Episode 81 · Mark Ritz · June 1, 2025
Mark Ritz of Kinetic Coffee sits down with Scott Hammond for a conversation about building a business in Humboldt, from his move north with Yakima to the long run of roasting certified organic coffee in Arcata. Along the way, they talk about bikes, travel, why Humboldt still feels like home, and the community work Mark and Charlie Ritz have taken on through local business leadership and the Kevin Ebbert Foundation.
Watch the conversation
What this episode covers
- How Mark and Charlie Ritz chose to stay in Humboldt after Yakima left and built Kinetic Coffee from the ground up.
- Why Kinetic Coffee has stayed focused on certified organic beans, and what rising coffee prices and tariff threats mean for small roasters.
- Mark’s take on Humboldt’s strengths, from real people and easy access to the outdoors to the county’s tendency toward insularity.
- The couple’s community work through the Small Business Development Center, the Arcata Chamber, local fundraisers, and longtime support for farmers market vendors.
- The story of Kevin Ebbert’s life, military service, and the foundation created in his name.
- The Kevin Ebbert Foundation’s golf tournament at Baywood and its support for We Are Up.
Listen to 100% Humboldt on
Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · Buzzsprout
Transcript
Read full transcript
Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond and the 100% Humboldt podcast with my new best friend, Mark Ritz.
Scott Hammond: Hi, Mark.
Mark Ritz: Hi. How are you?
Scott Hammond: I am well. We were just offline talking about The Who.
Mark Ritz: Yes, we were.
Scott Hammond: You saw The Who when you had hair?
Mark Ritz: Back when I had hair, yes.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Mark Ritz: Back, uh, 1970 or so, if I remember correctly.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Where was, where was that show?
Mark Ritz: Uh, that was in the LA area. I'm trying to remember where. I think it might've been at The Forum.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow, okay.
Mark Ritz: In Inglewood.
Scott Hammond: We saw them, uh, right before COVID in, at the Hollywood Bowl.
Mark Ritz: Mm.
Scott Hammond: Quite a show. Ringo's son was the drummer and-
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah
Scott Hammond: … um, uh, who's- Townsend's brother also played guitar, I think, in the band, but really a good show.
Mark Ritz: Hm. Excellent.
Scott Hammond: Call, called up my father-in-law and said we're coming down. He goes, "Already bought tickets."
Mark Ritz: Sweet.
Scott Hammond: I go, "Wow, you did."
Mark Ritz: That's awesome.
Scott Hammond: Cool. So Mark Ritz, uh, tell, tell us the Mark Ritz story. What would you say, uh, the arc of your life, um, with, you know, within the next two hours? Go ahead.
Mark Ritz: I only have two hours?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Oh, gosh. Oh, I'll have to compress it down. Um, grew up in, in the Los Angeles area.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, moved up here, I'll just cut to the chase, and moved up here in 1999. Um, I was, um, recruited to come work at Yakima Products-
Scott Hammond: All right
Mark Ritz: … uh, to develop new categories for them, uh, as they were positioning the company for sale.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: So, um, was a category business manager f- for them, um, until they left.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And then after they left, or as they were leaving, uh, my wife Charlie, who was also at Yakima, and that's where we met-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … was the VP of product development there for 14 years.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: Um, we wanted to stay here. We had an offer, actually had an offer on the table from them to move to b- to, uh, Oregon-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … to Beaverton, where they moved to. Chose not to.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, so we were trying to figure out what we were gonna do with our lives. And I had a number of contacts. I'd worked in the bicycle industry pretty much all my life.
Scott Hammond: That's right, yeah.
Mark Ritz: Retail stores, worked for, uh, some really big, uh, companies and some small startups. And then, uh, so we just signed, and trying to figure out what to, what to do, and so we're talking about, like, what are the, what are my three passions? My three passions are,
Mark Ritz: uh, bikes, coffee, and wine.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Mark Ritz: And we thought about wine, but we figured we both, we drink the profits, so that was out.
Scott Hammond: That was out.
Mark Ritz: Um, we thought about doing, um, importing bicycle frames, 'cause I knew a number of manufacturers in Europe-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … through my many contacts, but decided that was gonna be more about building somebody else's brand instead of
Mark Ritz: our own.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Mark Ritz: And then we landed on the coffee.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Mark Ritz: Because if you were to take a Venn diagram of an outdoor enthusiast's and caffeine addiction-
Scott Hammond: Hm
Mark Ritz: … it would be a perfect circle.
Scott Hammond: Really.
Mark Ritz: You know, bike rides-
Scott Hammond: Makes sense
Mark Ritz: … they start at coffee shops. They m- they stop for a rest at the coffee shops-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and they finish at coffee shops, so it's like-
Scott Hammond: It's coffee
Mark Ritz: … it's coffee.
Scott Hammond: Coffee consumers.
Mark Ritz: Just a matter of figuring out how to make that work.
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Mark Ritz: And again, because of my years, we,
Mark Ritz: um…
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: We, um, started working on a business plan.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, and had, both of us had done enough startups that we understood how to, how to
Mark Ritz: do that.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, refined our business plan by talking to a number of the bicycle shops that were potential customers for us, and they helped-
Scott Hammond: Gotcha
Mark Ritz: … us to fine-tune it. And so in 2005, uh, we got our roaster, so we've now been in business for over 20 years.
Scott Hammond: Oh, do you mean Kinetic Coffee?
Mark Ritz: Yes, we mean Kinetic Coffee, roasted here in Humboldt.
Scott Hammond: I finally figured out just now, and I, I'm a slow learner. We're, I'm from Iowa, so we're sometimes slow, that that is a bicycle sprocket-
Mark Ritz: Yes
Scott Hammond: … with a coffee kicker.
Mark Ritz: It is a cog.
Scott Hammond: It is a cog. Nice.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay, cool. I get it.
Mark Ritz: And, um, the, the tie-in for the Kinetic is, as you, you know, know, last week was the Kinetic Sculpture Race.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Mark Ritz: Uh, Charlie and I raced in that a number of times. Charlie was actually the executive director of the race-
Scott Hammond: Oh, really?
Mark Ritz: … back, uh, in the early 2000s.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: And we, uh, she originally started the Kinetic Coffee as a fundraising
Mark Ritz: coffee-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … for the Kinetic Sculpture Race.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Mark Ritz: Uh, but it was roasted by another, another company.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And w- when we decided to, um, create our own company-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … we took that basically b- back from them and started it ourselves.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So that's how the Kinetic name came out of the Kinetic Coffee.
Scott Hammond: Wow. That's cool. Yeah, uh, Kinetic Sculpture Race, 80, what- whatever, 85th annual last weekend.
Mark Ritz: Yeah, and it's-
Scott Hammond: Could be that many, but-
Mark Ritz: I don't think it is quite that many. I think they started in '69, so-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … they're still young.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, they're still happening. That was a big race this weekend.
Mark Ritz: Yeah, I heard. I, unfortunately, wasn't here.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, we were in Medford, and you were in Virginia Beach, is that what you said?
Mark Ritz: Yes, Virginia Beach-
Scott Hammond: Gotcha
Mark Ritz: … Virginia, yeah.
Scott Hammond: So let's go back to L, let's bring you back to LA.
Scott Hammond: So where-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … what part of LA were you from and?
Mark Ritz: I grew up in Long Beach and Lakewood, graduated from Lakewood High School.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: Small school, the, you know, our graduating class was just over 1,500.
Scott Hammond: Wow, that's really dinky.
Mark Ritz: So, yeah, small, yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's a big school.
Mark Ritz: Easy, easy to get lost.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: It was a three-year school.
Scott Hammond: Ours was a big school. I think we had 8 or 900, Sweetwater High in-
Mark Ritz: Mm
Scott Hammond: … San Diego.
Mark Ritz: All right.
Scott Hammond: Back in the day.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So then you go to college after that?
Mark Ritz: I did, uh, very little college. I, I took, uh, um, one course in business, um, development.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, and unfortunately, circumstances were that I had to spend my time working-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … to support myself instead of going to school.
Mark Ritz: So-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … I, I graduated with a BA and BS-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … at the, uh, school of hard knocks.
Scott Hammond: I know that school really well.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I was like, I, I did very little college, just like drugs. I did very little drugs back then.
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: I t- I tried to stay away from it. Although they did-
Mark Ritz: It was a little, it didn't, it didn't really work for me.
Scott Hammond: I didn't inhale.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's probably g- That's good. Yeah, good for you. Yeah, I inhaled at Humboldt State, not at, not Cal Poly, but, uh-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … recreation administration, another story for another time. Yeah, Yakima Rec, so you came up to Humboldt-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and worked for Yakima.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I, uh, actually, when I was at Humboldt, I stayed and lived at Steve Cole's house-
Mark Ritz: Oh, wow
Scott Hammond: … one, one of the founders.
Mark Ritz: Steve Cole.
Scott Hammond: The glorious founder.
Mark Ritz: Indeed.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: Great. What a great guy.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, lo- lovely guy, and Janet back in the day, and, um, now there's a guy that would grind se- six days a week and do 12-hour days-
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah
Scott Hammond: … ride his bike to work in the rain, and lived, lived it, you know, until-
Mark Ritz: Lived and breathed it
Scott Hammond: … yeah, until they found the product and, and s- and then sold the whole damn thing.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So, so do you guys know Dan Gunderson that worked, uh, for Yakima?
Mark Ritz: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's a good friend.
Mark Ritz: Good.
Scott Hammond: Charles is a good friend. He was a good friend of ours. What a great guy.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yes. So Humboldt County, I was told today in a radio interview, uh, there's the seven layers of Kevin Bacon.
Scott Hammond: We're like-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … the two to three layers of Humboldt County.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So if you know somebody that I know somebody, then we know each other, and then we kind of know each other.
Mark Ritz: I know what you know, you know, you know?
Scott Hammond: You know what I mean?
Mark Ritz: I do.
Scott Hammond: Okay, good.
Mark Ritz: I, I see what you're saying.
Scott Hammond: This is gonna get f- more and more fun. If, if you're just joining us, folks, this is my new best friend Mark Ritz from Kinetic Coffee, and wanna learn all about your and Charlie's involvement, both, uh, getting married and then all the community stuff you've done and, and the Kevin Ebbert Foundation. And-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … uh, we are, we are getting there. So, oh, there it is. There's the logo. Um, so you started the coffee company, and, um, then what? I know she worked for Las Bagels for a minute, right?
Mark Ritz: Well, actually, she worked for them twice, 'cause she was r- their first bookkeeper.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Mark Ritz: Way back in the day.
Scott Hammond: That's a way back time.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, so is she more local here than you would be at 99?
Mark Ritz: Yes. Yes, she moved up here in the early '80s, I would say '81, as I remember, if I remember.
Scott Hammond: That's about when she was born, 'cause she's so young.
Mark Ritz: I know.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: But-
Scott Hammond: Us old, bald guys, we just…
Mark Ritz: We don't age, though. We just stay one… We just stay old to begin with and just stay there.
Scott Hammond: It's kind of interesting. Yeah, it's advanced maturity.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And you just stay there. I'm gonna look this way when I'm 90.
Mark Ritz: Probably.
Scott Hammond: I don't know.
Mark Ritz: As will I.
Scott Hammond: I'm still 27 on the inside.
Mark Ritz: Oh, no, I'm s- I'm still 16.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: I may be getting older-
Scott Hammond: Look at that
Mark Ritz: … but I refuse to grow up.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, when I watch some Family Guy or South Park or something, I'm-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … 12.
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's like, oh. Jo- Joni really hates when I turn on Dumb and Dumber, one of those kind of movies, like, really.
Mark Ritz: That one, that one, that one kind of goes over the edge for me.
Scott Hammond: There's a couple, yeah, that, then I'm 11, but anyway.
Scott Hammond: So, so going back to Yakima.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So you guys met at Yak- in the heyday, right?
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: If, as it was really launching.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And you got Dan- Don Banducci and Steve, and-
Mark Ritz: Well, actually, Don had already left at that point.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: Um, it was, uh, Duncan Robbins was the-
Scott Hammond: Duncan
Mark Ritz: … the head of the, of the company at that time.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, and we, um, as I said, this was… They were getting ready. They didn't really say this, but those, they were getting, positioning the, the for sale.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And so I was hired to create new businesses for the company to branch out and expand their, their portfolio.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: So it was not just the bike racks and the, and the ski mounts and, and cargo boxes and things like that, but we brought out a line of child carriers.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, trailers and tag-along bikes and, uh-
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow
Mark Ritz: … and, uh, the child backpacks.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: Um, and then also a line of snowshoes.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: A, a complete line of snowshoes.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: Everything from, uh, beginners to an advanced.
Scott Hammond: That's a, a whole nother, nother l- level of accessories.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hmm. To go along with the rack.
Mark Ritz: But all, but all leveraging the same, uh, techniques and, and, and, uh, abilities that the company already had. So the strengths were there already. This was just a case of finding other uses for that same thing.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Mark Ritz: And, and trying to be a little bit counter, counter-seasonal as well.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. I have a Yakima rack that's a little problematic. Could you look at it real quick outside?
Mark Ritz: Sure. Let's go.
Scott Hammond: No, I'm just… We, we bought one up in Oregon, and it, it somehow, I, I… Maybe it's the user error, but the, the, uh, uh, the hinges don't quite work as well as we thought they might.
Mark Ritz: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: But anyway, a tech question for another day.
Mark Ritz: When was the last time you lubricated the, the hinges?
Scott Hammond: Uh, that, that's… I was just gonna ask myself that. I, it's been a minute. So tell us about, uh, how's the coffee business doing?
Mark Ritz: Um, the coffee business is, it's doing well.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: It's, it's challenging right now.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.
Mark Ritz: Um, between record high prices for the raw beans and, uh, the threat of tariffs-
Scott Hammond: Right
Mark Ritz: … for the first time since the 1700s-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … when it comes to coffee.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, it's, it's a challenging environment right now.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I know the Dick Taylor guys are having coffee bean…
Scott Hammond: I'm sorry.
Mark Ritz: Cocoa beans.
Scott Hammond: Cocoa bean issues.
Mark Ritz: Same issues, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, same kind of issues.
Mark Ritz: We have no, uh… And you can't grow either one of those items, uh, commercially in the United States other than in Hawaii or Puerto Rico because it ha- they only grow in the tropics.
Scott Hammond: Interesting, and Hawaii coffee's gotta be outrageously spendy.
Mark Ritz: Extremely expensive, yes.
Scott Hammond: How about Puerto Rican coffee?
Mark Ritz: I haven't tasted any. I couldn't tell you what it's like.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Mark Ritz: Uh, I haven't heard of any, uh, that we would use
Mark Ritz: anyway-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … because we do nothing but certified organic coffees.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Mark Ritz: We feel that is really, really important because coffee-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Mark Ritz: … because it's grown in the tropics, tends to be one of the, uh, most s- uh, sprayed-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … products-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … that we absorb, that we, uh, drink or eat.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So you're 100% organic?
Mark Ritz: 100% certified organic.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So they can't just say, "Well, we grow it naturally."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: No, that, sorry, that doesn't work. I need to see your certifications.
Scott Hammond: I had a guest that was talking about this one particular coffee that is totally organic, something sparrow. I, it, whatever. I, if I should, I, I should ask the question. I should know what I'm asking before I ask it. Uh, what, so why do you like Humboldt?
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Why, why have you stayed?
Mark Ritz: So many things. Um, first off, the people.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: I think they're, they're… The people here are real.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: You know? Growing up in LA and that area is, you know-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and even in living in the Bay Area was-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … it was different in that respect. People here are more true to themselves, I think.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, second, I absolutely love the The geography, the topography Mm-hmm … um, you can do so many things here. I mean, we live, we, uh, live here in Ar- live in Arcata, and we can, in a quarter mile, be in a forest. Right. Right, right. And we go hiking up there all the time. Mm-hmm. It's just… And it's a way to disconnect really quickly from, uh, the rest of the world.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. My wife enjoys that. She hiked there today. You and I met at the, uh, Kevin Ebbert, um, Memorial Walk with Hells- or whatever they call it for H- with HealthSport.
Mark Ritz: The run, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: I remember distinctly walking. I did, too. Yeah. You and I were walking that day.
Mark Ritz: Yeah, I think that was after my, one of my surgeries.
Scott Hammond: That wasn't too far after one of my hip surgeries either, now that I think about it. One of my… I had one hip surgery.
Scott Hammond: Um, that was, you know, it was challenging, the elevation, but that's all part of the healing, I guess. Mm-hmm. So, so tell us about, um, so you have wine,
Mark Ritz: bikes- Mm-hmm … and coffee.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Um, so you're a bike guy. Mm-hmm. So this would be home of bicycle heaven for you, too, as
Mark Ritz: well, I would think. Oh, it is. It's wonderful, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Did you see the paved trail on the way over tonight?
Mark Ritz: I did, and I can't wait for it to be finished. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's exciting.
Scott Hammond: I'm gonna use my map prop. Oh. Bear, please bear with me. Okay. You know what? You know what Nick does not provide me, Nick?
Mark Ritz: Is a pointer. I'm go- You need- I'm going to bring a pointer … you need a laser. I should…
Scott Hammond: So there's my, there's my pointer. So around Humboldt Bay over there from Arcata to Eureka, which is in California, is, uh, this brand-new bay trail that is so bomb. It's on a r- old rail bed- Mm-hmm … that they've converted. And, uh, they're putting the final layers of asphalt as we speak. Yep. As we're sitting here now. Mm-hmm. Uh, with a d- uh, develop, uh, uh, I think a date of, uh, June 28th to- Correct …
Mark Ritz: to a grand opening. That's the, that's the ground, yeah, the groundbreaking.
Scott Hammond: I think people are ban- are banditing it in the meantime, getting on there
Scott Hammond: and just- Oh, yes … cheating. I, I don't see a lot of pe- early morning you might see a few people, but- Mm-hmm … I'm wondering if people are just gonna go, "Hey, pfft, a, a cone? A yel- a, a orange cone is
Mark Ritz: gonna stop this?" They've been doing it for quite a while. Yeah. I, I have many friends on Strava- Uh-huh …
Scott Hammond: the, the fitness app … that are already putting butts.
Mark Ritz: They're already putting… Yeah, they're already putting on. They're, there's already, like, the local legend is… I c- I won't say, because they're not supposed to be on there. Uh-huh. But anyway, yeah. Oh, Bill?
Scott Hammond: No.
Mark Ritz: You mean- You weren't supposed to say it …
Scott Hammond: I don't know who it is. Um, I just made that up, but if it was you- We'll just go with- But if it was you, Bill, come on.
Mark Ritz: Come on, man. Bill, Bill, Bill, what are we gonna do with you?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's funny. I, um, my wife can't wait, 'cause Joni's a runner, walker, hiker, biker, and she's just salivating, and me too, and I wanna get on, 'cause we live in McKinleyville, so we can drop down from Dow's Prairie- Mm-hmm …
Mark Ritz: for the Hammond Trail. Yep. Hammond Trail, have you ever heard of it?
Scott Hammond: I've heard of it. Yeah. I've been on it.
Mark Ritz: Hammond Bridge. Have been on it.
Scott Hammond: Hammond, Indiana. Never been there. Never. Ne- neither have I.
Mark Ritz: I've heard of some Scott Hammond.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's, uh, I got the, I get the question, "Hey, do you, uh, did you own Hammond Lumber?" I go, "Yeah, I'm just a, a jillionaire. I do this for fun." Right. I just kinda hang out and- It's like me with Ritz crackers. Yeah, it's Ritz crack-
Mark Ritz: Or the Ritz Carlton. Or the Ritz.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, that's right. Putting on the Ritz.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm. Oh.
Scott Hammond: Or me with Hammond eggs. Mm.
Mark Ritz: Now we're reaching, so- Now you're really stretching it, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, so I'll stop that. Yeah, Joni gets quite mad. We'll be somewhere and I go, "Yeah, oh yeah, that old Hammond. We were the biggest redwood holder in the world in the day, and then they did a monopoly buster and broke us up, and Great- Great-Grandpa Jedediah Hammond was pretty pissed off that day."
Scott Hammond: And, and here goes the story. And, and I'm watching my wife just go, "Just don't. No, just please." Anyway. Just stop. So yeah, uh, bicycling. Yeah. So it's gonna be fun. Mm-hmm. So we're gonna drop into the Hammond Trail and go all the way to the, uh, Nuke Plant and back. Yeah. And I can do it on my e-bike 'cause I have advanced maturity, and my son goes, "Why even bother?" I go, "Hey, you still get a workout. Still, you still pedal." Yeah. I mean, it's not… So I'm not going hardcore, nor do I need
Mark Ritz: to, but it- Mm-hmm … it's gonna be a fun trail. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And that's, I think that'll be a new fun thing for Humboldt.
Mark Ritz: And I think it's gonna also help just get more people off of 101 because you'll be able to commute- Yeah … between Eureka and Arcata on, on a safe trail.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I thought you were saying it's gonna get more people off their, their, their backside. Their…
Mark Ritz: Yes. Off that 101. That was, that was… Yeah. That was the unsaid- Yeah.
Scott Hammond: … portion of that. Look at you, look at you moving, folks. No, it can't be a bad thing. It'll be… I think it's gonna be cool. And- Yeah … they say that that, that outbound, um, piece on the outside of the other lumber company- Mm-hmm … the Simpson, the old Simpson- Yep
Scott Hammond: … is, is supposed to be very, very gorgeous, where you go off 101, but it goes out
Mark Ritz: into the bay. Yeah. Joni said they…
Scott Hammond: How does she know this? I don't know. She said- Hmm … her and her friend were out there, and it's glor- it's just a glorious part of the, the trail experience. Nice. Yeah, so it'll be fun. So bikes and coffee I know about. Mm-hmm. Tell me about your passion for wine.
Mark Ritz: Uh,
Mark Ritz: I have been,
Mark Ritz: uh, a wine aficionado for, for many, many years. Mm-hmm. Um, don't know a lot about it. I have some friends who are, are vintners. Mm-hmm. Um, and I've been able to see firsthand, you know, the process, and it's, again, kinda like coffee roasting.
Mark Ritz: It's… It, there's a little bit of science and black art- Mm-hmm … to creating the, the proper balance- Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … of the product. And in fact, the other… A, a few months ago, we were at a friend's house who is also an, an avid, uh, wine enthusiast, and, uh, he belongs to a wine club where they send out small samplers of four or five different, um-
Mark Ritz: … wines- Mm-hmm … that we can then blend- Oh
Mark Ritz: … and create our own blend. That's pretty rad. And we had, I think, eight or nine people there, and we all did,
Mark Ritz: uh, like a competitive tasting, a blind tasting afterwards.
Scott Hammond: Of your individual blends? Of… Yeah. That you recorded carefully.
Mark Ritz: Some- Oh, yeah, absolutely. And some, and some were really good, and some were, hmm, eh, not quite. That was, that was wine.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Actually, that's, uh, that's next level hardcore, by the way, just for the record. I c- I know that you love wine now. Uh, we did a tasting. Do you know Pam Long? She's, uh- No, I don't … she was, she used to work out at Fieldbrook- Okay
Scott Hammond: … Winery, and she's, uh, she does tastings. Anyway, so, uh, this is, I think a year or two ago, we did a Zoom class with all these other people, and- Mm-hmm … she said, "Bring two bottles of wine, one from this district and one from this," you know, the, that wine,
Mark Ritz: uh, map. Mm-hmm. The appellations.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, correct. Mm-hmm. And so, uh, we had a Lodi, uh, Gnarly Head, and it was- Mm-hmm …
Mark Ritz: really gnarly. A zin? As it…
Scott Hammond: It was, I think it was a zin. And then we had this other wine that was really killer from, you know, Sonoma or somewhere. And we're, you know, compare and contrast. Mm-hmm. And the zin came out, and, and there was six or eight of us, and everybody took a sip of this, and they… Or the, the Gnarly Head, and oh m- oh my God, it's so, so bad. I don't- Hmm … I don't know if it was bad wined or if it was bad wine. Yeah. And so that went down the sink right away, and we rezoomed into, uh, whatever appellation
Mark Ritz: Temecula is. It's, I think it's actually Temecula. I don't remember exactly what it's called.
Scott Hammond: Quite, quite good. It was- I remember when they…
Mark Ritz: I used to go to Temecula, again, when I lived in Southern California. Right. And the wineries down there at that point were mediocre- Mm-hmm … would be a nice way of putting it. Yeah. Uh, pedestrian might be another way. That's a good word. And I, and I think that they've come up quite a ways. I haven't had anyth- anything recently from there, but- These were quite good,
Scott Hammond: really d- uh, dark, raisiny- Mm-hmm … zinned something de- pretty delicious, but yeah, it was fun. It was fun to contrast- Mm-hmm … and to kind of discover. And Joanie and I, uh, we really like to go to
Mark Ritz: Geyserville and- Mm-hmm … down in that way, and it's,
Scott Hammond: it's fun. I think wine's a whole bunch of fun.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. You know, I used to do, used to ride around, uh, the, um, Alexander Valley- Yeah … a lot, and Charlie and I took our tandem there one year- Oh, that'd be fun … with a, with a trailer on the back. Huh. And so that way we could, when we stopped at each of the wineries, if we found something we really liked, we could just grab it and- That's a good idea … put, put it in the trailer. Go figure. Yeah. And ride on home. And r- ride on to the next one.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's … And there's a lot, there's a lot of next ones. Yes, there are. Yeah. That's, that's, that, that's the dream. I, um… We really like Geyserville. Geyserville's a fun little town. Mm-hmm. Catelli's Italian food is just, like- Yeah … a magical and fun experience, so. Yeah, so you're a wine guy. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. We'll talk after the show. Um, if you're just joining me, by the way, speaking of the show, uh, Scott Hammond with 100% Humboldt with my new best friend, uh, Mark Ritz, and, uh, tell us about, um, Humboldt a little bit more, and then we'll talk about Kevin for a minute. Okay. The, um, uh, what do you see as our, our strengths, our, our issues? What, what do you, um, when you sit back from where you live and look at stuff and you go, "Hey, wow," what, what do you lo- You told me what you love, but what do you, what do you see maybe as some of our, um, things that we wanna work on?
Mark Ritz: Hmm. Um, I would… I think sometimes, uh, we get a little, we are a little bit too insular. Hmm. You know, being behind the Redwood Curtain- Mm-hmm … can be both, uh, liberating and stifling.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um,
Mark Ritz: and
Mark Ritz: I, I, I feel very fortunate in that I have been able to spend a lot of time, uh, traveling. I've traveled to places. I used to… At my last job, I used to go to Europe or to Asia. Um, spent time, you know, two weeks at a time in Hong Kong and China and- Wow … in, uh, Taiwan. Um, so I got to spend a lot of time there and understand a lot more of the cultures there. Mm-hmm. And then Charlie and I have also visited, you know, spent time in Europe and, uh, Asia and- Mm-hmm … so we… and South America. So we've had an opportunity to go a lot of different places. We always love coming back here. Right. I mean- Right … it always feels, this is a place that feels like home.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, the air is always somewhat more magical here. Yeah. Yeah. It's- No question about it. They said it's the, it's the benchmark. Tr- Trinidad, somewhere up that way, is the benchmark of, of quality air in America. Hmm. Fig- go figure. I don't know what that means. I didn't know that. I don't know. I don't know who said that and what, where I could reference that, but tend to believe that's true. We could Google it. Yeah. Hey, let's do it. Wait, wait, let's go fix my Yakima rack first.
Mark Ritz: Oh yeah, we gotta do that first. All right.
Scott Hammond: Sorry. Yep. No, I, um, in fact, Trinidad is, is our date night for, uh, Joanie and my wine night. So we'll take a Dick Taylor bar- Oh, mm-hmm … a great bottle of, uh, Jackson Keyes or whatever we have on hand. Mm-hmm. And we'll drive up Scenic Drive, um, where one probably could have used to have ride a, rode a bike. Mm-hmm. And now it's… So don't go there. It's horrible. You w- you'll hate it. It's terrible. But it's the magical place to just sit on the cliffs, and we have a routine and then a- Nice … couple of picnic, uh, chairs and a table, and we pop up with the van and- Watch the sunset.
Mark Ritz: It's amazing. Or watch the fog.
Scott Hammond: I've, I've been in pitch black in the, in, in snow.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And it's still a good time. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's just gonna… And it, during COVID, it was a five-minute drive from our home up in Dows Prairie. Mm-hmm. So you go up there and, "Oh, weird. Look, Joanie, no one's here at the beach. How weird and cool." And just park it there and, and watch the Pacific sun do its magic.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And, and some days are, you know, are really roasting 64 up there.
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: So when the sun hits, it refracts, you know, in the 70s. The corollary is when it goes down, you have to-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … zip up and it's 22 degrees again.
Mark Ritz: Right. Well, you know, typical Humboldt. You have, you always have layers.
Scott Hammond: Gotta have the layers.
Mark Ritz: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Speaking of travel, though-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … I, I think, you know, Joni and I finally got to go to Europe. Um, we have a son in Amsterdam.
Mark Ritz: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: In Utrecht, which is south of Amsterdam.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: It's a really cool college town, and there's great value in travel and getting to know and experience other culture.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Other beer, other trains, other hotels, and other languages, the grouchy Dutch, the Albert Heijn supermarket. You know, it's, it's all… The coffees that are this big.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Which, uh, "Can I get a cup of co-?" "Yeah, sure.
Scott Hammond: Here's a-"
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: …"cappuccino, $3."
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: And I've-
Mark Ritz: Three euros.
Scott Hammond: Three euros. Everything's three.
Scott Hammond: And, but not, not too shabby coffee-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … generally. Um, but yeah, just the, you're right about that experience, that shared experience of travel, and then, um, the joy of coming home.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know, and the quality of our, our nine kids, when they travel and come back,
Scott Hammond: they go,
Scott Hammond: "Man-"
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: "… the air here is… I, this is what I remember, Dad."
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I go, "Wow, the air."
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: "Okay. Yeah, you're right. I'm, let me get a hit." You know, it's like, oh yeah, I remember now.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: D- you know, take a deep draught of air.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, more on that later. Uh-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … so what, so you think we're insular. Okay, I b- I buy that. Kind of not in my backyard type of stuff sometimes.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, to our, to a fault. Like, I agree.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, and without the bigger picture and of knowing that we need jobs and healthcare and-
Mark Ritz: Right
Scott Hammond: … homeless issues and-
Mark Ritz: Right, all the-
Scott Hammond: … housing.
Mark Ritz: Yep. All the, all the things. Every, every, so many things that we could improve, but it's also, each one of those takes money and effort.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And you guys have done that through business and involvement. Tell me a little bit about-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … a couple, three things that you and Charlie have done, um, and then we're getting, we're getting to Kevin here in a second. Um, uh, in terms of what… It says here that you guys, um, spear- spearheaded a few things over the years. It wasn't clear, but tell me more.
Mark Ritz: Well, um, the first thing is that both of us are, um, we're both working, uh, as advisors for the Small Business Development Center-
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool
Mark Ritz: … uh, over in Arcata.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: In fact, I gave a co- a talk on, uh, marketing last night for the Fortuna Chamber of Commerce.
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool.
Mark Ritz: So, uh, that's a great thing. I love the, I love the entrepreneurial spirit-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … of so many of the people here.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: We have so many businesses that get started here and, and, uh, and so many of them have grown and, and, you know, moved into bigger and better
Mark Ritz: things.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Uh, so it's always fun to get in at the ground floor and, and help these people to find their footing.
Scott Hammond: Throw out some names. Who comes to mind when you say that?
Mark Ritz: Who- As far as who's gotten-
Scott Hammond: Entrepreneurs. I mean, you can't say Yakima. Can't say Holly Yashi. Oops.
Mark Ritz: Or, or, or Dick Taylor. Oops.
Scott Hammond: Oops. Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Uh, or Wing Inflatables.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Mark Ritz: Or, um, you know, there's quite a… I'm trying, I, my, my mind is blanking on others, but-
Scott Hammond: I think of all the food, the food works and the-
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah
Scott Hammond: … people in the food business.
Mark Ritz: Jesse Curl. There's-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … another one.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yep. Jess, and bless her.
Scott Hammond: Um-
Mark Ritz: Yep
Scott Hammond: … that's… Or, or what was the other guy? Lacey's, the cookies?
Mark Ritz: Right. Yeah, Lacey's. Right.
Scott Hammond: And Matthew, who had the tofu shop.
Mark Ritz: Had. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: He's retired, right?
Mark Ritz: Yes. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I, um, here's the kind of guy I am. I hadn't seen him in 30 years. He was at the co-op.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: This is before church. We're having our morning soup before church at the co-op.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: I see him come, he's in line, and, and I walked up and I said, "I wanna thank you for 40-plus years of, of excellent tofu. And, and thank you for your," you know, kind of a thank you for your
Scott Hammond: service.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And, um, we had a cool moment. It was really neat to, to-
Mark Ritz: Nice
Scott Hammond: … acknowledge somebody's life work.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Just in a small-
Mark Ritz: And, and I'm sure he appreciated it too, I guess.
Scott Hammond: Oh, he, he teared up.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I watched him.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And it was like, oh. My dad always said the small acts of kindness and words of kindness can really go a
Scott Hammond: long way.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: They cost you nothing. But when they're spoken with sincerity, they're, uh, well, they're magical.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: I agree 100%.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So lot, yeah, a lot of, a lot of incubated, uh, entrepreneurial things have come. Uh, they said if you could survive here, you could survive anywhere.
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: And if you thrive here, that must mean s- something really cool.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. You're doing something right.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, not easy to, to, to make it. Uh, it was $6 a gallon and I saw it for $2.90, $2.84 in
Scott Hammond: Medford.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: That's why it pulled my hair out.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Look, look what happened.
Mark Ritz: Look what it did. Look at that.
Mark Ritz: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Wait, I almost got it all.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. Almost. I, on the other hand, have gotten most of it as well, so.
Scott Hammond: See, you did w- you did very well there.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, other, other things that you see that you guys have done to make a positive difference in, in, in or out of business?
Mark Ritz: Well, uh, in business, um, we've been members of the Arcata Chamber of Commerce since we started the company.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, I am currently the vice chair of the Arcata Chamber of Commerce, the
Mark Ritz: board.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, actually on my third term there now because I-
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow
Mark Ritz: … did, I did two terms, um, early on, 2006 through '12.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And then I was, then I came back on the board, uh, last
Mark Ritz: year again.
Scott Hammond: How long is the term?
Mark Ritz: Uh, three years.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Good for you.
Mark Ritz: So I'm coming up on my ninth year.
Scott Hammond: Great chamber.
Mark Ritz: It is.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: It's, I, I really enjoy working with those people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and again, it's doing what I can to help the local community.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, and then of course we have the, um,
Mark Ritz: um, we donate on, a lot of product to a lot of, uh, events-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and fundraisers especially.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Mark Ritz: Um, so we do that. We do things like the Arcata Farmers Market. With f- with the chamber, we do a, uh, a, a w- morning walkabout before the, um, a- Before the farmer's market opens-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … giving out, uh, Los Bagels treats and Kinetic
Mark Ritz: Coffee-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … to all of the vendors there-
Scott Hammond: Good for you guys
Mark Ritz: … as our way of thanking them. We started doing that 15 years ago.
Scott Hammond: I bet they love that.
Mark Ritz: They do.
Scott Hammond: Because where's my co- there's my bagel.
Mark Ritz: There's my coffee, there's my bagel, there's, there's my empanada.
Scott Hammond: Oh, better yet.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's a really cool arrangement.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So Charlie still has that relationship with Dennis and-
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: She's actually, I think she's still on their board as well.
Scott Hammond: How about that?
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, she took them to next level at some point, right-
Mark Ritz: Right
Scott Hammond: … during her tenure there.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. She's got s- she has so much business experience-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … um, especially doing turnarounds and scale-ups and succession plans and things like that.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: It's, I think it's one of the reasons that we've done so well at the coffee company is she's got, she has her strengths and I have my strengths-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and between the two of us, I think we make a really, really strong team.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, I love that, and I think that's, tracks every, every way. The, uh, joke, which is no joke, is you and I married up.
Mark Ritz: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, so.
Mark Ritz: Absolutely.
Scott Hammond: Who's smart here?
Scott Hammond: We're…
Mark Ritz: Indeed.
Scott Hammond: The bald unite. Yeah, no, I, uh, my dad used to say, "You know, Joni's great." I go, "What about me?" And he'd go, he goes, "I don't know." He, he'd make a face, he'd go-
Mark Ritz: Right
Scott Hammond: … "You were smart enough to marry Joni."
Mark Ritz: There you go.
Scott Hammond: I go, "Thank you, thank you sort of, Dad."
Mark Ritz: Thank you for that vote of confidence.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I feel really good about this conversation now. Shit. So, so, uh, tell us the, tell us the Kevin Ebbert story.
Mark Ritz: Well, Kevin is, um, or was, um, Charlie's son.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And he grew up in Arcata, graduated from Arcata High.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Went off to UC Santa Cruz, where he got a, graduated with a double major in, uh, music composition with honors, first honors they'd ever had, uh, at that college with, uh, on,
Mark Ritz: for music.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, with a minor in mathematics. Um, his dad was a Navy SEAL.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: As was his uncle.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: Both during the… Uh, his dad was during the Vietnam era.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And I think after his dad passed away, uh, not long after he graduated from college, he made the decision that instead of… He turned down an, a couple of scholarships, um, to get advanced studies on his, for his, for music-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Mark Ritz: … and decided to become a SEAL.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: And his mom did her best to pr- dissuade him.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: But, uh, she said, he, he told her, and this was a funny little thing because, uh, said, "You always told me that I should never live with regrets, and if I don't do this, I'm gonna regret it."
Scott Hammond: This is, this is Kevin's dad?
Mark Ritz: This is, this is Kevin-
Scott Hammond: This is Kevin, okay
Mark Ritz: … to his mom.
Scott Hammond: Right. Using her logic.
Mark Ritz: Exactly.
Scott Hammond: Smart kid.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: So he, um, he, he enlisted. He had, because he had a college degree-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … he could have gone in as an officer, but he wanted to become an operator. He wanted to be,
Mark Ritz: um, in the trenches.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: So, um, he came in as an enlisted man, uh, went through, uh, basic training, went to, went to BUD/S.
Mark Ritz: Um, and-
Scott Hammond: Where's, where's BUD/S? Is that Coronado?
Mark Ritz: BUD/S is at Coronado.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Yes, that's the Basic Underwater Demolition Training.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: Uh, basic- the, the, the, uh, legendary Hell Week that, uh, they have to go
Mark Ritz: through.
Scott Hammond: It's the one that's, uh, infamous, infamous.
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Is that the bell, if you ring the bell, you-
Mark Ritz: Right
Scott Hammond: … tap out?
Mark Ritz: Exactly.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: No one wants to ring the bell.
Scott Hammond: They want to… Yeah, no.
Mark Ritz: So it took him three tries.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: He ro- he rolled, uh, twice, uh, during Hell Week.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, and, uh, but finally made it.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, and then made the decision that in, in addition to becoming a SEAL, he decided that, uh, he really wanted to become a corpsman, a
Mark Ritz: medic.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So he went to the 18 Delta, uh, training, which is, like, if as I recall correctly, is at Fort Bragg, uh, North Carolina.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, and became, uh, the, a, a corpsman, and he was really good at it.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So he was, he went through two, uh, deployments in Afghanistan.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And we didn't find this out until later that he, uh, there were a number of men who, um, whose lives he saved-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: …
Mark Ritz: in combat.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Mark Ritz: And he was, uh, considered an exemplary SEAL. He was the guy who always had everything buttoned up and was, like, right on
Mark Ritz: it. It, um, towards the end of his second deployment,
Mark Ritz: um, he was, he got, uh, permission for an early out. He was gonna come, come back home-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Mark Ritz: … and actually had been accepted to, uh, Old Dominion University to finish his medical degree.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Where's that?
Mark Ritz: Uh, that's in Virginia.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And he and his, uh, wife, who was his, he had married a, a local girl here,
Mark Ritz: um, in November or December of, uh, 2011. Yeah. Actually, I think New Year's, yeah, New Year's Eve.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: And then, um, so we had, uh,
Mark Ritz: uh,
Mark Ritz: we were in Phoenix, Arizona, where a lot of the Ebberts lived at the time, and, um, unfortunately, we got the call that nobody wants to get. That is that-
Scott Hammond: Right
Mark Ritz: … he had been killed.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: And he had been, uh, leading an element. They had some inadequate, um,
Mark Ritz: sur- um,
Mark Ritz: um, information as far as w- what, what to expect, and they got pinned down, and he was the leader of the element, but he was also the comms guy.
Mark Ritz: So he-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Mark Ritz: … in order to get any help, he had to step out from behind, uh, cover. In order to get the radio to work
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: And was unfortunately killed.
Scott Hammond: Rats.
Mark Ritz: And it wasn't until we saw, we went to, uh, his, uh, his memorial service in Virginia Beach, um, that we found t- we heard about all these people, these guys coming up to him and saying, you know, "Your, your son saved my life."
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: "Your son saved my brother's life." You know, all of these people that
Mark Ritz: were just-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … um, awe, in awe of-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Mark Ritz: … what he was able to accomplish.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, when we were in Virginia Beach this last week, um, we were at the change of command for SEAL Team Four, which is where he was.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And they were, um, at… They decided to start a new tradition there at this particular one, and that was that they are going to, they would award
Mark Ritz: a, um, an honor to, uh, one SEAL that would be, um, voted on by his peers.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: Nominated and, and, and voted on. The officers have nothing to do with it. It's, it's, it's operator to operator.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And it's named after him.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Mark Ritz: So it's the Kevin Ebbert,
Mark Ritz: uh-
Scott Hammond: Whoa
Mark Ritz: … Award.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Can he win it?
Mark Ritz: No.
Scott Hammond: He can't?
Mark Ritz: No. You have to be alive.
Scott Hammond: Gotta be… Okay, gotcha.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's pretty rad.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. We were really-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Mark Ritz: … proud and, and-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Mark Ritz: … and sad at the same time.
Scott Hammond: It's an interesting bucket to hold that-
Mark Ritz: It is a very hard bucket to hold sometimes
Scott Hammond: … the, the bucket of joy with, with grief-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … and brokenness, yeah.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I love it. I think it's, it, it tells me a lot. I, what I, what I really like and I could envision is people that would've wanted to, want to, wanted to have said thank you to Kevin-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … but you're gonna have to do.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And it's beautiful. And to be able to go, "Hey, I knew this guy," and you're, you're going, "Wow, here it comes again."
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know? And, um, I can imagine all the tears and, you know, like Gandalf said at the end of the movie, "Not all tear- tears are evil."
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: You know, and it's, it's, it, I love the beauty of that. So, so tell me about the foundation locally and what you guys do around it and, and that and what, how that works and-
Mark Ritz: Okay
Scott Hammond: … if we have a, a- you know, I, I want you to definitely give a shout-out to the website and all the, all the things. Um, so if somebody wanted to donate, they could, and, and how, how that all works.
Mark Ritz: Okay. Um, well, the found- the foundation was, was started by Charlie, um, Kevin's stepsister, and myself.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, it's kevinebbertfoundation.org.
Scott Hammond: Can you turn the logo? Oh, there it is. Oh, hey, look at it. There it is.
Mark Ritz: And, um, we wanted to create something to, um, build on his
Mark Ritz: legacy.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, and we had our first, we, we only started this thing about, uh, two years ago.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, last year we had our first annual, hoping it's gonna be annual, golf tournament.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: And we raised, uh, $10,000 for We Are Up.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, are you familiar with-
Scott Hammond: Totally
Mark Ritz: … We Are Up?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, Mary Keane.
Mark Ritz: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yep, the We Are Up branch.
Mark Ritz: That is absolutely-
Scott Hammond: It's happening
Mark Ritz: … um, w- something he would've, he would've been all over.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.
Mark Ritz: That, that is just right in his, uh, bailiwick.
Scott Hammond: I love it.
Mark Ritz: And, um, so we are having our second annual one this, this August 8th.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: We are looking for sponsors.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: We're looking for donors.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: Uh, we're looking for players.
Scott Hammond: Hey.
Mark Ritz: And also volunteers. Anything to make us, you know,
Scott Hammond: wanting- Could one, could one do all four?
Mark Ritz: Uh, we could figure, we can work that out. If you wanna do that, Scott-
Scott Hammond: We c-
Mark Ritz: … we'll sign you up.
Scott Hammond: I'm gonna be in Europe, unfortunately.
Mark Ritz: Aw.
Scott Hammond: Wait.
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: No, I may be back.
Mark Ritz: August 8th is a Friday.
Scott Hammond: It's a Friday. I think we're back Wednesday the 6th.
Mark Ritz: Okay. Well, you could make it then. Okay. Let's, uh-
Scott Hammond: Okay. Pressure's on, Scott
Mark Ritz: … let's, let's, uh, let's get that set up.
Mark Ritz: Um-
Scott Hammond: So you could play, and then you could come back and volunteer after the-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … aft- for the after party.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. So we have a, we'll have a raffle.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, a silent auction.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, there'll be awards for the, uh, for, for the play.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, there'll be, uh, at least, right now I think we have, uh, at least two, if not more of his teammates that are gonna
Mark Ritz: be there.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow. That would be cool.
Mark Ritz: So.
Scott Hammond: Are they still active?
Mark Ritz: A couple, uh, a couple I know are still active, and a couple are out-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … and doing other things and doing great things.
Scott Hammond: These are quality people, I would imagine, almost to the person.
Mark Ritz: It, it takes a special kind of person to be able to be, to make it to, to SEALs.
Scott Hammond: Is there a female Navy SEAL in existence?
Mark Ritz: Not at this time that I'm aware of.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: I know that they've opened it to them, but I don't know if they can make it through the, the physical efforts that are required.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha. Fair enough. The, um, and I don't know if that's true for Green Beret or otherwise, but not the point. Yeah, I, uh, just, you know, doing Humboldtd Heroes now for nine years-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and the folks that we've met have just been top-drawer quality, wonderful men and women-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … that have served. Um, and somebody said thanks on a Friday afternoon at noon, and, and there were tears of joy and laughter, and it's just… And you guys were part of that with us, and-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … um, yeah, just, just a cool, a c- such a cool cadre of people to be with and to enjoy life with.
Mark Ritz: And, and to realize that af- uh, post-Vietnam, anybody who's serving in the military is doing it voluntarily.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Mark Ritz: They're not doing it because they have to. They're doing it because they want to.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good, good difference, yeah. Good, good point. So the golf tournament, I remember last year-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … you guys had some real quality stuff, dude.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Like, you know, the after prize of the golf is usually a sleeve of balls and a
Scott Hammond: Frisbee and, you know, a glove or, you know, something. But you had, like, cool, really cool bike helmets and stuff.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm. Yeah, we had some, we had, um, a lot of people stepped up. I I leaned on a lot of my old friends-
Scott Hammond: I think you did, yeah
Mark Ritz: … in the industry to, to, to, uh, to help us, and I'm hoping that they, uh, they're gonna step up again this year.
Scott Hammond: Hey.
Mark Ritz: So.
Scott Hammond: I see it happen. I see it happening. I, um… Yeah, and we'd like to, like to be part if we can in some way. It was fun. I'd like to play Baywood. Baywood's the one… Hey, Baywood's right here on our map, by the way. It's over there east of Arcata.
Mark Ritz: It's over in that area.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, over-
Mark Ritz: Right there
Scott Hammond: … that way.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So my father golfed around the world. He was a World War II vet-
Mark Ritz: Mm
Scott Hammond: … and great guy, and, um, he died in '04. But when he would come up here, he loved to, uh, in order, uh, worship with the kids, ice cream with the kids-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and golf with this kid.
Mark Ritz: Hmm. Nice.
Scott Hammond: And Baywood, he goes, "I've golfed around the world, dude," and he goes,
Scott Hammond: "Baywood is magic." He goes, "There's nothing like golfing in the redwoods." And he was, he was really taken with it and, um,
Scott Hammond: um… Quick story, so great guy.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Total, uh, uh, AA guy since I was 13. Got sober, stayed sober 40 years-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … before he died. And so we're up at the Chamber of Commerce. Arcata Chamber used to do a wonderful golf tournament there-
Mark Ritz: Hmm
Scott Hammond: … annually. And-
Mark Ritz: Okay
Scott Hammond: … and, you know, there were 10 or… There were 15 or 20 prizes. We won eight of them.
Mark Ritz: Wow.
Scott Hammond: I didn't, I don't think he bought that many tickets. Uh, the fix was in, baby. And the story was he walks up and wins a George… A, a, a half gallon of George Dickel whiskey.
Mark Ritz: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: And I go, "Wow, Dad. What are you gonna do with that, bro?" So it was funny. We went up, uh… You know, after a while you started to get booed as you-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … do the walk-
Mark Ritz: Right
Scott Hammond: … of shame because obviously you're, you're a terrible person winning a raffle.
Mark Ritz: First time is, is, is great. Second time, people go, "Oh, okay." Third time, the crowd turns on
Mark Ritz: you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, they really… You get the steak guy and then some.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Some hand signals.
Mark Ritz: But eight?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, I was… It was weird.
Mark Ritz: Oh my God.
Scott Hammond: I've never seen anything like it. It was strange. So if we wanna get involved with the golf tournament, how do we do that?
Mark Ritz: Uh, you can do that through the website.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: KevinEbbertFoundation.org.
Scott Hammond: .org. Okay.
Mark Ritz: And there's a sign-up sheet there.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: And you can also contact either mes- myself or, uh, or Charlie-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … uh, directly as well.
Scott Hammond: At, at, uh, Kinetic Coffee?
Mark Ritz: At Kinetic Coffee.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So you could be reached through the, the business line.
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha. So prizes, come and golf.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Come and volunteer.
Mark Ritz: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: We would love to have you and, um, everybody else that out- that's listening to
Mark Ritz: this.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Uh, we're doing Humboldt Heroes tomorrow. Maybe come by and talk to the AMVETS. They should be-
Mark Ritz: If I get time to, I will, yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Or I'll mention it.
Mark Ritz: I know that we're already talking to them.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: 'Cause we had a couple of AMVETS out, uh, this last week.
Mark Ritz: We have, uh,
Mark Ritz: um, the, uh, highway, uh, cleanup.
Scott Hammond: Right, right, right.
Mark Ritz: Uh, and we had a couple of them out there that, with us.
Scott Hammond: You did really good with that.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I saw that. That was really present that you guy… And it looks great.
Mark Ritz: Thanks.
Scott Hammond: Who… Was it, like, Mark Nelson or Pierre?
Mark Ritz: Yes, it was Mark. Mark and his wife.
Mark Ritz: And-
Scott Hammond: I'm gonna tell you a scoop right now, secret.
Mark Ritz: Okay.
Scott Hammond: I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you. But, so I'm gonna tell you, but I won't kill you.
Mark Ritz: Well, I appreciate that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no problem.
Mark Ritz: I think Charlie would appreciate that too.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's, it's… There, there'd be too much evidence.
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: So if I told you, I'd have to kill you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. So Mark Nelson is our hero tomorrow.
Mark Ritz: Oh, nice.
Scott Hammond: But it's a secret.
Mark Ritz: Wow.
Scott Hammond: And fortunately, this is not live. This will air well after he's the hero, but he, he's such a cool guy, and he, he comes and he helps set up for, uh, Humboldt Heroes every week-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … every month.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And he helps out, and he's just gracious, and we're just hoping he doesn't see
Scott Hammond: it coming.
Mark Ritz: That's good. I love that.
Scott Hammond: Carrie Jo, my, my, uh, assistant that helps me with this, she goes-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … "You know, I kinda hope he knows a little bit 'cause I think he might
Scott Hammond: cry."
Scott Hammond: And I go-
Mark Ritz: Nothing wrong with that
Scott Hammond: … "That'd be great. I hope he cries."
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: "A lot. That'd be, that'd be wonderful." So, um, so tell us more about Kevin. So he was a musician?
Mark Ritz: Yes. Talent- very talented musician.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, played, uh, keyboards and guitar. He used to love when I would come home from the, from the roastery when he was home visiting, and I would just… He'd be downstairs with the piano just playing and just going over just the same, same piece of music over and over and over until he got it to where he was, where, where it wanted to be. And then, um, and then also, like you said, a very talented guitarist as well. And I was a musician back in, back in my day.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, so he and I were… We had, we had a lot of, uh, musical theory con- con- conversations and-
Scott Hammond: That's cool
Mark Ritz: … and talked about obscure groups that,
Scott Hammond: um-
Scott Hammond: Ah
Mark Ritz: … and obscure music is my-
Scott Hammond: Cap- Captain Beefheart.
Mark Ritz: And his Magic Band, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Up, up in Trinidad.
Mark Ritz: Right. Yep.
Scott Hammond: They actually had him on SNL. I don't know how he got the booking.
Mark Ritz: Really?
Scott Hammond: Somebody booked him, and they had it in the SNL archives that they were showing for
Scott Hammond: the 50th.
Mark Ritz: Oh, wow.
Scott Hammond: And he was terrible. And, and the commentators were going, "I don't even know how they got this guy booked," 'cause he just got up there, and I, I don't know his music well. I just knew he, he was local.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: He's passed, right?
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: And he got up and just kinda screamed a song, and it was just… And the band was, like, grinding, and it was, like, this whole, um, precursor to grunge of some th- some
Scott Hammond: sort.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And an interesting guy, but the guy that booked him I guess got a little bit of heat 'cause he, he was just an odd b- oddball. Nobody knew who the, who this guy was, and that's… SNL books guys like that.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And so that's how that goes.
Mark Ritz: Well, it's like Frank Zappa, you know, playing the, the bicycle on, uh-
Scott Hammond: Right
Mark Ritz: … was that on Johnny Carson?
Scott Hammond: He did something weird, huh?
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's an interesting dude.
Scott Hammond: A lot-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … now on s- social media and all his, his, his antisocial, crazy political talk, which makes perfect sense now.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, and they said that when The Who and, and The Stones and The Beatles would come
Scott Hammond: to LA-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … they'd always go and visit Frank. Never knew that. He was actually that kind of an intellect of, uh, you know, and a charismatic-
Mark Ritz: If you ever… Yeah, if you ever heard, saw, saw his, uh, testimony in, in Congress.
Scott Hammond: Was that-
Mark Ritz: Um, you know, the same, uh, around the anti-obscenity.
Scott Hammond: Oh, right, right, right.
Mark Ritz: Yeah, it was pretty amazing. I mean, he's an extremely articulate person.
Scott Hammond: Pretty bright dude.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, interesting. El- another LA guy.
Mark Ritz: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Um, so, uh, the golf tournament's coming up.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: We're… Who are we raising money for this year?
Mark Ritz: Uh, we're gonna… It's gonna continue to be for We Are Up this year.
Scott Hammond: Wonderful.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Cool. I- I'm so all about it.
Mark Ritz: We love what Mary's doing.
Scott Hammond: Oh, my gosh.
Mark Ritz: We want it to succeed.
Scott Hammond: She's moving forward, and it looks like they're doing s- with such class and confidence and competence, and, and to do things in California and, and make them legal and groovy and, and maybe even, possibly even please the neighbors around there-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … which is, um, one of my pet peeves. After you've had a say-so-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and you're, uh, back to your, your objection, what, what was the word you used? Not in my backyard?
Mark Ritz: Uh, yeah, NIMBYism.
Scott Hammond: It's a NIMBY thing.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know, these guys have bent over backwards to help the neighbors there.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, they're, they're gonna destroy their pristine view.
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: I don't think so.
Mark Ritz: No.
Scott Hammond: They're gonna use 8 of 80 acres or something.
Mark Ritz: Right. It's, it's… This huge part of it's gonna be-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … left pristine.
Scott Hammond: So once you're heard at the meeting, just
Scott Hammond: go sit down. You, you were heard. You got your fair shot.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: We're gonna vote, and it's gonna go the way it goes.
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And you win some, and you lose some.
Mark Ritz: Right.
Scott Hammond: Is that curmudgeony of me to kinda say that with-
Mark Ritz: No, I don't think so because-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … I think it's, it's-
Scott Hammond: It's a process
Mark Ritz: … it's a process that you go through, and-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Mark Ritz: … it's the dem- part of the democratic process-
Scott Hammond: Correct
Mark Ritz: … is you live with the consequences of the votes-
Scott Hammond: Correct
Mark Ritz: … whether it's in your favor or not.
Scott Hammond: And we're doing that right now today.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Very much so. Very much so. And we'll get to do it again tomorrow.
Mark Ritz: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: Which is the cool thing about the system. Maybe we get to vote again.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You know, Lord willing, and we, we take the time.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So anything else around the foundation that you guys do? Uh, so it's ongoing. You have ongoing, uh, this event-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … an ongoing, uh, uh, you receive donations.
Mark Ritz: Yes.
Scott Hammond: It's, it's, it's, it's a-
Mark Ritz: Money, money funds it. It is, it is a 5013C.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: So it's, uh, tax deductible.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: And, uh, quite, uh… And we're very transparent on our-
Scott Hammond: Gotcha
Mark Ritz: … as, as you have to be with a 5013C.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Mark Ritz: One of the things we are looking at doing is actually expanding our use, our, our, our golf tournaments that a couple of the guys who are, uh, on our board, uh, ex-SEALs, are saying, you know, "This is, this is great. We would love to… We love what we're doing here-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … that you're doing here with the local, but just imagine how much money we could raise if we had one in-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … San Diego-
Scott Hammond: Right
Mark Ritz: … or Virginia Beach."
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Mark Ritz: You know, places where… Or Los Angeles or wherever and st-
Mark Ritz: starting-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Mark Ritz: … doing some things where we could raise some money from national-
Scott Hammond: Right
Mark Ritz: … uh, groups and really, really see what we can do with that money.
Scott Hammond: Get Coronado Base involved and-
Mark Ritz: Yep
Scott Hammond: … somebody that's vet friendly-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … course owner somewhere from La Costa. Who the… Who, who knows? I like that dream. That's a good dream.
Mark Ritz: I think it, I think it's great. I think, again, it's, uh, it's gonna keep… It's gonna just build on, on Kevin's legacy.
Scott Hammond: kevineberhartfoundation.org.
Mark Ritz: Correct. Yes. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hey, come to that part of the show where we're gonna give you a Dick Taylor bar because you're a cool guy, and… Well, maybe not. We won't give it to you. You gotta earn it. And one of these really cool Scott Hammond State Farm files 'cause-
Mark Ritz: I've been needing one of those
Scott Hammond: … we're gonna nail it. So hold still-
Mark Ritz: Hold still
Scott Hammond: … 'cause here comes the quiz.
Mark Ritz: That's it.
Scott Hammond: Okay, Mark, Mark Ritz.
Mark Ritz: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Question one.
Mark Ritz: Question one.
Scott Hammond: You get to take Charlie to dinner anywhere in Humboldt. N- Money is not an object. Where do you go, what do you eat, and what kind of wine are you pairing it with?
Mark Ritz: Probably Moonstone Grill.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: And personally, I'm a huge fan of, of a well, properly cooked st- uh, not, not well, well-done steak, a properly cooked steak.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Does that mean-
Mark Ritz: And-
Scott Hammond: What does that mean? Well-done? Medium?
Mark Ritz: No, medium rare.
Scott Hammond: Medium rare. Gotcha.
Mark Ritz: 130 degrees.
Scott Hammond: Perfect.
Mark Ritz: No more, no less. With the right amount of char.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Mark Ritz: You know? I, I'm particular.
Scott Hammond: And I could tell that. That's good. I… You should be with a steak.
Mark Ritz: I would, uh, pair that with a, um,
Mark Ritz: Cabernet-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … most likely.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh, preferably something that's more than 10 years old.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Napa, Sonoma?
Mark Ritz: I like Sonomas-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … better-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … myself.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Scott Hammond: What winery?
Mark Ritz: Hmm. That's a tough one right now. Um, when Charlie and I got married, between the two of us, we belonged to 20 different wine clubs.
Scott Hammond: Wow. That's expensive. You had a real habit going.
Mark Ritz: We did have a habit.
Scott Hammond: You either had a habit or, or a really big wine room.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. So, um, I, I honestly couldn't think of it right now.
Scott Hammond: I couldn't think.
Scott Hammond: That's fine.
Mark Ritz: If I just-
Scott Hammond: A cab
Mark Ritz: … there's, there's so many good cabs out there.
Scott Hammond: A thousand.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yes. Okay, question two. You get to go on a bike ride or, and/or a hike. Where, where do you go? Get the day off.
Mark Ritz: Ideally, I would do something like Avenue of the Giants on my bike.
Scott Hammond: Oh, mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: I love that ride-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … especially if they could close the road for me.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Even better.
Mark Ritz: So n- Yeah, 'cause then I wouldn't have to worry about all the RVs, the rental-
Scott Hammond: Just-
Mark Ritz: … the rental RVs.
Scott Hammond: The rental ones, yeah. So start in Shively and go all the way down to Benbow or
Scott Hammond: back-
Mark Ritz: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … or whatever.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. Spend the night in Benbow.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. Ben- Benbow Inn's cool.
Mark Ritz: It is very cool. And then, and maybe play a round of golf.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Mark Ritz: And then come back and ride back.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, they have the golf course back up.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Noticed that. They, they let it go for a little while, but-
Mark Ritz: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … uh. Okay, question three. Have you had Philz Coffee down in the Bay Area,
Scott Hammond: P-H-I-L-Z?
Mark Ritz: I have.
Scott Hammond: What is your favorite Philz Coffee?
Mark Ritz: I didn't really enjoy it.
Scott Hammond: Oh, you didn't like it? Okay.
Mark Ritz: No.
Scott Hammond: Well, the pour-over.
Mark Ritz: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And then they shook the cream.
Mark Ritz: I f- I found… Well, first off, I'd… I don't like all the additions to coffee. I'm a purist.
Scott Hammond: Do you drink it black?
Mark Ritz: I drink it black, or I drink straight espresso.
Scott Hammond: Oh, rad.
Mark Ritz: So.
Scott Hammond: So what, uh, so what coffees do you enjoy?
Mark Ritz: I like, um… My, my favorite coffees are usually medium or lighter roasts.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, I love Ethiopian coffees.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Like our 20th anniversary coffee that we have on the shelves right now-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Mark Ritz: … is… got this amazing berry front to it that's just-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Mark Ritz: … wonderful.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Um, I also like Sumatrans, uh-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Mark Ritz: … coffees. Um, they've got a strong, really strong base
Mark Ritz: to them. Um-
Scott Hammond: I, uh, I'm, I'm always… One of the things that's fascinating to me is
Mark Ritz: after 20 years of, of working in the coffee industry, I still feel like a beginner. There's always more stuff to learn on it. That's cool. It's fun. That makes it fun.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, you're just still curious and discovering- Yeah … and fun. Hey, uh, Kinetic Coffee, f- can you flip your bottle around? Tell us how to get ahold of you and how to buy product and where we could find it,
Scott Hammond: and if you needed more people to wholesale to or
Mark Ritz: how do we- Well, um, if you're looking to, uh, p- put our coffees into re- to a restaurant or a coffee shop- Mm-hmm … uh, just call the coffee company- Mm-hmm …
Scott Hammond: at 825-9417. Mm-hmm. That's 825-9417. Yeah, 825-P-BUCKET. You can spell that, right? Maybe. That's an old radio commercial- Yeah … that was Anderson Robinson in Arcata. Ah, okay. This is Steve Justice.
Mark Ritz: 822-P-BUCKET. P-BUCKET? P-BUCKET.
Scott Hammond: Okay. It's the best I could do.
Mark Ritz: Okay. And for, uh, retail customers- Mm-hmm … uh, our coffees are available at, uh, Murphy's, Wildberry's- Mm-hmm … co-ops, Safeway- ENF. ENF. Yep. Yep. Yep. All- That's where we get ours … all the locals. Um, so- So …
Scott Hammond: kineticcoffee.com?
Mark Ritz: Kinetic-coffee.com. Dash, and they're Ks. And coffee with a K. And kinetic with a K. And kinetic with a K. As it should be. Although if you could put a C on the end and, uh, could put a K on the end, that'd
Scott Hammond: be really screwy up. It really threw everybody.
Mark Ritz: That would just like-
Scott Hammond: It's like na- Nobody, nobody's gonna figure that one out. It's like naming your kid a weird name. Yeah. Those poor kids.
Mark Ritz: You poor- Or a weird spelling of it.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, the weird spelling, Kalea. How do you spell K- Is it K-A-L-E-A-H-I… Yeah, it's like any- we won't even go there.
Mark Ritz: You- No, no, no, we don't need to do that. I don't know if- I like having a name like Mark. It's almost impossible to spell.
Scott Hammond: Scott is pretty easy to- Yeah …
Mark Ritz: not screw up. But mine's a, could be a C or a K. Yeah. And yours could be one T or two. It could, it could be. 'Cause you could be a Scott.
Scott Hammond: Scott. You do have a Scot- You do have a Scot- I s- heard you doing the brogue
Mark Ritz: earlier. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Uh, so- Well, hey, as we wind it up, um, what do you want your legacy to be? What, what are we gonna say at your, at your, um, celebration of
Mark Ritz: life? Oh, boy. What, what would you… If you could, I don't know- We're getting close to that, you know.
Scott Hammond: How do you- I'm getting older. It's, we don't know.
Mark Ritz: We just don't know. We just…
Scott Hammond: You know? Jody's dad was great. He was a runner and an, an addict and a pharmacist and a marathoner, Boston qualified. Mm-hmm. And he goes… He had all these pithy AA sayings. He said, "Nobody…" Tom says, "No one gets out of here alive." It's true. And he goes, "Never go into your head alone. It's a dangerous place." It's a very dangerous place.
Mark Ritz: Yeah. I know this one really well. Right, right. I've traveled the nooks and crannies, and- It's, it's- … I wouldn't recommend it to people.
Scott Hammond: I need a guide. One of the things he, he said was, I think he copied, he goes, "Any place is within walking distance if you have enough time." True. And I go, "Okay, Tom, good one." I would, I would agree with that.
Mark Ritz: I don't know. Um,
Mark Ritz: I just hope that people remember me as a person who was true to his, his values and that, uh, I've done everything I can to make, you know, leave the world a better place than it was when I started. Mm-hmm. Amen. I think that's about it.
Scott Hammond: Does it get me any better than that? Oh, by the way, thanks for coming. You nailed it. Oh, thank you. You nailed it. Oh, great. Put that in your file. I will. And it's a Dick Taylor. Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: 73% dark. Ooh. Fleur de Sel.
Scott Hammond: Oh, very nice. Man, these guys- Dark chocolate …
Mark Ritz: you know those guys. I do know them, yes.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, thanks for being here. Well- Appreciate you …
Mark Ritz: thanks for having me on. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: What a pleasure. Yeah, I'm real honored, and, um, yeah, thanks. And so one more time, Ke- Kevin- The Kevin Ebbert- Call it the Kevin Ebbert- Yes, the Ebbert
Mark Ritz: KevinEbbertFoundation.org. Mm-hmm. Golf tournament is August? August 8th at Baywood.
Scott Hammond: At Baywood. Look for, look for that in the socials, and then also- Mm-hmm … um, uh, Kinetic Coffee. Mm-hmm.
Mark Ritz: Uh- Kinetic-coffee.com … .com.
Scott Hammond: Easy to find you guys. Yeah. Hey, thanks for coming. Hey, and thank you for tuning in to 100% Humboldt- Thank you
Scott Hammond: … with your host, Scott Hammond. And, uh, we'll be back again. Uh, find us on the socials, find us on YouTube, and like us. Maybe make a nice comment if you would. There's a prize in it for someone.
Mark Ritz: Nice comment, though. Only nice.
Scott Hammond: Only… You could put a mean one.
Mark Ritz: I don't care. We know how those comment look, comments get.
Scott Hammond: Hey, you know, we know you comment, guys. So yeah, thanks for coming, and, uh, we'll see you again soon, 100% Humboldt. And thank you, Mark. Thank you. Appreciate it.