Everybody’s business

Lyons’ den
Long live the independent hometown bookstore. Aaron and Heather Lyon plan to open Lyon Books & Learning Center in early November in downtown Chico.

It will be located at 121 W. Fifth St., most recently the site of Mustang Jones and formerly the Chamber of Commerce offices.

The Lyons have bought up the stock of the Pink Cadillac bookstore, which operated on Salem Street for a couple of years before its owners decided to re-retire and move away. The used books will be in the back, new books in the front and there will be a large children’s section plus a study area for tutoring and “homework clubs.”

Retired teachers will help the kids with their homework in a section Aaron Lyon described as looking “like Granny’s kitchen.”

“The environment there is going to be really friendly,” he said. The Lyons—he’s a Web master/graphic designer, and she’s an accountant—themselves have two children, ages 6 and 9.

Big trip
When he was 12 or 13, Tommy Corron of Chico was “matched” with Big Brother Rich Kilgore by the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. When the military moved Kilgore to New Jersey three months ago, Corron, now 17, took it hard. So he’s vowed to ride his bike across the country, 100 miles a day, arriving on his 18th birthday.

If the trip helps spread the word about the nonprofit organization, that’s great, too. Corron’s bosses at R. W. Knudsen are letting him have some time off for the journey, which will start Oct. 20.

“I was a little punk kid,” Corron said, when the oldest of five children in a single-mom family met Corron. “He kept me from going down the wrong path.”

Breast is best
Chico State University’s Associated Students are in the midst of a campaign to encourage breast cancer awareness this week.

Ever-mindful of the busy, hard-to-reach student, the A.S. is setting up a table in the BMU Lobby, with the last day being Thursday, Oct. 16, from 2-3 p.m., and is giving out pink balloons, candy, lemonade and ribbons. As if that weren’t enough to pique students’ interest about this important cause, organizer Heather McGroarty, A.S. commissioner of community affairs, might have a line on some eye-catching “fake breasts” from the Nursing Department on which men and women alike can practice their examination techniques.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Quantum Quizno’s
Franchisees Jim and Julie Deas have seen such success with their first Chico Quizno’s Subs that the couple has opened a second sandwich shop and plans a third within two years.

The latest addition to the North Valley Plaza Quizno’s is one at 2070 E. 20th St., near WinCo. At Quizno’s, they make the subs on a little assembly line and then send them through a toasting thing. They also have good raspberry lemonade and three low-fat sandwiches.

There are more than 2,100 Quizno’s shops nationwide, which means Chico will eventually boast .14 percent of them, according to CN&R accounting whizzes.