Read Past Town Chatters

Community Meeting Times

Plumas News Weekly Updates

Plumas County Health COVID Updates

Sierra Small Business Development Center Free Trainings & Workshops

**********
Lake Almanor Country Club
Lake Almanor Country Club is a private, residential/recreation community located on the peninsula of Lake Almanor. With the busy season approaching, we have positions open. Join our team.  Click Here to see available positions

**********

Almanor Dry Dock
Marine Mechanic: Marine repair center at Lake Almanor needs a seasoned journeyman marine repair technician.

Forklift Operator: Seeking forklift operator with a minimum of 5-years’ experience operating forklifts greater than 8,000# capacity.

Please call Dianne at (530) 596-4406 option 2 for more information on these positions.
**********
Womack Construction
Plumber: Position offers full-time employment. Requires 5 years of continuous field experience in the residential and/or light commercial plumbing trades. Please call Chance at (530) 596-3364 ext. 117 for more information.
**********
Young’s Market
Seeking a new addition to our team. Job includes: food prep/service, cashiering on the state’s oldest register, stocking/receiving products. Friendly and helpful to customers. Must be able to work in a quick-paced, multi-faceted, multi-tasking environment and work weekends, shifts are 10am-4:30pm. Email resume to youngsmarket@yahoo.com. Must be received by 3-19-21. 4368 Main Street, Taylorsville.
**********
Plumas County Job Opportunities
https://www.plumascounty.us/jobs.aspx

**********
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, Taylorsville
Hiring Summer Youth Corps Crew Leaders. Please check link for job description. https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs/ 
**********
Alliance for Workforce Development – Hot Jobs!  
**********
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
Please check link for job descriptions. https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs/
**********
UDSA jobs available
Click here to search jobs by location! 
**********
NAPA Auto Parts - Northern California
Counterperson, Delivery Driver - Chester Auto Parts
Full-time. 445 Main St., Chester
**********
Dollar General
Sales Associate, Chester
Full-time
376 Main St., Chester
**********
Almanor Energy Plus
HVAC Installer
Full-time
530.596.3128
**********
Seneca Healthcare District 
Check out openings 
https://senecahospital.org/careers/
**********
Best Western Rose Quartz Inn
Job Opening
530.258.2002

Congratulations to Jay Sabelman winner of a $5.00 gift certificate courtesy of Ace Hardware as the winner of last week’s Town Trivia. The correct question: What is Wilson’s Camp Prattville to the answer: the longest family business in the Lake Almanor area.  Thanks to all of you who participated!

This week’s answer: This current PGA Golf Great’s Dad was raised in Chester.
Please send your question to Trivia@lakealmanorarea.com

Thank you, ACE Hardware for being our sponsor this week. We are always looking for sponsors for our weekly Town Trivia prize. If interested, please contact katherine@sansoneplus.com

 

Chamber Board Meetings are at 8:30 am on the 2nd TUESDAY of each month in the Chamber office at 278 Main Street. All are welcome. Zoom is available.

The Chamber's Community Calendar is open to all. CLICK HERE. Go to the bottom of the page and look for SUBMIT HERE.
 

COVID Update - Plumas County Moved into Orange Tier
Effective 3/9, Plumas County moved to the less restrictive Orange Tier. CLICK HERE for the full press release and changes related to the Orange Tier.

Community Suppers
To help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the next dinner will be Thursday, March 11 from 5:00 to 6:00pm and will be, of course -- Corned Beef and Cabbage. The drive thru is located in the parking lot of the Memorial Hall on Gay Street in Chester, down from the Corner Store. Please stay in your car and your hot meal will be brought to you. This dinner is sponsored by the Rotary Club.

March Madness Continues!
Shop at your favorite stores including Giggling Crow, Lassen Gifts & Soda Fountain, Ayoob's and B&B Booksellers to see what great deals you can find on their unique merchandise. Sale through March 31, 2021. More info

The Sierra Small Business Development Center
The Sierra Small Business Development Center (Sierra SBDC) provides FREE one-on-one counseling, business plan development, workshops and webinars every month. For the FREE workshops and seminars, go to www.sierrasbdc.com; click on Calendar at the top, then scroll down to the session of your choice. You must register to get entry. Local owner, Carol Franchetti of Carol’s Café, has taken advantage of the free webinars and this is what she has to say about her experience:

“As an older business woman, this was so helpful for me. I took voluminous notes and gleaned information I will use right away. I even learned what a hashtag was!"

This is the second SBDC Free Workshop Carol has taken this year. She says they are well worth the time.

3/7/21

Lake level continues to rise ever so slightly, like most of California, we are hoping for a wet spring season. Water temps continue to hover around the 40-degree mark and visibility is unchanged at 5-8’. We hope to have received some weather Monday-Wednesday with reports of up to a foot of snow over the three days. We did get a couple of inches of snow Saturday at the lake level. The Canyon Dam boat ramp is open and it will be the only public ramp available on Almanor until spring.

Hamilton Branch has cleared slightly from last week and bank fishing has increased. Fishing around the coves of Canyon Dam remains slow. There has been a better grade of fish showing up along the causeway at the north end of the lake.

The bite has been tough for trollers the past few days, while numbers are down, the grade of fish has been good with Browns approaching the double-digit mark. Rainbows have been in short supply the past few weeks. We did catch a Salmon Saturday (first one in months). It was a pound and a half and in great shape. Fish and Wildlife planted 150,000 sub catchable Salmon each of the past two years. It would be great to hear reports of Salmon being caught throughout the lake. They are hard fighting and great table fare. We caught ours in 45’ of water eight feet down on the wire on a gulp minnow over a school of pond smelt. There has been no rhyme or reason to the fish we have been catching. We are just covering water, varying depths and picking up a fish occasionally. When conditions are tough, be persistent. One bite on Almanor can make your day or your trip.


Local, Ron Hilder, caught and released this 8 # Brown this March.
 

The Feather River Tourism Association was awarded “District Formation of the Year” by Civitas Advisors in recognition of their fearless commitment to leadership and excellence in tourism.

“In 2014, a steering committee composed of volunteer representatives from each region of Plumas County contracted with Civitas to begin the process of forming a Plumas County Tourism Marketing District," explains Civitas. After two years of county-wide effort, the process was put on hold when it became evident that the eastern area of the county was not interested in participating in the Tourism Marketing District.The TMD steering committee was not deterred and revised their plan to create a district without Eastern Plumas that would include Quincy/Bucks Lake, the Feather River Canyon, Indian Valley, and the Lake Almanor Basin. At the end of 2018, efforts were reignited by this volunteer group and they formed a non-profit, Feather River Tourism Association and the Plumas Board of Supervisors approved the use of staff time to continue the efforts to form the Feather River Tourism Marketing District (FRTMD).

Over the next two years, Civitas and the FRTMD steering committee worked tirelessly to develop the Feather River Tourism Marketing District Management District Plan. The FRTMD steering committee and Civitas worked with Plumas County to update their internal software, streamline stakeholder outreach to lodging, and collecting signed petitions. Despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented in 2020, these dedicated and committed FRTMD steering committee volunteers not only funded the formation costs themselves, but their work culminated in the long-awaited approval of the FRTMD in October 2020, with assessment collections starting January 1, 2021.

The persistence of the FRTMD steering committee, now the Feather River Tourism Association (FRTA), exemplified the importance that every dollar available to promoting the region was worth the trials and tribulations they experienced over the nearly six-year campaign to secure dedicated funding. Karen Kleven, an FRTA Board Member and project leader said, “We never could have done it without the ongoing support, encouragement, and professionalism from Civitas.” The Feather River Tourism Association has an approximately $191,000 budget dedicated to increasing demand for overnight visitation to the region, which highlights the many opportunities for outdoor adventures in rural northern California in the Lake Almanor Basin, Indian Valley, Feather River Canyon, Quincy, and Bucks Lake communities.

We look forward to seeing great things happening for this industrious and diligent group as they help visitors discover the wonders of Plumas County!”

For information on FRTA, go to www.featherrivertourism.com.
For information on Civitas go to http://civitasadvisors.com/

Pizza at the Branch
Come in as a friend . . . Leave as Family

Pizza at the Branch is an “all in the family” business with the leadership of the Pizza, Burger, Convenience Store, and Gas Station under the leadership of the founder’s son-in-law, Colten Fletcher. “This place is a legacy to Karen Chavez, my wife’s mother, who owned the Pizza at the Branch off A-13 from 2013 to 2018,” says Colten, as he continues to explain the history of “The Branch.”

Karen was born and raised in the LA area and started in the restaurant business owning the 1st Street Eatery in Westwood and then working at the Cotton Candy Diner in Chester before opening Pizza at the Branch in Hamilton Branch in 2013.

Colten, born and raised in Westwood, has also always been in the food business and began working at age 14 at the Sierra Supper Club. He started working at Pizza at the Branch when it opened 2013, and under the guidance of Karen continued his education in foodservice. “It was also where I met my wife, Erica, Karen’s only daughter, and became part of a huge blended family of uncles, cousins, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that number over 100 with the patriarch, Richard King, and matriarch, Evelyn King, Karen’s mother.  

When the building was to be sold in 2017, Karen was concerned about where to move the restaurant since it was a family affair and more than just a business. The answers came after Karen sat with four of her regular Thursday afternoon guests who offered ideas, solutions, and assistance in making the move around the corner and down the road. “It was through the generosity and loyalty to Karen and a local business that Judy and Bob Tharp as well as Dave House, Keith Peterson and several other angels as we call them, stepped up and allowed us to remodel, get licensed, and open in November 2018 as a convenience store and gas station,” he says. In April of 2019, the move was completed with the opening of the deli that serves burgers, sandwiches, and their famous and popular pizza.

During this time of relocating and remodeling, Karin passed away. This was Karin’s dream to be a viable and supportive member of this community, and even with her passing, the family did not waiver to honor her memory. Pizza at The Branch prepares all of Karin’s original recipes and insists on maintaining her standard of high quality and the freshest ingredients, possible.

“We want our family business to be a place where any and all can come, to enjoy our food and leave with a full stomach and a smile on their face,” says Colten. Thus far from the response, the family has gotten since opening, they are doing just that, and Colten and Erica are confident that Karin is happy.

Pizza at the Branch is located at 7640 Hwy 147, Lake Almanor, CA 96137 and can be reached at (530) 596-4505.