Quinn

Quinn is an 18-month-old German shepherd mix. She is a very sweet and energetic puppy, and she loves the snow and going for walks.

Quinn is spayed, microchipped, tested for heart worm, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many 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

Dave McClure

Lake Tahoe’s ultimate maître d’ has died. David Alan McClure was special and one of a kind.

He died Feb. 24, 2018, of organ failure at Renown Medical Center in Reno. He was 67.

In a 2012 story about Mr. McClure in Lake Tahoe News he said, “My job is to change people’s experiences. You never know who will be standing in front of you. People plan their whole vacations around who they can see and when they can see them.”

Mr. McClure moved to the mountains in 1979 when the Park Tahoe Hotel opened, which then became Caesars Tahoe and eventually MontBleu, where he has worked for 36 years and had been maître d’ of the showroom.

On Oct. 7, 1950, he became the first born child of Charles and Florence Engstrom McClure or Martinez, Calif. They moved to San Francisco where they lived in the student housing Quonset huts while his father got his teaching degree. Four years later they moved to San Anselmo where the family lived in an Asian pagoda style home until 2016.

As a child, Mr. McClure participated in many sports and Boy Scouts. He graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in 1968. He then attended College of Marin, University of Hawaii and UC Davis, where he was a student and teacher of histology.

While in Davis, Mr. McClure had three consecutive days off, which enabled him to have his first ski pass at Squaw Valley in 1971. He immediately became a mountain man. He decided not to pursue a medical degree, and spent two years at City College of San Francisco where he earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management. While in San Francisco, he worked at the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square. Then he worked for a short time at the new MGM Grand in Reno.

He was a lifelong fan of the San Francisco Giants, 49ers and Warriors.

Mr. McClure had a huge circle of close friends and acquaintances who have great memories of skiing and hiking in Tahoe, and a crew of “salty dogs” that spent hours plying the waters of Tahoe on the sailboat he and his boat partners owned and enjoyed. Being his friend was a gift of love and enormous generosity never to be forgotten.

He is survived by his four younger siblings: Patricia, Glenn, Carol and Donald, and their children, as well as his cousins in the North Bay, Judy, Kenny, Clayton, Linda, Robert and Joanne; as well as his legion of friends.

A burial service will be on April 5 at 11am at Valley Memorial Park, 650 Bugeia Lane, Novato.

By Sheryce Allendorf

In a culture where alcohol, marijuana, and other substances are often sensationalized by the media, more and more youth are experimenting with, and/or using these substances on a regular basis. Whether this is the result of the glamorization of substances, growing up with adults using and partaking in controlled substance use, or trying to fit in, as a community we must do more to engage our youth and encourage healthy coping skills.

The California Center for Disease Control reported that 22 percent of high school students in California reported having five or more drinks in a row within a couple of hours in the previous 30 days. Although this statistic is from 2011, there has been an increase in binge drinking by youth 12 to 17 based on more recent studies.

Additionally, 9.4 percent of youth 12-17 were reported as current users of illicit drugs, which includes marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, and misuse of prescriptions drugs.

As adults we may minimize the risks posed to youth who use alcohol or other drugs based on our own childhood experiences, belief system, or media, but research has shown that an individual’s brain continues to develop well into young adulthood. The use and/or abuse of alcohol and controlled substances in teens, can impact brain development and negatively impact neurocognitive functioning, which can impact how these youth function in adulthood.

Additionally, in 2014, 33 percent of youth ages 12-17 who use illicit drugs or alcohol had a co-occurrence of a major depressive episode. With the stigma surrounding mental health disorders, inability to obtain services, and one’s own denial, many youths are going without services that could support mental wellness, and instead, youth are using alcohol and other illicit substances to cope.

How do we help our youth? Whether you are parent, raising a child, or a member of our community, you play a vital role in assisting our youth to become the best they can be. The following are some ways help engage, support, and set examples for our youth:

·       Lead by example: If you are using illicit drugs or consuming alcohol which impacts your ability to manage daily responsibilities, seek out help and support.

·       Encourage community/recreational involvement.

·       Stay connected: eat a meal together, play a game, engage in meaningful conversation.

·       Make plans with your youth; give them something to which they can look forward.

·       Pay attention: pay attention to a youth’s verbal and non-verbal cues. If there have been changes in behavior, personality, or routine. Connect, ask, and provide support.

·       Set age appropriate boundaries, and expectations. Stand by your word.

·       Get to know your children’s friends, and their parents.

·       Trust your instincts; if you think something is cause for concern, act.

·       Seek out professional support.

Sheryce Allendorf is a residential clinician with Summitview Child and Family Services.

Molly Winslow, from left, Erika Strain and Mackenzie Nealis
set up bookshelves with free books. Photo/Provided

Three South Tahoe Girl Scouts, Molly Winslow, Erika Strain, and Mackenzie Nealis, are continuing their work after earning the silver award. They have created a program for kids and adults to be able to read books while they wash their clothes at four local Laundromats. 

The idea was inspired by the “libromats” (laundromat + library) of Cape Town, South Africa, featured on a 2015 National Public Radio broadcast. Girls spent many hours each day washing clothes by hand with a washboard. With donated money, washing machines and books were donated to wash their clothes and books were made available for the mothers to read to their children while their clothes were getting clean. 

Studies have shown that a home library can have the single greatest impact on a child’s education. Home libraries matter even more than money in predicting a child’s success in school. Many studies have shown that poorer communities have fewer books per household than wealthier communities. In one study, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where 61 percent of the children lived in poverty, there was on average only one book for every 830 children.

With donated bookshelves and books from the former St. Theresa’s School and the local community, the Tahoe girls have stocked almost 800 books to date. The bookshelves are located at Al Tahoe Laundry, High Sierra Laundry, Town & Country Laundromat, and Tahoe Keys Laundromat. The hope is that parents will spend time reading to their young children and older children can spend time reading on their own.

If someone really likes the book, it’s OK to take it home.

Although their Girl Scout silver award requirements have been met, the girls are committed to keeping the bookshelves stocked with books and of making this an ongoing community effort. To donate new or gently used children’s books, in English or Spanish, drop them off at St. Theresa Catholic School, 1041 Lyons Ave., South Lake Tahoe

By Melinda Myers

A healthy lawn is your best defense against lawn diseases and other problems. But when the weather favors the disease more than your lawn, problems can occur. 

Reduce the risk of disease by keeping your lawn healthy. Mow high to encourage deeply rooted grass that is more drought tolerant and resistant to disease problems.  Water early in the day so the grass leaves, blades, dry quickly and less water is lost to evaporation.

Apply the right type and amount of fertilizer at the proper time to limit the risk of disease. Regular fertilization, three to four times per year, encourages better results since most soils do not contain the essential nutrients for optimum growth.

Avoid high nitrogen quick release fertilizers that promote lush succulent growth that is more susceptible to disease. Instead use a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer that promotes steady growth that’s more drought tolerant and resistant to disease. 

Monitor lawns for brown patch when temperatures and humidity rise and grass remains wet for long periods of time. Infected lawns will have somewhat circular patches of thin light brown grass. Look for white cottony strands of fungal mycelium early in the morning on dew covered lawns. Check grass blades for small irregular tan spots with dark brown borders on the individual grass blades. Avoid heavy fertilization with fast release fertilizer in early spring and summer.

Look for dollar size to 6-inche diameter spots of bleached or light tan grass if you suspect dollar spot. Infected leaves have white lesions with reddish tan margins that often resemble an hourglass. Over and under fertilization, drought, water on the grass blades for extended time and mowing too low all increase the risk of this disease.

Closely examine lawns with a reddish hue to confirm the presence of rust disease. Rust infected lawns are covered with an orange or yellowish powder, the fungal spores, that can leave an orange residue on your shoes. Newly seeded and lawns weakened by inadequate fertilization and drought are most susceptible.

Stay alert for leaf spot diseases that can attack lawns. Avoid excess fertilization and watering late afternoon and evenings.

Once you discover a disease, visit a website like Milorganite.com for more detailed information and photos to help with diagnosis. Correct your lawn care practices to speed recovery and avoid problems in the future. Proper care and reseeding dead areas with disease-resistant grass varieties is usually enough to manage the disease. Be sure you need a fungicide before applying. These chemicals are costly, the results can be disappointing and when used improperly they can be harmful to pollinators and the environment.

Further speed recovery with a change in mowing habits. Continue to mow high but cut the healthy portions of your lawn first. Then cut the grass in the diseased areas. Once done, use a disinfectant to clean the mower blades then rinse with clear water. This along with collecting and disposing of clippings from the diseased areas of the lawn reduces the risk of spreading the disease next time you mow.

Provide proper care and monitor your lawn throughout the growing season. Discovering problems early means better results with less effort on your part.

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

Nurse Ken Harvey is a believer in Buzzy helping needle-phobic patients. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

For those who fear needles, there is no such thing as a simple little pin prick. It may end in a fainting episode which can ruin the rest of the day – where sleep is the only remedy to return to normal.

Health officials estimate at least 10 percent of the population has some form of needle phobia, also known as beonephobia. It was in 1997 that the phobia was recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

For those with extreme fear of needles it might mean avoiding getting the flu shot, other vaccinations or even having routine blood work done. It might also mean keeping one’s child away from needles as well.

“You need to make the first experience a non-painful experience,” said Ken Harvey, a registered nurse in the radiology department at Barton Memorial Hospital. “You should use a distraction the first time.”

If it’s a bad first experience, it’s possible the child will have issues as an adult where anxiety and apprehension are the norm around needles.

Barton this year started to use Buzzys as a way to distract patients from what is going on. They are clinically tested devices that have been around for a handful of years.

According to the Buzzy website, studies show the device reduces pain 56 to 88 percent of the time. They are battery operated and reusable after being cleaned.

“We put Buzzy between the brain and the pain,” Harvey told Lake Tahoe News. It’s placed a few centimeters higher than the insertion point.

In the short time Harvey been using it on patients – and he has only had adult patients – it has worked “extremely well” at least 90 percent of the time.

The concept is rather simple. The black and yellow device is designed to look like a bumble bee and then has a gentle buzzing sound, which is the vibration part of the device. The tiny blue ice pack resembles wings, and acts to numb the area. (There are Buzzys that look like lady bugs, too.)

The vibration stimulates the nerves, sending impulses to the brain. The end result is the patient is distracted, remains calm and is able to receive the injection without negative consequences.

Barton has seen such success with the Buzzys that more are being ordered for its various offices.

The annual Kings Beach Snowfest Parade this month featured 27 entries from community nonprofit organizations, government agencies, service groups and local businesses.

This year’s parade was attended by more than 1,700 spectators. It featured live music, fire trucks, candy, and more.

The 2018 parade winners are:

• Best Tahoe Spirit Award: North Tahoe Public Utility District Parks and Recreation
• Best Children’s Entry: Gonsalves & Company
• Most Entertaining Entry: Jazzercise
• Best New Entry: FHP Automotive
• Best Overall Entry: The Grid Bar & Grill
• Honorable Mentions: Boys & Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe and Friends of the Kings Beach Library.

Lake Tahoe Community College will be having auditions on April 10 at 7pm in LTCC’s Duke Theatre for four one-act plays.

A variety of parts for all ages is available for the college’s spring production consisting of four one-act plays, with performances slated for June 14-16 and June 21-24 in the Duke Theatre. Auditions will consist of readings from the play scripts, which are available on reserve in the Roberta Mason Library.

For the dark comedy “The Father Clock,” written by Walter Wykes and directed by Kelly Cassidy, three actors are needed: a woman in her 20s or 30s to be the stage manager character; a man in his 20s or 30s to play Snub Drub; and a man in his 40s or 50s to play Snub’s father, Flub Drub. In this play, two actors and a stage manager attempt to pull off a show together after their director disappears.

For the comedy “Compromising Positions,” written by Michelle Benson and directed by Jeff Witt, four actors are needed: a man in his 50s or 60s to play Harold, a slightly overweight but handsome father and husband; a woman in her 50s or 60s to play Alice, a beautiful woman married to Harold; a woman in her 20s or 30s to play Johanna, the daughter who still lives at home; and a man in his late teens or early 20s to play Jake, the son. The play tells the story of Harold and Alice, an aging couple who decide to get frisky one evening in the living room and end up stuck on the recliner. Teenage son Jake and grown daughter Alice must come to the rescue.

For the comedy “Squirrels,” written by Peter J. Stavros and directed by Brandon McCarthy, eight actors are needed. Four of the parts in this play are squirrels, and they can be played by actors of any gender or age. The other parts can be played by actors between the age of 25 and 45. They are: Jim, an office worker who is looking for a way out; Ted, Jim’s high-strung, ill-tempered co-worker; Veronica, Jim’s supportive wife; and Roderick, a mild-mannered human resources representative. The play focuses on Jim, who has been working for the same company for so long, he’s actually lost track of the years. With the threat of layoffs coming, Jim’s safe job might be coming to an end.

For the fourth short play, the romantic comedy “New Year’s Eve 1932,” written and directed by Murray Smith, 11 actors are needed: five parts are available for women in their 20s, 30s or 40s, and six parts for men in their 30s, 40s or 50s. This play picks up where the 1938 Hollywood movie “Holiday”, starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, leaves off. Cupid misfires an arrow, causing Johnny Case to re-examine his engagement to Julia Seton and to start considering her younger sister, Linda, as a love interest. This screwball comedy is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, when money, position and class all get a fresh look.

Actors are encouraged to audition for as many parts as they would like. Rehearsals will be on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. For more information about these plays and available parts for actors, contact LTCC Theatre Department instructor David Hamilton at hamilton@ltcc.edu. For those interested in set, lighting or costume design, submit your name and a description of your experience or a resumé to Kurt Munger at munger@ltcc.edu. More information about the plays can be found online.

By Amy Smith

“I’m so stressed out!”

Likely, someone has said this to you —or you’ve said it yourself.

These days the word “stress” has a negative connotation. But what if it isn’t the actual stress that’s harmful, but how it’s perceived?

Amy Smith

Your reaction to stress matters

Research published in “Health Psychology: has shown that there’s a higher risk for premature death in those who perceive stress as negative, including those with only a minimal amount of stress. However, study participants who experienced a high level of stress, but didn’t perceive it as harmful, had a lower risk for premature death. These findings suggest that having a positive mindset about stress may help develop resilience.

Avoiding stress may seem like a rational strategy, but this often leads to feelings of discontent. When you seek a stress-free life, you may develop feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, and depression because being stress-free is an unrealistic goal.

Turn to your life values

Generally, daily stressors are conflicts with our life values. Life values give us a foundation and sense of purpose. So in order to rethink your stress mindset, it helps to understand which values matter most to you. Take a look at the box at right.

Now take a few moments to reflect and write down why each of these values is important to you. How do you express this value in your everyday life? How do these values support you in being true to yourself?

Recall a past experience in which you overcame a stressful event or task. What value or part of you made that possible? Research illustrates that reflecting on your values in moments of stress can help reframe a negative, reactive mindset to a positive, reflective response.

Becoming mindful of your values

To develop daily mindfulness around your values, write them down on sticky notes and place them in visible areas, such as your home, car, and workstation. When you notice stressors in your life, looking at your sticky note will help you mindfully reframe your reaction. This can help you “rise to the challenge” and face stressful situations with reason, logic, compassion, and self-control.

Amy Smith is a family nurse practitioner and integrative medicine practitioner. Her practice will be offered through the Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness when it opens this spring.

The second annual Nowruz “New Year” Celebration Feast to benefit Veterans Healing Camp will be March 27 from 5-10pm at the Casino Fandango Buffet Banquet Room in Carson City.

This casual fundraiser features food, music, dancing, silent auction and door prize.

Nowruz is the ancient Persian “New Year” celebrated since 1700 B.C. that occurs on the first day of spring at the vernal equinox.

The celebration begins at 5pm with fun, fellowship and information about Veterans Healing Camp, buffet dinner feast starts at 6pm. The celebration continues with live music and dancing in the banquet room with Randy Ide. There will also be a silent auction featuring valuable donated prizes from local businesses and a wonderful door prize drawing.

Tickets are $40 and $10 for children. Tickets are available at the Casino Fandango cashier cage or by contacting Shahla Fadaie at 775.781.2394.