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Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 529-0879 Fax: (530) 529-5128 EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY BEST OF 2019 Tehama County cabernet.vdbprop@yahoo.com • Spacious 2 Bedroom apartments • Large 2 bdrm 1.5 bath duplexes • 3 unique floor plans • Oversized closets • Central heat and air • Cable ready • Reserved parking • 2 dazzling pools • Charming park like setting • Friendly on-site management • 24 hour laundry facilities • Located on the bus line • Minutes to downtown • Close to schools and shopping • Convenient I-5 acess October 2019 , TEHAMA - THE MAGAZINE 3 Tehama Magazine is a special publication of Operations Manager Kathy Hogan Editor Chip Thompson Production Manager Sandy Valdivia 728 Main Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 527-2151 www.redbluffdailynews.com Facebook: facebook.com/RBDailyNews Twitter: @RedBluffNews Contents How Corning Became the Olive City ....................4 The History of the Fitzhugh Literary Society ........10 A Passion for Local History (Gene Serr) ...............12 Story of the 600 Block .........................................14 Library Legacy .....................................................19 redbluffdailynews.com Tehama County's most visited local website +200,000 page views +50,000 unique visitors Every Month! Thousands of these visits via tablet and smartphone For advertising information contact: Suzy Noble snoble@redbluffdailynews.com (530) 737-5056 Gayla Eckels geckels@redbluffdailynews.com (530) 737-5044 Operations Manager Kathy Hogan Editor Chip Thompson Production Manager Sandy Valdivia For advertising information contact: Gayla Eckels (530) 737-5044 Suzy Noble (530) 737-5056 October 2019 , TEHAMA - THE MAGAZINE 13 Mt. Whitney, said Jeff Serr, one of Gene's two sons. "He enjoyed camping and backpacking in the Sierras," Jeff Serr said. "That was his big thing. We also took a lot of car trips, but the most memorable ones were backpacking in the Sierras for days at a time." It was on those trips that Jeff and his father had several bear encounters and he learned all about surviving in the outdoors, Jeff Serr said, noting the trips are some of his fondest memories along with skiing with his father when the Lassen Ski Resort was still around. "We spent a lot of time visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park and we all have climbed most of the peaks in Lassen," Jeff Serr said."My dad climbed both Mt. Whitney and Mt. Shasta. We also did a lot of camping and mule packing. He was a friendly guy who enjoyed meeting people, cherished his friends and used to joke he knew half the people in town. He did know quite a few people and kept in touch with them. Whenever I visited him in Red Bluff, he would get me to go on a hike with him. He used to boast about hiking some of California's most famous trails and climbing some of California's highest peaks, including Whitney and Shasta. He also liked to read books about popular trails around the state. He must own everything written on hiking in California." Gene first came to Red Bluff in 1966 when the Northern District Office of the Department of Water Resources was established, spending most of his career in Red Bluff and Sacramento before retiring in 1988 as senior engineer. Gene had grown up in the Stockton and Davis areas, where his father was a farm advisor and later a fruit and nut specialist. In 1943, Gene joined the Marine College Training Program and was sent to U.C. Berkeley, where he received a degree in civil engineering before being commissioned in 1946. He would later go on to Colorado State University, where he obtained a master's degree in irrigation engineering. In 1951, he married Nancy Wilson of Davis and the couple had two boys, David and Jeff. Following his retirement, Gene indulged his love of history. Having spent much of his time working for the state in writing long reports about various locations, he missed writing about places, which is what led him to the Tehama County Genealogical and Historical Society, Jeff Serr said. "He liked the Mineral and Mill Creek area on the way to Lassen," Jeff Serr said. "That was his favorite area and he owned a cabin up there, which is how he wrote a book on the place names. His second favorite place was the national park itself as he hiked every trail in that park and knew them all very well. He was pretty active up until recent years as far as hiking." In addition to his passion for researching and writing history, Gene was a member of the Red Bluff Presbyterian Church, Red Bluff Kiwanis Club, Sons In Retirement, the Nature Conservancy and several historical organizations. To check for the latest copy of the Tehama County Memories Book that will feature Serr's final article, visit: http://tcghsoc.org.

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