Guberifs invade Huntington Beach

When Don Rand was 8, his parents sent him across the country to live with an aunt in Idaho. It was during the long bus ride from his home in Brooklyn that he noticed something strange about the state he would soon call home.

Somewhere along the borders of Idaho, young Rand noticed a sign that read: “Don’t be a Guberif.”

Guberif, or firebug spelled backward, was part of the anti-forest fire campaign in Idaho that still marks roadways and signs to this day, although they are harder to spot than in Rand’s childhood.

From then on, Rand had guberifs on the brain, even if only an ember in the back of his thoughts.

Seventy years later and now a Huntington Beach resident, Rand fanned the flame and decided to put his idea into a story based on the characters that long ago caught fire in his imagination.

“Rigby & Gem: A Guberif Adventure” is the first story in a series of adventures from Magic Valley, “a land of sparkling streams and giant cliffs,” a land based on all the places lived or visited during his stays in Idaho.

The stories’ heroes — Grandpa Sage, Rigby and Gem — are three guberifs who put out fires rather than start them. In Idaho, the term held a negative meaning. However, Rand intended for his guberifs to save the day.

“I always thought they should be the good guys, so they don’t start fires,” Rand said.

Even the firebugs, the story’s antagonists, accidentally start the fires doused by the main characters.

“In the book, they’re not bad — they’re just careless,” he said.

The owner of Classy Collectibles in Huntington Beach knew his idea needed corporate marketing and help with developing a product, books, toys, movies, etc.

He found just what he needed in illusionist Jim McCafferty, owner of JMP Creative in Santa Ana.

Rand began calling McCafferty, attempting to spark the company’s interest in taking on the production and marketing of the guberif concept.

“He called me on the phone,” McCafferty said. “At first, I wasn’t going to take the meeting.”

In the end, his relentless pursuit of JMP won him a deal with the marketing and development company that has been behind production concepts for “Shrek,” “Robots,” and CD collections for artists such as Bob Dylan.

“Don convinced me, and now he’s more of a friend than anything,” McCafferty said. “He was just determined that we would work on his project.”

Rand and McCafferty knew that the success of their idea hinged on the physical representations of story heroes — Grandpa Sage, Gem and Rigby.

“So many characters out there look alike, so we wanted to make them look different,” Rand said.

Rand sat down with JMP illustrators and sketched out a concept he felt presented lovable, colorful characters that stood out from the cartoons of the anime generation.

“No detail was too small on that thing for him. Everything has a story,” McCafferty said. “There is a lot of his life in the story.”

Rand’s store, which has been housed in the Old World Marketplace for 20 years, is well known for its rare, collectible beer steins and other knick-knacks. Soon it may be recognized for reasons other than the mugs lining the walls.

Right now, it is the only place besides the Internet where you can buy a copy of the book, which is being negotiated for DVD and toy production.

“I’d like to introduce the book in Huntington Beach as the home of the guberif,” Rand said.