Mrs. Couso and Peyton in the middle of the pumpkin patch

Our weather pattern is supposed to change to more fall-like weather this weekend, there is even a freeze warning for Saturday, and I bet that inspires the trees here in the valley to break out the fall colors.

FBLA Murder Mystery

I am a big fan of Lassen High School’s Future Business Leaders of America club and for years now I have seen FBLA members, under the leadership of Dawn Egan, go on to do amazing things in the world.

The nationwide FBLA organization “inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders” through career preparation and leadership experiences. They compete, they learn skills, they get a very useful education – these are some very smart kids.

The group asked me to be a part of Wednesday evening’s big Fall Meeting and Murder Mystery. The murder mystery was set in a televised ‘Bake Off’ and when one of the judges dies after tasting entries everybody else involved becomes a suspect.

Each member of the FBLA Officer Team played a suspect, like a big, complex version of the board game Clue, and the audience of about one hundred students got to ask questions of each one as part of the investigation.

Suspects included the Bakeoff’s presenter, judges and contestants – I got to play the Bake Off Director Mack O’Roon!

The other FBLA Officers listen as the character Fleur Whitworth,

played perfectly by Justin Ellena, is introduced.

And the FBLA officers were great – each one having fun with their parts. Special mention should be made of Justin Ellena whose character of ‘Fleur Whitworth’ was worth the price of admission. Also, Tucker Schall did a fantastic job of asking and answering questions in the crowd during the murder mystery ‘investigation.’

It was a great time, and I was happy to get to be part of it. A very fun way to spend a Wednesday evening.

Visiting Fred and Dena in Milford

Yesterday we made the traditional, annual pilgrimage to Milford to visit Fred and Dena Wemple at the Pumpkin Patch, which looks awesome this year, and oh what weather for pumpkin patching! It is gorgeously fall out in their part of the valley.

Granddaughter Peyton and the other kids in Mrs. O’Brien’s class at McKinley got the complete pumpkin patch experience – the fun hayride, playing on tractors, friendly farm animals, pumpkin stories, the hay bale maze and the zenith of the pumpkin patch experience, grandma and Peyton got to wander through the field finding the perfect pumpkin to bring home and decorate.

Now it is starting to feel like fall.

Kon’nichiwa Travelers

Mr. and Mrs. Chapman have returned from their whirlwind trip through Japan with Joyce and Todd Eid and it was a lot of fun living vicariously through their social media posts.

Jim’s photos are awesome, and the travelers went to some beautiful places on their journey, but strangely they also seem to have been doing a lot of arts and crafts projects while in far off lands. Is that a thing in Japan? Craft projects?

After being Susanville’s youngest mayor, and spending a lifetime in public service, I vote we now make Mr. Chapman Susanville’s official Ambassador to Japan.

The Results Are In

At last weekend’s Dancing for a Brand New Me performances Kaitlyn Midgely and Seanne McElrath took home the People’s Choice trophy, and Jillaine Singleton and Dalton Leighton were the Champions.

Have an awesome weekend everybody!

Coppervale Ski Area’s new PistenBully 200  - photo provided

Coppervale Gets Improved Snow Groomer Thanks to Sheriff Growdon

Coppervale Ski Area, operated by Lassen College since 1946, recently received a new piece of machinery, a PistenBully 200, from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office had just acquired the groomer from the U.S. Forestry Service, which used it for grooming parks in the area.

“Though it is an impressive piece of equipment, it is more of a groomer,” said Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon, who grew up in Westwood and learned to ski at Coppervale.

According to Lassen College spokesperson Nicole Kelley, the Sheriff’s Office needed a Sno-Cat to access communication sites on mountaintops via narrow roads. Through a surplus property system, the LCSO was able to obtain a Sno-Cat at no cost that fits their needs and geared more toward search and rescue.

“We appreciate the benefit that Coppervale brings to our community,” said Growdon. “We were going to surplus it but instead we asked our Board of Supervisors to write off the surplus value, which allowed us to transfer it to the college and then to Coppervale.”

The PistenBully 200 is going to allow Coppervale to reduce their grooming time. Coppervale owns another groomer, built in 1995, so the two working in concert will take a lot of stress off the staff, mainly Norm Wilson, who has been managing, grooming and teaching visitors to ski and snowboard at Coppervale for nearly four decades.

“Our current groomer has a lot of hours,” said Wilson, Manager of Coppervale Ski Hill. “With more hours comes more problems, which requires more money for repairs. The new groomer only has 126 hours on it. I can’t thank Sheriff Growdon enough for making sure Coppervale can continue to benefit our local community.”

“I want to thank Sheriff Growdon, Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, our County Board of Supervisors and County administration, for making sure Coppervale can continue to benefit our local community,” said LCC Interim Superintendent/President Carie Camacho.

“Coppervale is a jewel within our community and the college is so grateful to all those that help keep Coppervale safe and operational for generations to come.”

Thomas Herrera and The Highway to the Gaming Zone will be having a 2-year anniversary celebration with food and drinks, along with several events and games throughout the evening.

The three-business event, which runs from 5:00 to 10:00p.m. on Saturday, will be family friendly and everyone is invited to come support and help welcome two new businesses to town.

The Highway to the Gaming Zone’s awesome arcade

It was there that she became a true General Orthopaedic Surgeon, who was able to treat and diagnosis a myriad of disorders and injuries of the musculoskeletal system.

She moved to California in 2013 and enjoys traveling, skiing, biking, reading and all kinds of music.

She is a caring physician, who listens and who does her best to treat every patient as if that patient were a member of her family.

Conditions treated: Fractures, sprains, arthritis and injuries of the upper and lower extremities, including hand, elbow, shoulder, foot, ankle, knee, hip and back.

Procedures Performed: Internal Fixation of fractures, repair of lacerations, tendons, arthroscopy of the knee and shoulder, carpal tunnel release, cortisone injections and others.

Lassen High plays football at Arnold Field in this 1941 photo.

Foundations Set for New School Co-op

October 21, 1949

Foundation for the new student-built JC co-op building will go in this weekend between the cafeteria and the JC building, and will be about 15×20 feet.

The JC students wanted a larger room in which to relax, chat, smoke, read or play cards, and so they voted to put one up on their own, using their own labor.

The Lassen Lumber & Box Co, Fruit Grower’s Supply Co and the Paul Bunyan Lumber Co. donated the lumber and the Susanville Logging Co donated a truck to haul the logs to the building site.

The JC student council voted Wednesday to discontinue the practice of playing cards in their present co-op because it seems to be distracting some from working on their new building