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Yesterday Worth A Dam appeared for the fourth time at the John Muir Earth Day celebration. It was a lovely day, with beautiful spring weather and a chorus of noisy frogs rising from the rapidly flowing creek. Last year 2300 people made their way to the park, I have no idea how many showed yesterday. i only know that hundreds of people stopped by the booth, anxious for news of the beavers. Were they washed away? Are they altogether? Are the kits okay? Will they rebuild?

Answering these questions over and over again, I was reminded of something which was more surprising than it should have been. These beavers are an important milestone for Martinez, a deep and remembered achievement on the part of this community and every neighboring town who was touched by their story. They are remembered like a baptism, a surgery, a graduation, or a new birth.  The beavers were something that happened to Martinez, for good or ill, and people remember it. They remember where they were working or who told them about them or how they used to walk past the dam after lunch to check on things. Whether it was the thrill of seeing them for the first time, the somber determination of the candlelight vigil, the triumph of the November 7 meeting, the futility of the April 16th meeting, the stony inanity of the sheetpile wall or the many friends and neighbors who asked them every news cycle about what was happening. The beavers were part of the community history, of the story of Martinez. People marked dates by them (oh right I had just gotten married then,)or “Janie was at Hidden Valley”, or “Bob had just graduated”, or as one reporter put it “Oh right, my daughter is three now and I was pregnant when the story broke!”

Children recognized their artwork on the banner from previous years, and mother’s recognized their much younger children in the scrapbook that covers the first year of the beaver campaign. One woman described having seen the rescue of the blind kit who was captured before he could swim out to sea, and was startled to find the exact photo when she turned the page. She was even more surprised to see the certificate of appreciation to hero Kevin Ormstein for detaining the beaver until animal control could gently carry it to Lindsay. She was especially startled because she works with Kevin at the county and he had never mentioned it! Several children  had attended the recent field trip to the beaver dam and recounted their adventure with the fearless mouse, as well as startling beaver fact-retention. Our congressman’s aid  stopped by to confirm that we will be visiting her daughter’s classroom in May and one stalwart supporter proudly displayed her keystone charm bracelet.

If a community can feel ownership of a sports franchise or an elementary mascot, why not a family of beavers? I can’t tell you how many people had followed the story and demanded an update, correcting me with what they had read or seen on the news. I would say a third of the people who stopped at the booth wanted the lastest information on THEIR beavers and had a story to tell us about what they had seen or heard or done to help them. Another third just liked animals in general and wanted to learn about them. A sliver of bitter folk asked wistfully if the beavers were finally gone, and I had a wickedly  delightful time disabusing them of the notion. But the most important third of the day were the children, who sometimes knew nothing about beavers, but wanted to paint and learn. They wistfully clutched their pictures as if they were the most precious treasures they had ever seen and held on to the schedule for the beaver festival with Christmas morning eyes begging their parents to take them. These children insisted on staying and painting with our supremely gifted and tirelessly overworked artist, FRo,  who, as always, helped each child feel they had created a masterpiece and  gently forced parents to see their children’s work through her eyes.

Oh you can’t imagine the paintings they left with us, but you will have the chance to appreciate them up close when each one becomes a stunning personalized greeting card at the beaver festival.

People, people, people, you’re probably saying by now. What about the BEAVERS! Enough social commentary! What’s new with the currently most important residents of our town? Well, after working hard all day yesterday snapping all the photos you see here, and staggering out of bed for a work day at IBRRC, our own Cheryl Reynolds stopped in Martinez this morning to catch some beaver activity above the primary dam by the Escobar bridge. A kit was taking branches into the area by the washed out lodge and working on what appears to be a rebuild.New Lodge! New Lodge! Who now can resist getting out of bed in the morning to see that!  She says the dam looks sturdier and the almost-yearling  darted back to sleep in the bank. I’m expecting grand things.