The Ride of Their Lives. Brothers nine-year-old Corbin and six-year-old Colton Armacher exchanged school bus yellow for fire engine red during one of their weekday commutes to Bell Hill Academy Elementary School. The boys’ grandparents, Buckley and Laura Armacher, bid on and won the unique school day delivery during a live auction fundraiser. “The prize included a tour of the fire station, breakfast, and a ride to school in the fire engine,” says Laura. “The boys said the firefighters made the best pancakes they ever had.” Bell Hill students who greeted the fire engine’s arrival received bright red children’s firefighter helmets…
The Unique Auction Item frequently donated by the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District is popular and coveted because people are naturally fascinated by firefighters’ facilities and routines. “We enjoy showing the public where and how firefighters live day-to-day at the fire station,” says Division Operations Chief Pat Sullivan. “We firefighters spend one-third of our time, 10 days each month, at the firehouse.” The NCCFD will donate a similar auction prize at the 3rd Annual Salute to First Responders fundraiser Aug. 18 at Naggiar Winery hosted by the NevCo Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Council…
Many Thousand Points of Light. Lamp Doctor Arnold Goldberg is flicking off the switch next month. But his is not a business from which one easily walks away. Since he became Lamp Doctor in 1989, Arnold has amassed enough lamps, bulbs, and associated equipment to fill five warehouses. It will take weeks for a Bay Area online auction house to sell Arnold’s hoard – er, collection – one truckload at a time. Meanwhile, Arnold is putting some items on sale and phasing out the lamp repair portion of his business at 1451 E. Main St…
The Lights Were Out last week when a bear broke into Arnold’s 2007 Prius, became trapped inside, then ripped off the driver’s door to escape. “The car was unlocked because the battery was dead,” explains Arnold, who lives in Cascade Shores. “I’m lucky the bear was able to get out after the door closed behind him or he’d probably have torn the dashboard clear off. There was no food inside the car. But he left a ‘present’ inside.” Arnold had another close encounter with a bear last year while he was laid up with a broken ankle in a cast. “I was sleeping in my recliner when my TV tray rattled next to me around 3 A.M. and a 200-pound bear sauntered by,” recalls Arnold. “He opened the freezer and started dumping frozen food on the floor. I limped into the kitchen and womped him on the nose with my reacher-grabber tool. Then I wondered, ‘Was that really a good idea?’” Arnold claimed victory when the bear jumped over the kitchen counter and ran out the front door. “It was probably the same bear that wrecked my car…”
Ed and Bernadette Sylvester also had a furry visitor at their NevCity home, and the bear wasn’t there for the couple’s 65th wedding anniversary. The bear snacked on bird feed the Sylvesters supplied for their feathered friends in a feeder shaped like a miniature house. Ed quipped that the bear appeared to be conducting a “Small Home Inspection.” The bear returned a few days later. “It knocked down my hummingbird feeders and left sugarwater-coated paw prints going out our gate,” Ed says. “Bear 2, Birds 0..!”
For an Update Around the Ursidae League, let’s check in with the Cascade Division where the score is Bears 1, Arnold 1…
Retired NevCo Grocery Store Magnate Amos Seghezzi celebrated his 88th birthday with three besties, all aged 88, and their wives. “We grew up together in the Hills Flat area since we were about five years old,” Amos says about Jerry Angove, Don Gallino, and Bob Rush. In 1972, Amos opened the Bottle Shop and was the first to introduce NevCo to premium California wines. He later added the Alta Sierra Market and Amos’s Penn Valley Market to his holdings before retiring in 1999. “But my biggest claim to fame is getting my wife Beverly to say ‘Yes’ when I asked her to marry me,” says Amos. The couple will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in May. Amos, who was a member of Nevada Union’s first graduating class in 1953, says the key to health and longevity is working out, swimming laps, and eating the Mediterranean way: “My main diet is always olive oil, garlic, and a couple glasses of wine each day…”
Behind the Badge. The NevCo Sheriff’s Office is accepting applications through Nov. 1 for its annual Community Academy, a 12-week course in which 20 participants learn about the myriad responsibilities of the NCSO ( Other positive news from the NCSO was the swearing in of 75 founding members of the Sheriff’s HEART nonprofit, the Humane Emergency Animal Rescue Team formed earlier this year. There are now 100-plus members proudly wearing the red HEART T-shirt. “It is a great example of the amazing work we can accomplish when we join in partnership with our community,” says Sheriff Shannan. “It was humbling to witness that sea of redshirt members at the inaugural swearing in ceremony. I am so proud of this team of selfless volunteers and my Animal Control office for bringing this vision to life…”
While Still Nestled in the Canyon, the Washington Hotel is out of the woods. The hotel and bar in Li’l Town faced a 308% increase in its annual fire insurance, and owners scrambled to pay the whopping $33,491 invoice. A music festival fundraiser earlier this month brought in $6,000 and increased food-beverage-merchandise sales 338% during three days of live band performances, a GoFundMe account generated $15,775, and a benefit at the Crazy Horse Saloon in NevCity reaped $4,000. “We did it!” exclaims Charity Jackson, who owns the hotel with husband Cameron. “As overwhelmed as I was in December when I opened that renewal notice, I continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that has unfolded since then. I will continue to look for different insurance and to fight the Un-Fair plan, to be the squeaky wheel to the powers that be. I’ll do it knowing I have a whole community behind me..!”
“Summertime Is Always the best of what might be.” – Charles Bowden (1945-2014), American non-fiction author, journalist and essayist…
