Inspired by their passion for Humboldt, history, and lifelong learning, Jerry and Gisela Rohde have made a transformational gift to the Cal Poly Humboldt Library and its Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of more than $2 million through a planned bequest. The gift commitment is the second largest in University history.
“We’re excited to support our beloved Library and OLLI during this pivotal time in the University’s history,” says Jerry. “The Library directly supports students with hands-on learning, mentorship, and resources, while OLLI encourages education throughout our local community.”
The Jerry and Gisela Rohde Estate will create three endowed charitable funds to support staff positions for the University Library’s The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt, Special Collections & Archives, and OLLI. Jerry will also give his extensive archives, the Rohde Research Papers Collection, which includes historical records about communities across the North Coast region.
“We know the Library plays a big role in educating both Humboldt students and the community,” says Jerry.
The bequest gift is an expansion of the Rohdes’ previous donation, two endowments created in 2020 which fund paid student internships and assistantships with the Library and OLLI.
“As a 21st-century polytechnic institution, our priority is to create enriching opportunities for students to cultivate career-ready skills,” says Humboldt President Tom Jackson, Jr. “With this incredible gift, the University Library will continue on its path of innovation to help students gain practical experience in research, publishing, and teaching. We’re so grateful to the Rohdes and community members like them for investing in our students and the future-forward vision of Cal Poly Humboldt.”
The University Library is a special place to the Rohdes. Gisela worked in the Library’s serials and periodicals department from 1988 to 2015 and Jerry has been a Research Associate in the Anthropology department’s Cultural Resource Facility for more than 20 years. Now through their legacy, the Rohdes’ dedication to the University will continue to support Humboldt students for generations to come.
The Rohdes were first drawn to the North Coast in 1979 by their love of nature, hiking, and history. In 1992, they published their first book, a guidebook to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. In the process of writing and publishing more books, the Rohdes decided to set aside funds to help other independent authors like themselves do research and self-publish.
Part of their bequest gift will support the Press, which publishes University-affiliated research and scholarship, and the Library’s Special Collections & Archives. Jerry published a book about sea level rise in Humboldt Bay with the Press last year and his book about local Native American communities is currently in preparation by the Press.
In addition to the Press and the Library Special Collections, Jerry and Gisela are also happy to support their passion for lifelong learning and community with their bequest gift to OLLI, which offers classes and experiences for learners aged 50 and better. Jerry and Gisela have both taught classes on hiking, history, and more with OLLI for almost 20 years. “It’s an important way to reach the community,” says Jerry.
Cyril Oberlander, Library Dean and Interim Dean for the College of Extended Education & Global Engagement, says “The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Cal Poly Humboldt cultivates a vibrant community of learners, and the transformational gift made by Jerry and Gisela Rohde will have profound positive impacts in the lives of students and community at large, in perpetuity.”
Humboldt’s most curious videographer Ray Olson is back with another edition of his inspirational travel series “Humboldt Outdoors.”
In the latest episode, Olson learns about the Arcata Community Forest’s mysterious sculptures that were carved into an old-growth redwood stump more than 50 years ago.
“I’ve always been curious about these wood carvings, so decided to look into them a little deeper,” Olson said.
Watch the report in its entirety in the video embedded at the top of this article.
One of the recalled Humboldt Jerky Co. products. | USDA
UPDATE, 12:45 p.m.:
Humboldt Jerky Co. Owner Jennifer Roby tells the Outpost that none of the company’s contaminated jerky was ever sold to customers.
Roby said that the company learned about the contamination on either Monday or Tuesday, and that it previously opted not to issue a statement on the recall because no customers received the product.
“We were notified of the exposure very early on,” Roby said. “The jerky was actually returned to [Boyd Specialties] on their request. We take health and safety seriously.”
Humboldt Jerky Co. has since been reimbursed for the possible contamination. However, Roby said that the recall may temporarily affect the company’s inventory.
“It takes quite a while for [jerky] to be made, so it can’t be immediately reproduced,” she said.
Read more about the recall in the article below.
###
The USDA has recalled nearly a dozen Humboldt Jerky Co. products as part of a sweeping recall for possible listeria contamination that includes 1,634 pounds of ready-to-eat jerky sold by 18 different companies across eight states.
The department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall on Friday, after a sample from meat snacks maker Boyd Specialties, LLC in Colton, Calif., tested positive for listeria during a routine inspection.
“There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products,” the USDA stated. “Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.”
Eleven jerky products produced by Boyd Specialties for Humboldt Jerky Co. may have been contaminated by listeria. The Fortuna-based company’s recalled brisket beef jerky flavors include: Garlic Pepper, Carne Asada, Mango Habanero, Carolina Reaper, Ole Cracked Pepper, Teriyaki, Oh That’s Hot, Cowboy Style Carolina Reaper, Cowboy Style Original, Peppered Orange Teriyaki, and Boysenberry.
The USDA is urging consumers to either throw these products away or return them to their place of purchase.
“Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns,” the USDA stated. “Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.”
The company has not issued a statement about the recall on its website or social mediapages at this time.
Click this link for a complete list of brands and products included in the recall.
Listeriosis information from the USDA:
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. Persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food.
Popular local restaurant Annie’s Cambodian Cuisine – which has been open in a tiny building on Highway 101 between U and T Streets in Eureka for 11 years – has recently gained more love and support from the community than ever before, since news broke that a development company submitted plans to demolish the Annie’s building to make way for a new drive-through restaurant.
“Business has been booming,” Laura Chau-Yang – who, along with her parents Annie and Chin Chau, owns Annie’s Cambodian – told the Outpost. In addition to flooding the restaurant with business, the community has been circulating a petition urging Eureka’s Planning Commission to not approve the project that would replace Annie’s with another chain business. (The project is expected to go before the Planning Commission in April.)
On this week’s episode of Humboldt Holding Up — the Lost Coast Outpost’s low-fi podcast — Chau-Yang and her family discuss how they are dealing with the unhappy news, the options they’re exploring for opening a new location and the outpouring of support they have gained from the community. Other topics include:
The story of how the family ended up in Eureka and went from opening Happy Donuts in 1993 to serving Cambodian food at local festivals and eventually opening Annie’s
How Annie developed her love for food from watching her mother cook in Cambodia
Some of their favorite dishes at the restaurant and what gives their cuisine that delicious flavor
The family’s passion for sourcing local ingredients when possible and growing their own specialty herbs
How important it is to the Annie’s family to stay open, despite recent hardships, and to keep serving delicious food to the community
More!
Show your love for Annie’s by clicking the audio player above to hear Chau-Yang’s chat with the Outpost’s Andrew Goff and Stephanie McGeary. And if you’re hungry for more audio, you can scroll through past interviews below.
As Russia’s brutal
invasion of Ukraine intensifies, it’s worth looking at some
disinformation, along with odd bits of trivia that have surfaced over
the last few days.
Ukraine’s Nazis
Two weeks ago, Russian
President Vladimir Putin went on TV to tell Ukrainian soldiers to
take power into their own hands “against this gang of drug addicts
and neo-Nazis.” The intention of the Nazi reference was to revive
memories of World War Two, when the USSR was invaded by Nazi Germany
in June 1941, less than two years after the two countries had signed
a non-aggression treaty (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). Some 25
million Russians were killed over the next four years, more than the
casualties of Germany and Japan combined.
Putin’s “neo-Nazi”
claim isn’t true:Svoboda, Ukraine’s far-right nationalist
party, won less than 2% of votes in the 2019 presidential election.
Genocide?
Putin has claimed, on
several occasions, that Russians living in the Donbas region of
Eastern Ukraine have been subject to “humiliation and genocide”
for years, in order to claim that the attack on Ukraine constitutes a
rescue mission. However, the UN Commission on Human Rights determined
that the count of civilian victims of the low-intensity Donbas war
has plummeted, from 2,084 in 2014 to 18 in 2021…hardly genocide. In
addition, the 57-nation (including Russia) Organization for
Cooperation and Security in Europe monitors the situation in Eastern
Ukraine. None of its daily reports show anything like genocide. You
can read the Poynter Institute’s Politifact paper here.
Ukraine Etymology
It’s debated, but
probably derives from the Slavic word for “borderland.” The first
mention comes from an 1187 codex as “oukraina,” meaning
“outskirts.”
Ukraine Flag
Again, debated. The
common explanation of Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag is “blue sky
above yellow field of wheat” or perhaps “…over sunflowers,”
the sunflower being the national flower. However, this notion only
dates back to 1848 (Year of Revolutions), while those colors go back
over a thousand years, to the time of the Kievan Rus.
Putin’s Unhappy Childhood
One
website claims that Putin, who was born in
Leningrad (now, Saint Petersburg) in 1952, grew up “in a surrogate
family that he had been sent to by his biological parents.” The
site goes on to compare Putin’s lust for power with Hitler’s
(unhappy childhood!). Beyond the silly psychoanalyzing (who didn’t
think, at some point in their lives, that they had an unhappy
childhood?—See this,
for instance), Wikipedia, whose sources are given, makes no mention
of foster parents. (Putin is, however, the youngest of three
children, two of whom died young.) Trivia: Spiridon Putin, Vladimir’s
grandfather, was a personal cook to both Vladimir Lenin and Josef
Stalin.
Zelenskyy’s “Practice Run” as President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
born in 1978 in the Ukranian SSR, was the child of gifted parents:
his dad is a professor and head of a Ukrainian University’s
Department of Cybernetics and Computing Hardware; his mom is a
retired engineer. Although Volodymyr’s degree is in law, prior to
entering politics he was best known as a comedian and head of a TV
production company. In 2015, he began to star in the Ukrainian TV
series Servant of the People, in which he played…the
President of the Ukraine. Three years later, he became head of the
political party also called Servant of the People. And in
2019, he was elected President with nearly three-quarters of the
vote.
Ukraine’s Size and Population
Ukraine is about 87%
the size of Texas, with about 90% the population of California. (44
million, compared to California’s 40 million.)
Photo: Barry Evans.
I hope the above brings the Ukrainian situation a little closer to
home. If that doesn’t do it for you, check out gas prices.
When
Gokhan woke up on Monday morning, he was hungover, tired. Readers
will remember my old friend was forced to flee Kyiv last week at the
start of the Russian invasion. Having arrived safely in Chisanau, the
Moldova capital the day before, he and his colleagues spent most of
the day at a local friend’s house eating and drinking, and
drinking.
As
he woke to the new reality, a room he rented on the outskirts of the
city, the dull pain in his head, the weariness of sleep deprivation,
the disorientation – all of these things were mediated by one
deciding factor.
“It
felt good being fucking alive!” he recalled.
Indeed,
we were in close contact all that dreadful weekend, as the invasion
began, and my old friend made hasty plans to leave. The boss at the
company where he worked in Kyiv had offices in Chisanau, and had
arranged for them to relocate. Knowing that time was of the essence,
I’d urged Gokhan to get on the road as soon as possible. The roads
going out of the city were traffic-locked, as tens of thousands fled.
Fortunately,
he and his boss and others had managed to exit the city and cross
over. “Thanks again, man! Your words really did help get me off my
ass!” he messaged. I took his gratitude with a shrug. My old friend
always was a procrastinator, dear reader, let us all agree that if
one cannot be motivated by approaching tanks and bombs, then there is
no hope for you.
When
I spoke to him early Tuesday, he was still settling in, adjusting to
his abrupt new surroundings. They had arrived very early, the city
was still dark, and his mindset was not of a tourist but a refugee or
survivor, so he hadn’t been all that focused on the scenery.
His
room is “fine,” the suburban neighborhood safe enough. Still
using a second mobile phone and an app, Gokhan set up a surveillance
camera, so that if by chance his room was robbed or someone tries to
break in, he can have some kind of evidence. That all seemed a bit
alarming to me, but Gokhan assured me that these were just
precautions.
According
to The New York Times, some 500,000 people had fled Ukraine as of
Tuesday, with about 36,000 going to Moldova. The rest fled to Poland,
Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. I asked if he had seen other
Ukrainians, or other Turks for that matter. As a matter of fact, a
young Ukrainian guy, 27, was occupying one of the rooms down the hall
in his building. The guy had managed to escape his country ahead of
the invasion, and Gokhan assumed there were others. No, he hadn’t
seen any other Turks so far.
“They
probably, like so many others, have been left behind to die,” he
glumly concluded.
Knowing
that Gokhan understandably needed to catch is breath, and that he had
more pressing matters on his mind, I took the liberty to do a bit of
research on the city. Chisanau is located in the middle of the
country on the banks of the
River
Bâc,
a tributary of the Dniester.
According to Wikipedia, the city and surrounding area has a
population of 700,000. Chișinău
is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova and its
largest transportation hub.
The
city center along the river offers a number of museums and monuments,
especially to its troubled past as a former Soviet bloc country.
There is, for example, the Train of Pain, a monument to the victims
of communist mass deportations.
“Yeah,
I’ll try to check out some of that,” Gokhan reported. “Let you
know what I think and all, whenever I can get around to it.”
At
the moment, there were only two things on his mind. The first was
work. He wanted to get into the office and try to start drumming up
sales, get back in the swing of things. It was difficult for me to
imagine mustering the zest required to resume business as usual. The
second thing on his mind were worries that the Russians could in the
near future decide to invade Moldova next. After all, it’s right
across the border from Ukraine. And judging from history, it would be
nothing new. The Red Army captured the city of Chisnau in August,
1944. So my friend’s anxieties are not all that farfetched
unfortunately.
To
lighten the mood, I asked how it felt to be a “semi-refugee.”
“Yeah,”
he said, sighing. “It feels amazing!”
###
Over
the next few days, we kept in touch as my friend adjusted to his new
situation, and the situation just over the border worsened. We
watched as the Russians advanced on the cities, taking Kherson on
Thursday, and the casualties mounted. By that point, more than 1
million Ukrainians had fled the country.
I
asked Gokhan about the people in Chisanau. Were they worried Moldava
could be next?
“Ah,
the local people are crazy, like all the Balkan nations,” he joked.
“Some are worried about an invasion, some not. It’s not a
pressing issue at the moment.”
Given
the country’s Soviet past, I asked if the country would in fact
support the Russians should such an invasion occur. He estimated
70-30 percent, with the majority opposing.
“Are
you keeping your options open?” I asked.
“I’d
probably head off to Romania if anything happened. But there’s a
good chance (the invasion) won’t happen here. The Russians want
Odessa, not fucking Chisanau.”
Here
in Turkey, there were a few developments as well. While the relaxing
of Covid mask requirements came as a much-needed breath of fresh air,
few are exactly rejoicing. We have shifted our focus away from the
pandemic to new woes – inflation and the war just across the Black
Sea to the north.
The
government refused to join in putting sanctions on Russia, which came
as little surprise here given the big economic ties between the two
countries. Instead, the Turkish government is, at least publicly,
playing the role of mediator. Since the administration does consider
Russia to be at war, the protocols of the Montreux Convention would
be enforced, under which Russian ships’ access to the Bosphorus
will be restricted.
However,
since Putin seems to have already had ships in the Black Sea prior to
the invasion, the restrictions are likely to have little effect
unless it is a protracted conflict. On a side note, the
administrative added that under the convention, vessels seeking to
return to their home ports cannot be restricted – a key point, when
you consider any Russian vessel passing north through the Bosphorus
would technically be “heading home,” and thus allowed passage to
the Black Sea anyway. A Russian envoy “greatly appreciated”
Turkey’s stance on the strait, according to HaberTurk news agency.
We
read of anti-war protests, especially by Ukranians living in the
south of Turkey. Here in Istanbul, hundreds gathered outside the
Russian Consul-General office on Isktiklal Caddesi, in the heart of
the city, to voice their opposition as well.
###
Meanwhile,
in Chisanau my old friend is trying to put a positive spin on things.
He’s got a room, a job, the basic necessities. Like a lot of other
people, his life has been turned upside down, his old world cast
ruthlessly aside by the blind march of events.
He
recalled the day before the Russians invaded, he bought a pendant
bearing the blue and gold national colors from an old woman on the
street. The woman was pale and haggard, and in clear despair. Holding
on to the pendant now, foxholed in the Moldovan capital, Gokhan
reflected on how lucky he was to get out. He wondered about the fate
of the old woman in the street, along with so many others.
“I
will keep it always as a reminder,” he said, posting
a picture on Instagram.
Hopefully,
for my friend and so many others, this war will, sooner rather than
later, become only a distant memory – but judging from this past
week, this thought is merely wishful thinking, and the time for
wishful thinking is past. It is a time to be clear-eyed, focused,
unsentimental. There will be time to reflect later, but now it is
time to keep all eyes on the present, and like my friend Gokhan, be
ready at any time for the ground beneath us to shudder yet again.
###
James
Tressler, a former Lost Coast resident, is a writer and teacher
living in Istanbul.
Dorothy “Dot” Andersen
passed away on Monday,
Feb. 21, 2022, at the age of
93 in Fortuna.
She was born on Oct. 11,
1928, in North Bend, Oregon, to Thomas Jefferson
La Casse and Rena Belle
Owings La Casse, at Kaiser
Hospital. They moved to
Central
Point,
Oregon,
when Dorothy was two
years old. Grandma Annie
Belle Milton Owings moved
in with them after her divorce
from
Grandpa
George Preston Owings.
Grandma Owings bought a
service station on Main
Street in Central Point next
to Faber’s Market & Dry
Goods Store, where Dorothy began working when
she was 17 years old.
Dorothy met her first husband, Charles “Hoppy”
Hopkins, and married him
while he was visiting and
working
from
Baxter
Springs, Kansas. They were
married for 10 years and
had two daughters, Cheryl
Lynn and Teresa Kay.
After her divorce, Dorothy
married George D. Hill, and
together they had one
daughter, Tammie Rae.
Dorothy followed George
and relocated her girls to
Rio Dell from Medford, Oregon. George worked for
the Pacific Lumber Company and they co-owned the
Shamrock Club in Rio Dell.
They later divorced and
Dorothy met and married
her late husband, Herb Andersen, while working at
CC Market for Bob and
Grace Close. After their re-tirement, Dorothy continued working at CC market
for Wally and Sandra Close
where they became like
family and she eventually
worked for 27 years until
she retired.
Dorothy and Herb were
married for 40 years, until
he passed in June of 2010.
Over the years together,
they loved to travel to Oregon to see her family and
vacation at the property
they purchased together in
Modoc County. The home
in Modoc was a favorite in
summers and during hunting season.
Dorothy had many interests, including her love for
her roses and gladiolas, and
watching tv whenever one
of her two favorite teams
were on, the San Francisco
Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. She had a collection of both teams baseball
and football cards that she
handed down to family.
She also loved to crochet,
read her bible and novels,
write in her journal, or
work through a word puzzle from her favorite chair.
In her younger years, she
loved to bowl and she was
a very good bowler, with
many friends she met at
bowling tournaments from
Oregon to California.
A few of her other favorites over the years were visiting the Humboldt County
Fair and horse races, going
to lunch with her friend
Bonnie or a quick trip to
the casino.
As the years went on,
Dorothy found great friendship and comfort as a
member of the Rio Dell
Missionary Baptist Church.
Her favorite bible verse was
Psalm 23.
Dorothy is survived by
her three daughters: Cheryl
Lynn
Land
(Ken)
of
Fortuna, California, Teresa
Kay
Low
(Travis)
of
Fortuna, California, and
Tammie
Rae
Sarvinski
(Greg) of Goodyear, Arizona; 8 grandchildren: Mi-chael Meier of Redding,
California, Kenneth Land
(Tiffany) of Fortuna, California, Krystal Zimmerman
(Dan) of Eureka, California,
Lance
Tate
(Lisa)
of
Medford, Oregon, Preston
Tate of Medford, Oregon,
Jesse Sarvinski (Shawn) of
Buckeye, Arizona, Jenna
Bigham (Mathew) of Buckeye, Arizona, and Joshua
Sarvinski of Los Angeles,
California; and 7 great
grandchildren
(Korbin,
Konnor, Ashlynn, Braeden,
Austin, William, Aleena and
Abbigale).
Private graveside services
will be held at Woodville
Cemetery in Rogue River,
Oregon, and a celebration
of life will be held at a later
date this summer.
We would like to thank
our mother’s caregivers at
First Choice Care home in
Fortuna, California, where
she received so much love
and personal care for the
last two years. The ladies
became her friends and
they loved her. We would
also like to thank the Chaplain and team from Hospice
of Humboldt for their care
and compassion through
this difficult time.
To our mother’s neighbors
in Rio Dell, Darrell and
Connie Ridenour, we cannot thank you enough for
your time and care as you
checked on our mom over
the years. We are so thankful she had such caring
people around her.
Rest in peace mom. We
love you.
Prayer for my mom, by
Ron Tranmer
Dear God,
I gratefully thank you for
giving me my mom,
You must really love
me, ‘Cause you gave the
best you had.
Watch over her and bless
her lord, And keep her in your
care,
And may she feel my love
for her,
Is my humble, heartfelt prayer.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Dot Anderson’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
