Lee Riggs posts to a group Northern California History. I always find his posts fascinating. He recently posted this image of the Redding Theater marquee on California Street in Redding, from the famous Eastman collection.

Historic Redding Theater California Street
I did some Photoshop cleaning, and enlarged it a bit. I like how it turned out. Click to expand.

Historic Market St Redding

This story of life in Redding years ago appeared in the comments section of the Facebook post. Curating it here, since it adds detail that helps paint the picture of daily life here years ago.

“JOE Cabitto was washing dishes in Jaegel’s Cafe when the two prospectors came in lugging a gunny sack holding a gleaming 370 ounce gold nugget. The miners had found the nugget in Motion Creek, which joins the Sacramento River just below Shasta Dam. At the time, Shasta Dam was still 30 years in the future, Cabitto was a strapping young fellow and Redding had about 4,000 residents who swatted mosquitoes and shivered with malaria, even in the blistering summer heat. Jaegel’s, where Cabitto washed dishes and waited table, was a no frills cafe offering hearty roast beef dinners for 35 cents. Jaegel’s location eventually would be swallowed up by The Mall in downtown Redding, and Oser’s women’s wear store would replace the cafe. Nobody even dreamed of a mall.

Cabitto was “pearl diving,” or washing dishes, in Jaegel’s Cafe. Across Market Street, in those days, was Bags McConnell’s pool hall, where a Western Union “boy” stood on a stool and read a blow by blow telegraph version after each round in the 1927 Dempsey Tunney fight. Cabitto won $800 on that fight, the outcome of which still stirs bitter arguments because of the “long count” the referee gave Tunney after Dempsey knocked him down.

Jaegels was the favorite restaurant not only for the men who worked in town, but also for the farmers and miners who came to town on business. It was on the west side of Market Street just north of the Yuba Street intersection. All the cooking was done behind the counter on a wood stove. I had to go out into the alley in the back to cool off. There were a couple of big ceiling fans but all they did was keep the flies off the counter. The meals were served at the counter except for a couple of tables at the back where the few women who came in were served. It was my job to serve them. We called the tables the “Blue Room” and I really hated waiting on those women, especially when they were drinking. Dinners were thirty five cents and were served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. That thirty five cent dinner included what they had cooked that particular day—roast beef, roast pork, beef stew, or on Thursday we had corned beef and cabbage, plus three pieces of bread with butter, potatoes, coffee or milk. After 3:00 PM the meals were served short order, mostly steak. A rib steak cost forty cents, a T bone sixty five cents. They were thick too. Fridays we had fish—halibut and sanddabs from Seattle, or fresh eastern oysters which came in cans packed in ice. Jaegel’s was the only place in town that served 10 cent coffee. All the other restaurants sold it for a nickel. The reason was we had to get rid of the morning coffee drinkers so there’d be room to start serving dinners at 11:00 to the regular customers. Some of the other people who worked there were: Ed Gibson and August Jacobi, the bartenders, Bob Gibson and Barnett, the cooks, Bill Rester, the waiter. George Lapp was the owner. His mother had been a Jaegel. The pay was $85.00 a month and board for seven days a week, eleven hours a day and no vacation. So we figured the more we ate the more we got paid. I went from a modest ] 65 pounds to 240 pounds. During the Depression we had to take a cut in pay, down to $65.00 a month, but they didn’t cut the prices for the meals.”


Again, this is from Lee Riggs. Thanks for sharing.

Redding Rodeo 2016 captured like none other

I’ve never seen better photos of the Redding Rodeo than these from photojournalist Matt Cohen:
Redding Rodeo Matt CohenAmazing! You may need to be logged in to Facebook to see the entire album. Well worth your viewing! Rodeo is tonight and tomorrow.

Astonishing Rodeo athleticism from animals and humans. That’s Really Redding.

Breakfast with 10,000 of my friends tomorrow

Re-posting this video we did a few years ago of the annual Asphalt Cowboy’s Pancake Breakfast that takes place each year on Friday of Rodeo Week. We’ve been going to this annual fundraising breakfast for as long as I can remember, and obviously we aren’t alone. I think it’s really unique to our town, and a terrific example of the true Redding spirit. Tomorrow morning, on Market Street at the Cascade Theatre block.

Breakfast with 10,000 or so of my friends and neighbors. That’s Really Redding.
Redding rodeo 2012 images by Skip MurphyREedding Rodeo

Northstate Symphony in Reddding

I saw this beautiful image on Facebook, captured by the always amazing Rachel Hatch. Curating it here for those of you who come to this blog looking for all things Redding. #ThisisRedding
Click to enlarge.
Northstate Symphony by Rachel Hatch
I love the way the stage light reflects from the interior decor of Cascade Theatre. I wish I’d been there in person instead, but this photo is just delightful. Thanks for letting me use it here, Rachel.
Learn more about the Northstate Symphony at their website.