For the third consecutive year Artown has earned recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts with a $30,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant. Artown’s monthlong festival was recognized by the NEA’s grant based on three key areas: preserving diverse cultural heritage; making the arts more widely available in communities; and supporting artistic creativity. The grant award, made under the NEA’s new philosophy that “art works,” also recognizes Artown for strengthening the Reno community’s economy and artistic identity.

The $30,000 grant is an increase of $10,000 over the past two years’ awards and is one of four NEA grants awarded to organizations in Nevada and the only one for an arts presenter. The one-year grant allows Artown to continue to fulfill its mission presenting a culturally and artistically diverse array of exhibits and performances in Reno throughout July. The more than 400 events, 60 percent free, that Artown presents annually draw more than 300,000 attendees from all walks of life allowing access to a multitude of arts experiences.

Throughout its 15 years, Artown has proved itself as an economic driver for Reno and the surrounding communities with nearly $100 million in estimated total wealth. It has not only brought money into the community through tourism and federal grant funding, but also encouraged spending within the community by attracting attendees downtown to enjoy dining, shopping and the arts.

Plans for the 16th annual Artown, July 1-31, are under way with festival favorites such as the Monday Night Music Series, Family Series, World Music Series, Movies in the Park, Dancing in the Park and the Discover the Arts children’s series making its return.

For more information Artown, visit www.RenoIsArtown.com or call (775) 322.1538.

Mount Shasta keyboardist, harmonica and tabla player Anton Mizerak, singer Laura Berryhill and Nepali maestro flautist Manose will present an afternoon of transformational healing music, Nepali folk tunes and chants from around the world on Dec. 12 at noon at Unity at the Lake in South Lake Tahoe.

Mizerak lives in Mount Shasta and writes his music in nature, believing that the organic experience of sun, wind, water, snow and earth, transmitted through music, can be a valuable nurturing and healing experience.

Mizerak plays keyboards and harmonica. His music has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio show “Echoes” and on the digital New Age Music format “Soundscapes”.

Unity at the Lake meets at the Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. For more information, call (530) 544.2266. A $10 donation is suggested.

Law enforcement personnel from the Reno and Sparks police departments, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Nevada Highway Patrol are teaming up to conduct a DUI checkpoint this weekend.

With grant funding provided by the Northern Nevada DUI Task Force, the administrative roadblock will be taking place Dec. 11 from 5-11pm on Kietzke Lane in Reno.

This is the time of year where businesses, families and friends make plans by getting together to celebrate the holiday season; and often alcohol is part of these festivities. Whenever alcohol is part of recreational activities, motorists should always plan their events safely and responsibly by completely refraining from driving, designating a safe and sober driver, or utilizing public transportation.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a preventable crime; yet everyday at least one motorist in Washoe County is placed under arrest for this offense and is taken to jail.As for the checkpoint, officers, deputies and troopers will be screening traffic on southbound Kietzke Lane between South McCarran Boulevard and Neil Road.

North Lake Tahoe Troop 266 Boy Scouts and Venture Crew is selling Christmas trees this holiday season at Lighthouse Shopping Center in Tahoe City. The naturally grown and hand-harvested Christmas trees are environmentally sound.

Purchasing your Christmas tree from Troop 266 is a “green” way to celebrate the holiday season while helping support local youth.

There will be a wide selection of trees harvested by scouts in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service as part of the forest fuel reduction and forest health thinning project in the Bowman Lake area. No trees from commercial Christmas tree farms are offered for sale. All trees are free of pesticides and other chemical additives.

When fully recycled after use, these naturally grown Christmas trees have the smallest carbon footprint compared to farmed Christmas trees and artificial trees.

Scouts hand select each tree for size, fullness, shape and color. Scouts then transport trees to Tahoe City for temporary storage at the Williamson Yard on River Road. Each tree is inspected for freshness and trimmed if necessary before display at the Troop 266 Christmas Tree Lot at Lighthouse Center.

Following the holiday season, trees can be recycled by local waste management companies for mulch ground cover used in landscaping and environmental restoration projects.

Trees are priced at a very economical $5 per foot. Trees can be cut to order and range in height from five to 14 feet. Complimentary tree stands manufactured by Boy Scouts are included with each tree.

The tree lot will be at the Lighthouse Shopping Center, 840 N Lake Blvd., Tahoe City, near Tootsie’s and Chinese Cuisine Restaurant.

The lot is open 3-5pm weekdays and 10am-5pm weekends.

All profits from the sales of the trees fund Scout programs, including summer camps, educational outings and merit badge workshops.

For information about the lot and availability of trees, call (530) 314.9480.

By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal

One of the more respected history experts in the Auburn area has just come out with a new book and “Romantic Tahoe” is a labor of love that should be of particular interest in the Tahoe area.

Donna Howell, a former vice president of the Placer County Historical Foundation and a past president of the Placer County Historical Society, is an Auburn native who has already been author or co-author of a number of locally oriented history publications, including the well-received “Auburn Images.”

This time around, Howell has pulled out more than 75 photos from her own collection – many of them shot by relatives – to help tell the story of the period from 1929 to 1935 at the Forest Service Campground and Ranger Station at Incline, on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe at Crystal Bay.

Howell co-writes this book with her late mother, Kathryn Howell – who as a new bride spent five summers and two winters with her Forest Ranger husband Jim Howell. Much of the writing comes from journals kept by Kathryn Howell, with her daughter filling in some of the historical context.

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Artist and graphic novelist Jared Manninen will show his work and take orders for his first graphic novel at Bona Fide Books on Dec. 17 from 7-9 pm.

An assortment of his original artwork will be available for sale, and the art for his graphic novel will be on display.

Bona Fide is located behind the Getaway Cafe in Meyers.

By Kathryn Reed

CAMP RICHARDSON — Imagine nearly a hundred people in your house eating dinner and you don’t know most of them.

That was the reality Saturday night for Dee Dee and Raymond Goodrich. They used to own the Heller Estate. On Dec. 4 they were special guests for the Tahoe Tallac Association’s annual gala.

It was about 10 years since they were last in Lake Tahoe. The Goodrichs, who will have been married 68 years in January, came up in the summer. On camera they told stories of what life was like when they summered on the shores of Lake Tahoe, what the house was like, how it was decorated.

Dee Dee and Raymond Goodrich

Sitting near the large fireplace in what is now known as the Grand Hall, members of the family chatted before the festivities began. Then they took their seat at the head table.

The couple, who reside in Santa Cruz, spoke a bit with Lake Tahoe News that night about their 10 years of owning what is now considered a historic estate. They bought the property from Wilber Kuhl in 1955. He had bought it from heirs of Walter and Claire Heller who first built the estate in the 1920s.

Raymond Goodrich is quick to say he wished he’d never sold the place in 1965. At the time, the property was owned with two other couples. One of the partners died and the Goodrichs didn’t have the money to buy the others out.

Each couple stayed one month during the summer. The Goodrichs said they had it best with August being their month.

Three fireplaces kept the wide-open wood and rock structure warm. Even though central heating has since been installed, the single-pane windows and drafty old doors prove spending the night at the estate would be a chilling experience.

But it was those cold winters that provided refrigeration all summer for the Goodrichs and others. Raymond Goodrich explained how part of what is now the boathouse theater was an icehouse. Ed Zeller was the caretaker who lived year-round at the estate in a building near the boathouse that no longer exists. He made sure the blocks of ice were ready for summer.

“There was enough to last all summer,” Goodrich said of the ice.

The couple describes the stove they had as “monstrous.”

“It had eight burners and in the middle a griddle,” Dee Dee Goodrich said.

Her husband recalls many a morning watching Dee Dee making stacks and stacks of pancakes.

The expansive bottom floor where festivities are conducted is the same as it was when originally built. So is the U-shape upstairs.

Dee Dee Goodrich said besides the two suites there were three other bedrooms.

“There was a big sleeping porch, which was everyone’s favorite,” she said.

Raymond Goodrich often had to fly in for the weekends. At that time Lake Tahoe Airport’s runway was 6,000 feet. It’s 8,541 feet now. Having been a Navy pilot during World War II gave him plenty of practice landing on small strips.

The Goodrichs are pleased to see their old home being well cared for by the Tahoe Tallac Association. The association operates the summer arts festival at their old home and the boathouse. The vast lawn where croquet was once played by the Goodrich family, now is seldom used because of limitations the U.S. Forest Service has imposed on the association. The land is owned by the Forest Service, which acquired the property in 1971 from the South Tahoe Valhalla Corporation, the group the Goodrichs sold to. That group had planned to turn the area into a members-only yacht club.

While the land is now in public ownership, the Forest Service limits the access and uses. The 30-plus year prickly relationship between the arts group and Forest Service is said to be gradually softening.

By Anita Creamer, Sacramento Bee

Through Dec. 15, more than 50 stores, nonprofit businesses and senior facilities in the Sacramento region will collect gifts to help brighten the holiday season for the area’s needy elderly. The program, which is designed to help seniors in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties, is called Be a Santa to a Senior and is sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care.

The local effort is an offshoot of a national program that has distributed 1.2 million gifts in the past six years.

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Cricket is an energetic little black Chihuahua. His tail never stops wagging. He is very sweet, loves to go for walks, and he gets along well with other dogs.

He even seems to get along with cats.

Cricket is about 2 years old and would love to go home soon.

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

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

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

— Karen Kuentz

Dec. 6 begins the two weeks during which community members may come into Zephyr Cove Elementary School to choose an ornament off the Giving Tree.

The Giving Tree is an annual event that gives the community a chance to support one another. The gifts listed on the ornaments are for children within the community whose parents are unable to provide them with gifts.

Zephyr Cove Elementary Principal Nancy Cauley with the Giving Tree. Photo/Tracy Owen Chapman

Each ornament has three parts, each with a gift listed on the backside. All of the ornaments are numbered and should be attached to/returned with the gifts purchased.

All gifts are due back to the school by Dec. 16.