SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879
www.triplicate.com
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021
Crescent City, CA
COVID cases inching upward By David Rupkalvis The Triplicate
Photo by David Rupkalvis
Being closed to dine-in customers allowed the owners of Enoteca Restaurant to make big changes inside, including these murals painted by Jeff Winkelmann, the brother of one of the owners.
Restaurants excited to serve dine-in customers By Knox Keranen The Triplicate
Local restaurant owners received good news last Wednesday when they were allowed to reopen their doors to dine-in customers. A press release from the Department of Health and Human Services declared Del Norte County had been downgraded to the red tier risk level, which means restaurants, places of worship and movie theaters can open to 25% capacity, among other changes. The news comes after more than three months of restaurants like CC Diner and Ice Cream being unable to offer indoor dining. During the partial closure, co-owner Shaun Hartman missed being able to provide a retro diner experience for his customers. “I have been working over the past few years to transform the ambience into a pop-culture destination,” said Hartman. “You come in and there’s comic books on the wall, there’s Star Wars stuff and advertisements from old newspapers. I want people to come in and escape.” While his vintage decor might have been gathering dust, Hartman and his restaurant remained busy during the ban on dine-in service thanks to take-out and delivery orders, which he delivered himself. Frustrated by the deliveries at first, Hartman said he had a realization about his impact on the community when he delivered an order to an ill customer, unable to
Photo by Zack Demars
Restaurants around town gear up as they pre-pair to serve guests dine-in and take-out. get out of their chair. “I’d have to take it into his house...I saw how it made him feel. That was a moment for me when I realized this is more than food. People are in all sorts of conditions right now and this is really giving them something to smile about,” said Hartman. Darryl Winkelmann, owner of Enoteca with his partner Courtni Vanlandingham, has also been grateful for the Del Norte community throughout the pandemic. He urged the customers who have supported him through take-out orders to come in and sit down for a meal. They will probably taste the difference. “To me, it just tastes better coming right off the grill. Your fries
taste good, they are nice and crispy, your sandwiches are nice and fresh,” Winkelmann said. “Opposed to take-out, when you put it in a togo box, by the time you get home, it’s cooled off. If you’ve got something hot, it sweats. The experience is different.” The pandemic closures have been bittersweet for Winkelmann and Enoteca. While implementing the various COVID restrictions in the restaurant has cost him money, long stents of indoor dining closures means he has had time to remodel and give his pirate-themed bistro a paint job. “We did a complete nautical theme because of the area... we have the pirate ship and the skulls and the lights,” said Winkelmann.
Besides two new murals painted by Jeff Winkelmann, Darryl’s brother, customers can expect a new dance floor, sound system and updated bathrooms. For Tiffany Brown, server at Fisherman’s Restaurant and daughter of owners Troy and Janie Grant, the restaurant business has been her whole life. Her family has owned and operated Fisherman’s for the past 23 years, and the Apple Peddler before that. So, while Fisherman’s has also done well during the dine-in ban thanks to a steady stream of takeout orders, Brown is anxious to see familiar faces in the restaurant once again. “We definitely miss our regulars. There’s people that do not get take-out, they would rather sit inside and get that experience with our employees and the ambiance of sitting down and hanging out,” said Brown. From coffee drinking fishermen to the younger crowd coming in for mimosas and a hangover breakfast, Fisherman’s attracts all different types, said Brown. Brown is both cautious and optimistic about the return to dine-in services, though, recalling the previous short-lived returns to dine-in services. “That’s one of our biggest fears is we do all this work and then we have to turn around in two weeks and lay people off,” said Brown. “I hope the public is respectful of
Please see RESTAURANTS, Page A10
One week after Del Norte County dropped to the Red Tier, allowing restaurants and other businesses to open for indoor services, case numbers have inched upward. On Tuesday, two new COVID-19 cases were reported, giving the county 41 new cases in the last two weeks. For the two-week period ending Feb. 6, there were 24 cases confirmed. While the increase has not impacted the county’s tier status yet, it could if cases don’t slow down quickly. As of Tuesday, there were 39 active cases in Del Norte County with four people hospitalized with COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, 931 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, with 24 total hospitalizations. Four people with COVID have died. The majority of cases, 59 percent, have been in men, with 59 percent of those who tested positive in the 19-49 age range. After seeing COVID cases climb in December and early into 2021, cases have steadily fallen. The first week of the new year, saw 43 cases while the last week of January saw just eight. In the last week cases have again climbed, with six cases Feb. 10, five the next day, three more Feb. 12 and six on Feb. 13. There were no stats released on Valentine’s Day and two cases were reported Monday. While cases are climbing, so too are the number of people vaccinated. Dr. Warren Rehwaldt, the county public health authority, said most of the people in Tier 1 have been vaccinated. The county is currently offering vaccines to people in Tier 2 and Tier 3. Those include community healthcare workers, home health workers and other medical workers. Phase 1b, which is the next in line include seniors over the age of 65. If you are a senior and have not been added to a COVID vaccination waiting list, you are encouraged to contact your medical provider to be added to the list. Once on the list, people will be contacted when vaccines are available.
Back to School: High schoolers return to campus Taking the field: DNHS marching band returns
ZACK DEMARS The Triplicate
Alison Eckart usually likes to give her students high-fives. So on Tuesday, the Del Norte High School principal had to learn to get used to air-fives, at least for a little while. “It was surreal. It was surreal, I thought,” Eckart said. Students returned to the high school Tuesday for in-person classes for the first time this school year after the county saw a reduction in virus tiers last week. While much was different about this “first day” of school, Eckert said the day was incredibly important. “On a scale of one to 10, it’s about a 12. And I don’t mean that lightly,” Eckart said in an interview Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after students left campus. According to Eckart, the return to campus was generally smooth. Balloons and streamers set up by the student leadership class lined the hallways, and district administrators
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ZACK DEMARS The Triplicate
submitted photo
Del Norte High School Staff welcome students to campus Tuesday. were on hand to welcome students and resolve technical issues. “I never thought I would be so delighted to see a class half full,” Eckart said. Those half-full classes weren’t an attendance problem: For now, about half of the students at the school
attend in-person classes each day, while the other half watches class from home, before the two groups switch the next day. Students have the choice to continue with all-online classes instead, too. Please see HIGH SCHOOL, Page A10
There are no football games, no Friday night lights. No competitions, and no touchdowns to celebrate with the fight song. But now, for the first time in months, marching band is back at Del Norte High School. “It’s marching band lite, I would call it,” said Dan Sedgwick, the music director at DNHS. Earlier this month, Sedgwick and about forty of his students began practicing music and marching skills once again, after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled most school activities in the fall. “I can’t wait to get back,” Sedgwick said. “I’m stoked.” Of course, band practice looks different that previous years, with many members wearing face masks on the field, but Sedgwick said they’re excited to be able to make
it work. “Talk about one of the safest activities. We’re outdoors, at least six feet apart.” Since there aren’t football games to cheer on or band competitions to travel to during the winter and spring, Sedgwick said he’s using the short, six-week season to teach freshman fundamental skills and help students maintain their form in preparation for next year’s marching band season in the fall. “My freshmen have never marched before, and I don’t want to have two years of a lack of continuity,” Sedgwick said. The return to the field has been a long time coming for band members. “The first six weeks of school was the hardest,” said Sedgwick, who teaches each of the school’s band and choir classes. During that time period, all of Please see BAND, Page A10
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