100% Humboldt
Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.
We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.
We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing Northcoast of California 100%!
Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!
100% Humboldt
#1. Humboldt County's Visionary: The Life and Impact of Mary Keene
Discover the captivating story of Mary Keene, a remarkable woman who found her home and passion in Humboldt County. From a single mother of three to launching the Cypress Grove goat cheese company, Mary's journey is truly inspiring. Join us as we explore the beauty of Humboldt County and the incredible people who call it home.
In this heartfelt conversation, Mary shares her struggles as a young mother, as well as her love for goat breeding that ultimately led to her successful cheese and chocolate community. With recognition from Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Sunset Magazine, Mary's dedication to her craft and her community shines through. Learn how she always gets comped at restaurants with free bagels from Dennis, and discover her heartwarming stories of giving back.
Lastly, we delve into Mary's visionary project, We Are Up, which aims to create an intergenerational ecosystem of care in Humboldt County. By combining housing, programs, and students from Cal Poly and HSU, Mary's goal is to unite the wealthy and the poor, fostering a community that both gives and receives. Don't miss this incredible conversation with the inspiring Mary Keene, and witness the power of unity and compassion in action.
About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond
Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.
We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.
We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!
Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!
Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!
Humboldt County, california, the most amazing place on earth, home of some of the most interesting people you'll ever meet. 100% Humboldt is a local podcast honoring those movers and shakers and difference makers who often do it quietly and under the radar, to make this the most amazing place on earth. We're getting curious and we're going to learn some new and exciting things and how people make this an amazing place to live. I'm your host, scott Hammond. Let's learn more about our area and its people. 100% Humboldt. Hi everybody, i got Mary Keene here as my special guest. Hi.
Speaker 2:Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1:I am doing great. It's such a big honor. I wanted to flatter you with words like Humboldt, royalty and big words, but I think I think Joni and I are both convinced you're just grandma. Grandma and good people. What?
Speaker 2:an old grandma.
Speaker 1:We're going to go with that. So so Mary's done a thousand things. We're going to talk about them. I want to hear a little bit about you first. I'm curious about your background and we born and raised here. How'd you get to Humboldt?
Speaker 2:So my dad was an attorney in the Navy and we moved every four years back and forth from coast to coast. Pretty much Wow. And so no, i wasn't. But my whole life goal was to have a house with a fence and a yard and never move again. So, when I got to Humboldt, that was for sure.
Speaker 1:You have that now.
Speaker 2:I don't have a fence, but I have the house.
Speaker 1:If I remember, are you out in Philbrook, somewhere in McKillivill.
Speaker 2:I'm downtown Philbrook Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it. I know where that is. We just became members of the Philbrook winery. We're in the wine club.
Speaker 2:Oh, fancy The Judy and all. Yeah, it's a fun, fun place Such a nice.
Speaker 1:I'd never been there. Joni and I wandered out there and had a great time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Anyway, tell me more.
Speaker 2:Okay. So then I graduated from high school on the East coast and moved to California to go to college. I went to UCSB and Santa Barbara junior college and I was a marine biology major.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, obvious turn to making cookies, i mean what else would you do?
Speaker 1:Of course, totally connected Recreation administration over here Cal Poly.
Speaker 2:But that was in the 60s, and so we had the first oil spill there and I kind of got disillusioned and dropped out of college and moved to Southern Humboldt But 80 acres. there did a homestead, built a cabin out of logs. We drove out of the woods with a horse.
Speaker 1:So hum.
Speaker 2:So so hum.
Speaker 1:So hum, what part is Southern Humboldt?
Speaker 2:Um inland from Miranda on the Samuelos Ranch.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you're out there or ways, way out there. Wow, the sticks Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so kids were born. Mallory, my oldest daughter was born in Sonoma before we moved, and then I had twins.
Speaker 1:Is she the one that's married to Padre?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I wore, just so Padre knows I wore his Padre shirt last night.
Speaker 2:Oh, very good.
Speaker 1:I have one of his t-shirts that.
Speaker 2:Matt, it's Parthenon construction.
Speaker 1:I was looking at Parthenon construction, humboldt County, california.
Speaker 2:Yep, he's a good guy.
Speaker 1:He's a great guy.
Speaker 2:He does lots of good stuff for a lot of people.
Speaker 1:He's good to be happy.
Speaker 2:He's really really great, yeah. So, um, one thing led to another and let's see what did I start with in Humboldt County. So I had goats because I was a back to the lander the ultimate hippie, you had to do everything.
Speaker 1:Got to get goats.
Speaker 2:You had to have goats, you had to have a garden. Yeah, make your own clothes.
Speaker 1:Did you grind your own wheat?
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, i did everything.
Speaker 1:How about homeschooling?
Speaker 2:Woods, or the kids weren't in school yet, okay At that point. But uh, wood stove, heated water on no hot water, no electricity. I mean serious. I love to do things. If I'm going to do it, i'm going to really my dad always said the world doesn't need another mediocre anything, so just go for it.
Speaker 1:Oh man Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, um, let's see. So I got these goats and, because of my interest in science, I got into the genetics of goats, which is another obvious thing. But so I started breeding goats. Um, and have you ever seen the? what is that movie about? the dog shows Best in show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, the goat world is a lot like that Interesting, except it's goats, yeah, and people are crazy for their goats.
Speaker 1:So they do. They walk them around and try to walk.
Speaker 2:You don't try it, but you walk and you set them up and brush them and brush them and bathe them and clip them and adore them, you know, so I did that.
Speaker 1:Are goats. Are some goats pretty smart?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they're pretty much as smart as a dog Not, they don't behave the same way. But you know what A little sliding barrel bolt you?
Speaker 1:know, those little Sliders are like a gate. A gate Yeah.
Speaker 2:I had one that could reach up over the gate, open it with her mouth and let all the other goats into the barn. Sweet Yeah, not so sweet. Pretty smart, too smart.
Speaker 1:Too smart But anyway.
Speaker 2:So I showed goats for quite a while and had national champions of my breed, which was alpine, and that led to having too much milk.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And so I obviously started making cheese. What?
Speaker 1:are you going to do with the milk? Yep make cheese.
Speaker 2:Good, so then I started.
Speaker 1:Cypress Grove goat cheese, and this is what you lived up here now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, back into. Yeah, okay, Move to Humboldt, were you?
Speaker 1:out in Dows Prairie Because that's you used to be out there. We don't, you didn't know this, but we used to be neighbors. Yeah, Joni and I lived out on the end of Dows Prairie before you go down the hill to Cornell. Oh, The very end.
Speaker 2:Do you know? Sally Callahan?
Speaker 1:Yeah, kinda, yeah, she's a goat lady.
Speaker 2:Okay, i mean, we're so special You guys all know each other.
Speaker 1:You do Special club.
Speaker 2:Well, any club you know you, if you have a special needs kid, you end up Any industry, or yeah, anything, that's totally true. You know you kind of find your homies wherever.
Speaker 1:So you started farm breeding goats.
Speaker 2:And selling goats and making cheese at home for friends and family.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:And then when Leropin opened, Leropin Cafe opened Sure Dixie And Dennis at Los Bagels. Those were my first two customers.
Speaker 1:Great people Remember Dixie and Pear.
Speaker 2:Oh man Do I ever They started Leropin.
Speaker 1:For those that don't know, leropin restaurant is probably I think it's the best restaurant The North state, if not California. he does he still does a great job.
Speaker 2:And you know they've stayed true to those recipes but they added new ones And it's really a bargain because you get. I'm sorry, i'm going to go on a lyric, it's okay, we're marketing today Brought to you by Dick Taylor chocolate. You know, you have all the appetizers and the salad, everything's included, that's a great book, and they're so wonderful. The food is great Anyway.
Speaker 1:Let's put a pit in the goat cheese for a second. Who is Mary Keane at 15?
Speaker 2:Oh, 15. What was I doing at 15?
Speaker 1:What were you about at 15?
Speaker 2:I was in high school on the East coast, just a regular high school kid, you know I had big hair, all right.
Speaker 1:We didn't Yeah Hard to believe it, i actually had hair folks And the East Coast, you know you couldn't.
Speaker 2:We had to wear dresses, right. You couldn't wear pants to school, right. If it was snowing, it didn't matter.
Speaker 1:This was not parochial school, this was just school, public school. Yeah Yeah, different, yeah Yeah.
Speaker 2:It really was different. I was in California and saw guys walking around in t-shirts.
Speaker 1:Shorts. I was horrified.
Speaker 2:It flips, it doesn't take very long to get used to that.
Speaker 1:Right, right, i was from San Diego, or just whatever you wanted to wear.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, with that reason we got away with a lot. So who are you at 20?
Speaker 2:Let's see it 20. I was being quite a hippie. Oh Yeah, uh-huh. I was in my early 20s.
Speaker 1:Nice, yeah, nice Yeah. Me too. Actually, i started getting my hair cut at 20 because I had it really long in San Diego. Yeah, different story. Yeah, how about 30?
Speaker 2:30, I was, what was I doing? I think I probably had three kids.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:I had three in less than two years Red And a single mom.
Speaker 1:Wow, super poor. I used to have chops, yeah.
Speaker 2:Super, super poor. Yeah, that was a rough time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we. So we have nine, as you kind of know, for real, and one wife, jody and I, we had nine kids and we were gosh, by the time it was 30, i think we had three or four. Uh-huh Yeah, but doing it alone, that's awesome. Well, Total respect on that.
Speaker 2:I don't know. Yeah, you do what you can, yeah.
Speaker 1:You do what you have to do, yeah.
Speaker 2:You try and get by.
Speaker 1:I don't know how, watching my young daughter with three sons, it's just too much to fathom. But she figures it out and she goes. I don't know how mom did it. She had three kids and getting bagels and coming to the office and she's got holding coffees. I go how do you? she goes. I don't know how mom did it.
Speaker 2:Well, my twins were born prematurely And in those days that was pre-car seats. I brought them home in a lug box Oh, fruit box Right. Each wrapped in their own little blanket. They fit in there.
Speaker 1:Perfect. It works you know No seatbelts.
Speaker 2:No seatbelts, well, no car seat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just. A box, yeah, and drive real slow and careful.
Speaker 2:No, i put them on the floor, wow, you know cause it was safe.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, types are different. Remember riding the back of that pickup when you were a kid?
Speaker 2:Well, my kids did that too.
Speaker 1:Oh, and the crazy uncle going really fast on a gravel road.
Speaker 2:It's like, yeah, I didn't have that guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how about 40?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Were you farming, then By then I think.
Speaker 2:Let's say I started Cypress Grove in 83. I'd have to do math to figure that out.
Speaker 1:Close enough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i think I was getting close to starting, or I already started 83.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:I was doing 70 for probably yeah, I was doing Cypress Grove. That was fun. I got to travel all over the world and we were talking about communities a minute ago, and so the cheese community is huge, right, and it includes everybody who likes cheese, some people who don't, all the people that make it, and you're like there at somebody's wedding with your you know, it's kind of it's a really fun, fun job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i've heard Dick Taylor guys talking about the chocolate community.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then we just were on one of their first tours.
Speaker 2:Oh nice.
Speaker 1:Last week Johnny made me go and it was really fun And we learned that the kind of the craft chocolate makers, the guys that were doing micro batches and doing it right and doing it with killer ingredients they were a very small community, like you said. Everybody knew each other And just a fascinating story and not not only in this bunch is that there are communities within communities And so tell me.
Speaker 2:Well, we took their cheese We used to. Our marketing includes going to the international fancy food and confection show twice a year. There's one in New York and San Francisco, so there's 10 miles of booths if you walk up and down, every 10 foot booth, 10 miles.
Speaker 1:Wow, those are the big shows.
Speaker 2:It's huge, but people come from all over the world and we paired their chocolate with our cheese. Perfect, because it's a nice. Oh yeah, it's really nice.
Speaker 1:I bet it really really good. So I was reading about, about your. you've been recognized a lot, then, as your product and your yourself. So tell them, can you, can you brag with? can you brag? It's okay to brag, You're prompted. It's not bragging if it's true.
Speaker 2:So we've been Oprah's favorite thing a couple of times. We got away. Yeah, we've won lots of international awards. She go on the show with her. No, you, you talk to her people with Oprah Her team. Yeah, and Martha Stewart and Sunset Magazine. you know lots of national and international press Right So.
Speaker 1:How about famous chefs? Chefs are all over TV. Oops, now Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, the first Humboldt Fog was the really break in cheese for us, and Florence Fabricant from the New York Times wrote about it.
Speaker 1:So Even I know her name, yeah.
Speaker 2:Everybody knows Florence Fabricant But Russ Parsons from the LA Times Somehow. Oh, he had a relative going to Humboldt State So we he connected with me but he every year would buy cheese from me to send to Julia Child for her birthday.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's neat.
Speaker 2:And so that was really a special. It was so cool, julia who? Yeah, so, and you know, true to life, if you don't need something, people give you lots of free stuff, right? So when I would go to a restaurant, we would always get comped and the chef would come out and you get that special treatment Free bagels with Dennis. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:No, i can't. That'd be really great. I mean Leropin.
Speaker 2:It's fun, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And all from Little Humboldt County.
Speaker 2:Little baby, humboldt County 100% Humboldt.
Speaker 1:That's what a great story.
Speaker 2:Well, and the nice thing is that when we we do all our names, we have really goofy names like Purple Haze and Ms Natural and Humboldt Fog Humboldt Fog's perfect. But the in the cheese world people would typically pick French names because that was the beginning of goat cheese. So we just went regular and picked good old, regular names Purple.
Speaker 1:Haze, who would want to try some of that? No, Purple Haze from Humboldt folks. I love it. So what motivates you today? Yeah, You sold, that was sold right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i sold the business about 10 years ago And you know I mentioned that I had been super poor as a mom and if you've ever lived through that, you don't forget it. And so, all of a sudden, i wasn't, because I sold the company and I picked a really good partner. They are hands off and my whole team is still there.
Speaker 1:Perfect.
Speaker 2:I'm just really, really happy.
Speaker 1:And I still get. To be involved if I choose The dream succession.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was perfect.
Speaker 1:So how is it different having more options with wealth? versus being dirt pours mom Cause I, with nine kids, i get it One income. Joni didn't work. Actually, she worked really, really hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, Don't you ever say she didn't work.
Speaker 1:No, honey, i didn't mean it like that?
Speaker 2:No, you did not. You won't be able to go home.
Speaker 1:Just kidding, Joni.
Speaker 2:But so when I was starting not just starting, but a few years into Cyprus Grove I took a business class and it was really business philosophy And they were all about wealth and how much if you have $10 million, you're OK. That was his premise.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 2:But I adjusted it for Humboldt County. But what I took away is if you have enough, you don't need more.
Speaker 1:Wow, right, how much is a duff?
Speaker 2:Well, it depends on each person and what your needs are and what your family needs are and how many you've got nine kids to take care of. Some have special needs. They need more.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And you set it up. But once you have enough, then you get to give it away, then you give it away. Give it away, and so I'm involved in a donor circle group that works on social justice.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:I've been a board member for Humboldt Area Foundation and was their past chair for a couple of years. I've been on the board for seven years, so I get to do what I want and make a difference And it's awesome. There's really nothing better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i'm starting to understand that.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, you can't win your young.
Speaker 1:You can't go as As you're struggling. Oh, you're just grinding. Yeah, do I have?
Speaker 2:food Can I take? I mean taking four girls to the dentist.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know it's hard, oh man.
Speaker 1:And bills just wait for that medical bill thing. Oh yeah, i remember just constantly digging out of a hole. Yeah, you know, and now I'm not loaded, but we're going to Medford this weekend and not thinking about the gas money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:You know we're going to spend money on people and it'll be fun.
Speaker 2:But when the hole is really deep and you don't have a shovel, it's hard.
Speaker 1:It's really hard.
Speaker 2:And the idea that people should pull themselves up from their bootstraps if they don't have boots. Right, i mean, there's people like that.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't need so much. I have holes in my shirt and I'm fine with that. Hey, a swamble, swamble. You don't have to get dressed up.
Speaker 1:I saw your car is not a brand new Jag or anything Well, it is a Tesla.
Speaker 2:It's an older Tesla. It is an older Tesla. But that's about you know. I really believe in solar and we have to change.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It was. You know I'm not at all into the car Right, but I'm into what it can do.
Speaker 1:Right What it represents. Yeah, yeah I love it, so I want to talk about your latest project.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But before I do I want to kind of set it up for the why. So we're developing this really neat project. I'll just leave it at that. So why? Why am I?
Speaker 2:doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:Why are you doing what you're doing? Why do you love Humboldt?
Speaker 2:Well.
Speaker 1:As it leads into the We Are Up project.
Speaker 2:I'll start about Humboldt, because I was talking to someone just yesterday about all the cool things that are happening here. We're going to be first in the nation to be net energy negative.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:With the offshore wind.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:Cal Poly. We have the aquafarm, we have the art. If you go into smaller things, we have more nonprofits per capita, more artists per capita.
Speaker 1:This is the art community.
Speaker 2:It's art, but there's a lot of really high end food makers. There's a lot of cool people doing cool things here, and that's what Right. But my theory is that when people left Europe and they moved to the East Coast because they didn't like they were leaving Europe to get away, and then people kept going West Well, humboldt is one of the most westerly places in the country, so we've got all the weirdos here.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, All the people who couldn't Yes, we're all here.
Speaker 2:We're here, But there's something wonderful about being weird And that leads into my other. Why I am where I am is you don't know what life is going to throw at you. My husband passed about 10 years ago And I thought we were going to be traveling in Europe by now. But no, we're not, And instead I've been the guardian for my granddaughter for the past five years. She just turned 15. So she moved in with me at 10. She has autism And when she moved in she couldn't shower. She was afraid of the oven.
Speaker 2:She couldn't open. They'd had fires. She couldn't open the microwave. She couldn't walk in a dark room.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:She didn't. She knew the answer to 2 plus 1, but she didn't understand the concept.
Speaker 1:She has a great memory. Right.
Speaker 2:But just a story about her. She wanted this was last year she wanted an Apple Watch And I said I'm not buying you one. I see you have one.
Speaker 1:Oh, this thing.
Speaker 2:Oh, this thing. But I didn't think she needed one. She had an old phone of mine, so she made chocolate chip cookies, sat at the end of our driveway with lemonade and chocolate chip cookies every weekend.
Speaker 1:And downtown field broke.
Speaker 2:Downtown field broke with a population of 25 people Right Maybe And sold enough cookies to buy a watch. She researched the watch online to find out which one she wanted. She programmed it.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Wow, and she's a self-proclaimed IT person. Now Perfect. But more importantly, she's a business owner.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So my friend made her a logo. It's called Jaden's Journeys And she wears her shirt. She's after it.
Speaker 1:Good.
Speaker 2:But this change in five years from the kid who couldn't do math, now she's super proud of her. She's got a bank account. She's so proud of herself.
Speaker 1:She's getting started, yeah.
Speaker 2:So she can do those things, But she's always probably who knows what is real. But right now she could not be on her own.
Speaker 1:She needs support. She'll have support services for a time. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:She'll be there forever. I don't know, right, but what does that look like? Because I could have bought her a house, right, but that's not going to solve. Take care of her needs, right, because she needs people. She's really social.
Speaker 1:Wow OK.
Speaker 2:And she needs somebody to watch out for her. Some guy shows up with a puppy. She might think she could go with them somewhere, right I? don't know. So how I made most of my cheeses was getting things out of the cupboard and looking at what did I have and what works. What's for dinner? Yeah, and I did the same with this project I've started, called We Are Up, and I looked at care situations around the US, but also when I had traveled in Europe I got to go to some.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:And looked at different things, but I ended up making a model that, just like you cook, you pull out your best ingredients and make it a great meal. So We Are Up is in McKinleyville I bought a little over 15 acres that I'll donate to the. We formed a 501C3. Donate that land And it's been 100% volunteer, 100% humble, funded And all well. We do have a couple, my friend in Holland cheese maker gave a little bit.
Speaker 2:No, that's OK, friend in Seattle, but Take it. Thank you, yeah, but I mean it's really been a community effort. So the plan is that we'll build a large community center with housing, above 50 units of housing. But it isn't about housing, it is partly, but it's like a worth thinking of it as an ecosystem of care. So there's an egg component, there's the housing component And then there's programs And they all need to be there. But we're mixing. It's intergenerational, so seniors and folks with disabilities, And then, because both of those groups can get kind of stuck in their ways, Yes, that's true.
Speaker 2:I'm a senior, i know that.
Speaker 1:I'm a senior and I've seen special needs kids.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So we have them.
Speaker 2:And that's how we are.
Speaker 1:You'd stuck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but who would unstick is students. So the third component is students who are in similar fields, like social services, nursing, environmental stewardship.
Speaker 1:Hello Cal Poly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hello Cal.
Speaker 1:Poly, cal Poly, humboldt folks used to be HSU And now That's been amazing. So kind of this synergistic, what it overused And I haven't used it all day word, so this whole thing where everybody gets to come and play.
Speaker 2:And contribute and receive, because so often in our society people are either receiving or contributing. But the idea is that I don't want it to be all low income either, because Then the wealthy people are over here in their bubble and the poor people are over here in their bubble. But people, it's about bringing people together and creating a community, and we've had the most wonderful like a woman in her 80s who teaches Tai Chi and a timber company, both contributing.
Speaker 1:Perfect.
Speaker 2:I mean, it doesn't get more diverse than that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and everybody cares about that population, that demographic, those demographics.
Speaker 2:And the two demographics. There's not a person in the world who doesn't have a parent somewhere, or had one and watch them suffer.
Speaker 1:Right, right. So, as I understand, it's three phases. You want to talk about those real quick and there's three build out sort of It's one long phase for me, but on paper it's three phases.
Speaker 2:So right now we're in the process of fundraising for a greenhouse and we're two-thirds of the way there. This weekend we're having a work party, fencing the orchard and planting some garden stuff. That's neat. And then we're going to have a meet and greet out there on the 11th so people can come and see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're coming. Good, it'll be fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's going to be really fun.
Speaker 1:And Jodie's got her calendar.
Speaker 2:She's got it all dialed in Yeah, yeah, so bring the kids. Okay, all nine of them because there's plenty of space.
Speaker 1:Well, there are boys. He had Medford, it's said to be the Netherlands. She got a job with the executive. Nike, Get out. I know they're pretty stoked. Not an easy job to get.
Speaker 2:The Netherlands. I'll talk to you on the side about that.
Speaker 1:We're going to Amsterdam.
Speaker 2:I've been there like a dozen times.
Speaker 1:We'll talk. Yeah, absolutely, it's a good place. Yeah, i'm looking forward. Everybody says it's a great place to visit.
Speaker 2:It's like humble but fancier It's the same vibe.
Speaker 1:We got out of McKelleyville last year for the first time We got to go to England and Scotland and Ireland, nice. It was really fun.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:Now that we're world travelers and we have passports.
Speaker 2:Why not Once you have a passport? We're pros at this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we watched all the TV shows. We're going to dial in on all that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, once a case. That's the key.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so three phases. So the first phase is the greenhouse.
Speaker 2:Okay, The greenhouse and the property has a duplex on it, So we have one-half of the duplex empty. Now that we're kind of renovating and the idea is that we can begin serving people once we get the greenhouse built. Folks can grow food. Come up to the duplex, learn to cook, learn some life skills. Wow, Hang out. Hang out. Learn about donating, giving back so that we could grow food for people. We could have a CSA.
Speaker 1:Is that a farm share?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like goat. What's it called?
Speaker 2:There's one C-goat farm. C-goat farms. Yeah, yeah, i just reached out to her. That's the other fun thing about this is so many people.
Speaker 1:You're all connected anyway, So all these guys would come. Yeah, now we, joni and I, get our food from there.
Speaker 2:Oh nice, they're great, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Have another one of those? Yeah, because people have to eat food.
Speaker 2:They do, And we could help each other and choose you grow this, I'll grow that.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:I could grow your starts, you whatever, right, so anyway that gets us started. We've got really. The regional center has been so lovely supported.
Speaker 1:They're great here, gosh.
Speaker 2:We're lucky.
Speaker 1:Can I talk about them real quick? Yes, please, The Redwood Coast Regional Center located in Eureka, California. It's actually Redwood Coast Regional Center number one because they're designation And what they do is they. Our son, Gabe, has Downs and Autism and he's been a client since he was a baby and what they do is they administer all the funding and the agencies that work through them to get care to Gabe for PTOT, whatever therapy, speech therapy and schooling assistance, having special support. So Gabe's been a big client and they're amazing. So if you live in Texas, guess what? There is anything that looks like a regional center You're kind of on your own baby. Oregon's broke Same kind of idea. They don't have the services that we do. And the cool thing about Humboldt 100% Humboldt Regional Center is they really care. You met Dr Kim Smalley.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's been on the site. She came to our Spooktacular. She's amazing.
Speaker 1:Now there's a woman that's really cool. She's hi Kim. She's Harvard educated and did it by herself with her own bootstraps. All the kids that went there, that share cohorts were all loaded trust fund kids. She was, as I understand it, not that, not that She had to do that and she's raised a couple girls, i think, and big chops for her. Now she's the head of our regional center and I think she's a big fan. I'm a big fan. What a cool ally. You've really kind of developed in your cool way, all these alliances and these connections and these relationships. Talk about that.
Speaker 2:Well with Cypress Grove, once we got past survival mode, we had a premise that the person who washes the dishes has the most important job, because they could actually kill somebody if they didn't do it well. So I really believe that you have to honor everybody where they are and what they're doing. We've always given cheese to every event in the community.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And so probably a lot of people feel the oomie. That's okay, But truly you know we've been around 30, maybe getting close to 40 years, I don't know Wow. Since 83,. What does that mean?
Speaker 1:So 83. 40 years? yeah, is it 40?.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's our 40th anniversary.
Speaker 1:Happy anniversary.
Speaker 2:We did 25 random acts of kindness, wow And that meant like one of them, one was getting 25 backpacks and filling them with school supplies and taking them to different schools.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:One was taking cheese to the ladies at St Joe's who are the volunteers.
Speaker 1:They love that.
Speaker 2:It took me 15 minutes to get them to realize I didn't want anything back, because they're so used to.
Speaker 1:They're so used to getting.
Speaker 2:They're so sweet.
Speaker 1:They're great.
Speaker 2:Anyway. So a lot of people are behind this because they know it's a needed project.
Speaker 1:There's no housing, no.
Speaker 2:And I get these heartfelt letters from folks. you know I'm getting older. I don't know what's going to happen to my child, who's in his 40s, or I had to move my daughter to Crescent City. I'm too old to drive to visit her.
Speaker 1:It's horrible. Yeah, we were looking at some real dour options for Gabe. that just didn't make any sense.
Speaker 2:How old is he?
Speaker 1:now He's 23.
Speaker 2:23? Yeah, but Jaden would think he's so cool because he's in his 20s.
Speaker 1:He is cool, yeah, yeah. What's really cool is watching him kind of prosper without mom and dad around and doing, you know, with other support. And we have a big advocate, rebecca, who's a behaviorist, and she's just taken to all these next levels for all these next levels that are just kind of like with your granddaughter exciting to see and go oh. I wonder why we couldn't get him to do that.
Speaker 2:Because you're the parents and they know how to work you. Oh, he told us.
Speaker 1:Oh, we show up and he's playing us right, like right away. Right, yeah, it's like no, you can perform amazingly with the others that are demanding it of you, and so anyway. So phase one is the greenhouse, the greenhouse, and beginning to serve people.
Speaker 2:We can work with the regional center on providing supports for people. So when I first talked to them, they said well, nobody ever asked to work in a greenhouse. And I had to explain the whole concept. It's not about working in the greenhouse That's a piece of it But it's being in there seeing how plants grow, how to take care of something.
Speaker 1:There's chores.
Speaker 2:There's chores, there's food. Everybody likes to have a good meal.
Speaker 1:There's food Everybody loves the food. Is there going to be goat cheese?
Speaker 2:Yes, our perscruz has donated so much cheese.
Speaker 1:That's part of that relationship you still have.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful, that's really neat, and so we can do that. And now we're beginning fundraising for the next. you know like it's a I can't even say it out loud $25 to $30 million that. I somehow can come up with. I have no clue how that's going to happen. Oh it'll happen, but it will, and so now I'm starting to figure that out. We have our meeting with the planning commission set for. Oh, this is a big ask.
Speaker 1:June.
Speaker 2:July 6th at six o'clock at the planning commission, we filed our CEQA docs and hoping to have some solid support there Wow, it would really be helpful.
Speaker 1:Explain CEQA real quick.
Speaker 2:CEQA is.
Speaker 1:What it does. I don't know what the stands for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i can't even think of what Well it. We've spent the last year and a half doing environmental studies of the land. Where's the wetlands? What are the limitations? Where can we put buildings without interfering with nature? How tall can the buildings be, all of those things? And so we're going to be able to put 50 units of housing and a large community center, a greenhouse and an orchard, and still keep 80% of that land open space. Nice, really nice.
Speaker 1:So that's the work of engineers and folks that know Botanists. They know county and state regs and federal, so you're not in the coastal zone, that's good. That's really good, big thumbs up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and architects and all kinds of people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're going to have your stuff together and you're going to give it to these guys that are going to come. We've given it to them, so this is their rendering.
Speaker 2:We've given them all the details of all of our year and a half's worth of studies Working with the tribes have been on site.
Speaker 1:That's really good.
Speaker 2:All kinds of things. Yeah, and we had 85 letters of support written, 10 not so supportive.
Speaker 1:It's hubbolt, 100% hubbolt. Yeah, you're going to get somebody that hates something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do have some haters, but That's okay. It's okay And I think human nature is that we don't like change.
Speaker 1:Right, and it'd be weird to not have some haters around, because then they'd go. this is too perfect. What's wrong with it?
Speaker 2:I'm such an opt, i always think I am too. I understand What's wrong with you people, But anyway, we're moving forward and once we get this then we can actually build the greenhouse.
Speaker 1:Wow, and So you could start building on the 13th the day after if they loaded it up.
Speaker 2:The 12th. Wow, we are up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then we're going to actually purchase the shell of the greenhouse, not all the parts on the inside You know any good builders. No.
Speaker 1:They're all busy building stuff, they are booked out for years.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. That's going to be our big Yeah.
Speaker 1:I wonder if, in faith, you could pre-book them. Yeah, you know, pencil us in for Pencil us in July 15th, say.
Speaker 2:Well, there's the hubbolt county office of education has the greenhouse at Redwood Acres.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:And Gene Callahan, who built my house helped them. And so I think he'll come and crack a whip, or supervise Linda Hand. Linda Hand He's.
Speaker 1:Famous, he's a good guy. Yeah, i've heard really good things, super good guy, wow Wonderful.
Speaker 2:So greenhouse community center, and then Well, greenhouse and programs, and then the community center with its housing above.
Speaker 1:How much is that going to be again?
Speaker 2:Well, the whole project is 30-ish million.
Speaker 1:I think Okay, today And today's $30.
Speaker 2:Well, it was 25 when I started. So, it's probably 30 now. So it'll cap out at 50 units 50 units of housing, so we're having a mix of studios, one bedroom and two bedrooms.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:Some folks will want to share, some folks won't. Some folks will have limited income and maybe won a studio, so we're trying to design all of that.
Speaker 1:So what's the timeline if you have your In a perfect?
Speaker 2:world. Two years will be starting construction.
Speaker 1:Wow, just quick considering. It's really quick Building time.
Speaker 2:It's long for me.
Speaker 1:Yes, drags on and on.
Speaker 2:Well, when you're 75, there's limited time and I want to be around to enjoy it.
Speaker 1:I was just gonna say you look really great for 50. You do. No, that's Yeah, you want to be around to love it, you do, you do Wow. That's a big vision. I love the fact that you're including all the stakeholders as part of the process. So cool and right and smart and.
Speaker 2:Well, you have to, because that's who it's for. It's not. I actually had a meeting today with, do you know, cash Boujah, the wonderful architect, and he hooked us up with a group that is trying to close prisons. Wow, and they're architects and they're trying to design things once people get out of prisons or I don't know, but they're gonna come up and check out the project. They're into crazy projects.
Speaker 1:Wow, who knows what they might add.
Speaker 2:They'll add a lot, but one of their big tenants is bringing people together. They're trying to plan. What does Gabe need? What does Jayden need?
Speaker 1:It's two different things. Right.
Speaker 2:And what does Jayden's neighbor need?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because she gets up at 5.30 and sings at the top of her lungs Perfect, they need.
Speaker 1:Something Good soundproofing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the Venn diagram where those kind of come together and you can figure out what the needs are. Yeah, Wow, big vision stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i love our family joke as I'm ready fire aim.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because if you worry about it, you're not gonna do it.
Speaker 1:Right Yeah. You're perfect just out there. We know that you can't get it done because you're too busy being perfect about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you need the perfectionist too, so it needs to be the whole community. Yeah, and I can be the crazy one, but other people can be the smart ones who say, oh no, you don't want to do that Don't do that? No, no, no no.
Speaker 1:We're not building up the marshland.
Speaker 2:Yes, so or we're gonna add a frog pond at the end of this detention center, so the frogs have a sweet place to be and the herons have a place to land.
Speaker 1:Right, so is it 80 acres? Is that what I remember?
Speaker 2:No, it feels like it. It's huge. It's 15. It's 15. Okay, and so we'll just be up against the grocery outlets. So, we're within walking distance of a grocery store, a movie theater restaurants, a hardware store, a health clinic, bank, perfect And the bus.
Speaker 1:And McDonald's, and I think Denny's is going to become Mountain Mike's pizza Oh. That's what they said anyway.
Speaker 2:Well, that would be nice.
Speaker 1:Why not? It's all there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Now McKinneyville's got it all.
Speaker 2:You wouldn't need to drive And a lot of our residents probably won't drive.
Speaker 1:Right, they're gonna walk down to Pearson Park, azalea Park.
Speaker 2:Or they can. The health club is right two blocks away.
Speaker 1:There's two. It's a big part in the club. Yeah, love it, yeah, wow, that's a really big vision.
Speaker 2:It's a sweep spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we drove back there and looked at it some months ago.
Speaker 2:Oh, you haven't. You didn't come last year, did you?
Speaker 1:No, we didn't make it.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:But we just took it in dependent Sunday afternoon and hung out And we didn't walk on the property or anything but just got to look at it. Kind of looked at it on a sunny day and go, this is Okay, gonna be magical.
Speaker 2:Well, when you actually get on it it's kind of long and narrow and about two-thirds of the way there's this Stand of trees that are all a little bit different.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:They're not just all redwoods or they're not all anything. Oh, and I've always called it the fairy circle. Okay, and I don't know why those There's different. They're just weird, and so I. I Had a dream of a kid's story about how did this fairy circle come to be? Oh cool, and it was because the trees on the other edge Decided that they needed to have a place for the animals to hang out and they learned to walk. Oh, but anyway, all my weird stuff comes in dreams humblet fog and this project.
Speaker 2:Hey, dreams are good if I get a dream I I've tried to pay attention You write it down, Yeah that's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, cuz I think with folks like us they get busy. The only time you have to quiet mind to dream And a quiet enough mind is to be still and write that stuff down.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's fun. I love your vision. That's cool to get to know you.
Speaker 2:Yeah thanks. Yeah, it's a fun project.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's gonna be that so many cool people. Oh, i think every. How could you not be behind it? So, you ten haters.
Speaker 2:I don't want to be mean to them because truly I get it when I win them There one they need to understand that, but they're worried that their views are gonna change or It'll be too noisy on my backyard. Well, literally though, it is in their backyard. Yeah, nobody wants their backyard to be different.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I get it Yeah but it's mitigation and there's discussion and yeah yeah. No, i, you're right, let's consider those guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean, i hope they'll come around, yeah, but I have to consider The games and the Jadans of the world right the whole point. Yeah, and the seniors so parting shot.
Speaker 1:What would you like to say to Humboldt, if you, or to the world, because this is gonna go out on the World Wide Web, including.
Speaker 2:I'm hoping that This will really be a model of change, because the current model is often for folks with disabilities to be isolated, you know five to a group home with a caregiver Maybe. Yeah, if they're lucky, yeah, and Often on the streets. I mean, i, i have people that I Give food to on the street regularly who I know have autism. I can, i know it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah and they shouldn't be on the streets. It's wrong. Yeah, so if we can get this built and Have a model that can be copied, the ag land is is a nice to have. It's not. You could still do other things if you didn't have the ag land. you could teach Whatever your people are into computer skills, video Making, food.
Speaker 1:I love it. So that's what we could do, what I used in fortuita.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But right now, if you're a parent in Trinidad, you're driving your, your loved one, to Eureka, probably for day programs. We do and how long does that take you?
Speaker 1:22 minutes and a lot of fuel. Yeah, twice a day.
Speaker 2:No, so 44 minutes. Yeah twice a day.
Speaker 1:You know if it's round trip and the program gapes part of is, you know, love you guys, but it's. We didn't have like a lot of choices. No, it was like hey, well, there's five different choices. They're all amazing. No, there's this, there's a choice. Yeah, and they love Gabe and he blends in and does great, but I don't, i don't know that he's challenged and he's, you know, and then he's sort of it's like, it's not like school right and and when school's over.
Speaker 1:Things change, yes, they do and the kids drop off 22 years old, you got to leave high school and then what happens?
Speaker 2:you've had all these supports and then nothing like 90% of Adults kids with autism. You know that in that I still calling them kids when they're 20 because I'm 75 But haven't interacted with a friend in a year. Wow that's horrible. That's tragic, it's good, but Program stop. They go to their room and yeah, I padded.
Speaker 1:Wow, you're right. We looked at all kinds of options that weren't there. That weren't there. We were looking at all these things that we couldn't find and it was tragic of it going. Well, there's the Sunberg Center, but that's that's way down in Broadway and it's far, and there was just nothing.
Speaker 1:That's a nice, you know, and they do a lot with a little yeah, and the regional center was kind, but it was COVID time and they were retracted and Let's go get Gabe a job. Well, he's pretty limited in skill sets, so you have to have a magical employer with you know, with the supervisor. It's so. It just gets so complex right away.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things we're thinking is say we have, say somebody wants to have a wedding at our community center. Wow could Gabe open a door for somebody or? Sure stand there and wave to them. Whatever he can do there's, everybody can do something right has a role. Almost yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, you can just be there and be kind and live music and really make the neighbors crazy Not in my backyard.
Speaker 2:Well, that'll be indoors, Yeah no, that'd be fun.
Speaker 1:So it'll be a whole venue. Then it'll be yeah For a wedding. That's really neat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or another event. Sure you know if, if our residents have an opportunity to do whatever makes them happy And Interact with the community at large? Yeah, and the other piece is the community at large needs to know about our kids. Absolutely Yeah because if they don't, they think they don't exist right, and if, then they don't then they're invisible. They're invisible, yeah, and they have no voice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, i don't like that. I know I don't like that. Thanks that word.
Speaker 2:picture No So I, but we want to change it.
Speaker 1:It's beginning to change. I'm gonna leave you with a question and it is this.
Speaker 1:That's your dreamer and big thinker, and I'm I'm really creative Like very little. I'm a good copier, you know I'm. I'm good at watching Seinfeld. So What do you see for Humboldt in the next five or ten years? as you dream, as you think, as you know, as you're connected and you're out there, what do you, what do you see, what do you think? What would you like to see manifest in this beautiful County of ours, this, the I call the original God's country?
Speaker 2:Still is still is. I think I think we're all poised on Something, with steps that we could take that would take Humboldt to a really next level kind of place. I mean, as the offshore wind happens, one of the things Humboldt area foundation has been doing is to be sure that it's not another extractive Boom and bust like the goldrush so many cannabis. Yeah, or cannabis you know I read woods all of these things.
Speaker 2:So writing community, community benefits plans in advance. So let's plan. Let's Be sure that the folks out in Hoopa have Some benefit of power. Yeah, let's be sure that people have broadband when that comes through right. Let's take care of our fishermen when the aquaculture comes in and maybe they can raise the price of the wild salmon So they can actually make a living. But people can afford to eat salmon. Who can't afford that? you know right. Let's, let's make it happen, because I think there's so much Just on the edge of happening here. It's really exciting. Cal Poly is, but all of these have Struggles.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, to make them happen. And, and You know we have to be compassionate for the naysayers but or, like We're talking about building a four or five story buildings in Arcata for Humboldt, for Humboldt Now sorry, cal Poly. Cal Poly. So if we don't build that, what are our choices? people are homeless, students are homeless, or we use up ag land. Right or buy more hotels and put people in tiny little hotel rooms.
Speaker 1:Yeah, So why wouldn't we go out? Yeah?
Speaker 2:what's wrong with if it's engineered so it's safe? What's wrong with not using the egg land and keeping that? I saw it in Europe a lot where apartment buildings behind them had beautiful gardens for people. Yeah, so let's just get take a breath, be creative.
Speaker 1:Remind me. No, i like you, i like your vision. It's good, it's good vision.
Speaker 2:Yeah it is there, i think it's, it's, it's doable, it's right there, beyond a grasp and we just gotta figure it out, yeah, yeah, and just say, yeah, maybe we won't get everything we want, but we'll get a lot of it. And yeah, somebody else might get a lot of what they want. And need.
Speaker 1:You got Humboldt Bay to develop and the waterfront, and then you got is it? the Great Redwood Trail.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's happening.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's gonna be bomb.
Speaker 2:There's so many things right now. Yeah and then I love all the music and stuff up at Cal Poly Mm-hmm center arts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i think it's a good bands this year. Yeah, what did I just infer? that they had some other bands last year And we saw a really good show. It's fun. Well, it's, we get a fun. It's been fun having you now.
Speaker 2:Thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wanted to like cool to get to know you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I look forward to hanging out some more, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we haven't seen the last of us. We have some things we can share.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Joanie wants to get to know you too And, by the way, she's raised nine kids plus me, makes 10. She's You'll have a lot in common experience.
Speaker 2:She's amazing.
Speaker 1:My dad goes you. You know, I really like Joanie said.
Speaker 2:What about me?
Speaker 1:He goes. you shook his head, he goes. I don't know, scott, you were smart enough to marry Joanie, so shout out to Joanie Hammond. Well thanks for coming. Mary Appreciate you And. I wish you all the best, and we're there to support, for sure.
Speaker 2:Cool, cool and July 6th at the planning department.
Speaker 1:July 6th here that be there. That's right downtown, right, yeah, cool, we'll be there.
Speaker 2:Cool, all right, thanks, thanks.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for listening today to 100% Humboldt. Reach back to us, follow us, share us. And thanks again to our guest. This is Scott Hammond. Come back next time and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt.
