Combine an Easter egg hunt with an avalanche beacon search practice session, and the result is the 5th annual Beacon & Eggs beacon search contest at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.

Beacon & Eggs is a fun, free beacon hunt out on the mountain on April 24.

Avalanche beacons will be buried in a 1-acre area at Alpine Meadows. The hidden beacons are wrapped in a protective pad and placed below the snow surface, which are then groomed over via snowcat to hide any “hints” as to their whereabouts.

Competitors will start en masse and will race on foot in search the buried backpacks using their beacons in “search” mode. Competitors work individually or in teams (up to four people), sharing the prizes for recovering the beacon. Competitors redeem a found beacon, which corresponds to an incredible prize pack, including outdoor and adventure gear from local sporting goods stores.

Free registration is at the Beacon & Eggs event tent near the top of Subway Chair Lift (next to the base lodge) from 9-11:45am. The start is at noon near the top of the Subway beginner lift, adjacent to the base lodge.

Competitors must provide their own beacons, probes, and shovels.

For additional information and details, call (530) 583.4232.

Sierra Nevada College’s free Cultural Festival is April 23 from 11am until 3pm in Patterson Hall, Incline Village.

This family-fun festival celebrates the diversity of cultures, languages, and histories in the local communities. Multicultural entertainment will feature five live music and dancing performances and two international film screenings.

Cultural activities and exhibits include origami, Buddhist prayer flags, piñata, and global storybook reading.

Sample international cuisine throughout the day at $1 ticket per taste.

Tahoe City Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Spring Eggstravaganza and Easter Egg Hunt is April 23.

It will be at Commons Beach in downtown Tahoe City on starting at 10am.

Activities include face paint, games, music and more. The event is free.

For more information on this event or if you are interested in volunteering, contact Shaun at (530) 583.3440, ext.14.

As part of the continuing Winter Speaker Series, Explore Tahoe presents David Antonucci, local historian and author.

Antonucci on April 21 at 6pm will preview his upcoming book on Mark Twain at Lake Tahoe including maps showing where he camped and stayed in the 19th century hotels.

Explore Tahoe is located at 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd. next to North Face in the Heavenly Village.

A $5 donation is requested.

Special flat rate of $5 will apply after 4pm in the public parking garage.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637 or email lthomaselli@cityofslt.us.

The Reno River Festival returns to downtown’s Truckee River Whitewater Park for year No. 8 on May 6–8.

The festival’s three days of nonstop outdoor fun includes live music and entertainment along with the return of crowd favorites such as the Friday night Kick-Off Party and concert with English Beat, 4th annual Run Amuck run and stand-up paddle board, boatercross and freestyle competitions featuring some of the world’s top whitewater athletes.

The 2nd annual Humans in Motion short video contest also hits screens again, featuring a $1,000 grand prize, in addition to the return of the Holland Project’s annual Double Dutch battle.

To register or for more information, go online or call (775) 784.9400, ext. 119.

Barton Auxiliary blood drive dates are June 6, Aug. 1, Oct. 3 and Dec. 5. They are at the El Dorado County Library in South Lake Tahoe from 11am-6pm.

For more information, contact Dan Kerr at (775) 781.5354.

Paul Revere & The Raiders at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on May 28 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $37.50.

For more South Shore Room information, call 800.786.8208.

The Nature Conservancy is welcoming public ideas and feedback about the recreation and access management plan currently under way for Independence Lake located in Northern California in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The Nature Conservancy is offering several ways for the public to provide input. The first method will be two public meetings.

* April 18 at the Loyalton Social Hall – Open House 5:30, 6pm meeting, 105 Beckwith St., Loyalton.

* April 19 at the Truckee Town Hall – Open House 5:30, 6pm meeting, 10183 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee.

Additionally, the Nature Conservancy has set up an online survey to collect input on specific strategies related to management issues. To ensure each person may only fill out the survey once, sign-in is required.

An independent blog has also been set up to provide information about the issues and public outreach process.

The Nature Conservancy acquired property around Independence Lake in spring 2010 and is currently working with partners, including the Truckee Donner Land Trust to:

· Preserve critical habitat for native fish and wildlife

· Reduce the risk of introduction of aquatic invasive plants and animals

· Implement forest management strategies to decrease the risk of wildfire

· Allow visitors to access the lake and enjoy the property in ways that are compatible with the conservation of this precious resource.

The 2011 El Dorado County Fair, themed “Rockin’ & Wranglin’”, will take place June 16 to 19 in Placerville.

Exhibitors of livestock and still exhibits may download entry packets from the fair’s website. The website also has details about the four-day fair.

The Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus of Sierra College, directed by Susan K. Horst, Chris Nelson, and Thomas Acord, will present “Spring Pops Potpourri” at The Resort at Squaw Creek.

The chorus will be accompanied by the Diablo Valley College Philharmonic Orchestra from Pleasant Hill, directed by Owen J. Lee.

The “Pops” program will delight the young with selections as The Tortoise and the Hare and The Syncopated Clock; the comic opera buffs with Offenbach’s Neighbors’ Chorus, a musical jest: Italian Salad, and the not so young with some great choral literature. A fine finish for the menu of songs is a medley of Broadway show tunes by Kern, Bernstein, Sondheim, Wilson, Stein, Gershwin, and Loesser.

The concert, which celebrates spring through the lightness of popular music, is a great way to enjoy the season in the beautiful setting of the “Resort at Squaw Creek”.

Shows are April 30 at 7pm and May 1 at 2pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and can be purchased online, from chorus members, or at the door. Students and children are admitted free of charge.