The Top Can’t Miss Special Events in IV/CB This Summer

By: Kayla Anderson

While there are plenty of things to do all summer long in this northeast corner of Tahoe, there are a few prominent events in Incline Village that are worth carving out time in your calendar for. Between drone shows, art hikes, theatre performances, and classical concerts with the nation’s top musicians, here are a few one-of-a-kind experiences to take part of this summer:

Following its early summer Classy Classics concert series and “Soiree Musicale” fundraising events, rumor has it that TOCCATA Tahoe Symphony Orchestra is gearing up for its Fourth of July concert, an August concert series, and a 9/11 memorial concert. Visit toccatatahoe.org for

Our very own Incline Village Crystal Bay Business Association is organizing the 4th of July Celebration this year with pancake breakfasts, a BBQ, flag retirement ceremony, and more. Be sure to catch the parade that goes down the main street of Incline Village starting at 10am on Sunday, July 2nd and the July 4th SkyShow activities from 7pm-11pm at the Incline Village Ridgeline Ball Fields. ivcba.org/events/local-heroes

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival has been around since 1972 and each year it has just gotten bigger and better. In 1979 a stage was built exclusively for the festival at Sand Harbor State Park, and hundreds of Shakespeare fans came to see the nine performances. Nowadays upwards of 33,000 attendees catch one (or a few) of the many productions held there, and the D.G. Menchetti Young Shakespeare Program reaches more than 8,500 children in the Tahoe basin. This year’s featured show is the musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors; to see a schedule of events or to buy tickets, visit laketahoeshakespeare.com .

Every summer, the nation’s top classical musicians come together in Incline Village for a 16-concert series at the intimate outdoor pavilion located at UNR at Lake Tahoe. In this year’s four-week series, musicians from the MET Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and more will delight and entertain attendees by playing beautiful tunes that match the peaceful Tahoe setting. For more information or to buy tickets, visit classicaltahoe.org .

In the fall of 2020, the Incline Education Fund (IEF) initiated contact with the University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Education and Human Development, to explore potential mentoring opportunities to bring to the middle school students of Incline Village. As a result of those discussions, the Dean’s Future Scholars (DFS) program expressed interest in trying to find a way to support the low-income, firstgeneration college students in the Lake Tahoe basin.

The DFS program is a grant-funded program that began in the College of Education and Human Development 23 years ago with its first cohort of 50 students. It has grown to serve 1,620 students throughout the Reno, Sparks and Pyramid Lake region. Students are recommended for the program during their sixth-grade year and are provided free mentoring and summer programming through high school graduation and beyond. Last year, 396 students from 34 different schools were regularly mentored by DFS college student mentors, and the program additionally served 280 students during its annual summer program, where students gain exposure to college life while earning high school, dual credit, college credits and a paid internship.

IEF’s vision to bring additional support to the students of Incline Village became a reality when the Executive Director of the DFS program, Dr. Mariluz Garcia, received news in the final days of the 2021 Legislature that state lawmakers, in an effort championed by Senator Heidi Seevers-Gansert, had allocated $4 million for the DFS program into Senate Bill 461.

The bill used American Rescue Plan funding to support a variety of COVID-19 related efforts, including an educationoriented priority to assist first-generation college students who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Dr. Garcia created the Nevada First-Gen Network (NFGN) as an umbrella organization to conduct a state-wide needs assessment, distribute $2.5 million of the funds through a micro-grant program, and increase direct services and

As a result, the DFS and IEF launched a pilot program last summer to offer a free 3-week summer camp where students engaged in various STEM, leadership, art, outdoor activities, and college and career readiness programs. Students spent time in both Incline Village and at the main campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Due to the success of that DFS-Incline pilot program, IEF requested that the NFGN team extend their enrichment opportunities into the academic school year. In response, NFGN mentors regularly visited Incline Village schools to offer mentorship and academic support, including robotics, arts and culture.

IEF and NFGN are now excited to announce an expansion of the summer program at Incline Village this summer to run five days a week from July 10 through Aug. 4. Students will again travel to Reno twice/week for regularly scheduled DFS programming. The remainder of the week will be spent in Incline at the new University of Nevada at Lake Tahoe campus, engaging in STEM projects, leadership opportunities, career aspirations and community recreation.

Over the past year, IEF and NFGN have successfully brought much needed mentoring and educational opportunities to the elementary and middle school students of Incline Village. The 2023 summer program will take this collaboration to new heights by being able to utilize the beautiful University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe campus with energetic middle school students who are eager to learn, connect, and experience college life.

For more details about this program, please visit the Incline Education Fund website at www.inclineeducationfund.org or the Dean’s Future Scholars website at www.unr.edu/dfs.