Coppercreek Camp

Prepping Camp for the Endurance Ride

2008-05-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

It has already been a busy week around camp! Craig and Lornie spent the morning cruising the property and making lists for this weekend's Endurance Ride. It is always a big push to get camp ready this early, but it makes for much less work in June. I am here in Truckee...still waiting on this baby! Nothing yet, but tomorrow is the official due date, so maybe this little bugger will be on time. Kalli, our former Equestrian Center Director, is checking out a new horse for our lesson program today, and we are also looking at a new Vaulting horse. We will keep you posted on the Equestrian Center developments as the month proceeds.
We hope you are enjoying the lovely weather.
Becky

5 days to go!

2008-05-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, only 5 days until the due date... I am still hoping this baby will come early, but nothing yet! Here is an update of what is happening at camp right now! Craig has been driving the tractor around for the last couple of days building a new road out in the Ranch meadow. We will be hosting a 100 mile horseback endurance ride on May 17 and 18, so Craig is trying to get things gorgeous and ready, hopefully before the baby comes. Lauren has been splitting her time between the camp office and the barn. She has been finishing the staff hiring and getting the horses ready for the summer. Tami is getting the family packets stuffed into envelopes and out to our enrolled campers for this summer. The family packet includes not only the Parent's Guide, but also all of the important forms you will need. I am answering the camp phones, my e-mail and waiting...waiting....waiting....for this new bundle of joy to arrive.

Take care, and have a great day!

Becky

The Waiting Game

2008-05-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Coppercreek Friends and Families,
Spring has sprung at Coppercreek, and we are all starting to get excited about summer. Only 5 1/2 weeks until the first camper's arrive. Along with all of the work to get camp up and going for the summer, we are also waiting for our newest arrival. Our (Craig & Becky's) second child is due to arrive on May 13th, but as we all know, nobody tells the baby the date it is supposed to come. There is nothing quite like waiting for a baby to come! Everyone at camp is so anxious to meet this new little person, but no one is as anxious as me!!!! So, I am playing the waiting game, answering the camp phones and hoping that today will be the day.... :)!
For those campers who have already enrolled for this summer, the Parent's Guide and all of the forms are going in the mail this week, so watch your mail box.
I will post again soon. Hopefully with photos of our newest camper!!
Becky

2008-02-14T13:29:00.001-08:00

One of the things I do in the winter other than staring at the snow melting is coach volleyball. I am currently coaching a U14's club team as well as our junior high volleyball team at the high school. Many of the girls are the same, just in a different configuration. Well, my u14's team had their first club tournament last weekend and what a blast we had. After the girls stared fear in the face, letting many balls drop left or right and looking at me in sheer terror with expressions of; "Where do I go?" "Am I here?" "Am I an outside hitter?" "Isn't Sammy supposed to be on my left?"; we started to play and ended up the day with 5 wins and 4 losses to take 5th place. I was very proud of the girls and had a good chuckle knowing at the next practice, I will have 10 girls paying VERY close attention to their offensive positions! It is amazing how much you think you know until you have to take the test. Lauren

Christy's winter vacation

2008-01-31T22:52:00.001-08:00

Christy was smart this winter and headed down the hill with Mel to live at Kalli's in Elk Grove. She has the fun job of teaching Kalli's students how to ride. Here she is with Bailey during a lesson.

The new Tahoe!

2008-01-31T22:24:00.001-08:00

WOW! Enough is enough! We haven't had snow like this in years. Craig spent the entire day plowing, plowing and plowing again. My poor little Chihuahua, Lola, and Pomeranian, Jasmin, have to burrow out the back door whenever they want to go out. I keep an eye on them because I am afraid they will disappear in a snow bank and never return. The deer all wait on the outskirts of the Equestrian Center until we are done feeding and then graze on the hay we drop. They are very happy there are 40 horses that need feeding everyday. We actually have a young Bobcat living in the rafters of the goat pen hoping to catch an errant pigeon. Well, the kids are happy though because our schools are closed tomorrow for a "snow day". The power of the computer generation. I think our principal told one student and by text messaging, MySpace and Iming, the entire student body heard the word in about 15 minutes. At least there are 230 happy students in our town...and a herd of deer. Ahh, life in the mountains! (The photo on the left is our middle arena. You can just make out the fence line on the right. Craig has been plowing it in the hopes I might be able to ride before June!)

Feeding in the snow!

2008-01-09T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Sutter and I had so much fun last night feeding in the snow. We haven't seen this much snow in a couple of years but it didn't slow us down too much. We only got stuck once, had to retry the hill coming up to the mini's three times (the key is speed!)and definitely were distracted by the mandatory snowball fights. Here is what the Equestrian Center looks like during chores in the winter! All the horses are managing the snow very well but are itching to get out of their paddocks and run a bit. That is on the schedule for today. We will take a camera to capture the ponies out in the Ranch pasture.

Lornie

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Lornie and I are sitting in the office today watching it snow and snow and snow and snow. We have gotten between 6 and 7 inches already this morning and it is showing no signs of letting up. Craig decided to take the day off and head down to Truckee to catch a day at Northstar. He sounded very happy a few minutes ago when I talked to him. After spending the last few days trying to clean up all of the snow around camp, I think he is excited to be skiing instead of shoveling. Camp fared very well in the early stages of the storm. We had lots of rain and snow, but we never even lost power (knock on wood, of course!)! Lauren is pretty grouchy about the whole business though as lots of rain and snow means no riding today and possibly for several days to come. We are thinking about shipping her and Valor to Southern California until April!
We hope you all came through this series of storms safely! We will post some photos of our winter wonderland once we see the sun again!

What's a girl to do???

2007-12-31T19:38:00.000-08:00

I think all of my equestrian friends will understand today the most. After 21 days of rain, snow, and mostly just ice, lots of ice...morning, noon, afternoon and evenings full of ice...so icy, one can only hold their breath as their beautiful, (but very stupid) dressage horse tries to run and buck around his pen as all four legs go in different directions; today finally grew warm enough to bust at least one horse free from her paddock. Chassis (because she is actually smart enough to watch her footing in the slick conditions, unlike Valor, and doesn't need shoes and snowpads) and I took to the cross country course and had some fun. I thought everyone would enjoy some photos of today and how beautiful camp looks (I grudgingly admit it even as I am wishing for 60 degree days to return...).

Happy New Year Everyone!!!
Lornie

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

We hope everyone had a lovely holiday spent enjoying good food and the warmth of family and friends.

It has been a pretty exciting few weeks for the gang here at camp. Lauren competed in a Dressage Show the weekend before Thanksgiving and she and Valor placed in the top 3 in all of her classes. It was a large, competitive show held at Starr Vaughn in Sacramento. Kalli, our former Equestrian Center Director competed on her pony Tam as well!

For Thanksgiving, Craig, Ryleigh and I flew to Southern California to spend the holiday with my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brothers in law, nieces and nephews in Palm Desert. On Thanksgiving morning, the whole family (2, 4, & 6 year old included) ran the 5K Turkey Trot. We all finished (some of us faster than others :))! I raced back from Turkey day to my "other" job as the Ticket and Season Pass Manager at Northstar. We opened the resort on Friday on just a little man-made snow, but hopefully more is on the way.

Lornie and Sutter held down the fort celebrating Thanksgiving here at camp with friends and the whole menagerie of animals that call this place home.

We hope your holiday was filled with joy and love.
Becky

Lornie and Valor at the Pumpkin Roll

2007-11-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
We thought you might enjoy this photo of Lauren and Valor at the Pumpkin Roll Dressage show in Reno last weekend. They showed First Level and received a 1st and 2nd place! Congratulations! Lornie is planning on attending another dressage show in the middle of November. Now, we are just hoping the weather will hold off long enough that they can attend. It has been a pretty quiet week here at camp, as we are all finishing up our fall projects and getting ready for the cold, dark days of winter.
Next week, we head to Tucson for the annual WAIC conference. We are excited to connect with our fellow camp directors and find out how their summers were. I am also excited about the spa services I have booked between educational sessions :).
Hope all is well with each and every one of you.

Happy Halloween!
Becky

Fall Color

2007-10-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous fall day! It is absolutely incredible here today. I'm a little sad I had a full day of office work planned :(! I did sneak outside for a few moments to "take this photo" and drink in the sights of Autumn! I'm not sure if the campers even notice in the summertime, but camp is covered with apple trees that date back to "Johnny Appleseed" times. The apples are delicious! The deer and horses agree wholeheartedly.

We have also been thinking so much about our friends and the members of our camp family who are being so devastated by the wildland fires in Southern California. After experiencing a major fire this fall ourselves, we know the stress people are under and wish we were closer and could offer our help and support in person. Instead, we're just sending our thoughts and prayers.

Our fall newsletter just went out in the mail. Please let us know if you don't receive one, we would be happy to re-send it.

Have a wonderful day!

Becky

Volunteer Season

2007-10-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted. Time flies. Most everything is back to normal here at camp since the fire was contained. The girls went back to school and Lornie, Craig and I jumped right into Volunteer Season. Ryleigh is in the first grade this year and Sutter is a Sophomore. They both attend school here in Greenville. Our school is very small, and as with most public schools in California is facing a funding crisis. The need for parent volunteers and help with fund raising is almost overwhelming, especially because our school is so small there just isn't enough help to go around all the time. Lauren coaches Junior High Volleyball, helps with the driving for Sutter's high school Volleyball team, is a member of the Booster club, is on the board of the Western Association of Independent Camps and just recently got involved with the Save Our Schools ballot initiative. I volunteer in Ryleigh's class, and am the Secretary of Parent's Club (our PTA). Craig is conscripted by all of us for all sorts of "man tasks" and coaches Ryleigh's 1st/2nd grade soccer team. PHEW! Just typing it exhausts me. Plus, we are still working here at camp, putting everything to bed, updating the website and brochure, and keeping the horses going. After running camp all summer, I think we are all so anxious to re-connect with our own children, we jump into the school schedule with guns blazing.

It is also so difficult when you see a need and know you have the skills and resources to fill it not to jump in and help. Especially, when you know the need might go un-met if you don't volunteer. The flip side is we are all running around like crazy people :)! I'm sure many of you understand the challenges of volunteering! We really just want positive, enriching experiences for our children at the end of the day. Isn't that what every parent wants?

If you are interested in learning about the Save our Schools initiative here in Plumas County, please visit their website at www.plumassos.net. The group will be working over the next several months to raise enough money to get a measure on the ballot. The hope is to pass a parcel tax which will directly fund our school district, and give us some independence from the rise and fall of State and Federal Funding.

Off to pick up Ryleigh!
Becky

Friday Morning Update

2007-09-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

I think today is the last day I will need to do a daily update! Here is the fire report updated as of 10:30 a.m.

Great news all the way around. The Moonlight Wildfire containment lines held firm last night through the Red Flag event with 64,997 total acres burned and 90% containment. Though InciWeb is showing a rounded up 65,000 acres, we are keeping ours at 64,997 as the official "209" report shows. Winds were actually beneficial in reducing the risk to lines and aided the heavy burning of interior fuels. Mop-up efforts are continuing at 100-500' in from the fireline. With five miles of fireline left to build, full containment is expected by Monday, Sept. 17, 2007!!! HIP, HIP HOORAY!

The Greenville, Taylorsville, and Indian Valley areas will be smokey in the morning for the next few days due to smoke funneling down drainages and an inversion layer predicted by weather forecasters. With less wind, these areas will get smokey, but should clear by afternoon as light winds help to blow the smoke away. Those in the Susanville and Janesville areas may see smoke for the next few days due to the southwest winds.
Humidity levels will rise through tonight and temperatures will be colder, aiding the firefighters efforts.

During the day 19 helicopters, 35 dozers, 41 water tenders, and 135 engines are assisted by 95 fire crews.

According to SIFC Aircraft Dispatcher Bob Bare, Tanker 09 is standing by at the Chester Airport in case they need it.

Some crews will begin to demobilize as they reach their 14-day limit. 21 crews, 34 engines, six helicoptors and all OES engines will be released from the fire as of 6 p.m. Friday night.

The spike camp at Murdock Crossing is being closed.

Air operations logged over 1000 hours of flight time and 1/2 million gallons of retardant was pumped out of the Chester Air Base alone.

$22.2 million has been spent to date to fight this fire. Only 28 minor injuries occurred while personnel logged in 430,000 person hours. 3,216 personnel are still in mop up operations and support.

The mandatory evacuation for Franks Valley has been lifted, but the order still continues for Antelope Lake, Wilcox Valley and Taylor Lake areas as they are still within the fires lines.

There is minimal potential for fire spread, if any, it is predicted to be to the Northeast. Minimal night operations are expected Friday night.

The official report this morning had this comment, "Four burned structures were found yesterday. The type of structures and historic value is being evaluated." As more details about these structures becomes available, we will pass it on to our readers, but at this time, Fire Information officers have no further knowledge than what is written in the report.

I think we will spend the next several weeks counting our many blessings. Here are just a few: we are grateful for the firefighters and public safety officers who worked so hard to contain this fire and protect us at great personal sacrifice, we are grateful to live in such a wonderful community with such giving and caring neighbors who were so willing to help in our time of need, we are grateful no one was killed or seriously injured by this fire, we are grateful Coppercreek came through this unscathed, we are grateful to the Coppercreek community for their prayers and good thoughts (we are sure they helped!), and we are grateful to Plumas News and their blog site for keeping all of the information about this fire at our fingertips!

Stay Safe! Big Coppercreek hugs to all!
Becky

Thursday's Update! 77% Contained!

2007-09-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

The horses are all home and the fire is 77% contained. They have also lifted the mandatory evacuations for our neighbors out on North Arm. Fire officials are a little bit worried about the expected winds today. The forecast is for a low pressure system to move into the area and bring with it 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. However if the fire lines hold through this wind event. They will start sending some of these crews home for a well deserved rest! We are starting to feel the relief of the major threat being past us. I think we all feel like we could sleep for a week! It has definitely been a long and stressful 10 days.

This is a photo of pieces of burnt bark that Ryleigh and I picked up walking through the meadow yesterday. There is burnt bark, leaves, manzanita and ash everywhere! You can just walk through the open areas of camp and pick up as much as you like.
We were so lucky!! We feel very blessed and grateful.
Thank you all again for checking in, and your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate having you as part of our camp community.

Becky

Wednesday Morning! 58% Contained!

2007-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Firefighters had another great night and we are up to 58% contained this morning. We also woke up to fairly clear skies. It feels like we have finally turned a corner, and this fire might be contained soon. It has burned 64,271 (100 square miles) acres so far. Fire officials are still concerned about the active areas you see on this morning's map. The wind is supposed to come up again this afternoon and tomorrow, but we are hopeful the cool temperatures will help them keep making progress toward containment. We brought 13 horses home yesterday and hope to bring another few loads today.

Thank you all for your good thoughts! I think they definitely helped!
Becky

Tuesday Update

2007-09-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

The firefighters had another good day & night. The fire is at 63,418 acres. They were able to keep it's growth to just 600 acres yesterday and it is now 33% contained!! This is the Modis picture from 7 am. It hasn't changed much in the last few days. The winds didn't materialize again yesterday. We hope all this news means we are turning the corner and the firefighters are getting a handle on this fire. They used the big DC-10 yesterday to drop retardant on Wildcat Ridge. I guess it was a sight to see. The kids are out of school again. There are still too many people displaced and Taylorsville is still in the fire's path. We are discussing bringing a few horses home today. We will watch through the rest of today and make some decisions this afternoon.

Thank you again for all of the nice notes, e-mails and offers of help. It is so nice to know we have such a large community willing to help in our time of need.
Becky

Monday Update

2007-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we have good news. The wind that was expected to blow yesterday didn't! The fire didn't grow much last night and firefighters were able to strengthen the fire lines nearest us. The fire is at 62,000 acres, or almost 98 square miles, and is still only 16% contained. I didn't get any photos yesterday because the smoke was so thick. The mountains behind camp are hardly visible again this morning. School was cancelled again due to the smoke and fire danger. They are expecting some extreme fire behavior today due to the low humidity. We really need some rain and clouds!! It would help the fire personnel so much. Unfortunately there are no storms on the horizon at the moment. Lornie and Sutter are back in Quincy this morning, feeding, watering and caring for the horses. Craig found Lynne's scanner yesterday, so we have been able to listen to some of the official radio traffic. It will be very nice to have the scanner if anything changes in the next day or so, but we are crossing our fingers that things are looking better and progress is being made towards getting this fire out.

Take care! We hope all is well with you and your families!

Becky

Sunday Afternoon

2007-09-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

Here is a new MODIS map updated at about 12. We were glad to see the red dot near us become an orange dot. We are totally socked in with smoke today and can't see much of anything happening. It also means the helicopters and air tankers aren't flying. No new updates from the front lines.

Becky

Sunday Morning

2007-09-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Things were fairly quiet here at camp most of the day yesterday, but the fire grew from 31,000 acres on Friday night to 52,000 acres this morning! Yesterday afternoon, this cloud bloomed over the Equestrian Center and I started to worry. Craig again ran up the mountain on the dirt bike to get a better look. It's a good thing he actually LIKES riding his dirt bike, because we have been sending him all over the last few days. He took this photo of a helicopter making a water drop.

Again, we are humbled by the men and women who are risking their lives fighting this very nasty fire. We went out to breakfast in town yesterday and saw firetrucks from Santa Barbara, Ventura and the Office of Emergency Services. There are people from all over California here protecting us and our neighbors. Thank you doesn't seem adequate.

The bloom over the Equestrian Center bothered me enough that we decided to drive around the Valley and get a little closer look. As we drove, it became more clear that the main part of the fire is still a good distance from us. This photo was taken outside of Taylorsville about a 10 mile drive from camp and shows how big and aggressive this fire has become.
Unfortunately, there is a change expected today in the wind and therefore, the fire's movements. We were hoping to possibly start bringing our horses home, but with the weather forecast, we are going to again, "wait and see", which is of course, very frustrating!!
Here is the weather forecast from the Incident Command:
Projected movement of fire:
12 hour: Predicted low humidity and NE wind event is expected to push fire to SW.
24 hr: NE wind forecasted with anticipated spread to SW
48 hr: Stronger NE influence and lower humidity expected; could case significant spread to SW
72 hr: SE influence and lower humidity expected to continue, which could cause significant spread to SW.
I will update if anything changes today.
Take care,
Becky

Saturday Update

2007-09-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. Craig headed back up to the saddle yesterday evening and took this photo looking East. The fire is still raging, but heading toward Antelope Lake which burned earlier this summer. That is good news for us. We were even considering bringing the horses back if things continued to improve. However, the forecast for the wind has changed for Monday. They are now calling for an East wind which could blow the fire toward us.

Here is the Modis photo from this morning. The red dot just above the word Greenville is the one that concerns us. It is just over the ridge from camp and a shift in the winds could send it our way.
I think we are going to be nervous for a while here, but for now, all is well.
Lornie visited each of our horses yesterday and everyone is healthy and happy. They all look a little confused about their situation, but are settled into their temporary homes. She is going to go visit them today as well. Other than that, we are just staying close to home and each other and watching all the news we can find.
I will continue to post updates as I get them.

Love to all!
Becky

Friday Update

2007-09-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Thank you again for the calls and e-mails! This picture was taken from the Plumas News website. It shows the fire activity as of 8 am. The red & orange are actively burning areas and the yellow is areas that have been burned in the last 6 months. As you can see, there is still a ridge between the fire and Greenville!! It is a quiet morning here at camp. It is VERY EERIE to not hear the horses walking around in their pens and calling to each other! They are all safe and happy in their temporary homes. Lornie and Sutter have headed to Susanville to check on everyone. Craig and I are holding down the fort here at camp. From the latest reports, firefighters are holding the edge of the fire near us. It sounds like they are not having as much luck with the edge of the fire near Taylorsville. While we are so grateful to be safe, our hearts are breaking for the families who are displaced and don't know about their homes or livestock.

I think my very favorite moment from the Community meeting last night was when our local sheriff was answering a question about people getting into the evacuated area to feed and water livestock. In the middle of his answer, he looked at one of the ladies sitting nearby and said, "By the way, Mrs. Wittingham, your chickens are all fine, we checked on them today!"

We are so grateful for the amazing efforts and sacrifices of the personnel on the fire lines, our local sheriff, search and rescue, Red Cross and all of the others who are out there helping to protect our families and property!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Moonlight Fire News

2007-09-07T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hello Coppercreek Families and Friends!
The photo to the right was taken from our camp meadow on Tuesday afternoon. For those of you who haven't heard, we have a major forest fire (approximately 30,000 acres) burning near Coppercreek. First, I should say, everyone (people, horses, dogs, and cats) and everything (buildings, land, arenas and cabins) here at camp is absolutely fine for the time being. But, it has been a wild ride the last few days! We have received many calls and e-mails from our campers, staff, former campers and staff, family and friends. Thank you all for your kind words. We have so appreciated knowing you are all out there and thinking of us.
The very best site for current information on the fire and what is happening here is our local plumas news site http://www.plumasnews.com/news_story.edi?sid=5411. We have been keeping it open on our computers and hitting refresh every few moments!

Here is a timeline of what has happened so far.

Monday afternoon: Fire begins. We noticed a small plume of smoke rising on the other side of the ridge line you can see from the camp meadow. We called the fire department and were told the fire had started in Moonlight Valley about 6 to 8 air miles from camp. Craig jumped on his dirt bike and rode up the mountain to get a closer view. From the "Saddle" (the low spot of the mountain behind camp, just beneath Keddie Peak), he could clearly see the fire. From this vantage point, he could see a canyon behind the Keddie ridge line(Cook's Creek) and then another small ridge line. The fire was burning on the other side of that small ridge line. We had a quick meeting (Lornie, Craig and I) and decided that for the time being, we would watch it closely, but sit tight. We were all VERY grateful camp was empty and our campers were all home with their families!

Monday night and Tuesday day: Very little smoke was visible and the fire seemed to be quieting from our side of the mountain. According to the fire department and news reports from Monday & Tuesday, the fire was growing and very active, but the good news for us was that is was moving away from us all day. We went to Ryleigh's soccer practice on the other side of the Indian Valley late in the afternoon and this photo was taken from there. Although we were thrilled that camp was safe, we were starting to worry about our friends and neighbors who were closer to the fire!

Tuesday evening: A fierce wind begins to blow, thunderstorms roll in and the fire boils up into the cloud you see in the top photo. We start to make phone calls and develop contingency plans, but overnight, things quiet down. Some precautionary evacuations begin on the other side of the Valley, but still authorities are telling us the fire is moving away from us.

Wednesday: This is what the sky looked like at 8 am. Lauren, Craig and I sit down and line out a plan to evacuate the horses, goats, dogs and people. We put together lists of phone numbers and start calling friends and neighbors who will loan us horse trailers and can help with transporting our 42 head of horses. Officials still feel like the fire has no chance of reaching us, but we know it will take several hours to evacuate our horses and we really want to be prepared! We also call Kassandra (Brady the JC's Mom and a local CHP officer) in the evening. She was monitoring her CHP radio closely and she promised to call us if she heard anything about the fire moving toward us.

Wednesday night: The wind howled all night long and created spot fires which started to move the fire into Cook's Creek (the canyon just behind Keddie Ridge) and the Greenville Rancheria just a few miles away. We spent a sleepless night as precautionary evacuations were posted for our friends and neighbors nearby.

Thursday morning 6:30 am: We meet again and decide to evacuate our horses. Although fire officials tell us the fire is a long way from us, we decide the risk of spot fires is too big to keep the horses here. We know it will take up to 8 hours to move them all and we don't want to be moving animals at 2 am under an evacuation notice!

OH, School is cancelled, too!!

9 am: Friends and neighbors begin calling and showing up at camp to help. Most of them call or arrive before we even have a chance to call them! We feel so blessed to live in this community where neighbors are so willing to drop everything and help their neighbors in need. Within 20 minutes of deciding to move the horses, we had offers of places for all of them to go and more than enough trucks and trailers to move them. Trucks pulling horse trailers filed into our meadow and we moved all 42 horses to 3 ranches in Quincy and 1 outside Susanville. The whole operation was complete by about 1:30. We were blown away! We even were able to turn down some offers for help because we had enough. Everything was so smooth and the horses were amazingly calm and cooperated like we knew they would :)! After we moved our horses, we headed down the road and helped some of our neighbors move their horses. Big thank you's to the folks who helped us and our neighbors: Dennis and Dorothy Miller, Ken Radar, Kassandra Dimaggio and her friend Dave, Marsha Ravenaugh, Emily Jones and Erin, Jared Tappero, Bonnie Fox for giving up her horse trailer and our wonderful employees, Bobbie, Dean, Linda and Regina. We need to send another Thank You the people who are housing our horses: Patty Hughes, Tracy Sims, Katrina and Steve Tolen and Emily Jones!

Thursday evening: We attended the community meeting in the Greenville Cafeteria about the fire. There was even news crews there from Sacramento!! The fire officials confirmed that at this time, there is little chance of the fire reaching Coppercreek, UNLESS the North wind picks up like it did Wednesday night. We are all so glad we decided to move the horses rather than wait! Although we do not feel we or camp is in immediate danger, we know we can leave in just a few minutes at this point rather than several hours.

Zippy Named Horse of the Year!

2007-08-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Extra....Extra....READ ALL ABOUT IT!
As part of our 4th Session Awards Ceremony, Zip was named Horse of the Year. He received this honor by being an excellent mount for beginner, intermediate and advanced horse back riders as well as his stupendous ground manners!

Please send all congratulations via e-mail to becky@coppercreek.com!

Tan Van, Tan Van

2007-08-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

The memories of tan van I am sure bring tears to many eyes and spark
memories of your carefree years at Coppercreek. It is for this reason
that this post appear here first on our alumni group, and and was added to our blog
and website. Old Tanny has had a long and distinguished place here at
Coppercreek. From the sound of the gorillas on the roof while towing
the boat to the lake to "tan van, tan van" and countless early morning
trips to the Quincy pool for lifeguard training. As much as it
saddens us to do so, the time has come let tanny move on and bless
someone else's life for the rest of his years. Ebay seemed far to
cold a venue so I will hold the auction here and on our alumni group. I
would like to start the bidding at $500 and ask that you only bid if
you are serious about owning a piece of Coppercreek history. The
auction will close on Sept. 15th at lets say 10 PM. Please post all
bids as comments to this post (and include how I can reach you). I will update to this page with
any bids I recieve via email.
For anyone who can't remember:

1982 Dodge 15 passenger van
318 ci V-8
AM/FM stereo cassette (you just have to get the tape out thats been in
it since '93)
Power steering

At the time of this post, Tanny is in good running condition. There
is a small brake issue, no leakage, probably vacuum related. I will
not attempt to describe the interior condition as I could not possibly
do it justice. As you might expect we have many years of maintenance
records available to the high bidder. Any questions can be posted
here, sent to my gmail address, or to craig@coppercreek.com.

Happy bidding. Tell your friends

Craig