HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE OF EVENTS on Page 2
WEDNESDAY October 16, 2019
S E R V I N G O U R C O M M U N I T Y S I N C E 1 8 7 9 • W W W. T R I P L I C A T E . C O M
New police chief C
By David Hayes Staff Writer
rescent City officials announced today the hiring of Richard Griffin as its next chief of police. Griffin steps up from within the ranks of the Crescent City Police Department to replace Chief Ivan Minsal, who retired
Sept. 8. Since Minsal’s retirement, splitting the duty as interim police chief were Sgt. Ed Wilson in September and Sgt. Jennifer Owens in October. City Manager Eric Wier said Griffin was chosen in a very competitive process. “We’re very pleased and excited to hire Richard Griffin. He was born and raised
in Medford, he’s been a local here as a sergeant in the sheriff’s department for 15 years, and recently moved over to the city’s police department in January,” Wier told The Triplicate. “His law-enforcement career has been
More Chief on Page A3
Crescent City’s Richard Griffin has been named the new chief of police. Courtesy photo.
crescent city man is
Church of Nazarene pastor now looking for souls, not soles
ALL IRON By David Hayes Staff Writer
I
t takes a real iron man (or woman) to qualify for the world championship of international triathlon competitions. But longtime Crescent City resident Russ Burnette, 72, has routinely gone more than that extra mile to compete at the most-recent IRONMAN World Championship Oct. 12 in Kona, Hawaii. In his second go-around at the IRONMAN, Burnette finished the 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon in 16 hours, 7 minutes and 40 seconds, good for 21st place in his age group. Of the 35 athletes competing in his age group of 70-74, seven didn’t even finish. Burnette has come a long way since he competed in Crescent City’s very first triathlon in 1984, swimming 10 laps for his relay team. His two teammates completed the 12-mile bike ride and the 3-mile run. “It went really well. I enjoyed it. It got me hooked. After I was done, I thought, ‘Gee, I wish I could do the whole thing myself.’ “The next year, I competed as an individual,” Burnette told The Triplicate by phone from Kona. Burnette said he’d been swimming a while to stay in shape and a friend got him into running, so it wasn’t much to add in the bike training. The regimen consisted of running three days, riding three days and swimming three days a week, with some overlap in the training. The rest was eating right, getting plenty of sleep and no drinking or smoking, “an easy way to stay healthy,” Burnette added. Clay Speaker, 68, has trained with Burnette since those early More Iron Man on Page A2
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Crescent City athlete Russ Burnette, 72, crosses the finish line at the 2019 IRONMAN Triathlon Championship Oct. 12 in Kona, Hawaii. Courtesy photo.
David’s Haunted Manor scares … yet again By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
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avid’s Haunted Manor has been a Crescent City staple since its days as a “haunted yard,” in 1999, when David Holcomb was just a kid. His more elaborate “manor” will come to Crescent City again this Halloween with the help of his wife, Jo’Ann, and their two children, Vincent and Annabelle. “Growing up as trick-ortreaters, there were wonderful experiences for me as a kid. Nowadays, not so much probably for kids. Unfortunately, people don’t go out of their way to decorate their yard,” David Holcomb said. “[The manor] is my way of giving back.” To say Halloween is the family’s favorite holiday is a bit of an understatement, considering they practically live in a haunted house for the month of October. When Holcomb was young, his family hosted the manor in their yard on Halloween. Each year, it kept growing, as did his passion for the holiday. It grew so large, he decided to
host it at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds. Finally, he partnered with the nonprofit Friends of the Crescent City Harbor to bring the event to a vacant building. This is the third year he has partnered with the nonprofit. Holcomb found his match in Jo’Ann, who says she married into the Halloween festivities, although she loves them just as much. “I mean, I always liked it. But, no, I met him and he came with the haunted house. That was part of the marital contract,” she said. With creativity and inspiration from classic Halloween movies, the couple made and also found costumes, scarecrows, monsters and even a casket to turn their love for Halloween into something residents can enjoy. Every October, they turn a vacant building into a maze of spooky rooms and dimly lit hallways in a matter of weeks. “It’s so fun, and I get to expand, make new things, and it’s really rewarding. It’s nice More Manor on Page A3
INDEX Crosswords................................................ A8 Crossword Answers ....................................B5 Calendar.....................................................B1 Classifieds............................................B3 - B6
TODAY
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ev. Robert Wheeler likes to joke that used to be in the business of selling soles and is now in the business of saving souls. Wheeler has served as pastor at the Crescent City Church of the Nazarene for 18 years and will help usher in its 75th anniversary on Friday with a chili cook-off. Wheeler said everyone is invited to attend the event, which starts at 5 p.m. at 224 F St., and they can even submit their own chili recipe for best-of judging. Church members regularly submit family recipes. “One year, I added wheat berry. I finished in last place. It didn’t work out,” Wheeler said. What has worked out is the increase in attendance and membership at the Crescent City Church of the Nazarene since Wheeler and his wife, Lynn, arrived in 2011. Longtime member Mel Thomas, 77, said the church today averages right around 50 who regularly attend Sunday service, with about 30 being full-time members. “When you came in as pastor, we only had about 10 to 15 attending at that point. And they haven’t been drawn to you, they’ve been drawn to me. You see, they love us oldtimers,” Thomas joked to Wheeler. Wheeler, 67, said that before he was called to be a pastor, he was a salesman for most of his life. He owned a furniture store for 10 years, sold Yellow Page and newspaper advertising, cars and, yes, shoes. “You name it, I sold it,” Wheeler said. He said that by 1999, although he and his wife were living comfortably successful lives, he also felt an emptiness in his heart. “We had great jobs, were members of the country club, had a beautiful home. But we felt like we had nothing. We were poor in spirit,” he recalled. So, they tried going back to church to fill that void. Lynn was Roman Catholic, he was Pentecostal, but neither felt comfortable in the other’s church, so they gave up and led secular lifestyles. Then they found the Church of the Nazarene in San Ramon, Calif., in the Bay Area. Wheeler recalls a sermon about holiness. “I really liked that message about being all in with God,” he said. While his wife committed first to going “all in” with the church’s activities, Wheeler said it took him a few more years before he listened to God’s call to be ordained. His first assignment offered was Crescent City’s Church of the Nazarene. But even after guest preaching there in 2010, he was uncertain. “I told my wife, no way are we going. It’s too rainy, too cold, too far from family.”
One volunteer jumps up from inside the “gently used” coffin, a classic element of the haunted manor. Courtesy photo.
FORECAST THURSDAY
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By David Hayes Staff Writer
More Church on Page A2
TIDES FRIDAY
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LOW HIGH LOW HIGH
Thurs Wed Fri 7:25AM 7:57AM 8:34AM 1:24PM 1:55PM 2:31PM 8:10PM 8:52PM 9:40PM -- -- --
$1.50