Our Team:
Richard A. Dinges, Board President
Richard A. Dinges is currently the Executive Director of the Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center. Richard is responsible for the daily business and operation of the Chamber and Visitors Center and works cohesively with volunteers and the Chamber Board of Directors. Richard retired from the Public Sector as General Manger from the McCloud Community Service District and has over 16 years’ experience as a general manager and another 10 years in various positions with Public Utility Districts in California, most notably, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the resort town of Stinson Beach. Richard has also served as a Project Manager for several private Civil Engineering firms both in Northern and Southern California with 14 years’ experience in design of water and sewer facilities, large residential and commercial subdivisions and regional malls. Richard currently serves as Executive Director for the Weed Chamber of Commerce.
Richard attended Calpoly Pomona with a major in Civil engineering and has served 6 years in the military in both the Army and Air Force.
Rennie C. Cleland, Board Member/Treasurer
A third generation Siskiyou County resident, Mr. Cleland grew up in Dorris and Weed and graduated from Weed High School in 1968. He graduated from College of the Siskiyous in 1970 with an AA degree where he lettered in collegiate football and baseball. He also earned his BS degree at California State University Sacramento in 1975 with a BS in Environmental Resource Management and a minor in Wildlife Biology. Here, he also lettered for two years in collegiate level baseball for the Hornets.
While attending college and high school, Mr. Cleland worked in logging and housing construction and earned his journeyman carpenter rating with the State of California in early 1981. He was hired as a Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer (Game Warden) with the California Department of Fish and Game in January 1981 and he served in Sonoma and Siskiyou Counties. Recognized locally and statewide as the Officer of the Year in 2000 and distinguished with many national honors, he retired in December 2008 after 20 years in the Dorris Patrol District. Several short stories have been written from some of his cases and investigations and published in regional wildlife magazines and books.
Currently Mr. Cleland is involved with many volunteer services which promote Siskiyou County and the wise use of our natural resources. A past District Governor with Lions Clubs International, he believes in helping where he can to improve the communities and the lives of others. He resides in Dorris with his wife Susan where they raised their three children whom have all completed their collegiate challenges with honors and are now professionally employed and self-reliant. When the time comes, he hopes to “rest in peace” right here in the Butte Valley.
Paris Petrick, Board Member/ Acting Executive Director
An award-winning producer, Paris Petrick studied as an apprentice under Paul Sills at Chicago’s famous Second City Theater and graduated from both the Franklin Fine Arts Center and the Short Ridge School of Performing Arts. She has served as artistic director for the Theater Management Group of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and as Artist in Residence for Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands, New Jersey. She has produced and directed productions and taught workshops for Georgian Court College and Montclair State University, and has directed, choreographed and produced numerous plays, musicals, and ballets in high schools, community playhouses and professional theaters nationwide.
In 1993, film director Kevin Smith hired Paris to serve as his first employee, helping him to establish the budding film company View Askew Productions. Among many of her responsibilities, she served as Administrative Assistant; Liaison between View Askew Productions and parent company Miramax, she co-created and co-taught with Kevin Smith the Film and Acting Class (a daily, full-year program which culminated in producing a full-length feature film), and worked both in front and behind the camera on many films including: Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Stag, Vulgar, and the television series, Heathens.
Today Paris is in the final stages of producing her own project Mountain Calling, a full- length feature documentary. She is also teaming up once again with her talented brother, award-winning director Jesse Petrick, to work on both a television and a film series. Continuing her work as a freelance producer/director, Paris is filled with gratitude to be living in the majestic Mount Shasta area with her husband and son.
