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Apple Festival Parade 1953,
courtesy of the Flesher Family. Small metal toy lies in the rubble of the Gold Nugget Museum.
chased from eBay sellers raison d’être, our reason for being, our higher calling as a
around the country and history museum and living history center. Please be a part
lovingly shipped to him by of our mission to preserve and share the history of the
his retired archivist sister. Paradise Ridge by sharing YOUR stories.
The possibilities are end-
less, the memories alive, You can reach out to us currently at the Paradise Depot
the stories and mementos Museum at 5570 Black Olive Drive in the Paradise Com-
itching to be shared. munity Park, Thursday-Monday from noon until 4:00
p.m.; call us at (530) 413-9129; send an old-fashioned mail
While proper collection storage is still an issue as we delivery to P.O. Box 949, Paradise, CA 95967; or email us
strive to renovate a newly acquired interim museum at office@goldnuggetmuseum.com. We look forward to
building and plan for the rebuilding of our Nuggetville hearing from you!
and museum grounds, we are currently considering and
accepting donated items to help rebuild the museum col-
lection, historical archives, research library, and exhibit
and event spaces. Do you have or know of someone who
has special Paradise items that could aid in reconstructing Michelle Rader, the current Gold
the visual and oral histories and traditions of the Paradise Nugget and Depot Museums
Ridge? Would you like to help bring the history of the Operations Manager, has lived
Paradise Ridge to life for our children, grandchildren, and in Butte County for 26 years, 15
future generations? Please reach out to us! Photos? Pa- of those in the Upper Paradise
pers? Feel free to bring them in or send them our way (we Ridge. She is a Museum Stud-
can scan and return the originals to you if you prefer). ies graduate of the Chico State
Larger items? Ideally, we hope that you can hold onto Department of Anthropology and
these treasures for another six months to a year while we has served numerous roles at the
prepare our facilities to properly house a new collection. Gold Nugget and Paradise Depot
If your situation requires an earlier timeframe, we will do Museums since first volunteer-
our best to accommodate your needs. ing in August of 2014. Arts, culture, history, family, and
the natural world are all subjects she holds dear, and she can
More importantly, while objects in the collection provide frequently be found with her camera in hand or diving in to
visual impact and visceral interest to museum exhibits, help with local history projects throughout Butte County.
it is the stories and memories of the community that pro- Upper Ridge residents may also recognize her as their former
vide essential meaning and context to museum exhibits friendly mail carrier, a role she played for more than 10 years
and activities. Your memories matter, and we’d love to before returning to school to finish her anthropology degree.
gather and preserve them while we can. These memories A proud mother of two amazing sons raised in Chico and
can be recorded on tape, on video, in emails or hand- Magalia, she can be found hard at work in the museums on
written letters, or even on the backs of napkins (though the Ridge, volunteering in the Chico History Museum, meet-
preferably clean ones, please). Whatever the means or ing with the Association for Northern California Historical
method you prefer, the outcome will enrich the lives of Research (ANCHR) or Respect the Walls, or furthering her
museum visitors and generations to come. THIS is our postgraduate studies at Chico State.
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