#23. Resilience, and Craftsmanship: Eric Hollenbeck’s Journey from Vietnam to the Blue Ox Millworks

Scott Hammond: Welcome, uh, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and my

good friend Eric Hollenbeck, man, the myth, the legend. Eric, how are you?

Eric Hollenbeck: Good.

Scott Hammond: It's good to see you.

Eric Hollenbeck: Good, Scott. How are you today?

Scott Hammond: I'm well today. It's, uh,

it's good. It's the end of the week, and we're racing toward that, that Christmas holiday.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Breakneck speed, I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Break it… Every year it kinda creeps up.

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I get it. I-

Scott Hammond: I don't know what that is

Eric Hollenbeck: … I'm the same way. I-

Scott Hammond: I wore my holiday sweater for you.

Eric Hollenbeck: Good for you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I had to wear that. So it's,

legendary or you're becoming that. It's, it's, it's kinda like you're Moses. You became famous later in life. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah, well, [laughs] I'm a slow bloomer.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. My dad used to say that. He goes, "We're from Iowa,

than most folks." [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I totally get that. I drove out here,

Scott. Um, uh, r-remember I grew up on, uh, Myrtle Avenue.

Scott Hammond: Two blocks away, yeah. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Y- you know, at the corner of Myrtle and, and S.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, right down the street.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh, and Dennis Manfreda and I,

at five o'clock at night, drove our, um, our little lawnmower-powered, um, go-kart up and down the street.

Scott Hammond: On Myrtle.

Eric Hollenbeck: On Myrtle.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I understand you couldn't get w-away with

It's crazy. You'd get, you'd get killed.

Eric Hollenbeck: You, you,

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: You gotta be watching what you're doing in a Mack truck-

Scott Hammond: That's right

Eric Hollenbeck: … today. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That's right.

Eric Hollenbeck: It's just, it's just not good or bad.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's the olden days.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm never saying. It's just different. That's all.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's the olden days. So, uh, you got a lot of history in this town.

We're gonna talk about your, uh, your history here, your service, uh, in the Vietnam War, correct?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes, sir.

Scott Hammond: And then, uh, uh, the, the marriage to your, your better half.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes, sir.

Scott Hammond: You, you, like me, married up.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: My dad goes, I– Dad goes, "I love Joan." I said,

face at me.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What about you? You're smart enough to marry Viviana.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: And then, uh, you run the Blue Ox Millworks down in-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yep

Scott Hammond: … foot of X-

Eric Hollenbeck: X Street

Scott Hammond: … right on the Bay.

Eric Hollenbeck: Right on the Bay.

Scott Hammond: We'll talk all about that. And then you have a, a book.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: And there was a, a play at Del Arte written for that.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yep. Yep, based on the book, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then the, the Academy Award-winning, uh,

Craftsman, uh, on cable TV.

Eric Hollenbeck: It wa- It, it really was. It wasn't Academy, but it, it

did do really well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was ranked number one-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … uh, for the two seasons, both years that it ran.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's incredible. Are you, are you gonna do some more?

I don't wanna jump too far ahead of this.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, let, let's get to that when-

Scott Hammond: We'll get to that. Tell us about growing up in Eureka.

You're, you're, you're 100% Humboldt, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes, sir.

Scott Hammond: And you're from right over here in Eureka, California.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yep.

Scott Hammond: That's in the north coast. It's way…

We're about seven hours north, six hours north of San Francisco.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: And you, and you grew up in this area.

You're, you're, you're what, 80 years young?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes, sir.

Scott Hammond: So you go back into the, the olden days.

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, you know,

um, but your, your first point is absolutely correct. People think, uh, uh, San Francisco is Northern

California.

Scott Hammond: No way.

Eric Hollenbeck: There's seven more hours, dang.

Scott Hammond: That's right.

Eric Hollenbeck: In a car going 60 miles an hour. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Bay Area's central.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Maybe.

Eric Hollenbeck: To you and me. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Everybody goes, "Oh, you're way up there in Napa."

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. It's, uh… So,

um, a-and I, I just think it's a marvelous place to I mean, you know, it was just… [sighs] I couldn't have asked for a better, um, grow- eh, I couldn't ask for a better

life.

Scott Hammond: Amen.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

but my growing up was, was superb, if you take school out of it. Um, [laughs]

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: I did. I had a really hard time.

I can't read.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Never have been able to.

Um-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: It's not a big deal. You know, Viviana reads. My wife reads.

Scott Hammond: She'll be the reader.

Eric Hollenbeck: She reads, yeah.

[laughs] Um, my job is to learn how to do what I do-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … and become the best at that I could be.

Scott Hammond: Oh, uh, legendary.

Eric Hollenbeck: And every one of us, that's our job.

Uh, for young people out there that are listening, [clears throat] I– don't play to your bad cards. For God's sakes-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … nobody should do that.

Scott Hammond: Don't play your… Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Play to your good cards.

Scott Hammond: All the time.

Eric Hollenbeck: Figure out what you

do and then do it the best you can. Not, I'm not saying you gotta be the best in the world, 'cause I ain't.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm just saying you gotta be the best you can.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, and that's important.

Scott Hammond: Well advised. They say that in business acumen,

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and let the weaknesses go, but get good at what you're good at.

Eric Hollenbeck: For God sakes. You know, that's, that's…

Any poker player's gonna tell you that, not that I know how to play poker, [laughs] but-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: I sound like a, a big-time gambler.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: Yeah, right.

So, so school was tough on a guy like you.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. School, school wasn't good, but, um-

Scott Hammond: It's, it's tough on a lot of people.

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, I got nine kids, and some of them are brilliant learners,

and others are brilliant learners.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And it, it, neither w- I… You know, we wanna put a value judgment

on, on intelligence as it looks like book, book learning, and that's not… We know, we know better

now.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's one aspect.

A-and, and it's a great aspect. For those-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … that, that can do it, boy, I'm waving the flag and, uh, beating the

drum for 'em.

Scott Hammond: Heck yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: But for those who can't do it, there's a different way,

flag and beating the drum for them too.

Scott Hammond: You, you would love my son-in-law, Matt-

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: … who is a brilliant builderAnd the folks

he was young, he, he was dyslexic, he couldn't read. We were troubled. We tested him, and he was a, a buck 50 IQ."

Eric Hollenbeck: Mm.

Scott Hammond: So he's smarter than all of us in the room,

and he's proven it with a life of, of creative craftsmanship and-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … rebu- he serves people. He built our, especially son Gabe's

home-

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … up in McKinleyville.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Little 1,100 square foot beautiful

home. And he, uh… Hey Matt, how you doing? Um, so he is my example of your, to make your point, there's, there's different smarts.

Eric Hollenbeck: Eh, eh, we're different folks. We, we ain't, um,

Scott, we're not, um, Coca-Cola cans-

Scott Hammond: Amen

Eric Hollenbeck: … pulled off the shelf. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Amen.

Eric Hollenbeck: And you just fill up the six-pack.

Scott Hammond: That's it.

Eric Hollenbeck: That, that ain't the way it goes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, so-

Scott Hammond: It's just a good spice of the soup

Eric Hollenbeck: … so, so, yeah. Let's embrace it.

Scott Hammond: Amen.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs]

Scott Hammond: So growing up in Eureka, it was a different town.

How was, say, '60s and 1950s and '60s in Eureka is very different from the 2020s today.

You had-

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, I-

Scott Hammond: … Old Town wasn't developed quite yet.

Eric Hollenbeck: No. Oh, no. Oh gosh, no. Um,

yeah. [coughs] We're, um, I just drove up Myrtle Avenue, uh, to get here and, uh, went through the intersection of Myrtle and S Street.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And it's a very, very, very

busy, busy, busy intersection-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … right now.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, where, um, I think they call it C-

CVS.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the pharmacy there.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: That was a feed store.

Scott Hammond: Oh, is that right?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh. That was a feed store when I was growing up.

Scott Hammond: Then it was Long's Drugs years ago.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, b- w- uh, way before Long's Drugs, it

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh, across the street, um,

w- on, uh, across S Street was a little gas station, a little, um, uh, corner gas station. And across Myrtle Avenue was, was a market, I wanna say Saunders. But-

Scott Hammond: So Berrey Center was not there.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, no.

Scott Hammond: That Berrey-

Eric Hollenbeck: Not, none of that. None. That was all just field. That

Scott Hammond: So the folks understand, three of these corners

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: It's just full of… But it was just a crossroads

Eric Hollenbeck: It was just… And Dennis and I made a, a go-kart,

made our own go-kart with a, with a lawnmower engine on it.

Scott Hammond: Drove it around.

Eric Hollenbeck: And we would, yeah, we would drive it up to the gas station to

get 50 cents worth of gas.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, heck, 25 cents worth of gas.

Scott Hammond: I was gonna say.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, [laughs] and, and go back to our house.

Scott Hammond: Go figure.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, uh, so it's [coughs]

those things have changed. Dennis and I built a, uh, boat when we were 13 years old. Bec- I know that because you could get your hunting license, um, if you could pass the

NRHA,

um, test.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, National Rifle… No, NRA.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: A, a, a, National Rifle Association test.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: You could get your hunting license at 13.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: He and I

hunkered and hunkered down, and we passed our test.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] And, uh, we got… And so we built a boat

out of one sheet of plywood, 'cause that's, we mowed lawns and mowed lawns till we could buy one sheet of plywood, sawed it with a handsaw, an old handsaw in our,

uh, garage. And, and, uh, and then luckily for us,

um, they were, they were building a house next door.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Scraps.

Eric Hollenbeck: No.

They, they tarred the roof.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And we went over in the evening-

Scott Hammond: Got some of that

Eric Hollenbeck: … got some of the tar-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: … melted it down, and painted the boat with tar.

And that slowed the leaking down enough that we could… It was a two-man boat.

Scott Hammond: Could stay afloat.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, one guy row and the other guy bail.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was a two-man boat.

Scott Hammond: So you'd go off in the slough out in the bay?

Eric Hollenbeck: At 5:00 in the morning.

Scott Hammond: Atta boy.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Go fishing or shooting?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, we'd go, we'd go duck hunting.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: And

to be super honest, Scott-

Scott Hammond: [laughs] Please

Eric Hollenbeck: … I cannot remember…

I can never, I can't remember killing one duck.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: But you went hunting a lot.

Eric Hollenbeck: We, we shot up boxes of shells.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: 'Cause we'd set decoys out and, you know, we were

13.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And about 10 minutes into it, we'd get bored.

Nothing has flown in here. So we'd start, uh, shooting tipton weed roots, or we'd, we'd see a log floating by, and we'd shoot the log.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: You gotta shoot a log.

Eric Hollenbeck: We'd shoot anything. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: They don't taste that good. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: So you got called up, uh, to Vietnam out of high school?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Or were you done with high school?

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I was, uh,

uh, finished with high school. I was, uh, 18 when I got drafted.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh,

um, uh, you know, they were… Uh, it was the pick of the draw, and the, they took numbers, and my number came up 12.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um-

Scott Hammond: That's early.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's pretty early. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That's pretty darn early.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's pretty early.

Scott Hammond: So you were US Army?

Eric Hollenbeck: I was Army.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: I got drafted into the Army and, uh,

and then, uh, went through basic training up in Fort Lewis, Washington.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh, coldScott, you-

Scott Hammond: That's Eastern Washington, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: I don't know. It's at the, it's at the bottom of this…

What the heck is that mountain called?

Scott Hammond: Is it Rain- is it Rainier? It's not Rainier.

Eric Hollenbeck: Might be Rainier.

Scott Hammond: But colder than-

Eric Hollenbeck: And, oh my God.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: That was a kiss of death coming down off of that

hill every day.

Scott Hammond: Freezing.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, my Lord.

Scott Hammond: That's why we live on the coast, so our coast

Eric Hollenbeck: You're right.

Scott Hammond: Don't tell anybody. It's raining today.

It, it's snow- You, you'll hate it, but the truth is, it's the best weather,

I think.

Eric Hollenbeck: No, not just you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: My dad was in real estate.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um, and he, he, he, he found this

study on it. Fortuna, just south of us-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … ha-has the s-smallest swing

of high to lows in the continental United States.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: We have the smallest swing, where our high

is 65 and our low is 35.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, maybe. Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Maybe.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's our, that's our total swing.

Scott Hammond: I believe it.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And somebody said the, the, uh, weather station up in, uh,

Trinidad is the benchmark air for the rest of the nation 'cause it's the most pure air quality.

Eric Hollenbeck: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: It comes right over the ocean from Alaska.

Eric Hollenbeck: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: There's no impediment. Impediments?

Eric Hollenbeck: Impediments.

Scott Hammond: Impediments. There's no, nothing to impede it,

and it's just the freshest air in the world.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so when my kids come back, traveling, come back to

visit, Christmas, whatever, "Man, [sniffs] man, this air smells good here. Smells like the ocean up here in got it right, man. Hope you, you know, enjoy that." So…

Eric Hollenbeck: It's, it has,

oh, oxygen in it. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, and by the way, for you folks that don't know your

that's the Pacific Ocean. It sits off of Humboldt County right here. It's the biggest, biggest ocean in the world, and, So you went to Vietnam, you became a ra- a radioman?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. I, uh, I got to, uh,

um,

Bien Hoa Air Base in Vietnam. And, uh, on my second morning, they lined us all up, all the fresh recruits just coming in, lined us all up and, uh, and said, uh, "Joe Blow, and you and you go here, and you and you go there. Eric Hollenbeck, you go up to, uh, the I Corps with the 101st Airborne." I was the only one.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: I flew in the C-140-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … a cargo plane to go up to Bien Hoa. I

I was the only passenger. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: You were the guy in the plane. [laughs]

Gas was cheaper.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was, uh, well…

And they picked the right kid. I mean, the Army don't make mistakes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, I have

come to grips with that,

why I was-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Eric Hollenbeck: … pushed into the, into that, um, because we were the

tip of the spear.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: 322 days in combat straight.

Scott Hammond: Jeez.

Eric Hollenbeck: Never out.

Scott Hammond: Unbelievable.

Eric Hollenbeck: Ever.

Scott Hammond: No break.

Eric Hollenbeck: No breaks.

Um, and why not me,

Scott?

Scott Hammond: Hey.

Eric Hollenbeck: I wa- I'd already worked in the woods for two

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I was 18 years old, 19 years old. I was as rough

and tough as they come.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: I was as stupid as they come.

Scott Hammond: Well, there's-

Eric Hollenbeck: But, uh-

Scott Hammond: There's that.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] But I was as rough and tough.

Um, you know, I, I'm just saying that, i- why would I ask somebody else to do it?

Scott Hammond: So did you immediately become a radio guy for the-

Eric Hollenbeck: Within, within, uh, four days.

Scott Hammond: Now, is that a division or what did you call it?

You called it a, uh-

Eric Hollenbeck: A, a company, my company.

Scott Hammond: A company.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs] I was A Company of the 3-27.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs] Second Platoon.

Scott Hammond: How many folks in a company?

Eric Hollenbeck: Normally,

212.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Eric Hollenbeck: And for our company,

68.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

That's tip… Was it reduced or was it just small by design?

Eric Hollenbeck: We… No. We were the tip of the spear.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: They couldn't get people out to us.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: They couldn't get nothing.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: We were…

That was it.

Scott Hammond: So you saw some of the-

Eric Hollenbeck: We were 68 guys

Scott Hammond: … you saw some of the real, real crap go down.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, so anyway, it's, uh,

it's okay. And you know something I would like to tell people?

Scott Hammond: Please.

Eric Hollenbeck: Stuff that looks really, really

bad,

poop at the moment, if you will.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Can I use that word?

Scott Hammond: Sure. You just did.

Eric Hollenbeck: You just stepped in poop.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: At some point in your life,

you're gonna use that experience for a positive, and that, my friends, is, I don't care how bad it is-

Scott Hammond: Yep

Eric Hollenbeck: … it's a tool in your toolbox.

Scott Hammond: Love it.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um,

and I think that that's what, uh, people need to remember.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. That's an amen and a hallelujah twice.

Eric Hollenbeck: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I like it. Yeah, and, uh, stick around.

L- life gets rough sometimes.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know, we, um, we built the hearse.

So, so we did the, I did Vietnam.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I made it through.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I have no idea how.

I was a radioman. I had a three-second life expectancy-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Eric Hollenbeck: … in a firefight. Um, I was a prime

target.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And yet I made it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I've heard lots of bees go by my head.

Scott Hammond: [laughs] The fast kind.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] That's what I always called them.

Everybody had a name, but, um, they were [imitates buzzing] . Um, they always sounded to me like bees, and you-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … you'd wanna swat and say, "Get out."

Scott Hammond: Keep your hand-

Eric Hollenbeck: "I'm busy."

Scott Hammond: Keep your hands down.

Eric Hollenbeck: "I'm busy." [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Thank God both hands were occupied and you didn't do that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: That'd be stupid. But, um,

um, lots and lots of bee- and never one of those.

Scott Hammond: Go figure.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

they gotta be pretty close for you to hear them.

Scott Hammond: Now, did you do four years?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, I did one year.

Scott Hammond: You did one year. Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, I was a draftee.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: One year.

Scott Hammond: And you got back and married your sweetheart.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs] And then, um,

and then I got back, and when I, um, got out of the

Army

in Oakland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: …

One clock in the morning.

Scott Hammond: Was there a depot down there of some sort?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I am, uh,

36 hours out of the jungles. 36

hours.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um,

and I derose through Oakland. That's do all the stuff you gotta do to get out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs] Get to the last window, the paymaster,

and he pushes this wad of money at me.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And then reaches in and pulls it all back, save for

$6.13, and says, "Uh, we overpaid you in Vietnam. This is your-"

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "… uh, derose pay, and there's the front door.

See you later, kid." Uh-

Scott Hammond: That'll get you home with a Greyhound maybe.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Probably not. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: No. I hitchhiked.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: I hitchhiked home.

Scott Hammond: With six bucks.

Eric Hollenbeck: With $6.13.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh,

and five o'clock in the morning, a, uh, a salesman picked me up. And Scott, he may not have even been

real.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: He may have been an angel-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Eric Hollenbeck: … sent

just for me.

Scott Hammond: Well, that-

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, and he was going to Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Some salesmen are angels, by the way.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] Yeah.

Scott Hammond: From the long line of sales guys.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh.

Scott Hammond: I love it.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm in dress greens.

Scott Hammond: And he takes you all the way to Eureka, California.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I'm in dress greens. There is no getting around

where I just came from, not any way in the world getting around that. And, and it ain't a very popular

war.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: All of the stuff going down out of it.

Uh-

Scott Hammond: See, we forget that. So I'm, I'm 64, but I, I, I

vaguely remember them ending the war, but I don't remember the, we'll just call it a shabby reception. That doesn't do it right, but-

Eric Hollenbeck: It, it's getting spit on, and it, it's-

Scott Hammond: Can't imagine it now, yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … um,

he never once… He talked the entire six-hour trip.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Never shut up. Never.

Scott Hammond: That's an angel for sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: He never. And it was all, "What do you think of them

Dodgers?" And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … "Have you ever fished the Klamath River?

Um, boy, the Smith River, I bet you this time of year

is-"

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And all I had to do was, "Uh-huh.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Not one time

[coughs] did he mention the war. Not once.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And

when we got to, uh-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … Pepperwood,

I hung my head out the window 'cause we were back in my redwoods.

Scott Hammond: Could smell.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. And those were my trees.

Scott Hammond: Wait, Pepperwood. Right about…

Right over h- There it is.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, you're too-

Scott Hammond: Pepperwood. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Um,

and my hat blew off.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And he says, "You want me to go back and get that?"

I don't care about that hat at all." And then he said, "Scott, would you like me

to pull over and you could go [coughs] …"

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: "It's under one of those trees."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: I said, "Yeah." [laughs]

Scott Hammond: What a guy.

Eric Hollenbeck: "How do you like that?" [laughs]

Scott Hammond: You took him up on it?

Eric Hollenbeck: And he did.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: For five minutes, I got to go sit under my

trees. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Eric Hollenbeck: That I had dreamed about for a year in the

jungle, 'cause the jungle ain't the same. The jungle's timber, but it, it ain't the same. It's a totally different than my timber.

Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you get… He saw the f- You needed to take five.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy. [laughs] I like that story.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's what I'm saying.

Scott Hammond: He took you all the way downtown Eureka?

Eric Hollenbeck: He took me to my mom's door.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's what I'm trying to say.

Scott Hammond: What was his name?

Eric Hollenbeck: I-

Scott Hammond: Doesn't matter

Eric Hollenbeck: … I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Angel.

Scott Hammond: Angel. Bob.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Bob the angel. How about that? That's a great story.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's an honest to God true story.

Scott Hammond: So that's a great story. So what did you do in the ensuing,

say, 10, 15 years? I, I guess you met your wife. Did… And how did you become associated with the now famous Blue Ox Millworks? Did… Millworks. Did you do other things first?

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, when I got back, uh,

I got back at 5:30 in the afternoon, um, on Saturday, and went to work, uh, Monday morning at five o'clock in the company I'd worked for-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Eric Hollenbeck: … before I left. Uh, my mom had, uh, had

had… My dad died while I was in Vietnam.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: And my mom had had a nervous breakdown, and the, and the,

um, house was four months in the

arrears.

Scott Hammond: Sh-

Eric Hollenbeck: And the bank was holding off 'cause they knew I

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, so I just went to work, and-

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, hell, I worked in the woods. I made good money.

Scott Hammond: And in those days-

Eric Hollenbeck: And-

Scott Hammond: … the bank would understand that

and work with people.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, that's what banks…

Scott Hammond: They used to be that.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's what they're for.

Scott Hammond: That's what they [laughs] …

Eric Hollenbeck: They need to get back to understanding that.

Scott Hammond: I remem- remember It's a Wonderful Life with James

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We watch it every year.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Same idea.

Eric Hollenbeck: The same idea. Um-

Scott Hammond: So you came back and rescued the, the, the, uh,

the operation.

Eric Hollenbeck: They knew I was coming, so-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: …

um, within a year, and then, uh, I worked another… [clears throat] I wanna say I think I worked for the company two more years, and then I had a meltdown.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And

I thought it was me. We didn't, we didn't know nothing about shell shock.

Scott Hammond: PTSD.

Eric Hollenbeck: We didn't know nothing about any of that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know, um,

and I packed it in. I, uh, sold all the… I sold my cork boots. I sold my-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … sold everything.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh,

me and the dog loaded up in the car with about $800 in cash. Cash money, I'm talking about.

Scott Hammond: This is cash money. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, I was gonna retire for the rest of my

[laughs] We, we had an old-

Scott Hammond: Probably could have. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: We had an old cassette, uh, not cassette, no-

Scott Hammond: The 8-tracks?

Eric Hollenbeck: … the big one.

Scott Hammond: The 8-tracks.

Eric Hollenbeck: 8-track.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah, we turned the 8-track up,

and we're on a road trip. Well-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Eric Hollenbeck: … two weeks into it, I

ran out of money. I ran out of food, ran out… We, we had to come back.

But-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Eric Hollenbeck: … um, [clears throat] and then, uh,

a year later in, in, uh, '73, 50 years ago-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … um,

four of us, my,

my brother, me, and two friends decided we're gonna start

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: [clears throat] I went in the bank.

It was Security National back then, and,

uh,

God, almost had his name.

Scott Hammond: Security National.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, the-

Scott Hammond: It's not Arkley.

Eric Hollenbeck: No, no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: No, no. Uh, this was way, way,

um… Anyway, I almost thought of the, um, loan officer's na-a-ame. Um,

and, uh-

Scott Hammond: So you borrowed a bunch of money for a logging company.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh, 300 bucks.

Scott Hammond: [laughs] That's a big loan. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: I said, "I wanna borrow $300. I wanna start-"

Scott Hammond: What?

Eric Hollenbeck: "I wanna start a logging company," and he started to laugh.

And he laughed so loud the entire bank turned around and looked at me. [laughs] He just thought it was… God, it begins with a D. Doggone it.

Scott Hammond: What was funny to him? But the, the amount or-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the fact that you-

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course

Scott Hammond: … want… Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course.

Scott Hammond: You needed about three million.

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, we started Blue Ox with $300.

Scott Hammond: Is that right?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Was that an old mill site?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, we were renting that building-

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay

Eric Hollenbeck: … um, for $50 a month. It had no

windows, no plumbing, no wiring, nothing in it. It was just a big empty building.

Scott Hammond: And that was the operation center for the, the logging company.

Eric Hollenbeck: [clears throat] That was where we stored our stuff.

Scott Hammond: I see.

Eric Hollenbeck: And then we would go live in the woods.

Scott Hammond: I see.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um, and we u- and we logged for two years, and then,

uh, dead and diseased trees.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: Only dead and diseased.

Scott Hammond: Is it contracted with other people, or did you have your own?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, with the Forest Service.

Scott Hammond: Okay, got it.

Eric Hollenbeck: We'd go out in the woods and find the dead and diseased trees.

If we could find three or four trees in

one area, we were in tall cotton.

Scott Hammond: Money, man. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] We were

raking it in.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: We could pay for gas maybe.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] What a concept.

Scott Hammond: How big is Blue Ox Millworks now on the-

Eric Hollenbeck: Two acres.

Scott Hammond: 20 acres.

Eric Hollenbeck: Two acres.

Scott Hammond: Two acres.

Eric Hollenbeck: So, um-

Scott Hammond: It's, it appears bigger, but it's about two acres.

Eric Hollenbeck: So then, um,

that fell apart. The Forest Service stopped those sales. And, um, the other, the other three partners bailed

out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was Viv and I, and, uh, the bank comes down.

It was Charlie Harris.

Scott Hammond: Charlie Harris.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: That's the guy you're trying to remember?

Eric Hollenbeck: No.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: No. He was president of the bank, dean

debt. God.

Scott Hammond: It'll come to you tonight.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Well, call me later. Oh, wait. You don't have a cell phone.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] Anyway, um…

Oh, man, I'm coming close. Anyway, um, and Charlie says, "We want you to b- buy this building-"

Scott Hammond: Oh

Eric Hollenbeck: …"from us. We, we own it." Well, I said, "We c-

I can't do that. We, we ain't got-"

Scott Hammond: 1973, '74?

Eric Hollenbeck: '74 now. "We ain't got any money." He says, "Oh,

down."

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "Just a, a $600 a month payments. It's yours."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: "Two acres, and it's yours."

Scott Hammond: And commercial buildings on there.

Eric Hollenbeck: [clears throat] Um, so I said, "Okay, well,

we'll try it." I don't… Uh, so I signed the piece of paper, Scott. The ink wasn't dry, I swear to God. The ink wasn't dry, and Charlie says, "Oh,

shoot, I forgot to tell you."

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "That building's on the condemnation list,

Scott Hammond: Sorry.

Eric Hollenbeck: "… and it's your problem." [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Sorry, bro.

Eric Hollenbeck: See, you signed it. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: We forgot one thing.

Eric Hollenbeck: Are we running out of time?

Scott Hammond: No, we're doing great on time.

Eric Hollenbeck: Okay. So, [laughs] so, um,

so I went to the building department, and it was, uh, Clint, Clint Swanson was the building department.

Scott Hammond: Swanson.

Eric Hollenbeck: Clint Swanson, he's the head of the building department

in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Swanson, okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I said, uh,

[clears throat] uh, "We wanna fix that building up, but I ain't got no money." And, uh, and Clint says, looked me right in the

eye and says, "You know, I'll tell you what. I will give you a permit that never expires."

Scott Hammond: What?

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "But

you have to make some progress every month. Every month you have to make some progress towards getting that building fixed up."

Scott Hammond: Wow. He cut you that deal.

Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh, and we did. And then

25 years later, Clint came through on a tour. He said, [laughs] "City officials, all of you, I want you to hear this. I want you to really hear this."

Scott Hammond: And he's retired now at tw- 25 years later.

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

He comes through on a tour, and I recognized him. And I said, "Clint, oh my gosh." I took him through on a tour, and I said, "Do you remember [coughs] what you did and-"

Scott Hammond: About that

Eric Hollenbeck: …"that never expires?" He said, "Of course I do."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: And he said, "Look what you did.

Because we cut you some slack, you made an asset to the community."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, he said-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: …"If we tried that today, they'd hang us."

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: I want you to hear that last

sentence.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Where, where-

Scott Hammond: You're right there.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Because-

Scott Hammond: Breaking the fourth wall, folks

Eric Hollenbeck: … that's the important thing.

Scott Hammond: Amen.

Eric Hollenbeck: He cut some slack.

Do you win every time? Hell no.

Scott Hammond: He had discretion, though, and he gave you some.

Eric Hollenbeck: But he chose to use the discretion, Scott.

The same way with you. When we opened for tours, um,

Larry, he was insurance, Larry, uh, Dake.

Scott Hammond: Dake.

Eric Hollenbeck: Larry Dake. Everybody said, "You can't do that."

Scott Hammond: But-

Eric Hollenbeck: "You can't open a millwork shop and have people walking through.

There's dangerous equipment in there. You can't do that."

Scott Hammond: He said, "Yes, we can."

Eric Hollenbeck: Larry said-

Scott Hammond: He made it happen

Eric Hollenbeck: … Larry said, "I will guarantee-"

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: …"um,

that you can walk on water if you make the premium."

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: He said, [laughs] "You go up on the roof

and you jump off it, I'll guarantee you can fly

Scott Hammond: [laughs] He took care of it.

Eric Hollenbeck: So the first year,

he had us with Lloyd's of London, and it was a potload of money.

Scott Hammond: Potload of money.

Eric Hollenbeck: A potload to us-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … you know.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they're expensive.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, today it wouldn't have been, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … um, to, to us then it was a potload.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

the next year we, we dropped down a notch. Lloyd's dropped us down a notch. And the year after that, we dropped down another notch. And the fourth year, we could get insurance anywhere we wanna

Scott Hammond: There you go, yeah. Because he took a risk.

Eric Hollenbeck: Bec- yeah.

Scott Hammond: He exercised discretion.

Eric Hollenbeck: Y- a- thank you, sir.

Scott Hammond: Something we don't do anymore.

Eric Hollenbeck: No, I wanna, I wanna say to the, to the people-

Scott Hammond: CYA, co- y- we're busy covering up too many times.

Yeah. Let's get creative and get out of the box.

Eric Hollenbeck: A- and, and do it.

Scott Hammond: In the right situations. You can't do it for everybody.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, yeah, no, I get it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I have no idea why me, Eric,

walking into, [laughs] to, uh, Da- uh, [laughs] I almost had his name down.

Scott Hammond: You got some more time to get that name.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: We're looking for…

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-

Scott Hammond: So, so if you were, if I'm a new guy to Blue Ox-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and you're, you're talking to new folks that, locals,

non-locals, what is Blue Ox Millworks in Eureka, California? And, and just a couple of them, if you I know it's a lot of things.

Eric Hollenbeck: It's okay. It's, uh, um,

I, uh… So once we quit logging, um, we started manufacturing,

um, 'cause that's all I knew to do. And I went around and collected equipment around this county. Now, you gotta understand, we started with a $300 bank loan,

so don't, don't tell me how much money you want for that ain't my piece of equipment.

Scott Hammond: I'll just put it on the truck for you.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So when you say equipment, this is, this is woodworking specific

logging/logging equipment.

Eric Hollenbeck: We have a, uh, [clears throat] we have a full

8,000 square feet woodshop.Our, our tooling ranges from 1948, that's our newest piece-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … back to 1866.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: It was the old junk nobody wanted.

Scott Hammond: In a dying industry at the time. The cities were attracting, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: In a dying industry. I'll put it on the truck to get it out of

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I'll take it.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Good.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, and then we have a blacksmith shop.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: We have a, uh, print shop, turn of the century print shop.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: We have a, uh, um,

[coughs] uh, a, a foundry.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Because all of my stuff is long since out of

business. You, there ain't no parts.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Eric Hollenbeck: You have to cast your own parts.

Scott Hammond: You better be making it.

Eric Hollenbeck: You gotta make everything.

Scott Hammond: So machine shop, foundry.

Eric Hollenbeck: A machine shop, a foundry.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, we have… It, it's a living history museum.

It's, it's Hammond Lumber.

Scott Hammond: Ha- like Scott Hammond.

Eric Hollenbeck: Hammond Lumber.

Scott Hammond: He's my great-great-great-grandfather.

Eric Hollenbeck: The biggest redwood sawmill in the world.

Scott Hammond: It's across the, across the Samoa, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: You know how big Hammond was?

Scott Hammond: Was it the biggest?

Eric Hollenbeck: It was the biggest. So when G- [coughs]

when GP came in, Georgia-Pacific-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … and they're buying up a couple of the

They bought, um, uh, Fort Bragg, and, um, and then they bought Hammond. Antitrust came swinging in

instantly-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … instantaneously-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … and said, "You gotta break it up.

You have a monopoly in the redwood market now." That's how big Hammond

was.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: Hammond was the biggest in the world-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: … in the entire world.

Scott Hammond: So Hammond Trail, that goes all the way…

That was the r- that was the rail bed, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: That was the rail bed.

Scott Hammond: Goes all the way to Cornell.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Actually, there was a rail bed up into West Haven, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They used to pull logs out of there.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Hammond was-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: … huge, and-

Scott Hammond: We'll talk about Flint. I wanna know more about the Hammond

Eric Hollenbeck: Okay

Scott Hammond: … Company.

Eric Hollenbeck: All right.

Scott Hammond: They were that big.

Eric Hollenbeck: Right now?

Scott Hammond: No.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Maybe-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … maybe when we're done.

So l- I wanna get to the Lincoln… Is it the Lincoln hearse?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So, so when Abraham Lincoln was, was, uh-

Eric Hollenbeck: Assassinated

Scott Hammond: … memorial… uh, assassinated, killed,

they put his body in a hearse, and they drove it, uh, well, around the na- Was it around the nation, in a rail car, and then-

Eric Hollenbeck: It, it was many, many, many

Scott Hammond: … put on display?

Eric Hollenbeck: Every pl- every town. They, it went in a rail car.

Scott Hammond: And then it was horse-drawn.

Eric Hollenbeck: Every town had its own hearse.

Scott Hammond: And it was beautiful.

Eric Hollenbeck: A- a- and the, the final one was Springfield, Illinois.

That's the one everybody recognizes as Lincoln Hearse.

Scott Hammond: And how many, how many of these hearses

Eric Hollenbeck: As many towns as he stopped at.

Scott Hammond: So they would build one, or…

Eric Hollenbeck: They, they would bring the best

Scott Hammond: Oh, I see. Okay. So this was the famous-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes

Scott Hammond: … one-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … with the ostrich feathers-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes

Scott Hammond: … and the whole nine.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes, yes.

Scott Hammond: And so I'll, I'll let you pick up the story there.

You were asked to, uh, could you replicate this?

Eric Hollenbeck: So I get a call five o'clock one night.

Scott Hammond: No blueprints.

Eric Hollenbeck: Nothing.

Scott Hammond: My goodness.

Eric Hollenbeck: And this guy says, uh-

Scott Hammond: Google this. You gotta see it.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] He says, uh,

um, "Are you, uh, Blue Ox Millworks?" "Yes." "Could you build a reproduction of a hearse?" "Yes." "Um, do you happen to be a veteran?"

Scott Hammond: How about… [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "Yes." "Do you happen to be a combat

veteran?" "Yes." "I think I got the perfect job for you."

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "First off, it cannot be done,

and secondly, there's absolutely no money in it." And I went, "Holy crap. Sign, sign me up."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: "Sign me up." [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Sounds like a job for me.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: You think I'm kidding. You think I'm exaggerating.

Scott Hammond: Not a penny. Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: That is no exaggeration at all.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: That is exactly the way that laid down.

Scott Hammond: But they had constraints to, that, to make sure you

on it of some sort, or…

Eric Hollenbeck: They, they… No. The guy who called me was a combat.

Scott Hammond: I gotcha.

Eric Hollenbeck: He was a door gunner-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Eric Hollenbeck: … in a, in a Huey.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: He was… And he knew, talking one combat vet to

another, he, he knew how the buttons to

push.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And he got you.

Eric Hollenbeck: He… [laughs]

Scott Hammond: You're hired. Thank you.

Eric Hollenbeck: So I w- I went out to, uh, CR,

Viv and I.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: Viviana and I, my wife, uh, went out to College of the Redwoods

and, uh, and said, "We'll do this if you guys will supply veterans." And, uh, God bless… I'll get her name in a minute.

CR.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Ah. Um,

she, um,

she got us, over the course of the whole thing, 23, 23 veterans, and CR did, um… [clears throat] Can I say,

Scott, there's three ways to walk?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: You can walk on the dry sand.

You can walk in the water. But you can also walk on that wet sand in between the

two.

Scott Hammond: Heck yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's the place that she went.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um-

Scott Hammond: Discretion again?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: And-

Scott Hammond: That's good

Eric Hollenbeck: … so she made it look like they

Scott Hammond: Right

Eric Hollenbeck: … and they got their GI Bill.

So for a year, the, a year and one month that it took us to make it, they got paid-

Scott Hammond: Great

Eric Hollenbeck: … by the VA.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Viv and I didn't.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: We did it for free.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: But we did it for the veterans.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: [clears throat] And, uh, and we did an exact

replica, and people are gonna say, "How do you know it's exact?" Because I worked with four

historians on it. Every night for the last eight months of that project, I would take, um, pictures-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … with a cellphone, uh, you know, of…

And you could send them.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: And then one of the histo- Every night I called them, 5:00.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And I'd put me two beers on my desk-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: … and call them.

Scott Hammond: It's a two beer call.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] And, uh, the, uh…

And, uh, [clears throat] one guy that I called would do magic on the

phone, and all four of them would be on the phone.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Eric Hollenbeck: So, so all five of us-

Scott Hammond: So you'd conference in and everybody'd-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … collaborate.

Eric Hollenbeck: And he knew how to do that. And they all looked at the pictures and

they would say, "Oh man, you nailed it."

Scott Hammond: Got it.

Eric Hollenbeck: "You nailed it, kicker, my God."

Or they would say,

"You know, I think that's a quarter of an inch too short, don't you?"

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: Psch. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: [laughs] That was the first beer.

Eric Hollenbeck: Because I just watched the day's work go fly

out the window like a butterfly.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: How about that? So on the fly, no plans.

Eric Hollenbeck: No. The, the, the original hearse burned up in 1886.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, it was-

Scott Hammond: You had photos.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was one.

Scott Hammond: There's one photo you did-

Eric Hollenbeck: One photograph in the entire world, and the Lincoln

Museum has looked for 10 years and they found one.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: One photograph, and we knew one dimension, the

diameter of the rear wheel, and that's it. That's the only dimension known.

Scott Hammond: So you had to build a puzzle from one piece.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: So the, the story goes, if I remember right, you guys,

uh, shipped that thing back there with help Texas or the, the benefactor.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then they were… It was v- well celebrated for Springfield's

100th, 200th anniversary?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, it wasn't Springfield.

Scott Hammond: Or 400th.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was Lincoln's 150th burial-

Scott Hammond: It's, it's his burial

Eric Hollenbeck: … anniversary. And they had a-

Scott Hammond: Which was a big deal in Springfield.

Eric Hollenbeck: 150,000 people showed up.

Scott Hammond: Pshew.

Eric Hollenbeck: 7,000 of them in costume that went on the parade.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: A two-day parade.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, and the hearse was the center point of that.

Scott Hammond: And it was the feature, the vanguard.

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs] So the stipulation that Viv and I put on-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: … was that, okay, we'll do it and we'll do it for free.

We get it, there's no money. We totally understand. That's fine. But at the end, you gotta fly all of the veterans back there, and they have to be honored.

Scott Hammond: These are your, the guys that worked under you from CR.

Eric Hollenbeck: And gals.

Scott Hammond: From the gal that made it happen, whose name is?

Eric Hollenbeck: The, uh, yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Bertha.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: We'll get it. So, so did they agree to that, those terms?

They flew everybody back?

Eric Hollenbeck: They did.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And that was the greatest-

Scott Hammond: Good for you

Eric Hollenbeck: … healing-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Eric Hollenbeck: … for these guys and gals that could have possibly

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know, I had-

Scott Hammond: That they contributed to the history of their nation.

Eric Hollenbeck: I had a, uh, a Vietnam veteran tell me,

"They may not like my war, but they goddamn well like my hearse."

Scott Hammond: Amen. That's all right.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That's centerpiece, man. That's big.

So, so I, I, I'm moving us forward now to the radio You w- you, you wrote a book, you collaborated or y-

uh-

Eric Hollenbeck: I went to, um, radio man, um, came

from a book that I'm gonna sign this Sunday at, uh, Eureka Books.

Scott Hammond: Down in Old Town.

Eric Hollenbeck: Down in Old Town.

Scott Hammond: That's in Eureka, California. It's right here on the map.

Eric Hollenbeck: So, uh-

Scott Hammond: Come, fly into Eureka, get a book.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] And, um-

Scott Hammond: Joni and I might come down there. What time are you signing?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Great. I, we'll be there. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Sometime in the afternoon, I betcha.

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I, 12 to 2 maybe.

Scott Hammond: It's close to Dick Taylor Chocolates, by the way.

Eric Hollenbeck: It is.

Scott Hammond: You know those guys.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Oh, God, those guys are great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um-

Scott Hammond: They're, they're almost a knock…

Uh, just without too much association, 'cause I don't want to offend you or them, but they have a lot of older equipment that they make their chocolate with.

They-

Eric Hollenbeck: They're, they're little Erics.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They refurbish and renew-

Eric Hollenbeck: Every-

Scott Hammond: … and revise and reuse and recycle.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, and they, and they printed their stuff at to begin

you know? They're little Erics.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: I get it. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: I love it. And they know you probably.

Eric Hollenbeck: Of course. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, of course, yeah. You're all down in Old Town.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, so anyway, um,

[coughs] uh, I, I can't w- uh, spell, and I can't read.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I've written poetry my whole life. I have no idea.

Um, it's just the way my brain works.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, it's a different thing.

And I, um, I got invited back, in fact, we got sent back to a place called, um, Colorado. Colorado Springs,

Colorado.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um…

Are we running out of time? Are we-

Scott Hammond: No, I'm telling him you're, you're doing a great job.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: I'm giving him the thumbs up.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: For, for the f- uh, Park Service.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: We were the first

for-profit business ever invited to one of these conferences.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: And they, and they pay- [laughs] paid for us to come back.

Scott Hammond: They flew you back.

Eric Hollenbeck: But it was cheaper,

um-To spend an extra two days, I don't get it, Scott. Um, the airfare

stuff-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they, they, well, who knows

Eric Hollenbeck: … it, uh, for me to spend two days.

So I had two days after the conference, and I ha- and Viviane got me a little tape recorder. Remember those little things that-

Scott Hammond: Sure, yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … you talk into and-

Scott Hammond: So you recorded a, the beginning of a book?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, no.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Eric Hollenbeck: All 16 poems.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: There is a town from Colorado Springs to

Manitou Springs, and it's four miles, and I walked for two days back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and

forth-

Scott Hammond: Reciting your poetry, recording it

Eric Hollenbeck: … and I recorded that entire book at one time.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And those people, uh, wherever the camera is,

God bless you in Colorado. Yeah, um-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … they got to know me-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … and they would pull up and say, "Oh,

he, he'll go by. It, uh, don't worry. He, he'll be gone in a minute."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: "It's okay."

Scott Hammond: He's from California. [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "Just, just let him go." He, he just…

'Cause I was, I was not in Colorado at all.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: I was in the jungles of Vietnam.

Scott Hammond: In that zone, huh?

Eric Hollenbeck: In that-

Scott Hammond: Creative zone

Eric Hollenbeck: … y- you know it.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, and I would walk out in front of cars.

[laughs] I would-

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: I just walked. I just… That's what I did.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And they never honked. They never-

Scott Hammond: They're respectful

Eric Hollenbeck: … they, they never did nothing.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: They just, "Oh, it's just him. He'll be, he'll be gone in a

minute."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: "It's okay."

Scott Hammond: He's doing something.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: You know, I imagine that in

artists w- of all sorts, when they get in a zone, whether it's

Picasso or-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … or, uh,

Eric Hollenbeck or, uh, you know, a writer-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … uh, uh,

a creator of any sort, you know, "Leave me alone." "Well, "No, I don't. I'm creating something, Dad." I had a… I have a nine-year-old that created things-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … out of cardboard and duct tape and a-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes

Scott Hammond: … box cutter.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: "Micah, it's dinner time." "No, I can't.

I, I'm obsessed." And he's-

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: … in that zone-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that creative zone. So, um,

so The Radio Man became a, uh, a play at Del Arte-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah, so-

Scott Hammond: … at Blue Lake

Eric Hollenbeck: … so-

Scott Hammond: And they, they adapted that to a screenplay of some or a, a play?

Eric Hollenbeck: A, a, um,

Jim McManus, a playwright, got ahold of those, uh, the poem, and he came to the shop-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: … and interviewed me for,

say, two weeks. Let's say two weeks.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: He told, uh, another interview one time, he said,

"I looked at this, and I read this, and who's this guy bleeding all over the pages?"

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: He said, "This is unbelievable."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

and, uh, and he created the play Radioman.

And now,

today… So Radioman played at Del Arte two, what, what are they called? Sessions, I guess they're called.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And nine days each or something.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, the first one, um,

got bumped an extra day because they turned away people every night.

Scott Hammond: That's right.

Eric Hollenbeck: Every night. Every-

Scott Hammond: It sold out.

Eric Hollenbeck: It was sold out every day. Um, and then,

and that was in January. And then in June, they did it again, same exact thing.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: Added an extra day because they turned away people every, every,

Scott Hammond: Did you enjoy it? Was it accurate to your-

Eric Hollenbeck: [coughs]

Scott Hammond: … to your liking, to your creative…

[laughs] It's hard. From the book to the movie [laughs] It's a big jump.

Eric Hollenbeck: It's a big jump.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

yes.

Scott Hammond: What an honor, though, to-

Eric Hollenbeck: It, it, it-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Eric Hollenbeck: … you know, he, he did…

He, he, he made something [coughs] more powerful.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, no, it's, uh…

Not everybody's gonna read poetry.

Scott Hammond: No.

Eric Hollenbeck: My, and, and my poetry's stupid. I get it.

They're little words, uh, 'cause I talk in 25 and 50 cent words.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: You, you got $2 words, and I don't.

Scott Hammond: I got a couple… I went to Humboldt.

I got-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah, I know. You got $2 words.

Scott Hammond: I got a couple of $5 ones.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: But the point being is that, um,

that's an, an audience.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And theater is a whole different audience.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Eric Hollenbeck: And then movies is a whole different audience.

Scott Hammond: Yes, sir.

Eric Hollenbeck: And TV is a whole different audience.

Scott Hammond: And a book is a different audience. Yes.

Eric Hollenbeck: I have learned to play in two of those.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Eric Hollenbeck: TV and, uh-

Scott Hammond: And we're getting to the TV here in a second

Eric Hollenbeck: … and, uh, um… So anyway-

Scott Hammond: How long has the book been published by the, that you're gonna sign,

Is it, is it fresh off the press?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, uh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Eric Hollenbeck: Don't, don't, don't push on the words or-

Scott Hammond: It's kinda inky still.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: The ink hasn't dried.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: You got any in, you got any in the van?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

[laughs] No.

Scott Hammond: You know that I wrote a book. It's right here, Everyday Dad.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I'll, maybe I'll sign it. Give-

Eric Hollenbeck: Look at this. Here.

Scott Hammond: I should sign it and give you that.

Eric Hollenbeck: Let me have a, let me have a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, take a look at… When we're done here, we'll look, uh…

This is about you, not about me. Well, it just became about me

briefly.

Eric Hollenbeck: Look at, look at you guys.

Scott Hammond: Looka there.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: People go, "Is that you and your sons at Clam Beach?" I go, "Well,

hair."

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: So it's, it's no small labor to get a book out.

Yeah. So I, I get it.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But I wa- I wanna bring you full arc and bring, uh,

everyone into this that

maybe… In my, in my book, I'm a video guy. I love-Watch the TV and I love watching good stuff. And, and "The Craftsman," which is on, what, what's the cable network?

Eric Hollenbeck: N- uh, uh, uh, uh, Magnolia.

Scott Hammond: Magnolia.

Eric Hollenbeck: Discovery Magnolia.

Scott Hammond: It's Discover- so we could see it on Dis-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … on Discovery Network.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, and HBO Prime.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it is.

Eric Hollenbeck: Both of them.

Scott Hammond: Is it on Netflix yet?

Eric Hollenbeck: I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: But it is now on YouTube.

Scott Hammond: Okay, so you could go to YouTube on your big

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and find-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … episodes.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So I, you know, being a late learner and bl- bloomer,

I just saw this two weeks ago and I'm, I'm going, "This guy's show I'm– You guys restored the, the, the, the old trolley and, and your daughters came in on another project.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and, you know, I got through a lot of it.

But I was amazed at, you know, the old equipment and… So tell us about that journey doing the video and, uh, There's two seasons.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What do you got, 20 episodes?

Eric Hollenbeck: Eight, uh, 20, yes, yes.

Scott Hammond: Oh, how about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: And, um,

so they called, Scott,

at, uh, five o'clock at night.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm the only one

in the office, and I answered the phone, and this

young lady,

um…

And if you, if you guys will bear with me, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. She sounded 12 [both laughing] to me.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: This young lady says, um,

uh, "We're gonna start, we're gonna pitch a new TV show to a new network called Magnolia, and it's gonna be

called, uh, uh, 'American Heroes.' It could be 50 of them, Would Blue Ox be California?" "Yeah, fine."

Scott Hammond: I'll think about it, yes.

Eric Hollenbeck: That… No. Uh, you know-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Eric Hollenbeck: … we get these calls.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: It, this is not my first rodeo.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: We-

Scott Hammond: You said no? You refused it out of the gate?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, I said-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Eric Hollenbeck: … "Fine."

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Eric Hollenbeck: "That's swell. That's keen."

Uh, but I didn't think anything about it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, um, and then, uh,

two weeks later, a guy calls,

and, uh,

a man, young man [laughs] uh, 'cause they're all young in that field.

Scott Hammond: Oh, sure they are. Yeah, they are.

Eric Hollenbeck: And says, uh, "You remember the young lady?" "Yes,

young lady." "Well, they didn't like it."

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Eric Hollenbeck: "They're not gonna take it. But when they saw your footage-

Scott Hammond: There you go

Eric Hollenbeck: … the, the network said, 'Go to those people right there and see

have their own, uh, series.'"

Scott Hammond: There's our boy.

Eric Hollenbeck: And-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: … I had… Scott.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: I had the presence of mind,

and I have to say it this way 'cause I don't all the time, [laughs] I had the presence of mind to tell him, "I'm gonna have to talk to my wife."

Scott Hammond: There you go.

Eric Hollenbeck: And what that did is it bought us three days-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … for Viv and I to

figure out if we're gonna do this, what, what do we want out of it?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know?

Scott Hammond: Fair question.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And it made them want it even more 'cause

three days.

Eric Hollenbeck: I don't know about that. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Maybe, maybe you'd say no.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs] But the–

Uh, so we called him back, said, "Look, if you're looking for any reality show, we are so far down the road, you don't even see the dust from our

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: "I mean, we are gone." [laughs] "No, that's

not what we're looking for." "Okay.

All right."

Um, [coughs] and then we said, "Okay, we'll do it on two,

um, two things that we want. Number one, to be able to preach," and I hate that word, but tell, to tell-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Eric Hollenbeck: … the young people of America

is an honorable and noble way to spend the rest of your

life.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Eric Hollenbeck: And you can make a living at it.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: And number two, to show the

country the little gem-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Eric Hollenbeck: … that Eureka is.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I truly believe we are one,

one of the crown jewels in, uh, California.

Scott Hammond: Heck yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: We are. We, we are a gem.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Eric Hollenbeck: And they said, uh, "Perfect." And I think-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Eric Hollenbeck: … they did both of those things.

Scott Hammond: And they were able to capture that.

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I think if you, if you folks

watch "The Craftsman," you'll see how wonderful they painted

Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Eric Hollenbeck: I think-

Scott Hammond: I think they did, yeah. So I haven't seen all the episodes,

in, are you in the Ingomar and the Carson Mansion

Eric Hollenbeck: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So the Carson Mansion w- is the,

it is the g- I would say it's the gem of Eureka, uh, maybe the gem of anything Victorian in America.

Eric Hollenbeck: In America.

Scott Hammond: Maybe in the world.

Eric Hollenbeck: In, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's nothing like it.

Eric Hollenbeck: The Knutson brothers, they were the top.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Eric Hollenbeck: They– That building– Can I tell you this real quick?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, do.

Eric Hollenbeck: If you can kinda-

Scott Hammond: Take your time

Eric Hollenbeck: … you guys. Um,

is asymmetrical. F- though if you're gonna go look at the first is turn around, put your back to it, and look at the Pink Lady.

Scott Hammond: Squared up.

Eric Hollenbeck: The Pink Lady is a symmetrical,

beautiful Victorian.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, the, um, [coughs] the freeze rail

is perfect. The every window detail-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Eric Hollenbeck: … is the same. They're all-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Eric Hollenbeck: … everything is perfect.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Everything is great. The, the-Onion dome

top, all of that. It's all, it just fits together ever so nice like a cake. Now turn around and look at the Carson Mansion.

Scott Hammond: I'll do that.

Eric Hollenbeck: There is no

two windows the same. Not, not-

Scott Hammond: It is weird. There's weird everything.

Eric Hollenbeck: There is no two porches the same.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: There's no two door entries the same.

Scott Hammond: And they designed for that on purpose.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh. It's, it's called

asymmetric.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Harder than heck to work on it

Eric Hollenbeck: … and you cannot… You look at it,

your eye will not encompass the whole building. It won't do it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: It, it immediately pulls out of focus,

Scott Hammond: That's funny.

Eric Hollenbeck: 'Cause the brain can't, can't handle it.

Scott Hammond: It's got too many moving p- parts. Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … it, it, too many different pieces.

Scott Hammond: Interesting.

Eric Hollenbeck: And then, uh, you can focus on any one thing,

but your-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … your brain will not focus on the whole

Scott Hammond: Can I tell you a quick story?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So we were in there with a Hollywood producer and his wife,

Friday night, private dinner.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: We have, we have some friends that, that

poor provincial folks from McKinleyville-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yep

Scott Hammond: … never got out of the house with nine kids.

So we're having dinner with these folks. He's a reality TV guy, actor, and she's a producer, and she, she leaked as, as to what that reality thing is. It's, it's terrible. It's, it's a, it's a really false world.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But being inside that mansion, you look around and you go, "Oh my gosh,

Every de- every single detail, every interior cornice and every window, it's like, "What's going on?"

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And they had a cool light thing. He's got a light show

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … does it to music at 5:30 now.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So when you're in Eureka, Carson Mansion,

um-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … what was his name? Barnum?

Eric Hollenbeck: No, uh, uh, Carson.

Scott Hammond: Uh, Bill Carson.

Eric Hollenbeck: Carson.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And-

Eric Hollenbeck: William, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Bill, but you're right.

Scott Hammond: And then you helped design the Carter House as well, right?

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, no, that was a, that was another Knudsen Brothers.

I helped make it.

Scott Hammond: Okay. But you designed his other,

Eric Hollenbeck: It just took-

Scott Hammond: I'm, I'm sorry, the, uh, Mark Carter House.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The Carter House.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. Yeah, the, uh-

Scott Hammond: With Mark.

Eric Hollenbeck: With Mark, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Which is also remarkable.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, geez. So the, um,

[clears throat] that's… You, do you know, Scott, why we're, we're a treasure?

So, World War II happens. World War II gets over. You get all these doughboys coming home, and by doughboys, I mean they got money.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: They got pockets load of it.

And, um, you know, the GI Bill's kicked in. Everything's kicked in.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um, they're gonna get the nation back going

We're rocking and rolling. So the, the developers

down south start tearing stuff down and building track homes 'cause, uh, [clears throat] the, uh, doughboys are gonna want a home.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know, that's the American dream.

[coughs] And they do that all the way up. They got to the Redwood Curtain. They leaped up to us,

and we are a extraction-based economy.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Eric Hollenbeck: Fishing, timber, um, uh, uh-

Scott Hammond: Cannabis

Eric Hollenbeck: … uh, yeah, okay, now. But [chuckles] the land-

Scott Hammond: It took you started to-

Eric Hollenbeck: You know, farming.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, extraction.

Eric Hollenbeck: E- extraction.

Scott Hammond: Absolutely.

Eric Hollenbeck: And we were in, in a recession.

We couldn't afford this old junk we were passing around, and they leaped over us-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Eric Hollenbeck: … and went up the coast.

Scott Hammond: Went up to Medford or wherever, yeah. Huh.

Eric Hollenbeck: And you, you look at the, uh, towns like, uh, what's the first one you

come into in Oregon, Brookings?

Scott Hammond: Brookings and-

Eric Hollenbeck: Look at that town.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Viv and I drove around for two hours and found three

old buildings.

Scott Hammond: And that was it.

How about that? And Eureka, down to core of Eureka-

Eric Hollenbeck: We have 68, I've been told,

68% of our original structures still standing.

Scott Hammond: Not too shabby.

Eric Hollenbeck: 68, that's unheard of, Scott.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Nationwide.

Scott Hammond: So the, the h- the whole town's a heritage site.

Eric Hollenbeck: The, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: And that's what I, and that's what

Viv and I told the, um, TV y- y- if you'll show that.

Scott Hammond: Do you feel like they were successful at doing that?

Eric Hollenbeck: I do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: I, I think that they tried really,

really hard. I gotta, my hat's off to Chip and Joanna because they, they fought an uphill struggle. That, that whole industry is, uh-

Scott Hammond: It's tough

Eric Hollenbeck: … is, um,

[clears throat] very difficult. I, I ain't gonna do it anymore.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Um,

uh, that was gonna be the next question, or is there gonna be a third

season?

Scott Hammond: Third season.

Eric Hollenbeck: And I've told them no.

Scott Hammond: You're done.

Eric Hollenbeck: Uh, I don't, I don't care to do that, but,

um, I will do one-hour specials.

Scott Hammond: There you go.

Eric Hollenbeck: To do a whole, uh, uh, eight-week

season-

Scott Hammond: That's a lot

Eric Hollenbeck: … i- it's too hard on the business.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Maybe you do a full-length movie.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: [chuckles] No. Not the movie guy.

Scott Hammond: What a delight. You know, great talking to you.

So, uh, we're gonna wrap it up here, and I'm gonna ask you,

um, kinda what I ask everybody, and, and you've shared from your heart, and I know you will continue. Um, what, what do you wanna see for Eureka, What, what's Eric's vision of a ideal future? How do we get there? Take five minutes. I don't care. What are your thoughts? What, how do you-What do you envision creatively otherwise for, um, uh, our, our little gem?

Eric Hollenbeck: Okay.

First off, um, progress, the amazing thing about progress is it's always progressing.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: Yeah. [laughs] That is-

Eric Hollenbeck: So-

Scott Hammond: Good word

Eric Hollenbeck: … whether it's good or bad is way

beyond me. I'm just a, I'm just Eric. Uh, that's all I am.

But what I would ask people to do is as we're driving along, as we're going about our day, as we're doing all of our things,

[sighs] can we drop down one gear?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Eric Hollenbeck: One gear.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Eric Hollenbeck: You know,

um,

uh, we, we drive from Eureka to

Arcata, and we go through the 50 mile an hour stretch.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: And instead of looking on both sides and going, "Oh my

God, look at this. We have the bay. We have the salt marsh with these ducks nestled up in it. We have the road, and we have [coughs] the fields here, um, with the cows and the-

Scott Hammond: The woods

Eric Hollenbeck: … that go up into timberland."

We look at the license plate of the car ahead of us and think, "You can do 52 miles an hour. It's okay.

It's okay."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: "Nobody's gonna stop you from doing 52 miles an hour."

If we can, if we can ease back-

Scott Hammond: Good word

Eric Hollenbeck: … just a little bit-

Scott Hammond: Great word

Eric Hollenbeck: … then, uh,

then we can n- negotiate, um, the, uh, progress,

progress and, but we can do it at our pace, and we can say, "Yes, I see it, and that's gonna be fine." We can ease into it. I ain't running into anything.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Slow, slow down.

Eric Hollenbeck: Just slow down a little bit.

Scott Hammond: Great word.

Hey, uh, what a pleasure. Anything else? Any parting shots?

Eric Hollenbeck: No.

Scott Hammond: Nope.

Eric Hollenbeck: Except I love my wife, Viviana, very, very much.

Scott Hammond: Viviana, we missed you today. She was gonna be with us, and she-

Eric Hollenbeck: And she, and she got sick. I'm so sorry.

Scott Hammond: That's all right. Yeah, no, we understand. Now, thanks for being here.

So couple of things. Blue Ox Millworks, you can Google that. Google The Craftsman. It's on YouTube also.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes.

Scott Hammond: And on the Discovery Network-

Eric Hollenbeck: Yes

Scott Hammond: … Network, which is a big, big thing.

And then, um, The Radiomen, the, the book, uh, you're gonna sign this weekend at Eureka Books. We can find that online probably on Amazon now or later.

Eric Hollenbeck: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm, I don't know how. Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: And if we wanna come down to Old Town Eureka sometime and

look up Blue Ox, I bet, uh, bet we'd find your, yourself

hanging out.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do you, do you normally come out and, and, hangout with folks and the tours and

all?

Eric Hollenbeck: Well, I, um, at, at the shop at X Street, F- Foot of X,

I take pictures with everybody, Scott-

Scott Hammond: Awesome

Eric Hollenbeck: … that comes by because, uh,

can I be real honest?

Scott Hammond: Please.

Eric Hollenbeck: I had a really hard time with that at first.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Eric Hollenbeck: I'm just Eric.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's all I am. And then it dawned on me, these

people are driving a long, long way to get here.

Scott Hammond: Europe.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Amsterdam.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Even if they're San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: It's a long run.

Eric Hollenbeck: That's a pot load long. I don't wanna go there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Get your ass out there

Eric Hollenbeck: Ex- exactly.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Eric Hollenbeck: Well said.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Move it, man.

Eric Hollenbeck: Look at him.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: He said it.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: And he is dead on.

Scott Hammond: No, they came all that way to see you and your vision and,

why, why not?

Eric Hollenbeck: Get up off your dead ass and get out there and take a photo.

Scott Hammond: Move it, man.

Eric Hollenbeck: Dumbass.

Scott Hammond: It's not that, it's not that hard.

Eric Hollenbeck: It ain't that hard.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. The small acts of kindness,

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Kids recognize them and kids of all ages.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, that's, those small things that…

Slow it down and-

Eric Hollenbeck: I would like to, uh-

Scott Hammond: … smell the flowers

Eric Hollenbeck: … I don't know why,

Scott, I don't know why my 30 miles an hour is so much slower than everybody else's 30 miles an hour. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

[laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: I had, I had,

I had somebody pass me on Myrtle Avenue.

[laughs]

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Eric Hollenbeck: Passed me.

Scott Hammond: Yeah,

'cause they're going 80 on a-

Eric Hollenbeck: I-

Scott Hammond: … 25, yeah. Yeah, you know, it's-

Eric Hollenbeck: You know-

Scott Hammond: Plus Eureka's not known for the safest traffic in the world.

Eric Hollenbeck: It, it just, all, all that I'm trying to say is everybody,

not just in driving, not, uh, uh, don't you think? It's not just-

Scott Hammond: Love it

Eric Hollenbeck: … in driving.

Scott Hammond: No.

Eric Hollenbeck: It's in everything-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Eric Hollenbeck: … in our lives. Can we just

pull it back?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And you don't have to start your day with

It's bad for your brain. Well, there's a lot of ways metaphorically to slow down.

Eric Hollenbeck: It just, pull it back one gear.

Scott Hammond: Why not?

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah. That's all.

Scott Hammond: You know, Advent, you know, Christmas is a great time to do that.

Eric Hollenbeck: Christmas is a great time.

Scott Hammond: Hey, man.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Go outside and look at the Pleiades or the Orion's Belt.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's right, it's right out there.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And it's clear, and go do it, man.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Amen. Eric, what a pleasure.

Appreciate you. Get over here.

Eric Hollenbeck: [groans] Ow. God, I'm too old. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That's all right. I don't wanna hurt you.

Eric Hollenbeck: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: Hey, thanks for being here, and, uh, God bless you. God bless America.

Eric Hollenbeck: God bless America, yes.

Scott Hammond: Thanks again.

Eric Hollenbeck: Yep