Mr Somerville's Ag Welding

I still remember my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Van Aspirin. She was kind, soft spoken and played the piano. Some teachers leave a strong impression and we learn so much more than reading, writing and arithmetic. Even how to be better human, to serve our community and leave a mark for generations to come.

Take, for instance Mike Somerville’s Advance Ag Welding at Lassen High School. Did you know Mr Somerville takes on a large community project each year? His class recently designed and built the magnificent arched entry to the Susanville Cemetery. The detail and scrollwork on this piece is stunning, AND this isn’t their first, they also built the arch for Lassen Cemetery. Wow. Like I said, something for generations to come. Mr Somerville says while working on the arches the students had to learn troubleshooting and problem solving like how to get the arches even. I can’t even imagine.
               
Advanced Ag Welding led by Mr Somerville also built the trailer our Rotarians use to place all of those lovely American flags along Main st on Independence Day. Wouldn’t it be cool on the 4th to cruise our flag lined street up to Susanville Cemetery, make a loop to Lassen Cemetery and honor our heroes. Maybe for a moment think about how teachers influence and shape the face of our community.
                        
Thank you Mike Somerville for making our community a better, more beautiful, place! Hometown Proud!

Happy Independence Day!

Take a look at some of the students individual projects pictured, a few will be in the Lassen County Fair auction! Cool stuff!

                                                                                         

                      

Hope's Street Tacos

Deli Supervisor Hope Browning has got street. Street Tacos that is! They are simply amazing. She marinades Tri-Tip in FrEsH onion, garlic, oranges, cilantro, lime and an assortment of spices, overnight. Then the beef is roasted to perfection in the rotisserie, chopped, tossed with a little more cumin and layered into Mission Street Taco flour tortillas (these babies taste authentic!) with more FreSh cilantro and diced white onion.


Hope learned to cook from her granddad. She even learned her States by making tortillas with Grandpa. He would stand beside and say what State each tortilla looked like, if it was Florida it was not good! Grandpa cut everything up with a machete, she adapted it to a regular knife, thank goodness. You should see her peel a watermelon, she taught our Produce department the fastest and bestest ways to prep all their Fresh cut items.
                                

Hope frequently walks to work while reading a book, she loves to read. Early in life her favorite books were cookbooks, a natural born foodie. Always happy to share a technique or recipe, here is her marinade for Street Tacos~

                       

Marinade recipe~
4 oranges
6 limes
1 head garlic, peeled and smashed
1 white onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, diced
1 (overflowing)tbs cider vinegar
3 tbs chili powder
2 tbs cumin, plus a little more for dusting
Salt and pepper


Juice limes and 3 of the oranges into your marinade container then tear remaining orange up and toss in to get that extra zest. Add all other ingredients plus tri-tip. Marinade overnight.
                               

Hope says low and slow cooking is the key. For grill, sear over direct heat then foil wrap and cook indirectly for 2 to 3 hours. In the oven, sear on stove top then cook at 300* for 2-3 hours depending on poundage.


OR better yet. Just let our lil ray of Hope do it :) Available in our hot case daily!

The Shoe

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do,
She gave them some broth without any bread,
Spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed. ~ Mother Goose


This is what sticks in my head when I ride by Helen and Lanny Mayfield’s house on my bike. You can easily see why. Years ago there was a school out in Buntingville called Lake School where the shoe resided, the school went up to 8th grade and had between 8 and 10 kids when Helen’s kids attended. When the school closed in 1971 the building was used as a daycare, during that time Helen bought the Shoe. Helen tells me with a smile that when she went home and told Lanny about her purchase, he said “How are you gonna get that home?!” she told him they could drag it behind the tractor. A friend stopped by and asked “How are you gonna get that home?!” What actually happened is Lanny and friend took a forklift and a flatbed and moved it to their property where it has been overlooking Honey Lake for many years now.

                                           

                                   
The Shoe was made at CCC as a Masonry project for Lake School. Lanny says there was a Whale also but he doesn’t know who ended up with that. When the Mayfield’s got it home there was some damage inside and out but you’d never know it now. It is lovingly cared for and the paint is restored regularly. In the winter the Shoe is wrapped up tight to keep it safe from freeze.


Helen said some people call her the old woman in the shoe, I would never. She is one of the trusted keepers of our Hometown Heritage.

                                  

Thank you to the Mayfields for keeping and protecting this piece of our history!

Fly Geyser

The first time I saw a picture of Fly Geyser in the Black Rock Desert I was absolutely spellbound. I couldn’t believe it was real. That was about 20 years ago. Since then I have spoke to many people that were lucky enough to see it before the owners of Fly Ranch fenced it off. There are stories of asking ‘some guy in some bar in Gerlach, he might get you in', Rick and I even considered doing that but when I read that Burning Man had purchased the property I thought the dream was dead. NOT true! Burning Man is allowing Friends of Black Rock High Rock to give tours in small groups of 18-20! We bought (donation) tickets just as fast as my little fingers could fly! Get it… FLY.
                        

On the day of our tour Rick and I decided to take the back way through Wendel. It’s almost all (well maintained) gravel road but WATCH OUT FOR TRAINS! You’ll cross tracks a couple of times with no gates or lights, these trains are flat hauling and there have been accidents. Wendel road takes less than 2 hours to get to Gerlach, GPS said the highway would take close to 3 1/2. Plus it was GORgeous! Wild burro, antelope and those skies…unbelievable.

Once we arrived we were given some history of Fly Ranch/Geyser, Burning Man and FBRHR and what their hopes for the future are. Then off to the ranch. At the fence line you could see the geyser in the distance. It brought tears to my eyes, I had waited 20 years. The day was rainy and cloudy but it was still perfect to me. On the walking tour FBRHR ask that you not bring cameras or phones, just be present in the moment, don’t worry they’ll give you plenty of time at the end. Hot springs fill huge ponds everywhere, smaller geysers and tufa dot the landscape and when you get the main attraction you can get as close as you like! There is even a platform! Rick took fabulous shots and I’m happy to report all the colors are real. Now I’ve just gotta see it on a clear day too!


I’ve already bought more tickets for June in hopes of blue skies. I highly recommend this, the longer I live here the more I love the high desert! Here is the website if you’re interested in the tour https://blackrockdesert.ticketleap.com/fly-ranch-nature-walks-2018/

LoCaL Dads~

A few weeks ago a bunch of local Dads let their daughters shine at the Ties and Tiaras Father Daughter dance put on by our Susanville Police Explorers. Isn’t that just like dads? Always willing to sit back and let the rest of the family take the spotlight.


Susanville Police Officer Terra Avilla moved here from Reno 5 years ago. She noticed we didn’t have any such event and thought it would be a great fundraiser for the Explorers. Since it was the first year they chose a small venue, the Senior Center, hoping to sell 50 tickets. And they did. In the first day!


Terra said she pictured the little girls dancing in the middle of the room and the dads on the sidelines. But these dads showed up, dressed up, bought corsages, hula hooped, danced and most even took their little dates to dinner first.

                
The Explorers are a great bunch of kids learning all about law enforcement and our local dads set a strong example at this event. They plan on holding a Mother Son dance in the Fall and Father Daughter will definitely be back in the Spring! I urge you to go view the videos on the Explorers Facebook page, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

              




Some of the pictures are a little blurry but the joy expressed is crystal clear. Happy Father’s Day!


Photos taken from Susanville Police Explorers Post Facebook page and Jackie Johnston photography.

Recycle!

I wouldn’t touch a controversial subject with a 10 foot pole, much like I wouldn’t want to dig through everyone’s trash. Pole or no pole. This is exactly what the good folks at C&S Waste have been forced to do. Recently the rules on recycle have changed and the stickers on our blue bins are no longer correct. C&S has somewhere around 6000 bins to re-sticker. Can you imagine? BUT you can easily take a look at their website or Facebook page to see all the new info! Plus on Facebook they have videos and quizzes to help you stay in compliance.
                        

One change is that only type 1 and 2 plastic containers are eligible. I took a look at some items here at the market to see if we were helping you stay ‘green’. I am very happy to report that all of our new Fresh Cut items in Produce are in recyclable containers. Then I moved to Deli/Bakery, turns out a whole lot of our packaging is a 1 or 2! YAY! So when you’re done having your SuPeR healthy snack (or gotta have treat) just rinse it out and toss it in the blue bin. BAM. You are helping.
                          

Now about the crew at C&S. One day I didn’t get my trash to the curb, I spotted the truck on a side road and hoped maybe they hadn’t done my street. Evidently they saw me running down the drive with both cans behind and came back down my road just to do my pick up. Nice customer service. And don’t get me started about the dump. it’s maybe weird but I love going to the dump. There is something cathartic about dumping my green waste or large items. Everything has a specific place. As everything should :). Plus the scale is always run by friendly people we know.
                                         

Kristin Volberg commented about recycling "it’s our job to care for our planet.” A job we can all be proud of. 

Here is something you can do that will absolutely help out our local crew and keep our landfill right here at home smaller!


Thank you C&S Waste for helping to keep us all green!

Tommy Tucker Cave

There is a great road bike ride along the Skedaddle Mountains out to the Nevada state line. Years ago riding along the range Jim Chapman pointed out the Tommy Tucker cave. This came back to me when I was looking for a Memorial Day subject to write about. Tommy Tucker was a Maidu, as a young man he was gifted in music and athletics, he also excelled in his studies. He enlisted for service in World War I and was killed in action in France. He was the first Susanville resident to die in WWI. I still have no idea what his connection was with the cave that is named for him. if anyone out there knows give me a call 257-5136, I’ll do a follow up.


I asked LoCaL Historian, Tim Purdy, how to get there. Our bookkeeper and my new best climbing buddy, Heather, lives out that way so she agreed to be my guide. Trust me when I tell you this IS a climb and not for anyone who’s afraid of heights. Though we saw the trail from the road we totally missed it on the way up and made our way up the rock draw. When we reached the area where we thought the cave should be we found the trail. Sure, now we find it.
                      

Guess what? There were 2 people there. And not just anybody but an Archaeologist from BLM, Marilla Martin and an Archaeologist that specializes in rock conservation, Jannie Loubser. The pictograph at the entrance to the cave had been vandalized with spray paint, which we had heard about BUT they had just finished the removal and restoration. THANK YOU to everyone involved in this project. *These caves are sacred to the local Native American tribes, vandalizing them is no different than vandalizing a church.
                       

We were so lucky (blessed) to see the pictograph with these archaeologists. Jannie Loubser showed us the pictograph on his phone using an app that enhances the image. According to BLM “Native American people used pigment derived from minerals to paint the pictographs onto the cave walls within the last 500 years. They are the only known pictographs in the region where petroglyphs, images pecked into rock surfaces, are the more common form of Native American rock art." What an amazing experience.
                        

It’s up to us to protect these historical sites for future generations. Please be mindful of their delicate nature.
                                  

Thank you to Tommy Tucker and all for past and present service to our Country on this Memorial Day!

SuPeRhero Fun!

Transitional Kindergarden Teacher Maria Mankins comes in frequently in the morning. Kind and friendly, always quick with a smile and a greeting. One day I noticed her buying lunch for the high school kid in line behind her, just a pay it forward thing. I absolutely love that. So it wasn’t surprising to me at all to see that she participated in the last Superhero fun run to benefit child abuse victims through CASA. She is a LoCaL Superhero for sure!


We certainly have a lot of heroes in our town and many of them volunteer with CASA. CASA is a Lassen Family Services program that provides children who are victims of abuse a court appointed advocate. These are people from our community who go through a training program, commit show up in court as an advocate and in addition spend at least 8 hours a month with a child in need of CASA’s services. One volunteer even took the child chosen for them to swim lessons CASA paid for in our brand new pool! They really go above and beyond. The Superhero Fun Run honors those deserving volunteers and helps raise always needed funds. What a SuPeR fun way to help!


         

So grab your cape, don a mask and give us your best SuPeRHeRO pose! Who knows, maybe you even have what it takes to be one of these INCREDIBLE volunteer advocates!

Moms

Our store staff is very much like a family. In that family we have been honored to have some of the finest ‘Moms’ anywhere. Women who watched out for us, guided us and cared for others. A few that spring to mind from early days are:

Nancy Madigan, always looking out for others before herself.
Carla Reddin, small in stature but HUGE in character, teaching was her specialty.
Carol Heil, quick with a joke whenever we needed it most.


Some (by no means all) of today's ‘Moms’ we count on:

Debbie Oschner~organized and caring. A woman you can count on.
Hope Browning~ making sure her crew has everything they need to be successful including making sure they eat and stay hydrated during busy days. Hope has been known to deliver soup to co-workers when they were home sick.
Kailie Shoemaker~ a nurturer through and through. Accepts others as they are and loves them.
Sherry Perry~ puts her head down and works to make sure no one ever has to pick up slack in the Bakery.
Toni Iba~ kind and giving, if a fellow IGAer doesn’t have a place to go on a Holiday they will find a seat at Toni’s table.
Jessica Eid~ capable and caring. This is the woman to get to call if we need just about anything done.


Recently Rick reminded me of a certain Mom that used to work for us several years ago, Kim Hay, and how giving she has always been. One day a little boy in the neighborhood came in, as he frequently did, he would ride his bike to the store and shop for his mom. After going through Kim’s check stand he left but a couple of minutes later he was back and very upset. Someone stole his bike. In the days following Kim took it upon herself to start a collection among the employees and the next time he came in she presented him with a brand new bike.


Lots of women are out there Mom-ing so hard, we honor and thank all of you! Happy Mother’s Day!