Arts Devo

Family and firenadoes Arts DEVO is from Redding. I left for good in 1991, but most of my family still lives in and around the city, so when the massive Carr Fire exploded and began raging into town last Thursday, my brain scrambled to figure out where every sibling and cousin—about 40 family members in all—lived and if they were in any danger. At this point, everyone is safe and none of their homes were harmed, and the five households from my clan that were evacuated have been allowed to return home. However, we already know of many friends whose families weren’t so lucky and whose homes are now gone.

Much of the landscape of my childhood looks to have been wiped out. Our summer playground of Whiskeytown Lake has been decimated on all shores and the manzanita-dotted foothills around one of my family’s early homes off Keswick Dam Road were thoroughly scorched.

As sad and frustrating as this has been for those close to me, it’s nothing compared to the pain of those whose loved ones died in the fire—including Ed Bledsoe, who listened to the last words of his wife, Melody, and their great-grandchildren, James (5) and Emily Roberts (4), on the phone as he drove in vain to rescue them from the house in which they were trapped—or the residents of the 884 homes (and counting) lost in the fire.

As the wildfire burns and during its eventual aftermath, the people of Shasta County are going to need a lot of help. Here are a couple of options for those looking to donate money:

Shasta Regional Community Foundation’s disaster relief fund: shastarcf.org/funds/cdrf

Go Fund Me for Ed Bledsoe, who lost everything except the clothes on his back: gofundme.com/ed-bledsoe-and-family-lost-all.

One more show Last week, Chico Performances officially announced its new season (teased in this column the week before), including a last-minute addition to the 2018-19 schedule: David Sedaris, Jan. 14, at Laxson Auditorium. In May, Sedaris released a his latest book, Calypso, a collection of his typically observant and very personal stories. Judging by the excerpts provided on his website—a section about the pleasure of finally owning a home with guest bedrooms, and one on the aftermath of his sister Tiffany’s suicide—the essays are a little more darkly comic than usual, with the focus turned toward “middle age and mortality” as the promo describes it. Tickets for individual Chico Performances events are available beginning Aug. 20. Go to chicoperformances.com for more info.

RIP Mike Murray I got word late last week that local musician and Chico State employee Mike Murray died on July 21. He was 49. Murray was a fixture in the local music scene playing bass in many regularly gigging bands, including Spy Picnic and WhiteWater, and according to a Chico State press release, he had worked for the university’s Information Technology Support Services department for the past 21 years. A celebration of life will take place Saturday, Aug. 4, at Library Park in Orland, and later that evening, local tribute band Blackout Betty is hosting an ’80s party dedicated to Murray at Rolling Hills Casino, starting at 9 p.m.