Employees from Zephyr Cove Resort, Spooner Summit Recreation and Lake Tahoe Cruises are partnering with the Sugar Pine Foundation to replant trees at Spooner Summit.

Sugar pine trees, the world’s largest species of pine with the longest cones, are dying from white pine blister rust, a nonnative invasive fungus. Originally they accounted or 25 percent of Lake Tahoe’s forests but now make up less than 5 percent of the forest composition.

On Oct. 17 from 10am-noon employees help restore the forests at Lake Tahoe by planting yearlings.

The event is open to the public. Interested people may contact admin@sugarpinefoundation.org.

·       Fall Food Fest, a fundraiser for the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation, is Oct. 10 from 6-9:30pm at Hard Rock Casino. Tickets are $50. For more information, email nrollston@sbcglobal.net or call Nancy Rollston at 530.314.9101.

·       The Village at Squaw will transform into a Bavarian biergarten on Sept. 26 from 2-6pm.

·        Sustainable Forestry Initiative with the support of volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada, officially set a Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in one hour by small teams, planting a total of 202,935 trees. Taking place on May 20, the successful effort involved 29 teams from across North America, including the Sugar Pine Foundation. Volunteers planted 69 trees at the Tahoe Donner Association Trails in Truckee.

·       Twenty-two divers from Project AWARE Foundation removed 250 pounds of garbage from the Zephyr Cove area last weekend as part of the annual Sierra River Cleanup day. One item – a gangway from a boat – weighed 150 pounds.

·      Kahle Community Center has a new yoga class starting on Saturdays at 8:15am. Each student needs to bring a mat to class. Class is open to participants 18 years of age and older. The cost is $5 per class. For more information, call 775.586.7271.

·      Tahoe City Cross Country’s junior development and competition level Nordic training program beings Sept. 23. For more info, email elyah@tahoexc.org.

·      Sierra Business Council and Truckee mixer is Sept. 23 from 5-7pm at 10183 Truckee Airport Road in Truckee.

·      The Genoa Candy Dance is Sept. 26-27. For more info, go online.

·      The annual Oktoberfest at Camp Rich is Oct 3-4.

The name Caesars Tahoe was associated with Stateline for more than 30 years. Photo/Bill Kingman

Opening as Park Tahoe in 1978, Caesars acquired operations the following year, as reflected by the marquee in the 1982 photo above.

The large marquee allowed for numerous announcements. Photo/Bill Kingman

With new ownership and new name came a new marquee in 2006. By 2014, the red-orange paint had become sun-bleached.

A modern electronic sign is installed Sept. 17. Photo/Bill Kingman

Part of a multi-million dollar renovation this year of MontBleu includes an electronic digital sign.

Installation of the sign was finished the afternoon of Sept. 17. Photo/Bill Kingman

— Bill Kingman

·       Sierra-at-Tahoe just sent out 330 passes to Lake Tahoe Unified School District straight-A students from the 2014-15 school year. This is the highest number of passes ever given out by the ski resort for this purpose.

·       When Alex Ramon closed his long-running show Illusion Fusion in Stateline 18 months ago he made a promise to come back to the Tahoe-Reno area. On Oct. 8 he fulfills that promise at Harrah’s Reno. For more info or to buy tickets, go online.

·       California Department of Motor Vehicles’ final day of Saturday office hours will be Oct. 24.

·       Tahoe Valley Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Gene Matteucci will be receiving the outstanding educator award next week from the Oregon California Trails Association.

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

·       The final version of Placer County’s $816 million annual budget was approved Sept. 15 by the Board of Supervisors.

·       Reno chef and restaurant owner Mark Estee will be the featured chef Jan. 31, Feb 1-2 during the Chefs Holidays at the Ahwahnee at Yosemite National Park. For more info, go online.

·       From Space.com: “A total lunar eclipse will spawn a rare and dramatic supermoon blood moon on Sept. 27. Supermoons occur when the moon reaches its full phase at or near the satellite’s closest approach to Earth, and appears abnormally large and bright as a result. The Sept. 27 event is quite special; the last supermoon eclipse occurred in 1982, and the next won’t take place until 2033.”

·       The 2016 dates for the American Century Championship have been moved. Mark your calendar for July 19-24.

·       Nevada is the ninth most friendly tax state, while California is the least friendly, according to Kiplinger.

When classes start next week at Lake Tahoe Community College students will have the opportunity to obtain an associate of arts or certificate in environmental technology and sustainability.

The concentrations of study include  biological resources, physical resources, and sustainability.

The ETS program is designed to offer the skills and knowledge needed to help students make an impact in today’s increasingly populated and complex world.

For more info, call 530.541.4660, ext. 231.

El Dorado County students in grades 8-12 in South Lake Tahoe are invited to participate in the juvenile justice system through the Teen Court program.

Orientation training is Oct. 1 from 5-6:30pm at the Superior Court, Department 4, 1354 Johnson Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe. After completing the mandatory orientation training, teens will serve as court personnel for real cases in which a minor has committed an offense, admitted the offense and chosen to be judged by his/her peers.

Teen Court hearings are Thursday nights at 5 from Oct. 22 through May 2016.

For more information, contact Jorge Orozco at 530.573.7964.

Balance and Fall Prevention is the topic of a free wellness lecture being put on by Barton Health.

What allows us to balance and what prevents us from falling? Learn the answers at the Oct. 8 talk.

Physical therapist Juliana Macan will talk about the components that make up balance, and share exercises to improve balance and prevent vertigo and dizziness.

The free talk is from 6-7pm in the board room at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe.

·       Truckee is having a free paint drop day on Oct. 17 from 9am-1pm at the airport.

·       Barton Health’s smoking cessation class start date has changed to Oct. 14 and will end a week later. It is from 5-6:30pm at 1111 Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe. Cost is $30.

·       The Food Bank of El Dorado County is in need of volunteers Sept. 23 from 9:30-11:30am to help with the South Lake Tahoe mobile food pantry. For more info, call 530.621.9950 or email volunteer@foodbankedc.org.

·      El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is encouraging people to register for emergency notifications online. The CodeRED notification system will only be used by public safety officials during emergencies to disseminate critical information to the citizens of El Dorado County.