• Mary Dedrick of Dedrick’s Main Street Cheese in Placerville was a judge for this year’s California State Fair cheese competition.

• Truckee will be hosting a memorial for Ron Florian, the town’s former mayor, on June 21 at 4pm at the town hall.

• The Tahoe Rotary Yacht Club is sponsoring a fish dinner at Tahoe Maritime Museum on June 21 starting at 4pm. The $25 tickets benefit the museum. Please RSVP by June 18 to nhcline@gmail.com or 530.546.4890.

• With Kurt Green retiring, Michelle Risdon will be interim dean of Instruction at Lake Tahoe Community College.

• Here is this week’s Caltrans roadwork schedule for El Dorado-Tahoe.

Truckee’s history will come alive June 27 with the Chautauqua performance by Cathryn Fairlee playing Virginia Reed Murphy.

It will be at the Veterans Hall at 10214 High St. starting at 7pm.

Cost is $10.

Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged.

Geoff Schladow will present the most important factors that affect lake health at a public presentation on changes in Lake Tahoe’s water quality and ecology over the past year, as well as updates on research projects.

The talk is Aug. 14 from 5:30-7pm at the Tahoe Environmental Research Center on the Sierra Nevada College campus in Incline Village.

The cost is $5.

Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation’s annual Taste of Gold — the college’s biggest fundraiser of the year — is July 12.

The eight-piece big band jazz stylings of the Josh Pfeiffer Band will provide the entertainment at the Ledbetter Terrace.

The event is from 6-9pm.

Food will be provided from local restaurants, with drink from El Dorado County wineries and small-batch liquor producers.

Tickets are $75 per person, with proceeds going to student scholarships and academic programs at LTCC. They may be purchased online.

The 2014-15 El Dorado County Mental Health Services Act plan update is out for review.

The draft plan update provides information on current and new MHSA programs and budgets for three fiscal years (FY 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17). MHSA components in the plan update include: Prevention and Early Intervention; Community Services and Supports; Workforce Education and Training; and Capital Facilities and Technology Needs.

Comments will be accepted until July 9 via email to MHSA@edcgov.us or via postal mail to: Health and Human Services Agency, Mental Health Division, MHSA Project Team, 768 Pleasant Valley Road, Suite 201, Diamond Springs, CA 95619.

A public hearing will be conducted after that date..

For more info, call 530.621.6315.

Liberty Utilities has awarded several scholarships to students living within the utility’s service territory.

Recipients are:

South Tahoe High School – Sara Ortega

Loyalton High School – Cory Peterman

Douglas High School – Keaton Peters

Coleville High School – Nestor Gutierrez

North Tahoe High School – Stein Arntson

Portola High School – Trevor Ohle

Lake Tahoe Community College – Nemesis Ramirez.

Each high school senior received a $500 award, and the community college student received $750.

There will be a Nintendo Wii tournament on June 20 from 5-8pm at the Minden library.

This free program includes pizza and drinks. Signup by June 19 — 775.782.9841.

Teen Game Night is sponsored by the Friends of Douglas County Public Library and the library’s Teen Advisory Board.

The Minden Library is located at 1625 Library Lane.

Sustainable business leaders, entrepreneurs, residents, writers and science gurus will gather for Sierra Business Council’s 20th anniversary conference Peak Innovation – The Next 20 Years in Tahoe City from Oct. 8-10.

The conference opens with naturalist and writer Terry Tempest Williams who will be interviewed about “The Power of Place.”

New York Times best selling author Van Jones, a globally recognized innovator of the clean energy economy as well as a renowned human rights activist, will also be speaking. Jones is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream as well as co-host of CNN’s Crossfire reboot.

Conference information and registration is available at online.

Alpina Cafe was once a library in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

In 1946, Bob Wakeman bought an 18 foot x 20 foot cabin at what is now 822 Emerald Bay Road near the Y in South Lake Tahoe. He paid $600 for the land and cabin.

He enlarged it to house his growing family, and then in 1948 he opened the front room to become the first library on the South Shore while his family still resided there. Neighbor and friend Pat Amundsen’s house was the other library part: children’s books. In the 1950s, the library migrated to various larger locations including the Clarke Building (recently vacated by the Mattress Outlet), to upstairs at the American Legion Hall, and to other locations. In 1959, the local community erected a new block building in Al Tahoe which housed the library for 24 years.

Alpina Cafe today.
Photo/Bill Kingman

Over the years, that original Wakeman residence on Highway 89 has housed numerous endeavors. Today, it is Alpina Coffee Cafe. The slightly-elevated kitchen, cash register and serving counter area in the Alpina Cafe was the original 1940s cabin.

The local community built a new library in the 1950s which now is the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum on Highway 50 in Al Tahoe.

The museum was originally a library. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Today the county library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

El Dorado County library in South Lake Tahoe today. Photo/Bill Kingman

— Bill Kingman

• Discounted tickets to the 25th American Century Championship on July 15-20 at Edgewood Tahoe are on sale at Raley’s, Nob Hill and Bel Air locations throughout Northern California and Nevada.

• Little Philly Cheesesteaks recently opened next to Sushi Pier in Stateline.

• Angela and Brian Luke are opening their second Artemis Mediterranean Grill at Ski Run Marina in South Lake Tahoe on June 17.

• Wanderlust Squaw Valley Festival will return July 17-20.

• To volunteer to cleanup a beach in Tahoe this summer, contact Marilee Movius at marilee@keeptahoeblue.org or 530.541.5388.