June 2021, Volume 3
Reach Out - Connect - Take Part

Father's Day Trivia

Father's Day History
The U.S. Father’s Day was actually conceived by a woman named Sonora Dodd in Seattle when she was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon. Dodd wanted a day to honor her father who raised his six children alone after his wife passed away. The first celebration was in 1910.

Cool Dad Stories
Halsey Taylor invented the drinking fountain in 1912 as a tribute to his father, who succumbed to typhoid fever after drinking from a contaminated public water supply in 1896.

The Stevie Wonder song "Isn't She Lovely" is about his newborn daughter, Aisha. If you listen closely, you can hear Aisha crying during the song.

Super Important "Dad" Trivia
In the underwater world of the seahorse, it's the male that gets to carry the eggs and birth the babies. 

According to a 2014 Psychological Science study, it is suggested that dads who perform more chores at home are likely to have daughters with dreams of higher paying careers. Pay attention dads out there . . . moms will appreciate this! 

Register/Sponsor a Float for the 2021 4th of July Parade!

Registration for all 4th of July floats and vendors is available!

When: Sunday, July 4, 2021 at 11am
Where: Collins Pine Park on Main Street to the Meadow

Register for Floats or Register to be a Vendor Here or call 530-258-2426 

If you don't have time to work on a float, but would like to sponsor one, please call 530-258-2426.

Don't forget to purchase your 4th of July t-shirts here!


Thank you Community Partners and Platinum Sponsors for sponsoring the 4th of July Parade and Fireworks!
Community Partners
Coldwell Banker Kehr-O'Brien
Collins Pine
Rouland Insurance
Seneca Healthcare District

Platinum Sponsors
Lake Almanor Ace Hardware
Ayoob's Intermountain Hardware
Olah Construction
Tantardino's  

Town Trivia

The winner last week of Town Trivia was Ron Outland who had the correct question, where is the fire lookout in Lassen Park to answer: Mt. Harkness.  He won a $10 gift certificate from  Ace Hardware. 

Answer this week (courtesy of Steve Fleming) is: Tule Lake

This week’s sponsor is Watkins Pet Supply offering a $15 gift certificate to the winner. Thank you!







Please send your question to Trivia@lakealmanorarea.com.

Looking for sponsors for Town Trivia! Get your company name and logo in Town Chatter for four consecutive weeks. Contact katherine@sansoneplus.com.  


Please note: only emails received after release of Town Chatter Wednesday am will be considered.  Send your question to Trivia@lakealmanorarea.com on or after each Wednesday of publication. We are always looking for sponsors for Town Trivia. If interested, please contact katherine@sansoneplus.com.

Job Board

Employment and Career Opportunities

The Greater Lake Almanor Basin offers a variety of seasonal, part and full-time positions for those seeking employment. Please check out the link below and discover how fun and rewarding a career or job in this beautiful area can be. 
https://www.lakealmanorarea.com/employment.html 

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Weekly Featured Job 


Knotty Pine Resort at Lake Almanor, CA
Seasonal Housekeepers
Knotty Pine Resort and Marina offers accommodations, RV spaces and boat rentals on the Peninsula in Lake Almanor, CA. For more information, please contact Deborah Housen at docksupply@womackent.com

About Us

The Town Chatter is made possible through the funding of our Community Partners:

Collins Pine
Coldwell Banker Kehr/O'Brien Real Estate
Rouland Insurance
Seneca Healthcare District.


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.

Lake Almanor Area Chamber
530.258.2426
278 Main St., Chester
P.O. Box 1198  96020
Info@lakealmanorarea.com


www.LakeAlmanorArea.com

Bits & Pieces



California Modifies Covid-19 plan. On June 15th, California’s statewide plan to prevent Covid-19—the Blueprint for a Safer Economy—was retired and replaced by a simpler set of health guidelines that are the same across the state. Read More Here.

Mile High 100 Bike Event in Lake Almanor on Saturday, June 19th
Be on the lookout for cyclists around the Lake Almanor area on Saturday, June 19th starting at 7:00am. ​​The Mile High 100 is not a race but a collection of tours for cyclists of all abilities and ages. All bicycles are welcome. The purpose of this event is to promote recreational bicycling in the scenic Almanor Basin and Indian Valley near northern California's incredible Mt. Lassen Peak. For more information, visit: https://www.milehigh100.com/

P.A.C. Art & Craft Marketplace June 19-20
The 3rd Annual Professional Artisans Cooperative Art & Craft Marketplace will be held in Mill Creek on Saturday June 19th from 9:00am-5:00pm and Sunday June 20th from 9:00am-4:00pm. Arts and crafts, live music, gourmet food, textiles and so much more! Please click here for more information.

Plumas County Library Reading Summer Program 
Join the Summer Reading Program at your local Plumas County Library. This is open to all kids starting June 14th and going through the summer to August 14th. Set a reading goal, reach your goal, receive a prize and be entered into a drawing for a gift card. One prize and raffle ticket per patron per week. Please click here for more information. 

Lassen National Forest is happy to announce that Almanor Group Campground is now open for reservations! This site can accommodate up to 100 people and costs $100 per night. For reservations and availability please visit https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232246

PG&E Campground Reservations
In the latter half of the 2021 season, PG&E will return to full capacity of the family campgrounds with both reservation and first-come-first-serve sites. This will not include the group areas/campgrounds. Reservations are now open on the PG&E website (www.pge.com/recreation) reflecting this full capacity in family campgrounds. Please refer to PG&E website to make reservations, or for recreation facility specific information. This information is subject to change. The website will be kept updated.

Community Wellness Screening
The 2021 Wellness Screenings Sponsored by the Seneca Hospital Auxiliary takes place on the following dates:

Wed, June 23, 7:00 am - 9:30 am
Thurs, June 24, 7:00 am - 9:30 am
Wed, June 30, 7:00 am - 9:30 am
Thurs, July 1, 7:00 am - 9:30 am

372 Main St, Chester, CA 96020, United States
Download Flyer Here for more information
 

ARPD Fall Soccer 2021 Registration:
Almanor Recreation and Parks District has opened registration for the 2021 fall soccer season. The season will begin in August/September. To register your children visit ARPD's website at https://www.yourarpd.org/index.html

Almanor Flag Football: 
Almanor Flag Football is excepting registration for this year's summer camp. July 12th-16th, 5:30 pm. Check out their Facebook page for more  information https://www.facebook.com/Almanor-Flag-Football-244341679827558

Seneca & The Almanor Foundation at Monday's Town Hall



The Lake Almanor Area Chamber successfully hosted our second town hall on Monday, June 14th at 5:15 pm. Approximately 60 community members attended either live or digitally where Shawn McKenzie, CEO of Seneca Healthcare District, and Susan Bryner, Board Member of The Almanor Foundation, updated the community on hot topics related to Seneca Healthcare District and The Almanor Foundation.

Key Highlights of the Event

McKenzie updated the community on current Seneca projects designed to facilitate the revitalization of the hospital using innovative and hard-to-forget names such as: Project Welcome Mat, Project Botox, Project Lockjaw, Project SWA and Project Bullhorn. (All are explained in the video below.) McKenzie related that though issues of the past need to be addressed, he intends to spend the majority of his staff time looking and moving forward, stating that looking through the "rear view mirror" doesn't get the District or the community where it needs to be. McKenzie also reviewed the status of Seneca's new hospital build project and touched on the projected financial needs associated with building a new hospital. He also confirmed that Dr. Marc Nielsen is expected to be re-joining the Seneca Healthcare Team pending completion of the credentialing process as Seneca Healthcare Distirict. 

Bryner shared the vision behind the formation of The Almanor Foundation. “Stuff happens,” explained Susan as she gave background on the support and efforts given by the community when the Camp Fire brought many to the area seeking relief.  “We were not prepared and had no system in place to assist, but as what we have adapted as the ‘can-do-community’, we rallied and were able to find monies and manpower,” she explained. What this did was demonstrate that we needed to have a housing facility when “stuff happens,” as we saw again when COVID hit the area; as well as, an organization that could oversee some of the many initiatives some have envisioned to spur economic growth in the greater Lake Almanor Basin. These initiatives within the Foundation include the Mountain Volunteer Project, Town Plaza at Chester Park, Sled Hill at Stover Mountain and Seneca Healthcare District Build Fund. For more information about The Almanor Foundation, visit: http://almanorfoundation.com/

Watch the town hall using the links below: 
Video 1 of 2: https://www.facebook.com/lakealmanorarea/videos/192970629380943
Video 2 of 2:  https://www.facebook.com/lakealmanorarea/videos/2859163924335416

Check out the town hall PowerPoint to see key talking points: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F-E7uZyCnPvds71ofuM5nNDz_oixO6D8/view

For more information or to sign up to speak at a town hall please email info@lakealmanorarea.com 

Thank you to everyone who attended! 

Town Halls are a project of the Lake Almanor Area Chamber's Town Talk Series.  

Lake Almanor Farmers Market

The first Lake Almanor Farmers Market is this Thursday, June 17th, 2021 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. 
There are over 18 vendors signed up to participate in this week's Farmers Market. Come browse your favorite fresh-picked produce from local farmers, hand-crafted health and beauty products, arts and crafts, meat and dairy, and locally made products. Each week will feature a new musician. This week, enjoy live music provided by Laurel Paulson-Pierce.

Signature Cocktails & Beverages
Signature cocktails will be part of our Farmers Market weekly fun. This week's signature cocktail is a Monkey Face Mule made with Almendra Winery & Distillery's Monkey Face Vodka.

In addition, there will be plenty of Sincere Cider on hand, the official hard cider of the Lake Almanor Farmers Markets. 
                                 

So, come! Meet with friends and neighbors and enjoy this farm-to-lake, summer-long event!

For more information, contact:
Market Manager, Jennie Mathews
fm@lakealmanorarea.com
530-616-8104

Lake Almanor Fireworks Spectacular

The Lake Almanor Area Chamber would like to thank Jay Sableman with Lake Almanor Brokers for all his work to make the Fireworks Spectacular happen year after year. 

Donations are still needed as we continue to make plans.

Music Added to the Show
The Fireworks Spectacular, a 25+ year tradition, takes place on Sunday, July 4th after sunset. This year, the show will be shot from a barge located off the tip of the Peninsula and will be coordinated to music that will be broadcast on FM 91.5 during the show. 

PLEASE! Continue to send in your donations! They are very much needed to continue our tradition. Click here to donate online.
 

2021 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal - Patricia "Pat" Martin

Marilyn Quadrio

The votes have been counted and the winner of the 2021 Chester 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal is Patricia "Pat" Martin.

Pat has lived in Chester since 1949, and even longer in Plumas County. She moved up to Blairsden as a young girl with her parents Bill and Charlotte Wirts, who had leased the Knotty Pine Tavern, a well-known roadhouse that is still open today. By the time Pat was 14, Bill Wirts had purchased another well-known roadhouse, The Meadows, in Goodrich Meadows out of Westwood. Pat was sent down to Holy Rosary Academy in Woodland to finish high school, but she returned to Westwood every holiday and summer break. Her mother passed away in 1943, leaving Pat and half–brother Bill Cofer with one parent at the family helm.

In August 1945 Pat married beau Joseph Martin, and the pair lived briefly in Woodland where son Joey was born in 1946. They moved back up to the mountains, to Chester, in January 1949, where Pat’s father was bartending at the Chester Club, having sold The Meadows. By 1950 he had convinced Pat and Joe to join him in a partnership to purchase the original Bear Club, a famous Northern California watering hole. The big winter of 1952 made the building unstable, so the new Sportsman’s Club (now the Elk’s Lodge) on Main Street was acquired from Bob Pasero, and the Bear Club was re-established at that site. The old Bear Club building, located where the Corner Store gas pumps are today, finally collapsed and was gone by 1955. 

Pat and Joe moved upstairs into one of two apartments over the Bear Club, where they lived for many years. They bought out Pat’s father’s interest, but her brother Bill Cofer bartended for them on and off over the years and his first wife, Nona, became the first restaurant cook in what became widely known as a premier steakhouse.  

In 1963 Pat and Joe purchased the old Lassen Drug Store building next door and remodeled it into a new business they held for many years, the Western Auto Store. As business owners they contributed to many community events and fundraisers, and were avid fans and supporters of our high school sports programs, as well as Little League. Pat always had an open door policy where her “boys” were concerned and a number of boys, now men, who were buddies of Joey’s, stop in to visit or treat her to dinner when they’re in Chester.  

She is now the only mother left for the Chester High Class of 1964, eighteen or so who’ve known her since their kindergarten days, and we regard her as a treasure. She is a woman of strong faith and religious convictions, who has served her church very well over the years; a leader in parish affairs, and a strong guiding hand for each new priest who comes into the parish -- the ultimate “mother hen," a role she played for many Chester boys and girls as well.

Son Joey has always loved vintage vehicles and has lovingly restored his father’s old Chevy truck, a 1972 pickup, which he will use to drive his beloved mom in the parade this year.

John Sypher, 2020 Grand Marshal, to be Honored in 2021 Parade

This year, the Chamber will honor the community's 2020 Grand Marshal pick, John Sypher, alongside the 2021 nominee, Pat Martin. Look for them both to be proudly riding in the front of the 4th of July parade!

John taught at Chester Elementary School from 1959-1987. During that time he started and coached a 6th-grade girls basketball team, which was unheard of in those days. ​He started an after-school tumbling program, and instructed the after-school computer program when the district received their first computers. He continued to help run the computer program into his retirement. ​

John's legacy lives in the lives of the children he taught.
John bought comic books with his own money in order to help children who were struggling with reading. He coached J.V. football for the high school, and established a summer camp program for children in the area, which included building stilts and teaching children to walk on them; establishing a bicycle trail and road rides around the local area; and creating art projects of all kinds while supplying all the materials out of his own pocket. 

John is also well-known for his work at the Stover Mt. Ski Hill. It is said that from 1959 to 1987 he taught most of the children in Chester how to ski. He instructed skiers at all levels, ​established a ski swap, and collected equipment to make sure everyone who wanted to learn could. He held classes on the lawn of the high school in the evening for beginning skiers, maintained the lifts, equipment, and grooming of the ski hill, procured the poma lift and snow packer for the hill, established a work program during the summer for those who could not afford a season ticket, and drove the district school bus to the ski hill on weekends for free in order to save the district money and assure children could get to the ski area. 

In 2015, a former student gave a scholarship to the Chester High School Alumni in John Sypher's name to be presented to a graduate who had decided to become a teacher. John is an inspiring, generous man, and we are thrilled to be honoring him in the 4th of July Parade.

Weather, Lake Almanor and Fishing Report

John Crotty

6/13/201
Lake level continues to hover around the 4483.25 mark, basically unchanged for the past two weeks. With our unsettled weather over the last week, we saw water temps drop from the low seventies back into the low sixties. It was 63.5 degrees today. Like most of California, we are in for some heat later this week, with daytime high’s approaching the 100 degree mark. We are also expecting afternoon wind to hamper fishing. Clarity fluctuates around the lake ranging from 5-15’. 

The hex hatch is in full swing with large hatches taking place along the West Shore from Canyon Dam to Almanor West. Fishing pressure has increased as well. We have a couple of great articles in past AFA Newsletters related to fishing the hatch that are good reads whether you are a beginner or long-time fly fisherman. 

There has been no change for trollers since my last report. The insect hatches and now the hex hatch have fish gorging on bugs. A ten bite day is a good one, the fish remain feisty and in great shape. Big Springs, the A-Frame, Red Bank, Almanor West and the flats between Almanor West and the Peninsula are all good places to start your day. 

Shore fishing remains tough with Hamilton Branch as your best shot at catching a fish. Bass fishermen are targeting fish in the shallows early and moving to structure and drop-off’s as the sun comes up. 

Both USFS ramps are open, campgrounds are operating at 50% capacity and most businesses are open. Caltrans has resumed work on the Fredoyner Summit with minor traffic delays on 36.

Our Veterans Fishing Day will take place on Saturday June 26th. We currently have 46 boats and 84 Veterans signed up to participate. If you are a Veteran and would like to fish, please give Deb or John a call at 530-284-0861 or email almanorfishing@sbcglobal.net.  We will be assigning Veterans to boats soon, so please RSVP ASAP if you want to fish. This is a free event for Veterans, including the barbecue at LACC REC#1 following fishing. We have a number of great raffle prizes for participating Veterans including 10 custom trolling rods (compliments of Duncan McIntyre), three custom made wooden flags, gift cards, a yeti cooler, yeti cups and much more. If you would like to donate an item to the raffle please contact Deb or John at the phone number or email address above.
Town Chatter - June 2021, Volume 3