Episode 67 · Dale Warmuth · January 18, 2025
Dale Warmuth talks about growing up in Eureka, helping carry a family automotive business forward, and watching both cars and local life change around him. He and Scott also spend time in memory lane, trading stories about old Humboldt businesses, service clubs, and the people who helped shape the area.
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What this episode covers
- Dale’s family roots in Eureka and the history of Leon’s, from mufflers to broader auto care
- The way car technology has changed, including digital inspections and driver-assist systems
- His work with Rotary, the Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods, and other local service efforts
- Growing up in Worthington, going to Eureka schools, and the local people who shaped that time
- A long run through old Humboldt businesses, restaurants, dealerships, and storefronts
- Why he still loves Humboldt, from the bay to the backcountry around South Fork Mountain
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Transcript
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Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond and the 100% Humboldt podcast with my newest, bestest friend, Dale Warmuth from Leon's Car Care. Hey, L- hey, Dale.
Dale Warmuth: How are you?
Scott Hammond: Feeling kinda crabby today, huh?
Dale Warmuth: I'm, I'm working it at every angle, and I'm all about the props.
Scott Hammond: Yes, you are. What… Is it… Is there s- is it gonna be crab season coming up?
Dale Warmuth: Well, you know, today- … they're pulling crab. The, the crab's showing up at the various retail c- centers.
Scott Hammond: Oh, good.
Dale Warmuth: But, uh, Rotary Club of Eureka, the, the club that's been in-
Scott Hammond: Ah
Dale Warmuth: … existence for 101 years-
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh
Dale Warmuth: … is going to do a crab feed on the 15th of
Dale Warmuth: February-
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh
Dale Warmuth: … uh, as a fundraiser at the Elks. And they go online and probably Google Good Deeds Crab
Dale Warmuth: Feed.
Scott Hammond: Nice. This is, uh, Rotary down in Old Town, the Monday-
Dale Warmuth: The down- the-
Scott Hammond: It's the Monday club?
Dale Warmuth: Eureka, it's re- there's a Southwest, there's Old Town, and there's
Dale Warmuth: Eureka.
Scott Hammond: Eureka's the original club that meets on Monday at the Eagle House.
Dale Warmuth: Used to be the good old boys-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … the Check Writing Club.
Scott Hammond: Oh, those guys, yeah.
Dale Warmuth: And between, uh, they aged out, passed
Dale Warmuth: away-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … COVID burned them out. They didn't wanna do Zooms. So there's a, there's a, a new-
Scott Hammond: A reduction
Dale Warmuth: … uh, a, a more youthful presentation.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, I got to come visit a few months ago with Phil Nicholas.
Dale Warmuth: Some great people there.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. It looked-
Dale Warmuth: And so I'm doing a crab… I'm the president elect.
Scott Hammond: Oh, you are? Okay, cool
Dale Warmuth: … and I'm looking forward to, uh, raising a few funds for some special projects for my term that starts
Dale Warmuth: in June.
Scott Hammond: June, okay. Annalise is the, uh, president now?
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Lucky.
Scott Hammond: Lucky is.
Dale Warmuth: Lucky-
Scott Hammond: That's right
Dale Warmuth: … uh, is the current president. Annalise was the outgoing.
Scott Hammond: That's right.
Dale Warmuth: Annalise has been a great mentor.
Scott Hammond: Very cool.
Dale Warmuth: Speak highly of her.
Scott Hammond: Yep
Dale Warmuth: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: Very sweet
Dale Warmuth: … several other long-term, Nancy Dean.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, there's a couple others, long-term members that are-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … uh, well-vested in Rotary.
Scott Hammond: As a young man at the Tri-City Paper, Ron Paleji was big part of that club, and he did their-
Dale Warmuth: Yes, absolutely
Scott Hammond: … he did their… They actually had a weekly newsletter he would print and he would freak out, man, a couple hours before the meeting. He'd have that, have to have that thing ready to go.
Dale Warmuth: I just read today of the demise-
Scott Hammond: Yeah, the Tri-City Weekly
Dale Warmuth: … of the Tri-City.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So the Tri-City Weekly was a newspaper shopper-
Dale Warmuth: Right
Scott Hammond: … back in the day, if you folks know what newspapers are. Remember those? Did you ever see one, Nick? Nick's pretty younger than I thought.
Scott Hammond: Um, yeah, I worked there 20 years with Ron, and, uh, I think essentially what the Times-Standard did is retire the masthead of the Tri-City. It was, it, it wasn't a viable-
Dale Warmuth: No
Scott Hammond: … sh-
Dale Warmuth: Understood. Understood
Scott Hammond: … it was, it was a carrier of Safeway and things of that nature.
Dale Warmuth: I… Of a number of, uh, heroes of our community, one of them is, uh, Sandra Kirtley of Scrappers Edge.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: She was celebrated by Kiwanis, uh, as one of the Businesswomen of the Year not long ago, and she expressed that her s- business that started 20 years ago-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … did not have, uh, social media-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … or smartphones-
Scott Hammond: Right
Dale Warmuth: … in just 20 years.
Scott Hammond: 20 years.
Dale Warmuth: The, the technology twist-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … that that's put on all of our ways of life.
Scott Hammond: Let's talk about some of those favorites, but before we do, let's talk about the Dale story. Give us the, uh, Dale, uh, Warmuth, uh,
Scott Hammond: bird's-eye-
Dale Warmuth: Born-
Scott Hammond: … bird's-eye loda
Dale Warmuth: … born and raised in, in Eureka.
Dale Warmuth: Um, uh, my father and mother started an automotive business, Leon's Mufflers, that has been in existence since
Dale Warmuth: 1961.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, today my sister, myself, and my sister's son, Lucas, Lucas Sams-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … operate Lucas's… Lucas is working in the office now. I was about to, uh, I've been referencing, uh, this is the year of change at Leon's.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Lucas has moved into the office from master tech, service writer, now working inside the office.
Dale Warmuth: I… Very proud of the guy.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, our fift- our employee of 50 years, Jim Frazier, will retire at the end of this year.
Scott Hammond: Frazier. Go Jim.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, excuse me, end of this month.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Dale Warmuth: End of this month-
Scott Hammond: 50 years
Dale Warmuth: … he will conclude 50 years at Leon's Car Care Center.
Scott Hammond: Don't hear about that much anymore.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I'm married to my wife, Jeannie Marie. Been together with her for about 30 years.
Dale Warmuth: Um, kinda funny. We got… We were together some long period of time. Her mother's health was failing. I made a point to s- uh, want to have her mother have confidence her daughter was cared for.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: So we got married on some date that I can remember.
Scott Hammond: Uh-oh.
Dale Warmuth: 5/5/05 at 5:00.
Scott Hammond: At 5:00.
Dale Warmuth: And I still struggle to remember exactly when-
Scott Hammond: AM or PM?
Dale Warmuth: Y- all those Cinco de Mayo ads, I thought would help me remember it's coming up.
Scott Hammond: Haven't triggered that, uh-
Dale Warmuth: Yeah, and it was PM.
Scott Hammond: PM, okay.
Dale Warmuth: Got married on the Madaket. That was a way to limit how many people would be at the
Dale Warmuth: wedding.
Scott Hammond: Good call.
Dale Warmuth: So Leroy, uh, was the master of ceremonies there.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: Captains can perform ceremonies.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: So, uh, I discovered dirt bikes early on, and while I wasn't… I'm not very coordinated or, uh, I didn't have any many, uh, personal, uh, physical aptitude, I w- I, I was, I excelled at riding dirt bikes off-road.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, today I'm still, I'm president for life, I think, for the local dirt bike club that's been in existence since
Dale Warmuth: 1947-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Dale Warmuth: … the Far West Motorcycle Club.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: I'm president elect of Rotary.
Scott Hammond: Yes, you are.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I am my dearest- Uh, engagement is with Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, I had an epiphany one day watching kids come from a motel, come up to the school bus line.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh, it really struck me that those kids deserved all the social
Dale Warmuth: elements that middle-income kids enjoy-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … whether it's computers, games, a quiet place to learn.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and so I've been intensely engaged in Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Big, big fan.
Dale Warmuth: I, I'm all about it.
Scott Hammond: Yep, raised in the Boys & Girls Club down Sa- National City, San
Scott Hammond: Diego.
Dale Warmuth: We have a couple of… Two alumni, two, two people on our board that have, uh, been members.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, a great group of people, a great leader with Monica
Dale Warmuth: Rose.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, so that's kind of-
Scott Hammond: Phil, Phil, Phil McLiss is on that
Dale Warmuth: … and I've, at work, at work I've embraced, or I'm acknowledged for having taken our business from the muffler business-
Scott Hammond: Ah
Dale Warmuth: … to the auto care, auto maintenance, auto repair, and that's a leap. Muffler business was pretty simple.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and the muffler business has kinda gone the way of horseshoeing-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Dale Warmuth: … or, uh, buggy whips.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, there's still some exhaust work that's done. Some old-school hot rodders or a catalytic converter here and there.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: But,
Dale Warmuth: um, we'd be idle-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … if all we relied on was exhaust.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: So, um,
Dale Warmuth: change. I-
Scott Hammond: Change. You think you're in change
Dale Warmuth: … I, I think I made a, I made an, uh, also, an, uh, my, uh… Oh, one of my favorite adages is to say, um, the only thing that's constant is change.
Scott Hammond: It's change.
Dale Warmuth: And if you can get comfortable with that manner, uh, I find it, it makes it much easier for me to interview new employees-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … to sometimes the redundancy that happens at work, like, um, in training-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … and that kinda thing.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Change is constant. You need to accept it and, um,
Dale Warmuth: evolve.
Scott Hammond: Evolve. It's coming for you. Something's gonna change today. Tell me about, so you went to, uh… What schools did you go to here in town?
Dale Warmuth: I graduated from Eureka High-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … with a proficiency with, uh, uh, the metal shop, auto shop. Uh, I got some award from Bank of America for my, that trade
Dale Warmuth: skill sets.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and, um, geez, I never imagined I'd even, uh… My father cast- While he was only about five foot tall, he had a very severe scoliosis.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: He cast a large shadow in my eyes.
Scott Hammond: Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, I suppose I… Two things drive me.
Dale Warmuth: One is, uh, I'm cognizant that life sh- this life is short.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And I wanna leave it better than I found it, or leave some social situations better than I found it.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Amen.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, I forget where the other part of that conversation w- I was taking. Uh, I guess to, to manage my own reputation. Uh, motorcycles did it for a short
Dale Warmuth: time.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: I broke my ankle or something, and Dad threatened me with a stick or something and-
Scott Hammond: That was it
Dale Warmuth: … so yeah. Uh, so then I had to work hard at, uh, and I own, as it were, that evolution at the shop-
Scott Hammond: Yes
Dale Warmuth: … of auto care and auto repair.
Scott Hammond: Sure. Not a small thing.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-mm.
Scott Hammond: Where'd you go to elementary school?
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Worthington.
Scott Hammond: Where'd you go… So you're right here in this neighborhood.
Dale Warmuth: Yes. Not far.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Not far. Grew up in Worthington.
Dale Warmuth: It was, uh, I think they call it a nuclear neighborhood in that,
Dale Warmuth: you know, all the mothers were stay-at-home moms. It was a very stable neighborhood.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, so I went from kindergarten through high school with the same group of kids.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and still in contact with many of those that were a part of that neighborhood.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I feel blessed. Uh, I, I recently spoke at a friend's memorial who's 20 years older than I am, and we often would reflect on the same joys of marching down into the woods or to the slough
Dale Warmuth: or-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … hiking down Myrtle Avenue with a shotgun over your shoulder.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: The SWAT team would be out there in a few minutes if you did that today.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Eric Hollenbeck-
Dale Warmuth: But-
Scott Hammond: … used to talk about that
Dale Warmuth: … we were blessed that way, and, um, it was a marvelous place and time to grow up.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no doubt. So, uh, w- junior high was where?
Scott Hammond: Zane?
Dale Warmuth: Zane.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Zane. Still we're… My next-door neighbor was, um, Ruth Davis, who had come from the old junior high, and a number of the teachers had come from the old junior high or
Dale Warmuth: high school
Dale Warmuth: at Zane. And so Mrs. Gildesguard, and Mrs. Mace, and Wilcox, and there was a whole bunch of these old guards that were
Dale Warmuth: probably five years from retirement-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Dale Warmuth: … um,
Dale Warmuth: that, uh,
Dale Warmuth: we got this, uh, I probably, as kids we didn't appreciate fully that this was, uh, the end of their careers, but there was some great wisdom that all those teachers brought to the room.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no doubt. So tell me more about, uh, what, what are you proud of at Leon's?
Scott Hammond: You, you s-
Dale Warmuth: Proud of at Leon's
Scott Hammond: … taking it to the next level.
Scott Hammond: Um-
Dale Warmuth: I like to think that we, we maintain the standard that, of customer service that all other shops are striving for.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And we're still working on it every day.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: For starting with communication, relaying what the customer's concern was, even maybe the gesture that a customer infers or the high-pitched noise they heard.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Or, uh, the service writers are keeping customers
Dale Warmuth: informed,
Dale Warmuth: um, timely.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: We send a digital… Currently we're using, we take a digital photo inspection of each vehicle and
Dale Warmuth: share, in this order, the customer's concern, how, what was the motor oil look like or what was, where that noise was coming from.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Things we may have observed in the process we're, we're taking pictures of and, uh, wanna share the concern. And the third thing is s- factory scheduled maintenance to help prolong the life of a vehicle.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and so that digital inspection is kind of technology
Dale Warmuth: that's anybody can have but few are maintaining.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and customers all appreciate being able to have that transparency of-
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah
Dale Warmuth: … what we're talking about.
Scott Hammond: I have a quote here in my, uh, research. It says that, uh, "Despite challenges that come in running a small business in an ever-evolving automotive landscape," I'll say, "Dale remains optimistic. Innovation is key, he notes. We're always learning, adapting, and improving to meet the needs of our customers
Scott Hammond: and demands of modern vehicles." And I think that'd be true for any business.
Dale Warmuth: I'm sure for any business, but since like 2015, 2020, the technology of a vehicle is going like this.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, the assisted driving
Dale Warmuth: aid.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, ADOS they call it. It's built into our car, many cars.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: It will be built into most all cars soon.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: That, um, for braking if you're too close to a car, lane changes keeping you in the lane.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Um, many of these cars, even today you can drive with
Dale Warmuth: hands free-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … if you're on the right road.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I put on my makeup on the way in from McKinleyville.
Dale Warmuth: I-
Scott Hammond: It's, uh-
Dale Warmuth: I've seen people brushing their teeth and yeah.
Scott Hammond: It's, it's a little scary. It, it's, you can be ve-
Dale Warmuth: You must have skipped the makeup this morning, though.
Scott Hammond: I try. Thank you. Ow. Here we go. And we're off.
Dale Warmuth: Oh, boy.
Scott Hammond: Here. He came at me, and here we go. No, I, mine, uh, does it, drives really well with the assist for… You know, it's got 30 seconds, and then it tells you, and then it turns off.
Dale Warmuth: Sonars in your side mirrors.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: The little image that there's a car in your blind spot.
Scott Hammond: And the beep, beep, beep.
Dale Warmuth: All that stuff, you know, in any… If you even, your grandpa might have gotten a side mirror on his car replaced for about 30 bucks, and your dad might have gotten that side mirror replaced. It probably had a motor in it to move the mirror around, maybe a heater. That was probably 300 bucks. The side mirror today might be-
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh
Dale Warmuth: … 3,000 bucks.
Scott Hammond: No way. Wow.
Dale Warmuth: And you're gonna need to get it, this ADOS stuff-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … all surveyed and, um, adjusted, that they're all pointing in the same direction.
Scott Hammond: Maybe that's why insurance is going up. Could it, it be a correlation?
Dale Warmuth: I think it's a profit thing.
Scott Hammond: Oh, that's… Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Sorry. I hit him again.
Scott Hammond: Oh, man.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Here we go
Dale Warmuth: … I don't, I don't think it starts at your desk, though.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, I…
Dale Warmuth: And without a question, the ins- this is being pressed by the insurance companies, and it has to be reducing the per mile incident-
Scott Hammond: Hmm. Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … um, and making all of our lives safer.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Um, in California our cars last longer than a lot of other areas of the country.
Scott Hammond: Weather.
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Not the salt on the roads that we-
Scott Hammond: Sure. Sure.
Dale Warmuth: And so we have cars on the road for a long time. So you could still have somebody beside you, uh, looking at their phone, and their car doesn't know what direction to go.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so it goes into me.
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Or you. Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Leave your phone, leave your phone down. You can get that call when you pull over to the curb.
Scott Hammond: Put the phone down, bro.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Or go hands-free or do something. Uh, so what do you like about Humboldt? You've lived here your whole life. You, could we say that you are truly 100% Humboldt?
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: What do you like about living here still? You've stayed here.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: And you're what?
Dale Warmuth: To fly in, I, I'm-
Scott Hammond: You're 45 now or 50?
Dale Warmuth: You're so kind. I'm 67 years old. I'll be 67 this year. It's amazing how young you can be in your mind.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: And, um-
Scott Hammond: How old are you in your mind?
Dale Warmuth: 22, 24.
Scott Hammond: I'm like 27.
Dale Warmuth: I'm pretty, pretty immature.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. I'm 12.
Dale Warmuth: I still enjoy a good fart joke or something like that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, who doesn't?
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Come on now.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Um, to fly into Humboldt, to, to, to McKinleyville's Airport-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … what a fantastic place we live.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: And to have that overview. Admittedly, a lot of the bay, our sep- or, or Humboldt Bay area is prettier from a mile away.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, you, when you get down with the microscope, sometimes there's, there's a lot of dirt under the fingernails there.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: But, um-
Scott Hammond: But from the air, you're right-
Dale Warmuth: God
Scott Hammond: … it's glo- glorious.
Dale Warmuth: You know, and I, my motorcycling takes me to a part of Humboldt that I don't think a lot of
Dale Warmuth: people-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Dale Warmuth: … have much familiarity with, and that's out near South Fork Mountain.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, there's a-
Scott Hammond: That's out right out that way
Dale Warmuth: It's, it's right on the edge
Scott Hammond: It's on the edge of that
Dale Warmuth: It's right on the very edge-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … because Trinity County comes right on the… But it's about 5,000 feet. Right now it's inaccessible I would suspect 'cause
Dale Warmuth: for snow.
Scott Hammond: Is that snow camp up that way?
Dale Warmuth: Uh, you're-
Scott Hammond: Or is it north of that?
Dale Warmuth: If you're taking… That's one way to get there. Uh, that would be on the west side of the Redwood Creek drainage.
Scott Hammond: Okay
Dale Warmuth: And, um-
Scott Hammond: It's on the, it's on the north and further east
Dale Warmuth: … lots of pioneer trails,
Dale Warmuth: uh, from the 1800s. Uh, people that settled the area, patented areas, had to prove to the Forest Service that they could really sustain themselves out there, and there's many historic
Dale Warmuth: trails that we were fortunate enough to have one of the rangers 30 years ago designate a number of them as multiple-use
Dale Warmuth: routes-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Dale Warmuth: … that are being tamed for motorized in various sizes, motorcycles or ATVs.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: And it's shared with horses and hikers and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … w- walk, people that are just walking or running.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: Um, we've had a lot of fires out there.
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: The, the landscape's changed a lot. The face of the trails have changed a lot.
Scott Hammond: There a lot of ranches out there, cattle ranches or…?
Dale Warmuth: S- that is mainly all Forest Service land.
Scott Hammond: Okay
Dale Warmuth: With, near the snow camp there are some ranches. There's still some private land.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: Six Rivers National Forest gets to be very narrow right about in this area that we're talking about.
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: But it is remote. It's-
Dale Warmuth: Yep
Scott Hammond: … that's the point.
Dale Warmuth: Yep, and the, and that it has a vantage point at places where you could see the top of Mount Shasta.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: I mean, just, just the peak.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: But, um, I was sharing with someone not long ago, I had bought a new dirt bike and, um, uh, I rather illegally, I've often taken the bike to break it in and ridden out Maple Creek Road to the end of where the road… You're getting close to Pilot Rock.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh,
Dale Warmuth: there were about five cowboys.
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Dale Warmuth: I mean, cowboying up like, uh-
Scott Hammond: With horses
Dale Warmuth: … like, uh, Yellowstone the TV show.
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: These guys were cowboys with horses getting ready to go gather up some cows, and it's like we're only, like, 15 miles from the Humboldt Bay, and here's some real serious cowboy action.
Scott Hammond: Get-get like on TV, huh?
Dale Warmuth: Who would, who'd a thunk-
Dale Warmuth: … that, uh, those lives exist out there.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: Um,
Dale Warmuth: and, uh, so I love, I, I love Humboldt, no doubt.
Scott Hammond: Nice. Tell me what you see in terms of from your vantage point being a local guy, what do you, what do you see happening now, and what do you see happening in the next five, 10, 15 years and, and what you would like to see? What, what gives you hope or dread? I mean, we had a fella sit here and go, "You know what? I think housing's… We're in real trouble, and it's not, it's probably not gonna
Scott Hammond: get good."
Dale Warmuth: No
Scott Hammond: And I thought that was honest
Dale Warmuth: … and it, it, it, in fact, potentially worse the, with, uh… To answer your question more directly, I do think the wind power, uh, grid will occur.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: Um, we know there won't be manufacturing here, but there'll be assembly.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: There'll be barging equipment in. There'll be assembling stuff. There'll forever be maintenance going on, those things.
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: Um, I'm less clear what they do with the infrastructure to get the power somewhere. I'm, I'm not confident it comes directly to Humboldt.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: It may well go somewhere else, but-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … there'll still be some great paying jobs related to the maintenance and, uh, assembly.
Scott Hammond: That's still a go, right? The whole project-
Dale Warmuth: I believe it is
Scott Hammond: … seems to be moving forward. And then the fish farm
Dale Warmuth: Fish farm's gotten most all of their,
Dale Warmuth: um,
Dale Warmuth: okays-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … from the various agencies.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: I don't know what they're waiting for right this second, but they've gotten most all of them-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … passed.
Scott Hammond: Cool
Dale Warmuth: Um, awful lot of water. We still s- you know, we're not really utilizing, that maybe the fish farm will be able to.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: What… The pulp mills used to use 80% of the water that came out of the wells of Mad River.
Scott Hammond: Took a lot of water, right?
Dale Warmuth: Lot of water.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: And, uh, so the ratepayers are all… The ratepayers that are left are covering that, and, and those rates are going up-
Scott Hammond: Yep. See-
Dale Warmuth: … uh, for a couple of reasons. I think recently they decided they wanna plan not to borrow money when infrastructure starts needing to be replaced. I'm talking about, uh, Humboldt Community Service District.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: They've decided they don't want to do a bond. They wanna start saving money.
Scott Hammond: Imagine that.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Dale Warmuth: Um, it's a great premise. I, I'm, I worry a little bit when the f- funds look fat and, uh, the ability to have more equipment or more raises or more… And of course, the equipment's gonna have to change. We're, we're going back to the automotive business. Electric cars, hybrid cars, the, the same holds for equipment.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: All that equipment that any of the municipalities own-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … are gonna need to go to more electric, hydrogen gas. I don't think electric is the end of the world. I, I really think something hydrogen- Is a more, I think, in my ignorance,
Dale Warmuth: is a less invasive product to develop.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: There is, uh, ores, there's only so much ore, there's only so much
Dale Warmuth: petroleum
Dale Warmuth: oil, that I, I would hope that the hydrogen thing could be a more
Dale Warmuth: sustainable-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … future.
Scott Hammond: They're talking nuclear too now, aren't they?
Dale Warmuth: I've heard-
Scott Hammond: The technology's there
Dale Warmuth: … I have heard, I haven't heard that with vehicles. I've certainly heard the Amazons and Microsoft's building some miniature, uh, small nuclear plants to power their power needs.
Scott Hammond: Interesting. Huh. On a kind of a mi- microscopic-
Dale Warmuth: And I don't mean that locally.
Scott Hammond: Right. Right
Dale Warmuth: … but, um, they're looking at ways to, uh, create some, uh, long-term en- I wish, I wish science would work on a way to de-energize nuclear waste.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: I'm probably… Again, I don't know what I'm talking about.
Scott Hammond: Funny topic, though. It's uncomfortable, and I don't know why, 'cause I, I'm not convinced I know anything about nuclear power in terms of, you said it, the new tech. Is there new nuclear te- I don't know. I, is it worth looking at? I, let's get curious.
Dale Warmuth: It's not good just to store the stuff and say, "For 100,000 years we're not gonna look at it."
Scott Hammond: No.
Dale Warmuth: That's no way to go.
Scott Hammond: I don't think there's a hole deep enough anywhere.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's, it's tough to negotiate.
Scott Hammond: So what, um, you talked about, you inferred and implied a positive difference, but your committee work, your service work. How would you encourage,
Scott Hammond: uh, John Q and Joan Q Citizen to get involved? Uh, maybe not on the level you have or can, but what, what, what, what would you say to somebody if they said, "Hey, how do I start by being part of the solution?"
Dale Warmuth: I think the, the kind of folks that are of a sort to clear the weeds from the yard or from the, from the gutter or to, uh, pick up litter on the trail could, would be well-served
Dale Warmuth: to visit one of the service clubs like Rot- one of the Rotaries.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Kiwanis.
Dale Warmuth: Kiwanis.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: To, uh, invest some time.
Scott Hammond: Sir Optimist, if you will.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm. To invest some time, uh, and do projects
Dale Warmuth: as a group.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I'm most familiar with Rotary and to, um, the things that International helps fund, to say nothing of more re- big projects regionally.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Rotary of Eureka recently funded 100,000, celebrated 100 years of existence. We funded the
Dale Warmuth: Jefferson Community School, uh, the, uh, Jefferson Community Center.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: They have a culinary kitchen they're working on that they're gonna be skilling up
Dale Warmuth: some-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … culinary s- folks from that-
Scott Hammond: Te- teaching folks how to cook
Dale Warmuth: … $100,000 we invested there.
Scott Hammond: Great.
Dale Warmuth: Eureka Room, the Eureka, or Humboldt Room at the
Dale Warmuth: library was $100,000 investment from Eureka Rotary.
Scott Hammond: The Humboldt, the, the library down at the bay?
Dale Warmuth: Our, our library-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … that, and there's an upstairs room that's a tribute to H- Humboldt history.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Dale Warmuth: And Rotary had a big hand in that.
Dale Warmuth: And there's, our Rotary has been going on f- long enough, and several members have left bequeaths to the club that they're in a position to often gift throughout the year in small pieces, up to about
Dale Warmuth: $50,000-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Dale Warmuth: … uh, for different projects, whether it's Teen Challenge or Food for People.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: They're very involved with the Backpacks for Kids, where they provide sustaining foods for a weekend-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … uh, where kids might not have enough,
Dale Warmuth: um, sustainable food for the weekend.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: So that's, uh, one of Rotary Club of Eureka's big projects that they've taken on. And all the local clubs are now actually banding together to help, uh, Robert Lawn, who's been doing Coats for the
Dale Warmuth: Cold.
Scott Hammond: I know Robert, yep.
Dale Warmuth: And-
Scott Hammond: Shout out to Robert
Dale Warmuth: … I've been a big f- f- supporter and funder for Robert. The clubs are taking on, Robert's health is, is slipping a little.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And the clubs have stepped up and said, for each winter we're interested in coordinating the Coats for the Cold-
Scott Hammond: Sweet
Dale Warmuth: … and helping distribute those.
Scott Hammond: It's a worthy effort.
Dale Warmuth: Mission Linen helps with cleaning-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … the few that need to be cleaned. Mission Linen works with us. We're blessed that we have that, uh, corporate support locally.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And Robert's done a good job with that o- outfit.
Dale Warmuth: Tremendous.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Sweet guy.
Dale Warmuth: I help store stuff for him in the off-season, tipped him some fuel here and there-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … uh, besides some financial stuff that we try to do.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Nice. Very nice
Dale Warmuth: … I did come away with, just related to that, I did come away in the last
Dale Warmuth: couple days in a f- in a frustrated way. I've come to realize all the good deeds that we do, you have to feel good about. I have to feel good about the deeds we're doing, that there's, my sense is very little, I think there's very little that comes back to us as business, because I'm doing all the different things that I'm doing.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: If I look at the different organizations I'm involved with, it's not a precursor for them to come running to my door to do business.
Scott Hammond: Probably not why you do it, though, either.
Dale Warmuth: That's not why I do it.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Dale Warmuth: You would hope that you would see some sort of,
Dale Warmuth: uh-
Dale Warmuth: … something to feel good about and generally I, I, I don't generally
Dale Warmuth: see that
Scott Hammond: Day's not over yet.
Dale Warmuth: No, I suppose.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: But, uh, I know I feel good about the things that I'm involved
Dale Warmuth: with-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … and it's my turn. I was president of the Chamber of Commerce 20 years ago.
Scott Hammond: I think I remember that.
Dale Warmuth: 25. 25 years ago.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and those are all things that I think are important
Dale Warmuth: to,
Dale Warmuth: uh,
Dale Warmuth: steward, work on, recruit some maybe a fresher mind than yours-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … as the next generation-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … of people. There may be-
Scott Hammond: Is that when Jay Warren Hockaday back was in?
Dale Warmuth: Of course I knew Jay.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: That was my term that our executive director left. We hired one fella that didn't work out.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And Jay started just as I stepped off.
Scott Hammond: I have to remember Jay for a sec. He was a, he was always nice to me.
Scott Hammond: I liked him.
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, nice, nice enough guy.
Dale Warmuth: Loved Jay.
Scott Hammond: Sharp dresser, always had a sport coat.
Dale Warmuth: Yep. Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yep, which in Humboldt, folks, not a lot of not a lot of sport coats. Maybe Mark Mattioli and John Dalton.
Dale Warmuth: It's pretty casual.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I have… I'm also a member of the Ingomar, uh, principally to share it with other people, to do tours
Dale Warmuth: and, and-
Scott Hammond: That's wonderful, yeah
Dale Warmuth: … it's fun to, um, raise my pinky finger or tip my nose up and use the valet park. Um, but I still wear jeans. I still like steak and potatoes.
Scott Hammond: At Ingomar?
Dale Warmuth: Yeah. I mean, that's what I like.
Scott Hammond: Does-
Dale Warmuth: That's not necessarily what they're producing.
Scott Hammond: Does Tim let you wear jeans?
Dale Warmuth: No. Uh, you know, and I've always… Well, I, not now, but anytime after hours I'm wearing flamboyant shoes-
Scott Hammond: I've seen some-
Dale Warmuth: … of various sorts
Scott Hammond: … I've seen some of your Hawaiian stuff, yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So we're gonna do something fun here. Usually I do a quiz. This time you get something more fun. Uh, memory lane, you and me are gonna hold hands and stroll down business.
Scott Hammond: Wait, wait, no. Like Nick said, first costume ever.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: So it works.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So let's go down memory lane and talk about some of the businesses that, uh… And we'll start with ol- the olden days for some of the ones that you remember. And I know they'll be Eureka, but we can talk about Arcata too. Arcata had a Bistrons, but, um-
Dale Warmuth: How about all the machine shops?
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: There's a virtu- I mean, the, there's-
Scott Hammond: That might be a little, little, uh, uh, uh-
Dale Warmuth: A niche. That's a little too bit of a niche.
Scott Hammond: That's a, that's super niche. I mean, Humboldt Machine Shop up in Arcata.
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: They were World War II
Dale Warmuth: … Humboldt, Humboldt Auto Parts.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: McGarrigan's.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: Walsh's
Dale Warmuth: … Walsh's.
Scott Hammond: Downtown. Was it… So before there was a mall-
Dale Warmuth: Daley's and Bistrons
Scott Hammond: … there, there was this thing called a newspaper, and then there were stores
Scott Hammond: downtown.
Dale Warmuth: Heartbreaking.
Scott Hammond: To, um, uh, what was the s- uh, the shoes place by Penny's? Trebles Shoes.
Dale Warmuth: Trebles. I was thinking of Stu's… Not Stu's Shoes. Stu's was out Myrtle Town. There was another, uh, there was another shoe across the street, Thorogood Shoes of some kind.
Scott Hammond: So here's how this game is played.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: I've thought about this a lot. So here's go. Here we goes. I'll name a business and you name another business, an oldie. So I'll start. Evvy's, Evvy's, Evvy's in Burray Center. And you gotta give us a location, otherwise you're gonna lose the candy bar, which is the prize.
Dale Warmuth: Okay. Well, there's Sackey's, Sackey's Chevrolet.
Scott Hammond: PC Sackey. Okay. I, c- I gotta counter with Isaacson Motors in Arcata.
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: For- the Ford Garage, which is now 25 dispensaries.
Dale Warmuth: Oh, gosh, you put me on the spot. This feels tougher all of a sudden.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Take a deep… It's okay. It's only-
Dale Warmuth: Richard Miller's. Richard Miller was a great friend of mine.
Scott Hammond: Richard Miller Honda.
Dale Warmuth: If you were, if as drunk as Richard was, you were having a great time.
Scott Hammond: We, we, uh, we, he was one of our clients. I, he wasn't ever mine, but it was, "Hey, we're taking Richard out to lunch."
Dale Warmuth: Uh, the girls were going.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: The girls… Richard liked to see the ladies-
Scott Hammond: It was fun. And he was, he was a, always a gent as best I know, but he was a big client. Uh, how about Bob's Army Navy Surplus store right downtown-
Dale Warmuth: Redwood
Scott Hammond: … on Fourth.
Dale Warmuth: How about Redwood Motors?
Scott Hammond: Redwood Motors, Volkswagen.
Dale Warmuth: It was a Volkswagen dealer.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Do you know the guy that ran it? Was it a Bob?
Dale Warmuth: Sch- Bob Schultz?
Scott Hammond: Schultz.
Dale Warmuth: Schultz.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: He was a f- professional football player, I think.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. All right, uh, then we'll counter with Sierra Motors Subaru.
Dale Warmuth: Ooh, ooh.
Scott Hammond: The first-
Dale Warmuth: Halley Brothers.
Scott Hammond: Who was that?
Dale Warmuth: They were the Dodge Plymouth dealer.
Scott Hammond: Prior to John-
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: John-
Dale Warmuth: Uh, that was before or after John Ehret Dodge.
Scott Hammond: John Ehret. Who was the biggest distributor of police vehicles in the state, right? Didn't he have the-
Dale Warmuth: They had the contract for the state for five years or so
Scott Hammond: … the CHP, CHP?
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: All the state cars. They were, most of the state cars got delivered to Sacramento, and they distributed them from Sacramento.
Scott Hammond: So his-
Dale Warmuth: They had a crew work just down there
Scott Hammond: … his daughter, Janet Holmes, I replaced as a State Farm agent.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Who's, who's a darling. Hi, Janet. She's super cool. Do you know Janet and Paul?
Dale Warmuth: I don't think so.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, they're up McKinleyville.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Okay. We're, here we go then. Uh, in McKinleyville, I'm going north on you. Oh, I'm gonna go way north to Klamath. What's the, um, what was the place that, the grill, the barbecue-
Dale Warmuth: Stillhead Lodge.
Scott Hammond: Stillhead Lodge, very good.
Scott Hammond: Bonus point.
Dale Warmuth: F- f- fish bowl margaritas.
Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.
Dale Warmuth: If you had, were, if you were stud enough to have a second margarita, you weren't driving home.
Scott Hammond: No, no. And then they had the grill outside, and I'll never forget the guy, the guy's just pouring beer and spinning this thing and flipping stuff, and he's… And it was the most delicious-
Dale Warmuth: Stillhead Lodge. On your way there was Crivelli's-
Scott Hammond: Crivelli's
Dale Warmuth: … between the highway and there, uh, was where you would turn off to go to Arrow Mills. There was a bar called Crivelli's.
Scott Hammond: In Klamath?
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And what about, uh, The Big Three in Arcata? Were you around for that?
Dale Warmuth: Big Four.
Scott Hammond: Big Four. Oh, sorry.
Dale Warmuth: Ding, ding.
Scott Hammond: De- wait, it won't even ring. DeMeritt. One point. Uh, Big 4. F- famous for ravioli and, like, apple fritters?
Dale Warmuth: It was a standing joke with my dad that, uh, he never took me to The Big 4, 'cause they were still in business when I was younger.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Um, say 10, 12 years old, before the highway got improved there through Arcata.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, but, uh, that was a fun thing to joke with my dad about. "He never took me to The Big 4."
Scott Hammond: You never got to go.
Dale Warmuth: No.
Scott Hammond: Doggone it. What's the other one? Uh, Bella Vista Inn. Your turn.
Dale Warmuth: My dad nearly bought the Bella Vista Inn.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: Six Rivers Brewery
Dale Warmuth: … brother-in-law at the time was… Or father-in-law at the time was a restaurateur from Chicago. And Dad was looking at just the value of the properties-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Dale Warmuth: … and came all, all, all was done but signing the paperwork, and he finally backed out at the last second.
Scott Hammond: Do you know why?
Dale Warmuth: Well, he, he had mistrust with my father-in-law.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Oh, the guy backed out.
Dale Warmuth: It was well, well-placed, his concerns.
Scott Hammond: Okay. That's fair.
Dale Warmuth: Um, what else in Arcata? Well, there was the Bizards.
Scott Hammond: Which is-
Dale Warmuth: The Bizards
Scott Hammond: … which is the Jacoby-
Dale Warmuth: They were, they were an outfitter for,
Dale Warmuth: uh-
Scott Hammond: Miners, right
Dale Warmuth: … miners that made that evolution to a small department store there on the corner on the plaza.
Scott Hammond: That was the Jacoby Storehouse.
Dale Warmuth: How about Arcata Muffler?
Scott Hammond: Sure, Muff. What's his name?
Dale Warmuth: John Peterson.
Scott Hammond: John. Is he still around?
Dale Warmuth: John's a- still around. I talk to him once every couple weeks.
Scott Hammond: He's a nice guy.
Dale Warmuth: Great guy.
Scott Hammond: He helped me out as a student. I'm a dummy with no money, and he-
Dale Warmuth: Da-
Scott Hammond: He goes, "I'll patch it up"
Dale Warmuth: … he talked my dad into buying that property for John. John, uh, rented from him f- uh, for a-
Scott Hammond: Peterson
Dale Warmuth: … a small amount. He bought most of his product from Dad, and it was a great mutual thing. And then finally, I think the tax man was killing
Dale Warmuth: John.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Dale Warmuth: And so they struck a deal where Dad sold the property to John.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Dale Warmuth: And, and John still owns it. Brit- Brio Bread's there now, but John still owns the property.
Scott Hammond: He's the g- Oh, that's funny. And Brio's delicious.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay. Your turn or my turn?
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: I'll go
Dale Warmuth: … go ahead.
Scott Hammond: Uh, I'm thinking of a place in, um… I'm making this up now. Sacky and Isaacs- Opie's Fine Cars.
Scott Hammond: Opie-
Dale Warmuth: Opie
Scott Hammond: … Opie passed away a couple year, several years ago.
Dale Warmuth: Hendrick.
Scott Hammond: Now the lot is empty. And he-
Dale Warmuth: Oh, Hendrick
Scott Hammond: … he was, uh… He had worked for Isaacson and then had a little dealership
Scott Hammond: down in F- Fortuna, I think, for a minute. But he always wanted to own a, uh, new car line, and he got b- Chevrolet Buick.
Dale Warmuth: He wanted Ford really bad.
Scott Hammond: I bet he did.
Dale Warmuth: I… There was some kind of grind between him and Harvey.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: And he really wanted Ford bad.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, he had some bootleg way of getting in, getting f- fairly new Fords in, on the lot.
Scott Hammond: From Corning. Corning.
Dale Warmuth: And I think he drove Harvey crazy.
Scott Hammond: Corning Ford, yeah. He used to bring trucks in, I think. I don't… What do I know? I don't know.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: So Opie
Dale Warmuth: … and so you touched on Fortuna. Uh, Patton Chevrolet.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Okay.
Dale Warmuth: Parlato's.
Scott Hammond: Now you're, you're q- You only one at a time now.
Scott Hammond: You're-
Dale Warmuth: Oh, okay
Scott Hammond: … save-
Dale Warmuth: Got ahead of myself
Scott Hammond: … save that. You're gonna need it 'cause I'll-
Dale Warmuth: Okay. All right. All right
Scott Hammond: … I'll go all night with you, boy.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Here we go. Um, Fortuna Ford.
Dale Warmuth: Fortuna Ford's good. And Tan Foranti.
Scott Hammond: Tan Foranti's been around for a long time.
Dale Warmuth: Fabulous man.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Nice guy.
Dale Warmuth: Um, it's a recent… And I understand it's coming back, but the Ivanhoe.
Scott Hammond: I heard that.
Dale Warmuth: There's new owners for the Ivanhoe, and I understand that's right on the cusp of
Dale Warmuth: coming back.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: So that's exciting.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, I mentioned Parlato's. Parlato's was always like going home to Mom's house. It isn't a place you'd send somebody for a fancy meal, but it was as consistent as a sundial.
Scott Hammond: Right. I'm gonna counter that with OH's Townhouse.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Oh, hey oh. Did you… Nick, were you around for OH's when you were a kid? Steaks?
Dale Warmuth: New people to town would say, "You mean that place that's called O's?"
Scott Hammond: O's.
Dale Warmuth: O's.
Scott Hammond: O's. Yeah. We, we had Virginia on the show and she talked a little bit about-
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and they had killer steak.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: You picked out your own steak.
Dale Warmuth: Pick your own steak out of the, out of the box, out of the cooler.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and who would've thunk in this big metal building was this great
Dale Warmuth: steakhouse?
Scott Hammond: Oh, it was delish. Big salad, the whole nine.
Dale Warmuth: How about Fat Albert's?
Scott Hammond: Fat… Oh, you're going way back now. Which is now Sea Grill, right?
Dale Warmuth: That's right. That's right.
Scott Hammond: Okay. I'm gonna go back and trump you, excuse the pun, with, uh, Tomaso's, which is now where Gabriel's is.
Dale Warmuth: Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes.
Scott Hammond: And Ulta.
Dale Warmuth: Y-
Scott Hammond: And Pagano did his own sauces and still… I don't know if he's still a business person.
Dale Warmuth: There was a time, I, I can recall at my, uh, younger term, that if you traveled people would say, "Is that…" There was a, "Eureka. Is there…" There was a restaurant right on the waterfront. They processed fish and stuff there.
Scott Hammond: Oh, good one.
Dale Warmuth: Lazio's.
Scott Hammond: Lazio's. Sweet burn. Good one.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And would you ever know him?
Dale Warmuth: Yes. Laura Lazio. Yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: He was a much older man than he appeared.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: He was a well-kept,
Dale Warmuth: uh, sharp individual. He'd had a lot of influence at the chamber. This was back when the chamber put crab feeds on in Sacramento-
Scott Hammond: Sweet
Dale Warmuth: … for the legislators.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: It was probably part of that… Uh, actually, and I think it was Lazio that would talk about going to Edmond Brown's office 'cause they wanted the… They'd gotten this dam going, but they wanted a bridge go across the Bay.
Scott Hammond: So he'd go through them a crab feast.
Dale Warmuth: And so they, um, they met with, uh, Edmond Brown and, um… And it was a very casual thing where he kinda turned around and looked to his Caltrans guy and says, "Well, do you think there's money in the budget to build this bridge?" "Well, if you want to, uh, Mr.
Dale Warmuth: Governor."
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: And-
Scott Hammond: Samo Bridge
Dale Warmuth: … we have a Samo Bridge.
Scott Hammond: It's like three bridges, right?
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: That's no small thing.
Dale Warmuth: But that was… No, but I mean, that was networking and-
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh
Dale Warmuth: … a lot of hard work that really went in behind that to make-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … those kind of things happen.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Um, and it was relationships.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: It was relationships.
Scott Hammond: Much of life is, yeah.
Dale Warmuth: I, I wish… Talk… I don't know if you got to the I wish- Eureka looks great from about a mile away.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: I wish the 101 would hop up over
Dale Warmuth: the bay, like Newport Beaches or yeah, whatever you call the Newport up the Oregon coast-
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah
Dale Warmuth: … and go out the peninsula to, uh, intersect at 299 or something.
Scott Hammond: Would that be something.
Dale Warmuth: Um, get the traffic out of town.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Well, they tried that 100 years ago.
Dale Warmuth: Yep, yep.
Scott Hammond: Caltrans bought up all those houses.
Dale Warmuth: They bought lots of it, yep.
Scott Hammond: They finally bailed on it. Well, it's worked for Willits.
Scott Hammond: I mean-
Dale Warmuth: Well, his, uh… Edmund Brown's son got in the house and- … saw the public transit was, uh, had… needed a heftier share of the t- the tax, transportation tax monies.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And so Caltrans wasn't getting the same margin of funding
Dale Warmuth: for development. Road, highway-
Scott Hammond: His name w- his name was Jerry
Dale Warmuth: … th- What did I say?
Scott Hammond: His son.
Dale Warmuth: Oh, yes. Jerry Brown.
Scott Hammond: I thought you were going a-
Dale Warmuth: Moon- moonbeam
Scott Hammond: … he, he
Scott Hammond: sh-
Dale Warmuth: Did I say moonbeam?
Scott Hammond: You did not mention that.
Dale Warmuth: Can you say that on air, moonbeam?
Scott Hammond: You say whatever you want, bro.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Uh, I thought you were doing a he shall, uh, shall go unnamed. We have a few of those now out there, but okay. So you're on. Um, I got one for you. Old Town Bar & Grill, Deborah Lazio.
Dale Warmuth: How about Del Grandi's?
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Dale Warmuth: That was a bar.
Scott Hammond: That was a bar.
Dale Warmuth: It's where Six River Solar is now, but it was a bar for 20, 30 years called Del Grandi's.
Scott Hammond: How about Enrico's?
Dale Warmuth: Enrico's, that's good.
Scott Hammond: Down on the foot of Broadway.
Dale Warmuth: That's good. Uh-
Scott Hammond: That's a… Was that a good restaurant?
Dale Warmuth: This is really before my time, but Little Joe's.
Scott Hammond: Where's that?
Dale Warmuth: That was where-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Dale Warmuth: … Verizon is now.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh, they moved to where the bar on 14th Street. It's a- another metal building that's nondescript.
Scott Hammond: Oh, that joint.
Dale Warmuth: And that was Little Joe's hamburgers.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: How about that?
Dale Warmuth: Mike's Hamburgers.
Scott Hammond: See, I knew-
Dale Warmuth: Sorry, I, I did it again. I got two in there.
Dale Warmuth: I'm sorry.
Scott Hammond: DeMerit, and garlic fries are delicious.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Geez, he… I do… His brother, um, Tom worked at the Tri-City. He was the delivery coordinator. Nice man. Really nice guy. So heading back down Broadway, I have one for you. Um, it was just there and you grabbed it when you did Mike's Burgers.
Scott Hammond: Doggone it. Uh, it'll come back. So you had t-
Dale Warmuth: The Embers? How about The Embers?
Scott Hammond: The Embers, yeah. I was gonna go Volpi's, which was where T-
Dale Warmuth: Ooh
Scott Hammond: … Tip Top Club is.
Dale Warmuth: Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Tip Top's no longer in business, right? I don't ever s- I don't see any l- sign of life, which-
Dale Warmuth: I, I don't get out that late
Scott Hammond: … I don't notice that at all. I don't know what that is. Uh, Volpi's was pretty decent food in the day.
Dale Warmuth: It was great.
Scott Hammond: Be- beautiful view.
Dale Warmuth: Great food.
Scott Hammond: Look over the bay.
Dale Warmuth: Richard Miller bought that property.
Scott Hammond: That's right.
Dale Warmuth: He had a notion of bring- uh, coaxing a Cattlemen's
Dale Warmuth: to Eureka.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh, that never worked out.
Scott Hammond: Never did.
Dale Warmuth: It sat vacant. Then the guys talked about doing the RV sales.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: And they got it zoned, and then that fell apart, and Razouli stepped up
Dale Warmuth: and started-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Dale Warmuth: … he rented it from Richard.
Scott Hammond: Right. Right, right.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, Razouli, the county kinda got caught with their pants down.
Dale Warmuth: Ha, ha.
Scott Hammond: Get it?
Dale Warmuth: That's a, that's a pun.
Scott Hammond: Topless bar, p- pants d-
Dale Warmuth: Yes
Scott Hammond: … you got the ref.
Dale Warmuth: And so, uh, the county had no ord- ordinances, uh, for or against or how, uh, topless clubs or whatever they call those adult clubs. And, um, while they stonewalled him, he brought a bunch of RVs onto the parking lot and was… had girls in the RVs, and he was… they were showing the RVs as if to sell them-
Scott Hammond: Hilarious
Dale Warmuth: … and, and maybe doing a little dancing all at the same time.
Scott Hammond: Creative dude. Yeah, yeah. Interesting, weird guy.
Dale Warmuth: I knew… I often refer to him as Scoutmaster Tom. It was Tom Razouli. No, Tom Herakovich. Then he became-
Scott Hammond: He was in scouting
Dale Warmuth: … Scoutmaster Tom.
Scott Hammond: He was in scouting, right?
Dale Warmuth: St- honest to God.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no.
Dale Warmuth: And then he took on the moniker of, uh, The Razouli.
Scott Hammond: The Great Razouli.
Dale Warmuth: And then The Great T. Great.
Scott Hammond: T. Great. And he hosted a sci-fi theater-
Dale Warmuth: Yes
Scott Hammond: … Channel 6 or whatever-
Dale Warmuth: Yes
Scott Hammond: … Saturday night.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Hilarious.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: All the permeations and all the personalities-
Dale Warmuth: Love it
Scott Hammond: … that we've, that we've seen. I have one. Sears and Roebuck.
Dale Warmuth: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Remember that,
Scott Hammond: Nick?
Dale Warmuth: Okay. How about, uh, Eureka Truck Terminals?
Scott Hammond: W- was that down there by Pearson?
Dale Warmuth: That's where, um, In-N-Out is at now. That big building that-
Scott Hammond: Yes
Dale Warmuth: … had been there, that was Eureka Truck Terminals.
Scott Hammond: Yes.
Dale Warmuth: There was a scales. There was a c- little coffee shop inside.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: Are you an In-N-Out guy? Do you like their burgers?
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Not too shabby.
Dale Warmuth: It's, it's cons- again, consistent, consistent, consistent.
Scott Hammond: Yes, it is. You know what you're gonna get. I think we're running out here, but I don't know. Um, downtown Eureka had Tommaso. Oh, Ramone's in the Opera Alley, the first Ramone's restaurant.
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Dale Warmuth: Ramon- I remember Ramone's.
Scott Hammond: Come on. That was really good food. Now it's a ba-
Dale Warmuth: Uh
Scott Hammond: … now it's two or three, well, more bakeries.
Dale Warmuth: The lights still shine there. The Ritz. The Ritz was a fun place to be at the time.
Scott Hammond: The Ritz was good. They had a good Chicken Diane. So in advertising in the day, you could trade advertising for food, and so we often got paid in commissions-
Dale Warmuth: Oh
Scott Hammond: … in Ch- in real Chicken Diane.
Scott Hammond: That was-
Dale Warmuth: You mentioned JCPenney's.
Scott Hammond: JCPenney's. Uh, Mazotti's is now a thing of the past.
Dale Warmuth: Kress's downtown.
Scott Hammond: Kress's. Wow. Was that where SN Servicing or was that Woolworths?
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Kress's is the parking lot to Coast Central Credit Union.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Dale Warmuth: And where Coast Central Credit Union is, is what was-
Scott Hammond: Bank of Lolita
Dale Warmuth: … yeah, but before that it was B- Fireworkers, a furniture store
Scott Hammond: Oh, is that… Wow, you are going back. Okay, f- on the furniture line. It's on. Uh, the little old homemakers that had the store-
Dale Warmuth: Oh, Everybody's Furniture
Scott Hammond: … yeah, at, um, where the Lost Coast Brewery is.
Dale Warmuth: Right. Yeah, I remember.
Scott Hammond: They were really nice.
Dale Warmuth: Yep. Bernice, and I don't know what her husband's name was.
Scott Hammond: And their last name was Vallis.
Dale Warmuth: Ah, okay.
Scott Hammond: Ron Pelegi would know. Hey, Ron, what's, uh… Bernice and, um… He loved them. They were sweet-
Dale Warmuth: They were sweet people
Scott Hammond: … sweethearts. Uh, survivors of World War II, I think, and they were… They just took care of people.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: See, a lot of those guys we knew from the advertising world. So Bob from Army Navy.
Scott Hammond: Um, you know… Oh, King Richard.
Dale Warmuth: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Remember Rich?
Dale Warmuth: Yes, absolutely.
Scott Hammond: Phile-
Dale Warmuth: I'm still in, I'm still in contact with Rich Hansen
Scott Hammond: Ri- Hansen's over at Redding, right?
Dale Warmuth: Yep
Scott Hammond: He's still alive, yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: He was a nice guy, right?
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Maybe he is a nice guy.
Dale Warmuth: He is a nice guy.
Scott Hammond: All right, your turn.
Dale Warmuth: Um, Gene Roe. I'm gonna stick with the car dealers 'cause I know all these car dealer
Dale Warmuth: names-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … right? Uh, Gene Roe was a Pontiac Buick
Dale Warmuth: dealer.
Scott Hammond: Who was the other guy that Opie worked for that was Pontiac that was where Eureka Ro- Ro- Royce is now? It was before Eureka Toyota.
Scott Hammond: K- Knapik?
Dale Warmuth: Oh, KB McCarthy.
Scott Hammond: McCarthy.
Dale Warmuth: KB McCarthy.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Yep. And then you mentioned-
Scott Hammond: That's right
Dale Warmuth: … John R. Dodge earlier there.
Scott Hammond: And who was down on Broadway, the other guy? Uh, the Volvo guy where, where Bob Cravello, Bobby-
Dale Warmuth: North Coast Motors. Bob Bark- or Gary Barker bought him out.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: What was his name?
Scott Hammond: He was a Volvo dealer, yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Yep, yep. I can't quite place him.
Scott Hammond: That's not far from your stomping grounds.
Dale Warmuth: Right, right.
Scott Hammond: And, and I, I'm not saying Nielsen's gone, but Nielsen's one of the oldest businesses, and Hilfiker Pipe. So now we're talking-
Dale Warmuth: Harpers
Scott Hammond: … Harpers.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Eureka Print… or not Eureka, but Times Printing.
Scott Hammond: They've been around a long time.
Dale Warmuth: Those are all 100-year-old businesses for Eureka.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's remarkable. I remember the Times-Standard newspaper did an out- uh, thing. You had 100, 90, and 80, and they did a whole thing. And you go, "Man, this, this town has had a sustained business." Wetherby's Seafood where-
Dale Warmuth: Ooh
Scott Hammond: … Porter Street is.
Dale Warmuth: That's very good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I mean, it goes right with your costume.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Don't get crabby on me.
Dale Warmuth: It's, I don't, I don't have the neon, but-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … uh, the Cant- See, there was the Canton Cafe. What was in… There was a Chinese restaurant down near,
Dale Warmuth: um,
Dale Warmuth: Wetherby's that's going to ex- Oh, how about Art's Gallery?
Scott Hammond: Where was Art's?
Dale Warmuth: Art's-
Scott Hammond: I remember that
Dale Warmuth: … uh, they just tore it down. It was next to Sizzler.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: And, um, it was a kind of like what the Double A is. They… He did steaks and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … but it was a bar.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Bar and grill, I guess.
Scott Hammond: Have you ever heard of the Samoa Cookhouse? It's out in Som-
Dale Warmuth: It, it-
Scott Hammond: It's in Samoa
Dale Warmuth: … it, it, right up there. I mentioned how there's a period of time where I've traveled where they said… They mentioned Lazzio's. Do you know that place, Lazzio's? The other place-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … people mention is, "Is that cookhouse, is that cookhouse place still open?"
Scott Hammond: You know the big-
Dale Warmuth: 'Cause they-
Scott Hammond: Yeah. The Lumberjack everything.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: We used to go there at Sunday mornings after college and a tough night. Go over there and just tank up on carbs and-
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and do it. Well, are we exhausting this? Yeah. Or maybe we're exhausting this list.
Dale Warmuth: You've shocked me with a few of those.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, let's g- uh… I think we have… Oh, Manora Thai.
Dale Warmuth: I don't know. Ooh. Ooh, ooh, that's good.
Scott Hammond: Uh, is it Bev Hill?
Dale Warmuth: How about Eureka Market?
Scott Hammond: Eureka Market? Oh, yeah, down where the-
Dale Warmuth: T-Bones. T-Bones was a little diner right next to it.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, that was. Okay. See, Eureka Market is, for those that don't know, is where the Eureka Mission Thrift Store-
Dale Warmuth: Thrift Store is, yes
Scott Hammond: … s- again, your neck of the woods.
Dale Warmuth: Yep. The Stump House was across the street.
Scott Hammond: Stump House.
Dale Warmuth: They did some great sandwiches there, and-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Dale Warmuth: … they were kind of an outlet for wood products that were being machined and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Dale Warmuth: … some buildings back behind.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh-
Scott Hammond: Wow. Uh, Ag Sales up in Arcata.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Tobingo Santos.
Dale Warmuth: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Tractors and implements. Copeland Lumber.
Dale Warmuth: Ooh, Copeland's good.
Scott Hammond: Now I'm gonna start heaping them on you here real quick.
Dale Warmuth: Hogger's. Uh, Nourse's Market.
Scott Hammond: Hogger's.
Dale Warmuth: It was, uh, Nourse's Market, which is Myrtle Avenue Market
Dale Warmuth: now.
Scott Hammond: Where was Hogger Brothers? Was that out where, uh-
Dale Warmuth: On Hubbard Lane
Scott Hammond: … McKinney's-
Dale Warmuth: Yes
Scott Hammond: … which is now something else. I drove by there the other day.
Dale Warmuth: Mm-hmm. North Coast Floor and Tile has bought that.
Scott Hammond: Correct.
Dale Warmuth: And, uh, they're gonna make that their go-to place.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: They're evolving into-
Scott Hammond: Jason Jordan
Dale Warmuth: … yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: He does a great job.
Scott Hammond: Shout out to you, Jason. You're amazing.
Dale Warmuth: Yes. Yes, he is.
Scott Hammond: He doesn't do social media much, but he, he might just get his name out there.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Yep.
Scott Hammond: He's a friend of mine. We have lunch periodically.
Dale Warmuth: He's a good man.
Scott Hammond: He's a solid guy. I love the guy. Um, well, I think that's, that's about it. We're gonna go home now. Um- Actually, we're not. Uh, what, what about your legacy? What do you want us to say? By, by the way, you win. Here, here's your Dick Taylor-
Dale Warmuth: Did I… I kept up with you?
Scott Hammond: Orange, Orange Bourbon Pecan, 65%.
Scott Hammond: Belize-
Dale Warmuth: Whoa
Scott Hammond: … Dark… Belize Navidad.
Dale Warmuth: Wow. This is fine.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. You did good.
Scott Hammond: You-
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: You win. Oh, one more market
Dale Warmuth: … what's my legacy? My legacy.
Dale Warmuth: I-
Scott Hammond: I have one more place.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: While you think about your legacy.
Dale Warmuth: Okay, okay.
Scott Hammond: The Market on the Hill in Arcata was a Safeway, and then it was Larry's Market, and now it's Wildberry's.
Dale Warmuth: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Boom. And then Co-op was Safeway, if I remember well.
Dale Warmuth: I, I, I'm not as sure about that, but-
Scott Hammond: Back in the day. United Naturals was another one up there.
Dale Warmuth: Woolen Mills.
Scott Hammond: What's that?
Dale Warmuth: The Woolen Mills is where Walgreens is now, and they actually dyed wool there.
Scott Hammond: That's right.
Dale Warmuth: There were times, I'm told, the sloughs actually would turn color with dye.
Scott Hammond: The big build- It was a big wooden building.
Dale Warmuth: It was a big, big wooden building.
Scott Hammond: I remember that.
Dale Warmuth: And there was one end of it had a RV surplus place called
Dale Warmuth: Palmer Berg-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Dale Warmuth: … who was brother to Jolmer Berg. Jolmer Berg has a large estate that, uh,
Dale Warmuth: uh, gifts grants, funds to some good projects in the community. But Palmer had a, uh- Army Surplus Store right there
Scott Hammond: And what was the meat packer at the end of town before you left Eureka?
Dale Warmuth: Rock and R.
Scott Hammond: Rock and R? Ooh, you're rock-
Dale Warmuth: Uh, Rock and R Meats
Scott Hammond: … Rock and R is killer
Dale Warmuth: Rock and… He was, and he was highly invested in Crabs baseball.
Scott Hammond: Oh, is that right?
Dale Warmuth: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, that whole minor league. He would see to it the kids all got jobs during the summer to, uh, be ready for the boys of summer.
Scott Hammond: They've launched a lot of guys, Tom Seaver and more. And, um, what was the meat place out in Myrtle that just shut? That was the other-
Dale Warmuth: Redwood Meats
Scott Hammond: … that was Redwood Meats.
Dale Warmuth: Redwood Meats.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Jim Walker, the stock car guy, his wife's family were the, uh, pioneers to that business, R-
Scott Hammond: I'll bet they are
Dale Warmuth: … uh, Redwood Meats
Scott Hammond: Which is probably a legacy business, for sure. Yeah. Gosh, we could go on all night.
Scott Hammond: Okay. And we won't. Sorry. We'll let you all down. So Dale, uh, at some point, as you said, life is short and we get to go home. And so what are we gonna say at your, your funeral, your celebration of life? What's the tombstone reading? How would you like to be thought of and-
Dale Warmuth: There'll, there'll be some stories told about how I scared the crap out of 'em driving here or driving there, but I got 'em home every time.
Scott Hammond: Okay. And you did write your own obit, so-
Dale Warmuth: I, I have written my own obit, yes
Scott Hammond: … and you're gonna get me a copy. It bears mentioning. W- how about some excerpts real quick for our friend-
Dale Warmuth: Well, I-
Scott Hammond: … our friends out there
Dale Warmuth: … I mentioned it, it, the lead in is a, a theft from, uh, Steve Martin in The Jerk, where s- I, uh, I pinned that, uh, I was born a poor Black child.
Scott Hammond: In Eureka.
Dale Warmuth: In Eureka.
Scott Hammond: Okay, great. Uh, so what's, what are we-
Dale Warmuth: Ronnie, Ronnie Webbs laughing.
Scott Hammond: Is, uh, is that a friend of yours?
Dale Warmuth: Local, local athlete and classmate.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Okay, gotcha. So on, on the, uh, on the tombstone, what are we gonna say?
Dale Warmuth: Um, he tried to leave it better than he found it.
Scott Hammond: Okay. I like that.
Dale Warmuth: He tried to leave it better than he found it.
Scott Hammond: I think he's done a great job of that.
Dale Warmuth: Um, I, and I would… The other takeaway is
Dale Warmuth: I often, I, I've enjoyed making people laugh.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Um, that, uh, to bring a little light-hearted… If anybody ever was to find me on Facebook, I still do Facebook. I'm old enough, I qualify.
Scott Hammond: Hey, you're not alone.
Dale Warmuth: Um, that most everything I put on there is very irrelevant.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Irreverent
Dale Warmuth: … thank you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: It's, um, it's making fun of all the things that are wrong in this world.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Dale Warmuth: Um,
Dale Warmuth: and, um-
Scott Hammond: Have a little humor
Dale Warmuth: … I think most, I think most folks f- And I, and I try not, I try to make it apolitical. It's, it's-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … it's just stupid stuff-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Dale Warmuth: … making fun of myself.
Scott Hammond: Why not?
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: Life's too short. I spoke at Rio Dell Middle School yesterday, it's career day.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: I brought Jake with State Farm with me.
Dale Warmuth: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Is, is he real? I go, "The cutout's real."
Dale Warmuth: The cutout's real.
Scott Hammond: It's, he's fully real. And, uh, I said, "You know, have a sense of humor. That was one of my dad's top 10 rules. Have some humor." My mom used to say, "If we're not, if we didn't laugh, we'd be crying." So let's, let's have a little lightheartedness around this thing. It's not that grave.
Dale Warmuth: I don't know that this necessarily holds up for me, but I do believe most people of good humor
Dale Warmuth: are, have a high measure of intelligence or knowledge to make fun of whatever's conversation is.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: That, um, I think you have to be pretty smart to be funny.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Dale Warmuth: Um-
Scott Hammond: And I'm hilarious, uh, just for the record.
Scott Hammond: Right? And you, you would, you too.
Dale Warmuth: I, I've taken that, I've taken that home, yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. I, I'm too, I'm quite the funny man. Well, folks, hey, thanks for being here.
Dale Warmuth: Thank you for having me.
Scott Hammond: Appreciate it. H- h- hold out the claw of fellowship here and
Scott Hammond: ow. Ow.
Dale Warmuth: Rotary.
Scott Hammond: Rotor- Oh, the rotor- Oh, do the shout-out for that real quick.
Dale Warmuth: Uh, February the 15th at the Elks, uh, you can find it if you go online and put in something about Good Deeds Crab Feed Rotary Club of Eureka, you're gonna find a mechanism to buy tickets for it.
Scott Hammond: And Leon's Mufflers on the corner of Broadway and Washington.
Dale Warmuth: We say Leon's Car Care Center-
Scott Hammond: Car Care
Dale Warmuth: … these days.
Scott Hammond: I'm sorry, Car Care, Broadway and Washington.
Dale Warmuth: You're not alone.
Scott Hammond: Eureka 95501.
Dale Warmuth: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Hey, thanks everybody for being part of the show, and, uh, please like us, uh, subscribe to us, report us to someone.
Scott Hammond: Um, don't do that. Uh, make some comments, uh, and we would, uh, wanna just thank Dick Taylor Chocolate for being our chocolate guys, and everybody in Humboldt. So 100% Humboldt, Scott Hammond, we'll see you next time.
Scott Hammond: Thanks.