Plaque Dedication Ceremony      10-10-10

A special celebration was held in Smartsville on Sunday October 10, 2010.  On that day, when the calendarial slot machine rang up three 10s, Chapter 10 of E Clampus Vitus dedicated a solid bronze plaque and stone monument at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

The plaque acknowledges the importance of our historic church that is currently undergoing restoration.  Smartsville will thus join many other northern California gold rush towns whose historical significance have been recognized by the William Bull Meek William Morris Stewart Chapter.

Excited by the numerological significance of the date coinciding with their chapter’s designation, Jim and his red-shirted pranksters of Chapter 10 vowed to install ten of these expensive monuments in 2010.  On Sunday, 10-10-10, three plaques were dedicated in Camptonville (starting at 10:10 am of course), two in Browns Valley, one in Smartsville, and four in Rough & Ready.

In Smartsville a large crowd of Clampers and local citizens to attended the dedication ceremony.  There were speakers explaining the historical significance of Smartsville and its former Catholic Church and speakers representing ECV Chapter 10. 

Calling Back the Salmon

On Saturday, Oct.9, the Tsi-Akim Maidu tribe once again called back the salmon to their ancestral waters in Yuba and Nevada counties. This was the fifth annual modern ver­sion of the tribe’s historic ceremony thanking the salmon for returning to the Yuba River. It is a major element in the tribe’s efforts to preserve their language, culture, history and heritage.
  An early-morning ceremony on the banks of the Yuba River downstream of the Parks Bar bridge started the day’s activities. Runners, who had fasted according to tribal tradition,  carried a speared salmon through Timbuctoo and into Smartsville where a little ceremony was held speeches were given, water and encouragement was offered, and the runners were off to complete their journey to Bridgeport.