What's Normal for Rainfall?

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" but you might want to check with a record keeper before you claim that rainfall totals are "far above normal" or that we've had "rainfall totals not seen in decades" as the Sentinel did today.

Wild claims aside, it's an interesting story that cites two long time local treasures, Emily Cress, who measures rainfall in Boulder Creek and Lud McCrary in Bonny Doon. Emily has recorded 63.72 inches of rain "this season" while McCrary's rain gauge has measured around 40 inches.

Celebrating Santa Cruz's Best

The Santa Cruz Weekly came out with their annual Gold Awards "Celebrating Santa Cruz's Best" last week and it is a 100 plus page orgy of ads, most sporting the ubiquitous label that indicated first, second or third place in a reader poll of a gazillion categories ranging from "Best Oil Change" to "Best Dive Bar".   Surprisingly, (or maybe not) almost all of the awards went to downtown Santa Cruz establishments with a smattering of West Side, Capitola, Aptos and even one Watsonville winner.

LA Times on SLV Museum Surfboard Exhibit

The LA Times published a nice story about an exhibit at the SLV Museum (Highway 9 in Boulder Creek) that features a beautifully shaped and polished surfboard made from a Redwood plank.

In A Princely Link to Fame Times writer Steve Chawkins retells the story of how surfing arrived in Santa Cruz  "In 1885, three Hawaiian princes visiting Santa Cruz on a break from military school wowed the locals with, as a newspaper report put it, "interesting exhibitions of surf-board swimming as practiced in their native islands.""

The SLV link is provided by documents that suggest the Redwood used by the Hawaiians was harvested from a grove near what is now Brookdale.

"Big Trees to Surfboards - The Redwood Connection".  is a result of a partnership with the Museum and the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society with support from Big Creek Lumber, Blythe Robinson, Boulder Creek Hardware, Beauregard Vineyards, City Signs, Cupcake Diva of Boulder Creek, North Glass, Redwood Pizza, Scarborough Lumber, Scopazzi's Restaurant, and Surfrider Cafe/Boulder Creek Brewery. Mark Shunney is the exhibition curator and designer.  The exhibit runs through April.
 
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