REDWOOD NEWS:
Ancient forests, iron giants. Incredible stories carrying on the legacy of the men and women working in the northern California timber industry. With me today is Shawn Mitchell of the Timber Heritage Association. Hey, Shawn. Hey, can you talk about the mission of the Timber Heritage Association? What is it you guys do here?
SHAWN MITCHELL:
Yeah, sure. So since the 1970s, our organization has actually been collecting and interpreting all different types of artifacts from the timber and railroad industries. Back in 1977, we moved Big George from Sequoia Park, the famous locomotive. And since about 2008, we’ve been saving these buildings out here. They are a historic small shops complex.
REDWOOD NEWS: What are the Timber Heritage Association’s plans for the future?
SHAWN MITCHELL:
Right. So we are planning on building a timber and railroad museum out here at the historic Samoa shops. And in the future, we want to continue using our speeders, which you might have seen out on the rails. And we would really like to save the northernmost section of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, some 16 miles from Samoa to Eureka for a scenic excursion train, like what you might see in Santa Cruz or Fort Bragg or up and tell them at the Oregon Coast Scenic.
REDWOOD NEWS: So how does your organization raise funds?
SHAWN MITCHELL:
All right. So we’re an all-volunteer organization, but throughout the year we do fundraisers like our speeder rides with our suggested donations. And then we have members of the community that donate all the time. But on August 26, we’re going to be holding Salmon, Oysters, Ales and Rails, which is our biggest fundraiser out of this collection of shops. We’re going to be having speeder rides. We’re going to have barbequed farmed salmon, oysters, ales, and we’re going to have live entertainment, music, that kind of stuff.
REDWOOD NEWS: Shawn Mitchell President of the Timber Heritage Association. Thanks for inviting us out to the Roundhouse shops here in Samoa. Tell us again when the dates are for your event and where you can get tickets.
SHAWN MITCHELL: Sure. So the event is going to be on August 26. That’s Saturday and you can get tickets at our website Timber Heritage dot org or you can buy them at the door.
REDWOOD NEWS. Hey, thanks for inviting us out here.
SHAWN MITCHELL: Thank you. Absolutely.
