Bigfoot leaves his footprint on Willow Creek

[From “The Times-Standard”. September 2005.]

For the 37th year, Willow Creek called on sasquatch to mark the little town as the Bigfoot center of the universe.

Whether an explanation for a strange woodland sighting or a tool to draw business and tourists, there’s little doubt that Bigfoot calls Willow Creek home during Bigfoot days.

”Bigfoot fills a real needed gap,” said Steve Paine, parade announcer and Willow Creek Community Services District Director.

The Bigfoot Days celebration, Paine said, has evolved over the years, and is now a chance for locals to show off their assets. Fire departments from Willow Creek, Hawkins Bar and Hoopa were on hand. Wineries are now a more substantial presence at the parade, where they showcased a growing local industry. Boy Scouts, the VFW, hot cars. In all, there were about 50 participants.

And the main Bigfoot in the parade didn’t miss the chance to show off its corporate wares.

He wore a Re/Max Humboldt Realty shirt.

A cheerful, albeit warm, Sean McAtasney handed out balloons and Frisbees to kids lining the streets under the shade of maple trees. He’s a real estate agent for Re/Max, and much larger, apparently, than the last official Bigfoot, who he took over for four years ago.

”There was a need for a good Bigfoot in town,” McAtasney said.

Not to squander the chance at Bigfoot footage of a sort, a film making team from North Carolina were on hand shooting 8mm of the parade. The shots for the upcoming feature movie are meant to act as flashbacks in the life of a deceased grandfather who had a passion for Bigfoot, said director Daniel Kleeberg.

”Bigfoot: The Movie,” being shot mostly in 35mm, is expected to be out in March or April. The “family adventure” film Kleeberg expects, may warrant a PG-13 rating for intense scenes.

”I’ve had a fascination for Bigfoot like a lot of people since I was a child,” Kleeberg said.

WCSRO, 2006.