The management, ownership, friends and family of Kirkwood Mountain Resort are deeply saddened by the passing of Dick Reuter, part of the original founding team of Kirkwood, World War II veteran and a true “mountain man’s mountain man”.

Dick passed away at Kirkwood on July 4, 2011. He was 88.

Dick’s mountain resort career began in the late 1950s in Squaw Valley after a long career as a trapper and logger in the Lassen Park area.

Dick initially helped fell trees to clear ski runs at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley, and then worked as a ski patrol leader at Squaw Valley during the 1960 Winter Olympics where he met and married his bride, Jeanne, and started a family.

After the Olympics, Dick went on to become mountain manager, cutting many legendary runs, running the avalanche control, and building and maintaining the ski lifts.

Enticed by the beautiful mountain at Kirkwood, Bud Klein’s compelling vision, and the significant challenges of starting a brand new resort, Dick moved his family to Kirkwood to start cutting runs and putting in lifts and implementing Kirkwood’s master plan in 1972.

“Dick Reuter was a ‘mountain man’s mountain man’,” says Dave Myers, vice president of operation for Kirkwood Mountain Resort. He worked with Dick for more than 30 years. “A real pioneer and tough as nails, Dick basically single-handedly installed chair No. 11, ‘The Reut’ of which the lift is named after him.”

The stories of Dick’s efforts and accomplishments have been chronicled in several books, including “Mountain Dreamers” and “Avalanche Hunters” as well as numerous trade journals and other articles.

Dick’s passion and drive played a significant role in making what Kirkwood is today.

His life will be celebrated at a memorial service with family, friends and admirers at Kirkwood on Aug. 6. Details are being finalized.

On July 9, law enforcement motorcycle riders will depart from four locations in the Bay Area and Central California on a fundraising ride to benefit the Northern California Special Olympics. The endpoint of the ride is the South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge where the riders will celebrate with a dinner and party.

Riders are expected to start arriving at the lake about 5pm. These normally “tough cops” will be wearing bright tutus rather than service revolvers to “complement” their leathers.

The local Moose Lodge is a co-sponsor of the event, and all proceeds support the training and competition that is provided free to the 14,000 athletes who compete in the Northern California Special Olympics.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest global grass-roots fundraiser and public awareness campaign for Special Olympics. In 2010 the worldwide law enforcement fundraising efforts raised more than $38 million for the benefit of Special Olympics athletes.

In Northern California more than 3,500 Law Enforcement personnel participated in the Law Enforcement Fundraising efforts and raised more than $1 million in 2010 for Special Olympics Northern California.

South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge 1632 is located at 961 Eloise Ave., South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, contact Barry Keil at (530) 545.1087, or call the Lodge between noon and 8 pm at (530) 541.1632.

Lionel Richie canceled his July 4 show with the Boston Pops.

The significance of not doing the televised performance from the East Coast is the singer is supposed to be on the South Shore this month. Reports are he injured his throat.

He has also canceled the July 16 show that was part of the Harveys Outdoor Concert Series.

Martina McBride subbed for Richie in Boston. It’s not known if Harveys will be able to get a sub for Ritchie. The South Shore is expected to be hopping with people that weekend because the next day is the final round of the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament at Edgewood Tahoe.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Boyo is a sweet long-haired cat who loves to be held. He is a playful boy who just laps up attention.

He is an indoor cat who has not been around dogs, but he has lived with small children and other cats.

His owner couldn’t look after him any more.

Boyo is neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. He is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Call (530) 573.7925 for directions to the shelter, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz

Publisher’s note: Brooke Wilkinson is one of three 2005 South Tahoe High School graduates who joined the Peace Corps upon college graduation. As it gets close to their return date, each will share with Lake Tahoe News readers their thoughts about the last two years.

By Brooke Wilkinson

I arrived in Ecuador in June 2009, just two days after my graduation from UC Davis. I was excited, anxious, and overwhelmed, to say the least. Along with 44 other hopeful volunteers, I attended a pre-service training for two months in the Andes Mountains. In this time, I learned about the Ecuadorian culture and worked on my Spanish language skills.

I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Aug. 19, 2009, and the following day I moved to my site on the southern coast of Ecuador. I lived in the community of Libertador Bolivar for eight months, a town of 1,500 people. Then I moved to a community 15 miles north — Ayangue, which has 1,200 habitants. I have been here for a little more than a year.

Brooke Wilkinson holds Jacqueline, one of the babies she witnessed be born. The mom asked Wilkinson to name her child. She did so after her mom. Photos/Provided

I will be officially ending my service in Ecuador on July 21, and will be back in California that evening. I am highly anticipating seeing my friends and family at the airport. I have many photographs and memories to share, and I cannot wait to hear about the changes that have taken place in their lives since I’ve been gone.

Was my Peace Corps experience everything I thought it would be?

Not even close. It was more than I could have ever anticipated. My time as a volunteer included by far the most amazing experiences that I’ve had up until this point in my life. And it also included some of the loneliest and desperate times I ever hope to know.

A Peace Corps saying is that a volunteer’s time in site is “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” I can absolutely attest to the tough part. I had some incredibly difficult times throughout my experience as a volunteer. There were times when no one would attend workshops that I had spent hours organizing, and other times when I went door-to-door to homes in my community in an attempt to find something, anything to keep me occupied. The frustration that came with a lack of involvement from community members, in addition to missing my friends and family back in the States, was more than enough to make me crack. There were times when the only thing I wanted to do was pack my bags and get on the next flight back to California.

Now, as I look back on these tough times, I am so thankful that I managed to pull through. Ultimately, I have become a more patient, persistent, and dedicated individual, and to feel that I have gained these characteristics at the young age of 23 really humbles me. After spending a significant time away from my friends and family, I appreciate them and their presence in my life even more than I did before I left.

Of course, there were high points to balance out the harder times. The “resume-worthy” description of these experiences would include:

• Working with a local midwife, training pregnant women on the importance of nutrition and proper breast-feeding methods, as well as witnessing the birth of several precious babies (even twins!);

• Writing and receiving a grant for a $6,000 ecotourism project to provide activities that would increase visitors to the community, therefore increasing income levels of the locals;

• Providing one-on-one HIV test counseling to women, men, and adolescents.

Brooke Wilkinson with adolescents from the community she provided HIV/AIDS education to.

But if I’m being entirely honest, I have to say that the most rewarding times throughout my service include sharing meals with my neighbors, walking to the local corner store and picking out fresh fruits and vegetables, playing with the many, many children that always stopped by to see what the “gringa” was doing that afternoon. The relationships I developed with the people in Ecuador are ones that I will always cherish, and I am certain that when I will return to visit my Ecuadorian friends and family in the years to come, I will be welcomed with open arms.

With my return to the United States comes the dreaded job search. When I left two years ago, I did so with the mindset the economy would be better by the time I returned in 2011, and that as a returned Peace Corps volunteer I would have several job opportunities just waiting for me. Needless to say, this is not the case. I will join the thousands of Americans currently reading through job listings, sending out as many resumes as I can. In the meantime, I plan on taking science prerequisites at a community college so I can apply to nursing school within the next year or two. I’m also looking into training to become a doula.

A pitch-black sky was the ideal backdrop as fireworks lit up the sky on Fourth of July.

Beaches were crowded with thousands of revelers throughout the South Shore enjoying a rather warm night – with temps in the 50s. Lots of families were out; with a good mix of tourists and locals. Those out and about Monday night say the crowds seemed larger than last year.

The 23-minute pyrotechnic display was one minute longer than a year ago. With the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority paying $6,000 per minute (negotiated down from $10,000 per minute), it’s an expensive show to put on.

Thousands enjoy Fourth of July fireworks on the South Shore. Photos/Howie Nave

Many small towns across the United States nixed their shows because they could not afford it.

But the fireworks displays throughout Lake Tahoe are often the reason people flock to the basin this time of year.

The South Shore also has a big display the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

Even though personal fireworks are illegal throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin, that did not stop some people from lighting up the sky just off Regan Beach after the professionals finished their job. South Lake Tahoe police officers are investigating that incident.

— Kathryn Reed

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By Robin Leach, Las Vegas Sun

Las Vegas college student Alana Lee, 21, was crowned the new Miss Nevada. Alana will represent The Silver State in the 2012 Miss America Pageant at Planet Hollywood on Jan. 14.

Alana and new Miss Nevada Outstanding Teen, 16-year-old Bailey Gumm of Minden, were presented with their tiaras at the conclusion of weekend competition at the Casablanca Resort in Mesquite. Bailey competes in the Miss Teen America Pageant in Orlando from Aug. 16-18.

It was the first time Alana has competed in the Nevada pageant, aside from winning Miss Clark County. She is majoring in mass communications and broadcast journalism at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah.

Read the whole story

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation was 2.5 million. The nation’s estimated population on this July 4 is 31.7 million.

In 2010, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags was $3.2 million. The vast majority of this amount — $2.8 million — was for U.S. flags made in China.

The value of fireworks imported from China in 2010 was $190.7 million, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($197.3 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $37 million in 2010, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($6.3 million).

Thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous one as of April 1, 2010, is Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2011. This estimate represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also homes to large numbers of pigs.

Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year – 81 million. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.

By Barbara J. Koll, Best Friends Network

The Fourth of July is a time of family fun and fireworks, but for many pet people it can become a tragic nightmare.

At almost every fireworks display, you see someone who has brought their beloved pooch with them. That is generally not good idea. Fireworks displays can be stressful, disorienting and frightening for dogs. Your normally calm dog can be easily spooked and confused by the noise, crowds and bright, flashing lights and become afraid or aggressive or run off. Even if you leave your dog at home, dogs who are not normally frightened by loud noises may panic from the cumulative effects of fireworks, noisy crowds outside the house and being left alone.

Dogs and cats have an acute sense of hearing and fireworks will be particularly loud and frightening to them. Pets frequently become more sensitive to loud noises as they grow older. Even if they have not reacted in the past, they may become unexpectedly fearful.

Pets, children and fireworks can create a particularly dangerous situation as frightened animals can unintentionally hurt a child. Children may not realize that waving sparklers or setting off firecrackers could upset the family pet. Educate your children on the dangers of fireworks around pets.

Some pets don’t even seem to notice fireworks or can be easily distracted from the noises with physical activities such as playing with a ball or other toy. Others do well simply by having their person nearby, talking to them and petting or holding them. Others cannot be calmed by anything because they are simply too frightened.

Read the whole story

Tahoe Improv Players will take the stage at the Boathouse Theatre on at the Tallac Site on the South Shore on July 5 and Aug. 2.

Shows start at 7:30pm.

A special benefit performance will be Sept. 6 with all proceeds donated to the Boathouse Theater.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children.

For more information, call (530) 541.4975.