This is a good thing. New businesses and redevelopment of buildings mean that our community is thriving, that there is investment in our community. Here’s my take on what’s going on around town and how it helps keep our community strong.

Incline Village Grocery Outlet in Village Center has a grand opening date of Thursday, November 2.  The old Village Market is being outfitted with brand-new flooring and fixtures; stocking shelves with food is scheduled for mid-October. They are HIRING, preferably locals, with interviews September 28-30. This new business will be a great boost for other Village Center businesses like Glasses Wine Bar, Tahoe Fitness Loft, Wired Solutions, Postal Express, Tahoe Multisport, the thrift stores, and many other businesses. Let’s reconnect with the Village, aka “Post Office” Center, as the place where “locals shop and neighbors meet”. 

The brand-new building on Tahoe Blvd, Natural Grocer, is showing signs of progress, finally! We have a target opening date of January 17, 2024. This is the first new construction on “Main Street” that we have seen in a long time. Let’s hope this new building sets the tone and provides inspiration for other centers and plazas to do their own redevelopment. IVCBA and its Main Street program hope to encourage property owners to give a facelift to our commercial core. 

The Cal Neva is being renovated and branded as a Proper Hotel. Plans are to keep the historic ambiance of the Indian Room and the Frank Sinatra Showroom and update the entire complex into a boutique hotel with a spa and plenty of entertainment and dining venues that appeal to locals. The benefits of this development, along with the Waldorf-Astoria in Crystal Bay are many. Suitable tourist accommodations provide alternatives to short-term rentals, possibly leading to more long-term rentals for locals. Crystal Bay is the gateway to Nevada. No one wants a blighted commercial area to be the first thing to be seen. Did I mention more jobs!! Both of these new developments are committed to providing workforce housing. Another issue…what about the danger of more people to evacuate in the event of a fire? Let’s use these projects to leverage our desire and need for strong fire safety and evacuation plans. Thank you to the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District for taking these needs seriously and organizing the evacuation drill a month ago.

Raley’s Grocery Store is adding to its already amazing setup of services and departments. If you have been in the store lately (and who hasn’t!), you may have noticed the construction area walled off by the coffee shop. Raley’s is bringing in a Starbucks and adding a salad bar complete with hot food items for takeout or in-store dining. Wow! What a boon to us “Boomers” and to busy families.

A thriving business community provides us with the services we need and want locally.  The larger developments provide the resorts that anchor our community and provide tourist business to our merchants that allow them to stay open year-round. Our Visitor Bureau, Travel North Tahoe Nevada, is focused on sustainable tourism and educating those visitors and locals to “Take Care” Tahoe.

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

Friday, September 15: Community Forum at Incline Library at 9am

Friday, September 15: TOCCATA’s 9/11 Remembrance concert at St. Francis

Saturday, September 16: Washoe County Sheriff Community Picnic at 10am

Saturday, September 16: Live Music – The Wild Feathers – Crystal Bay Club

Saturday, September 16: Darin Talbot! Live Music at Glasses Wine Bar

Sunday, September 17: Alibi Sunday Sessions

No matter how it felt last weekend, fall is not officially here until September 21! I am not a weather expert, but 35 years of living in Incline tells me that we are likely to have another cold spell in September with snow, and then it will just be a nice warm fall through October. How’s that for a forecast looking through my rose-colored glasses?

I must give kudos to NDOT, Washoe County, and the crews working literally night and day on our roads. There are SO many improvements…have you noticed the more accessible sidewalks? I plan to remind Commissioner Hill that she budgeted money for more sidewalk snow removal this year. Not that it necessarily makes them safe to walk on, especially if we have another big snow year. Not making any predictions…but I am optimistic that the potholes will not return in such a bad way as they did this year. I replaced 3 tires on my 2013 Lexus sedan last winter due to potholes.  I LOVE that car, but my husband tells me I can’t keep driving through snow banks higher than my car.

We have an IVCBA BizBuz Mixer next Tuesday at Raley’s Center! This is a good old-fashioned gathering in the parking lot next to Umpqua Bank, starting at 4:30 pm. With Umpqua as the main host, T’s Rotisserie is catering. Mountain Hardware, Raley’s, The Potlatch, and Gail Krolick from Alpine Realty are also participating. This is a chance to meet up with other locals, some old friends…and make some new ones.

Back to School Nights…it’s a big week. If you are a parent, show up! You will be amazed at the dedication and high quality of the teaching staff.

There are some great community events as well. This Saturday, the Sanctuary Tahoe is having a Women’s Wellness event. Talks @ Tahoe is on again tomorrow eventing at the UNR Lake Tahoe Campus with ‘Meeting the Tides of Life through the Practice of Poetry And you can’t miss the Toccata 9/11 Memorial Concert on Friday the 15th and Kids & Horses hosts barn-raising fundraiser at the Crystal Bay Club on September 16th from 4-8pm! So Many great Community Events!

A little further out in fall we have a couple weekends of golf tournaments with Highlander Pride Golf Tournament on Saturday, September 23rd, and Golf From the Heart on Sunday, September 24th. Then don’t miss the Rotary Golf Tournament, Best Ball for a Cause on October 1st!

This is really the last Hurrah of summer, marked by the Village Ski Loft Labor Day weekend sale!

Locals know what great deals on skis and gear are given on their biggest sale of the year. 

Thanks to the hard work of its property manager Scott Dutcher, that plaza with Pet Station on the corner of Tahoe Blvd and Northwood Blvd, got a facelift last year. The building has a “mountain modern” feel to it, very fitting for Incline Village.

The Rotary Duck Drive has become the other “main event” on Labor Day. The Rotary Club of Incline Village has been selling ducks all summer. Come to the parking lot at Aspen Grove to watch the North Lake Tahoe Fire Department drop the ducks from the top of the ladder! It happens quick; don’t come late like I did last year and miss all the fun.

ONE MORE FUNDRAISER! The Diamond Peak Ski Education Foundation is having its ‘Snow on the Beach’ event at the Hyatt on September 2.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS…

• Talks @ Tahoe on September 6
• BIZBUZ Mixer on Tuesday, September 12 in the side parking lot of Umpqua Bank in the Raleys Center. Other participants…Mountain Hardware, Alpine Realty, The Potlatch, and of course Raley’s. 
• TOCCATA Memorial Concert on September 15
• WCSO Sheriff’s Picnic on Saturday, September 16. Details here:

Check the IVCBA.org calendar for all of the weekly events at Alibi, Crystal Bay Club Crowne Room, Incline Library, and Bowl Incline. 

If you like the SnapShot, the community website, all of the community events, and the Live.Work.Play. magazine, please join as a Community Supporter for $50. Business memberships start at $150. Go to IVCBA.org. Join is at the bottom of each page.

I just checked my calendar….my IVCBA.org calendar, that is. Yikes! It’s a busy week coming up!

No one will be surprised that I have FOMO…fear of missing out. How am I going to manage Thursday, August 24? Geographically, I could start in Crystal Bay at Sabrina Bellecci’s Inside Out Re/Max office for the Northern Nevada Hopes Reception and show my support for a new healthcare clinic on 4^th Street in Reno. Then it’s off to the Chateau for PEO’s  “Tastes of Incline” Fundraiser for scholarships. I predict this will be a LOT of locals like me who love to connect with the community.

After feasting on yummy food from local restaurants, I will plop myself down in a chair on the UNR@Lake Tahoe campus to listen to the Talks@Tahoe presenter Professor Zeb Hogan talk about Monster Fish.  I am just wondering if Tahoe Tessie will be there too. 

Grand Openings… Jonathan Malley’s new business,  Back Country Chiropractic, has a grand opening on Friday, August 25, from 12-3. Join IVCBA in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to kick it off.

Havana Nights….Tahoe Family Solutions annual fundraiser at Aspen Grove on August 29. I PROMISE the weather will be warmer! (Don’t you wish you had my rose-colored glasses?)

I will have to ask Myles from Incline Spirits and Cigars if he is supplying cigars for this Cuban-flavored event! 

We have many businesses in Incline that support our community. I want to give a big shout-out to Incline Village Realtors “Good Neighbors Committee” for Stuffing the Bus once again with school supplies for our kids. Stacy Collins, First Centennial Title, was once again the lead organizer. They are 2/3 of the way to their goal and taking donations until September 1st. 

Did you know… how active our service clubs are? The Rotary Club of Tahoe-Incline currently partners with Cornerstone Church for a food drive for the Gospel Mission in Reno. The Rotary “morning club” meets on Thursdays at 7 am at the Hyatt; the Incline Village “noon club” meets Mondays at noon at Parasol.

Be sure you read the breaking news in this week’s SnapShot about their expanded community grants! What a great contribution Parasol and their donors make to our community!

It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy… if you can keep up with the plethora of events, your houseguests, and what’s going on in town! Between concerts everywhere, Little Shop of Horrors at the Shakespeare Festival, and golf tournaments, I need another vacation.

I am back from my annual trip in northern Minnesota at my “other” Lake Up North, a term those of you from the Midwest will recognize. OK, it’s one of 10,000 lakes, but it is fairly well-known, Lake Vermilion. Minnesotans make this weekly or annual pilgrimage to a cabin or resort where we get reacquainted with mosquitos, deer flies, and the Northern Lights if we are lucky. Not that they are pesky, but did I mention the relatives!

Those relatives are now headed to Incline Village. I am on my third weekend in a row of company, but I am not complaining. Company gives me the opportunity to experience summer in Incline at its best. So far, we have attended the Beach Boys concert fundraiser for Incline Village Community Hospital, Little Shop of Horrors, the Teesters member-guest golf tournament, and enjoyed the Farmers Market on Thursdays at Incline Library. We also explored the myriad paths that wind through the woods between the Rec Center and the beaches, followed by a great lunch on the patio at Sage Leaf. We also stopped into the Science Center for some hands-on learning about Lake Tahoe in the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

While dining at Sage Leaf, I stopped into the Clearly Tahoe shop with all kinds of goodies for the outdoors, including the cutest picnic baskets ever. We walked by Vista Bikes, where people can rent an E-bike and just head right down Village to Lakeshore for a ride. Tahoe Multisport in Village Center has bikes, kayaks, you name it. Bike rentals abound in Incline…the Hyatt, Flume Trail bikes at Tunnel Creek, and Village Ski Loft. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out!

Coming up this weekend…it’s a Classical Tahoe concert on the beautiful UNR@lake Tahoe campus, hiking(for the younger set), and a Sand Harbor Experience organized by Chris Talbot and his Around Tahoe Tours company. This is a guaranteed way to get ON the beach without waiting in line for hours outside the entrance. They provide all of the set-up…umbrellas, chairs, and coolers. PLUS, Clearly Tahoe rents kayaks and Stand Up Paddles on site, so no need to drag those bulky toys to the beach. I’m looking forward to the tour part of it, getting educated on Lake Tahoe’s history and lore. 

If we had more time, a tour of the Thunderbird Lodge would be top of my list. The Visitor Bureau is a happening place these days, and good for locals too. Check out Sustainable Tahoe’s Earth Walk to learn about our native Indians, enjoy the outdoors, and not get caught up in parking hassles at the East Shore Trail. 

My favorite experiences of the summer are the Monday and Tuesday night concerts at Sand Harbor. I will be at The Reno Phil concert on Monday, August 7 for the Tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein. I will be singing along and maybe dancing in the aisles. Does anyone have an extra ticket for the Linda Ronstadt Experience on Aug 15?? 

On the more serious side, the annual Lake Tahoe Summit is being held at the Kings Beach Conference Center. It is organized by Tahoe Fund. Go to their website to register. The Lake Tahoe Summit brings all the politicians together, reminding us that the Basin is bi-state and it’s up to all of us to do what we can for the Basin, whether it’s high-level policies or just picking up trash from the trails.  

Hey, I know it’s busy right now, and the road construction doesn’t help. Don’t forget to take TART Connect, generously funded by Travel North Tahoe Nevada and Washoe County, among other agencies. Be welcoming to our second homeowners and visitors, and kindly educate them on ways to “Take Care Tahoe” and “Slow Down Tahoe”- signs courtesy of Helen Neff. Our business community is grateful for the summer season, which helps maintain them throughout the shoulder seasons.

There has been a lot of dissension in our little village lately!  It is making IVCBA’s mission…that of “building cohesiveness for the sustainability of Incline Village and Crystal Bay” very difficult. My rose-colored glasses think it’s a good thing that many people are paying attention to the issues. It is my sincere hope that residents can agree to disagree, remain civil and value solutions that may be a compromise but don’t compromise one’s integrity and values. Here are some “golden rules” for civility that encourage the expression of multiple viewpoints

• Focus on the issue, not the person: no personal attacks under the guise of free speech.
• Constructive, not destructive, criticism.
• Keep to the topic at hand.
• Keep an open mind and listen, respectively.
• Don’t jump to conclusions. Listen to all viewpoints.
• Be gracious if other opinions prevail.

These rules apply to individuals and to organizations!

I encourage everyone to be a knowledgeable citizen. Attend meetings…the IVGID board meetings (tonight), IVGID’s Conversation Café on Thursdays, Community Forum on 1^st and 3^rd Fridays (this Friday), and WC Citizen Advisory Board meetings. For information on IVGID meetings, go to yourtahoeplace.com. For the latest information on the possible middle school closure, go to WCSD.org or IVCBA.org/education. WCSD has published their Questions and Answers from the last meeting. They are published in this week’s SnapShot. 

Invest in Incline is an Advocacy Network. IVCB community 1^st has the best coverage of agency meetings. 

UNR@ LAKE TAHOE 

Two years ago, Sierra Nevada University made the decision to become part of the University of Nevada’s high education system. This was very difficult for many who had known and loved SNU. However, with declining enrollment(across the country) and COVID, UNR was the best option to keep an institution of higher learning open in Incline. It took one year to make that transition. 

Last July, UNR officially took over.  Dr. Jill Heaton has worked tirelessly to ensure that SNU students could complete their degrees and that the campus would be used effectively by UNR for education. Its “Semester at Lake Tahoe” will take advantage of the strengths of the campus and its location. Dr. Heaton has worked to ensure that UNR continues to be engaged with the community.  

Classical Tahoe will continue to hold its summer concerts on the campus. The Holman Art Center is still a resource for the community. Reasons to walk the campus this summer: the Demonstration Garden for ideas on native plants for your garden, Tahoe Science Center for hands-on exhibits for Lake Tahoe and geology, the paths along the creek and between the campus and the Rec Center to enjoy the outdoors without getting on a bike or the East Shore Trail. Let me know if you see my ideal “Community Christmas Tree!”.  

FATHER’S DAY IS SUNDAY

Yes, it’s a Hallmark moment. But can there really be too many days to honor people who raised you and loved you? If there is someone in your life, biological or not, who was a significant person in your life now or at some point, thank them!

COMMUNITY SIGNS AT BOTH ENDS OF TOWN

I saw NDOT putting up the new signs for service and faith-based organizations that we made last year. If anyone can get past all the road construction to see them, let me know how they look! I am grateful for the road repair, but I have exhausted all my work- arounds for the construction sites. Glad NDOT and Washoe County Roads are ON IT!