North Tahoe Public Utility District has been able to expand its water saving appliance credit rebate program for district water customers.

Thousands of dollars are available to customers who purchase and install water saving low flow toilets, faucets and shower heads, dishwashers, washing machines and “smart” programmable irrigation controllers with moisture/rain sensors.

The money is from a grant from Proposition 84.

Even though this winter has been an improvement over the past few years, state imposed drought restrictions mandating a 28 percent reduction in residential water consumption remains in place at least through October.

A limited number of credit rebates are available in each category. For complete details including product specifications, instructions and links to rebate applications, go online.

The Kiwanis Club of Tahoe Sierra’s 12th annual Easter Ham Bingo is March 19 at 5pm at Grace Hall at St. Theresa Catholic Church in South Lake Tahoe.

One ham will be given away for each game.

Cards are 25 cents per card/per game. Games continue until 8pm.

Coffee and popcorn will be provided. Hot dogs and sodas will be available available for purchase.

Proceeds will benefit Gene Matteucci’s fourth-grade class at Tahoe Valley Elementary School for the Sutter Fort Project.

·       The Beacon restaurant’s snowshoe cocktail races are March 19 and April 16. The races are free. Sign up between 5-7pm, the race starts at 7pm.

·       Park rangers at Mormon Station in Genoa on March 27 at 1pm will prepare a special ham with sides to share with visitors, and discuss how pioneers used the same cast iron cooking techniques in the 1850s. This event is free and all ages are welcome.

·       There will be a blood drive at Whittell High School on March 22 from 8:30am-2pm. To schedule an appointment, call Kate or Casey at 775.588.3591.

·       Truckee Boosters 4th annual Golf Tournament is May 22 at Old Brockway Course in Kings Beach.

·       Late-Nite Productions presents a free show with San Francisco reggae rockers Audiodub, plus special guests Little B*tches – a tribute to Weezer warming up the show. This is March 19 at Whiskey Dicks Saloon in South Lake Tahoe for those 21 and older. Doors open at 9pm.

The Douglas County Public Library is hosting a program about the history and art of falconry.

It will be March 26 at 2pm with local falconers Mark Moglich and his son, Ryan Moglich, who will bring his peregrine falcon. Three generations of the family are breeders and falconers.

Falconry is the only sport that utilizes a trained wild creature. It requires long hours, constant devotion, skill, and an understanding of how the birds behave. The Moglich family is licensed to train birds and raise a number of different types of birds of prey.

The Douglas County Public Library is located at 1625 Library Lane in Minden.

·       The next Tahoe Area Sierra Club meeting will feature Virginia Chandler talking about her time in the Peace Corps in Mongolia and Grace Anderson speaking about her hike on the Haute Route through the Alps. The free talk is March 24 at 7pm at Unity of the Lake, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

·       Loren Holt is now administrative manager for North Tahoe Public Utility District.

·       From April 8-10, the URN Nevada Chamber Opera will stage the world premiere production of “The Big Bonanza,” an American opera about the Comstock Era.

·       Officers from Truckee police and the local CHP office will take on the Truckee High School boys varsity basketball team at the school on March 18 at 6pm. Proceeds benefit the team and Sober Graduation. Cost is $5.

·       Courtney Walker has been hired as Douglas County’s stormwater program manager.

Archivist and sleuth Marilyn Long will be leading guests through the mysteries of the Lake Tahoe Museum collection.

The event is March 22 at 2pm at the South Lake Tahoe museum.

To reserve a spot, call 530.541.5458 by March 19. Leave your name, phone number, and number guests attending. You will receive a return phone call to confirm your reservation.

Cost is $3 for historical society members and $5 for others.

The North Tahoe Business Association has established a program to hang banners on the new streetlights in the Kings Beach commercial core along Highway 28.

The purpose is to create a sense of community and place by promoting local activities and events.

NTBA will review and grant permission for banner installations. The streetlights and banner poles are owned by Placer County, which has issued an encroachment permit to NTBA. The banners will be installed and removed by a local contractor.

The design, manufacture and cost of banners, as well as the cost of banner installation/removal are the responsibility of the banner applicant. For more information and the application, go online.

Each year, Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra recognizes South Tahoe Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade students for their writing skills.

The writing festival begins in students’ language arts class, when the teachers assign them a writing project. Each student uses the same prompt, and develops an essay to support his or her opinion.

The seventh-grade was: “Privacy vs National Security” and the eighth-grade students were tasked with“Who should be the first female presidential candidate and why?”.

Each of the students received a certificate and a cash award, and attended a presentation with their family members and teachers last week at the SITS meeting.

The Nevada Club at Stateline in 1931. Part of the “Welcome to Nevada” border sign is visible at right. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Eight-five years ago this week, on March 19, 1931, Nevada passed legislation to restore legalized gambling in the state. Gambling had been legal in Nevada previously between 1869 and 1910. The Nevada Club was Tahoe’s first South Shore Nevada casino.

The Nevada Club and Country Club & Cafe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The neighboring Country Club & Cafe and others soon followed. The Nevada state line sign shown was posted by the California State Automobile Association. Just beyond and left of that sign is the short white monolith with “California” and “Nevada” vertically engraved on opposing sides. A taller version of that marker was spotlighted in the romantic comedy
“40 Pounds of Trouble” filmed here in 1962. It starred Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette. The Nevada Club and the Country Club later became Sahati’s Stateline Country Club.

State Line Country Club in the early 1950s. Photo/Cefalu collection/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Bill Harrah bought the Sahati properties in the late 1950s and remodeled them into Tahoe Harrah’s by 1959. In past years, friends of mine who worked at Harrah’s told me that some remnants of Sahati’s early stage and dressing rooms area still existed deep in Harrah’s catacombs.

The original 1931 Nevada Club site as seen now 2016. Photo/Bill Kingman

·      South Lake Tahoe has put in an electric vehicle charging station in the Heavenly Village parking garage on the first floor next to the elevator. For those with electric vehicles, open a ChargePoint account online.

·       Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows Mountain Concierge is open at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport seven days a week from 6am-8p offering ski tickets, retail merchandise, sports equipment demonstrations and a guest lounge.

·       MyVHO.com, an automated platform for vacation rentals, is now providing Lake Tahoe WorldMark vacation rentals on the South Shore.

·       El Dorado County has redesigned its website.

·       Here is the Sierra roadwork schedule from Caltrans for next week.