#37. Bridging Nature and Neighbors: Ray Olson’s Humboldt County Chronicles

Scott Hammond: Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt with my new best friend, Ray Olson. Welcome to the show, Ray.

Ray Olson: Thanks for having me, Scott.

Scott Hammond: Hey, it's great to have you.

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So tell us the Ray Olson story, uh, from, uh, from birth to, to, uh, Ohio Street today.

Ray Olson: All right. Well, I mean, I, I'll, I, I'm not gonna go into that elaborate detail.

Ray Olson: But, um, yeah, my connections to Humboldt County are is that we- my family's home was in the Central Valley, but during the summers, parts of the summer, our family would come and stay up in a ranch up in Del Norte County.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: S- ever since I was a little baby, we, they were family friends.

Ray Olson: And then, uh, course I love this area. Whenever I w- would spend the school year in the Central Valley, I always pined away for up here in Del Norte-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … County, Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Where in the valley were you?

Ray Olson: It was around, uh, Stock, uh, Manteca area.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Flat and dry.

Ray Olson: Yeah. I mean, every time we'd leave here and go back there for the winter, I always used to miss it up here. So I've always felt like this was my real home up here. And then when I turned 19-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … 18 or 19, I moved up to Arcata-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Ray Olson: … and went to school at H- HSU.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Um, took me about eight years to get through because I had to earn my own way through college. So I-

Scott Hammond: Eight years?

Ray Olson: Well, yeah, I'd run out of money.

Scott Hammond: I know, I know. I can remember.

Ray Olson: Yeah. And, uh, you know, or, or if my… And then during the summer, a lot of times I could work hard all summer, get enough money to continue, but I'd, sometimes I'd run out, so I'd have to take off a

Ray Olson: term-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … and go get a job. And I mean, roofing was a great job 'cause I could make a lot of money. They'd pay you by the square that you laid.

Ray Olson: So-

Scott Hammond: Really quick.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So anyway, because of that it, it took me, um, eight years. But, uh, you know what, looking back, I'm glad it turned out that way-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Ray Olson: … 'cause I had a lot of great experiences in between classes-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … real-world experiences. So, um, after I graduated from HSU, uh, graduates are all faced with this. You wanna live up here.

Scott Hammond: Right, you wanna survive in Humboldt.

Ray Olson: But if you, you also… But, but you have a choice between following your career-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … or, you know, a less challenging job maybe here. So I chose my career. And so-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … sadly, I couldn't live for the next, um, 30 years in Humboldt, although I'd come here as often as I could.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Ray Olson: I have, I have family in the area.

Scott Hammond: Where'd you go?

Ray Olson: Um, I worked all over the state, local governments-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Ray Olson: … public service, managing environmental programs.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Ray Olson: Um, setting up recycling programs, storm water pollution prevention

Ray Olson: programs.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Ray Olson: And every chance I got, I would come up here. And like, like I said, I have family I could stay with up here. And finally, after a 30-year career in public service,

Ray Olson: I worked-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … everywhere from Tuolumne County to Ventura-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … to Yosemite, National Park, Stanislaus County, and I kept get- promoting up in my career. I was able to take a retirement from the public, uh, retirement system about 10 years ago, and then I was able to finally-

Scott Hammond: Sweet

Ray Olson: … move back up here.

Scott Hammond: Buy a place?

Ray Olson: Oh, yeah. Yeah. But I, but-

Scott Hammond: 10 years ago's about right. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah. But it, but it took me… But, you know, I, I… The nice thing is I always had a goal of moving here, and so I saved-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … every bit I could.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And I was, lived a frugal life so that I could afford to live up here and retire.

Scott Hammond: To retire. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Up here, yeah. So fortunately, um, I'm, I'm thrilled to be back what I've always considered home back to when I was a little kid.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. What a great story.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, so many people want… You know, they're born here, and, uh, "Oh, I gotta go back to Humboldt, and I gotta live there, and it's nothing going on and it rains." It's like you're the opposite. You had to work your tail off-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and figure it out and come back 'cause it was a goal.

Ray Olson: Yeah. That's true. That about sums it up.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So with the recycling and all, did you, do you know Wesley Chesbro?

Ray Olson: Yes. In fact, when I was a student here, Wesley-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … uh, was our class president, I believe it was around that time, and I've met Wesley s- since then, so… And he was real involved. I was, uh, one of the… I, I don't, I don't mean this in a bragger way, but I was one of the pioneers in the burgeoning envi- in the recycling movement-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … in the 1989.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And Wesley was a real key mover-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … along with, uh, Maggie Gaynor and others.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And I, and in fact, in s- I was hired in the city of Lancaster several years. My job-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … was to, uh, to build an entire recycling, waste reduction recycling program from scratch.

Scott Hammond: Whoa. Whoa.

Ray Olson: Oh, I had a ball in my career. I mean, yeah, it was hard work, but I loved every minute of it. And I felt like I was really contributing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He explained how that thing got off the ground. He was part of the Waste Management Board or whatever they were called.

Ray Olson: Yes, Waste Management. Yes. Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: And that he, uh, he kicked all that off, so.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, thank you, recycling friends.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's a big deal now all over the state.

Ray Olson: It is. And now you'll hear Maggie Gaynor say that what we should do is put more emphasis on reducing waste in the first

Ray Olson: place.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And she's always said that. And recycling is sort of like the Band-Aid when, when all else has failed. So the emphasis has shifted from recycle, recycle, recycle, which is still a part of the program, to do things to reduce the amount of waste in the first place.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And we did a lot of that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … um, when I was running programs. We did environmental shopping-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … methods and that sort of thing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And composting would be another way.

Ray Olson: Composting, yes. Um, uh, worm com- if you can… Yeah. There's, there's so much information, and a person just has to take time to learn all that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, you came back, and so what did you do? 10, was it 2010? Is that what you said?

Ray Olson: No, it was 10 years, uh, 10 years ago I retired, and then I came back up.

Scott Hammond: '14, okay.

Ray Olson: Yeah. And, um-

Scott Hammond: What have you been doing with yourself?

Ray Olson: Well, I, I actually got very active. Right when I got back, I, um, I enrolled at, at the,

Ray Olson: at HSU.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: It was HSU then.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: Taking classes. And before I knew it, I was a member of the local orchestra, um-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … the All Seasons Orchestra. I was cast in plays. I was doing some local films. I mean, I was a really busy guy.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Ray Olson: And-

Scott Hammond: So much for retirement.

Ray Olson: Oh, no. I mean, I don't consider it retirement. It was just a shift in life. So I've always, I've always-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … been kind of a go-getter, and I was just doing so many things. But you know what? On March, I remember the day, March 2020, everything came to an abrupt stop.

Scott Hammond: So weird. Weirdest thing ever.

Ray Olson: I know.I know. That was wild, man.

Ray Olson: I w- yeah.

Scott Hammond: We were at a Ricky Skaggs concert, the mandolin bluegrass guy over in, in Redding at the Cascade Theater, and he goes, "I'll be signing CDs at the back, and usually I'd hug y'all, but something's on the road where people are getting sick, so I'm not hugging people. But come on back and get a CD." And that was a Sunday night, and I think we were shut down Tuesday or Wednesday.

Ray Olson: Yeah, I-

Scott Hammond: And, and their concert tour is over, of course

Ray Olson: … that must've been, like, the week of that March 20th I think-

Scott Hammond: Correct

Ray Olson: … it was. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was right, it was right days before.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And they already sensed there was people dropping like flies on the road and people getting sick everywhere.

Ray Olson: Yeah, it was a wild experience. I, I was actually cast in a play at, at HSU-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Ray Olson: … you know, Paul Humboldt, and we had, we'd had done a dress rehearsal Thursday night, I think it was March 19th, and ready to start doing performances. It was Treasure Island.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: And they, they got it… They contacted us the next, next morning and said, "Everything's canceled."

Scott Hammond: Done.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Go, go home.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Buy a lot of toilet paper, folks.

Scott Hammond: Stock up.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's funny it, 'cause I think this'll be the norm going forward, "Hey, remember when," you know, "9/11?"

Ray Olson: I know.

Scott Hammond: Or, you know, March 21st or, you know, whatever the date. And, and you go, "Wow, what, what were you doing?" And so it's funny s- funny discussion. So you came back and immersed yourself in Humboldt and got involved

Scott Hammond: and-

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so what got you involved in journalism and th- well, theater, but the, uh, the video and the TV shows and, and all that?

Scott Hammond: So-

Ray Olson: Well, that-

Scott Hammond: … how'd you cycle to that?

Ray Olson: Well, that actually is connected to the, the pandemic shutdown.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: So here in March, all of a sudden my whole schedule is completely empty-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … which- … you know, I'm, I always find things to do, so I thought, "Great. I've always wanted to ex- to spend more time seeking out places in Humboldt County." So I just really got into going out in nature and exploring all these places in-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Ray Olson: … more depth and getting to learning it. And then, um, I think around that summer I started thinking, "You know,

Ray Olson: um, what, wh- why, why not go ahead and see if I can figure out how to film this stuff and then start," and then I found out about community access TV, and then start making

Ray Olson: programming.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Because I had just read that the, uh, CDC, Center for Disease Control, had said they had recommended that people get outdoors because there was a lot of mental illness going on during the summer.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Ray Olson: People were getting s- cabin fever.

Scott Hammond: Getting weird.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So I thought, "Okay, here's a way I can contribute to this pandemic. I'll, I'll make some, I'll see if I can make some videos-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … and post them on community access TV, and maybe that'll inspire one or two people to get outdoors-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … and relieve the mental stress of the pandemic." So that's kinda where

Ray Olson: it started.

Scott Hammond: Were you part of Access Humboldt up to that point?

Ray Olson: No. No, I wasn't. I, I knew about Access Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: But, um, I never thought I'd be able to ever have the technical abilities-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … to run a camera and to edit.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Ray Olson: I mean, it just seemed so far beyond me. Uh, but, but then all of a sudden I had this time, so I just, I got a little, uh, GoPro camera for a few hundred dollars.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: I bought an editing program for, I don't know, $69 for a lifetime, and I just went out and st- watched hours and hours of YouTube videos on how to do it.

Scott Hammond: And just figured it out.

Ray Olson: Yeah, figured how to use the equipment, and then I s- then I started playing it for Access Humboldt, and they liked the content, so I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … just kinda launched from there. That was, what, four years ago.

Scott Hammond: I wanna hear all about that, but first, that's what Nick did, our producer here.

Scott Hammond: He, he, during the pandemic, bes- became the podcast guru of, uh, Western Hemisphere.

Ray Olson: It's wild. I heard… Yeah, no, that's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Congratulations, Nick.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Ray Olson: I know.

Scott Hammond: I'm not sure what I did. I think I just, I couldn't stay at home very long. I'd just get jacked up. So let's go back. Where did you go to high school? Where'd you grow up, in Manteca?

Ray Olson: Yeah, I grew up in Manteca, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: Well, like I said, the, the winters and then we'd spend part of the summer up in-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … um, Del Norte County.

Scott Hammond: What part of Del Norte?

Ray Olson: It's in Crescent City. It was a ranch that's on Enders Beach. It's, it, it's-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Ray Olson: … Enders Beach Road. There used to be a ranch there. It's now a state park.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And when I was about 18, um, the State Park service took it over and made it into a state park.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Ray Olson: So the Posey family, um…

Ray Olson: Well, what, what ha- There's a, there's a… It goes back three generations.

Ray Olson: Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … my great-grandfather was a professor of engineering in the San Francisco Bay

Ray Olson: Area.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Ray Olson: And these, the, the three brothers who lived on the ranch went to college in the Bay Area to learn about engineering.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Ray Olson: And my grandfa- my great-grandfather was their professor, so they befriended them.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Ray Olson: And he would come up here. And so anyway, that family connection, friendship between their family and ours-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Ray Olson: … continued down through my father-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … and then, um, and then our whole family.

Scott Hammond: Come and visit.

Ray Olson: Yeah, we would go up there and, and as we grew older, we'd help out on the ranch

Ray Olson: and, uh-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. And that's south side of Crescent City, right?

Ray Olson: Yeah, south-

Scott Hammond: On this side

Ray Olson: … uh, south of Crescent City, correct.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Ray Olson: When you come down the, the grade-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … um, there, there's where the casino is on the right, there's a left

Ray Olson: turn-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and it goes up to a lookout called the Enders Beach. That was all the Posey ranch.

Scott Hammond: That was a whole ranch.

Ray Olson: That was a ranch, and the, and the, um, Poseys kept some cabins there.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: And it was wood stove cabin. It was pretty rustic, and we would, that's where we would stay, and we would-

Scott Hammond: That's a whole big beach, though, that line that goes all the way over-

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … to the coast.

Ray Olson: We used to walk down. We had a trail down to the beach, and we used to, um, every day we'd go down fishing, catch our own fish, and-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Ray Olson: … uh, you know, dig up clams. It was a pretty idyllic li- My brother and I still w- You know, that's, we still feel a lot of connection to that area.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's a beautiful area there.

Ray Olson: Yeah, I know it is. Well, this area's beautiful too, so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Joni and I discovered that during COVID as well. We would go up to, um, you know, Camel Rock or Huda Point and-

Ray Olson: Nice

Scott Hammond: … split up with the van, go for a walk, bring back, come for a picnic, some Dick Taylor chocolate, whatever. That, that area is right here, by the way. Just, uh, I always have to reference the map.

Ray Olson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: It's right in this area. The, the other thing I always reference, and it's funny you'd bring it up 'cause it's almost, uh, comical that everybody references, uh, Humboldt State and then the correction, the humorous tongue in cheek correction, which is true, it's Cal Poly Humboldt.And, and you gotta, you gotta kinda say it in a certain way. And I had, I had a lady that goes, "Well, you haven't earned that yet." I go, "I don't even know what that means," but Cal Poly Humboldt.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what did you study at Cal Poly?

Ray Olson: Uh, na- natural resource interpretation and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Ray Olson: … management. So it was a great major because you could take the full breadth

Ray Olson: of, uh, natural resource classes, everything-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … from oceanography to botany to-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … ornithology. Um, so it was a nice overall-

Scott Hammond: Tough major too, right?

Ray Olson: Well, the, the, uh, undergrad classes are tough, are especially

Ray Olson: tough.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Chemistry, zoology.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Ray Olson: And in fact, you know, I had to retake zoology. That was the hardest class I've-

Scott Hammond: Funny

Ray Olson: … ever taken in my life. But you know the value for me of going through college, when I got thrown out in the work world-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … they would throw these projects at me, and I thought were way beyond my technical ability and experience.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And I always thought, "God, if I was able to get through zoology, I could build-"

Scott Hammond: I could do this.

Ray Olson: Right. If I was able to figure that out-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … I could figure this out. I'll tell you another funny story. The way I'd save money for these classes, you'd buy these books, and they were super expensive. I'd go to the tin can mailman.

Scott Hammond: Go find them.

Ray Olson: Well, you… I couldn't find the exact ones, but I could… I had a zoology class or a biology. I would just buy a different biology or zoology

Ray Olson: textbook.

Scott Hammond: Edition, yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, and it'd be a lot, lot cheaper. It'd be like a few dollars, and then whenever the lectures would cover area, rather than reading the recommended reading, I would find the same

Ray Olson: information.

Scott Hammond: Same thing. They didn't reinvent zoology.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, I mean, some… But anyway, I, I got… Maybe that's why I didn't pass z- Well, I got a D in zoology. You had to get a C, so-

Scott Hammond: Well

Ray Olson: … maybe that's why I didn't.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: But I, I worked my butt off in that class. A lot of those core classes. There– But yeah, no, it was good experience.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I'm not too smart. I came up as a ocean major and discovered that you have to have chemistry and physics-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … and calculus-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … as a basis.

Ray Olson: I know.

Scott Hammond: And I was, I, you know, I was, I majored on the bong team. I was, like, not that guy, and feral child from San Diego. Sorry to… So, "Hey, kid, why don't you go do recreation administration?" Yeah, that's me.

Ray Olson: Oh, you took recreation?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. My kids go, "Dad, did you major in recess?" I go, "How dare you?" And yes, I kinda did.

Scott Hammond: But y- y- you raise a question, that is, where, how many college students are in fields that were not their, their major? And, uh, you know, th- I think it's a pretty high stats, like three-quarters don't, don't wind up in their, in their, in a career that matched their-

Ray Olson: Yeah, which is fine. You know, I used to do a lot of hiring-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … uh, in my jobs, and it, you know, they just had to have a degree-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … to get through certain, uh, to be able to, that I could even interview them, so it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … didn't matter.

Scott Hammond: So you knew they could figure out zoology, they could figure out your program.

Ray Olson: Well, I mean, we used to hire, we used to hire… One of the things I looked for was communication spills, skills, and the ability to write well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And that was so hard to find.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Um, so if it was an art major, but they could write really well, they could carry on a conversation, interact really well with the public without alienate them-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … and, and that s- public service spirit with them-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … and a passion for environmental, uh, work-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … that's the kind of candidate I was looking at. You didn't have to have a degree, a technical degree.

Scott Hammond: And able to articulate that.

Ray Olson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I like it.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I think that's all about emotional intelligence. It's funny 'cause I started public speaking in my f- early thir, late 30s, early 40s in Toastmasters and-

Ray Olson: Mm

Scott Hammond: … had no idea. A microphone, what do I do here? It's, I don't… And so I, um, it's funny how some skills come later in life, and we're never too late to learn a new thing.

Ray Olson: Yeah, you just have to do it a lot.

Ray Olson: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: You have to, um, any, any skill is something you have to repeat, like with these, these, uh, po- these casts you're doing. I, I, I would assume the more you do them, the more fluid they get and the little more-

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I'm gonna refer to my map again.

Scott Hammond: No. Yeah, no, there's certain things, you're right. It just becomes more fun and more fluid and-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … genuine and, and, uh, uh, there's a flow and a rhythm. Hopefully, we're not too jacked up.

Scott Hammond: So I see a lot of your video on… I haven't of late, but I haven't been watching a lot of TV. But I've seen a lot of, um, the trails, the walks, the, the, the, um, the historicity of some of the places you go. And, um, tell me, tell me how many are, how many are there? Uh, w- what's your position? What's your job position in that? How would you describe your duties if it was a job? I didn't realize it's a, probably more of a mission and a passion than, than anything else. But how do, how would you, how many videos? Where have you gone that's really cool, and couple stories.

Ray Olson: Okay. Um, well, I do it all volunteer. I don't receive any pay. I mainly make these, uh, videos for community access television, which I really am a big supporter of community access television.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Again, no pay of any kind, but I also put them on social media-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … um, because, you know, they're just broad- as you know, they're broadcast on, on Channel 12-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … but it's nice to have a, a repository where anybody could see them anytime.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: And, um, I do no monetization whatsoever-

Scott Hammond: Good for you

Ray Olson: … of any of the channels. Um, no sponsors, no financing. I, 'cause I don't want any money for me involved. I wanna be able to do something-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … that I do just for the sheer love and adventure of it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And that's what this is all about for me.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. Who, who gets to do that? That's great.

Ray Olson: Yeah, so I, I pretty much choose the topics because-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … you know, I'm gonna be, I know whatever I pick I'm gonna be spending a lot of

Ray Olson: time with.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: So I pick something that I know will really engage me that I probably don't know a lot about, that I wanna learn more about.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And then I do all the research, and then, um, I kinda write a script

Ray Olson: out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Uh, and then I film it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And then I edit it, and then, um, I have a little handful group of volunteers that helps me out with different parts.

Ray Olson: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Ray Olson: … like Jake, uh, s- he, he does the drone footage. He joins me for drone footage. So I just have a little small group of volunteers.

Scott Hammond: And Moonlight McCumber, is that his name?

Ray Olson: Her.

Scott Hammond: Her, that's a gal.

Ray Olson: That's, that's my wife.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's your wife. Okay.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Didn't know. Okay.

Ray Olson: Yeah, she, she-

Scott Hammond: And she does music, right?

Ray Olson: Oh, she helps with the editing.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: A lot of times what I'll do is I'll, I'll do the, all the r- the editing, and then I'll show it to her, and then she'll help polish it.

Scott Hammond: I gotcha.

Ray Olson: So she takes it up to, I guess, in a grading sense, a C level up to more of a B or an A level. So she adds some nice polish, and she's an editor.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: So she makes sure it's grammatically correct. She has much, much higher standards than I have.

Scott Hammond: That's good. That's good. It's a team.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And you have a lot of music beds from local artists, right?

Ray Olson: Well, you know, I did work at first with a lot of musical … I tried, I tried to, to work with musical artists, but it was, it was a real struggle.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Ray Olson: A lot of them just didn't have time. They had to … And, or they couldn't get to me the right format, and they didn't, just didn't have the time to work-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Ray Olson: … with me, and there's a limited venue. So I now pay out of my own pocket for a music subscription

Ray Olson: service-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Ray Olson: … called, called Epidemic Sound. And what I like about them-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Ray Olson: … is the pay that I give goes to, um, struggling artists. Not all of them, but a s- a good portion of… They say 50% of my pay, my fee-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … goes to help these artists. Um, so all the art- all the music, they're- they're not, um, they're, they're sort of what I guess you call struggling musicians that are trying to make a name for themselves.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And they get a little bit of extra money from my f- my subscription fee to the service. And, and, and I gotta say, you know, I'm not trying to sell it or anything,

Ray Olson: but-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … it, this, it's been, it's made the music part of it so much easier than it used to be when I used to have to go through all these-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … free music sites and everything else.

Scott Hammond: You could listen to 40 things and then pull one down.

Ray Olson: Yeah, it would take me hours and hours. Now with this-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … program I could, I could do things a lot quicker-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and find music that fits. And yeah, I enjoy, and I really enjoy that part of it. I have so much fun figuring out what music goes with it.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. So that whole editing. So you could pull down, this is Lamphere Dunes music. This will go good with the beach.

Ray Olson: Well, well, I get different playlists-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Ray Olson: … and, and, um, and then every t- just about every time I do it, my, my Moonlight always says, "Your music's too loud. You need to take it down so you can hear what people say." So that usually is what

Ray Olson: happens.

Scott Hammond: That's what Joni-

Ray Olson: Come on

Scott Hammond: … Joni's always, "Turn it down. Turn down the TV. It's too loud."

Ray Olson: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I go, "Okay. I, I have my hearing aids on, but okay, whatever." So I was thinking it would be fun, just a spontaneous journey here, if I was to point to the map and you would maybe gui- guide me. So you, you've done a bunch of things like, um, uh, here in Manila in the Malal Dunes and that area.

Ray Olson: Yeah, Malal Dunes. What a beautiful place.

Scott Hammond: Really cool place.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Newer BLM trail. Are they BLM? I think they are.

Ray Olson: Uh, they're, they're managed by BLM, but Fren… I'm not real sure of the arrangement.

Scott Hammond: They're kind of lo-

Ray Olson: But you have BLM, you have Friends of the Dunes, and that was actually the very first show I did during the pandemic.

Scott Hammond: Really? Okay.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah. So that was my very first one with a GoPro camera.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Ray Olson: Um, the, the mic on the GoPro, no external mic. I mean, it was like bare bones, basic equipment.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: But yeah, that's-

Scott Hammond: And, and you'll bear with me. I, I know that S- uh, Samoa Dunes, you did the thing with the pill boxes.

Ray Olson: Yeah, the-

Scott Hammond: And J- Julie, our friend Julie

Ray Olson: … oh my… Yes. The, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, she's really nice. She used to do karate with our kids.

Ray Olson: She did?

Scott Hammond: Years ago. Yeah, she's black belt.

Ray Olson: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: She's super nice.

Ray Olson: I didn't know she was a black belt.

Scott Hammond: What's her name? What's her last name?

Ray Olson: Ju- Julie Clark.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we like her.

Ray Olson: Wow. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Julie's cool.

Ray Olson: Julie's… I just filmed with her just a few days ago.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: I filmed a green screen with her. She's doing her docent character for the, for the, uh, lighthouse, the Trinidad Lighthouse.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's neat.

Ray Olson: So I'm gonna project her image in front of the lighthouse, like a ghostly image. So I just filmed that with her like three days ago.

Scott Hammond: So she does it, she does that work at the lighthouse when they, when they do the

Scott Hammond: tours?

Ray Olson: Um, she… Well, you know, she wrote a book about lighthouses, and I just found this out. The, the royalties from that book, she donates all of it to-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Ray Olson: … the, um, Trinidad Lighthouse, I think.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Julie Clark, shout out to Julie.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, Julie's great.

Scott Hammond: Oh, very nice. Yeah.

Ray Olson: And she's, she's filmed, uh, two, two different shows with me.

Ray Olson: Falk-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … and then, um, the, the old, um, lighthouse, the, the, the ruins of the lighthouse in the Samoa Dunes, which I never knew were there until-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We're watching that go, "That… Did you ever know that?" 'Cause Joni does a lot of hiking and has been out there. She rides her bike sometimes from McKinleyville down there and… So yeah, that was kind of a discovery.

Ray Olson: Well, Julie, after I'd filmed Falk with Julie, my first show, she said, "Ray, let me show you some other interesting things." She took me down and showed me this area, these ruins. What was it? 1860s or so-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … when they built this thing, and there's these, the walls and bricks are all laying around in this BLM area, so.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Ray Olson: So Julie showed that, and then she agreed to tell the whole story about-

Scott Hammond: Is that up the trail that says, uh-

Ray Olson: It's, uh, well, it's at the bunkers. You park in the same area as the bunkers, but you head on a south trail of, of the bunkers instead of going north to the bunkers. And the bunkers, she showed me the bunkers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And nobody… I, she didn't know a lot of the history, and I checked with a lot of local historians, "What's the story with these bunkers?"

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: And most people say, "Well, it was World War II." They didn't really know. And it took me a year of asking around. I finally found a historian-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Ray Olson: … his name was Jeffrey, at the Maritime Museum, that knew all about them, so I was able to finally film-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … that.

Scott Hammond: Were they World War II?

Ray Olson: They were World War II-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … but, but they were all sealed up. They're all welded shut, so you can't see in them. They've been welded shut for decades.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: So Jake had the idea. We hooked up a GoPro to a pole, and we stuck it through these little vents that Jake found, and so I was able to get footage, probably-

Scott Hammond: Of what's inside

Ray Olson: … uh, yeah, probably the first time anybody's been able to see inside these

Ray Olson: bunkers for-

Scott Hammond: Isn't that creepy and cool?

Ray Olson: It was.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Ray Olson: It was. We had a blast, you know?

Scott Hammond: That's fun.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, and then Arcata Redwood Park, of course, uh, first of all, bunkers down here in Samoa.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Up in Arcata's Redwood Park, there's a whole redwood park up behind Arcata. Uh, on the way up, as students, we always looked up at the trees and saw this carving of, there's, like, a Bambi carving, and then there's, there's two or three, right? And then there's a guy, and everybody always went, "I wonder who did that?" And you went and discovered-

Ray Olson: Oh, that was-

Scott Hammond: … that whole story, right?

Ray Olson: That is a great s- I used to see those same carvings when I was going to college here in the '80s.

Scott Hammond: We'd always hike up there and goof around.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And yeah.

Ray Olson: And so I finally, um, not… When I, a couple years ago, I thought, "By God, I'm gonna figure out who did those carvings." I asked everybody. I asked even Kevin Hoover, who knows everything about everything around here…. in Arcata. He didn't know.

Scott Hammond: Thank you.

Ray Olson: Nobody-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … nobody knew that I asked.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: So I thought, "Well, I'm gonna get…" I found a local, uh, wood carver who would help me sort of decipher how good of a carving job is, what do they use, what kind of tools-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … and learn what I could. So I did that, and, and we showed it to him in his studio, this wood carver.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: And he talked about, "Oh, well, he must have used this kind of tools."

Scott Hammond: Real quick, describe what it is, 'cause most-

Ray Olson: Okay

Scott Hammond: … most people don't… It's a, it's in a stump, right?

Ray Olson: It's in a stump. It's about 30 feet up, so you can't get to it. It's protected from vandalism.

Scott Hammond: And this is a tree that's probably as big as this table.

Ray Olson: It's an old growth redwood stump.

Scott Hammond: It's, they're huge.

Ray Olson: They're huge.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And there's, there's two deer, um, and then there's, uh, a little bear, a wood bear carved on top.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: There's a little, uh, sunshine face on it, and, um, it has, like, these, these hooded figures, two looking at each other. It's kind of interesting symbolism, which I learned later on what was behind all the symbol. So getting back to the story, so I ran this on community access TV, and then out of the blue I g- I was contacted by this, uh, woman who said, "Ray, that was my husband who carved those-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … back in the 1970s."

Scott Hammond: Wow. Just random went into the store?

Ray Olson: She… Well, it was weird because, um, it was a, a relative of hers in s- San Francisco or something had seen it and sent it to her. And so she reached out to me, and I met with her, and we, and I did a whole interview with her.

Scott Hammond: Is she local?

Ray Olson: Uh, she lives in McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: She didn't wanna be on camera, so w- so we set it up so she didn't have to be on camera. I just have her voice. And, uh, she told the whole story-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Ray Olson: … which I don't wanna s- spend the time going on there.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: But the basic short story was it was a really interesting fellow, um, who had an interesting background, and he was a, an employee at, uh, Humboldt State University-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … at the time. He carved them on his own time. He got s- permission to do so.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And there, the symbolism was he had some struggles with his mom growing up. So the sculptures were all figures with the, with the child and the mother. It was a mother and a fawn.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Ray Olson: It was a-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Ray Olson: … it was a, a two figures. It was a mother and a daughter. A- and, or so for him, I guess it was a way to sort of, um, maybe heal some of the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … you know, that conflict he had with a mother growing up. Well, he, he passed away 30 years ago, I think she said. So, um, it was a really… It was great. And so the Lost Coast Outpost, who now runs the videos that I make, they said, "Ray Olson cracks the case of the-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … of the mysterious wood carving in Arcata Forest."

Scott Hammond: Hank S- Hank Sims, good headline. Hank.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Ray Olson: Yeah, that was a really fun one. That's one of the things I love about doing-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … those. Pe- sometimes I run a show, and people come out of the woodwork-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … reach out to me, and I learn all this in-depth stuff I never would've known before, you know? So-

Scott Hammond: Have you met Jerry Rhode?

Ray Olson: Oh, I know… Jerry filmed one of the shows with me.

Scott Hammond: Oh, did he? Okay.

Ray Olson: In fact, he's the one that suggested. He goes, "Ray, you should do one on, um, Table Bluff."

Scott Hammond: Oh, perfect.

Ray Olson: I thought, "Table Bluff? What's that?" You know.

Scott Hammond: Lighthouse, Lighthouse Ranch.

Ray Olson: Big deal.

Scott Hammond: Oh, you did the Lighthouse Ranch.

Ray Olson: No, no, it was the, it was the, uh, Table Bluff Cemetery.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the cemetery. I'm sorry.

Ray Olson: Yeah, so I me- I met him for coffee, and J- and Barry Evans did it with us,

Ray Olson: too.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And I-

Scott Hammond: He's a nice guy.

Ray Olson: Well, Barry did one with me on Lolita Tunnel. I'd never been to the Lolita Tunnel.

Scott Hammond: It's cool. Isn't it right under the cemetery or-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … close by? Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yes, and it was a perfect segue because we did one in the tunnel, and then later on I did one with Barry again and Jerry, and we're w- 50 feet above the tunnel in the-

Scott Hammond: In the cemetery

Ray Olson: … in the cemetery. And it turned out to be a fascinating episode, and, and I got to hear from, you know, the historian, Jerry Rhode, all about Table Bluff.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Ray Olson: So one of the benefits of doing this volunteer work is I get to meet and spend-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … time with these, like, incredible, knowledgeable

Ray Olson: historians-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and people in the county.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And they'll spend time with me, and you know, I get to film it. So yeah, I'm having a great time.

Scott Hammond: Me too. I get-

Ray Olson: But yeah, it's-

Scott Hammond: It's his job. I keep… It's like Nick is the fourth wall over there, and no one…

Ray Olson: He's hard to see 'cause, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yes, he's in the dark over there

Ray Olson: … there's no lights on. We gotta put a… Oh, now I can see you okay.

Scott Hammond: You can see his teeth. He's got a big smile.

Ray Olson: That's good. I'm glad you're smiling.

Scott Hammond: No, you're right. I mean, somebody called me an archivist, and I think it's, you're a historical archivist. And I wanna get Jerry on the show at some point 'cause I, I think he is, he is sort of the resident historian in, in many ways,

Scott Hammond: is he not?

Ray Olson: He works hard at it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Jerry, you know, he's… He, yes, he's very devoted to it.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Jerry. We're inviting you over.

Ray Olson: And he's a great guy, Jerry.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Jerry's a great guy to work with. In fact, Jerry and, um, Barry, we're gonna get together. They, they wanna do another video with me.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: So we're gonna, we're gonna figure out-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Ray Olson: … what we're gonna do with that, the next one.

Scott Hammond: My wife, Joni, took me to the tunnel, the Lolita, which is… Well, by the way, it's right over here in Lolita.

Ray Olson: Lolita, oh my gosh.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's this huge rail tunnel.

Scott Hammond: It's-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … as big as this studio.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, what am I talking about? It's twice as big and twice as tall, and it's got art. Uh, what am I telling you for? It's got art on all the sides. Did you guys get through to the other side?

Scott Hammond: It's-

Ray Olson: N- no, I had never been in it before.

Ray Olson: Jer-

Scott Hammond: It's creepy, man. You get all the way in there.

Ray Olson: I know. It is creepy.

Scott Hammond: And you're, I'm looking around the ground. I'm going, "What am I walking in?"

Ray Olson: I know. It's, uh, yeah, we didn't make it to the end 'cause it was full of water at the end, so finally-

Scott Hammond: I think it's really flooded now after the wet winter.

Ray Olson: Yeah, this is, right now it would be flooded, but as you get towards the end of the summer, you can get through there.

Ray Olson: But, um-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Ray Olson: … the trail's kinda overgrown. It's a little treacherous in parts.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And, uh, anyway, Barry and I had a really… That was the first time I met Barry, and we had a great

Ray Olson: time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And we filmed a couple videos since then, and so I like working with Barry.

Scott Hammond: And his wife was a big Toastmaster back in the day.

Ray Olson: Yeah. Louisa, she's great too.

Scott Hammond: She's great.

Ray Olson: I know her, yes.

Scott Hammond: Super nice.

Ray Olson: Yeah. She writes articles for the North Coast Journal.

Scott Hammond: Right. And they live in Mexico part-time, right?

Ray Olson: Yes. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: What a nice gig. Go down there in the winter and up here.

Ray Olson: You know, those, those two, they're, um, they're in their 80s, and they are charging ahead just like 20-year-olds.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: They're very impressive. You know, they're an inspiration to all of us as-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … we age to, you know, k- to keep, keep going.

Scott Hammond: So are you. Is it okay to ask your age?

Ray Olson: I'm in my 60s, early 60s.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'm, I'm really s- I'mI'm 27 inside.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. But early 60s as well.

Ray Olson: Well, you know, I, I gotta say, uh, I, I feel like I don't feel any different than when I was in my 20s. I feel just as robust and-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Ray Olson: … vibrant and vital as, as that.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Ray Olson: I mean, so-

Scott Hammond: What's your secret?

Ray Olson: I'm doing something I love doing.

Scott Hammond: There you go.

Ray Olson: And I take care of myself, you know?

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do what you love doing. I love it.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what's significant about the Loleta Cemetery up above

Scott Hammond: the, uh, the, the rail tunnel?

Ray Olson: Well, there's a lot of historical-

Scott Hammond: It's quite old, right?

Ray Olson: Yeah, it was, um… I don't remember the exact dates. It's all in my video. I mean, uh, but, um, it, it's an old cemetery.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Ray Olson: And Table Bluff, um, that Jerry had explained to me, was a real critical town. It's where all the wagon train roads converged on that one town-

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Ray Olson: … in the eight- late 1800s.

Scott Hammond: Meaning more toward Table Bluff toward the beach, or just the area-

Ray Olson: Well, any wagon-

Scott Hammond: … of Loleta

Ray Olson: … all the wagon train traffic going from, um, what's down south, Fortuna area, the Eel River Valley-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … and the H- and the Humboldt Bay, had to go over, up and over Table Bluff.

Scott Hammond: So that was a c- a cathartic place to meet.

Ray Olson: It was a con- sort of a congestion point. All, and all the wagon roads converged in the town of Table Bluff. So it was, it was probably the busiest place-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Ray Olson: … in the entire county in the late 1800, in the 1800s. Um, there was a saloon there. The infamous, um, Seth, um, what was Seth's last

Ray Olson: name?

Scott Hammond: Kinsman.

Ray Olson: Seth Kinsman ran the saloon there.

Scott Hammond: He was a wild man, right? Wasn't he, like, a trapper o-

Ray Olson: He's buried in the Table Bluff Cemetery.

Scott Hammond: Right. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's… Okay. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah. Oh, he's… You probably don't wanna talk too much about Seth Kinsman. He was kind of a sordid historical character.

Scott Hammond: Right. He had a wild past, yeah.

Ray Olson: Well, more than wild. I mean, it was, uh-

Scott Hammond: He was probably murderous and-

Ray Olson: Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … it was fit of the times and-

Ray Olson: Yeah, for the times. Yeah. But, uh-

Scott Hammond: For the times, yeah. So I thought when you said, I thought you were gonna go to, uh, the BLM property where the Lighthouse Ranch was, where the-

Ray Olson: Yeah, I haven't done that

Scott Hammond: … the original lighthouse-

Ray Olson: Julie suggested I, I do that one. I haven't got to one yet.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh. Um, yeah, there was a gospel outreach, bought that years ago, and they had… It was a, a base, discipleship base camp for a lot of wayward, feral hippie children who, um, wanted to follow Jesus.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And they sent people all over the world and did a lot of good stuff, and then they sold that, and I, I think it'd be a great site. Who, who am I to suggest places for you?

Ray Olson: Well, I'll, I'll tell you what-

Scott Hammond: Gosh

Ray Olson: … what, what you have to select, too, though. You have to, on a video. I, I, actually, Julie talked to me, but the thing is, you have to have visuals when you do a video. So if I went out there, it's just empty land. So you, so I'd be forced with just telling a whole story.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: So I usually pick subjects. Like, I, I did one on the Milwaukee shipwreck. Well, you can still see the remnants of an old ship there

Ray Olson: buried.

Scott Hammond: At the low tide, right?

Ray Olson: Yeah, at the low tide. And um, you know, I did one with a 1091 ship. There's a ship there that you can go in. So the Samoa bunkers, there's bunkers there. So it, it really helps to have a visual that I can include rather than just an empty, vacant piece of land and say, "Well, here's-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … the history that used to be here."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Ray Olson: And the Table Bluff, I had the cemetery. So that's kind of what I have to-

Scott Hammond: That's good. Yeah, I like that

Ray Olson: … sort of angle for on these, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Like, uh, I know Southern Humboldt has the, uh, the, uh, four fireplaces. It was-

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah. The old, um, the, the Women's, uh, League, League of Women's Voters-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … had set that up. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The grove there. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah. I usually don't go too far down south because any of these I make, I'll have to go back and film repeatedly, you know.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Ray Olson: Sometimes up to 10 times.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really? Wow.

Ray Olson: Yeah, I, I, I'll, I'll… A lot of times I'll, I'll look at my footage. "Ah, I need to refilm that. I need to refilm…" I do put a lot of time and effort into this. And so if I pick somewhere too far away, I gotta make, you know, 10 trips down.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty rough.

Ray Olson: Yeah, so I, I… You'll notice most of the shows, you were showing the cluster. They're all within less than a half hour, 20-minute drive of-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … Arcata, where I live. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you go to Blue Lake and go to the, go to the, uh, uh, the fish hatchery. You can do that a couple times 'cause it's-

Ray Olson: Yes, yes

Scott Hammond: … right there.

Ray Olson: Yes. Uh, Trinidad, I'm, I'm working on one right now with the Trinidad

Ray Olson: Museum.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Ray Olson: So that's a, you know, a 10-minute drive.

Ray Olson: And-

Scott Hammond: That's a great little museum.

Ray Olson: Well, they contacted me, and they said, uh, "Ray, would you be interested in doing-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Ray Olson: … an episode on Trinidad Museum?" So I went there and met with them. I said, "Yeah, this is really interesting."

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. They have a real good little historical-

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … society there.

Ray Olson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Really, really wonderful people, too, though.

Scott Hammond: That is a wildly historical little town, and it's so much fun.

Ray Olson: I wanna spend some time doing, uh, some stuff in, uh, Trinidad and the, and the lighthouse. I'm gonna go there their ne- one of their open Saturdays and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … film some of that with them.

Ray Olson: And-

Scott Hammond: We finally got to do that. It was really worth seeing.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, you make me realize how cool this place is-

Ray Olson: It is

Scott Hammond: … that we live in.

Ray Olson: Humboldt is just incredible.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So when I was, uh, quick story. I was, when I was a young insurance guy, there was a, a State Farm guy that I was training with, and Don… I, I came with my sport coat, and I was ready to go, and he goes, "Hey, get the canoes. We're gonna take these kayaks and go to Hook and Slough." And, and he said three things. He goes, "When it comes to life insurance, be the guy at the funeral, have a big check for somebody." I said, "Okay." And he goes, "Number two, um, s- do something community. Do, do a support of this beautiful Humboldt County." And number three, I'll never forget, and we're sitting there paddling. It's 70 degrees and perfect. He goes, "Go out and enjoy this beautiful Humboldt County. Make it, make it your passion to do that." I go, "Dude, I'm just starting a career at 53. I don't know if I'm gonna have any passion for a long time." But I, I adapted to that, and I see, uh, what my wife sees, and she hikes all over the county and loves it and, and does a lot. Have you done anything up, uh, Sue Meg, Patrick's Point, Prairie Creek?

Ray Olson: Um-

Scott Hammond: Up, up that part of the coast?

Ray Olson: Yes, I, I have, actually. Um, I went to, uh, I was in a, OLLI had a week-long camp at-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Ray Olson: … at, at a camp near, um, Prairie Creek, and I

Ray Olson: actually-

Scott Hammond: Wolf Creek.

Ray Olson: Yeah, Wolf Creek. And I filmed a, a… It was four da- a four or five-day camp, and I filmed a bunch of stuff with

Ray Olson: that.

Scott Hammond: Did you stay the whole time?

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Did you have a good time?

Ray Olson: Oh, I had a blast.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Ray Olson: Oh, yeah. In fact, um, they did it two years ago, and they– I was really looking forward to doing it again last summer.

Ray Olson: They had-

Scott Hammond: They canceled it, yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, at the last minute. There was staffing issues, so I'm– I don't know. I haven't heard. It would be great if they did it again next summer.

Scott Hammond: I wanna go.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we talked about it last year, and it-

Ray Olson: Well, watch the video 'cause I, uh, you really get a taste of what it's like. I, I filmed– 'cause you get to go to different classes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: So I filmed footage from each class.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Um, and by class, I mean how to fish-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … you know, out on the beach, how to surf fish.

Scott Hammond: Surf fish.

Ray Olson: How to identify ferns. So I got some footage from e- from all the classes I

Ray Olson: was in-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and I kinda put them together and interviewed some of the people. It's really– it really gives you a taste of what's out-

Scott Hammond: Is there biking, too, or cycling or some-

Ray Olson: Yeah. Yeah, we took a mountain biking, uh, class.

Scott Hammond: And some hiking stuff.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Of course there's hiking.

Ray Olson: Yeah, it was, it was a lot of fun. We had a great time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I wanna do that. So I was a rec major at Humboldt-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … uh, before it was Cal Poly Humboldt.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, just think of the most gnarly storm you could think of in Humboldt in the winter when the trees are doing this.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we, we did a, a camp out at Wolf Creek on a night like that, uh, in

Scott Hammond: tents-

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … out under giant redwoods that are just like– you could hear them falling. And, and, you know, the insanity of the, the program leader to bring us out there and, and to do Wolf Creek in the, uh, crazy storm. But when you're 20 or 19, you don't care 'cause you're invincible. Nothing, nothing did happen, but…

Ray Olson: Was that for a class? Or-

Scott Hammond: The class. Yeah, it was an overnight class. The next day was beautiful, but-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the night before, I mean, they, they had closed 101 'cause a, you know, a 40-foot diameter redwood fell, and it locked up 101. But anyway, so-

Ray Olson: Ah

Scott Hammond: … yeah, Wolf Creek's fun.

Ray Olson: Yeah. Have you been back there since?

Scott Hammond: Mm-mm. Well, we've ridden bikes through there.

Ray Olson: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: It's kinda part of the bike, bike route in the back way of, um, Patrick's… Not Patrick's. Prairie Creek.

Ray Olson: Prairie Creek, right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's really cool. So t-tell me, l- transition me to your involvement with Access Humboldt and do– it sounds like you have kind of an active role there besides a contributor, or are you on the board, or…?

Ray Olson: Um,

Ray Olson: I– the– that's what I do for them main- I mean, with them is I, I'm a member, which, as you know, costs $25 a year, and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … um, I produce programming for them.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: And they, they appreciate the programming that I produce, and I'm a, I'm a big, uh, supporter for community access television. It used to be just about every town or county had community access statewide.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And they've slowly been diminishing. There's only a few left-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … so I'm so grateful that we have one in Humboldt County. It's, it's programming where they don't have commercials.

Ray Olson: They let-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … people like me play programming- … 'cause I do more than just Humboldt outdoors. I do some weird stuff, like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … out, out, out there stuff.

Scott Hammond: We'll talk about that in a minute.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So, so where else can you do that, you know?

Ray Olson: I mean-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … a-and the– and, and if you watch things on YouTube, they have commercials now,

Ray Olson: and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's terrible

Ray Olson: … and there's monetizing. They're tracking everything you're doing. And, and there's, you know, there's about 25, 30,000 subscribers locally for comm- uh, for

Ray Olson: cable TV.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Ray Olson: And I run into people all the time pretty regularly, and they say, "Yeah, I see all your shows." And I always ask them where you see it, and they all say community access TV. Not YouTube, not Facebook.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, Suddenlink, which is Optimum, which is whatever. So I worked there for 10 years. I was in sales.

Ray Olson: At wh-where?

Scott Hammond: At, uh, which, which was Cox Cable-

Ray Olson: Oh

Scott Hammond: … which became Suddenlink-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … which is our local cable provider.

Ray Olson: Oh, okay. So you were in the business.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, no, we had 40,000, 50,000 subscribers of the day. It was big. And then, um-

Ray Olson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … it's changed hands a few times. But in that time, Sean McLaughlin, your-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … your director-

Ray Olson: Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … was part of a nego- a negotiation where they negotiated not one, not two, but I believe there's five channels.

Ray Olson: Y-yes.

Scott Hammond: So-

Ray Olson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … so to your point, this is, this is a lot of bandwidth for, for Access.

Ray Olson: I know. We are so fortunate to have that in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: And it's cool. So here's– I'm watching, you know, all the, all the city council meetings and planning commission, and here comes you, and i-it's, it's always cool to go through there. Oh, yeah, I know that guy. W- that, oh, that, that guy. Jody, let me tell you about that guy.

Scott Hammond: And so it's always fun to see something local as opposed to Dan Rather or I guess it's somebody else now, but Walter Cronkite. Let, let me go really dated. You know, some national, international news that I have no connection to. So it, it, it does perform something amazing. But I, I like the fact that… L-let's just do a hard stop. So 25 bucks a year gets me a membership on Ac- Humboldt Access, and how do we find them? Just-

Ray Olson: Well, it gives you more than that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: It gives you access to, uh, to rent all the equipment you need, I think for-

Scott Hammond: Which you did.

Ray Olson: Well, that was the thing. When I started in the pandemic, they, they– it was all closed, so I couldn't rent anything. If, if it hadn't have been during the pandemic, I could've taken classes. I could've learned through Access Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Tell us more about that, 'cause-

Ray Olson: Well, um, now somebody, if they join, the $25 a year, they could take classes, learn how to use the equipment. They even have editing bays. You don't even have to buy your own editing sy- editing system.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: You could go there, edit your own footage. Um, they have the equipment. I think it's $10, I don't know the exact amount, for a week.

Ray Olson: Low cost. And, um, anybody in Humboldt County-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … you have to be a resident of Humboldt County-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … can go out there and make their own programming. And, and, uh, I would love-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … to see more people do that.

Scott Hammond: Is it state-of-the-art stuff, Ray?

Ray Olson: It's good. It's good equipment, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: Yeah, really good equipment. They have wireless microphones. They have lighting systems-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. What?

Ray Olson: … cameras, and, uh, the training on how to use them.

Scott Hammond: I'm gonna look over Nick's way. Did, did you do any training with those guys? You're j- you're just organic, self-trained. Yep, okay. Gotcha.

Ray Olson: Yeah, that's like I am because I didn't have that resource when I was-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … starting out because of the pandemic.

Scott Hammond: But that's wonderful, so…

Ray Olson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: And we need people. You know what? I would love to have someone do something like what I'm doing, but they go out to businesses 'cause I'm Humboldt outdoors, but it'd be ne- nice to have somebody do Humboldt indoors or, you know, where they go into bus- local businesses and see what's going on there-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and, and, y-you know, other things like that.

Scott Hammond: That's a great idea. Restaurants.

Ray Olson: Restaurants. Like, it could be going into-

Scott Hammond: Coffee.

Ray Olson: Coffee. Yes. So-

Scott Hammond: And then you got industry where you could get in and have access to… What does that, what does that company do?

Ray Olson: I tell you, like a, a roast, wouldn't it be neat to see somebody do something on when they roast beans in a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … in a local coffee roastery?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Uh, but it'd have to be s- but there's no pay here. That's the, that's it. It'd have to be somebody who just wants to do… Like, for the love of it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … and real interest of it, who really wants to know that and figures out how to use the equipment. I wish we had-

Scott Hammond: Be the Mike Rowe of Humboldt County.

Ray Olson: I, I don't know who that is, but-

Scott Hammond: He's, he's a guy that goes out and does, uh, what does he do? He does, he's did Dirty Jobs, and he did another one.

Ray Olson: Oh, Dirty Jobs. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, someone's gotta, someone's gotta do it. He did, actually did Dick Taylor when they were up at Almquist Lumber in Arcata.

Ray Olson: Really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He-

Ray Olson: Yeah, we need a-

Scott Hammond: When they were really small, and he-

Ray Olson: We need a g- Dirty Jobs person in Humboldt County, you know? It's local programming.

Scott Hammond: I like that. That's a, that's a great idea.

Ray Olson: You know, I've seen, uh… If you go onto YouTube, you see so many of these people who travel through the state, and they cover areas they come through, and they cover

Ray Olson: the areas.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: Well, I, you know, I mean, it's nice that they do that, but these aren't people who are intimately in love with Humboldt County. They come through.

Scott Hammond: Correct. Yeah.

Ray Olson: I mean, I, I'm, I'm not disparaging them s- but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … but I would rather see locals that live here, that know this area and love this area enough to live here, to do these kind of programs.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: And, and that would be The Dirty Jobs on… It is a great job. Is anybody out there?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Come to, come to the next Access Humboldt meeting. Sign up, learn how to do it. We could do, use that.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, there's so many pl- like, just my head's already going, "Wow, that would be a good one. Go check out that."

Ray Olson: I know, and, and I could, and I could vouch, I am having the time of my life doing this. So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … you know, it, but, but there is a learning curve, and you have to get through the learning curve, and I'm still learning, but for me, that was a big part of the

Ray Olson: fun-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … of it.

Scott Hammond: No, and your joy shows when you're running down a trail going nuts, and, "Hey, look at this."

Ray Olson: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: "This is amazing."

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun.

Scott Hammond: It's great.

Ray Olson: And the research end of it, too. You know, before I even start filming, I go to the spec- I spend a lot of time researching, talking to people on the phone. So it's a great learning experience for, for me, too.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … there's a lot of benefits to it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So the homework piece is a big, big piece-

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … of what you do.

Ray Olson: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: How many videos do you think you've shot roughly that are-

Ray Olson: I, uh-

Scott Hammond: … finished sort of videos

Ray Olson: … well, the Humboldt Outdoors, I probably have

Ray Olson: 30, 30 to 40 different episodes there.

Ray Olson: They run-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … they run between 12 and 18 minutes.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: And then my other stuff that I make, uh, probably another 20 or 30.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: So I, I usually… I'm pretty active.

Scott Hammond: And y- you and your brother, is that the guy with the top hat?

Ray Olson: Yeah, my-

Scott Hammond: Is he your real brother?

Ray Olson: Yeah, that's my brother.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: My brother lives up here, and-

Scott Hammond: What's his name?

Ray Olson: John.

Scott Hammond: John.

Ray Olson: Well, he-

Scott Hammond: Is he the cane guy that does the cane classes?

Ray Olson: No, that's, that's, uh-

Scott Hammond: That's the other guy

Ray Olson: … Doc Stoll. That was a guy… I got a, I got my Ollie-

Scott Hammond: That's right. You did a story with him in Trinidad.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So I just called him up, and I said, "Would you wanna do a video?" He, he did a class called Cane Spinning.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: So I thought, "Well, I wanna find out that…" So-

Scott Hammond: It's a thing

Ray Olson: … so, so we met at Trinidad. I'd never met him before, and we spent half a day filming. I had a ball with Doc. In fact, I still get e- I still get… I got one guy posted that said, "You need to get Doc Stoll back on here. Your, your channel's going downhill 'cause you don't have Doc Stoll on here."

Scott Hammond: Gotta get Doc back.

Ray Olson: I know. He's been, like, the most charismatic person-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … besides Barry Evans-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … that I… Whenever I have Barry Evans, it's like everybody wants to see it.

Scott Hammond: Well, Barry's British, and he's got the British thing.

Ray Olson: Well, the knowledge, too.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yes, he does.

Ray Olson: But, so, um, but Doc Stoll, man, he knows a lot of people,

Ray Olson: and, and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … I, I should have Doc Stoll… We should do something else together.

Ray Olson: I would-

Scott Hammond: Or the cane. I wonder if you could tie the cane into something. I don't know.

Ray Olson: Well, it tied in really well 'cause it was about cane flow, about the flow of

Ray Olson: nature.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And we walked on a trail, so we were able to talk about the trail.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And, you know, part of this is also to encourage people to get out

Ray Olson: themselves-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Ray Olson: … and see these areas.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Ray Olson: And as, and, and, and to know a little bit about the history of it when they go out to make it even a more enriching and rewarding experience. So that's part of-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … why we're doing these.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You prep p- somebody to come out to go looking specifically for some markers.

Ray Olson: Well, they also, they see it. You know, I, I, I did talk to some people I know that have been around for 30 years, and they say, "Hey, Ray, we s- we saw your, your show on the bunkers."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: "God, we haven't been out there for 20 years." And they, they said, "We went out there and looked at it."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Ray Olson: You know, so it's partly to inspire lo- longtime locals who haven't got out to these areas, like, "Oh, yeah, look at that in the video. I should go out there again and, and go out there and, you know, explore it again."

Scott Hammond: I love that. Yeah. And I think the message is still valid even more so today post-COVID.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Get off your couch. Hit the road, Jack. Grab your cane. Grab whatever you, your walking sticks, your tennies.

Ray Olson: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And go get out. Go get some fresh air. It's not gonna kill you.

Ray Olson: Yeah. And, and, uh, uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: You know, cigarettes on the couch could kill you. So, uh, hey, tell, so tell me more about your brother. You, you guys have done some kind of wi-

Ray Olson: Right

Scott Hammond: … wild stuff, some fun-

Ray Olson: Well, my brother was, um, filming with his GoPro years before I started, and, and he would, he would do sort of these funny little shows. And, um, so I join him once in a while. He films a totally different style than what I film-

Scott Hammond: Right

Ray Olson: … but I have fun. It's a, it's a fun thing for, for us. Uh, we're, we're close. We have a lot of fun together.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Ray Olson: So we film these, these fun little things where we play different characters.

Scott Hammond: Is he your older or kid brother?

Ray Olson: He's younger.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Ray Olson: So, um, w- we just ha- it's a f- it's a great, uh, shared activity that my brother and I have a lot of fun doing together. He does all the filming and editing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … for those shows that he's in.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And so it's kind of a break for me 'cause I don't have to do any of the filming or

Ray Olson: editing.

Scott Hammond: Right. You're just there for the fun.

Ray Olson: I'm there for the fun with my brother, and there's-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Ray Olson: … less scripted. A lot of it's just improv, so we have a good-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … time, and we have a friend named Steve-O Vidnick who-

Scott Hammond: I know Steve-O.

Ray Olson: You know Steve-O?

Scott Hammond: Steve-O's cool. Hi, Steve-O.

Ray Olson: Steve-O's been in a few of our films.

Scott Hammond: He plays bass? He's a good…

Scott Hammond: Or-

Ray Olson: No. As-

Scott Hammond: Is he in a band?

Ray Olson: … as a character.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Ray Olson: He is hilarious.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. But he is a bass player.

Ray Olson: Oh, yeah, he… Oh, yeah, he's in a band.

Ray Olson: Yeah, he is.

Scott Hammond: Steve-O's a nice man.

Ray Olson: And Steve-O's one… He still is. He, he still is very active on the local music scene.And he's been– He's great. When the three of us get together, my brother, Steve-O, and me, oh my God, we

Ray Olson: just-

Scott Hammond: That's crazy

Ray Olson: … we have– We did one where he was, uh, uh, Kit Carson, who had come back to life 'cause he was in prison, who was, um, the– He, he really built the Carson Mansion, and he came to Eureka.

Scott Hammond: That's hilarious.

Ray Olson: He came back to wreak vengeance on-

Scott Hammond: I think I saw that

Ray Olson: … Eureka, yeah. For-

Scott Hammond: Is that the one in Ferndale where he, he-

Ray Olson: Well, we did another one with him where he-

Scott Hammond: You did a separate one in Ferndale

Ray Olson: … where he was a statue that we brought back to life,

Ray Olson: and

Ray Olson: yeah.

Scott Hammond: Kit Carson.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So he's Kit Carson. So he's all mad because he said, "You said that William Carson built the mansion, but it was really me, Kit Carson."

Scott Hammond: Great.

Ray Olson: So he wreaks havoc. My brother did all these special effects, so he wreaks havoc-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … on downtown Eureka, and, and finally we– there's a whole storyline, and we finally calm him down, and then he, then he's, you know, he's cool again.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So I guess it begs the question, the Carson Mansion is probably the quintessential landmark of history in, maybe in the North State, but in some ways, w- is that something that you would ever tackle, or have you?

Scott Hammond: Or-

Ray Olson: Um, not really. I mean, um,

Ray Olson: if I was-

Scott Hammond: Or maybe you have reasons that you wouldn't. It's just it's, it's too obvious. I mean, I– There's certain people that I wouldn't have on the show 'cause everybody already has heard from 'em.

Ray Olson: Right. Um, well, I, I would be agree– I, I've always been– I've been inside before,

Ray Olson: and-

Scott Hammond: It's, it's cool

Ray Olson: … it would be, it would be interesting to do a, a tour, but I don't know if that's something they would wanna do, or they– I would be really interested in having somebody take me on a tour to show me things on the outside and talk

Ray Olson: about it.

Scott Hammond: And tell you the story, yeah.

Ray Olson: Tell the stories about it, but, um, I, uh, you know, I've never

Ray Olson: approached-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … anybody about that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: I know they're, they're kind of restrictive on who goes in there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you'd be surprised. They let-

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They– If they let me in yesterday, they'll, they'll let you in.

Ray Olson: Well, I, I went in one time, uh, when I was in a-

Scott Hammond: This is cool

Ray Olson: … I was in a choir group, and we went and sang in there or something.

Ray Olson: I c-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … I can't remember the, that, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … yeah, that's what it was. And, um-

Scott Hammond: I sat in a meeting yesterday. So I, I work for State Farm, and we had a regional meeting in there-

Ray Olson: Oh

Scott Hammond: … and one of the… And just as a member, what- whatever. And I'm sitting around looking at the wood, and I'm going, "My goodness, this,

Scott Hammond: this cat-

Scott Hammond: … figured it all out." And e- and every room's different, and the a- the architecture's really interesting. So, um, maybe after the show I'll g- I'll, I'll introduce you to Tim.

Ray Olson: Yeah. I-

Scott Hammond: He's– Timmy's a real cool guy, and he might… I, I don't know. We'll, we'll talk.

Ray Olson: I, I would certainly consider. I'm– I think it would be interesting, but I, uh, sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, uh, Humboldt overall then, g- your perspective on, on the county, what, what do you like? What do you not like? What do you wanna see change? What do you think the opportunities are? Just generally from Ray's point of view, what, what do you, what do you hope for, uh, down the road for kids, grandkids?

Ray Olson: Well, um, I, you know, what we have right now in, in Humboldt is, is very unique and very– We have a really strong quality of life. I've heard the term blue zone used, and I know-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … we're, we're faced with, um, this prospect of, of really increasing population.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: So, you know, I'm a little leery of that.

Ray Olson: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Quick, quick stop. What is a blue zone?

Scott Hammond: I, I don't-

Ray Olson: A blue zone are areas where people really thrive in their health-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Ray Olson: … and longevity and quality-

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Ray Olson: … of life based on their, their, their, where they

Ray Olson: live.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: And it's usually, uh… And it's, and a lot of those, um, we tick a lot of the boxes as Humboldt County currently is.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: Um, so anyway-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Ray Olson: … I'm– I don't have any direct control on how the county evolves.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Uh, I'm kind of an observer. There's– Uh, I've, I've found that the, the, the change to Cal Poly Humboldt actually really interesting.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: That'll be interesting to see.

Ray Olson: I know the-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … the wind terminal, if that goes through, the fish farm. You know, we have some really interesting-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … things happening here, developments, and, uh, I guess I'm just sort of interested to see how that all evolves.

Scott Hammond: And all the trails that are coming in, you know, south-

Ray Olson: Yeah. So if it's ri-

Scott Hammond: … south of Eureka.

Ray Olson: Oh, yeah. That's gonna be exciting when that trail… I wanna ride my bike into Eureka from Arcata once that's in.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's coming. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Have you done a show on the trail system, or I, I don't… It's not history. It's, it's kind of new history.

Ray Olson: Well, it– My shows aren't just about history. They're also-

Scott Hammond: It's on a rail bed, yeah

Ray Olson: … about sites and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … everything else, but, um, once it, once it, um, once they complete that trail, yeah, I might do something on that.

Scott Hammond: It hooks into the Great Redwood Trail.

Ray Olson: Yeah. That– I thought that was a pretty exciting development.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh, yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah. So-

Scott Hammond: What's, uh, Reese, uh, what does Reese-

Ray Olson: Reese Hughes. Yeah, I know Reese Hughes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he, he's on the show, and he's talking about that.

Scott Hammond: He's stoked. He goes, "We are– You know, we probably may not see the completion of it, but it's coming." And I think that's got great, a great h- great possibility to, you know… Would you like to ride to Willits with me today?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: Yeah. Yeah. I mean-

Scott Hammond: And it would be a lot safer than 101, I'm thinking.

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, so a- as we wind up here, tell me a little bit about what you'd like your legacy to look like. What, what are we gonna say at your funeral?

Ray Olson: Oh, I, I don't know. I'm not that much into legacies, but-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … um, I don't know. I, I, I don't know if there'd be any grand legacy. I think when my time comes, I'll just kinda go out quietly. I, I, I, I will have to say this. If my legacy ended, like, tomorrow or next week, I've had a grand

Ray Olson: life.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Ray Olson: And whenever it does end, um, I'm, I've– it's been

Ray Olson: a w- wonderful experience.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Ray Olson: And I'm so glad that Humboldt County has been such a integral part of my life, and Del Norte County has been such an integral part of my life. It's-

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Ray Olson: I've traveled around the world, and I gotta say H- Humboldt and Del Norte to me are the most beautiful places in, in this entire world of all the different areas I've seen.

Scott Hammond: That's a real– That's a big statement.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And I, and I say that very sincerely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And in fact-

Scott Hammond: No, it's great

Ray Olson: … I don't travel anymore. Since I moved up here permanently, I have not had any– I used to be a world– I used to love traveling all

Ray Olson: over.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Ray Olson: But now since I've moved up here, I don'tHave any desire to go anywhere else. I just want… I- It's like I have so much area, uh, to explore just right here in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Still, yeah.

Ray Olson: Still, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, my wife keeps telling me there's so many more trails to walk and, and go explore and camp or what, you know, hike and go see.

Ray Olson: And history, too. I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … I keep learning new things about our county.

Ray Olson: It's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … it's, uh, really w- all of us who live here, um, really to feel the gratitude of that-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … is, is part of living here, I think.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So where do you, uh, go when you go, go out to eat? I realize y- I've seen you shop at the Co-op. We met several months ago.

Ray Olson: My favorite place to eat on is campus.

Scott Hammond: Camp- Oh, yeah.

Ray Olson: I'm a, I'm a student through the extended studies program, and I, I've been taking film classes, and so I'm able to access their, their dining options.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Ray Olson: I love eating at the campus.

Scott Hammond: It's got Lost Bagels up there and…

Ray Olson: They have that, and they also have The J and other, uh-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Ray Olson: … they're, all, they're, and the marketplace, so, uh, I'm able to eat there 'cause I'm, like I said, I'm taking, I took four units last year. I was on the Lumberjack. That was a four-unit class. So I'm able to take classes. They have a program there if you're, if you're 60 or over-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Ray Olson: … you can take up to six units of extended education for

Ray Olson: $64.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Ray Olson: So you-

Scott Hammond: For the whole… And then you gotta buy your books?

Ray Olson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Uh, yeah. But that, but the, that's the tuition for it.

Scott Hammond: Is four units, is that one, is that one film class, or is that a pair of classes?

Ray Olson: That's a, no, that's a, a four-unit film class. And the Lumberjack, when I was on-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Ray Olson: … I was on the Lumberjack staff, uh-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Ray Olson: … group. I made videos for them. That was four units.

Scott Hammond: Lumberjack is their newspaper.

Ray Olson: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Ray Olson: And so, um, I'm probably gonna enroll in another film class in the

Ray Olson: fall.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: I'm, I'm working with some student film-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … student film projects this term. So I'm, I'm, I'm working a lot with the college to-

Scott Hammond: I like that. That's a-

Ray Olson: Yeah. Yeah, it's great

Scott Hammond: … that sounds like a fun thing to do.

Ray Olson: Oh, the students are so much fun to work with.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Ray Olson: I have a wonderful time.

Scott Hammond: Oh, students are great. Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, so tell me, tell me more about OLLI real quick, the extended ed. So you did Wolf Creek, but have you done some of their other classes?

Ray Olson: Yes, uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Have you offered classes? Seems like you'd be a…

Ray Olson: Uh, no, I, I haven't.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: I haven't done that.

Scott Hammond: Also a cool program.

Ray Olson: OLLI's great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: You know, I mean, there's so many options. And you're right. It's, it's available for people who wanna teach classes. They're always seeking instructors, so-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Ray Olson: … um, yeah, it's a, it's another great program we're very fortunate to have here-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Ray Olson: … in this area.

Scott Hammond: So I'm gonna let you bring it in here. I, I'll save the best for last. Who is Ray Olson, and, and what do you want? So I, I'll let, I'll just kind of wind up on that and, so who are you? Uh, who is Ray Olson?

Ray Olson: Um, I'm just a, a local community volunteer who tries to give back to Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … uh, the people of Humboldt and the community of Humboldt. That's who I am.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Ray Olson: Uh, public service.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Ray Olson: That's what I'm all about. I've always have been about public service. And what do I want? I wanna contri- I wanna continue to, uh, give back in to the community in, in a meaningful way that

Ray Olson: also resonates with my interests and my passions.

Scott Hammond: Love it.

Ray Olson: So that kind of sums it up.

Scott Hammond: Man, you, you've answered succinctly. I love it. A lot of people get stumped. They go, uh, "World peace." I, you know, they don't ha- But I love your answer. Tell, uh, tell us, l- let's do the shameless plug real quick. So you, you're on YouTube?

Ray Olson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You have a channel?

Ray Olson: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So if I wanted to, uh, if we wanted to click on the-

Ray Olson: Well, I, uh, the easiest, everybody knows Lost Coast Outpost.

Scott Hammond: Okay, just go to Loco?

Ray Olson: Yeah, go to Loco and type in Humboldt Outdoors, and they have all the videos there. That's usually the easiest way to s-

Scott Hammond: Is it lostcoastoutpost.com or .org? It d- What is it?

Ray Olson: No, it's .com.

Scott Hammond: People will find it, yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, just everybody knows, everybody watches Lost Coast Outpost, and they have all my, uh, all my Humboldt Outdoor videos on there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, so you're all archived on-

Ray Olson: They're all archived on the Lost Coast Outpost.

Scott Hammond: What a great thing, man.

Ray Olson: Well, they, they, they do it. I mean, I, th- there's no money exchanged between us. They just do it because they like the shows. They like to get them out, so.

Scott Hammond: Well, it plays right into their, their mission, too.

Ray Olson: Yeah, and I, and I, and I like the Lost Coast Outpost. You know, they're, it's, uh, freely available to anybody.

Scott Hammond: And you have a separate YouTube channel, though, f-

Ray Olson: Yeah, I have, uh, well, the, the, their links actually take you back to the You- If you go to Lost Coast Outpost… You know, if you, sometimes people do searches on YouTube, and I don't know. It's, it's a kind of a rinky-

Scott Hammond: It's kind of weird, yeah

Ray Olson: … we're a rinky-dink channel, so you may not come up in a search. So, but everybody, if you go to Lost Coast Outpost, click on, and then it takes you back. But again, I don't monetize, so I'm not looking for views or-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you don't care.

Ray Olson: I, I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Well, I, I mean, I, I wanna give back, and, and i- I'm not looking for the

Ray Olson: numbers.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: I'm not out there at social media, "Oh, I need more views. I need more views." I, you know, I… In fact, usually by the time I post this, the video, I'm-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Ray Olson: … I'm pretty much done with it. M- f- the fun for me is creating them.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the journey.

Ray Olson: So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: Yeah, the journey, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Ray, what a pleasure. Uh, uh, thanks for coming.

Ray Olson: Yeah. It's, it was great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, great conversation and, um, anything else? Uh, parting shots? Anything you'd like to…

Ray Olson: No. Well, thank you to you for y- for producing programming for Access Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Thank you.

Ray Olson: It's a real community resource, and you're, you and I are both parts of it, so

Ray Olson: great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Ray Olson: And you are, too. Thanks.

Scott Hammond: Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. Hey, thanks for coming. Have a great day. 100% Humboldt.