Show: On The Town Station: KNCO File: 10:14.mp3 Air date: 2026-10-14 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 26.1 MB to 5.2 MB --- transcript --- And KNCO Newstime, 1137 66 degrees. Welcome to On The Town, Tom Fitzsimmons here at the KNCO studios, which is unusual for today. Normally I'd be at the Sopa House of Thai over in Nevada City, a place I've come to love, and one reason why are the owners, Bea and her husband Jesse and the staff over there, just great people and I really want them to do well. I had some medical appointments to do, and so I was able to get back here, but it was going to be tight if I could do that, so we'll try to get Sopa House of Thai on later on this month sometime, and maybe with any luck it'll work as well with Lynn Skookerood, who is my guest here in the studio, nice enough to make her plans change to come in here to Grass Valley. Is it always weird to come to Grass Valley? You're okay coming here, right? I'm okay coming here, of course. I think if you live in one town, you kind of live in both. I do. I always tell that to people. It used to be an atmosphere sometimes that the cities were a little contentious, I would say, or at least rivalry-like, but I think that's kind of gone away for the most part, right? I think so. We try to leave our friendly rivalry for the pasty-tossing competition now. That's very serious, and by the way, Paul Haas, of course, he got his bardship from the College of Bards over in Cornwall, and he's very excited about what's happening with Nevada City and re-establishing your sister city over there in Penzance. Yeah, that's something I'm really passionate about as well, because I was actually one of the lucky young people who, when I was a part of the Nevada Union High School Marching Band, I had the chance to go over to Penzance and perform there, so I'm really excited about working with Paul to bring some more energy to that. And he says it's beautiful, Penzance, the city and stuff, is it? It's beautiful. It's right on the coast. They have this beautiful sea pool that's right on the coast as well. Very similar to Nevada City in a lot of ways, where it's historic and quaint, small town, but of course with that English charm, and it's a really fun town to visit. Yeah. Did you learn any Cornish language stuff? He's trying to introduce people to the Cornish language, like dith da, good day. We've been trying to get people to do that a little bit. Did you get a chance to learn any of it? I didn't really learn any of the language, unfortunately, but it was still really fun to see the signs and kind of take it in. It was neat to see that. Okay. Well, there's a lot of things going on once we get to the holidays, and of course Halloween in Nevada City, for a lot of people, that's the ultimate holiday, maybe as big as Christmas. But before that, there's a special day happening a week from today. What's that? There is, yeah. So a week from today is the National Chamber of Commerce Day, so it's just a day to help educate people about what we do at Chambers of Commerce. A lot of people maybe kind of know, but don't know exactly what a chamber is designed to do. Yeah, I have no idea. So what are the benefits for businesses that join the Chamber of Commerce? Well, there's a lot of benefits for businesses, and that would be what I'd start with is to say that we are a business membership organization. So anyone who is in a business can participate, and we work to serve our business members through a variety of ways. So we help to support the local economy, but we also have networking opportunities, educational opportunities, and resources for local businesses. All right. I noticed that grand openings are big time, or ribbon cuttings, I guess, is another way to put them and stuff. Matter of fact, I saw something online of the ribbon cutting for Sopa House. Yeah, we did an amazing ribbon cutting at Sopa House of Taya recently. There was a big group of people there. There was a big group of people. It was a lot of fun and a very beautiful spread of food. It was delicious, one of our tastiest ribbon cuttings, I'll say. And we have another one coming up tomorrow for Natural Wonders, which is a local shop and kids' toy store that has a new owner. So they've been around. You may remember Kaya's Natural Wonders, so now it's just Natural Wonders. They have a ribbon cutting tomorrow at 4 p.m. if anyone wants to come out to join. All right. So the public's invited to come out for these ribbon cuttings? Yeah, of course. We always encourage the public to come for ribbon cuttings. We host them on Thursdays, and right now we're pretty fully booked. There's quite a few throughout the rest of the year, so we encourage people to check that out. You can find it on our website when they're being held. And yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's a great way to welcome new businesses to our community. All right. So when these businesses have their ribbon cutting, are they kind of, as members of the Chamber, become part of the family, I guess is the best way to put it? They do. That's really, you know, what I consider the biggest benefit of the Chamber is that you get a family. And in our case with the Nevada City Chamber, you get an institution with 125 years of knowledge behind you as well. So our Chamber next year is our 125th anniversary. We're one of the oldest Chambers in the entire state. And so you get just this amazing support system and network that has built over decades, over a century. So it's really about that sort of social connections. A lot of times as a business owner, you don't have peers in your business environment as the owner or leader. And so by coming together with other Chamber members, you have sort of a sounding board and people you can talk to and turn to for resources or just as a, you know, someone when you've had a hard day who understands what you're going through. All right. How many people do you have as members? How many businesses? We have about 350 members. Wow. Yeah. That little town, 350 members. It's pretty amazing. Yeah, 350. And that's one thing I'll point out too, is you don't have to be inside of Nevada City to be a Nevada City Chamber member. Most of our members are, but KNCO, for example, is a Chamber member. So anyone can join our Chamber who's interested. All right. With the history that long, do you have like archive stuff about the original businesses and where they were and what they did? We have some really amazing archives. It's, you know, bits and pieces. So we don't have everything, but we actually have our old minutes dating back to like the 1930s, which is really fun to look through. And we have, there was at one point the Historical Society did an entire assessment of everything the Chamber had done. And that was for our 100th anniversary that they created this booklet. And it's pretty amazing because the other thing that people don't realize because we're working to support the economy, the Chamber actually has a pretty significant impact on the social and cultural part of our community as well. So for example, the very first school bond in Nevada City, the Chamber was responsible for way back in the early 1900s and that helped build our school district at the time. Nevada City Chamber was responsible for initially paving the roads on Broad Street. So way back when we did a lot to really position Nevada City into the thriving community that it is today. Which brings up a whole point about you, Lynn, because you're an Executive Director of the Nevada City Chamber. Is this something you've wanted to do when you were a kid or how did you get into being like into the Chamber and become now Executive Director? You know, it's actually kind of a funny story because I'll say it wasn't something I ever intended to do. I always wanted to be a business owner, though. My parents were business owners, so I definitely always had a business owner mindset. But I actually, I grew up in Penn Valley and Penn Valley had a Youth Chamber of Commerce. And so actually my very first volunteer experience that I had as a youth was joining the board of the Penn Valley Area Youth Chamber of Commerce. Youth Chamber of Commerce. Yeah, so it was for junior high students and I was actually the treasurer. So as a sixth grader, I learned how to balance a checkbook and I actually wrote checks. An adult had to sign them for me. I couldn't sign them yet, but I wrote checks. I learned how to balance a checkbook. I gained some really important skills through the Youth Chamber of Commerce. And I actually went on to run the organization when I was in high school. But it was something that I really enjoyed. I learned a lot from my mom had been a member of numerous chambers in the area, so I knew a little bit about chambers. But then I went and had my, you know, started Neo, which was a different path that I did. And it was really not until the opening for the Nevada City Chamber kind of had a staff opening that all of a sudden I was like, wait, actually, I do want to do that. And and so I definitely credit my time in junior high as a youth chamber member for that. Oh, yeah. Juggling. I've always wondered this because it's funny that you work with Neo. I mean, that's how I first met you. Dealing with kids, especially teenage age kids, there's a lot of angst and, you know, emotions and all this. It almost reminds me of business owners because they are different personalities and different businesses. How do you how do you get them to all kind of come together? Yeah, you know, I think it's about finding that common ground because it's so true when you have three hundred and fifty members. It's hard to please everyone. And we did a survey recently, for example, on one of our events and some people were saying they loved it and wanted to see more. Others were like, stop doing this event. I hate it. So it's really hard to appease everyone. But it's all about finding common ground and really working together to uplift our community. We're very lucky to have an amazing board that represents our three hundred and fifty members. So they're all members and business owners and leaders. We have thirteen board members, so they really sort of serve as our sounding board. It is a large board. So it's a lot of representation for our members. All right. Halloween week is coming, though, and that is traditionally a big time event. It is. Yeah. So it's going to be a big one, especially with Halloween on Saturday this year. It's one of my favorite events of the year. And and it's one of those events that is a the actual trick or treating event is just a sort of informal event that happens in our neighborhood. But Nevada City really goes all out for Halloween. And so you can find haunted houses and just amazing creative costumes. So you can find that in our residential district happening on Halloween evening. But this year, because Halloween falls on a Saturday, we are doing our annual Halloween spooktacular that we partner with the county and the city on. And that you can that will be on Friday, October 30th. So you could start at the Root Center, take the kids trick or treating there, hop on the free shuttle and come down. And then all the downtown business owners will be participating. How did that come together? Is that something that you sat down with? I don't know who would be Allison Lehman actually had for four years ago. I think it's been four years since we started it. And so Allison came to us. She had this amazing idea and we were wanting to do something to tie the businesses into Halloween. And so she came to us with this idea and they have really just run with it. It's amazing. If you haven't seen the Root Center on Halloween, they decorate every department and everyone's dressed up in different themes in every department. So it's a lot of fun. Yeah. And who would think how stuffy that place was Allison Lehman used to be a stuffy place no matter what the holiday is. That's true. And now it's really come a long way. You can find beautiful art shows all year round and and different activities. So it's a lot more welcoming to the community now. All right. So for the grandparents out there and parents, obviously, too, I know kids are on fall break right now. So it's a different feel to the cities. But when Halloween comes that Friday is the day for that county shared event. Yeah. So Friday, October 30th from three to five p.m. The shuttle runs until seven p.m. though. So you can do the Root Center, head on down to downtown, trick or treat with the businesses and then stop for dinner and hop on the shuttle back up to the Root Center. Makes parking really easy. You know, it has a certain feel to it. Obviously, Christmas time, we're famous with the Christmas card movie and how that looks and feels for Christmas time. But as you mentioned, Halloween is almost looks like it fits Nevada City. It really does. And not only is it just how people get so into it with the decoration and the historic feel, but the fall colors to fall colors usually peak around Halloween. And so it's just beautiful that time of year with the oranges and golds and reds and the leaves. Yeah. Are you getting a lot of inquisition, people inquiring? Hey, are they bursting out right now? We do. People always are amazed when I tell them that we sometimes get 20 phone calls a day this time of year of people asking us what the fall colors look like today. Are they looking good? They're just starting is what I tell people. So just starting. There's some fall colors, but I definitely recommend waiting till closer to the end of the month. All right. Well, we're going to have to take our one break. I'm going to do that right now. And again, if Sopa House, if you're listening over there, Sopa House, a Thai bee and company over there, I'll make it up and we'll make it work with my schedule and make sure we visit with her. That is a great place to visit in Nevada City. Anyway, going to take a quick break. My guests will be right back. Save more at Grass Valley Provisions with their loyalty program. Sign up in store and get 20 percent off your first purchase, plus a one cent free roll welcome gift. 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Tom Fitzsimmons here, who is an old guy now, officially, pretty much, because I remember seeing Fleetwood Mac in high school, Philadelphia, 75, by the way, they were the lead-in group for Loggins and Messina. Yeah, how old am I, Lynn? That's not a good sign, right? Man, that's a long time ago. It's a good long life. It's a good, yeah, that's it, exactly right. A lot of great long events been going on in Nevada City that really have captured the charm that even lead to, you know, hometown movies and stuff like that, like the Christmas card, like Victorian Christmas. But Hometown Christmas is going to be a brand new event for Nevada City. I'm kind of excited about this one. It is, we're really excited too. And it's something that we're doing where it's essentially a micro version of Victorian Christmas geared towards our local community. So it's been several years in the making. We've had a lot of feedback over the years from both our local businesses who want to connect more with our local community and from our locals who sort of feel like Victorian's just too crowded these days, which we understand. It's an amazing event for our local businesses. It really helps to keep them thriving and successful, especially helping them through the cold winter months. Yeah, I mean, it's a big part of their year, right? It really is. It really kind of makes or breaks their year. So it's a really important event for our community. But at the same time, we recognize that our local people want to participate and maybe don't want to do it with 20,000 other people. And so we've created a new hometown Christmas event where we will actually be closing down Spring Street for the first time. So a little bit different. We'll just have a one block closed down, essentially from the Brewhouse to the Miner's Foundry. And we'll have all your Victorian Christmas favorites there. So we'll have the chestnuts, the hot mulled wine. We'll have a brass band and carolers, all of the sort of favorite components. We'll have Santa Claus for the kids. And then it's also a shopping event. So the shops will stay open late and you can get discounts and deals. We'll have raffle prizes for those who shop local. You'll be entered to win a giveaway. The more places you stop, the more entries you get. So it's going to be a really fun evening. All right. So what day is it going to be? It's going to be the first Wednesday before Victorian Christmas starts. So December 2nd, and it's from 430 to 830 p.m. Perfect time. All right. So you get that excitement of post Thanksgiving shopping that you still could do. Because I think a lot of people, you know, when we do these shows at the restaurant, you know, we've been doing the Brewhouse for a long time. Now it's going to be Sofa House. It is kind of exciting to meet these businesses. And I think they would love to see more locals in there for sure. Exactly. Yeah. Our businesses really love our local community and they want to support them and give back to them. And at the same time, they want their support. You know, they're struggling these days with so many people shopping with online mega stores. And so it's, I think, a win-win situation to have this event where it brings, you know, locals, makes it easy and fun for locals to come into town and at the same time provides more support for our local businesses. Will they be little kids singing and stuff like that and doing a lot kind of cute stuff? Yeah. We'll have a lot of different entertainment. We definitely right now have an adult caroling band. I don't have a youth one booked, but that will be fun. We'll see if we can make that happen. But it will be great to bring the kids down to see Santa as well. Yeah. It's kind of funny because, you know, Grass Valley has their Cornish Christmas and sometimes people go, what's so Cornish about it? And I understand because it gets so big sometimes you can almost get lost in there. And that's, yeah, that's kind of how Victorian Christmas has got. It's really huge. Yeah. And rightfully so it is. Yeah. Fun event. Yeah. It's a big event for sure. And our Wednesdays are significantly larger or sorry, our Sundays are significantly larger than Wednesdays. We get a lot more people coming from out of town. In fact, we have almost double the attendance on Sundays as we do Wednesday. So if locals are looking to come to Victorian Christmas, I always recommend you come on a Wednesday. All right. So to keep a big crowd from coming that first Wednesday of the month, are you going to keep the word out there kind of slow, you know, smaller footprint? Exactly. Yeah. So we're going what I'll consider old school. We're not posting it on our social media or on our website. Instead, we're just using kind of the old school quote unquote method. So radio, newspaper, flyers, word of mouth. So we're really relying on the local community to let their friends know. So it's it's kind of fun that it's yeah, hopefully everyone listening can share it with your friends. You can come on out and have a great time. All right. Just, you know, because people are going to get in their mind about shopping and stuff. Can you name two or three shops that are kind of relatively new and exciting that people maybe haven't discovered in town? Yeah, we have so many new shops. So it's really exciting. And like I mentioned in the earlier half of the show, Natural Wonders is a existing shop with a new owner. So that's a great one. We have another one that's about to open and will be open just in time for Christmas called the Pearl, which will be a high end women's shop. Yeah. So we're looking forward to that. There ribbon cuttings coming up in a few weeks as well. A lot of new restaurants and a lot of new energy. We actually are almost fully booked. We had quite a few vacancies about a year ago, and now in downtown Nevada City, almost everything is filled up. You know, it's almost counterintuitive considering how tough an environment it's been out there for a lot of businesses and such. That's a great sign, really. Yeah, it's really great. It's been really exciting. And we have some amazing new ones. Like one that just opened is the Wolfcraft Studio. So it's a cafe and pottery studio. It's really fun. You can come just grab a drink or they have little kits where you can come sit down with an art kit and make art or head into the back and take one of their ceramics workshops. Wow. Okay. So they have active ceramics going on inside this little shop. Yeah, they do. They have classes or you can come use their items all the time, but it's a really fun. So all the time you can go participate in art and there's kits that you can buy if you want to just kind of pop in and kits, I believe, starting around $20 up to a hundred plus dollars, depending on the craft you want to do and pottery painting. So really fun where you can just come enjoy a coffee and a pastry and make some art. Okay. Of course, the landmark business, the National, it seems like it's doing well. I got to do the parade there this year, obviously, because it was in Nevada city, but it looks beautiful. Yeah. The National is just such a beautiful addition. You know, thinking back to a decade ago or so when it was not in the best shape and many rooms were closed because they were condemned and now they've just brought so much new life to it. And the National has been such an amazing addition to our downtown community. All right. And across the street, is there any idea what might happen to the building over there that we've been waiting to have something happen? You know, at this time, unfortunately not, but it's something we're working on. So we hope to see that building full before long. What would you like to see in there? Do you have any thoughts on it? I have so many ideas and I have to say, I've heard so many ideas from so many people in our community, but I think what maybe makes sense is turning it into a smaller shop there and having like several micro businesses in that space. I think that would be a great space. And that's actually that shop, that business and building is really important to me. It's actually how my family ended up here. So that's kind of a fun story is that my parents owned a wood furniture company. My dad built oak furniture and typically they had someone else deliver it. But one day, my dad from Southern California delivered to Broad Street Furnishings when it was a furniture store and decided that was where he wanted to move his family. So that's what brought me to this community when I was one. And so it's a really important building to me. Wow. And is he still building furniture? Not anymore. He's mostly retired, but he still has the wood shop and still, you know, does some things now and then just for fun. All right. And mom's still doing her mortgage stuff. She is. Yeah. All right. Is it tough following in her footsteps or is she following in yours at this point? I'd say both. We've maybe reversed it. I followed in hers for a long time and now she helps me a lot. The other thing I loved is your enthusiasm for the World Cup and the Norwegian team out there doing the row and all that stuff. I always have to root for my Norwegians. Fabulous stuff. And good luck with Penzance and getting the Sister City stuff back up and running. Anything we could do as a radio station, happy to do it. That sounds great. We're looking forward to it. And website address just for people to check out everything? It's nevadacitychamber.com. All right. Thank you, Lynne Schuchrud coming in here, the Executive Director of the Nevada City Chamber. Again, our thanks to Bea and company over at the Sopa House of Tide. Make that part of your plans and we'll be out there later on this month. I promise. That does it for us. We've got ABC News coming up next. --- end of transcript ---