About…
Chico’s Most Comprehensive Guide Makes Discovering Chico Easier
The Chico User’s Guide lists everything to do, see, and learn in Chico and its surrounding areas. There has never been a single source which includes history, desti- nations, events, and where to dine. The Chico User’s Guide even includes outdoor art, murals, and landmarks. It is small enough to fit into a pocket and big enough to find anything.
Every year, 3,300 people make Chico their home with the 4,000 new students who come to Chico to attend college in Chico along with Chico’s existing population of around 100,000. Added to these numbers are countless visitors who pass through Chico for a variety of other reasons. Because of this influx of people and new businesses, much of Chico is simply discovered through word-of-mouth or by stumbling onto things.
Writer and 4th generation Chicoan Eric R. Norlie, formerly a commercial artist and a research specialist, created a guide for new-comers as well as long-time residents like himself. He simply needed to know what was new around town and where to find it. “I thought I knew all there was to experience in Chico but with all the new business- es and organizations, I discovered things that were hidden in the woodwork.”
The Chico User’s Guide tells where you can experience such things as taking a trip with a GPS reader and locating hidden treasure at geocaching locations through out the area, riding the range and exploring the old Humboldt Wagon Road along Highway 32. Why not even have a beer and a burger with Harry Warner amongst some of his old Warner Bros. props at the Madison Bear Garden?
The Chico User’s Guide has received enthusiastic responses from the City of Chico, Chico’s Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center, and the Far West Heritage Association. Local retailers are eager to stock the Chico User’s Guide in their stores. And everyone is just amazed at the amount of information contained in the guide.
For those who wish to have a single source for everything about Chico, the Chico User’s Guide is the perfect answer. Chico is the fastest growing city in Northern California and everyone who lives or visits here should know all that we have to offer and where to find it.
About Eric R. Norlie
Eric R. Norlie is the author and publisher of the Chico User’s Guide, a book highlighting the best things about his hometown, Chico, California. Eric loves Chico and exploring it is his avocation. His discoveries and the number of changes going on in Chico led him to write a guide with information for all Chicoans, old and new.
If anyone knows Chico, it’s Eric Norlie. He’s a fourth generation Chico native. Eric’s great-grandparents worked at the Chico Hotel, Diamond Match Lumber, and Richardson Springs Resort. His grandfather was a local building contractor and his parents own and operate Norfield Industries, a Chico manufacturing company.
A research specialist and graduate of CSU, Chico, Eric embarked on a project to catalog old Chico and all that is new and exciting in our city. Following college life, Eric remodeled the old downtown masonic lodge into the Arroyo Room, managed the deactivated missile base north of Chico, developed science curriculum as a commercial artist and Internet developer for the local company, CyberEd, Inc., and scouted locations for the Butte County Film Commission. His connection to Chico also includes working in local news production for KNVR-24 and the Paradise Post newspaper. Eric is not only deeply connected to what goes on in our city but stays connected with the issues and welfare of Chico and it’s surrounding areas.
About The Chico User’s Guide
The Chico User’s Guide is the most comprehensive book about Chico ever published. It has 356 pages of information and 875 color pictures. It lists everything from nightclubs to wineries and antiques to wildlife areas and fits easily into a pocket or backpack. The Chico User’s Guide even has detailed maps of Bidwell Park, Downtown, and surrounding areas. This is no ordinary visitor’s guide.
The guide was published by Chico company Cognitive Think, Inc., produced by local writer Eric R. Norlie, and printed locally by Wizard Graphics.
The Chico User’s Guide has been published with environmental sustainability in mind. The guide was printed using environmentally friendly soy-based inks and the cover is printed on recy- cled paper stock from Italy. The Chico User’s Guide is recyclable and includes a section devoted to locations where users can eventually recycle it.
You can find the Chico User’s Guide on the Internet at www.chicousersguide.com. Interested parties can read the first chapter and click on maps to destinations. Visitors can use the quick access links for in depth information to the sites and locations mentioned in the guide.
Here is what people are saying about the Chico User’s Guide…
“It’s a beautiful, small, handy-dandy book.”
– Heather Kavanaugh, Office Assistant to the City Manager of Chico
“…it is a gem and we will be purchasing additional copies.”
– Susan Rauen, Chico Branch Librarian
“The Chico User’s Guide is one of the only comprehensive guides to Chico. We are proud to carry it in the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center!”
– Alice Patterson, Communications & Marketing Manager, Chico Chamber of Commerce
“…it really is an amazing reference for all of Chico.”
– Tiffany Yost, Snow Goose Festival & Sacramento River Preservation Trust
“Fantastic book! You just open it up and keep on going…”
– Tom Wilhelm, Caution Sharp
“This book is a little gold mine of information. It’s the best guide on Chico I’ve read.”
– Nora Profit, The Writing Loft
