Send Easter service information
Please send faith-based items, from holiday services, potlucks, plays to after school programs to Community Editor Amy Edgett at aedgett@sierrasun.com. Item should be 200-300 words and include the 5ws: Who, what when, where, why and how (contact information, phone number, website). Hi resolution photos with credit and identification also welcome. Remember to enter your event/service online at sierrasun.com/calendar with a 50-75 word description.

Monte Carlo Night in Vinton
The Rotary Club of Loyalton will be hosting their 17th annual Monte Carlo Night at the Sierra Valley Grange Hall in Vinton March 13. This great social event gives folks the chance to be “High Rollers” with play money as they try their luck at their choice of Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and Bingo, and be a support to Rotary’s local scholarship program.
Tickets are $10 pre-sale from a Rotarian, or $15 at the door. “This is the best entertainment value aroun

The Rotary Club of Loyalton will be hosting their 17th annual Monte Carlo Night at the Sierra Valley Grange Hall in Vinton March 13. This great social event gives folks the chance to be “High Rollers” with play money as they try their luck at their choice of Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and Bingo, and be a support to Rotary’s local scholarship program.
Tickets are $10 pre-sale from a Rotarian, or $15 at the door. “This is the best entertainment value around” said Rotarian Sam Wilbanks. “There just isn’t anywhere you can have as much fun with a night out for less.” Wilbanks added. Ticket holders receive a “stake” of $2,500 of play money plus two complimentary drink tickets. A silent auction featuring great items from local merchants and others is also available to players. Wonderful door prizes and raffle items spice up the evening’s entertainment. As the night progresses, winnings accumulate, and tension builds as playe

TRUCKEE, Calif. – The big fix for Truckee’s arch-shaped vehicle undercrossing may not yet be certain, but it appears some interim measures are on the way this summer.
The Town of Truckee and Caltrans are working on plans to make the Highway 89 south undercrossing of the Union Pacific Railroad, known as the Mousehole, more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists.
Their long-term plan is to build a second tunnel specifically for non-motorized use to the east of the main tunnel, but uncertain funding and approval from Union Pacific mean the soonest such a solution could be constructed would be 2012, said Dan Wilkins, director of public works and engineering for the town.
In the short term, Wilkins said Caltrans is planning work this summer – including more modifications to the guardrails on either side, lighting inside the tunnel and a flashing light activated by pedestrians to let drivers know someone is walking in the tunnel.
“About six months ago, Caltrans cont

Tahoe Youth Ballet will present its second performance featuring local and guest artists in its Spring Season, March 19 and 20, 7 p.m., North Tahoe High School Theater, 2945 Polaris Road, Tahoe City.
The program will feature guest artist Stephen Straub of Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet with six of Tahoe’s finest young dancers. Works presented include ballets by Artistic Director Christin Hanna in addition to Royal Danish Ballet’s Constantine Baecher, former New York City Ballet dancer Deborah Wingert and Madame Peff Modelski.
The program in March will feature four ballets. Straub and the entire company of dancers will open the program in Deborah Wingert’s “La Derniere Valse,” a world premiere to the romantic music of Maurice Ravel. Peff Modelski’s “Celebration Tarantella” is a lively dance for three ladies to an excerpt from Ottorino Respighi’s “La Boutique Fantasque.” In the evening’s second world premiere, Artistic Director Chri

TAHOE CITY, Calif. – Bicyclists and bus riders will soon start to see some changes along Highway 28 as the beginning stage of a transportation transformation along Lake Tahoe’s north and west shores gets under way.
On Feb. 23, the Placer County Board of Supervisors gave the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association a green light to spend $202,260 on five new North Tahoe bus shelters, 24 informational map signs along 19 miles of trail and 13 bear-proof trash cans at transit shelters.
“They’re much better than the old slopped together wooden shelters that are out there,” said Steve Teshara, NLTRA executive director. “It’s an aesthetic improvement even if you don’t ride transit.”
Construction begins this spring, Teshara said. The shelters, which include paved turnouts and sidewalks, will be situated on the westbound side of State Highway 28, east of Tahoe City near old Mill and Fabian roads, eastbound at National Avenue in Tahoe Vista and in the north and south

A whole lot of cross-country skiers wigged out last Sunday. Not because they didn’t have the stamina to finish the 30 kilometer (approximately 18 mile) Great Race. It’s customary for many racers to dress up in costumes – and many accessorized their costumes with wigs. It was the second largest Great Ski Race for the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team in its 34-year existence, due mainly to the great weather conditions. Participants came from near and far – from Tahoe/Truckee to Maine and New York. Ages ranged from 7 to 77. A whole contingent of local high school students skied in prom dresses, and several entire school ski teams participated including five members of the very young Strider Gliders. As usual, the GSR cheerleaders were on hand, this year dressed as belly dancers, doling out endless encouragement to help racers make it to the end of the long race. It was like one big party of friends and family along the course.
“Northstar-at-Tahoe and Tahoe Cross Coun

Who’s who of Truckee Tahoe business people packed the Cedar House Sports Hotel conference room for a Social Media Marketing workshop Wednesday. Presented by the Sierra Human Resource Association, and the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee Chambers of Commcerce, speakers included SHRA president-elect Laura Moriarty, social evangelist Rita P. Best, and Northstar Resort’s Colleen Dalton, interactive marketing director, Renee Lopez, web content specialsit and Kirstin Cattell, marketing and communications manager. Topics included branding, history of communication, social media by category and proactive steps you can take. For information abut future workshops, visit www.sierrahra.com and sierrasun.com.

Truckee – Home Concepts’ designer Marcio Decker’s luxurious French chateau-inspired Reno home project is featured in the current issue of Distinctive Kitchen Solutions magazine.
The homeowners had a grand vision for the Pecetti Ranch Estates residence and the Truckee, Calif-based designer was eager to bring it to life incorporating fine custom carved cabinetry and lavish building materials. Tops on the homeowners’ wish list was a master suite that was essentially a first-floor retreat in its own wing, including a bedroom with a fireplace, a walk-in closet and an oversized bathroom with a sauna and his-and-her vanities.
“To fashion the desired French ambience, Decker decided on a rich neutral palette that mixed materials and patterns – some a bit updated and even modern, so the room wouldn’t seem stuck in the past,” the article explains.
Decker says he was extremely pleased with the project’s outcome and happy to have it feature

Our USSA athletes came to the Olympics in Vancouver prepared and focused to achieve their goals. They brought in great experience and worked together as a Team, building momentum off the success of others.
Tahoe, you should be very proud! As an important region in our sports, you played a significant role in our athletes’ Olympic success. Your resorts and USSA club programs have produced great champions like two-time Vancouver silver medalist Julia Mancuso and bronze medalist Shannon Bahrke from Squaw Valley, as well as providing a home base at Sierra-at-Tahoe for one of snowboarding’s greatest stars, Vancouver silver medalist Hannah Teter, plus many more Olympians.
Today’s athletes have taken advantage of the long-term planning and development of the USSA’s athletic pipeline system. That pipeline begins with our grassroots clubs like the many programs in your area at ski and snowboarding resorts around the region.
Just as each of our medalists had his or her

What do you want to learn?
Active-minded adults are filling the classroom at Sierra College one evening each month to learn something new (or old!) from local professors. The aptly named Experts & Insights program features research-based lectures, dramatic presentations, slide shows, discussion and academic perspectives on an array of subjects and issues. Recent topics ranged from The Psychology of Humor, Understanding Afghanistan to a Chautauqua performance of Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln. Kimberly Bateman, Dean of Sierra College, Tahoe-Truckee campus, says “I enjoy the richness of having a wide range of topics for our series … I like that it is reflective of the general education curriculum and draws in people who are interested in many things.”
Experts & Insights meets at 7:30 p.m., second Fridays of each month and is offered at no charge, thanks to the generosity of the presenters and Sierra College. Many students arrive early to enjoy socializing ove