Download Now - Humboldt Magazine - Humboldt State University

Arcata Farmers’ Market
IN 1979, A HANDFUL of farmers decided
to sell their fruits and vegetables
directly to consumers. A gravel lot at
Seventh and F streets was big enough.
But not for long.
With demand for fresh, organic vegetables
burgeoning, the market soon
moved to the more capacious Plaza, and
an institution was born. Three decades
later, the Arcata Farmers’ Market has
evolved into a full-blown weekly festival.
On Saturdays from April through
November, 50 to 60 farmers head to
Arcata from as far as Willow Creek
and Weott.
Squeals of children mingle with the
sound of whatever band might be performing
– zydeco, Celtic, reggae or otherwise
– next to the food vendors at the
Plaza’s center. The market continues to
evolve, with homegrown beef, lamb and
rabbit meat available this year.
humfarm.org
Beach Bonfires
GRADUATION, SUMMER SOLSTICE,
New Year’s Eve – any celebration seems
more grand by the light of a windwhipped
driftwood pyre.
North Coast beaches are often dotted
by bonfires. Clam Beach in McKinleyville
is usually lit up on weekend nights,
but others are also fire-friendly, from
Luffenholtz beach in Trinidad to Mad
River Beach in Arcata.
Officialdom largely tolerates the
phenomenon, though any conversation
about beach bonfires invariably moves
on to concern and cautions.
“I think they’re wonderful,” says Arcata
Fire Chief John McFarland. “But when
they make them as big as this room and
then walk away, we have a nightmare.”
He describes having to bring bulldozers
and other firefighting equipment to
remote beaches, and urges bonfire-bugs
not to burn driftwood that’s connected
to larger heaps of washed-up fuel.
Also high on the no-no list are plovers
and pallets. Western snowy plovers nest
from March through September on some
beaches, and their habitat is protected.
Shipping pallets are the bane of beachgoers
for the nails they leave behind.
Arts Alive!
IN 2005, EUREKA WAS named one of
the “100 Best Art Towns in America,”
because it’s home to so many painters,
potters, sculptors, woodworkers, fiber
artists, musicians and more.
The sheer preponderance of artists
in Humboldt County means that almost
every town here in Humboldt has
a monthly arts walk these days. But none
compares, either in participation or sheer
je ne sais quoi, to Eureka’s Arts Alive!
On the first Saturday of each month,
artists and aficionados swarm the
streets of Old Town once ruled by waterfront
roughnecks and roustabouts.
Warm light and laughter float out of
galleries and shops. Fragments of conversation
mix in the air with the wafting
tunes of street musicians.
Call it art power. Artist Sharon Letts
does. “That’s what happens,” she says.
“Artists add an aesthetic sense to any
space they are in. We visualize a space
transformed, and then transform it
using just what is at hand. Artists are
a resourceful bunch to be sure.”