Magazine: December 2011 Issue
Jolly Good Time
Published: 25-Nov-2011
True to the spirit of the season, we hope this issue of Enjoy Magazine inspires you to prepare a cup of hot cocoa, snuggle up by the fire, relax and learn more about some of the fascinating people and places that make up our great North State.As you wrap up your holiday shopping, we encourage you to think creatively and locally. We’re partial to the glorious gifts at Enjoy the Store, of course, but you’ll also be enchanted with our community’s many local businesses. We’ll tell you about Etc. Mercantile in Cottonwood, which is filled with treasures – the old-fashioned toys and candy are sure to evoke a sense of nostalgia for the special folks on your gift list.
Want to take a more hands-on approach to gifting? Four local artists were kind enough to invite us into their unique studios – perhaps you’ll be inspired to find your own sanctuary and let your creativity unfold.
If you’re entertaining guests this season, take a step back in time with a drive to French Gulch. The E. Franck & Co. tavern and French Gulch Hotel are living monuments to the Gold Rush era. The French Gulch Hotel’s historic bar was built in England in the 1850s, and the wood survived a trip around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where it came to French Gulch by horse-drawn wagon. Across the street, the E. Franck & Co. tavern “has so much history it gets overwhelming,” says Johnny Felsher, who owns the bar with his wife of 51 years, Barbara (amazingly, her family lineage has been with that establishment since its construction in the late 1850s).
Looking to get out of town for the holidays? Our fourth and final installment of “Weekend Getaways” explores ideas for a family trip to Lake Tahoe. Don’t forget your sled or your sense of adventure!
And if you’re finding yourself in desperate need of a little Christmas spirit, we’ll introduce you to the delightful tradition in which Santa, his elves and his reindeer visit the children of Mount Shasta. The tradition dates back to the early 1940s, when local firefighters assembled the first sleigh over the top of their 1915 Model T Ford fire truck, Lulu Belle, which can still be seen in the Sisson Museum. Plywood sleigh sides were mounted, with two real stuffed buckheads, followed by wooden bodies with fire hose legs.
From all of us at Enjoy Magazine, we wish you a blessed and beautiful holiday season, and a healthy, happy new year.
