Three Northern Golifornio HooFHoo Clubs Deliver 24 Kittens For Joint Goncqtenotion Attended bV IOO Lumbermen

Nearly 100 Northern California lumbermen, representing San Francisco Hoo-Hoo Club 9, Coast Counties Hoo-Hoo Club ll4, and Santa Clara Valley Hoo-Hoo Club 170, attended a giant three-club Concat at the Chez Yvonne restaurant in Mountain View, April ll. The promise of a fine Concat (and it was, too !) brought out sevelal Hoo-Hoo dignitaries, including Dave Davis, Rameses 48; Don Bufkin, Supreme Custocatian, who came up from Los Angeles for the event, and C. D. LeMaster, Seer of the House of Ancients, Sacramento.

The Kittens, twenty-four in all, were provided with food and drink prior to the initiation. Following dinner, each of the three club presidents-Mike Coonan, San Francisco; Jerry Fernandez, Coast Counties, and Ollie Lee, Santa Clara-spent a few minutes at the mike outlining future club projects and introducing past presidents to the gathertng.

The meeting was then turned over to Visiting Officer Dave Davis and his initiation crew, headed bv Snaik Lionel Stott, for a bang-up Concat and finale to a highly successful cooperative meeting.

The Degree Team was comprised of these efficient guardians of the gates: Senior lloo-Hoo, Marion Ward, Hubbard & Johnson; Junior Hoo-Hoo, Bob Kilgore, R. P. Kilgore Wholesale Lumber; Scrivenoter, Jerry Fernandez, Western Pine Supply Co.; Bojum, Willard Lentz, Santa Cruz Lumber Co.; Snark, Lionel Stott, Fairhurst Lumber Co.; Jabberwock, Fenner Angell, Pacific Lumber & Supply Co.; Custocatian, Bill Johnson, Hobbs Wall Lumber Co.; Arcanoper, Uno lJlenius, Chase Lumber Co., and Gurdon, Bill l,arson, Campbell Lumber Co.

The Kittens in the big Chez Yvonne Concat were: Henry Brown, Dickrison's Lumber Co.; Dick Mannis, Pacific Lumber & Supply Co.; Robert Lincoln, Pacific Lumber & Supply Co.; Mike Trovato, Tynan Lumber Co.; Herb Hougham, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Salinas; Jack Marden, Chase Lumber Co.; Bob Timmerman, Chase Lumber 9o.; W. J. Bryan Triplett, T & H Building Supply; Ken lohnson, Tarter, Webster & Johnson, Newaik; J. K. O'Neill, O'Neill & Ellis, Inc.; Louis Abbott, Building Materials Distributors; Ross Ingraham, Jr., Western PinE Supply Co.; Ross Tucci, Hubbard & Johnson Lumber Co.;

F. Carl Fleming, Hubbard & Johnson Lumber Co.; Joe Esteban, Merner Lurnber Co.; Donald Fitzgerald, The Woodworkers; Roy Sjolund, Bulldog Pallet Co.; Bill Scheller, Redwood E,mpire Co.; Roger Schuyler, HammondCalifornia Redrryood Co.; Joe Misrack, Cash & Carry Lumber Co.; Jack St. Martin, Al Boldt Lumber Co.; Chas. Lewis, Annapolis I\{illing Co., and John Figoni, Hubbard & Johnson Lumber Co.

Reinstatements were John Stegeman, Cloverdale Redvvood Co., and Bob Bonner, Hedlund Lumber Sales.

Fires in Nqtionol Forests Dropped 42o/o lqst Yeor

Fires in national forests last year dropped 42/o from 1956, with man-caused fires hitting a new low, announces the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

There were 7,200 fires in national forests during 1957, according to preliminary reports from field offices of USDA's Forest Service. This compares witl, 12,454 fires in 1956 and a S-year average between 7952 and 1956 of 10,996. The area burned also dropped from 249,859 acres in 1956 to 133,447 ]n 1957.

Man-caused fires dropped from 4,775 in 1956 to 3,274 in 1957, establishing the lowest record since 1933, when 3,081 man-caused fires were reported. Foresters point out that man-caused fires rise with increased use of the woods. In 1957, recreation use alone was almost six times what it was in 1933.

The reduction in man-caused fires, therefore, indicates forest fire-prevention campaigns have paid off.

Forest Service officials say rnuch credit goes to the Smokey Bear campaign conducted by State Foresters and the U. S. Forest Service with The Advertising Council, and the Keep America Green programs conducted by the States and forest industrios.

The South reported the greatest drop in man-caused fires with 55 percent less in 1957 than in 1956. Many public and private agencies have been waging intensive war against incendiarism-deliberately set fires-in the South during the past two years.