Olson Construction beacon of light

On behalf of all of us who do the Highway 89 commute to/from Tahoe City/Truckee, I would like to thank Bruce Olson of Olson Construction for his magnificent lighting display at his Highway 89 office. Those lights were so welcoming, especially in December when it is such a dark, cold, long drive home at night. They made me smile each and every night, and it was my landmark that I was halfway to Truckee. Thank you for what I call “the beacon of happiness.” And we are still enjoying it.

Judy Laverty, Truckee-Tahoe City

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SOS salutes AmeriCorps volunteers

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SOS Outreach wants to thank its 10 active AmeriCorps members, and the many who have come before them, celebrating AmeriCorps Week. This year’s AmeriCorps Week spanned March 9-17, saluting AmeriCorps members and alums for their service to communities across the country. SOS Outreach AmeriCorps members help build SOS�s program capacity and work directly with children in the community, acting as mentors and role models as SOS kids grow into leaders. The positive impact SOS has had on more than 5,000 youth annually across the country would not have been possible without AmeriCorps. To Elise Popp, our Tahoe programs AmeriCorps Coach Across America member, we say Thank You!

SOS Outreach

Poetry Slam success at Truckee Library

The first-ever poetry slam held at the Truckee Library on Friday, March 15, 2013, was a resounding success thanks to the enthusiastic array of poets and listeners, the considerate help of the Friends of the Truckee Libraries — with special shout-outs to Gail Griesmer, Nancy Wilkins and Rolann Aronson — the provision of a gift certificate as a prize from Bookshelf at Hooligan Rocks, the sponsorship of Gail Griesmer and Starbucks for refreshments, and the fine setting of the Truckee Library itself.

Further thanks go to two competing poets for their kind donations of books to the Library: to Elizabeth “Buzzy” Vick for her “Buckles and Buns: Beneath the Big Sky,” and to Ted Thompson for his “The House of the Old Poet and Meetings with the Gods.”

Our winner was the ebullient Ted Thompson, receiving the Bookshelf gift certificate and a cash prize worth at least a fine lunch with wife Mary; the poem about Mary that he wrote and recited for the Slam’s Sudden Death round brought him victory.

Every poet’s work at the Slam shone, well covering the topic of Coming of Age, as based on the Nevada County Reads and Writes 2013 book selection, “Marcelo in the Real World” by Francisco X. Stork. We at the Truckee Library look forward to future imaginative and convivial programs, and welcome our community to participate fully.

Truckee Library

A+ thankful for donations

The A+ Preschool and A+ School Age programs of the First Baptist Church of Tahoe City would like to thank Northstar California and Vail Resorts Echo Grant program for their generous donation of $1,500. Once people heard about the Northstar California/Vail Resorts Echo donation, others began donating money. We were able to purchase 12 I-pads for the children to use. These I-pads are used daily to increase our children’s technology skills. We have 60-90 children a day attending our programs. We are so thankful to live in this wonderful community. More information about A+ can be found at 530-583-2925 or http://www.tahoeministries.com.

A+ School Staff