AN E-MAIL FROM BRAD HOOPES

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Dear Onnalee and Millard,
My name is Brad Hoopes, son of Glen Hoopes and nephew of two notables on your blog so far - Pat Preston and Larry "the hoot" Hoopes. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy reading the blog. I think it is a wonderful thing you have put together and something very important.

I am a generation removed from Paradise and don't know many of the names listed, but still immensely enjoy reading it. I have many fond memories of coming back to Paradise to visit my grandparents and for family reunions. It certainly is a special little town. I think I enjoy the blog not only because of my roots there, but also because of a love of history and enjoyment of hearing stories. After all these years of seeing that beacon on our approach to Paradise I never knew, until I read in the blog, that my grandfather was part of the WPA crew that built the water tower. That alone I thank you for the blog. I hope the blog continues to grow and more people contribute stories.

I have for a number of years had a passionate hobby of recording the stories of veterans so that their stories are saved and never lost www.rememberandhonor.com . I wonder if we could do something along these lines to record people's stories, go around and record with a brief history the various buildings/homes, etc of Paradise all put down on video to preserve on permanent record? Has anyone done or doing this? Just a thought. Well, thanks again.
Sincerely,
Brad Hoopes

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What a wonderful e-mail to receive. I had to laugh about the two notables on our Blog. Funny! That was clever!

I love Brad's idea of "People's Stories". Wouldn't that be fantastic? I think that since he has a passionate hobby of recording stories, he would be the Perfect Person for this tribute to Paradise and to the Blog. Don't you? We have a very neat cousin that could contribute to this also. He is very knowledgeable about many stories and the history. I will talk to him about it. (Ho! Ho! Do you suppose he will e-mail me when he reads this?)

Brad, you tell us what you want to do to get this started and we will do what we can. As I told Brad by way of e-mail . . . . "You can start with your large family - the Hoopes which involves the whole community of Paradise. From what I am figuring out from the blog - everyone is related. I am ready to get started as soon as possible. You are the Guy! OK?"

This was a very exciting e-mail to me. Thank You so much Brad.