Awards

Seven Douglas County businesses, including two from the South Shore, were recently honored during the 5th annual Spotlight Awards, recognizing their contributions to the community.

The awards were given at the Critical Issues Conference held on Thursday, September 27 and recognized businesses in the following categories: retail, restaurant, manufacturing and production, sports and recreation, entrepreneur, business and professional service, and tourism and hospitality.

Barton Health was recently awarded five "Best Performance" awards for nursing care by the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC). They recognized
Barton’s excellence in providing safe, high quality health care with zero instances of hospital-acquired pressure injuries and infections patients can develop while hospitalized.

CALNOC establishes benchmarks for hospitals based on data analysis of patient safety

“Building Bridges” is the theme for the 3rd annual TEDx SouthLakeTahoe on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at MontBleu Resort and the speaker lineup is a robust one, including a South Tahoe High student.

Organizers aim to bring unity and positivity during a time that division is too strong a motivation. While each topic discussed will be different, they will intertwine with the theme in the presentations.

Speakers for the evening are:

Last month this column focused on the faces of Tahoe’s housing crisis. This month we look at a few promising solutions from other tourist communities.

One example is the Town of Vail’s “Vail InDEED” program. Like Tahoe, the Town of Vail is constrained by a lack of available land and high construction costs. Development of new housing is slow and costly. The Vail InDEED program was created to deed restrict existing properties to create a market for locals only.

It's time again for people to make nominations for the Tahoe Chamber's 11th annual Blue Ribbon Awards.

This awards program is the community’s opportunity to recognize South Shore businesses, organizations and individuals for achievements, community contributions, and milestones.

The awards ceremony will be held on November 8, 2018 at MontBleu Resort Casino, and nominations will be accepted until October 5.

Categories for nominations:

Experience Award - Business providing compelling and captivating experiences.

Three students from the South Shore were awarded "Pay It Forward" scholarships to attend Lake Tahoe Community College this fall.

Kai Heiden of Mt. Tallac High School, Chris Manzano of South Tahoe High School and Samuel Alvarez from Whittell High School were awarded the scholarships. The two from California schools received $1,000 each, and the Whittell student received $2,000 due to his out-of-state tuition.

The students wrote essays on paying it forward in our community and how they can assist others in the future, and what that means to them.

NFL Hall of Famers, former Major League Baseball players, other sports and entertainment celebrities will gather July 8-9 at Schaffer's Mill Golf Club in Truckee to pay tribute to former Oakland Raider Gene Upshaw. The tournament raises funds for cancer programs and traumatic brain injury research and, to date, they've raised close to $1.5 million.

Each year this tournament runs the week before the American Century Championship held in South Lake Tahoe, something Upshaw played in while he was alive.

Olympic Gold Medalist Jamie Anderson from South Lake Tahoe has been nominated for two more ESPY awards in a year dominated by snowboarders, at least in the Olympic and action sport categories. She is up against fellow Olympian Chloe Kim for Best Female Action Sports Athlete, an award Anderson won in 2012, 2014 and 2016, and nominated for in 2007.

Anderson is also nominated for Best U.S. Female Olympian, an award she previously won in 2014. She is up against Kim for this award as well.

ESPY stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly.

"Today is a very special day," South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David said as she opened the unveiling ceremony for the Walk of Champions Friday. "Local athletes are honored for giving South Lake Tahoe recognition on the international and national stage."

Epic Tahoe Adventure's fourth annual Rock Tahoe Half Marathon returns to Lake Tahoe on Saturday, June 16, 2018. Over 1,600 participants will enjoy the beautiful lake while running from the top of Spooner Summit to the Hard Rock Hotel at Stateline.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) recognized four people for their commitment to protecting and enhancing Lake Tahoe’s environment with Lake Spirit Awards on Wednesday.

People whose passions include building new paths and trails led the way in nominations this year, with improving mountain biking routes, creating new multi-use paths, and advancing pedestrian and bicycle safety among the interests of the award winners.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) held the annual awards ceremony Thursday, honoring the retirement of K9 Tara, the promotion of Jeff Roberson to Sergeant, awards for bravery and for service.

The celebration was started with the National Anthem sung by South Tahoe High School senior Caroline Krolicki and a presentation of the colors by the department's Honor Guard.

Due to the chance of inclement weather on Thursday, May 17, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department Annual Awards Ceremony held in honor of Peace Officer Memorial Week has been moved to the City Council Chambers located at 1901 Airport Road.

The event starts at 4:00 p.m. and will include awards, the retirement of K9 Tara, and the swearing in ceremony of recently selected Sergeant, Jeffrey Roberson.

The 10-year-old Tara's handler is Sergeant Jason Cheney.

This event has been cancelled.

Great Prairie™ Sports has announced the inaugural Great Prairie™ Youth Triathlon presented by Hydron Module Geothermal Systems on Saturday, July 7, 2018. Tahoe Paradise Park in Meyers will be the base for the event, which is for boys and girls ages 7-15.

For youth competing in their first Triathlon or for those progressing their development, organizers say Tahoe Paradise Park truly is a remarkable venue for the following reasons:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The 2018 Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) annual Student Art Exhibition will hold a special opening reception on Sunday, May 20, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the school's Main Commons area. The show runs through June 15.

5/16 UPDATE: Due to the forecast, this event has been moved to the City Council Chambers at the Lake Tahoe Airport.

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The South Lake Tahoe Police Canine Association has announced that K9 Tara will be retiring on May 17 during the annual South Lake Tahoe Police Department's (SLTPD) awards ceremony.

The 10-year-old Tara's handler is Sergeant Jason Cheney.

Twenty-seven Nevada judges have received awards for educational achievements earned through judicial education. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) provides judges continuing education programs to ensure a competent and professional judiciary.

“Nevada citizens deserve to feel confident their judges hand down the best decisions,” said Chief Justice Michael L. Douglas. “These awards demonstrate a commitment by Nevada judges to obtain knowledge about changes in the law and judicial practices.”

Grammy award winning music superstar Janet Jackson has been added to the 2018 Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series at Harveys Outdoor Arena lineup.

An Evening With Janet Jackson on Friday, August 10 will be part of her State of the World Tour. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $69.50 to $149.50.

“Jackson managed to expertly pull off an all-stops stadium pop show while still imbuing the affair with plenty of her own idiosyncratic personality,” said Variety on Jackson's new tour, and USA Today added, “Yep, the iconic choreography still holds up.”

Many people donate both money and auction items to the Soroptimist of Tahoe Sierra club for their annual Elegant Evening which occurs on Saturday, April 21. What many don't know is where those donations go. There was question recently in the community about donations, so the club wanted to clear up any misunderstandings.

The club recently created a diagram to better explain where each penny goes as they don't have must left over funds after they issue scholarships, grants and other forms of financial support.

Last year’s Elegant Evening funds went to provide:

Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada (GSSN) have announced this year’s recipients of both their volunteer awards and those for the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), and several are from South Lake Tahoe, Zephyr Cove, Truckee and the Carson Valley.

They will be honored during Volunteer Recognition & Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 21 at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in Reno. The ceremony is GSSN's way of thanking and celebrating their amazing volunteers and the priceless love they give girls every day through unwavering dedication to their success.

Winners:

Heritage Award

Five students from the area were awarded scholarships by the Minden Soaring Club (MSC) to help finance flight and ground instruction in preparation for obtaining a private or other glider rating.

Five scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each were awarded to youths who demonstrated they are interested in learning to fly gliders and/or who have already begun their training and need additional monetary assistance. The scholarships were announced by the MSC Board of Trustees at the club’s annual general meeting on March 18, 2018.

Scholarship winners are all from northern Nevada:

LAKE TAHOE - It was March Madness on the South Shore today as about 200 people braved the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe, all in the spirit of raising money for Special Olympics.

The annual Polar Plunge was at Zephyr Cove Resort and the water was about 48 degrees when the crowds jumped in.

"Today's turnout was great!" said Harry Mong, Senior Director of Programs and Partnership for Special Olympics Northern Nevada. "$186,000 was raised and it goes to support our sports programs. There are 300 competitions in 11 different sports, and it is all free for the competitors."

The Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra (SITS) club of South Lake Tahoe honored three women as winners of their Violet Richardson, Live Your Dream and Ruby Awards during a special breakfast meeting on Thursday, March 8.

12:35 p.m. 3.1.18 UPDATE: Sierra-at-Tahoe has decided to postpone this event until a later date, either at the end of March or early April due to the Olympians hectic schedules around the country. That, coupled with the current blizzard, executives thought another date would give the community a much better chance of celebrating their champions.

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Jamie Anderson, Maddie Bowman, Hannah Teter and Kyle Smaine will all be at Sierra-at-Tahoe on Saturday, March 3 when the resort throws an Olympic Homecoming and Athlete Celebration in their honor.