Trees

107 Years Ago Jan. 14, 1914

• Al Carlson and a couple of other men are at work replacing the badly rusted ironwork of the Jughandle Bridge this side of Caspar. As the salt air of the coast rusts common iron very rapidly, Supervisor Ross is having galvanized iron put in this time. This will do away with all future rusting and prove much cheaper in the long run. The board allowed $1,200 for repairs on the structure.

• Miss Vivian Rogers came in on the train last evening. She has been at Willits studying for the teacher’s exam which was given in Ukiah last week.

• Attorney M. H. Iversen and family left yesterday morning for Ukiah where M. Iversen will be henceforth associated with the law firm of Preston and Preston. He has been very successful on the coast and it is believed that a larger and broader field awaits him in Ukiah.

• Miss Gladys Chambers, of Mendocino, was a guest of Mrs. Josie Stoddard of this city last week.

• Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Preston have moved into their new modern home on Brandon Way, which was recently purchased from C. E. Boytreaux.

77 Years Ago Jan. 20, 1944

• Frank J. Hyman, who built the fishing boats

at one of three local nurs

“Cleone” and “Maloa” and who operates boats in addition to the United Fish Company receiving and packing plant at Noyo, has recently branched out and will undertake to build two much larger boats 60 feet long. Hyman has purchased a strip of land north of the boat shop on the Noyo flat and has started construction on a boat shop. As soon as this work is completed, he will start on the new boats. It is estimated that the boats will cost between $25,000 and $30,000 each.

• Mr. and Mrs. C. Louis Wood and sons, Bob and Tommie, returned last Thursday from a week spent with her mother, Mrs. R. H. Yates and family, of Chowchilla.

• Frank Wilson, who is kingpin in the company store warehouse, was forced to leave his duties the first of the week due to illness. He hasn’t returned at this writing but we understand he is greatly improved.

• Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Celeri, son, Billie, and daughter, Jean, returned last Thursday from a week spent at Palo Alto visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. P. O. Bishop. On Christmas Day, 20 members of the family were all together at the Bishop home for an old-fashioned Christmas feast.

• Pfc Mervin Stayton is in South Dakota. He writes that the climate is quite cold but not too noticeable when you dress for it. Mervin wants to hear from his pals up and down the coast. All three eries — Hare Creek, North Star or The Botanical Gardens — during Arbor Week, March 7-14, and receive $5 off the purchase price, courtesy of the Garden Club. The

Stayton boys are the sons of Mrs. Joe King, of Mendocino.

• Robert Borneman, S2C, son of Mrs. E. A. Borneman is on the U.S.S.

Otis and somewhere in the Pacific. He writes that he has met several Fort Bragg boys and it is certainly wonderful to meet boys from home. Bob wants to be remembered to all his friends.

55 Years Ago Jan. 20, 1966

• Alta May Van Dorn passed away Thursday evening, Jan. 13, in a Santa Rosa hospital following a long illness. She was born at Westport on October 3, 1903, to the late George and Clara Johns Roach and had lived there all of her life. She was married in Fort Bragg on June 9, 1923, to Warren Van Dorn, and for many years they ran a store in Westport.

• Saturday, Jan. 8, saw a gathering of the O’Bayley family to celebrate 50 years of wedded life for

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. O’Bayley, Sr. Highlight of the day’s festivities was the presentation to Mr. and Mrs. O’Bayley of an Apostolic Blessing from Rome.

• At Coast Theatre: “Sands of the Kalahari” starring Stuart Whitman, Stanley Baker and Susannah York. “Ship of Fools” starring Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Jose Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Ashley, Oskar Werner, and George Segal.

• An excellent attendance, members and

Fort Bragg Garden Club, now in its 66th year, encourages everyone to remember that “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” guests responded when president Janice Grant called the Mendocino Study Club’s first meeting of the year to order on January 14.

40 Years Ago Jan. 21, 1981

• At Coast Theatre, Fort Bragg: “Popeye” starring Robin Williams as Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Walt Disney’s “Song of the South.”

• Services were held Friday for Alice E. Pearl, 71, of Fort Bragg who died at the local hospital Wednesday morning after a short illness. She was the widow of Herbert W. Pearl, who died in 1974. A native of Springfield, Mass., she came to this area as a child and lived here continuously.

• Lotte Moise, Fort Bragg educator and author, will be the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Fort Bragg Library Saturday. Lotte Moise has been a valued member of this community because of her work with young people having developmental disabilities. She was instrumental in starting the Paul Bunyan School in Fort Bragg. At Saturday’s meeting she will talk about some of the interesting aspects of her book “As Up We Grew with Barbara,” recently published. As the title suggests, the whole Moise family gained and grew along with Barbara, the youngest child in the family, who was born with developmental special needs.

Find more information at the club’s website, fbgardenclub.com or call Garden Club Arbor Week Chairperson Kathy Holmes at 9640317.

John Kennith Iversen died peacefully in the arms of his wife on December 16, 2020 in their family home surrounded by loved ones after a short, but courageous battle with brain cancer.

John was born on October 28, 1972 in Ukiah, Ca to his loving parents Ron and Marlene Iversen. John was an active kid playing several sports, and enjoyed hunting and fishing, as well as riding bikes with his buddies in the neighborhood. While in high school John was a multi-sport athlete and graduated from Mendocino High School in 1990.

John attended Butte College in Chico, Ca. In spring of 1992 he joined the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and was an active member while attending school. He created friendships and a brotherhood that lasted him a lifetime.

In 1994 John returned to the Mendocino coast to join his father and brother in running the daily operations of the family business, Iversen Logging, Inc. Over the years John took a very active role in running the company and took great pride in sustainable logging. His kind and patient demeanor was much appreciated by his crew, land owners, foresters and truck drivers whom he worked with often.

The logging industry provided John opportunities to educate the public, particularly the youth, about logging practices through his seat on the board of the Redwood Region Logging Conference, where he was an active board member from 1999 to 2007. In 2006 he served as president of the logging conference with that year’s theme being “Growing Timber Families” John took great pleasure in his board seat on the RRLC and looked forward to the event every year to showcase the great work that hard working men and women were doing in the logging industry.

John served as a volunteer in the Mendocino Fire Department for just over twenty years. During his tenure on the fire department he assisted in many rescues and served as a mentor to the newer fire fighters. He was a versatile firefighter that could be counted on to jump in when needed.

In 2003 John was married to wife Mary and went on to grow his timber family with children, Alex and Avery. John was a very active and proud dad. He coached youth baseball, basketball and football for several seasons. He was a well loved and respected coach. John was a huge advocate for his children’s endeavors always providing support with their activities. He could often be found visiting his daughter’s horse, talking to her over the fence.

John loved spending time in his outdoor kitchen space, grilling and spending time with friends and family. He loved to entertain and be with people. He was quiet, but witty, and people listened when he spoke.

Over the years John enjoyed several hobbies including golf which he shared with his father and brother, eventually passing the love of the game down to his children. John loved teaching his kids the game and enjoyed golfing with them. He also liked to hunt ducks and deer, fish on the ocean in his kayak, when the ocean conditions allowed, and fishing with his buddy in his boat. He spent time riding motorcycles with his children and friends. He enjoyed vacationing with his family as often as possible.

John is survived by his wife Mary (Durigan) Iversen of 17 years, son, Alex, age 14, daughter Avery, age 11, father Ron Iversen, brother Donald Iversen, sister Brie Sanchez, and many other loving family members. John was preceded in death by his beloved mother, Marlene (Lang) Iversen.

John is missed daily by his friends and family. His kindness and steadfastness will continue to be missed by all who knew him. John’s profound patience was bountiful and appreciated by many but mostly by his wife. May he rest in peace and may he know how deeply he is loved and honored each and every day.