Knotty Pine GAZETTE - Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day Parade
The Knotty Pine Memorial Day Parade will begin this morning at 10:00am. The parade route this year is the usual town parade route. The parade organizes and begins at the Ranger Headquarters/Visitors Center parking lot at the north end of town, goes south along Main Street past Jock MacIntosh's blacksmith shop, travels around the town square, and proceeds east along Center Street to Knotty Pine Cemetery. There will be a short memorial worship service with placing of wreaths at the end of the parade at roughly noon. The service will be at the Armed Services Memorial inside the cemetery.

Ranger Headquarters, Big Pine National Forest
Ranger Bill would like to wish everyone a "Blessed Memorial Day." As you may know, Ranger Bill served his country as a Navy Medic assigned to a Marine unit. For the details of Ranger Bill's military service listen to "Bim, the Dog" (RB009) and "If the Lord Is for Us, Who Can Be Against Us?" (RB020).

RB006 The Fire Bug

The railroad engines in Randolph Thompson's Red Valley Freight Line are threatening to burn up all the trees in Giant Pine National Park. Many of Thompson's engines are old coal-fired steam engines. Randolph pushes the engines hard so that they belch out volumes of smoke and sparks, setting the nearby dry forest ablaze.
Ranger Bill tries to get Thompson to either stop using the old coal burners or put spark arresters on their stacks. Thompson will not cooperate. What can Bill do to protect the forest and save the giant pines?
How does Bill live the Christian life in this story? Is anyone affected by Bill's actions and how?

RB076 The Salesman

Bill saves a child who wandered into the street and is hit by the car himself. Bill is slightly injured and needs just a little rest at home. Gill Major, an insurance salesman, visits Bill to try to sell him life insurance. Bill turns the tables on Gill and tries to sell him Eternal Life Insurance. Gill is not a Christian and has no interest in eternal life insurance. But can Gill ignore insurance whose premium was paid in full 2000 years ago, provides protection after death, guarantees the insured eternal life, and the insured person is the beneficiary? See the Spirit at work in Gill through Bill's words.

"Houseboat Charlie" answers

Congratulations to those of you who participated in our "Houseboat Charlie" poll questions. You did very well, especially on the second question. The first poll was "Pick Houseboat Charlie's Partner." The second was "What is the Rangers' Trail Work?"

Charlie's partner was Cougar West. The majority of you answered correctly. The second most popular answer was "Junior". Junior was Charlie's great-grandson who helped Charlie on the ferry. I can see where some may have felt that Junior was Charlie's new partner since Cougar was gone. So I give you 90% credit if you chose Junior as Charlie's partner.

The vast majority of you got the second poll question right. There were three correct answers from the statement Gray Wolf made at the beginning of the story; "inspect fire lines and trails", "watch and count animals", and "check tree health". While "removing predators" and "marking new trails" is ranger work, they were not part of the boys spring trail inspection work in this story. Also Henry mentioned on his bus trip that the rangers never "removed beaver dams". God gave the beavers the instincts to build their dams in places that would benefit from the small lakes they create.
Thanks to all of you who participated in our Houseboat Charlie poll. You did a great job listening to the show and answering the questions!!

RB071 A Dog's Worst Enemy

Folks around Knotty Pine are simply furious. Dogs all around town are getting sick and dying. Even the fire station's mascot is found dead. It looks like all the dogs have been poisoned! Retired mailman, Abe Gorgon, is the main suspect. Abe hates dogs. They have attacked him many times. Now the citizens of Knotty Pine want to tar and feather him or worse! How are Bill and Stumpy going to protect Abe from an entire town? Is Abe guilty of poisoning dogs? How will Bill be able to prove whether Abe is guilty or not?

RB070 Houseboat Charlie

After weeks on the trail, Bill and the boys head for home. They spend some time with Houseboat Charlie, who runs the ferry across the Shady River at Misery Crossing. Charlie shares some hair raising stories of the old west.
It's been a very rainy spring and the Shady is close to flood stage. Huge thunderheads threaten flash floods on the Shady. And frost threatens local fruit crops. The rangers jump on their horses and ride to warn the farmers and ranchers along the Shady. Will Bill and the boys be in time to save residents? Will the people listen to the warnings? Can Bill save both the people and crops?

Native American Sign Language

Question: How would a Native American sign "mountain lion"?
Answer: You would sign "cat", "long tail", and "jump".
To sign "cat" or "flat nose" you push up your nose with the thumb and index finger of your right hand. For "long tail", you point with your right index finger from the base of your spine down and away as if you were pointing out your tail. To sign "Jump", put your right fist near your right shoulder, then move it up an away from you in a vertical arc as though it were jumping or hopping.

Question: How would you sign "what is your name?"
Answer: First sign "question" which is to hold up your right hand shoulder high and turn your wrist back and forth almost like asking a question in school. Then sign "your name", which is make an "O" with your right hand, touching your thumb and index finger together, then point your right index finger at the person in question.

Go to our Ranger Bill page on Facebook to learn a little about smoke signals.

RB077 Henry's Bus Trip

Henry is returning to Knotty Pine after spending some time in the east. He is riding by bus and meets several nice people who have all kinds of questions about Knotty Pine and the forests and mountains surrounding it. As the bus enters mountain country, heavy rains cause landslides that block the highway. The bus driver takes the old highway to get around the slides. More heavy rains wash out the old highway in front of and behind the bus, trapping everyone miles from Knotty Pine or even a fire tower. The driver and Henry's fellow passengers look to Henry for ideas on how to get out of this mess. But it looks like there is no way out. What can teenage Henry do to save these stranded people, including himself? Henry begins with prayer.