Tag: minden

The Record Courier reminds us that tonight we have a concert in Minden Park, starting at 6:30, followed by a movie in Gardnerville's Heritage Park at dusk. Think you can make it to both?

Finally we now have curbside recycling pickup in the Carson Valley. We're probably the last place to get it in Nevada. I think Belmont and Manhattan had curbside recycling before we did. Which is strange, because Douglas County has the highest per capita income in the whole state. I guess rich people don't recycle. I don't know. I only know that Douglas Disposal, our local trash pickup outfit, has never offered recycling.

So it was left to a start-up company, Carson Valley Recycling, to fill that need. Right now it's just a husband and wife team, with one truck, serving the whole valley (or at least Douglas Disposal's entire service area). Which is fine, because they only have 50 customers. But as their client base grows they'll probably get stretched thin, and hopefully will be able to get more employees and more equipment. This is a service that I'd like to see succeed, and at $10 per month I'll probably be signing up soon. Right now you have to take all your recyclables to a drop-off point yourself. The main one is at the old landfill out Pinenut road, and there are also drop-offs at many of the area schools. But usually doing that is such a pain that I don't recycle glass and plastic, just paper and cardboard. Signing up for this service will definitely help out, and I urge all of you to sign up too. Both because recycling is the way to go, and also because we want to support this new company and make sure they don't have to shut down.

Here's a list of the items they'll accept:

aluminum
plastics #1 & 2 (these can be combined)
#2’s are usually colored plastics ( Tide&Downy and milk containers)
glass~(rinsed)
tin cans (canned soups, pet food, veggies, etc.) ~ not tin foil
cardboard (must be dry) (broken down if possible)
paperboard( cereal boxes, non-wax items, egg & milk cartons) (must be dry)
plastic grocery bags
dry newspaper (ads are accepted too)
magazines&catalogs (kept dry)

You can contact them by phone, at 775-267-6524, by e-mail at cvrecycling@mac.com, or sign up on their website.

The Carson Valley Days parade is tomorrow. The Record Courier calls it their favorite time of year. The parade starts around 9am at Minden Park, and runs to Lampe Park, taking three hours or so to run all the way. The parade travels down Hwy 395, so really anywhere along the parade route is good for viewing. I've always been partial to locations near where the road curves, so it's easier to see the floats coming and going.

I won't be making it to the parade this year, but hopefully I'll get some photos from you loyal readers!

Record Courier: C.O.D. Casino gets final nod from county.

The C.O.D. Casino cleared its final hurdle Thursday, and owner Scott Tate said he has faith in the project despite dissenting Commissioner David Brady’s assertion gambling is on the decline and the plan is a “quick fix.”

The board voted 4-1 to grant the final zoning map amendments to convert the 97-year-old former automotive garage in downtown Minden to a 14,303-square-foot casino, bakery and museum.

Tate said Friday he hopes construction will begin in six to nine months.

The USPS has been scouring Minden looking for a place to build a new post office, and they think they've found one. From a list of four sites, they picked one at the corner of Ironwood and Monte Vista. You may be saying "Whaaaa? Where?", and you wouldn't be alone. This is a weird choice, at least right now, because at the moment this site is out in the middle of nowhere. But they must be looking towards the future, and looking at the promises that have been given by developers about that neighborhood, and decided that the population center of Minden will be shifting even more towards the spot as the years go by.

If you're not familiar with the corner of Ironwood and Monte Vista, first check out this map.

Monte Vista is the north-south road in the center of that satellite picture. It's unmarked, because the street is so new that Google hasn't added it to their maps yet. But this photo does accurately show how empty this part of town is. Ironwood Drive was plowed through the middle of a cow field some years ago, and stubby little intersections were added for future streets to hook up to. So far, only Monte Vista has been built, crossing through Martin Slough. If you follow Monte Vista further to the north, you'll come across the new La Costa subdivision (home to asynconhome.info), and beyond that it connects to the just-opened Muller Parkway.

This is a popular corner. Already the Wild Goose Villa has been proposed for this same intersection. It would slide into that green patch to the east of Monte Vista. Other developments have been kicked around for the rest of the empty land you see here, and the whole place is zoned friendly to retail and residential. So it's clear that the Post Office sees this as the new hip part of town, and they want to get in on it now while the prices are still low and before it gets built up too much.

After being open for only a couple of years, the Sierra Nevada Trading Company in Minden is getting new owners and a new name already. As soon as they can get up the new signs, it will be known as Lira’s Supermarket, part of a chain with stores at Tahoe and Rio Vista, CA.

The Record Courier has information about this year's Carson Valley Days celebration. The big event is the Carson Valley Days Parade, taking place Saturday morning, June 14th, with a carnival at Lampe Park being put on June 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Greater Nevada Credit Union has opened their striking new branch in Minden. The ribbon cutting will be held on June 18, and a grand opening on June 21.

The coming of summer means the return of the Summer Family Concert Series in Minden Park. Every year they put on five concerts at the park in downtown Minden, and the turnout keeps getting bigger. Here's this year's lineup.

May 30 - Alice Stuart and the Formerlys.

June 27 - Batdorf and Rodney Reunion.

July 11 - The Comstock Cowboys.

July 25 - The Surf All-Stars.

August 29 - The Michael Powers Band.

All concerts are on a Friday night at 6:30pm, except for the final one on August 24th, which starts at 6:00. Get your picnic baskets ready!

The Carson Valley farmer's markets are coming back this summer. Dates have been announced.

Minden Farmers Market opening day May 20

The Minden Farmers Market opens May 20 and will be open every Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. through summer on Esmeralda Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets. Information, Roxanne Stangle, 782-2444.

Farmers Market at Lampe Park opens May 21

The Lampe Park Farmers Market offers an abundance of seriously fresh produce and a variety of food, farm, and dirt-oriented items. The market features flowers, perennial plants, fresh bakery items, outdoor décor and gifts. The farmers’ market will be open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Lampe Park in Gardnerville. Information at the Douglas County Recreation Division, 782-9828.

These two markets open two full weeks before the Carson City Farmers Market, which this year begins on June 4th.

With all the issues going on in the world with rising food prices and rising oil prices, the "local foods" movement is starting to gather a lot more steam and attention.There have been special articles about it in the Nevada Appeal and Record Courier lately, and even celebrity chefs are starting to speak out. And we're lucky because here in the Carson area we're firmly located in the breadbasket of Nevada. Most of the rest of the state is miles and miles of unforgiving desert, but here were have rivers that bring some life to the land, the Carson River, Walker River, and Truckee River. A lot of agriculture is focused around these rivers, in Fallon, in Fernley, in the Mason and Smith Valleys. In the Carson Valley much of the green land is given over to grazing cattle, but there are scattered plots that are dedicated to growing crops. And the best place to go to get all of this local produce is to the farmer's markets.

There is another option, though, if you're not in the mood to hunt through the market to find the best produce. It's called Community Supported Agriculture, and here in Northern Nevada we've had it for a couple of years at least. In essence, by signing up with a CSA you get a "subscription" to a produce delivery service. You pay one flat fee up front at the beginning of each season - spring, summer, and fall, and then each week a basket full of produce is delivered with your name on it. This produce is all grown on local farms, and the contents of the basket change throughout the year as different fruits and vegetables fall in and out of season. So in May you'd start getting a variety of spinach and lettuce, then in June peas and carrots start coming into season so those start showing up in your basket. And it continues all the way through December when you're getting potatoes and squash. And because it's all locally grown, your money is staying in Northern Nevada and helping out our farmers here.

The big CSA in our area is Great Basin Basket, which can be found at www.greatbasinbasket.com. There you can sign up for your shipments (the spring subscriptions are already sold out, so the earliest you can sign up for is Summer). I also found an article in the RGJ about Great Basin Basket, as well as the option to start a garden of your own. And, I just discovered a new-to-me blog, Local Food Northern Nevada, which is all about seeking out local food in our area. And of course they're subscribers to Great Basin Basket.

So if you're looking to have a summer full of real food, check out some of these options for eating food that's been grown in Nevada.