Presenter: Mike Wolcott     

Mike Wolcott is the editor of the Chico Enterprise-Record — just the fourth person to hold that title in the past 70 years.  He had his first byline in a newspaper in June 1976, when he began covering high school sports for his hometown newspaper, the Corning Observer.  He also worked at the Red Bluff Daily News and Eureka Times - Standard before moving to the Bay Area, where he worked for newspapers including the Contra Costa Times and San Francisco Chronicle for the next 23 years.  A native of Flournoy in rural Tehama County, he grew up on a fifth-generation sheep farm, and he likes to say, “The first time I saw my dad castrate a lamb the old-fashioned way, I knew I wanted to be a sports writer”.  He lives near Orland with his wife, Sherrie, an Administrative Support Coordinator at Chico State.  They have two dogs, lots of outdoor cats, and no sheep.

Presenter: Randy Taylor

At various times in Chico’s history, there has been a need to use a substitute for actual money. Tokens were made to be used for coinage at various times and paper money was printed and used as legal tender and accepted by local merchants in the Chico community. Consummate Chico collector Randy Taylor will show examples and tell the stories behind this interesting facet from the Chico story.

Presenter: Dave Nopel

Dave Nopel will lead a springtime walk from the Chico History Museum and moving to the front lawn of Kendall Hall on the Chico State campus for the story from W. H. Hutchinson, “How Chico Stole the College”.  We will move from there across Chico Creek, where Dave will talk again about “Chico Creek - My Old Favorite”, and then on to the Bidwell Mansion for a “look and learn” about Chico’s most apparent  historic structure.  This walk-and-talk will last some 90 minutes, and there will be some opportunities for seating and rest-rooming.  There will be a 30-person limitation for this event.