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Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
nevada county fair

Wrap up for 2015 Nevada County Fair

Rodeo Nevada County Fairgrounds
Photo Courtesy Barbara Matthews www.mtmmatthews.blogspot.com

Junior Livestock Auction, Ag Mechanics Auction, Treat Street Benefit Nevada County 

Beautiful weather (well, one really hot day), more than $500,000 raised for Nevada County youth, highly-attended arena events, and several community partnerships made for a successful 2015 Nevada County Fair.

  • More than 91,000 people attended this year’s Fair.
  • More than $825,000 was generated on Treat Street by local non-profit organizations. Proceeds raised will allow local non-profit organizations to provide vital services to our community.
  • The Ag Mechanics Auction, featuring 50 custom items handmade by Bear River and Nevada Union FFA students, raised approximately $53,000 for these students.
  • Two hundred and thirty five animals were sold at the Junior Livestock Auction, grossing more than $463,000 for the youth of Nevada County.  This year, there were 584 bumps on 235 animals, which is an average of 2.5 bumps per student. A bump occurs when a buyer offers additional money to the price of the animal, as a benefit to the student.  That’s a supportive community!
  • More than 3,600 students and educators attended Wednesday’s Scholar Student Day.
  • Almost 11,000 attended the Fair’s five arena events – the Flying U Extreme Rodeo, Monster Trucks, Tuff Truck racing, and the Rotary Club-sponsored Destruction Derby.  The arena events sold out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night!
  • Sunday’s special promotion of “Five Until Five,” brought 5,600 visitors to the Fair, and coupled with paid attendance after five, saw more than 15,000 visitors on that day.
  • In the Special Events Tent on Saturday, 11 people – including mother/daughter team, Holly and Lydia Panter – donated hair to Locks of Love
  • This year’s Fair included more than 7,040 exhibits from our community, including 500 photos in our Instagram Contest and almost 30 entries in the new Recycled Fan Art category.
  • One week prior to opening day, the Fair partnered with BloodSource, The Food Bank of Nevada County, Foothill Lions Club, Story Club, NEO, Nevada County 2-1-1, and Sierra Harvest, to offer Community Involvement Day – a day to donate items to these non-profit organizations, while also receiving free tickets to the Fair. As a result of this day, 107 blood donors were registered and 88 pints of life saving blood were collected; more than 700 books were collected (and 100 were given away); garden tools and supplies were collected; 1,800 pounds of food (enough to feed 45 families of 4 for one week) were donated; enough school supplies were received to provide for 20 families; more than $600 worth of crafts were donated to NEO; and 343 prescription eye glasses and seven hearing aids were donated.
  • More than 225 vendors and concessionaires participated in this year’s Fair.

The Fair teamed up with local libraries on their summer reading program and provided carnival ride tickets as prizes to children who read during the summer. During Fair time, more than

2015 NEVADA COUNTY FAIR WRAP-UP

Junior Livestock Auction, Ag Mechanics Auction, Treat Street Benefit Nevada County 

Beautiful weather (well, one really hot day), more than $500,000 raised for Nevada County youth, highly-attended arena events, and several community partnerships made for a successful 2015 Nevada County Fair.

  • More than 91,000 people attended this year’s Fair.
  • More than $825,000 was generated on Treat Street by local non-profit organizations. Proceeds raised will allow local non-profit organizations to provide vital services to our community.
  • The Ag Mechanics Auction, featuring 50 custom items handmade by Bear River and Nevada Union FFA students, raised approximately $53,000 for these students.
  • Two hundred and thirty five animals were sold at the Junior Livestock Auction, grossing more than $463,000 for the youth of Nevada County.  This year, there were 584 bumps on 235 animals, which is an average of 2.5 bumps per student. A bump occurs when a buyer offers additional money to the price of the animal, as a benefit to the student.  That’s a supportive community!
  • More than 3,600 students and educators attended Wednesday’s Scholar Student Day.
  • Almost 11,000 attended the Fair’s five arena events – the Flying U Extreme Rodeo, Monster Trucks, Tuff Truck racing, and the Rotary Club-sponsored Destruction Derby.  The arena events sold out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night!
  • Sunday’s special promotion of “Five Until Five,” brought 5,600 visitors to the Fair, and coupled with paid attendance after five, saw more than 15,000 visitors on that day.
  • In the Special Events Tent on Saturday, 11 people – including mother/daughter team, Holly and Lydia Panter – donated hair to Locks of Love
  • This year’s Fair included more than 7,040 exhibits from our community, including 500 photos in our Instagram Contest and almost 30 entries in the new Recycled Fan Art category.
  • One week prior to opening day, the Fair partnered with BloodSource, The Food Bank of Nevada County, Foothill Lions Club, Story Club, NEO, Nevada County 2-1-1, and Sierra Harvest, to offer Community Involvement Day – a day to donate items to these non-profit organizations, while also receiving free tickets to the Fair. As a result of this day, 107 blood donors were registered and 88 pints of life saving blood were collected; more than 700 books 150 coupons were given to young readers in our community.
  • Seventy three business sponsors partnered with the Fair to provide valuable services – like free shuttle rides, materials for the special contests in the Special Events tent, shavings for the sale ring, and free drinking water.
  • The Fair partnered with Nevada County’s agricultural community for the sixth year to create Ag-Sperience, an area devoted to education in local agriculture.

“Our community is what makes this Fair so special – and successful,” said Rea Callender, CEO of the Nevada County Fair. “We thank our customers and our community partners for making this year’s Fair a success, and for their ongoing support of this Fair and the Fairgrounds.”

The 2016 Nevada County Fair is August 10 – 14. Visit NevadaCountyFair.com for more information.

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
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Real Estate

Andy Rooney’s New York Home Sells for $2.2 Million

 

Photo courtesy of http://nobodynoonenothing.blogspot.com/

Andy Rooney’s Longtime New York Home Sells for $2.225 Million

For a bushy-browed and curmudgeonly old coot of a commentator, Andy Rooney had another calmer and more streamlined side.

Four years after Rooney’s death, the Upper West Side co-op apartment has been listed for sale by his heirs for $2.385 million.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rooney and his wife, who preceded him in death in 2004, bought the 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment 15 years ago as a pied-a-terre to use in conjunction with their primary residence in Connecticut. However, Rooney wound up using the apartment more consistently in the last years of his life in order to be closer the CBS studio. Rooney provided a running feature of cutting social commentary on the program for 33 years.

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Real Estate

Black Monday’ Rattles Housing Market

Chinese home buyers, in particular, may be more cautious in entering the U.S. housing market following Monday’s massive stock market sell-off that sent stocks tumbling, according to housing analysts. The sell-off began in Beijing on Monday and sent shares plunging by record amounts across the globe. Chinese media dubbed it “Black Monday” as markets fell nearly 8.5 percent there.

Read more: Chinese Dominate as Buyers of US Real Estate

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 1,000 points just minutes after the opening bell alone on Monday. The Dow made up some ground later in the afternoon but still closed nearly 600 points in the red.

John Burns, CEO and owner of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, explained in a blog post that Chinese home buying will likely be under a cloud of uncertainty.

“While the recent Chinese stock market correction has caused a decline in sales (one of my builder clients has noticed a sharp pullback, another just told me about a home sale cancelation specifically due to the buyer’s stock market losses, and one publicly traded home builder even mentioned the pullback on their earnings call), our research has convinced us of tremendous Chinese demand to buy US real estate for their families and as investments,” Burns says.

However, Burns says there is some doubt over whether the Chinese will continue their big U.S. buying spree. He questions the number of people who will still be able to afford to purchase a home in the U.S. after the stock market correction and currency devaluation.

Chinese home buyers have been strong in the U.S. market lately. Sixteen percent of international home buyers come from China, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Chinese spent $29 billion last year on U.S. real estate, surpassing Canada as the top spenders.

Source: “Betting on Chinese Home Buyers in the U.S.,” LinkedIn Blog (Aug. 24, 2015); “Stock Market Slide Continues Across Asia,” The Washington Post (Aug. 24, 2015); and “Black Monday Hits Housing, Mortgage Finance Worse Than Dow, Nasdaq,”

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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nevada county fair

Exciting Contests and Activates at the Nevada County Fair

Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fair
Special Contests. Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fair

No pre-registration required. Show up ½ hour before event, have fun, and win great prizes! 

At this year’s Nevada County Fair, August 12 – 16, there are exciting contests and activities happening each day of the Fair! Here are just a few of the fun contests planned for this year’s Fair.

New this year is the LIVE Art Battle on Saturday from 2:30 – 3:30 pm. Artists of all ages will have 20 minutes to create a painting, and then the audience will vote for their favorite. All supplies provided.

With the “Catch the Fair Bug!” theme, we have lots of fun “bug” contests – Building A Bug Snack, where Fair-goers can create an edible bug out of yummy food on Wednesday at noon; Make and Take Bug Crafts on Wednesday at 2 pm; Create a Litter Bug from recycled items on Thursday at 3 pm; and Make a Bug Puppet on Friday at 2 pm.

If you love creating with Duct Tape, don’t miss the Duct Tape Art Challenge.  Kids and adults will have 30 minutes to create an item or thing. Some tape will be available for use; however, if your project requires specific colors/patterns or supplies, please provide. Happening on Friday; kids contest at 3 pm; adults 3:45 pm.

Special Events . Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fair
Special Events . Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fair

 

How about a scavenger hunt using your cell phone? Find a partner and join the fun at the Cell Phone Photo Scavenger Hunt on Wednesday at 3 pm.  At check- in, contestant teams will receive a scavenger hunt list, and teams will have 45 minutes to find and photograph with their cell phone as many of the items on the list that they can.

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
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nevada county fair, Nevada County Information

Nevada County Fair Planned for August 12 – 16, 2015

Tommie performing with Pokiejoe. Picture courtesy of Nevada County Fairgrounds
Tommie performing with Pokiejoe. Picture courtesy of Nevada County Fairgrounds

Fairgrounds confirms that Fair will take place as planned

The Nevada County Fairgrounds confirmed today that the Nevada County Fair will continue as planned on August 12 – 16.

While the Fairgrounds are currently being used for a command post and fire camp, the Fair team is busy behind the scenes preparing for its biggest event of the year – the Nevada County Fair.

“There have been rumors of the Fair’s cancellation, but that was never part of our plan,” said Rea Callender, CEO of the Fairgrounds. “While we are happy to be able to assist our community and provide a place of rest for our heroic firefighters, we are still busy preparing for this year’s Fair, which opens in less than two weeks.”

To date, the Fair has received more than 7,000 entries for community exhibits, discounted tickets are being sold, and entries for special contests are being accepted.

Additionally, the Fair confirmed that Community Involvement Day – a day to donate items to non-profit organizations, while also receiving free tickets to the Fair – will take place in the Gate 1 parking lot on Monday, August 3. This year, the Nevada County Fairgrounds is teaming up with the Food Bank of Nevada County, Foothill Lions, Story Club, Nevada County 2-1-1, Sierra Harvest, NEO, and BloodSource for Community Involvement Day.  These organizations will be set-up at the Fairgrounds Gate 1 parking lot on Monday, August 3, from 1 – 6 pm, to receive donations of items.

“The fire camp will still be on the grounds during Community Involvement Day, but we’re ready to host the event, which will cause little disruption to the fire camp,” said Callender.

While the Fair will take place as planned in two weeks, the grounds are currently closed to pedestrians and bicyclists; and RV camping is limited.  The Fairgrounds will notify the community when these services are open again to the public.

The Main Office will continue to sell advanced sale Fair tickets, and continues to be open during normal business hours of Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.

“On August 12, we will be ready to open our gates to the community and welcome them to the 2015 Nevada County Fair,” said Callender. “At that time, we’ll also take the time to celebrate our community and thank our firefighters for their efforts in keeping us all safe.”

For information about the Nevada County Fair, August 12 – 16, call 530-273-6217 or visit NevadaCountyFair.com.

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Community Events, Nevada County Information

Nevada County Fairgrounds Becomes a Command Post and Fire Camp for Cal Fire; Animal Evacuation Center

July 27, 2015

Nevada County Fairgrounds Becomes a Command Post and Fire Camp for Cal Fire; Animal Evacuation Center
Lowell Hill Fire Photo by John J. O’Dell

  

Contact:          Rea Callender, CEO, Nevada County Fairgrounds

(530) 273-6217; Rea@NevadaCountyFair.com

Due to the Lowell Fire, currently burning in Nevada and Placer counties, Cal Fire and assisting agencies have set up a command post and fire camp at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. Additionally, the Nevada County Veterinary Disaster Response Team has set up an evacuation center at the Fairgrounds for large and small animals.

Due to the large number of resources utilizing the fire camp, the Fairgrounds will be closed to walkers and bicyclists until further notice.

During the duration that the camp is set up, Gate 1 will be open to Fair employees and Fair business (those visiting the Fairgrounds’ administration office) only, Gate 4 will be open to campers, Gate 8 will be open for animal evacuation, and all other gates will be closed to the public and restricted to authorized fire personnel only.

These closures and restrictions do not affect the Main Office, which is open during its normal business hours of Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. Additionally, limited RV camping will be available by contacting the Main Office.

During this time, the Nevada County Fairgrounds is also being used as an evacuation center for small and large animals. The Fairgrounds are open and equipped to handle large and small animals brought to the Fairgrounds. Several animals are already on the grounds, and the Fairgrounds will continue to receive and house animals as needed. Those with animals impacted by the fire, or those who need to remove animals to a safer location, are encouraged to use the Fairgrounds. If you need information or have questions regarding animal evacuations, contact Pat, Nevada County Veterinary Disaster Response Team (Animal Evac), at (530) 913-6506.

According to Mike Mohler, Public Information Officer with Cal Fire Incident Management Team 1, the fire camp, which was established on July 25, currently houses more than 700 individuals, as well as large equipment required to fight the fires.

For updated fire information and evacuation updates, contact the Cal Fire information line at (530) 823-4083 or visit Cal Fire’s website at www.fire.ca.gov.

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
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Travel

Avila, Spain – May 2015

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Pictures of Avila

After being in Madrid for awhile, we decided to take a narrated bus trip to Avila and Segovia, two famous cities to the north of Madrid.

The main monument is the imposing Walls of Ávila (11th-14th centuries), the medieval work was started in 1090. The enclosed area is 77 acres, it has 88 semicircular towers, and walls  over 9 ft thick, with an average height of 39 ft, and 9 gates. It is the largest fully illuminated monument in the world. It is possible to walk upon the walls themselves for roughly half their circumference.

We also visited the Cathedral of Ávila, a Romanesque and Gothic church, a cathedral-fortress, its apse being one of the turrets of the city walls.  It is surrounded by a number of houses or palaces. Across town we also visited the church and museum dedicated to Saint Teresa.

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Travel

Madrid, Spain

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Text by Judy J. Pinegar  Photos by John J. O’Dell

Arriving by train, really late (about 10 PM) we got a taxi to the place we were staying. They didn’t charge us for being late which was good because the rules said it would cost us 30 euros (1.12 cents= 1euro). But restaurants nearby were still going gangbusters and we ate, then went to bed.

The next day was typical Madrid, better said in pictures than words, a shop full of deserts (John in convinced no one can do desserts like Spain), the subway (we got very good at this), Plaza Mayor, a very nice OLD bar, statues, buildings, Lions about to eat men, Historical figures hanging out of buildings, churches, Museo del Prado (they wouldn’t let us take many pictures inside), and fantastic old doors.

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
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Travel

Trip to Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

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“The Way” or the Camino de Santiago has been used for over 1000 years for pilgrims to get to Santiago de Compostela, the tomb of Saint James the Apostle.  Although there are many “caminos” or paths to get there, the most frequently used is the path from France, 783 Kilometers (486 miles) across all of northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. John and I met one of those people, Cody from Louisiana, and shared several hours (on a train from Santiago to Madrid) talking about his month long experience. He walked the whole way, after training for three months in Colorado, because with this trip you have to cross the Pyrenees Mountains.

A 13th century poet wrote “The door is open to all, sick and healthy, not only to Catholics, but also to pagans, Jews, heretics and vagabonds.” There are many places to stay along the way where people charge 5 or 10 euros for food, a place to stay, a shower and laundry services. Cody said there were often 3 or 4 languages at a table for 12 people! Carrying a walking stick with an attached scallop shell, it is now more popular as a personal or spiritual journey of discovery, rather than one primarily motivated by religion, an average of 150,000 pilgrims a year make the journey today. If you walk at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) you get a ” Compostela” certificate  and there is also a passport in which you put the stickers you accumulate along the way.

Needless to say, John and I have no stickers or certificates, but the church and the city are beautiful and very old. Sometime in the 9th century a religious hermit, following a shining star unearthed the tomb of the Apostle James in the woods, and after it being confirmed by a local Bishop, the Spanish King and eventually the Pope, pilgrimages began, and today a grand Cathedral stands in the spot, built piecemeal over several centuries it is a mix of Romanesque with baroque and Gothic flourishes. The biggest part was built in 1075 to 1211, with the tops and flourishes added later, then an 18th century facade was added (we didn’t see it as it was being refurbished), you may see the netting in some of the pictures of the outside.

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After taking the tour of the Cathedral and it’s museums, we also saw a very mysterious street act, where one man appears to be holding another man in the air with his staff, only two (one of each) of their hand are on the staff…. what do you think?? Then a trip on the tourist bus and another day to the huge Ciudad de Cultura de Galicia (the area which contains both this city an A Coruna) which has lots of symbolism: the overall shape resembles a giant stone wave sliced into sections, the footprint in the vague shape of a scallop shell, or the shape of the old city portion of Santiago de Compostella.  On this site, we visited the museum, the largest library I have ever seen, and a display of the architectural designs for the site. Although the project was started in 1991, the first two buildings were opened in 2011, with another added in 2012, and at least three more are planned. Currently work has stopped for lack of money.

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Then there are pictures of some of the tapas available for sale, some of the streets and buildings, flowers and a big fruit and vegetable stand in the city… after two days we left for Madrid via the train.

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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Travel

Our Trip to A Coruña and Buno

Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

Coming into A Coruna it was a nice hotel with horrible basement parking. John did it the first time, but then they asked him to let them park the car in the future, and  John was more than happy let them!

These homes are called glass houses because of the intense number of windows facing out to sea
These homes are called glass houses because of the intense number of windows

So out for a stroll we saw the most famous sign of A Coruña, glass houses facing the marina/port, then the Plaza de Maria Pita… dedicated to Maria Pita. The English were bad neighbors here, first the Spanish Armada took off from here and failed badly, mostly due to the horrible weather. Then Sir Frances Drake the famous pirate came to take over the town, and was succeeding until Maria Pita, who  was assisting her husband, an army captain manning the defenses, when he was killed by a crossbow bolt that struck him in the head. An English soldier with a banner, who was making his way to the highest part of the wall, was killed by Pita. She appeared on the heights of the wall herself, shouting: Quen teña honra, que me siga (“Whoever has honor, follow me!”) whereupon the English incursion was driven back by the defenders. The English later gave up the assault and retreated to their ships. I always like it when the women come through!

Plaza de Maria Pita
Plaza de Maria Pita

We then went into the walled old town and saw a 12th century church, a beautiful walled garden, and views of the port.

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12th century church A Coruna
12th century church A Coruna

We then came to the Plaza of Humor, with cartoons from all over the world including Disney engraved into the concrete, and a statue of a funny man… John is still mad that I put my hand on his leg!

SAM_0034

Later we went to a archeological museum, inside of what used to be a prison, Castillo de San Anton, with Roman ruins and evidence of the later military uses.. Then a walk along the exposed coast, where we saw an odd glass structure that turned out to be the port navigation center (on high like at an airport)! and finally the Tower of Hercules, which was first a Roman Lighthouse, then made over several times to the current structure. Fairly well preserved relics were still beneath the tower, but the ceiling was about  5’6″… my son Kevin would have had to be in a crouch to see it!

Tower of Hercules A Coruna
Tower of Hercules A Coruna

One day (well actually two) the first time John had forgotten the old picture he had of his Mom’s house that he had taken when she was visiting with him in her old age. We showed the picture to two people who were born and still living in Buno and they recognized it right away and gave us directions. So we took some pictures for the family. See John beside what is now a metal door into the stone structure. His mother told him that the animals lived on the first floor, and the people lived on the second floor, which was quite common in those days.

John's mothers home in Buno Spain
John’s mothers home in Buno Spain

Help keep this blog going
Call or write today for all your real estate needs
John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
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