CRA News January 2006

Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association

The pontoon boat tour of Elkhorn Slough in November was such a popular outing that another full boat went out as soon as the first one returned. The members above, in the first boat, were thrilled with the number of seals, otters and birds they encountered and with avoiding the rain! The second trip was a bit damp, but they had a wonderful time.

CRA Meeting: Carmel cottages --
a big part of our village charm

A profusion of outings!

The Social Committee co-chairs, Suzanne Arnold and Gene McFarland, have done an unbelievable job of planning great outings for Residents Association members. Here are details on signing up for the first trip in February and a preview of the others:

Wed., Feb. 8, 10:30 a.m. -- Docent Tour of Maritime Museum, Monterey Bay. Our host will be Tim Thomas, museum historian and director of public events. CRA member Lani Fremier has graciously agreed to provide a family perspective of her father, Allen Knight, whose personal collection is the nucleus of the museum. The museum is closed to the public on Wednesdays, so we will enjoy an "unobstructed view." After the tour, joined by Lani and husband Roger, we will proceed to Abalonetti's on the old wharf for a no-host lunch. Space is limited to the first 25 people. Call Gene McFarland at 624-1781 if you wish to attend. A $5 charge may be paid at the door. To carpool, meet at Vista Lobos at 10 a.m.

Wed., March 8, 10 to 11:15 a.m. -- Tour of Firebird Foundry in Marina (suggested by Frankie Laney), followed by a no-host lunch. It includes seeing a bronze "pour" and learning about the 30 handcrafted stages involved in creating a fine art bronze piece. Founded in 1974, the Foundry comprises the Monterey Sculpture Center's impressive sculpture showroom and outdoor sculpture walk. Details will be in Feb. CRA News.

Thurs., April 6, all-day bus trip to Filoli in Woodside. Cost (approx. $50) will include bus transportation, lunch on the grounds, plus a one-hour walking tour through the gardens and one-hour tour of the house. Group will depart at 10 a.m. from Black Bear Diner area. Details in March CRA News.

May, date t.b.a. -- Tour of Carmel Mission and Museum led by expert docent and Carmel Residents Association board member Mary Condry.

Planned future outings: Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford Art Museum and its Rodin Garden, deYoung Museum, a fall wine tour and a special tour of Tor House. If you have other suggestions, please call Suzanne or Gene and be sure to thank them for their hard work when you see them!

COUNCIL WATCH

Keep your eyes open -- ongoing issues to track

President's Message
Possibilities

by Sherry Shollenbarger

As I entered the new year, I must confess that I felt discouraged, perhaps uneasy. Re-reading my Christmas cards, I noticed the many comments regarding the "troubled" state of the world. Perhaps, if completely honest, I see my immediate world, Carmel, as "troubled." I have been feeling frustrated by the number of real estate offices cropping up all over the village. I sense the feeling of less and less community and more and more investment market. I see fewer and fewer full-time residents and more empty, darkened homes. To add to these thoughts, I open the January 6, 2006 issue of the Pine Cone and see as a headline -- Grand Jury says government makes it too hard for citizens to participate -- one more reason for my frustration.

As I have often done during uneven times in my life, I took a walk with my father. My father is 86 years old, was a WWII prisoner of war, went to college on the GI bill, was married to my mother for 52 years and raised four children -- each unique and successful in his or her own right. My father is my touchstone to compassion, fairness, objectivity and reality. As we walked and talked, I spoke of the new year. I asked how he viewed new years. His answer to me was incredibly simple and straightforward. "Well," he said, "I like to look at all the possibilities." And thus, I offer the following suggestions for possibilities, here in Carmel, in 2006.

1. First and foremost, that our city government work for the residents in an open, transparent fashion. Transparency is not negotiable. It is one thing to not violate the Brown Act. It is another to conduct forums, hold town hall meetings and give early notification of the city's agenda on pressing issues as a signal of good will and openness. It will allow the residents to become educated on the issues and share their concerns. Most likely, some will have some very good ideas to share also.

2. Instead of hiring outside legal counsel, accept City staff's expertise and recommendations. The expensive lawsuit regarding Flanders would have been avoided had the process requiring a public vote been followed.

3. The contention regarding SCC, Inc. (the non-profit which runs Sunset Center) could have been avoided by more public discourse. Being presented with private management as a fait accompli exacerbated emotions and left residents feeling betrayed.

4. A need-to-know philosophy is counterproductive to good city government. We, the taxpayers and residents, need and deserve to know.

5. Because 54% of the residents voted for an increase in the TOT, the council should address our need for additional ongoing revenue.

6. All council members should be encouraged to put items on the City Council meeting agenda.

7. Plan routine town hall meetings in a venue that will accommodate greater numbers than city hall -- do not make them part of a formal council meeting.

8. Create space for public concerns as an item on the agenda.

9. Have public comment(s) AFTER the council speaks.

10. Open the process; trust in your ability to forthrightly represent your constituents and share an open discourse.

And for all who might have felt, or perhaps continue to feel, the discouragement or uneasiness that I discussed at the opening of this message, perhaps you will see as a possibility for 2006 a desire to commit to being more aware of your council's action. A Grand Jury review triggered by Carmel is serious business and should be a wake-up call for us all.

CRA PROFILES
by Walter Gourlay

The Eye of the Beholder: Roger Fremier

"It's all mud." "Mud?" Roger Fremier was showing me some unusual black and white photos that he'll exhibit at Sunset Center later this month. "Just dried mud," he explained. "Baked by the sun. From the Salinas River. The cracks caught my eye. And these others are close-ups of cracked ice and glass."

Roger, an art photographer, sees beauty in forms and patterns that you and I would never notice until he presents it on film. Like the deep, rich black patterns made by the cracks in dried mud.

Like many creative people, he didn't start out as an artist. Born in San Francisco, at the age of three he moved with his parents to Los Gatos, where his father dealt in real estate and did farming on the side. In 1955 the family moved to Carmel, where Roger attended school. After graduating from Carmel High, he studied international business management at San Francisco State. "I'd done some traveling," he explains, "and got the idea that international business was the thing of the future, and would need people to lead it."

But when he graduated from S.F. State, he found that jobs in that field were hard to come by, so he worked at the PG&E power plant in Moss Landing. "They were just putting up the 'big stacks' and I was hired as a 'field accountant,' whatever that means, except that I wasn't working in their billing office."

Feeling unfulfilled at "the stacks," Fremier was hired by Monterey Peninsula College to teach business courses. In addition, he soon began to teach courses in photography, both as technology and as a fine art. "I'd always been interested in photography as art," he says. "As a teenager I had a darkroom in the back of our house. That kept me out of trouble."

He taught both business and photography courses for thirty-four years. "I enjoyed both subjects," he says. "Depending on my mood."

While teaching, he created the Center for Photographic Art at Sunset Center, and from 1988 to 1990 was its first director. Other members included local photographers Richard Garrod, Henry Gilpin, Katherine Barrows and Edna Bullock.

In 2000 Fremier published a book, now out of print, Techniques for Black and White Photography: Creativity and Design. Two years later he retired from teaching and devoted himself to producing and selling photographic art. He uses a Hasselblad he has had for years, with slow black and white film from Europe. Digital cameras, he says, can't give him the deep, warm blacks he wants.

His photographs are sold in local art galleries. Local scenes sell best, he says, and he sometimes does scenic photography. But, he adds, "My current work probably won't sell--except to collectors of fine art photography." Fremier has no desire to cater to the tourist trade. "I'm not a promoter or salesman. I just enjoy being creative, to show my work and see excitement on people's faces. If they like what they see, they'll buy it."

Ambitions for the future? "To sell more photographs," he says, laughing. "But I am going to try an approach that's new for me. I want to use people, not as a portrait photographer, but as subjects for fine art photography."

He does his work in a two-room studio he built himself behind his house. In one room he stores and displays his photographs, plainly framed, and the other room has his darkroom and enlarger.

He and his wife, Lani, whom he married in 1967, live in a rustic house on a double lot on San Carlos just off Santa Lucia. Roger first met Lani at her desk in the Harrison Memorial Library, where she worked as librarian for many years. She's the daughter of Allen Knight, the colorful former mayor of Carmel and maritime history enthusiast whose collection forms the core of the exhibits at the Maritime Museum in Monterey. (See the biographical sketch by Connie Wright in the CRA News, Oct., 2003 and the Maritime Museum outing item in this issue.)

The Fremiers' house, surrounded by greenery, was built in 1921. Formerly the home of the famed children's novelist Virginia Burton, author of Choo Choo, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and other children's classics, she held rehearsals in the house for the Forest Theater. The Fremiers bought the home in 1972 and put it on the Historical Register before the city required it. "Putting it on the Register is our way of helping to preserve Carmel's rural character and its history. "

The couple has three children: Andy, a civil engineer in San Anselmo, Allen, a computer analyst in Belgrade, Montana, and Alexander, who receives his doctorate in ecology from U.C. Davis in May.

As one would expect, Roger and Lani enjoy the cultural amenities in Carmel, especially the Symphony, the PacRep Theater and the Forest Theater. "Besides," he says "it's quiet and beautiful here and I have long-term friends."

Both of them are long-time Carmel Residents Association members, and Roger has served on the board.

Roger Fremier is not a simple man although he has the air of down-to-earth simplicity. Friendly and modest, he doesn't speak easily about himself except when questioned. But his eyes light up when he talks about his art.

He patiently observes, studies, captures, and reveals to us the beauty of commonplace things that we'd otherwise miss--like mud drying and cracking in the sun.

Go to the exhibit featuring Fremier, Garrod and Gilpin at the Center for Photographic Art in the Sunset Center, January 13 to February 17, for a view of nature's patterns through Fremier's eyes.

It's time to nominate that special person for Citizen of the Year

The 18th annual Citizen of the Year Celebration will be held at Carmel Woman's Club on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 3:30 p.m. There is no charge for the event. Delicious hors d'oeuvres will be provided by Gwyn Romano, according to event chair Carol Hilburn and co-chair Nancy Jones. If you can help handing out fliers at the Post Office or serving on the 26th, please call Carol at 626-9369.

If you know a worthy recipient for this prestigious award, please write a letter by Feb. 15 to:
   Citizen of the Year Selection Committee
   P.O. Box 13
   Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921

In making your nomination, please consider these guidelines:

1. The candidate has through his or her service enhanced the lives of citizens of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

2. The candidate has fostered the ideals of Ordinance 96, which states, in part, that Carmel should remain "primarily, essentially and predominately a residential city ..."

3. The candidate is a resident of Carmel-by-the-Sea or its sphere of influence.

4. Any person or organization may make a nomination. Nominees do not have to be members of the CRA.

5. Please include with your letter all related background material you can find on the nominee, including his or her activities and contributions to Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Previous Citizens of the Year are Jim Wright, Joyce Stevens, Enid Sales, Jack Billwiller, Skip Lloyd, Noel Mapstead, Clayton Anderson, Roy Thomas, Jean White, Bob Kohn, Linda Anderson, John Hicks, Noel Van Bibber, Jim Holliday, Frankie Laney and Nancy and Bill Doolittle, Merv Sutton and Barbara Livingston.

Be prepared!
A chance to buy a disaster relief kit

Brinton's Remarkable Home and Garden Store in Carmel Rancho Shopping Center will sponsor an Emergency Disaster Relief Day in the rear parking lot on Saturday, January 21st from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Disaster relief kits will be on display and for sale. Orders will also be taken for future deliveries.

This concept is endorsed by the Carmel Chapter of the American Red Cross, Project St. Bernard, Alliance on Aging and the Carmel Residents Association.

The idea came from Barbara Livingston's frustration that she and Bob Kohn had never put together a disaster kit. She took her concerns to Greg D'Ambrosio, who as the former assistant city administrator had been in charge of emergency operations. Greg and Barbara collected disaster supply information from the Carmel Fire Department, Red Cross, other communities and newspaper and magazine articles and gave a list to Craig Brinton. With his hardware staff, he has assembled 3 sizes of kits: the Basic ($100), the Expanded (under $200) and the All-inclusive (under $300).

Depending on the size, these kits offer everything that a family of two would need to get through 3-5 days of an emergency, the least amount of time for which people are asked to prepare. The supplies can be stored in a variety of sturdy weatherproof containers and placed in easily accessible locations.

OLD CARMEL
by Connie Wright

August "Gus" Englund:
Our First One-Man Police Force

August "Gus" Englund was born in Sweden, November 16, 1868, and served in the Swedish Army as a sergeant in the King's Dragoons. In 1892 he came to America and enlisted in the Eighth U.S. Cavalry, stationed at Ft. Mead, North Dakota, where he stayed from 1892 to 1895, when he was transferred to the Fourth U.S. Cavalry. He took part in the Spanish-American War and campaigned in the Philippine Islands from 1896 to 1899, participating in all major advances against the enemy, and was honorably discharged in 1899.

Following his return to the United States, Gus was on police duty in Yosemite. In 1900 he served in China in the Quartermaster Corps and in 1901 he was in the Fifteenth Cavalry at Sequoia National Park. In 1902 he prospected for gold at Dawson in Alaska and in 1903 he came to Monterey where he helped to establish the post at the Presidio, driving a four-mule team. In 1905 he married Ella Albright in Watsonville. In 1905 to 1906 he was a member of the police force of Monterey. After the earthquake and fire of 1906, he joined the Pinkerton Detective Force and helped maintain law and order in San Francisco. From 1911 to 1913 Gus was chief of police of Monterey. He did special police duty for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1913 to 1914. He was truly a soldier of fortune with an enviable military record.

In 1916 Carmel was incorporated and the City Council appointed Gus as city marshal and tax collector. The City Council passed an ordinance against loose livestock on the streets. Gus patrolled the streets of Carmel, keeping the chickens off Main Street (Ocean Avenue) astride his black horse, Billy. He rounded up missing children and helped to start reluctant stoves. His military bearing probably scared off petty criminals, but he was equipped only with an old service revolver and a piece of string for measuring. Each morning he made the rounds of the town, first riding to the beach, then to Carmel Point. It was his duty also to post official notices.

On one occasion, in the saddle, he posted a notice about an election to pave Main Street. The business element of town felt that commerce would be greatly improved by the paving; the cultural crowd, with Perry Newberry in the vanguard, opposed it as the beginning of Carmel's ruination. When the measure passed, Newberry went to court in Salinas and argued Gus had posted the notices so high that no one could see them. The judge found for the Newberry crowd and it was not until 1922 that Gus dismounted to post the notices of paving, which passed, and Carmel entered the modern age.

Gus was, in short, Mr. Fixit. He hung up the trustees' coats at City Council meetings and soothed over family feelings when there were problems.

During the search for the body of Eliot Boke Schaffner, believed to have committed suicide by drowning in Carmel Bay, Gus slipped on a rock, cutting his foot badly. First confined to Peninsula Community Hospital, he was transferred to the Veterans' Hospital in San Francisco when his condition worsened. Gangrene set in, then a coma and he died.

This colorful Carmelite was awarded a military funeral as a veteran of the Swedish and American armies.

[Note: Neither Connie Wright nor the head of the library's Local History Department, Denise Sallee, could find the exact date of Englund's death. Their closest guess is 1934.]

Winter art exhibit, lecture and reception
Jan. 20, 2 p.m., Library Park Branch

Ella Reid Harrison (1857-1922) bequeathed land, money, books and art for the founding of Harrison Memorial Library. Included in the art collection are etchings dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Among the artists represented are Rembrandt, Lucas Van Leyden and Sir Francis Seymour Haden. Art historian Valera Lyles will present a lecture on the artists and their work as well as background information on etchings as an art form.

Spotlight on members

• Barbara Brooks single-handedly recruited Salvation Army bell ringers to fill 67 slots at the Post Office as well as at the Sharper Image on weekends.

• Suzanne and Rick Arnold, Nancy Collins, Alice and Bill Englander, Gene McFarland, Dick Dalsemer, Sherry and Dave Shollenbarger and Dick Stiles braved the chill and damp of two 7 a.m. mornings to string lights on the first Ocean Ave. island (with the City tree) and then to remove them in January.

• Cornelia Emery was part of a group which showed paintings at Gallery North (Dolores bet. 5th & 6th) in Dec.

• Barbara Livingston and Bob Kohn's lovely garden was recently featured in the Herald's Home & Garden section.

• John Kerby-Miller helped save the life of a woman he came upon while jogging near the Frank Lloyd Wright house on Scenic Road. John and an off-duty fire captain performed CPR until the emergency crew arrived with a defibrillator.

• Nancy Jones plays the clarinet in both the Monterey Community and the Monterey Peninsula College Bands. Last year she started bassoon lessons and sometimes plays that instrument in the MPC Band.

• Dorothea "Terry" Layne, a retired Army Col., has established a fund with the Community Foundation of the Monterey Peninsula to support and expand maintenance and beautification of Carmel Beach.

READABLE READS

Here are two fine recommendations from Gene McFarland:

Enigma by Robert Harris. February 1943--Britain's remaining food supplies are measured in weeks. A young Cambridge mathematician is engaged in "work of the gravest national importance." A gripping novel of the desperate effort to break the Nazi Enigma U-boat codes before the island is starved into submission. Churchill called this crisis, by far, the worst of the war. "A time machine" in style, characters, mood and pluck.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. By the author of Zahir -- a tale of discovery not of lands and places but of our individuality, our personal destiny so often obscured by the flotsam around us. Told with "shimmering elegance." Think: The Piano Tuner for a sense of this evocative, most exceptional talent.

Remember that your City Council is on T.V.

City Council meetings are taped and re-broadcast
Sundays, 8 a.m. - 12 noon on
KMST Channel 26