The Class of 1988 at our 30th reunion. That’s a pretty fun group of people!

First, I am super glad to find out that I am not the only person who struggles with the decision to go. I thought that perhaps I was just cranky and anti-social, but after hearing from so many of you who have reunion anxiety too, I feel a little better about it.

Reactions ranged from the chorus of folks who optimistically told me, “Go! You’ll have a great time!” to an equal number told me they had never been to a single reunion and couldn’t imagine ever going to one!

(As a sidenote: Did you ever see the John Cusack movie Grosse Pointe Blank? One of my favorite high school reunion movies.)

One person said, “I lasted 30 minutes at the first (and last) reunion I attended and that was 40 years ago. Still remember the awkward feeling. I’m sure that you will have a great time though.”

Another Lassen alum, who will remain anonymous, wrote me to say she didn’t like anybody in her class, but she always goes to the reunion for the class ahead of her because those people were way cooler and more fun.

Here is a dichotomy for you: Four people said that if they lived here, they would go to the reunion, but traveling makes it much harder. On the other hand, I had four other people tell me they don’t need to go to the reunion because they live here and see everybody all the time.

Then, there are the reunion folks. The people who love to go to reunions! It’s true! I got a bunch of messages from people who absolutely love going to their reunions and would not miss them for anything in the world. They look forward to each one, hoping to catch up with everybody. They make plans together with their high school friends and do stuff together when they are in town. The whole reunion weekend becomes an event.

If you haven’t been back to Susanville in while, now would be a great time to come home for a reunion. The weather has been beautiful this summer and the town looks great, still green and spring-like even this late in the year.

Our class reunion is being held at Sentimental Journey in Janesville and the evening will be beautiful, of course. It’s always a classy event out at the McMullen’s.

Also, I’ve just been informed that there will be a special ‘Back to the 80’s’ trivia night at Bottle and Brush Art Bar on July 21st, the night before the reunion. After that gets over you can come down to the Fair to see us old guys in Forgery playing music from 8:00 to 11:00. (Well, that wandered off into self-promotion.)

Reunion organizers have also added an option to attend virtually! We didn’t imagine that 35 years ago.

So, I don’t think I’m any closer to a decision than I was a week ago. Sigh.

If you are less wishy-washy than I am and have decided you would like to go to the Class of 88’s reunion you can follow this link for ticket information. I am not sure when the deadline to purchase them is. I should probably find that out.

Pickleball Has Come to Susanville

I was out on my morning walk Thursday and came across a group of folks playing Pickleball at the courts on North Street by Memorial Park. Pickleball looks like some awesome fun and, although my knowledge of the sport is very thin, I do know it is sweeping the nation at the moment, having gained momentum over the last five years.

I read a statistic from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association trade group that said in the United States Pickleball has grown from 8.9 million players in 2022 to 22 million in 2023!

Here in town, I was told by an authoritative Pickleball source, the group of players has grown to more than fifty! There is a league and a schedule and everything. Have you thought about giving the sport a try? If you are interested in playing with the big group of local Pickleballers you can find out more information by emailing Tom Downing at tdowning@frontier.com.

Randy’s Gallery

Randy Robbins, Northeastern California’s famous outdoor adventure photographer, did a soft opening for his new gallery at 800 Main Street, during Thursday evening’s Famers Market. Randy and Jill have done an amazing job on the interior of the historic building, which is now truly an anchor in the uptown sector.

It’s really exciting to see one of our vintage buildings being properly cared for. The fact that it is filled with Randy’s awesome photos makes it that much better.

Summer Vacation

Oh, I am so excited. It’s time for our SusanvilleStuff Summer Vacation! Hurray! For one week we will be pretty scarce around here, only making an appearance if there is breaking news, or if something breaks. Let’s hope for a boring 4th of July week! When we come back from vacation it will be time to prepare for this year’s Lassen County Fair, which starts July 19th.

Have a great Fourth of July everybody and I’ll see you back here next week.

Our Big Gallery from the 2023 Susanville Main Cruise Show and Shine

A SusanvilleSnapshots.com Gallery

by Marshel Couso

The Lassen County chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Main Street Cruise Classic Car Show N’ Shine on Saturday, June 24th with cool cars, live performances, food and craft vendors and live music throughout the day.

The big party was held in Memorial Park and featured more than 60 cars.

We have a lot more photos in our gallery over at

SusanvilleSnapshots.com. Click here to see them all!

We have a lot more photos in our gallery over at

SusanvilleSnapshots.com. Click here to see them all!

Keith Honea and family

accept the Best of Show award

• Diamond Mountain Casino and Hotel: John Shaw’s 1957 Chevy Bel Air
• Wheels West: Kathleen Crombie’s 1966 Ford Thunderbird
• Mandy McGarva: Terry Berry’s 1961 Nash Metropolitan
• Les Schwab: Jesus Montoya’s 1967 Chevy Super Impala
• Auto Zone: Chet Donato’s 1928 Ford
• All Season Heating and Air: Ken and Jeanette McConnell’s 1979 Chevy Corvette
• Sierra Tan: Rick Wright’s 1956 Chevy Bel Air

Councilwoman Schuster and Mayson

Park Gets New Adaptive Swing Thanks to Councilwoman Schuster

By Marshel Couso

Publisher, SusanvilleStuff

Susanville’s Memorial Park has a brand-new adaptive swing, specially engineered to secure children with mobility limitations safely within one of the park’s swing sets. Children with disabilities can enjoy swinging side-by-side with family or friends and continue to swing even after outgrowing the other equipment.

The story of the swing is a personal one for me. At the end of summer 2021 I realized my disabled grandson Mayson would no longer fit in the toddler swings at the park. He loves swinging and would do it for hours if he could. Unfortunately, now that he is 12 he is unable to use a standard swing, and there is no other equipment at either city park he can play on.

I did some research to see how much it would cost to put in at least one adaptive swing, with prices varying from reasonable to extravagant. I contacted Mendy Schuster, who was Susanville’s Mayor at the time, to see if she had a recommendation on how to proceed.

Mendy’s response was one of shock and immediate support.

“I was embarrassed to say that I had never noticed we didn’t have a swing for children with physical needs. I reached out to our city administrator, Dan Newton, and we got the ball rolling on getting such a swing at Memorial Park,” explains Schuster.

Mayor Schuster asked me to forward my research over to Toby Beach at Public Works. I sent what I had, and Toby worked to find different options.

Each year City Council members are allotted $1,000 for civic contributions and Councilwoman Schuster paid for the swing out of her money, with Councilman Stafford offering to cover anything over that amount. Truly generous folks.

At the beginning of June Schuster met my grandson for the first time when he tried out the new swing.

“As soon as I got out of my car I could hear Mayson laughing,” she said, “he loves the new swing.”

“There are days when I question why I ran for City Council but, the day I heard Mayson in our new swing, his joy answered my question.”

Thank you to Councilwoman Schuster and everyone at the City who made the new swing possible. It is appreciated.

The Mt. Lassen Hotel burns, from an Eastman Studios photograph

Blaze Razes Lassen Hotel

Night Clerk Reported Missing; Fire Damage Estimated at $500,000

June 30, 1947

Firemen yesterday evening probed the smoldering ruins by a $5000,000 fire in Susanville, searching for the body of a missing hotel clerk who is believed to have perished in the blaze.

The missing man is James J. Daugherty, 50, night clerk of the Lassen Hotel in which the conflagration began. He is believed to have been trapped in a basement room when flames roared through the three-story structure.

The hotel and six business establishments were razed by the fire, which broke out from undetermined cause about 9 a.m. The flames were still burning fiercely by 2 p. m., but spread of the fire had been controlled by that time.

Fourteen pieces of fire equipment battled the blaze to prevent it from spreading even farther in the Lassen county town, but were unable to prevent destruction of several stores and offices. They included a clothing shop, hardware store, real estate office, insurance firm, oculist’s office, and offices of the California State Automobile Association and those of the U. S. Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The last-named office lost all income and federal tax records, according to report.

The blaze began in the hotel basement, spreading quickly to the hotel restaurant and bakery. The entire building, Susanville’s largest hotel, was soon enveloped in flames. Thirty hotel guests were escorted to safety by firemen before the fire reached its climax, and last night were being cared for by the Lassen County Red Cross chapter.

Six firemen were overcome by smoke in battling the blaze, but no other injuries were reported as occurring during the fire fighting. Equipment was sent from Westwood and Herlong to aid the Susanville force, while other fire trucks were dispatched from the U. S. Forest Service facilities, state division of forestry and the Paul Bunyan Lumber Co.

Firefighting scenes from the Eastman Studios Collection at UC Davis