2020-2021_Nevada County Gold

GOLD | LIVING
Stay Active
Age Shouldn’t Matter
By Paula C. Collins
History Buff
Brita (Berryman) Rozynski (93) has lived in
Nevada County all of her life and continues
to remain active in the community. Three
days a week you will find her at Searls
Historical Library doing “whatever needs to
be done.” Currently, she is putting Nevada
City assessment records into a data base.
With her love of history it is no surprise that
she is also a member of the Nevada County
Historical Society board of directors serving
as a director-at-large and sunshine chair.
Rozynski has been a member of the Grass
Valley Native Daughters of the Golden
West for 75 years and is currently a trustee.
Her roots are deeply embedded in the
area as both parents were born here and
one of her grandfathers arrived in the late
1860s from Cornwall to work in the mines.
And that brings up the Cornish pasty,
a meat pie. Until the summer of 2019,
Rozynski participated in making and selling
pasties at the United Methodist Church
monthly fundraiser. Although she has
slowed down some, this perky woman still
enjoys local entertainment and events like
the Historical Society’s speaker nights. She
also likes book sales, not surprising as she
is an avid reader.
Going Strong
At 75, Pamela Yazell shows no sign
of slowing down. For example, she is
currently president of the Rotary Club of
Penn Valley and participates in the club’s
projects such as helping with a science
fair at Williams Ranch grade school, and
preparing Christmas food baskets for at
risk families.
Yazell is someone who embraces life, which
explains her hair color. “I was approaching
a certain age and decided to go purple,”
she explains.
Photographer
Retirement has afforded Jim Slouber
(70) additional time to pursue
his passion – photography. The
photographs he takes are mostly
landscapes, and he has been
fortunate to seek-out subject matter in
China, Italy and Ireland on trips led by
David Wong, a local photographer. In
fact, Slouber hopes his next trip will be
a return to scenic Ireland.
Slouber is a member of the Nevada
County Camera Club, does some
astrophotography with his grandson
and has built a home studio.
She has discovered OLLI at Sierra College
geared to lifelong learners, and enjoys
their film and history classes. A movie buff,
on Saturday nights she will go on her own
to what she considers “a must see film.”
A highlight of her year is attending the
San Francisco Ballet’s new season, and
she also goes to local theatre productions
and concerts. Yazell has a daily reading
schedule and says she reads “just about
anything and everything.”
JIM SLOUBER
His father was a mining engineer and
worked at the Empire Mine, so it is
only natural for Slouber to become
a docent at the now State Historic
Park. Dressing the part of a miner,
he enjoys participating in Mine Yard
Living History Days by taking visitors
into a mine shaft.
Involved in the community Slouber is
a volunteer with the senior firewood
program sponsored by Gold Country
Senior Services. He picks up, splits and
stacks wood. A man of many interests,
he also likes to cook and uses his
kitchen skills at a local church helping
prepare their Last Friday Suppers.
An important part of her life is a small
group of friends who call themselves
WOCA (Women of a Certain Age). They
go out to dinner, attend performances,
hold potlucks, exchange books, celebrate
events like birthdays, help each other, and
of course, talk.
A widow, Yazell sold the businesses she
and her husband owned, downsized and
moved to a home in Eskaton Village,
where she is happily getting to know her
neighbors and fellow dog walkers.
138 | NEVADA COUNTY GOLD