I was blown away watching him. You could tell that he had practiced and took it very seriously. I heard him speak about why supporting Lassen Family Services was important to him, and it was incredibly sincere.

Then came our friendship, and I’m not sure where it started exactly. It just happened, which is lucky for me, because Thomas is an all-around amazing human being.

When I worked for the Police Department he did a ride along with me, and you know what? Thomas is also very intelligent!

Any person who can open their business in the middle of a pandemic and survive is okay by me.

Yep. Aside from being a City Council Member, a father to the cutest little pumpkin, and a loving husband to his beautiful wife, Thomas runs the Highway to the Gaming Zone. A place that Susanville so needed.

Now, I am in no way, shape, or form, a gamer, but even I can appreciate Thomas’ store.

I went inside for the first time for a birthday party and had to remind myself that we “look with our eyes and not our hands” because there were so many cool things in there that I wanted to play with… erm… I mean ‘examine closer.’

And guys – let me tell you the best part. There is a black light arcade in the back of that store! It is so awesome. The children and adults alike had so much fun!

His business has become a place for teens and gamers to connect and feel like they have a place to hang out that appreciates their interests. Oh, and check this out – they are hosting a pinball league! How cool is that? This little business is a mecca of activity and community on our very own Main Street.

Okay, speaking of gaming, let me tell you a little story. This past week, I was looking for a couple of extra volunteers to help with the Salvation Army back to school shopping event. I immediately thought about Thomas. Not because he is a City Council Member, but because I know he loves kids in this community. (You don’t open your business and let every kid off the street hang out in your store if you don’t like teens and children).

Thomas, without hesitation, agreed. And let me tell you – kid after kid (hour after hour) Thomas bonded with them as he took them shopping. From an eleven-year-old boy to a teen girl. They loved him!

He has a genuine personality and spoke to them at their level with respect, and as someone who likes to think they are good at talking to kids, I can appreciate it when others have that ability as well.

Thomas is a true community servant, quietly showing up to multiple events, from river clean-ups to community walks. He has no idea I am writing this article about him, and will probably roll his eyes because he most definitely does not do the things he does for attention. He does them because he cares about this town, his family, and our community, which makes him one of the reasons I love where we live.

They are now serving several types of beer, including classics like Coors and Budweiser, with some craft and IPA options, seltzers, and several kinds of red, white, and rose wine.

There is also a separate station to prepare hot food, including hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, and now pizza. The employees have all gone through Responsible Beverage Serving training with the ABC and will ask to swipe your ID at the beginning of the transaction.

There are even new trays to hold all of your concession items, including popcorn, candy, and ice cream so nothing gets spilled on your way down the aisle.

As the staff acclimates to the new concession options, the Sierra Theatre is offering free showings of Bad Moms and Caddyshack through Thursday 9/22. You’ll also get a free slice of pizza with each purchase of beer or wine.

Carolyn is looking to extend this offer starting Friday with Deadpool, but please check their Facebook page or website for confirmation.

The second cool enhancement is the switch to accessing movies by satellite. Satellite? What happened to those platters filled with film that took up the entire projectionist booth?

Well, in 2013 they installed new equipment that used a hard drive and had decided before Covid hit that they would make the move to satellite.

This expands the options to one-day events like concerts, fights, ballets, special screenings, and plays. Some of the future bookings may include The Outside Circle: A Movie of the Modern West, directed by former Lassen County resident Craig Rullman.

There is also talk that a documentary about the recent truck drivers’ strike may make its world premiere at the Sierra Theatre!

This also opens up the theatre for live shows, open mic nights, bands, other performances, and rental for your own private events. Mike and Carolyn are even thinking about starting the VIDEO DANCE PARTIES again!

When I was a senior in high school, the video dance parties started that Spring and never stopped. With the late Tom Craig at the VJ booth, hundreds of teens danced for HOURS to their favorite MTV videos.

There were cool lights! A smoke machine! A mirror ball! I thought it was the Best. Thing. Ever.

Then I started working for Mike and Carolyn and one summer I was at the box office every Friday and Saturday night selling tickets to scores of teenagers. That’s when I changed my mind. I don’t know if it was the sweaty dollar bills or the sweaty bodies, but I had enough.

It is still super cool and will give kids (and probably those of us from Gen-X) something else to do.

For the time being the Sierra Theatre will show predominantly mature films and Uptown Cinemas will provide a more family friendly venue. There is a plan to work with the city and add the beverage and food options to Uptown as well. It just takes time. And money!

Covid wreaked havoc on the movie industry and the effect is being felt by small theatre owners like the Smiths. They have worked tirelessly and diversified to stay in business and keep bringing new movies to our community.

Even when the number of new releases has gone down drastically (there are thirteen less first run movies from now until Christmas than there were in 2019), Carolyn searches every week to book something that will satisfy her audiences.

Let’s help out our local businesses by watching movies on the big screen. Accompanied by a tub of freshly popped and perfectly buttered popcorn, an icy cold beverage, and a sweet treat of your choice, there is nothing like sitting in that dark auditorium while the story shapes in front of you.

No distractions. No pauses. No changing the channel or buffering. Just you and the movie. Perfection.

So, stop the streaming and get up to the Sierra Theatre ASAP!

Remember when news was ‘newsy’? When you read about weddings, family events and engagement announcements in the newspaper? If you have something that might be newsworthy, please submit it to shelleybennett24@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to include it here in “The Good Stuff.”

Newly opened South County 4-H with its officers, leaders and members -photo provided

At each meeting we introduced ourselves and played an ice breaker to get to know the kids. It was a lot of fun!

We had the honor of attending the first meeting of the newly reopened South County 4-H.

We helped guide the new membership through their officer elections and had a great day.

If you’re interested in joining 4-H and live in the South County area, there is now a club closer to you.

October 2nd-8th is National 4-H Week. Richmond 4-H puts together a baby basket for the first baby born during National 4-H Week. Milford 4-H is hosting their coloring contest with three age division winners.

Some projects that other 4-H Clubs participate in are taking goodies to their teachers at school, wearing their 4-H shirt to class, giving a presentation to their school about 4-H and putting posters up at local businesses.

If you don’t follow Lassen County 4-H on Facebook, please do – so many of these updates will be there!

You will also notice that we are continuing the Lassen County 4-H Hall of Fame and this year’s inductees will be presented throughout National 4-H Week right here on Susanvillestuff.com.

Our first big job as Ambassadors is to host Achievement Night. Achievement night will take place at Sentimental Journey Ranch, October 9th from 3-5 pm rounding out National 4-H Week. The theme is “Disney in the Barn.”

This year, to earn the Spirit Stick award, we decided to do a scarecrow contest, to encourage more entries in the Lassen County Fair. Each club has been assigned a Disney movie to base their scarecrow off. Scarecrow set up is from 2-3pm.

There is no potluck this year, all food and drinks will be provided! There will be fun Disney themed games and entertainment throughout the evening, and we encourage every returning 4-H member to come.

Thank you for taking the time to read Ambassadors Corner! We can’t wait to share more!

Respectfully, Lily Ammon & Maddi Johnson

Icebreaker with Lake 4H

Lassen High School in the early 1950s from the Eastman Collection at UC Davis

Eight New Instructors at Lassen High

September 22, 1958

There are eight new teachers at the Lassen High School this year.

They are, Robert Battaga who, under an Air Force policy of releasing personnel to teach math and science in civilian schools, was discharged from the serv ice to accept the position here. He is 23 years old.

Donald Bowman 28 a graduate of the University of Oregon who will teach driver training, bookkeeping, commercial math and typing.

Warren Chapman, 35, advanced art, ceramics, freehand drawing, design. He is a native of Montana and a graduate of the Montana State College.

Betty Purvis, girls physical education. She is a graduate of Alameda High School and the University of California in Berkley.

Norman Rudnick English. He is 27 years old and is transferring from Herlong where he taught for three years.

Harold Shean civics, world geography. He is 31 years old and a graduate of the University of Washington. His home is in Burlington. He taught in Washington State for two years.

Katherine Warner, office practice, typing and shorthand. She is a graduate of Lassen High School and this year graduated from the University of Nevada. Her home is in Chester.

Kirk Young, algebra, general math, solid geometry, trigonometry. He is a native of San Carlos and comes here from Sequoia High School in Redwood City.