The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is hosting its second annual Community Appreciation Day and Lake Spirit Awards on Sept. 27 from 4–7pm at its offices at 128 Market St., Stateline.

This year’s theme is Making Progress and will focus on the Regional Plan update and the fifth anniversary of the Angora Fire.

Partners include the Tahoe Science Consortium which will donate a display of Angora Fire photos and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District which will provide a ladder and squad truck, an interactive ember house, along with a booth on Living With Fire and creating defensible space.

The family event will include live music, a free barbecue dinner, activities for kids, an ice cream social hosted by members of TRPA’s Governing Board and Advisory Planning Commission, and demonstration booths explaining the Regional Plan update and TRPA’s mission, as well as a TRPA boat where children can conduct mock inspections for aquatic invasive species with staff from the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

The event will also include announcing the winners of the Lake Spirit Awards honoring real people making real progress at protecting Lake Tahoe. Members of the public are encouraged to nominate members of the community who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect the beauty and clarity of the Lake.

This year TRPA is adding an extra category to the Lake Spirit Awards contest. One category will be for everyday citizens, and the other will be for agency and environmental science representatives. Nominations for the Lake Spirit Awards can be made online through Sept. 16.

• Freshies in South Lake Tahoe is hosting a Tahoe Youth & Family Services full Moon Dance Party on the roof Aug. 31, 8-10pm. Tickets are limited — (530) 542.3630.

• TJ Maxx is having a hiring fair for its South Lake Tahoe store Sept. 6-8 at Inn by the Lake.

• Lake Tahoe author Todd Borg has three spots left for his Sept. 14-16 writing workshop in Sacramento. Go online for more info.

• Human-powered athletes will unite Aug. 25 in Incline Village for the off-road triathlon XTERRA Lake Tahoe.

• According to the Sugar Pine Foundation, “After many years of testing, the Forest Service Blister Rust Program has confirmed that a lovely, old double-top Western white pine tree at Kirkwood is resistant to white pine blister rust. We will collect its seed as part of our annual cone harvest this September.”

Mother Goose on the Loose is a lap sit storytime for ages newborn to 2.

“Mother Goose on the Loose” is an award winning program that combines music, movement, visual literacy and language development to help children get ready to read.

The dates are Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27 at 11am at the South Lake Tahoe library — 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Services aimed at getting students ready for college are available for up to 500 students at South Tahoe Middle and High schools through a Lake Tahoe Community College federally funded grant program.

The Department of Education grant consists of $230,000 a year for five years to provide services to 500 low-income, first generation college-bound students at the middle and high schools.

The types of services offered through the TRiO Educational “Talent Search” include academic, career, and financial aid counseling, tutoring, assistance in preparing for college entrance exams and completing college admissions applications, and exposure to postsecondary campuses, cultural events, and other academic programs.

Services include: tutoring, academic, financial, and career guidance, workshops to develop skills for success, trips to four-year schools and cultural events, and workshops for parents in English and Spanish to provide information and support.

Each of these services is designed to prepare and motivate students to complete middle school and high school and go on to college. All of the program services are free to qualified students. Applications are available online.

For more information, call Erika Franco at STHS Career Center (530) 541.4111, ext. 400 or email franco@ltcc.edu, or Lisa Utzig Schafer at STMS, (530) 541.6404, ext. 243 or utzigschafer@ltcc.edu.

A four-day business improvement series is being provided in partnership by the South Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce. The program is designed to provide strategies for new and established businesses.

Topics include: mapping revenue and profit projections, insight in potential markets, finance, messaging, customer experiences and more.

The cost is $300 and is free to qualified individuals.

The program is being offered Sept. 12, Sept. 19, Sept. 26, and Oct. 3 from 9am-4pm.

To enroll, contact Emily Abernathy at (775) 588.1728, ext. 303.

• South Tahoe Association of Realtors will be hosting the third annual South Tahoe Government Agencies Forum and Certification Program on Aug. 22. For more information or to register, call (530) 541.7007 or email staor@staor.org.

• Genoa’s David Walley’s Hot Springs is one of 3,795 restaurants worldwide to receive Wine Spectator magazine’s 2012 Award of Excellence for its wine list.

• Custom Learning Academy, the only Western Association of Schools and College-accredited, private K-12 school in the region is accepting students for the school year that starts Sept. 4. For more information, call (530) 587.5470.

• Climate Change: Just the Facts is a website launched this month by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Local environmental groups are putting on two meetings this week about the Lake Tahoe Basin Forest Plan.

For the first time in more than two decades the Forest Service is redoing the management plan for nearly 80 percent of all the land in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Comments are being taken until Aug. 30.

Sierra Club officials will breakdown the four proposed alternatives in the plan and have local policy experts to answer questions.

The first gathering is Aug. 21 from 6-7pm at Lake Tahoe Community College, Aspen Room, South Lake Tahoe; the second is Aug. 23, 6-7pm, North Lake Tahoe Event Center, Kings Beach.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is putting on a webinar for people to learn more about the Regional Plan update.

The free event is Aug. 29 from noon-1pm.

The public will be given a chance to ask questions.

To  sign up, email kboosman@trpa.org.

There will be a neighborhood crime meeting Aug. 22 at 6:30pm.

We have been hit with a lot of crime in South Lake Tahoe. Officer Angela Kallstrom will be having an informal meeting with neighbors to discuss crime problems.

Meet at the rear entrance to South Tahoe High School by the Mt. Tallac High parking lot at end of 13th Street.

This is first attempt at fighting back at crime and a effort to get crime mapping here on the South Shore. We need to be better informed of all incidents in our town.

Thanks to Police Chief Brian Uhler, Lt. Brian Williams and Officer Angela Kallstrom to help inform us.

This is informal and any and all help to raise awareness of neighborhood crime is appreciated.

The goal is to inform. My goal is to have police incident reports posted somewhere where we can read daily. We will all be surprised how much crime goes on around us.

Block party time? I need input from other neighbors.

— Mike Lee

The dirt lot in 1965 is where Motel 6 is today. Photos/Bill Kingman

Grocery Outlet is where the Outdoorsman was.

The Outdoorsman in South Lake Tahoe is still talked about by locals with a certain fondness.

It was here in the 1960s and at least through the late 1980s. It had a bit everything — from sporting goods to a decent selection of clothing to being the place to buy a gift.

Today it is home of Grocery Outlet.

Notice how signage has changed through the years.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report