Senior News August, 2003 Vol. 24. No. 6

 

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

Ruth Mountaingrove is taking a semester off after 17 years

Gulp! I'm finally eligible for HSU's classes for seniors

Arts program teaches 100-year-old craft

Timber Ridge builds 48 new senior units

Three delightful selections lure travelers to the warmth of So. Humboldt

How a paycheck affects your Social Security benefits

Briefs

Pick up a copy today! Better yet, subscribe and never miss an issue!

Blue Ox Millworks
Arts program teaches 100-year-old craft
by Genevieve Ross

     Blue Ox Millworks, a local institution that teaches traditional arts,
will host week-long day camps this summer for youths and adults. The third
youth camp begins Aug. 11, with the adult camp beginning Aug. 18.
     The historic museum and millworks at 1 X Street in Eureka strives to
preserve, demonstrate and teach the craftsmanship of the past by teaching
historic crafts and living skills including ceramics, horseback riding,
blacksmithing, printing, woodworking, farm animal care, cooking, plant
medicines, canning and smoking foods, river rock mosaics and building
techniques from the 1800s. It is celebrating "30 Years of Craftsmanship"
this summer.
     Blue Ox is open for public tours and works with the Humboldt County
Office of Education to create a high school curriculum with hands-on
projects.
     "The greatest keys to learning at any age are curiosity, excitement
and joy," said founder Eric Hollenbeck. "To create an environment that
nurtures these is the objective at Blue Ox."
     Eric and Viviana Hollenbeck started the millworks as a logging company 30
years ago. Eric and three partners logged for three years, and Viviana
joined them and logged one summer. Acquiring the abandoned warehouse on X
street in 1976, they first manufactured prefabricated greenhouses and
storage buildings. They began to focus on building Victorian millwork where
they create or renew old millwork and have become known for their skills
across the country. In 1991 they opened for tours to a public curious about
the tools that were 50 to 150 years old. Now a wooden pathway of ramps,
steps and walkways threads through the warehouse so that tourists can watch
people working on the old machinery.
     Throughout the years, the Hollenbecks have added a ceramic studio,
blacksmith shop, boatworks, ox team, skid camp (cook shack, theater,
bunkhouse) as they acquired old Victorian buildings, moved them to the site
and remodeled them.
     The summer camp will give people a wide variety of experience in what the
millworks is doing, Viviana Hollenbeck said.
     To register for the camp, call 444-3437. Blue Ox Millworks is open 9-4
Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays.
     Genevieve Ross is an HSU wildlife management major working as part time
office manager at Blue Ox Millworks.