Explore Tahoe Visitor Center Winter Speaker Series Kick Off is Dec. 23 at 6pm. Mark McLauglin, a  Tahoe weather historian and local author, will present “Reign of the Sierra Storm King”, a history of the most devastating storms to hit the Sierras and a look at how climate change is impacting Lake Tahoe.

A $5 donation is requested.

Refreshments will be served.

Explore Tahoe is located in the Heavenly Village next to North Face at 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637.

Publisher’s note: This is reprinted from the July 1973 Lake Tahoe Historical Society newsletter.

Our July program is really an exciting one!

Guest speaker will be Velma Comstock Eden, the only person alive today to have actually lived at Tallac House [‘Lucky’ Baldwin’s world-famous resort hotel that existed as Tahoe’s southwest shore between the years 1874-1925].

Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Mrs. Eden was born at Tallac in the year 1900. She spent some 13 years growing up on the grounds of Tallac while her parents, the Harry O. Comstocks, were overseeing the operation of Baldwin’s elegant 3½ story hostelry.

During these years, Tallac House was regarded as the “Summer Resort of the World”. Located in a magnificent grove of virgin pines in the vicinity of what is today the Kiva Beech Picnic Area, Tallac House catered exclusively to the fashionable summer tourist. It boasted the “finest casino in America,” as well as 8-course meals served to the music of a string orchestra, promenade walks, bridle paths, gleaming white guest cottages, a fleet of fishing boats, 45 riding horses, a boathouse and pier, splendid gardens, and a dining room that seated 100 people and had picture windows on the lake side.

A fascinating woman with a tremendous storehouse of memories, Mrs. Eden has a quite a story to tell about the day of elegant, leisure living at Tahoe’s southwest shore.

Be shore and bring your friends! This will be a one-and-only-opportunity to hear the first-hand story of Baldwin’s legendary Tallac House.

Complementing Mrs. Eden’s talk will be numerous extra-large historical photographs. A social hour and refreshments will follow her presentation.

Lake Valley Fire Protection District announces the 2010 schedule for the Santa Claus engine:

Dec. 15: Angora Highlands, Lake Tahoe Blvd between Boulder Mountain and North Upper Truckee, and North Upper Truckee to Grizzly Mountain – including the Mt. Rainier neighborhoods.

Dec. 16: North Upper Truckee from Grizzly Mountain to Highway 50.

Dec. 17: Christmas Valley.

Dec. 18: Lower Apache (Meyers area north of Highway 50), Cornelian and Navahoe (behind Station 7 in Meyers).

Dec. 19: Upper Apache (Player Court to Ottawa Drive) and Mandan.

Dec. 20: North side of Pioneer Trail from Highway 50 in Meyers to Elks Club.

Dec. 21: Pioneer Trail from Busch Way to Jicarilla Drive.

Dec. 22: Golden Bear, Marshall Trail.

Dec. 23: Fair Meadows, Cold Creek Trail, Black Bart.

For questions, contact Leona Allen at (530) 577.3737.

Daisy is a 2-year-old black Labrador, perhaps mixed with a leggy dog like a Weimaraner. She is very tall and slim.

Daisy’s owners lost their home and couldn’t keep her. Daisy is responding by trying to bond with everyone she meets at the shelter. She is very affectionate, and would like to sit close to you all day and give you kisses. She is good with other dogs and cats.

Daisy is spayed, microchipped, vaccinated, and is negative for heartworm.

She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs, cats, and kittens who are waiting for their new homes.

Call (530) 573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet. The shelter will be open on Christmas Day.

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

— Karen Kuentz

St. Theresa School is presenting a Nativity play “O Little Town of Bethlehem and Christmas Carol” on Dec. 14th at Grace Hall from 6-7pm.

Refreshments will be served.

Location is 1041 Lyons Ave., South Lake Tahoe.

For information, call (530) 544.8944.

The Telluride Mountain Film Festival comes to North Lake Tahoe Dec. 16 and Dec. 17.

Part of the Squaw Valley Institute educational events, the two-day celebration kicks off with a VIP Private Opening Reception and Film Showing at Gallery Keoki in the Village at Squaw Valley Dec. 16 at 6:30pm. This private party is limited to 50 people who have the opportunity to socialize with the director of Mountainfilm on Tour, Justin Clifton, and then watch a broad selection of festival films via multiple viewing screens. Tickets are $50/person.

The general public Showing is scheduled for Dec. 17 at Resort at Squaw Creek, also in Olympic Valley. The doors open at 6:30pm, with a no-host bar and an 8pm film program.

Tickets purchased online are $20/person with current Squaw Valley Institute members at $10/person and residents with North Tahoe/Truckee identification at $15/person. Tickets at the door (if available) are $20/person. Each event will run about two-and-a-half hours.

For more information about the Telluride Mountain Film Festival and to purchase tickets, go to www.squawvalleyinstitute.org.

By Bonnie Mattoon, Reno Gazette-Journal

Fred Hauseur, owner and operator of Custom Firearms & Gunsmithing in Mound House, learned the art of gunsmithing from his father who owned a small gun shop in Susanville, Calif. They worked together for more than 28 years first in Susanville, then in Applegate, Calif., and now Mound House.

The Hauseurs came to the Mound House area in 2005, wanting to open a gunsmithing shop in the area. They especially liked the idea of having their storefront visible from Highway 50 and not far from Highway 341.

They worked together in the store until 2008 when Fred’s father passed away.

Fred specializes in upgrading guns of all types, customized repair work on most firearms, and his specialty trigger and action repairs on hand guns and most other firearms. He’ll also completely rebuild a gun to the customers’ specifications.

Read the whole story

By Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee

EUREKA – Joey Burger was 14 when his naturalist parents moved from Santa Cruz to settle in the coastal forest of Humboldt County.

Local hippies and homesteaders welcomed the new kid in the woods. They schooled him in the regional art – growing marijuana.

“It was never looked upon as a bad thing,” Burger said.

Except before the fall harvests, when helicopters full of narcotics officers whipped through the sky. Neighbors rushed “to call their friends to make sure they were OK,” he said.

These days, it isn’t just helicopters that frighten Humboldt County’s pot culture.

America’s most renowned bastion of illicit marijuana growing is threatened by cavernous, city-taxed cultivation warehouses soon to be licensed in Oakland. It is alarmed by cities from La Puente to Berkeley to Sacramento that approved taxes on dispensaries or endorsed medical marijuana cultivation, sanctioning a weed economy wider and more competitive than ever.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE — Parents. They are the common denominator of the eight South Tahoe High students selected to be Young Women of Distinction.

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe each year singles out seniors who have risen to the top of their class beyond having exceptional grade point averages. Still, the averages are impressive – ranging from 4.08 to 4.57.

STHS Principal Ivone Larson talks about the eight women being honored Dec. 8. Photo/Kathryn Reed

As Principal Ivone Larson described each young woman’s accomplishments, the tears started to flow. With parents in the audience for the Dec. 8 lunch at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, it was obvious this event was a culmination of 17 or 18 years of hard work on everyone’s part.

All of the girls spoke of their parents’ influence on their lives. The majority wants to pursue an education in science or a career that will involve science. All have a wealth of community service on their resume. Some are dancers, some athletes, some artists – above all they are distinct in their own right.

Here is a bit of what Larson had to say about each girl.

Katie Burba: “With her multilingual talents in Spanish and French, Katie hopes to travel to Spain and Europe to teach English. While there, she hopes to pick up a few more languages, including Italian, as her family is Sicilian.” Burba’s passion is dance – spending five days a week on her toes. She may minor in dance. Her first choice college is UC Davis.

Elisa Escobar: When she arrived in the United States from the Philippines at age 7 she spoke no English. Now she is fluent in four languages, has a 4.27 gpa and wants to go to UC Santa Barbara to eventually become a marine biologist, oceanographer, or nurse practitioner. “It is fitting that Elisa credits her parents for teaching her who she is and giving her strong morals. She also acknowledges her teachers for being her inspiration. Elisa, you have already made a difference in the lives of so many and we can’t wait to hear about your future adventures.”

Annie Lineberry: The acting bug bit her when first auditioned for a high school performance. She has been on stage every since. She aspires to be a company member in the Oregon Shakespearian Festival in Ashland or possibly a high school drama teacher. “Annie says her Dad is a constant source of encouragement and pressure to do her absolute best in everything she does. She credits him with inspiring her acting dreams. Her Mom challenges her to think about real issues and to question the morality and intelligence of everything that occurs on a day-to-day basis. She says she challenges her to form her own opinions on issues based upon fact and truth even if they don’t line up with her Mother’s beliefs.”

Tiffany Racz: “She attended the National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., last year and came home a changed person in the sense that her career goals are now global instead of national. Her goal is to be an epidemiologist somewhere remote studying and researching epidemics hoping to be part of a close team that will find solutions to serious global problems.” She has taken every science class the school offers.

Ariana Truszewski: She works 20 hours a week to support her riding habit. She owns a horse and has been in the saddle since age 7. “Therefore, it is no surprise to any of us that she hopes to become an equine veterinarian working in the thoroughbred-racing field. This past summer she did an internship at an equine sports medicine and rehabilitation center in Lexington, Ky. She worked side by side with veterinary students, working long hours through extreme heat and humidity, leaving exhausted and grimy at the end of the day, but loving every minute of it.”

Dana Tumbaga: With psychology and English being her favorite classes, she is considering a career path that may involve those disciplines as well as sociology. She is fluent in English and Ilocano. “Dana is not certain about her future endeavors, but as an artist, she can appreciate the potential of a blank canvas when provided with the right tools and inspiration.”

Hannah Wheelen: “She is passionate about the environment and hopes to someday return to Tahoe to work as a scientist protecting our precious natural resources.” Quiet and introspective are words to describe her, but so are busy and giving with a slew of extracurricular activities and volunteering outside the school.

Stephanie Zepeda: “She has applied to several universities, but hopes to be accepted to UC Berkeley in the fall and eventually become a bilingual criminal psychologist.” She has been on the cheerleading squad all four years. Last year she received the nomination for the National Youth Leadership conference in Washington, D.C. In her spare time, she studies and scrapbooks.

By Kathryn Reed

Reviewing a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece of literature written by a Nobel Prize-winning author seems a bit unnecessary, but here goes.

“The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck has stood the test of time. The novel was first published in 1931. It won the Pulitzer. In 1937, it was made into a motion picture for which Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for best actress.

For whatever reason, it wasn’t until this fall that I read the book for the first time. Fiction is not often what I’m pulled toward reading. But it doesn’t read like fiction.

This classic delves into the life of a farmer in China in the early 20th century. Buck is able to easily bring her characters to life because she spent most of the first 40 years of her life in China even though she was born in the United States in 1892.

It’s one of those books you don’t want to put down because the characters become friends of sorts. And they are so believable. It’s not that you like each one all the time. Some are never likeable.

Set in a part of the world that is foreign to me and during a time long before I was born, the circumstances the women endure because of the men are beyond my imagination. And, yet, how the story is told and unfolds, makes all seem natural for that place and time.

The story is that of a farmer – Wang Lung – and his dutiful wife O-lan. But it’s much more than a couple on a farm. The depth Buck goes to describe the land, the conditions and the nuances of the culture make the subject matter compelling.

Hard work, ambition, family struggles, poor v. rich, men v. women, educated v. non-educated, love, romance, thievery, famine – it’s all in the 379-page paperback.