Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra will host Tony O’Rourke, South Lake Tahoe city manager, on Sept. 16 at 7:30am at the Lake Tahoe Senior Center in South Lake Tahoe.

This year the Oct. 2 Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop is expanding the event with two activities that bookend the main event.

Kick off the weekend at the Sierra Senior Services’ Stomp Out Hunger grape stomp on Oct. 1 from 5–7pm at the Truckee River Winery Tasting Room, 11467 Brockway Road in Truckee. Each four-member team will vie to produce the most juice in two minutes. Teams are comprised of a stomper, a strainer, a container holder and a grape re-filler.

A fundraiser for Sierra Senior Services, the cost is $150 for each four-member team and there are 12 team slots available.

The participation fee includes light appetizers, wine tastings and friendly competition. Spectator tickets, which also include wine tastings and appetizers will be available for an additional $20 per person. For more information, call Sierra Senior Services at (530) 550.7600 or visit www.sierraseniors.org.

The next day, as the Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk & Shop event winds down, folks are encouraged to parlay their fun with a stop at the Dragonfly After Party. The $15 ticket includes passed appetizers, a no-host bar and live funk-style music.

Tickets for the seventh annual Downtown Truckee Wine, Walk and Shop are $30 in advance ($40 day of) and are available online at www.TruckeeWineWalk.com. A $3 service fee applies for online sales. The Oct. 2 event is from noon-4pm.

Each ticket includes wine tastings with more than 30 wineries, five food tickets, commemorative glass, program/passport and goodie bag. The passport program proved to be a popular addition to last year’s festivities. Attendees are encouraged to get their program maps stamped at each venue they visit and they must visit shops in different areas of town as designated on the map to be eligible to be entered in the Wine, Walk & Shop raffle.

For more information, call (530) 550.2252 or visit www.TruckeeWineWalk.com.

Annual Kokanee trail runs are Oct. 3.

The Half Marathon starts at 9am. The children’s half-mile Tadpole Trot will begin at 9:15am. The 5K and 10K Trail Runs begin at 10am.

There will be a course briefing 10 minutes before the start of the race.

Walkers welcome in the 5K and 10K.

On-site registration begins at 8am at the Taylor Creek Snow Park. You can save yourself some time on race day by registering at Camp Richardson Resort Oct. 2 from noon to 4 pm.

Taylor Creek Snow Park is 3.5 miles north of the South Lake Tahoe Y on Highway 89. Parking at the immediate event site is limited. Satellite parking is available at the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center and Camp Richardson Resort (approximately half to 1 mile away). Participants are encouraged to arrive early to allow for the extra time needed to walk to the event site. Carpool whenever possible.

All net proceeds benefit the Tahoe Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization which supports U.S. Forest Service environmental education programs at Lake Tahoe.

For more information, email kokaneetrailruns@yahoo.com or call (530) 577.0700 (530) 318.0516 or go to the website.

Meyers Community Roundtable Committee meeting is Sept. 22 at 5:30pm at Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School.

Meeting agenda includes:

• Upper Truckee River Project: review & discussion concerning project’s affects to Lake Tahoe Golf Course and Washoe State Park

• Highway 50 Echo Summit Closure Report

• Highway 89 road repair project

• Emergency Preparedness Guide hand-out

• Government reports

• Public forum

For more information, call Sue Novasel at (530) 577.4857.

The preliminary round of the 35th annual San Francisco International Comedy Festival will be at MontBleu casino in Stateline on Sept. 18 at 8pm.

Tahoe’s comedy elimination competition will feature a dozen finalists who make it through qualifying rounds of hundreds this week at various Northern California venues. Comics have 5-7 minute to woo the audience and judges. The final round of competition is Oct. 3-9.

For details, click here.

Contestants from past years include Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Dane Cook, Dana Carvey, Roseanne Barr, Mark Curry and represent the pedigree of hot, national comedy club talent.

Karen Rontowski, an upbeat, granola-esque comedian is the evening’s host.Described as a “New Age Hippie,” her experience has earned headliner billing worldwide opening for legends such as Bob Hope and Ray Charles.

Tickets are $25 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com or the MontBleu box office at 800.648.3353.

Tangled Roots Writing of Truckee offers Monday Night Creative Writing Workshops to explore creative writing of any genre in a fun supportive environment for any level of writer.

Read, write, discuss, and generate new material each week, receiving feedback from the group and instructor Karen Terrey.

The next sessions are Sept 13, Oct. 11 and Nov. 8 from 6:30– 8pm in Truckee.

For more information, call (530) 386.3901 or email tangledrootswriting@gmail.com.

Tangled Roots Writing is hosting a series of creative writing workshops in downtown Truckee this fall.

Each workshop is different:

Oct. 30 10am–1pm “Inspiration”

Nov. 13 1-4 pm “Feedback”

Dec. 11th 10am–1pm “Publishing”

Connect with a writing community, generate new material, work on a piece in progress, play with language and meaning, and develop a writing practice in a supportive creative environment.

Cost is $35 per day or $30 each for two or more sessions.

Contact Karen Terrey at (530) 386.3901 or tangledrootswriting@gmail.com for more information.

Being a caregiver is a huge part of your life, often with emotional highs and lows. Learn a powerful acupressure technique called Emotional Freedom Technique that can help you lower your fears, balance your emotions and keep you healthy.

In a safe setting discuss the challenges you face as a caregiver and practice ways of dealing with these challenges. This workshop will include a PowerPoint presentation, demonstration, supervised practice and handouts.

This workshop will be presented by Rosemary Manning. As a resident of South Lake Tahoe for more than 30 years, Manning is a mind-body therapist, practicing at her clinic, Tahoe Health Touch.

Date: Oct. 18

Time: 1-3pm

Location: Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd.,

South Lake Tahoe

To register, call: 800.510.2020

The worlds of digital storytelling, snowsports and technology will converge on Heavenly Mountain Resort Jan. 6-9 for Tahoe Snowcial, a winter festival of technology and snowsports.

The third annual Tahoe Snowcial  brings together thought leaders and experts in technology, social media and snowsports to spark new ideas for the future, link networks, passions and turns.

Dave Morin, co-founder and CEO of Path, and co-founder of the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect; Josh Williams, CEO of Gowalla; Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts; and David Norton, CMO of Harrah’s Entertainment will share their stories and online innovations.

Recording artist and entrepreneur M.C. Hammer will also make a special appearance. An event that’s one part theory and three parts practice, Snowcial provides an on- and off-mountain atmosphere where opportunities for personal and professional development flourish.

More information, click here.

In addition to the half-day conference, Tahoe Snowcial 2011 also offers three days of skiing or snowboarding at Heavenly Mountain Resort, two headline concerts at Harrah’s Resort Casino, a welcome reception, two dinners, a lunch, a breakfast and networking opportunities galore.

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe’s 2010 An Evening of Food & Wine Tasting is Nov. 12 from 6-9:30pm at Harrah’s convention center in Stateline.

Eighteen restaurants and 32 vintners are part of the event.

Tickets are $65 each and can be purchased from a SISLT member or online.

In addition to the main event there will be a silent auction and a raffle.

For the past 40 years, all money raised by Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe has been directed back into the community through educational scholarships, youth activity sponsorships, the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center and numerous other projects that enhance services and the quality of life in the community.

If you have any questions or would like to donate an item to this year’s event, contact Valerie Conners at (530) 544.8545.