Last Year in Review — July, August, and September of 2024

July

Hundreds of people participated in Downieville’s “Fireless Fireworks” on the 4th of July. After making an astounding amount of noise, the crowd remained on Main St. to watch a parade, foot races, and tug-of-war competitions. In the evening, led by Santana’s bassist David Margen, the band “Sunday Paper” assembled on Main St. to stage an incredible, three-hour concert featuring classic soul and funk music.

The Sierra County Land Trust announced its acquisition of an additional 168-acre property between Haskell Peak and Gold Lake Highway within the Lakes Basin.

A ground-penetrating radar machine was used to determine the location of 40 burial spots within Downieville’s “Paupers Graveyard”.

Hundreds of mountain bikers from around the world made their way to the annual Downieville Classic set of races, a log pull competition, the Big Air River Jump (for the first time since 2019), and a street dance party featuring the 8-piece band Joy and Madness.

The region was treated to an exhausting two-week spell of very hot (100˚+) weather.

After a nearly six-year absence, construction work began on returning Downieville’s gasoline station to operation.

August

Gold Rush Days returned to attract several hundred mining and history-minded people to Downieville, who were also treated to the annual Ice Cream Social at the North Yuba Hall.

Lightning strikes from a thunderstorm over the eastern side of the Plumas National Forest caused two small fires. Both were contained quickly.

Despite unseasonably wet weather, the annual “doin’s” of the E Clampus Vitus Chapter 49 was well-attended, and new plaques commemorating Downieville’s history were installed.

September

The Bear Fire erupted a few miles south of Sierra Brooks, spread north (burning close to 5 square miles over the next two days), and resulted in the mandatory evacuation of Sierra Brooks.

The 15th annual Big City Rod Run was held in Sierra City.

The Downieville Improvement Group (DIG) raised funds for the Downieville Fire Station Building Fund by holding the Downieville Mountain Brewfest. The roughly 600 attendees sampled beers from over a dozen breweries and listened to blues music provided by Bob Mora and The Third Degree band.

The Camptonville Community Partnership received a grant and loan totaling $15.3 million from the Yuba Water Agency to facilitate the construction of a 5-megawatt biomass facility near the southwestern boundary of the 275,000-acre North Yuba Landscape Resiliency Project.

With funding provided by the California Department of Public Health, Eastern Plumas Health Care Sierra deployed portable shelter structures for use during disasters and health emergencies.

The Loyalton High School instructor accused of sexual relations with a student was sentenced to one year in prison, an additional year of mandatory supervision, and ten years of registration as a Tier 1 sex offender.

The annual Sierra Valley Art + Ag Trail event, attended by scores of people from throughout the region who were treated to splendid weather, provided attendees with farmers’ and artists’ markets plus tours of ranches and historic barns.