Being a caregiver is a huge part of your life, often with emotional highs and lows. Learn a powerful acupressure technique called Emotional Freedom Technique that can help you lower your fears, balance your emotions and keep you healthy.

In a safe setting discuss the challenges you face as a caregiver and practice ways of dealing with these challenges. This workshop will include a PowerPoint presentation, demonstration, supervised practice and handouts.

This workshop will be presented by Rosemary Manning. As a resident of South Lake Tahoe for more than 30 years, Manning is a mind-body therapist, practicing at her clinic, Tahoe Health Touch.

Date: Oct. 18

Time: 1-3pm

Location: Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd.,

South Lake Tahoe

To register, call: 800.510.2020

Nevada State Parks is presenting a free Chautauqua-style show Oct. 2 at 10am at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park in Minden. Nevada State Park Ranger Mike Dinauer and community organizer Linda Conlin, will give a Chautauqua presentation on Nevada pioneers Samuel and Eliza Buckland.

In 1859, Samuel Buckland established a ranch and a trading post along the Carson River next to the California Trail in what is now Lyon County. He met his wife, Eliza Prentice, when the wagon train she and her sister were traveling with stopped at his trading post. As Fort Churchill was dismantled in 1870, the Bucklands salvaged materials to build a two-story house for what became an important stop for travelers as they supplied goods to immigrants, travelers and ranchers. The Overland Stage Company kept horses there and Pony Express riders stopped to change mounts. Today, Buckland Station is open to the public as part of Fort Churchill State Historic Park.

Where: The park is located at 1450 Highway 88, one-half mile south of the Carson Valley Swim Center. For further information, call (775) 783.9417.

Other: Chairs and shade shelters are provided by the park.Visitors are welcome to bring lawn chairs, and encouraged to bring drinking water. Dress according to the weather for this outdoor program. Pets should be left at home.

By Howie Nave

I first got the message from New York comic Joe Starr on his Facebook page this past Monday that comedian Greg Giraldo was in the hospital after an accidental overdose at a New Jersey hotel Saturday.

On Tuesday, I heard that Greg was breathing on his own and sent him a text and a Facebook message joking that if he wanted to cancel his gig in Jersey there was probably an easier way to get out of it.

By Wednesday he was dead.

Greg Giraldo and Howie Nave

I was at home sleeping when Nancy called to tell me that Greg had passed away. I’m still stunned.

Barely a month ago comedian Robert Schimmel passed away at the age of 60 from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Greg was 44.

The comedy circle is a very small one so word spread very quickly. I posted on FB that this sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen until one is in their 70s when friends close to you are expected to pass. Not now and not at age 44.

I wasn’t as close to Schimmel as I was to Greg, mainly because Greg at the time I first met him was still doing clubs while Schimmel was doing theaters. I knew Schimmel, but was introduced to him through other comedians.

I knew of Greg when I first started doing stand-up in the late ’90s but didn’t get to work with him until I moved up to Tahoe in 2001 when The Improv first opened at Harrah’s. Greg was booked shortly after and came up here four times. When he started doing those roasts on Comedy Central his career really started to take off. And then this year when he was a judge on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” he was introduced to a whole new audience.

But comedian Jon Stewart said it best when he said Greg was one of those guys you looked forward to hanging out with at the comedy club. You knew you were going to have a fun week when Greg was booked with you. And that was so true because it was offstage where Greg really cracked me up.

But he did more — helping to perfect my craft by giving me pointers and some tag lines for my jokes to give them more of a punch. The coolest thing however was that he said if I gave him a tape, he would get it over to Conan (O’Brien) to get on his show (back when he was on NBC pre-Tonight Show). He was truly one if the good guys.

Greg liked to gamble and one week did so much that when he returned home to New York City he called and asked me to please tell Harrah’s to quit sending him free room reservations because his wife would wonder why he was getting these free offers. I told him that Harrah’s had installed a miniature slot machine over at Harvey’s Arcade just for his kids so they too could start gambling.

I have so many memories of Greg, but mainly that he was always a great guy to just hang with and that when he was booked up here I knew it was going to be a fun week. Today I played clips from some of my favorite Greg Giraldo bits on the radio and all I kept thinking to myself was I wonder what nuggets of genius the world will never get to hear now because he’s gone.

Howie Nave is host/emcee/manager of The Improv at Harveys. You can hear him Monday-Friday 6 to 10am on KRLT FM-93.9.

By Kristi Buffo

PLACERVILLE -– What’s the perfect cap to a day spent celebrating the abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation in El Dorado County? How about music, dancing and food.

On Oct. 2 as part of the first Gateway to the Sierra Sportsman’s & Outdoor Expo, regional band Hired Guns will perform a concert on the green at the fairgrounds in Placerville. Those attending the expo receive free admission. Or, attend the concert only for $5. Food and spirits will be available for purchase.

Hired Guns, based out of Sacramento and featuring vocalist Shawna Lea of Shingle Springs, primarily covers country band but also features a danceable blend of music ranging from new country (think Jason Aldean) to the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Don’t be surprised to find the music of the Rolling Stones and Pat Benatar showing up on the set list either.

With recent concerts at the El Dorado Hills Town Center weekly music series and the center’s inaugural July Fourth fireworks celebration, Hired Guns is quickly making a name for itself and gaining fans in El Dorado County.

Who/What: Concert on the Green featuring Hired Guns

Where: El Dorado County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive in Placerville

When: Oct. 2 beginning at 7pm

Tickets: $5 concert only; free with admission to Saturday’s Sportsman’s & Outdoor Expo.

Every year the South Tahoe Association of Realtors awards scholarships in honor and memory of past president Barbara Kelly. Kelly served as president of the association in 1988.

Successful applicants to the STAR Barbara Kelly Memorial Scholarship must be graduating seniors with at least a 3.2gpa, be an offspring or a step-child of a current STAR Realtor or affiliate member, and plan to attend college or a trade school after graduation.

This year STAR is giving $750 to two young women to help defray the costs of continuing education.

This year’s scholarship award recipients are Kelly Johnson, daughter of affiliate members Paul and Anne Johnson of Homes and Land Magazine, and Katie Poet, daughter of Realtor member Bob Poet of Coldwell Banker Select-Round Hill.

Kelly Johnson

Johnson graduated from Sierra Lutheran High School in Minden and is attending Whitworth College in Spokane.

Katie Poet

Poet graduated from Whittell High School and is at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe.

By Jaclyn O’Malley, Reno Gazette-Journal

Recent headlines of violence — from double murders to child kidnappings — committed by suspects with a history of mental illness, is causing concern to local mental health advocates who say there is a lack of awareness on the issue.

A Friday conference hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness Northern Nevada chapter — free to the public — could provide families with some help, said NAMI president Bunchie Tyler. A continental breakfast and lunch will also be provided.

Tyler said mental health experts at the conference will be discussing treatment and medications, coping strategies, how to erase stigma toward mental illness and describing what local resources are available. NAMI officials will also be donating $10,000 to the Reno Police Department so that it can continue to maintain its specialized van used for transporting mentally ill persons in crisis to treatment facilities.

Tyler, who also teaches a 12-week course for relatives of the mentally ill, said recent news stories regarding mentally ill suspects committing acts of violence demonstrates a lack of available treatment, or awareness that the person needs immediate psychiatric help. For example, Eyward Pereyra, of Reno, remains jailed without bail on charges he fatally stabbed his elderly parents in an August unprovoked attack, and tried to kill his brother. Court records show he has a history of mental illness, including two stints in the county’s mental health court. At the time of the slayings, he was an out-patient at the state mental hospital in Reno, according to court records.

Read the whole story

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

By Marie Walsh, Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The local community, and our own membership, was overwhelmingly responsive to our January 30 and 31 showing of the 1936 classic, “Rose Marie.”

The Tuesday evening showing was a delight to our members-only crowd who nostalgically appreciated the opportunity to see the production that was filmed, almost in its entirety, at the South Shore’s own Cascade Lake and Emerald Bay.

A standing-room-only crowd was on hand for the Wednesday evening showing, including several persons from the communities of Pollock Pines, Carson City and Alpine County!

Our final tally shows $303.50 taken in for general admissions, and $112.50 in new memberships and renewals. Deducting $100 for the film’s rental cost, we arrive at a net profit of $216.00! Profit figures are indeed exciting, but perhaps even more important to us at this time is our much-appreciated membership increase – 37 new members and 7 renewals!

With the film having been so enthusiastically received, it is our feeling that other such productions filmed at Lake Tahoe might be enjoyed by our members and the local community. A very good possibility exists of obtaining “Lightnin,” the movie made at Cascade Lake in the early 1930’s and starring Will Rogers.

And with “Rose Marie” having been such a marvelous money-maker, it might behoove us to consider showing it again this summer for the tourist crowd, as well as for those who missed our January showings.

By Reno Gazette-Journal

For some brides, the mere thought of attending a wedding planning event is enough to make them consider a quick ceremony at a drive-through Las Vegas chapel. Alas, Stephanie Anderson, of One Fine Day, said an event-planning company, would like to dispel such outlandish notions with some helpful tips for successfully navigating — and enjoying — the event.

Read the whole story

By Edward Ortiz, Sacramento Bee

Patronage of the arts in Placer County is on the rise. At the end of 2009 arts organizations experienced a 13 percent increase in audiences, according to Karen Killebrew with PlacerArts.

And to capitalize on that good news Placer County’s arts and culture organizations have joined together to create an umbrella brand for the arts in Placer County.

Read the whole story

El Dorado Arts Council and the El Dorado County Office of Economic Development want to know what’s good about the arts business climate and how it can be made even better.

During the month of October, artists, arts organizations, arts businesses and arts venues are asked to participate in the county’s first Arts Census.

“The goal of the Arts Census is to better define the creative sector of our local economy. We want to know how many practicing artists, musicians, actors, dancers, writers and poets there are in El Dorado County. Galleries, music stores, frame shops and other arts-related businesses are part of the creative economy, too. Finding out how they perceive the business climate is important,” Deb Jensen, executive director of the El Dorado Arts Council, said in a press release.

She noted that there are dozens of nonprofit arts organizations as well as venues that integrate the arts, like wineries and cafes, that play a significant role in the local economy.

The Arts Census will be conducted throughout the month of October and will include all communities from South Lake Tahoe to El Dorado Hills, and Cool to Somerset. Artists, arts businesses, and arts organizations may call to schedule an Arts Census interview, which will take about 15 minutes to conduct. Contact Deb Jensen, djensen@eldoradoartscouncil.org

Volunteers are needed to help conduct the Arts Census. Training for volunteers is Oct. 2 at ArtSpace, 459 Main St., Placerville. Volunteers who live in South Lake Tahoe are encouraged to participate and will have a separate training, details to be determined. Contact the arts council at (530) 295.3496 or EDAC@eldoradoartscouncil.org.