Four young women from the South Shore are being recognized for making the community and world a better place through their volunteerism.

Riana Cerceo, Haley Dressell, Allyson Marchus and Alejandra Medina will be formally recognized March 8 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on National Women’s Day. Each will also receive $100.

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe and Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra give the Violet Richardson Award each year to young women ages 14-17.

The Soroptimist Women’s Opportunity Awards honor women who provide the primary financial support for their families, and who are enrolled in or have been accepted to a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program, to help them with their education. This year the two South Lake Tahoe Soroptimist clubs are awarding Tiffany Reid and Lisa Shafer the distinction, with come with a check for $2,000.

Lake Tahoe is on top of Rand McNally’s list of where travelers are headed this season to ski.

The agency’s travel experts say the West is drawing more skiers than other area in the United States or Canada based on 2010-11 bookings.

The top destinations based on bookings are:

1. Lake Tahoe

2. Steamboat Springs

3. Vail

4. Aspen

5. Breckenridge

6. Telluride

7. Quebec

8. Stowe

9. Jackson Hole

10. Whistler

Jori Turner’s fifth-grade class from Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Magnet School in Meyers had no problem navigating through the unexpected stormy weather during the Winter Trek Environmental Education program earlier this month.

Classes from as far away as Grass Valley and Fallon have participated in this great outdoor learning program. The

three-hour curriculum based snowshoe program is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Explore Tahoe and the Tahoe Heritage Foundation.

It takes place at the top of the Heavenly Gondola Jan. 10 through March 31.

Shortly after the Tucson incident of Jan. 8, Emily Rankin, director of Alumnae Relations at Scripps College in Claremont, was in contact with the congresswoman’s husband, Capt. Mark Kelly. She inquired how the Scripps community could best show its support for Gabby Giffords and the other victims.

Kelly replied his wife’s pet project is food banks. January and February happen to usually be the lowest donation months.

Rankin sent an email to grads and current students – some of whom live on the South Shore – to see if they might support this effort in their communities.

Christmas Cheer and the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center are taking donations in Giffords’ name in honor of all the shooting victims.

Parenting expert Tyler Durman will speak at South Tahoe Middle School on Feb. 8 from 7-8:15pm.

The talk is entitled “Bite-Sized Wisdom for Parent of Teenagers.”

The event is free.

• Amador Stage Lines is offering a season pass on its buses for people traveling between the South Shore and the Reno airport. For more information, call (775) 691.2788.

• Placer County this month changed its retirement benefits.

• Steven Hemphill has been hired to be the communications manager at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

• Plans are moving forward so in 2012 or 2013 construction of the 9.5-mile Martis Valley Regional Trail between Truckee and Lake Tahoe would be under way.

• Luigi’s Tahoe Pizzeria is open at the bottom of Kingsbury Grade in Stateline.

• Soroptimist International Tahoe Sierra is working on the Solar Cooker Project to help refugees who have fled the genocide of Darfur. For information about donating to the cause, email Mandy Kendall at mandykendall1@gmail.com.

Members of the Generation Green of Lake Tahoe, a partnership club of the U.S. Forest Service that promotes community stewardship and leadership, had the opportunity to meet with the U.S. State Department appointed Cultural Ambassadors and Grammy Award-winning band OZOMATLI.

The band members, in town for a concert at MontBleu in Stateline, talked to the students about the importance of seeking education and new opportunities.

A fundraiser for the Hudson family will be Jan. 31 fro 5-8pm in the multipurpose room at South Tahoe Middle School.

Scott Hudson was a teacher at the school who died earlier this month.

Dinner will from 5-7pm, with silent auction from 7-8pm.

Advance tickets are $10 adults, $5 children under 8 and seniors, $25 for a family; at the door the cost goes up $5. Tickets are available at the district office at 1021 Al Tahoe Blvd. Make checks payable to Marsha Hudson. An account has been set up at U.S. Bank.

For more information, call (530) 541.6404.

Leo Drozdoff, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Director, announced today that Steve Robinson will serve as his designee on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Governing Board.

Robinson served as the transition director from outgoing

“I have followed TRPA for about 30 years — since college,” Robinson said in a press release. “It is an honor to be selected to serve on its board.”

Prior to working for Gov. Jim Gibbons, he worked in Gov. Kenny Guinn’s office from 2003 to 2007, after having served as Nevada State Forester and director of the National Interagency Fire Center. In his capacity as deputy chief of staff, he also oversaw all environmental permitting and regulatory activities. In addition, he supervised the governor’s Washington, D.C., office and was Guinn’s staff counsel to the Western Governors Association.

• El Dorado County Board of Supervisors is having a public hearing Feb. 1 regarding the proposed South Tahoe Refuse 1.9 percent rate increase. The meeting is in Placerville at 9am. It would raise rates 50 cents per month and be effective starting that day.

• Sierra-at-Tahoe’s superpipe is open – the only one on the South Shore. To showcase the superpipe and terrain parks the resort will host the Gatorade Free Flow Tour on Feb. 5, Far West Slopestyle Competition Feb. 12, and USASA Superpipe Competition Feb. 27.

• A funny video to show you how not to get snow off your roof.

• A photo of the Thunderbird taken by Tahoe City’s Steve Lapkin is on the cover of the January issue of Yachting magazine.

• Robert M. Weygandt, in his fifth term on the Placer County Board of Supervisors, is now chairman of the board.

• Read this to find out what Carl Ribaudo of SMG thinks the tourism trends for 2011 will be.