’Tis the Season to bid farewell to another year and to dust off the reindeer, tinsel and other festive whatnot for the holidays. Senior News, the free monthly community newspaper from the Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC), celebrates the season with a collection of festive tales of holidays past, present and future.
Senior News has been published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka since 1981, distributing 7,000 copies/month.
This issue leads off with Mark Larson’s photo of a dazzling Carson Mansion, the hall bedecked with thousands of lights that send a festive message across the Eureka waterfront and Humboldt Bay. Contributors this month share tales of holidays past — John Meyers remembers a musical Christmas 1958 and Susan Penn tells about adopting a tree in 1982; Rich Jordan sings for Walt Disney in 1962 (atop an OSHA scaffolding nightmare) and we pass along a free all-inclusive holiday greeting from Canadian attorney Faisal Kutty.
It’s fruitcake season at Mary McCutcheon’s house, live-aboard sailor Alan Workman decorates his sloop at Woodley Island, Margot Genger remembers the year of the Tick Tree, Julie Benbow got the BBC for the holidays back in Jollye Olde England, Pat Bitton introduces us to the Deer Mother at the solstice, and Peter Mehren suggests spreading out the holidays to twice a year for logistical reasons (satire!).
There’s plenty of non-holiday fare as well, for which we’re grateful: foster grandparents, HSRC’s van and bus drivers, a look back at the tsunamis of 2025, the epic kayak run that reopened the Klamath River last summer, our regular columnists, your letters and Dan Brewer in the Poets’ Corner.
Enjoy!
Moving along, here’s what we’re working on next:
• JANUARY is named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and endings who presided over doorways, gates and changes. So Senior News leads off the new year with an issue on “Transitions,” whether from 2025 to 2026 or in life. We’re looking for your stories about major events — marriages, retirement, new jobs, children, a new house, a new town, a new boat, relationships, new pets, new cars, new hobbies (hang gliding or crocheting), divorces . . . and their impact on your life and psyche. Send me your stories (400-500 words) and photos by Dec. 12 for the first issue of 2026.
• In FEBRUARY, the month of love, Senior News will go out on a limb with an issue exploring sex, intimacy and love that we’re calling “An Intimate Conversation.” Just because we’re over 50 (or 60 or 70 or 80), doesn’t mean that our love life is over. Certainly, the loves of our life are still rich and full. Tell us your love stories, how you approach sex and intimacy now in your, um, “sunset years.” We are commissioning and collecting these articles now, but the absolute final deadline is Jan. 12; 400-500 words max, plus photos of the love(s) of your life.