It’s the end of summer, kids are headed back to school, and Fall is in the air. Labor Day weekend has become the time to celebrate summer’s end. Whether it’s day or evening – or you’re inside or out – this weekend brings lots family fun and celebration. So come out and enjoy the fun!
- Paul Bunyan Days – Logging show and competions with $10K in prizes, including axe throw, chain saw, hand chop, and pole climb. Labor Day Parade, including a kiddie parade, an historic walking tour, beer fest, BBQ, ugly dog contest, craft fair – fun for all ages in the streets of Fort Bragg.
- Mendocino Theatre Company presents, Rachel Archuletta’s one woman show, “Do The Voices in My Head Bother You”.
- Sculptor John Fisher is creating a life-sized sculpture from a Texas limestone block weighing ten tons at the Mendocino Art Center, now through September 29.
- Visit Albion-Little River artists on the 15th Annual Studio Discovery Tour along scenic Highway 1.
- Gloriana Musical Theatre continues with their presentation of Cole Porter’s, “Anything Goes”.
(More details on our Current Events page.)
Our weather has been spectacular lately, and so Bruce and I decided to go check out the Stornetta Ranch Preserve near Point Arena yesterday. It’s a good thing, too, because the fog was back today. The Preserve was donated to the BLM only two years ago, and you can even still find the, uh, remnants of the dairy cattle along the way. It’s easy to get there, since it’s just a couple of miles north of the city of Point Arena. Turn off Highway One onto Lighthouse Road, and go west for 1.4 miles. As the road approaches the ocean, it veers around to the right. At this point, there’s a turnout on the left for the Preserve. Pass through the turnstile, and head off to the south. You’re about at the middle of the 1200-acre preserve when you enter it of Lighthouse Road. You’ll find coastal headlands with scrub pines, and a beautiful coastline with islands and sea stacks. The coastline is very interesting, too, with many patterns in the sandstone. (It’s less than ten miles to the geological oddities of Bowling Ball Beach.)
The big island just off the coast has a wonderful arch, and it’s covered with black cormorants. As you continue to the south, you’ll find wide rocky beaches that are perfect for abalone divers. We even passed by a sinkhole, about 30 feet across and 15 feet deep, set a hundred feet back from the edge of the cliff. We continued on to the south, because we had a goal in mind: the waterfall that drops into the ocean. The waterfall is at the south end of the preserve, next to the old Coast Guard LORAN station.
Starting on August 24, 
Patrick Davis will open up a whole new environment to photographers on 
Paul Bunyan Days has kept alive a small-town spirit and a way of honoring old-time traditions that feels, for lack of a better word, homey. This event makes it worth your while to join the crowds.