South Mt. Hawkins Press Day #2

South Mt. Hawkins Press Day #2 - May 22, 2004

	May 22, 2004 Rise and shine and we do it again... We follow a Los Angeles County rescue squad and fire truck up Azusa Canyon. The Forest Service traffic guard waves us past. Little did we know that the night before a car had gone over the side, and our President, Pam Morey was the first on scene. She called for help. When the Forest Service arrived, she continued to Crystal Lake and South Mt. Hawkins. We passed by the scene as the county crews arrived. The man had gone off the side the night before, and took all night to climb to the road, when Pam spotted the guy.
	While driving up Azusa Canyon, Susie and I get our first glimpse of South Mount Hawkins in the distance, and again shrouded in the clouds. Should be a cool day up there.
	We meet George at the Crystal Lake gate that is still closed after 2 years, due to the Curve Fire damage and the dangerous trees. We set up a table here to greet reporters. We had word that ABC, CBS and NBC were sending News Trucks. Everyone else went up the mountain to setup the tents, booth display and prepare for the first call in service since the tower was lost.
	My girlfriend of two months now joins me again in this adventure. We are really getting along well and it is getting serious fast. As it turns out, she really does enjoy the things that I like to do, does not complain, and is a pleasure to be with. We hang out for about a half hour before we leave. Only reporter and photographer from the National Public Lands News shows up, so we get in the trucks and start up the steep, rocky road to the summit.
	Summit over clouds. What a sight. Like an ocean of clouds streach out as far as the eyes can see.
	The booth is all setup, this time with welcomed coffee and donuts.
	Everyone enjoys talking about the tower and seeing the summit again.
	Shirts are for sale and members buy a few more for their collections. All the money goes back into the building fund for the new tower.
	Kermit stands by the new outhouse that he and George had built. This is officially the first structure to be built on the summit. Hey we know what is important!
	Pam, our president of the program talks to the reporter and the photographer about the summit, her personal experiences and the role of the Fire Lookouts.
	Everyone gathers at the site of the burned tower. The osborne is placed on top of an old can that will be used as the temporary table.
	Pam thanks everyone for coming to the mountain and speaks about the efforts of so many people. It is a heart felt talk because for Pam, South Mount Hawkins "was her baby". She would often work SMH while her husband worked in Mount Vetter just 30 some miles away and in full view of each other.
	Bob, the man in charge of the fund raising also addressed everyone. For the purpose of the press, I had asked Bob & Maria to where their Forest Service Volunteer uniform that they wear while working with another volunteer group.
	Although Ric is the Fire Lookout going into service, Pam had asked that the ??? call into service. They are the husband/wife team that was on duty the last day when the tower burned down. It was a fitting honor for them to call in service again.
	All the festivities done... Ric goes to work being a Fire Lookout.
	While Ric is stuck on the summit, we all have lunch and enjoy our cool day at South Mount Hawkins.
	A look towards the north shows the fire damage to the mountains. Mount Islip is to the left, and Mount Hawkins to the right. Just off camera to the right is Mount Baden Powell.
	Do I look happy? Well not only am I doing what I always wanted to do, but I have a companion that enjoys doing it too, and she has told me that she will take the training this year to be a fire lookout. Yeah!
	Although we didn't get the TV coverage, we did get a lot of printed press coverage from the Pasadna Star News. They take their stories and use them in several other news papers around Southern California, so all in all we made the headlines in about three papers. What was the most shocking was we made the front page!!! My life as Public Information Officer is just starting... there would be more coverage in the next few months.

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