Friends of Hope Valley workday, concert

Friends of Hope Valley’s annual workday is June 9 starting at 9am.

Meet at Pickett’s Junction to join in a work party. Projects include watershed habitat improvement, highway clean up and fence work. Bring work gloves, shovels, sun

block, hats and a snack. Projects will be completed by 11:30, allowing time to join the celebrations at Woodfords.

At Mad Dog Cafe a trio of local authors will be signing their local history books. Then at the newly-opened cafe there will be free hors d’oeuvres. Friends of Hope Valley membership meeting will be at the Café following the celebration.

The Friends of Hope Valley is a nonprofit organization whose members share a deep affection for the unspoiled beauty of the Sierra’s Eastern slope in Alpine County.

On June 10 Back Forty Bluegrass band will return for a Friends of Hope Valley benefit concert. This event will take place at Sorensen’s Resort in Hope Valley. Accompanying the Back Forty will be “local folkies” Larry Nair and Beth Oliverto, the Ten Dollar Pony.

Sorensen’s Resort will match the funds raised by the $10 tickets for the concert. The concert is from 1-4pm.

For more information, email info@hopevalley.com.




The forgotten history of Memorial Day

By Richard Gardiner, The Conversation

In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country.

The holiday was Memorial Day, and this year’s commemoration on May 28 marks the 150th anniversary of its official nationwide observance. The annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead.

Gen. John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time, the Grand Army of the Republic, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday.

Yet when Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Union’s former enemies, saying, “It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South.”

I’m a scholar who has written – with co-author Daniel Bellware – a history of Memorial Day. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holiday’s birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday came into being.

Generous acts bore fruit

During 1866, the first year of this annual observance in the South, a feature of the holiday emerged that made awareness, admiration and eventually imitation of it spread quickly to the North.

During the inaugural Memorial Day observances which were conceived in Columbus, Ga., many Southern participants – especially women – decorated graves of Confederate soldiers as well as, unexpectedly, those of their former enemies who fought for the Union.

Shortly after those first Memorial Day observances all across the South, newspaper coverage in the North was highly favorable to the ex-Confederates.

“The action of the ladies on this occasion, in burying whatever animosities or ill-feeling may have been engendered in the late war toward those who fought against them, is worthy of all praise and commendation,” wrote one paper.

On May 9, 1866, the Cleveland Daily Leader lauded the Southern women during their first Memorial Day.

“The act was as beautiful as it was unselfish, and will be appreciated in the North.”

The New York Commercial Advertiser, recognizing the magnanimous deeds of the women of Columbus, Ga., echoed the sentiment. “Let this incident, touching and beautiful as it is, impart to our Washington authorities a lesson in conciliation.”

Power of a poem

To be sure, this sentiment was not unanimous. There were many in both parts of the U.S. who had no interest in conciliation.

But as a result of one of these news reports, Francis Miles Finch, a Northern judge, academic and poet, wrote a poem titled “The Blue and the Gray.” Finch’s poem quickly became part of the American literary canon. He explained what inspired him to write it:

“It struck me that the South was holding out a friendly hand, and that it was our duty, not only as conquerors, but as men and their fellow citizens of the nation, to grasp it.”

Finch’s poem seemed to extend a full pardon to the South: “They banish our anger forever when they laurel the graves of our dead” was one of the lines.

Almost immediately, the poem circulated across America in books, magazines and newspapers. By the end of the 19th century, schoolchildren everywhere were required to memorize Finch’s poem. The ubiquitous publication of Finch’s rhyme meant that by the end of 1867, the southern Memorial Day holiday was a familiar phenomenon throughout the entire, and recently reunited, country.

Logan was aware of the forgiving sentiments of people like Finch. When Logan’s order establishing Memorial Day was published in various newspapers in May 1868, Finch’s poem was sometimes appended to the order.

‘The blue and the grey’

It was not long before Northerners decided that they would not only adopt the Southern custom of Memorial Day, but also the Southern custom of “burying the hatchet.” A group of Union veterans explained their intentions in a letter to the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph on May 28, 1869:

“Wishing to bury forever the harsh feelings engendered by the war, Post 19 has decided not to pass by the graves of the Confederates sleeping in our lines, but divide each year between the blue and the grey the first floral offerings of a common country. We have no powerless foes. Post 19 thinks of the Southern dead only as brave men.”

Other reports of reciprocal magnanimity circulated in the North, including the gesture of a 10-year-old who made a wreath of flowers and sent it to the overseer of the holiday, Col. Leaming, in Lafayette, Ind., with the following note attached, published in the New Hampshire Patriot on July 15, 1868:

“Will you please put this wreath upon some rebel soldier’s grave? My dear papa is buried at Andersonville, (Georgia) and perhaps some little girl will be kind enough to put a few flowers upon his grave.”

President Abraham Lincoln’s wish that there be “malice toward none” and “charity for all” was visible in the magnanimous actions of participants on both sides, who extended an olive branch during the Memorial Day observances in those first three years.

Although not known by many today, the early evolution of the Memorial Day holiday was a manifestation of Lincoln’s hope for reconciliation between North and South.

Richard Gardiner is an associate professor of history education at Columbus State University.




Road Beat: Toyota Corolla XSE lacks performance

The 2018 Toyota Corolla XSE does not get high marks in all categories. Photos/Larry Weitzman

By Larry Weitzman

Maybe it was too spiffed up to compete with other compact sporty models, or maybe it was for good looks, but if it was spiffed up and made to sound good by adding TRD (Toyota Racing Development) Performance Exhaust and Performance air filter, that addition does little if anything to improve the vehicle performance. When it comes to sporty performance in a compact, Corolla XSE is not the leader and by a long shot.

Corolla’s new body, introduced a couple of years ago, is certainly a looker and looks is a huge ingredient in a customer’s purchase decision, but it still lacks in the performance department. It should be said, the XSE does a great job for its rated horsepower of 132 from its 1.8L DOHC 16 valve four banger that also produces 128 pounds of peak twist at 4,400 rpm.

Corolla is one of those default cars that people buy who want a good car that is reliable and bullet proof as a bank vault. Nothing to think about as Corolla will give you all that and more.

Corollas drive the front wheels via a six-speed manual tranny or a stepped CVT which runs smoother than greased silk. In my XSE tester it had paddle shifters to give you six pre-selected ratios which are created by the computer and not by actual gears as with a planetary gear-set.

Specifications
Price $25,337 with destination
Engine
1.8L DOHC 16 valve inline four cylinder with VVT-I 132 hp @ 6,000 rpm
128 lb.-ft of torque @ 4,400 rpm
Transmission
CVT (S model)
Six-speed manual
Configuration
Transverse front engine/front wheel drive
Dimensions
Wheelbase 106.3 inches
Length 183.1 inches
Width 69.9 inches
Height 57.3 inches
Tread (track) (f/r) 59.8/59.9 inches
Ground Clearance 5.6 inches
Weight 2,845 pounds
Fuel capacity 13.2 gallons
Passenger volume 97.1 cubic feet
Trunk volume 13.0 cubic feet
Steering lock to lock 3.19 turns
Turning circle 35.6 feet
Wheels 17X7 inch alloys
Tires 215/45X17 inch all season radials
Co-efficient of drag 0.29
Performance
0-60 mph 8.31 seconds
50-70 mph 4.58 seconds
50-70 mph uphill 7.66 seconds
Top Speed Well into triple digits
Fuel economy EPA rated 28/35/31 mpg city/highway/combined. Expect 41 mpg plus on the highway at legal speed and 33-35 mpg overall in rural country driving.

In my XSE version, the Corolla was an overachiever (maybe Toyota underrates the hp) knocking off 0-60 mph in about 8 seconds posting an elapsed time of 8.31 seconds. Passing times are also respectable recording a 50-70 mph sprint in 4.58 seconds and the same run up a 6-7 percent grade of 7.66 seconds. It is the best performing Corolla I’ve tested in 20 years. I never tested one before that anyway. And while tip-in is a bit soft, once under way, say from 10 mph, this Corolla feels very responsive which might be enhanced by the exhaust note, which by the way sounds good at times. Starting the engine definitely gets your attention, but the promises heard are a bit misleading. This XSE is hardly a race car. At speed, at least it’s quiet and the potential droning does not exist. Part throttle response is good as well.

Fuel economy is what Corollas are about and the XSE will not disappoint. EPA numbers are 28/35/31 mpg city/highway/combined. Overall, the XSE averaged between 33-34 mpg and at a constant 70 mph in cruise control on a level highway, the XSE posted an average number in a two-way run of 41.6 mpg. In my round trip to Carson City from Placerville, the XSE averaged 38.6 mpg in 200 miles of moderately aggressive driving with a dozen full throttle passes in the passing zones. Fuel capacity is a diminutive 13.2 gallons.

One of the upgrades with the XSE are bigger wheels and tires with 17 x 7 inch alloys shod with substantial 215/45 series rubber. It also gets upgraded four-wheel disc brakes from rear drums, but otherwise its standard Corolla, with MacPherson struts up front, a semi-independent torsion beam in the rear, two small stab bars, front and rear, slower electric power steering at 3.19 turns lock to lock and not much else. The bigger wheels and tires plus a 60-inch track make the reasonably nimble Corolla a bit more nimble but don’t expect a Toyota 86 here, it’s not. But most Corolla drivers will like its predictability just as they love its reliability as the sun will rise tomorrow.

When it comes to ride and quiet, Corollas shine with a smooth compliant, quiet ride with no noise from its tires or wind. Now in the XSE, engine noise is another story if not the whole story. Get your foot into the gas and it will let you know the engine is making fire, but be aware the size of the fire will be a bit of an optical illusion. It may sound like a rocket sled but it goes more like just a sled.

Safety is all Toyota with Toyota Safety Sense which includes things like lane departure warning and assist, radar cruise and auto high beams and about everything in between. LED low beams while bright have a sharp cut off, but the LED high beams are very good. Brakes are strong.

Toyota “Softex” baths the interior which can almost fool you into thinking its leather and the blue stitching and piping adds a sporty touch, but remember it’s only a touch in the interior and not under the hood. It comes with all the requisite gauges including a large tach and speedo flanking the trip computer/info center. Easy to read and use as is the center stack, sound system and HVAC. No advance college courses necessary.

For a compact car, the EPA rates it as a mid-size as there is a combined 110 cubic feet of internal room with the trunk owning 13 well shaped cubes of that total. It’s a roomy car for just 183 inches of length and 70 inches of width. It’s a pretty good wind cheater with a co-efficient of drag of 0.29.

Sticker for this fanciest of Corollas starts at $22,730 plus $895 for the train and truck from its Cambridge, Ontario assembly plant. My tester had a couple of grand of options including $649 for the TRD performance exhaust, $80 for a TRD air filter and a hundred bucks for a TRD rear sway bar. Save your money or if you want to spend $25 large for a sporty sedan, go for an 86 for about a grand more and get real. And an 86 with an automatic would still be a blast to drive. Total list for my tester was $25,337.

Larry Weitzman has been into cars since he was 5 years old. At 8 he could recite from memory the hp of every car made in the U.S. He has put in thousands of laps on racetracks all over the Western United States.




Tahoe Tails — Adoptable Pets in South Lake Tahoe

Ra

Ra is a beautiful 10-month-old brown tiger longhair cat who was picked up as a stray in Meyers and his owners never claimed him. He is very playful and inquisitive, and is a confident older kitten.

Ra is neutered, microchipped, tested for FIV, and vaccinated. He is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes. Go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter. 

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




Money Matters: 5 money rules to live by

By Nic Abelow

It’s not simply a matter of working harder; it’s much more about using your non-financial skills and talents in new ways to bring you prosperity and a greater sense of personal satisfaction.

Here are five tips to follow when seeking balance in your finances.

Nic Abelow

1.     Access to money is not evenly distributed. Take the time to understand credit scoring and how it can affect your ability to get lower-cost money — in terms of lower credit card rates, auto financing and more. Credit scores are driven off your payment history. If you pay off your credit cards and other bills on time, you will benefit from a higher credit score. But paying late has a negative effect on your score that could result in your paying more for mortgages and other big-ticket items. Home ownership has long been a way for people to build a nest egg. Even if the tax incentives may not be as compelling as they once were, owning a home is a form of forced savings that can build significantly over time.

2.     Think like a business owner. Your greatest asset is your ability to make an income from your unique talents. Thinking like an entrepreneur — even if you have a regular job — is a critical way to survive in the 21st century, when the only certainty is change. At work, do you routinely look for new problems to solve? Are you willing to take on new challenges? As you find opportunities to apply your unique talent and skills, you are reinforcing your value to the organization. Goodwill and flexibility go a long way to creating a career path that you may never have imagined for yourself.

3.     Build work and non-work relationships. Your ability to be successful depends on how well you build relationships with others. These are the folks who can refer you to the next great career opportunity, or a volunteer gig that can bring you great personal satisfaction and happiness. Remember, relationship-building is different from networking. Networking is mostly about what you can get from others. Relationship-building is based on what you have to give others. And don’t forget mentoring as a positive way to give back to your work and non-work communities.

4.     Be positive. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones,” said Willie Nelson, “you’ll start having positive results.” Low self-esteem or lack of confidence are two major reasons why people don’t achieve their goals. Being positive is a self- reinforcing feedback loop. If you catch yourself getting discouraged about a financial or personal setback, turn it around.

5.     Don’t neglect health and happiness. There’s nothing more important than your good health. Having lots of possessions is not wealth. The ancient philosophers have long argued that true wealth and happiness stem from an abundance of the spiritual, not the material. Be sure to take time each day for good diet and exercise, and learn to appreciate that your total well-being depends just as much on these two pillars as it does on your financial security.

Nic Abelow is a certified financial planner and LPL financial advisor with Abelow, Pratt & Associates.




12 must plant pollinator-friendly flowers

By Melinda Myers

Fill your garden with colorful annuals you and the pollinators can enjoy all season long. Look for outstanding varieties chosen by All-America Selections (AAS), a nonprofit plant trialing organization, to brighten your garden, attract pollinators and outperform other varieties on the market.

Attract hummingbirds and second looks from passersby with the vibrant bright orange flowers of Canna South Pacific. This compact variety can be started from seed and was selected as a 2018 AAS winner for its vigorous, full and uniform growth habit.

Echinacea PowWow Wild Berry is a perennial that provides continual bloom without deadheading or grooming. Photo/All-America Selections

Whether it’s spikes of lavender, pink, white or red your garden and container need, you’ll find them in the Salvia Jewel series. Watch the butterflies and hummingbirds stop by for a sip of nectar and the finches feast upon the seeds later in the season.

Add more vertical interest and pollinator appeal in the garden and large planters with Asian Garden Celosia. The bright pink blooms hold their color all season long atop sturdy stems 31- to 40-inches tall. 

Include a few Cupheas, also known as Mexican Heather in containers, borders and mass plantings. FloriGlory Diana has more and larger flowers than its counterparts. The season long bloom of intense magenta flowers made this a winner.

Incorporate beauty even in challenging locations with EnduraScape Pink Bicolor Verbena. As the name implies it is tough as nails, tolerating drought, heat and temperatures in the low teens. Use this spreader in large containers and baskets where you can appreciate the soft pink blooms with their darker center.

Wow visitors and lure pollinators to your garden and containers with Vinca Mega Bloom Orchid Halo. The bright purple blooms with a white eye stand up to heat and humidity without succumbing to disease.

Grow winning varieties of a traditional favorite, zinnia. These low maintenance sun-loving annuals can be started from seed directly in the garden. Add vibrant color to the garden with Queeny Lime, Zowie! Yellow Flame and Magellan Coral. Include smaller scale beauty with Profusion and Zahara varieties.

Gardeners and pollinators love purple coneflowers (Echinacea). Two colorful winning varieties, Cheyenne Spirit and PowWow Wild Berry will fill your garden with color for seasons to come.

Cheyenne Spirit coneflower produces a mix of purple, pink, red and orange flowers along side lighter yellows, creams and white. This compact plant stands tall in wind and rain and is drought tolerant once established.

PowWow Wild Berry coneflower lives up to its name. The vivid deep rose-purple flowers retain their beautiful color all season long. You’ll enjoy continual bloom without deadheading or grooming.

Add more perennial beauty with Twizzle Purple Penstemon. The spikes of vibrant purple blooms are favorites of hummingbirds and other pollinators. Include them in containers for added height or high-impact color anywhere in the landscape.

Extend your budget and increase perennial plantings next year by starting these three winners indoors by late January. Your efforts will be rewarded with flowers that same season.

Don’t let shade stop you from inviting pollinators into the garden. Bounce Pink Flame Impatiens has all the flower power of common impatiens but is resistant to downy mildew. Plus, they are a bit more forgiving if you allow them to wilt. Just add water and they bounce back.

Plant Sunpatiens Spreading Shell Pink in full sun or shade. Enjoy the season long, soft pink flowers even in high heat, rain and humidity. This variety has all the low maintenance beauty of impatiens but is resistant to downy mildew.

Once you’ve added these beauties to your landscape, sit back and enjoy. You and the pollinators will reap the many benefits of these winning additions to your gardens and containers.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including “Small Space Gardening.” She hosts the Great Courses “How to Grow Anything: Food Gardening for Everyone” DVD set and the nationally syndicated “Melinda’s Garden Moment” TV and radio segments.




Oldest Pearl Harbor survivor reflects ahead of Memorial Day

By David Wright, CNN

Ray Chavez is the oldest survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor that launched America’s entry into World War II in 1941.

At 106, the indefatigable veteran has been traveling around the country for years, attending memorial services and commemorations. This week, he met with President Trump in the Oval Office while in Washington for a series of Memorial Day events.

Ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, Chavez reflected on his service, and recounted his experience on the day that President Franklin Roosevelt declared would “live in infamy.”

Read the whole story




Douglas library to help with family research

The Douglas County Public Library will be providing a six-week class on how to use the library’s Heritage Quest database for family and historical research. 

From June 14 to July 26, professional genealogist Yvonne Prettyman will teach the six-week class on Thursdays at the Minden Library from 4-5pm.

Heritage Quest is a free online database with a collection of research materials for tracing family history. The Douglas County Public Library provides access to this database through the library’s digital branch. The database includes Census records, historic city directories, immigration records, and military records among other useful tools.

For more info, call 775.782.9841.




Learn how to raise chickens in the Sierra

Slow Food Lake Tahoe along with former board member and Truckee River Sanctuary owner Polly Triplat will present a Backyard Chicken Raising Skillshare from 10am-noon on June 9 at the Truckee River Sanctuary in Truckee. 

Find out what it takes to start enjoying fresh eggs from your own chickens:  whether you may legally have hens in your town/city; and what it takes to keep them safe from predators. In addition, the workshop will cover basic coop design, feeding, handling and selection of cold hardy breeds. 

The cost of the workshop is $15. Tickets may be purchased online.  




Douglas libraries hosting summer reading programs

The Douglas County Public Library invites all children and teens to participate in the Summer Reading Program. 

Libraries Rock is this year’s theme, with a children’s program for ages 0 to 11 and a teens’ program for ages 12 to 17.  The program runs from June 11 to Aug, 4 at the Minden and Lake Tahoe branches. 

Participants will earn prizes while they maintain and build their reading skills during summer break.  Visit either branch of the library to register.

The Zephyr Cove branch’s kick-off event will be June 13 at 4pm. All of these events are free and open to children of all ages.