The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: marching lumberjacks

  • Hometown heroes celebrated in Rhododendron Parade

    Hometown heroes celebrated in Rhododendron Parade

    by Andres Felix Romero

    Originally printed May 5, 2023

    Crowded together on all sides of Henderson and C street sidewalks in Eureka, local Humboldt residents excitedly waited for the 2023 Rhododendron Parade to commence. When the clock struck 10:00 AM, the Eureka branch of the fraternal organization Native Sons of the Golden West presented the American flag for the National Anthem, sung by Taylee Mullins on the announcers’ stage. Following the presentation, 62 different organizations in the local area paraded through the streets of Eureka beginning at 7th and E streets. 

    The annual community gathering was held on Saturday, April 29, and was organized by various organizations from Humboldt County, primarily the Old Town Eureka Rotary Club. They’ve been involved with the Rhododendron Parade for at least 30 years, and have been the primary organizers of the annual celebration for the past decade. Old Town Rotary Club President Amanda Moxon takes pride in her organization’s involvement with the community event, especially bringing back the Parade post-COVID.

    “Last year was the first year [after the pandemic],” Moxon said. “We’re getting back to our pre-COVID activity. It’s just so good to see everybody out and volunteering their time to make [the parade] happen.”

    The Grand Marshal of the parade is a notable person who rides in an open car in the front of the parade to honor them. This year’s Grand Marshall was owner of Shafer’s Ace Hardware, Jack Reike, along with his wife Michele Reike.

    “I’m super proud of my husband,” Michele Reike said while preparing for the parade to begin. “We’re excited to be here and involved in this longtime community event.”

    The Reikes led the parade in their crimson red 2013 60th Anniversary Corvette along with their grandchildren tossing toys to the crowd. When asked about how he became Grand Marshal, Reike remained humble.

    “Just years of helping out in the community,” Jack Reike said, smiling at his Corvette. “I really appreciate [Rotary] asking me.”

    Photo by Alex Anderson | Marching Lumberjacks march past the Rhododendron Parade stage in celebration of hometown hero’s.
    Photo by Alex Anderson | Marching Lumberjack’s head down H St. in formation for the Rhododendron parade.
    Photo by Alex Anderson | A line of classic cars slowly strolling down H St. for the Eureka Rhododendron Parade on April 29.

    The Reike’s appointment to Grand Marshal follows the Rhododendron Parade’s 2023 theme of Hometown Heroes, celebrating individuals like the Reikes who have spent years in service to the community. There were a plethora of other people participating in the parade that supported the communities. Organizations ranging from the children’s service group the Shriner’s to emergency responders such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs).

    Paige Hannemann is an EMT with City Ambulance of Eureka. She along with her team were ecstatic to interact with the Humboldt community in a positive way.

    “We’re excited to see the community in a better light than we normally do,” Hannemann said. “We see people in the worst days of their lives. It’s nice to see them on their good days and when they’re happy.”

    Other local heroes were present that provide sanctuary to those in need for those who walk on more than two feet such as Sequoia Humane Society, a no-kill shelter. They were being led in part by Tracy Lizento, a volunteer present with her own rescue, 16 year-old precious. Lizento was happy to be at the parade to represent pets in need, and to educate the community on proper care.

    “We’re excited to be here and to show our animals,” Lizento said. And to let everyone know they need to neuter their pets.“

    There was no shortage of the variety of methods the parade participants used to mobilize themselves throughout the Eureka streets. There were riders in horse-drawn carriages, motorized trolleys, an appearance by Smokey the Bear in a Forestry truck, a variety of vintage vehicles including VW Buses, and of course the classic method of human transportation was reserved for the marching bands, walking. 

    The Rhododendron Parade also marks the final performance of the semester for the Cal Poly Humboldt’s marching band, The Marching Lumberjacks. Brand new band member Sammie Malcom led the Marching Lumberjacks as their Axe Major.

    “This is my first year,” Malcolm said while reflecting before the parade. “Now I’m leading it which is pretty crazy.”

    General Manager Chris Perez was proud to continue the Marching Lumberjack’s participation in the parade following the University’s transition to Cal Poly Humboldt and to serve an important role in the celebration.

    “It’s been tradition,” Perez said. “ We’ve been doing this since we were Humboldt State. [Marching Lumberjacks] gets the last position of the parade because we’re the anchor”

    Mellophone player Michael Caban enjoyed being able to play one last time with graduating seniors, and having his last performance of the year be with an interactive crowd and great bandmates. 

    “It’s always fun performing with the Lumberjacks,” Caban said. “And this wasn’t the exception. We’re an energetic group.”

  • Musician Feature: Alex Rumbel

    Musician Feature: Alex Rumbel

    Multi-instrumentalist learns to play 10 instruments in 19 years

    Science can often disprove the idea of innate abilities found in humans at birth, but a discussion with Humboldt State botany major and multi-instrumentalist, Alex Rumbel, argues against this theory.

    Rumbel’s capacity for understanding instruments has brought her to play over 10 instruments during the span of her 19 years of life and be a vital part of countless bands including Loud Neighbors Brass Band, the World-Famous Crab Grass Band, Laser Bear and Humboldt’s own Marching Lumberjacks.

    Rumbel’s first memories of music date back to when she was five years old.

    Alex Rumbel plays the trumpet after a show with her band, The Loud Neighbors Brass Band, on Sept. 7 at Outer Space Arcata. | Photo by Jerame Saunders

    “My mom has always been a vocalist, and when I was a young kid, she performed in an a cappella group that sang at renaissance fairs,” Rumbel said. “I’d say the introduction to the rowdy bunch of people that come with a renaissance fair was good for preparing me to go to Humboldt State.”

    Rumbel’s early musical ambitions sprouted from vocals but moved to guitar when she began studying music outside of school. With the extra finger dexterity from playing at such a young age, moving to a stand-up bass in middle school was a logical first step in learning to play multiple instruments.

    “Instead of continuing in strings which could have been dead-end at some point,” Rumbel said. “I decided that I wanted to be a multi-instrumentalist.

    “Humboldt County is a DIY thing, and that’s one of the things I love about being a musician here; I feel like there is less pressure to be something you’re not.”

    Alex Rumbel

    Trombone was the first brass instrument she picked up before she moved up to bass drums for the high school marching band. Rumbel’s high school music career was a flurry of new instruments and new bands. She played electric guitar, electric bass and drums for small rock bands. She also played in the drumline for a marching band, electric guitar for the advanced jazz band, percussion for a band performing in concert and advanced wind ensemble. Then, just for fun, she learned the viola for orchestra.

    Rumbel broke her foot during her senior year of high school, which pushed her into social isolation. Because of this Rumbel started college with the mentality of not wanting to be a part of the social aspect of music creation.

    “When I came up here, I brought my guitar just to play by myself and I brought my drum pad and my sticks,” Rumbel said. “But I didn’t intend to play in any bands.”

    HSU student Alex Rumbel poses with her trumpet after a show with her band, The Loud Neighbors Brass Band, on Sept. 7 at Outer Space Arcata. | Photo by Jerame Saunders

    After living in the dorms for a short amount of time, Rumbel found herself in the middle of the Marching Lumberjack’s “dorm storming” where they play around campus to recruit new musicians. She came down from her dorm and quickly found herself dragged back into band performance, learning yet another new instrument.

    “I started playing trumpet,” Rumbel said. “That was the best decision I made after deciding to come to Humboldt State. When I first started playing the trumpet, it wasn’t as expressive, and it wasn’t as in tune with how I felt, but then it started becoming perfectly in tune with how I felt.”

    It wasn’t long before Rumbel found herself ingrained in the local music scene, mainly playing trumpet for local bands. Recently, she found time to start playing bass for the Laser Bears. The local music scene is described by her as a very tight-knit group of musicians willing to collaborate, great venues with open doors to small bands, and a Do-It-Yourself/Psychedelic thread that defines Humboldt.

    “Music has been my lifeline to everything else of meaning that I can imagine.”

    Alex Rumbel

    “Humboldt County is a D.I.Y. thing,” Rumbel said. “That’s one of the things I love about being a musician here; I feel like there is less pressure to be something you’re not.”

    Rumbel’s musical journey shows how something physical like an instrument can have an undefinable effect on the musician playing it. Music has the affect of rippling through the audience as it leaves a piece of each artist in the minds of each listener, and that is one of Rumbel’s greatest connections with the art.

    “Music has been my lifeline to everything else of meaning that I can imagine,” Rumbel said. “It has been my social connection for many years being in so many bands and interacting with so many people, but it’s also introspective in the same way, and I feel like, and I know it sounds cliché, I feel like I can actually express myself with music.”