August 2023

LETTERS EDITOR'S NOTE

Local boards need help keeping bullies at bay

Some of the smartest, most thoughtful people I know serve on local boards and commissions, volunteering their time and talents for the public good.

Those panels are under siege by small, strident—and frequently disruptive—groups of people bent on pushing their ideologies on everyone else. From the county commission to the school board, once-placid meetings are now battlefields in the culture wars.

But it’s not about stolen-election fairy tales or drag queens, just as the Civil Rights Movement was not about lunch counters. It’s about intimidation and control, fear and hate.

Our Library Board of Trustees, the focus of this issue’s Upfront column, is a target of a posse of malcontents, egged on by political hacks. The chaos they sow has resulted in board vacancies; their vitriolic attacks discourage qualified applicants from applying for those seats.

That’s a recipe for disaster, said Willie Puchert, a graphic designer and former local journalist who has applied for one of the two library board vacancies. “I was compelled to apply after watching the circus-like atmosphere of local government meetings,” he said. He cited “the bullying tone of activists … and the growing censorship trend” as his motivation.

Puchert quoted The West Wing TV series: “Decisions are made by those who show up.” Some of the folks showing up to harass local panels, he said, probably have the open seats in their sights.

Boards need a diversity of members with many different points of view. But watch YouTube videos of recent library (or other local) board meetings, and then decide if you’d want any of the protestors calling the shots.

Volunteer boards, now more than ever, need thoughtful, dedicated people. Ideologues show up regularly. Reasonable people need to show up, too—and, if possible, volunteer for the posts that help shape the future of our community.

—FRANK X. MULLEN frankm@renonr.com

Cover photo by David Robert

Praise for our July issue

I’m thrilled to have the RN&R back on the racks! Kudos to Casey Cummings and Kimball Shinkoskey for their well-written and thoughtful letters (RN&R, July 2023). Our state is so wrong-thinking and wasteful of our tax money. We are doomed if we can’t vote these folks out of office.

And a tip of my hat to other pieces in the issue: Frank Mullen’s Editor’s Note was spot on, as was Sheila Leslie’s column. A question: Why does the federal government look to skim money from Social Security to fund agendas when we are supporting NASA? Why spend billions to fly around the moon? Besides being a huge waste of money, the damage to the environment during launches has to be tremendous. Abort NASA, and put those rocket scientists to work on preserving our planet.

C.R. Ferris Reno

Guns are forever

Gun violence cannot be stopped by “getting rid of guns” (RN&R, July 2023). There are oodles of guns already owned legally in this country; what’s the plan, go door to door and force people to turn over their firearms? Or ask politely to relinquish

the guns and trust the honor system?

As the saying goes, if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. The logic behind bringing back payphones (RN&R, June 2023) makes sense, however.

April Pedersen Reno

GOP wallows in ignorance

Republicans have reached the peak of absurdity. Children are regularly mowed down in classrooms by crazies with AR-15s, and “conservatives” stand mute or say mass murder is the small price we pay for the (misinterpreted by them) Second Amendment. But let a drag queen read a book to kids at a library (RN&R, July 2023) and “conservatives” are driven into frenzy. The only things they are “conserving” are ignorance, greed and hatred.

Barry DeSena Fernley

Drag queens aren’t the problem

The television program To Catch a Predator never caught a drag queen. They DID catch preachers, fathers and other “normal” men.

Laura Barmettler Reno

Gerlach should get geothermal

It’s starting to sound a bit NIMBY to me.

While the population of Gerlach (54) is vehemently opposed to the proposed Ormat geothermal power plant (RN&R, April 2023), the rest of us are stuck in the cities, more concerned with how to pay our rising energy bills than not being able to see the stars clearly.

Ormat has been installing safe, clean energy plants for more than 50 years here, and appears willing to bend over backward to meet Gerlachian demands. My proposal: In return for allowing the plant, Ormat could budget in a “fee” of X amount of donated free electricity to the Gerlach community. A deal might be made with Elon Musk to acquire one or two of his electric semis both to use as a free transport of goods, and as a test bed for his vehicles. Maybe even kick in a couple of Teslas and a charging station or two? I bet Ormat would even help fund all this.

Nah, my writings tend to piss people off. I get hate mail, and nobody invites me for dinner anymore. If it weren’t for trying to help give my grandkids a sustainable future, I’d keep silent. But I can’t.

Craig Bergland Reno

Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263, Cathedral City, CA 92234 • 775-324-4440 • RenoNR.com

Publisher/Executive Editor

Jimmy Boegle

Editor

Frank X. Mullen

Photo Editor David Robert

Cover and Feature Design

Dennis Wodzisz

Distribution Lead

Rick Beckwith

Contributors

Alicia Barber, Matt Bieker, Maude Ballinger, Lucy Birmingham, Owen Bryant, Brad Bynum, Max Cannon, Zoe Dixon, Buddy Frank, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Taylor Harker, Janice Hoke, Matt Jones, Matt King, Lynn Lazaro, Sheila Leslie, Michael Moberly, Maggie Nichols, Steve Noel, Dan Perkins, Jessica Santina, Jason Sarna, Marc Tiar, Kris Vagner, Robert Victor, Matt Westfield

The Reno News & Review print edition is published monthly. All content is ©2023 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The RN&R is available free of charge throughout Northern Nevada, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling 775-324-4440. The RN&R may be distributed only authorized distributors.

The RN&R is a proud member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the Nevada Press Association, and the Local Independent Online News Publishers.

GUEST COMMENT BY ANDRÉ WADE

U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in a fake case threatens to roll back advances in LGBTQ+ equality

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the First Amendment allows a free-speech exemption to Colorado’s existing nondiscrimination law that would allow a business to deny service to same-sex couples.

In the case—303 Creative LLC v. Elenis six of the nine justices decided to once again ignore years of precedent and public norms. The court’s decision allows businesses a license to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people—a license this case was specifically engineered to create.

The court’s majority emphasized that the ruling is limited to the facts of the case. The case involved an artist who designs websites purported to offer “original,” “customized” and “tailored” creations in a manner “designed to communicate a particular message” that viewers would attribute to the artist. The plaintiff in the case told the court that she had received at least one request from a man named “Stewart” to create a wedding website for him and his fiancé, “Mike.”

Soon after the court’s decision was announced, a journalist for The New Republic magazine tracked down Stewart, who said he not only never made the request, but that he has been married to a woman for 15 years.

This was, in essence, a fake case concerning an imaginary conflict that was specifically engineered to usher in the radical, reckless ruling that is out of touch with the majority of the country. We must remain vigilant not to succumb to this manufactured division.

The most recent polling shows that more than two-thirds of Americans oppose permitting businesses to refuse service to LGBTQ+ people on religious grounds, and eight in 10

STREETALK

What are the best and worst smells in Reno?

Asked at Wingfield Park, 2 S. Arlington Ave., Reno

Maury Riquelme

BY DAVID ROBERT

support federal nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community. We also know most business owners believe in treating all their customers with dignity and respect. This radical Supreme Court has again proven itself to be wildly out of step with the American people. This decision comes at a time when LGBTQ+ people are under attack across the country, with more than 500 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced nationwide, and more than 75 of those signed into law. Amid this legislative onslaught, we are also seeing rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and increasing incidents of violence, intimidation and harassment—leading the Human Rights Campaign to declare a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans.

We at Silver State Equality call on all fair-minded business owners to condemn discrimination and stand on the side of equality. LGBTQ+ people are family members, co-workers, business owners, classmates and customers in every community. We will not allow this decision to roll back the equality we deserve and have fought so hard for, and we will continue working side by side with our partners to ensure freedom and inclusion for everyone.

André Wade is the state director of Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. SSE brings the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in Nevada and throughout the U.S. It strives to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people. Silver State Equality is a Nevada-based program affiliated with and supported by the Equality California Institute and Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. Learn more at SilverStateEquality.org.

I just walked through the downtown alleys by the casinos, and it smelled like garbage. It didn’t make me feel good. It reminded me of Portland! The best smell in Reno is the restaurants on the Riverwalk. The seafood place smells delicious. Also, the smell of beer—who doesn’t like beer?

The worst smell is when it’s hot, and the river is at its lowest. All the algae comes up, and it smells like you’re driving behind a farm-animal delivery truck. The best smell is Food Truck Fridays at Idlewild Park. I love the smell of Korean-fusion barbecue. My favorite is the smell of the shrimp skewers as they cook on the barbecue.

Griffen

worker

The worst smell is the B.O. of the people at the airport—the stench of people who are getting off a plane after being stuck on the tarmac for a few hours. It reminds me of the smell of Burning Man. The best smell in Reno is lilacs in the springtime; it’s eternal. They were gorgeous this spring, just lovely.

The worst smell is people’s brains while they try to come at me. It smells like raunchy caca. The best smell in Reno is petrichor, the smell of the rain and the smell of the earth after the rain. It brings happiness to the table. Also, the smell of sonder: It’s the people who you see on the streets, when you and realize that they have a life, too, just like you do.

The absolute worst smell in Reno is the smell of festering baby diapers that someone left on the sidewalk. I’m grateful that I don’t have babies. The best smell is that of a cannabis dispensary. It smells like my youth and reminds me of smoking weed down by the river.

FOOT FORWARD

| BY SHEILA LESLIE LEFT

Gov. Lombardo’s vetoes show a lack of concern for Nevadans’ needs

One of the hidden effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the creation of a universal school lunch program for the nation’s children.

The United States has been very slow in acknowledging the benefits of providing free school lunches. They help not only with child nutrition and learning; they also reduce “lunch shaming,” whereby lower-income students are stigmatized with different color lunch tickets or even less-attractive food choices. Post-pandemic, the trend toward universal school lunches has grown through legislative action or ballot initiatives, even in states with Republican governors such as New Hampshire.

Nevada, sadly, will no longer support food security for its school children, as Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill to extend the provision of free breakfast and lunch at school, citing food waste and the unappealing notion of subsidizing parents who can afford to pay for the food themselves. He conveniently forgets taxpayers currently “subsidize” all sorts of public school services for higher-income families such as bus transportation, books and, in many schools, tablets or laptops. But apparently lunch is just a step too far.

Lombardo seemed to celebrate a goal of vetoing more bills in a single legislative session than any other governor in Nevada’s history, displaying his raw power for campaign donors and Democrats alike, breaking the previous record of 48 vetoes set by the hapless Jim Gibbons in 2009. Lombardo’s 75 vetoes didn’t reveal a cohesive political philosophy so much as a willful lack of communication between the executive and legislative branches, and a governor more than willing to substitute his own judgment for that of legislators who voted for many of the vetoed bills in a bipartisan manner.

Other Lombardo veto lowlights featured a trio of modest gun-violence prevention bills— particularly relevant after 22 mass shootings nationwide over the extended Fourth of July weekend—and a series of tenant protection bills designed to balance the rights of Nevadans who rent with those of predatory landlords. He also vetoed measures to cap prescription-drug costs so everyone can benefit from negotiated Medicare prices; implement “die with dignity” legislation to allow terminally ill patients to selfadminister life-ending medication; and require that school districts provide a health-insurance subsidy for long-term substitute teachers.

He even refused a bill to guarantee access to contraception, preferring to let local officials decide who deserves the right to purchase “morning after” medication.

In a public statement, Lombardo framed himself as Nevada’s benevolent protector, blaming Democrats for passing “legislation that raised taxes, eroded constitutional rights, and expanded bureaucracy, among countless other examples of government overreach.” He righteously declared: “Nevadans elected me to protect and serve our state—which includes protecting Nevadans from harmful and dangerous legislation,” although the harm or danger from school lunch or health insurance seems miniscule and far outweighed by the benefit to recipients.

Lombardo engaged in the biggest political stunt of the session with his insincere veto of the appropriations act just days before the session was to end, when he cited “undisciplined budgeting practices,” as well as accountability and transparency issues as justifications for throwing the state’s budget into chaos and uncertainty. Lombardo ended up approving the exact same bill with a different number just days

few of his most cherished bills on education and crime—even though most of his policy priorities were gutted, leaving him to crow about not very much at all.

Nevada’s governors often grow into the job, especially those like Lombardo, with little government experience beyond barking orders to subordinates who did his bidding when he was Clark County sheriff. Lombardo would do well to study the example of former Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn in the 2005 session, when he publicly announced he wouldn’t sign a bill allowing the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada unless he was convinced the measure wouldn’t violate federal law, and Nevada wouldn’t be liable if an imported drug proved harmful. He worked closely with the bill’s sponsor, Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, to address his concerns, and ultimately signed the bill.

Vetoing bills to provide food for hungry schoolchildren, health insurance for teachers, and protections for all of us from relentless and senseless gun violence isn’t putting the brakes on Democratic excess. It’s ignoring the very real needs and concerns of everyday Nevadans. So

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

If you’re an ‘RN&R’ super-fan, we want you!

The Reno News & Review has now been back in print for 15 months—and it’s been one hell of a journey.

On that journey, we’ve earned some accolades. I just got back from the Association of Alternative Media’s annual conference, this year held in Dallas, hosted by the Dallas Voice. At the conference, the association announced the results of the 2023 AAN Awards, and the RN&R took home two: third place for right-wing extremism coverage, for Frank X. Mullen’s piece last year on Robert Beadles; and first place for election coverage, for Frank’s stories on the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees races last year.

Regarding the school board coverage, the judge wrote: “These well-written pieces clearly depict what happens when school boards become weapons in the culture war. The theater is damaging to the well-being of everyone involved, especially the students, teachers and the community as a whole. I appreciate that the pieces set the record straight on falsehoods the rabblerousers are pushing such as the fact that (critical race theory) is being taught in K-12 and the

district’s low test scores. These pieces are a community service.”

To summarize all of this: This little swing-state newspaper was honored with the top award for the best election coverage nationwide. Pretty cool.

Meanwhile, our journey continues— and we’re on the lookout for some people to come along with us.

First: We’re looking for a new managing editor. Frank X. Mullen, who stepped up three years ago to help keep the online version of the RN&R going, and without whom this newspaper would likely not exist right now, wants to step back from the everyday grind of being the editor. (Don’t worry; he’ll still be involved with the RN&R, and will continue writing and reporting.)

We’re looking for someone to coordinate our coverage, work with our writers, and maintain the high journalism standards the RN&R has long had. Journalism experience is required, of course; the hours are flexible; and the pay, frankly, as of now is so-so. If you’re interested, or know of someone who may be, please drop me a line at jimmyb @renonr.com.

Second: We’re looking for RN&R super-fans. We are in the process of planning the future of the paper, and would love to hear from you. Whether you’ve been a RN&R fan for years, or you discovered us when we rebooted post-pandemic, we want your input. If that’s you, again, my email is jimmyb@renonr.com.

Some further explanation: As I have mentioned in this space before, we’re working

| BY JIMMY BOEGLE

to make sure the RN&R never goes away again. As the Gannett daily continues to wither away, our coverage is more important than ever before. We’re currently in the process of analyzing the best path forward for the RN&R—including a possible conversion to nonprofit status.

That’s where you, our super-fans, come in: We want to better understand where the RN&R fits into your life. What do you like about it? What could we do better? And how are you willing to help us secure a sustainable future?

Frankly, I don’t want the RN&R’s future to depend on me, or on the whims of any other owner. The RN&R is a community resource, and it would be fantastic for it to belong to the community as a nonprofit. But in order for that to happen, we’ll need board members, and donors, and volunteers, and people willing to help us find funding.

The future of this newspaper is bright. Our wonderful advertisers and our reader supporters have gotten us to a place where we can pay our bills and do good things. But in order for us to grow, and in order for us to survive a possible economic downturn, we need the community to stand behind us.

TOM SCOTT in concert with the Reno Jazz Orchestra

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SAXOPHONIST

“The RN&R is a community resource, and it would be fantastic for it to belong to the community as a nonprofit. But in order for that to happen, we’ll need board members, and donors, and volunteers, and people willing to help us find funding.”

ON NEVADA BUSINESS

| BY MATT WESTFIELD

Running a business can be lonely—but there are resources that can help

There are many rewards for running the show when you’re the founder of a business. In fact, we often only hear about the enticing aspects—it is glory and beatitude, being the exalted founder. When a youngster says they want to be an entrepreneur, they usually mean they want to be the next Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg, or some TikTok sensation … but they don’t really count.

Starting a business comes at a price. No one sees the underbelly of starting and growing a legitimate for-profit entity. For every Musk or Zuckerberg, there are 100,000 struggling founders developing all kinds of new technologies, gadgets, apps, energy sources, tools, and on and on.

These men and women are on the journey. It’s always a journey.

That journey in business is often long and harsh. Many, many don’t make it, as we know, and many shouldn’t make it. The founder’s journey is not for the weak, which is why many people won’t take the risk. It is not often glamorous or sexy. Rarely does the founder’s journey take someone where they expected— even when they’re successful. I have started eight companies, and none wound up where we thought they would, even with several successful exits. There are many twists and turns, small wins, big losses … ups and downs.

It can become monotonous and lonely. When things are not going as planned, we

feel isolated and have no one to talk to. We may not want to express our concerns to our significant other, fearing they’ll just tell us to go get a real job. (In my case, that’s not possible, because I have no redeeming qualities for which anyone would actually pay.)

We certainly don’t want our investors to know our dark thoughts. So who do we talk to? Who would understand or care what I’m dealing with and going through? I’ve actually been going through some of this myself lately, for several different reasons. Who do I talk to, when I’m the person many come to for their answers? There are also times when we feel as though we’ve built a job and not a company. This actually happens a lot with small consulting companies. There is no exit, because you are the company, Without you, there is no value.

In 2011, after the recession, my buddy Rod Hosilyk and I were developing an early entrepreneurial curriculum for JOIN Inc. to help out-of-work professionals understand that their professional lives weren’t over. Some had the same job or career for decades, and many of those jobs were not coming back. Our position was always, “Now that your stupid jobby-job isn’t in the way, you can do anything you want, and build your dream instead of someone else’s.” It’s a contrary message to most people, who are risk-averse or who have never started a company before.

When the initial classes ended, a chemical engineering student asked, “Now what?” My reply was: “Now go and build your company.” We then had them determine things they’d accomplish over the next 30 days to build their business. We set up a follow-up workshop to check in. That former student is a dear friend now, a successful entrepreneur who travels the world training university engineering departments on how to get their labs certified to U.S. standards. She is amazing. (Visit AccreditationPreparation.com to learn more.)

This process started a 12-year journey of “founders helping founders,” and Entrepreneurs Assembly Inc. (EA) was born. The award-winning mentoring organization has helped bring founders together, and we’ve gotten a lot of buzz. We’ve brought more than 1,000 startups together over the years to have them openly share what keeps them up at night—and then solve each other’s challenges in a confidential and non-judgmental forum.

Like all organizations, EA has gone through many changes—especially during the pandemic years. We changed the name to BizAssembly.org (BA) due to an unexpected legal pissing contest with Entrepreneur magazine, which sues any company that tries to register “Entrepreneur” anything. (That’s a wild story for another time.)

BA has continued to morph and change with the times, due to a strong and effective

board and die-hard founders who appreciate the network and accountability that we can provide. We went virtual through the pandemic, and still largely operate virtually during the summer, when everyone is traveling or staying in due to the heat.

Are you starting a business, or a side hustle, or trying to grow an existing biz? Are you trying to go from pre-revenue to revenue, revenue to growth, or even build an exit strategy? BizAsembly.org can help. There are savvy mentors, serial founders and first-time founders from many different sectors, all coming together monthly to strategize, network, vent, commiserate and build. It is powerful.

How cool is it when you can get a 25-yearold grad student mentoring a 60-year-old on tech, with the 60-year-old mentoring the grad student on proven sales strategies? Recall Vistro, the ghost-kitchen startup I featured a few months back? They came through the program, as did the Imbib founders and many other Northern Nevada success stories. BizAssembly.org will be launching Fall Founders Roundtable workshops at the UNR Innevation Center, at 450 Sinclair St., beginning Saturday, Sept. 9, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Mark Pingle will be leading the workshop, with some guest appearances to be announced soon.

No one knows what a founder goes through … except another founder! Come find out.

Are you a fan of the Reno News & Review?

If so, we want you!

We are in the process of planning the future of the paper. Whether you’ve been a RN&R fan for years, or you discovered us when we rebooted post-pandemic, we want your input.

We’re working to make sure the RN&R never goes away again. As the Gannett daily continues to wither away, our coverage is more important than ever before. We’re currently in the process of analyzing the best path forward for the RN&R—including a possible conversion to nonprofit status.

That’s where you, our super-fans, come in: We want to better understand where the RN&R fits into your life. What do you like about it? What could we do better? And how are you willing to help us secure a sustainable future?

UPFRONT

Panel rejects library board chairwoman reappointment

Washoe County commissioners have declined to reappoint the chairwoman of the county’s Library Board of Trustees—and one commissioner blamed her for the disruptions at local meetings instigated by a small group of activists upset about drag queen story time.

The commissioners voted 3-2 against reappointing trustee Amy Ghilieri to the board, which, along with other local public panels, has been the target of protestors spurred on by the leaders of the Washoe County Republican Party. At library board meetings, activists have demanded an end to a 5-year-old program of a drag queen reading to children a few times per year. The books librarians select for those events focus on diversity and inclusion, concepts also targeted by right-wing protestors.

Neither Ghilieri, a history professor, nor the board as a whole, control whether local libraries host public events, nor do panel members approve books selected by librarians. Nonetheless, Commissioner Mike Clark accused Ghilieri of causing “such a stir in the community” and lamented that “the library board shouldn’t be a polarizing point.”

Clark, along with commissioners Jeanne Herman and Clara Andriola, voted against reappointing Ghilieri. Commissioners Mariluz Garcia and Alexis Hill voted in favor of retaining her.

Dragging the culture wars into local public meetings and trying to ban library books are national trends. The American Library Association documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, nearly double the 729 challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons; Black and/or Indigenous people; or people of color.

The library board now has two vacancies. Trustee Ann Medaille, a university librarian who had been on the panel for a year, resigned in July without giving an explanation. The board’s remaining members are Frank Perez, Lea Moser and Al Rogers.

Those interested in applying for the library board vacancies may visit Washoe County’s website and navigate to the “Board & Commission Openings” page.

—Frank X. Mullen

Starry nights, silver screens

The El Rancho Drive-in is a summer time capsule from simpler days

Every summer, in cars parked in rows under the stars, a 90-year-old American ritual is celebrated in Sparks.

Shortly before sunset, cars and pickups full of families, groups of friends and couples line up on the concrete of the West Wind/El Rancho Drive-In in Sparks. They park facing a towering screen—just as many of their forebears did beginning nearly a century ago. The scent of popcorn rides a light breeze. Blankets and pillows are hauled out of car trunks. Folding lawn chairs snap open. Blowup mattresses appear in truck beds.

Darkness falls. Faces glow with moonlight and anticipation.

“It’s a really fun outdoor experience,” said Natalie Hernandez, 27, who was on her way to the El Rancho’s snack bar. “We can come and hang out, not just sit in the dark.”

The four screens blink into life. Coolers snap open; soda containers fizz. Couples wiggle closer in front seats. The rituals haven’t changed in decades.

“Back in the 1950s, people would just drive up with their date, park their car, watch the movie or make out,” said Joe Granata, 86, who grew up in Reno.

Some things have evolved. Digital projectors have replaced film reels; radio tuning eliminated speakers on poles. The vehicles are modern, and snacks are more expensive. But the essence of the experience remains: Hot summer days fade; people hunker down; and stories are painted in light on a grand canvas.

The golden age of drive-ins

In 1933, Richard Hollingshead created the first drive-in as a solution to the discomfort of small

The El Rancho Drive-in in Sparks, Northern Nevada’s only remaining drive-in theater, opened in 1952. Its four screens show first-run movies.

movie-theater seats, according to the New York Film Academy. By 1960, more than 4,000 drivein theaters dotted the nation.

In those days, speakers were provided for every car.

“At that time, they’d have posts, and there would be a cord connecting to a speaker you got when you drove in,” explained photographer Jerry Fenwick, a Reno native. Today, patrons tune in to movie soundtracks on their car radios or cell phones.

Reno’s first drive-in, the Motor-In, was established on South Virginia Street in 1946. The business was re-christened as the Midway Drive-In in 1948, a name that stuck until the theater closed in 1982. That left the El Rancho, which opened in 1952, without competition.

“I’m surprised they kept the El Rancho,” said Neal Cobb, a Reno historian and author. “It came a couple of years after the Midway. … It was a big hit immediately.”

The El Rancho is now owned by West Wind, a family-owned company that bills itself as the largest drive-in theater chain in the world. West Wind operates four drive-ins in California, one in Arizona, and two in Nevada. The company recently acquired and reopened two drive-ins in California, which at one time had more than 20 outdoor theaters statewide.

“After World War II, entertainment was a big deal,” Cobb said. “People would do anything for fun and games, or anything that could be a laugh.”

The drive-in provided a venue not only for movies, but for people-watching as well as pranks, he said.

“I’d always laugh at the guy who wanted to get out early to beat traffic,” Cobb said. “Most of the time, he forgets to disconnects his speaker from the pole, and bam! It would break off the cord, and half the time (also) break the window.”

Each occupant of a vehicle needed a ticket, so sneaking into the movies was a common tactic.

“High schoolers could fit four or five kids in the trunk of their car and get everyone in,” Cobb remembered.

Pranks were popular. “Every now and then, teenagers would throw stink bombs (at cars) to irritate someone who was having a real good date,” Cobb said.

Fenwick denied such horseplay was common when he was a teenager.

“The pranks mostly happened in the 1960s when kids were bigger jerks than they ever were in the ’50s,” he said. “We had more respect for things in the ’50s.”

Photo/David Robert

An enduring appeal

In 2004, about 400 drive-in theaters remained. As of 2020, just 321 were still operating across 44 states, according to Statistica.com. Hawaii, Alaska, Louisiana, Wyoming, Delaware and North Dakota no longer have any drive-in theaters.

The market has contracted, but analysts don’t think the venues will become extinct. Globally, drive-in theaters are a $5.1 billion industry, estimated to reach $8.6 billion in revenue by 2031, according to Transparency Market Research.

Yet in an age of instant, digital media, available virtually everywhere at anytime, why would anyone still go to a drive-in?

“I think it’s closer and more personal than a theater or at home,” said Alina Vera, 25, who was at the El Rancho in July. “Everyone is sitting here with a lot of snacks and blankets, talking, you know? (At an indoor cinema), everyone just sits in aisles and stares straight ahead.”

The proliferation of television sets in the 1950s reduced attendance at movie theaters, but drive-ins had their own niche.

“They were always a big thing for families,” said Fenwick. “It was a cheap night out and lots of fun. If kids fell asleep or cried, they wouldn’t bother anyone. … They were great to bring your girlfriend to and make out in the car. No one around you would be disturbed.”

It’s still a relatively inexpensive pastime. At the El Rancho, general-admission tickets cost $8.25; tickets for kids ages 5-11 are $2; and children age 4 and younger get in free. Tuesdays are “family fun nights,” with general admission

tickets priced at $5.75.

There are other advantages to seeing a movie outdoors.

Drive-ins have fewer restrictions than standard theaters. Conversations during the movie, loud laughing, children yelling, cell phone use, frequently moving around and bringing snacks/ drinks from home are acceptable behaviors. In some areas of the country, drive-ins show older movies that cost less to acquire than recently released films. The El Rancho, however, offers the same first-run flicks available in brick-andmortar theaters.

The COVID-19 pandemic, bad for nearly every business, sparked a resurgence in drivein attendance, according to industry reports. For families and couples sitting in their own vehicles, parked more than 6 feet away from other cars, masks and social distancing weren’t a big issue.

“I really wanted to see a lot of movies the past couple of years, but due to COVID-19, we didn’t want to go into an indoor theater,” said Geraldo Martinez, 28. “Besides, this is a lot more relaxing.”

The surge in business continued after the contagion abated. Adults rediscovered the tradition, and each summer, some kids make their first trip to see movies shown in the open air.

“I’ve never been to one of these, so I’m super excited,” said Isabella Stanley, 13, who with her sister, Emma, 11, were visiting Reno from Germany. “It’s a cool experience, and in Germany, they don’t have these. Drive-ins are definitely a part of the culture here.”

Caesar Aguilar, 19, and Mia Villarreal, 18, got to the El Rancho Drive-in early on July 10 to see Insidious: The Red Door Photo/Zoe Dixon

Feeling seen

Helping local teens at a boutique where everybody knows your name

Thain and his younger brother, Tanner, both high school students, recently entered the storefront at Project 150 Reno empty-handed. They left weighed down with bags of clothes, food, school supplies and hygiene products.

While the pair waited outside for their foster mother to pick them up, they were offered cold drinks and snacks by one of the organization’s volunteers. Thain, who will be a senior in the fall, was sporting his new jacket, despite the summer heat.

“I love this jacket,” he said with a grin.

Project 150 Reno is a nonprofit that offers help to nearly 3,500 homeless, displaced and disadvantaged students in more than 30 high schools in Northern Nevada. Its boutique at 1340 Foster Drive is open year-round, and the store has a lot of satisfied customers who praise the outlet’s services and staff.

“They remembered me,” Thain said.

“They’ve got a ton of stuff, like really fancy shoes and a lot of things—coats, hats and school supplies, which is really helpful. They’ve got water bottles. They give you food, snacks and whatnot. They’re super-cool.”

The project began in Las Vegas in December 2011, after a TV news report highlighted 150 homeless students attending Rancho High School. Viewers responded; a network of friends and business colleagues reached out to the high school’s homeless advocate to offer help. A few weeks before Christmas, the group delivered three truckloads of supplies to 17 families. The haul included food, toiletries, school supplies— and, importantly, clothing and shoes. The success of the event, organizers said, made it clear that the service needed to be available all year.

Project 150 started in Southern Nevada to offer free support and services to homeless high school students so they can stay in school and graduate. In 2014, Don Purdue, one of

Project 150’s co-founders and a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, helped gain support for another Project 150 outlet in the Biggest Little City.

For the first several years, Project 150 Reno operated out of storage sheds and warehouses, until the group acquired the Foster Drive space about four years ago. The store is run by unpaid volunteers with backgrounds in education, law enforcement, social work and other fields.

Liz McFarland, who has been with Project 150 Reno from its start, is the volunteer director. “I come from a long line of volunteers,” she said. “My grandma started the first food bank in Stockton, Calif., that still runs today, 60-something years later.”

McFarland, a former newspaper circulation manager, now devotes 40 hours or more a week to volunteering.

“I like to spend my time with organizations and volunteer opportunities that can help people help themselves,” she said.

When kids come to Project 150 Reno, they are assigned a volunteer to assist them as they shop for a variety of items, including clothing, food, school supplies, hygiene products and other staples of student life. “We even have silly things, like this LED ring light,” said McFarland. “For, like, being a podcast star.”

At Project 150 Reno, the customers are treated as equals and with respect, volunteers said.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like or what language you speak; everyone is treated the same way,” said Suzanne Bartone, a retired clinical social worker and volunteer. “A lot of people just always write them off, being teenagers, but here, they get a lot of respect.”

Bartone intended only to drop off some clothes when she visited the store four years ago. McFarland gave her a tour; she met some customers—and she was hooked.

“You directly see the impact of helping,” she said. “You get to interact with the kids. You see them when they come in. You see their needs. You talk to them, and you’re able to give them what they need, and they leave happy. It’s a direct impact.”

Kalena, an incoming high school freshman, recently made her second trip to the boutique.

“Everyone’s really helpful,” she said.

Her family had been struggling with its finances, she said, and Project 150 has helped a lot. As Kalena shopped, another volunteer, an ex-Drug Enforcement Administration agent, assisted a Spanish-speaking girl while she tried on new shoes.

“A lot of our kids are wearing shoes three sizes too small, or they’ve never had a shoe that

really fit,” McFarland said. “So they don’t know that shoes aren’t supposed to always hurt.”

Meanwhile, in the back of the boutique, Tanner, an incoming junior, browsed a rack of men’s shirts. He said the store has a wide selection of clothing and that the staff is “easygoing and nice.” Volunteers said that along with multiple bags of clothes and other items, most customers leave the boutique feeling confident and “seen.”

Trevor Hutton, a Washoe County school attendance officer, said he often drives kids to the boutique as a reward for good behavior. He’s seen Project 150’s impact first-hand.

“I remember a couple kids in particular, seeing them on a Monday coming to school with a new sweater or whatever and seeing their confidence,” Hutton said. “Chin up. Smile on the face. It’s crazy how a sweater can do that.”

The boost in their self-image creates a “domino effect,” he said, in that students feel more comfortable to be outgoing and make new friends.

Kristen Boucher, the dean and data coach at Encompass Academy in Reno, said the project makes a big difference for many students.

“They’re so grateful,” she said. “The clothes and the food and everything is obviously great, but the time and attention that these people take to talk to them and make sure that they’re taken care of and make sure that they’re OK—the students just light up after coming here.”

Project 150 Reno relies on donations from various organizations, warehouses and screen printers. Clothing, toiletries, non-perishable food and school supplies are always needed and can be brought to 1340 Foster Drive, where the items are inspected and sorted.

“We pretty much touch every item,” McFarland said. “And we might take away 50% of it and share it with veterans or the women’s shelter or other places, because it might be more like the underwear style that a mom would like to wear as opposed to a teenage girl, or (more appropriate) for a veteran than a teen boy.”

Monetary donations may be made at www. project150reno.org.

“We love money, because we can see when sports bras are on sale for $3, or we can get coats out of season at Costco, we really stretch funds to the fullest,” McFarland said.

Other ways to get involved include spreading the word about Project 150 via social media, hosting a donation drive or volunteering at the boutique.

Last year, McFarland noted, Project 150 Reno had twice as many patrons than previous annual averages. The need is growing, she said, but the store’s space isn’t.

“If anyone wants to give us $1 million for a building, I’m sure we could fill it with stuff,” McFarland said. “But we’re hoping that we don’t need that, and we can use this space to keep on helping kids.”

Volunteers Liz McFarland, left, and Suzanne Bartone stock clothing racks at Project 150 Reno. Photo/David Robert

He’s got the music in him

Reno boy, 11, wins the Hammerstein Museum’s international singing competition

Stewart Joiner Davis started on a path to performing in Broadway musicals 11 years ago, when he was born in a trunk at the Princess Theater in Pocatello, Idaho.

Just kidding. That was the origin story of Judy Garland’s character in the 1954 remake of A Star Is Born. But it wouldn’t be hard to believe that Davis, 11, who recently won first place in the elementary school division of the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center’s 2023 International Solo Contest, was destined for the stage at birth—or even before. Babies kick in the womb; Stewart was making music.

“He was drumming all the time,” said his mom, Amber Joiner, who is an adjunct professor in political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. “Then, as a tiny baby, he would drum on anything. Soon, he started singing every song he heard.”

Stewart’s sister, Eleanor, who is three years older than her brother, also is a budding dancer and singer. The siblings started singing together when Stewart was a toddler, a tradition that continues. At home, random everyday situations may bring a tune to mind, and the pair will break into song.

“It’s like living in a musical,” Amber said. “That’s our life.”

Eleanor Joiner, a sophomore at Reno High School who has been in more than 20 musical theater productions, sang the National Anthem with her brother at a recent

Reno Aces game.

“I am so proud of Stew, and I love singing with him every day,” she said.

They practice together. “We play around with harmonies a lot. … The truth is I taught him everything he knows,” she said. “Seriously, though. I am so lucky to have such a talented and funny best friend.”

In 2015, when Stewart was 3, Eleanor auditioned for a role in the Sierra Nevada Ballet’s production of Peanutcracker, a shorter, narrated version of The Nutcracker. Stewart also tried out; they both got parts. Since then, the boy has performed in a total of 15 musical theater productions in Northern Nevada and California. Connections with audiences, he said, motivate him to work hard on his characters.

“(It’s) knowing that the crowd is going to be happy if I keep practicing,” Stewart said. “It also helps that I have friends in the show that are like a big family, and we’re all working hard together.”

Some of his favorite roles have been Les in Newsies, Charlie in Holiday Inn, Oliver in Oliver! Jr. and the King of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland Jr. His two most recent parts have been in Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company productions at Western Nevada College.

For the Hammerstein contest, Stewart sang “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella. The competition honors and celebrates the works of Oscar Hammerstein, often called the “Father of Broadway,” who contributed lyrics to more

Ago” from the musical Cinderella in the video submitted to the Hammerstein contest.

than 800 songs for shows, including The Sound of Music, Carousel, The King and I, Oklahoma! and South Pacific. The contest was created in 2021 in response to the challenges of teaching virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contestants around the world record a one-minute video of themselves singing a portion of a song written by Hammerstein. The judges, who are voice coaches and professors, narrow the field to five singers, who then record full versions of their songs for the final round.

Stewart, who said he tried to put the contest out of his mind after he became a finalist, watched the awards ceremony online. “I was too nervous to think about it, he said. When his name was announced, “I screamed I was so excited!” he said. Stewart’s winning performance can be viewed on YouTube, and the contest’s awards’ ceremony is posted on the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center’s Facebook page.

He won a cash prize of $250, a voice lesson with Broadway and American Idol veteran

BY FRANK X. MULLEN

Justin Guarini, and the opportunity to perform and record his winning song in Oscar Hammerstein’s living room at Highland Farm in Doylestown, Penn., where the maestro wrote several of his hit tunes. He is scheduled to travel there in September to perform in Hammerstein’s home at a community sing-along festival.

Stewart, who this fall will be entering the sixth grade in the gifted and talented magnet at Swope Middle School, also loves performing on electric guitar and drums, is a nationally competitive dancer and fencer, plays on a soccer team, and is working on his Path to Eagle in Boy Scouts. The 11-year-old has a busy schedule.

“It’s challenging,” said Kyle Davis, Stewart’s dad. “A lot goes into school, too, but he does very well in his studies. He takes school very seriously.”

With an already impressive resume as a performer, it may seem as though Stewart’s career path is aimed straight at Broadway, but his interests aren’t limited to the entertainment field.

“I like engineering,” Stewart said. “I would like to design planes and cars and especially the engines for them. But I hope theater will always be in my life, because I love it. Even if I do something else, I’ll always want to perform, maybe in a band or in musicals.”

Stewart Joiner Davis performs “Ten Minutes

Modern love

Singles find 21st century dating more accessible—and more challenging

People enjoy using digital dating apps— except when they don’t.

“I refuse to do dating apps,” said Lilian S., 25, of Reno. “Not that I don’t think it’s a valid way to meet people these days; it’s just a numbers game. Too many people just use it for validation of their looks, and it’s hard to form that initial chemistry just from swiping and glancing at a screen.”

Lilian would rather see “how someone walks and talks in real life” than form opinions based on an online profile that’s more of a marketing pitch than a factual description.

She is not alone. Other singles are rejecting fast-and-furious dating-app tech in favor of the old-school method of meeting people face-to-face.

Dating entered the digital realm decades ago when “computer dating” companies specialized in matching people with prospective partners after they filled out lengthy surveys about personal preferences. Dating apps added a real-time urgency to the process. Users make split-second decisions about the members’ profiles that pop up on their screens—and can be chosen or dismissed by swiping right or left.

The apps are used by people of every age, but they have become an integral part of the social lives of many millennials and members of Gen Z, occupying a prominent space on their smartphones. It is estimated that approximately 382 million people worldwide will engage in online dating this year, according to Hack Spirit.

Lilian won’t be one of them. She has been dating in an analog world, with no screens between her and a prospective partner. That’s the way she met her last two boyfriends.

“My last boyfriend and I met at a spa here in Reno,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for anything, but he caught my eye from across the room—and bam!”

The relationship before that, she said, began when she met a man at a college event, although she didn’t exchange numbers with him at first. “A week later, he was behind me in line again waiting to get into a concert,” Lilian said. “So I think if you put yourself in immersive situations and just say ‘yes,’ you will have the power to meet lots of people.”

The Truckee Meadows offers more opportunities for singles to meet than many other cities, according to recent stats.

On WalletHub’s list of the Best and Worst Cities for Singles, Reno ranked 13th out of 182 communities. The criteria included 36 key indicators of dating-friendliness, including the area’s percentage of single people, the number of online dating opportunities and the average price of a two-person meal. The Biggest Little City also has a social calendar packed with special events and a range of taverns, pubs and night clubs. For singles, that’s a target-rich environment—but breaking the ice with strangers in a rowdy crowd while music blasts from speakers isn’t for everyone.

The rise of digital dating

Dating, a social mine field in any era, has gotten both simpler and more complicated with

It’s estimated that worldwide, 382 million people will use dating apps like Tinder this year. Photo/David Robert

the addition of technology.

Justin S., a 24-year-old University of Nevada, Reno, MBA graduate who has been using dating apps on and off for five years, said the process can be fun, but also habit-forming.

“When you’re bored, you start to find yourself scrolling and just needing validation from a stranger,” he said.

Tinder, Hinge and Bumble are the most common dating apps for most people; each has its own unique features. Connecting through keystrokes is efficient, but not very romantic.

“No one dreams of finding someone on a dating app, but if you like someone, it shouldn’t matter where you met,” Justin said.

Some success stories do begin with a swipe to the right. Stephanie G. and her partner, Erick B., both Renoites in their 20s, met on Bumble and have been together for five years.

“At the time, I had been on and off Bumble for three months, never taking it too seriously,” Stephanie said. “Erick, on the other hand, had never been on a dating app before, and I was the second person he matched with and the first and only person he met from the app.”

Stephanie said she’s encountered her “fair share” of weirdness on dating apps. For example, she said, one first date began turning ominous during a conversation in the man’s car. “I was caught in a situation that I thought was going to end badly,” she said. “(It got) to the point where I was preparing myself to tuck and roll out of his car. He told me he was just making jokes. But after that date, I never saw him again. “

An app eventually led her to Erick, but Stephanie noted that women using dating services have to be very careful.

“Always inform someone you trust about where you are going, who you are meeting, and establish a code word,” she said. “This way, if you have a gut feeling and need to leave, your trusted person can react to your code and call you to assist you in leaving if necessary. If something feels off … trust your instincts and move on.”

People in the LGBTQ+ community are avid users of online dating sites and apps, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, and are nearly twice as likely as straight individuals to have used dating apps and websites. The Pew report noted that more than half of the LGBTQ-identifying people said they have pursued online dating. Only 28% of the straight adults in the survey admitted to having used a dating site or app.

Some dating sites, including Tinder and Bumble, are available to people of any sexual orientation, but a variety of apps—including

Grindr, Scruff, HER and others—are exclusive to users seeking people of the same sex.

In general, the LGBTQ+ online daters included in the Pew survey reported positive experiences. At the same time, they are more likely than their straight counterparts to experience a range of negative behaviors on dating platforms—from name-calling to physical threats.

The need for speed

For those who tire of fast-paced digital dating and the perils of pub meetings, alternatives are available. Tantra speed dating, for example, is gaining popularity in Reno; the events are held monthly at The Studio,1085 S. Virginia St., and around the country. The concept combines traditional speed dating with the principles of tantra, a practice that emphasizes intimacy, connection and energy. In practice, participants briefly meet others and share an activity with each new person. Those exercises include eye contact for extended periods of time, embracing strangers tightly, and synchronizing breaths to create a sense of shared presence and vulnerability. While these activities may initially seem intense, they encourage individuals to step outside their comfort zones, practitioners attest.

Some singles look for love both online and off. Marie B., 57, of Carson City said she tried online dating while simultaneously venturing out into real world activities.

“I always meet people at concerts during the summer; Carson City has a thriving music scene,” she said.

The traditional way of meeting people remains an option, but also carries the risk of face-to-face rejection. “But so what?” Marie said. “The worst that can happen is that someone says ‘no.’”

Some of the thirst parlors mentioned by singles included the Nashville Social Club at 1105 S. Carson St., which offers live music and line dancing classes. The Truckee Meadows hosts a wide range of funky bars, distilleries and breweries that host live music or trivia nights. Establishments such as 1864 Tavern, Death and Taxes, Chapel Tavern, Midtown Spirits, Wine and Bites, and The Eddy are popular meeting places.

For those who shun dating apps and are wary of looking for love in pubs and clubs, meeting people while volunteering offers an option that also makes the community a better place to live. The Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance brings cyclists together, and Sundance Books and Music hosts book clubs for book enthusiasts.

The bottom line, experts say, is to be open to various experiences and venues, both online and in real life. Singles who have made connections note that whether one chooses to swipe through profiles or venture out into the lively streets, the Truckee Meadows is a singles-friendly place to do it.

RENO’S GRANDEST ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP

Bronco Aug 11

Sebastian Maniscalco Aug 12

Milky Chance Aug 16

Chris Young Aug 18

Mudvayne Aug 20

Billy Currington Aug 26

Grand Funk Railroad + Jefferson Starship Sept 1

Sublime with Rome Sept 8

Keb’ Mo’ Sept 15

Banda MS Sept 16

The Killers Sept 18 & 19

Sting Oct 1 The Cult Oct 6

Disney Encanto: The Sing-Along Concert Oct 7

Alice in Chains Oct 8

Cheap Trick Oct 22

Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper Oct 26

NEEDTOBREATHE Oct 27

Reno Phil: Back to the Future in Concert Nov 3

Disney’s The Lion King Nov 9-19

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For August, 2023

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 40 degrees north, but may be used in continental U.S. and southern Canada.

August’s evening sky chart. Illustration/Robert D. Miller

closer to edge-on than at Saturn’s oppositions in recent years.

On Aug. 1, Saturn is 6.4 degrees west-southwest of 3.8-magnitude Lambda Aquarius and retrograding. At the end of evening twilight on Aug. 31, Saturn is 8.5 degrees west-southwest of Lambda Aqr, 4.4 degrees east-northeast of Iota Aqr, and 9.6 degrees east-northeast of 2.9-magnitude Delta Cap

As the month begins, the Summer Triangle is sinking in the west to northwest in morning twilight. Jupiter, high in southeast, remains the brightest morning “star,” but it soon gets competition. During the second week, the “Dog Star” Sirius begins to appear above the east-southeast horizon, below and in line with the Belt of Orion, which is midway between Rigel and Betelgeuse, but not plotted on the chart. Sirius is the brightest nighttime star, but falls short of Jupiter’s current brilliance by a full magnitude. Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse form the Winter Triangle If you can spot Sirius while it is still low in the sky, turn around and catch Altair about to set just north of west. If you can spot Sirius before Altair sets, then you can see both the Summer and the Winter Triangle simultaneously!

August skies

Two super moons and the Perseids meteor shower are among the month’s highlights

The cornucopia of astronomical treats this month includes two “super” moons and one “blue” moon; evening twilight moonrises

Aug. 1-3 and Aug. 30-Sept. 2; spectacular views of the Milky Way during the moon’s absence in the first hour after nightfall Aug. 6-19; the moon uncovering Antares Aug. 24; and Saturn rising in early evening.

Late-night and early-morning morsels include prime moonless views of the Perseid meteor shower; a star masquerading as a satellite of Jupiter; a rich, star-filled eastern predawn sky; and a supersized Venus crescent rocketing up from the horizon day by day in late August.

At the start of August, Venus sets very soon after sunset, too early to appear on our evening mid-twilight map. By late in August, Saturn becomes visible in the evening twilight, low in the east-southeast, joining a half-dozen

bright stars already present and well seen: The Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb high in eastern sky; Arcturus, the “Bear-watcher” star, high in west-southwest, with Virgo’s Spica 33 degrees to its lower left; and Antares, heart of the Scorpion, crossing through south to south-southwest. Left of the Scorpion is the Teapot asterism within Sagittarius, the Archer. The Milky Way star clouds look like steam issuing forth from the Teapot’s spout, whose top two stars mark the arrow aimed just below the Scorpion’s heart. Faint Mars and fading Mercury, low in bright twilight in the west, will require binoculars. Saturn reaches opposition on the night of Aug. 26-27, as Earth passes between the sun and Saturn. The ringed planet is then visible all night; find it low in the east-southeast at dusk, high in the south in middle of night, and low in the west-southwest at dawn. A telescope reveals the rings tipped 9 degrees from edgewise,

It should be an excellent year for the Perseid meteor shower. Peak activity is expected in the predawn darkness hours of Aug. 13. Meteors can light up anywhere in the sky, but what all members of this shower have in common is that their tracks, extended backward, will radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus, below the “W” of Cassiopeia in the northeast. The moon will be just a thin crescent, rising less than three hours before sunrise, so will not interfere with viewing.

Distant Uranus and Neptune are easy to locate in the late night to predawn skies this month. Uranus, near magnitude 5.7, is easily picked up with binoculars 2.7-2.9 degrees southeast of 4.3-magnitude Delta in Aries and will commence retrograde on Aug. 31. Neptune, of magnitude 7.8 and so more of a challenge, is already in retrograde, conveniently very close to the 5.5-magnitude star 20 in Pisces. Through binoculars, look southeast of the Circlet of Pisces and northwest of Iota Ceti for a compact, six-star asterism we’re calling Neptune’s Dipper

Look near Jupiter for 5.5-magnitude Sigma in Aries at the start of morning twilight. Note also 5.8-magnitude Omicron Ari 1.7 degrees west of Sigma. The 5.3-magnitude star Pi Ari forms an isosceles triangle with Sigma and Omicron, to their north, and 2.4 degrees from each. This triangle will help the viewer notice small changes in the position of Jupiter.

On Aug. 1, Jupiter is 1.5 degrees west-southwest of Sigma Ari. By Aug. 7, Jupiter closes

| BY ROBERT VICTOR

the distance to 1 degree. On Aug. 8, Jupiter is equidistant from both Omicron and Sigma Ari, 0.9 degrees from each. On Aug. 13, Jupiter is 0.5 degrees west-southwest of Sigma Ari. On Aug. 21, Jupiter is 1.3’ (arcminutes) from Sigma Ari at start of a.m. twilight, and still just 1.1 degrees from Sigma Ari one hour after Jupiter rises in late evening on Aug. 21. On Aug. 22, Jupiter is 1.6 degrees from Sigma at start of morning twilight.

Getting back to morning sky at mid-twilight: Closer to sunrise, Venus first appears above the horizon, just north of east, around Aug. 22. Venus then outshines Jupiter by nearly two magnitudes, but for its first several days, the twilight glow will make Venus seem less bright than it is. Once Venus becomes visible, you can see the morning lineup of three bright planets: Venus, low, north of east; Jupiter, high in south; and Saturn, low in west-southwest.

Keep track of Venus daily as sunrise approaches. Telescopes, and even a pair of binoculars, will reveal Venus’ crescent phase, changing from 4 percent illuminated and 16 degrees to the upper right of rising Sun on Aug. 22, to 11 percent and 26 degrees to the upper right of the sun on the 31st.

This month, the moon is full twice, on Aug. 1 and again on Aug. 30. Both full moons occur near the moon’s perigee, when it’s closest to Earth, so expect much trumpeting in the media about “super moons.” Further, the second full moon in the same calendar month is sometimes (incorrectly) called a “blue moon.” We’ll have a genuine blue moon as originally defined—the third full moon of an astronomical season with four—on Aug. 19, 2024.

Since the full moon is at opposition to the sun, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise, watch for Saturn near the moon, from nightfall on Aug. 2 until dawn on Aug. 3, and again during all the darkness hours on the nights of Aug. 29 and 30.

On Aug. 24, the 57 percent gibbous moon occults, or covers Antares. The event will occur in daylight or bright twilight from western U.S., so a telescope will be required.

From Reno, the advancing dark edge of the moon snuffs out the star shortly before 6:40 p.m., more than an hour before sunset. The star reappears along the illuminated edge of the moon, more than halfway from the southern cusp (the lower point of the crescent) to its midpoint, at 7:39 p.m., as the sun is about to set. As the moon moves away from Antares, and the sky darkens, the star will become easier to observe. By 9:11 p.m., the moon will have moved its own diameter to the east of the star.

Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.

Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller

Wonderful wilderness

Stampede Reservoir offers an escape from both crowds and the summer heat

We’re in the middle of another recordbreaking summer in Northern Nevada. What better way to beat the heat of tripledigit days than to escape to a cool mountain lake? While the crowds head up to Tahoe, find some fun, shade and solitude at the wild-feeling Stampede Reservoir, just outside of Truckee.

Following the signs toward Boca Reservoir, you’ll take Exit 194 off Interstate 80 at Hirschdale Road, and turn northward. To reach Stampede Reservoir, head north along the eastern shore of Boca, which is much smaller and often much busier than Stam-

pede. A narrow paved road stretches about eight miles between the two reservoirs, following the Little Truckee River, which winds northward through coniferous forests.

As you get close to Stampede Reservoir, you’ll see signs for the power plant and dam. The road offers options around this point: Continue straight northward to access the eastern portion and northeastern “fingers” of the lake; or turn left, and head west along the dam for some south-shore access points and additional amenities.

Alternatively, you can reach the western side of Stampede by following Highway 89 north

| BY MAGGIE NICHOLS

Mornings and evenings at Stampede Reservoir are typically calm enough for kayaking, paddleboarding and canoeing—but afternoons can be windy. Photo/Bradley

Nichols

out of Truckee and turning eastward at Sagehen Summit. Not all roads are paved, however, and most of the dirt roads are not maintained, so you’ll need to take a vehicle with higher clearance if you go this way. However you get to Stampede, many of the lake access points are via dirt tracks. You can always park at a pull-out and walk down to the beach if your vehicle has low clearance—or if the tracks are damp after a rain storm.

After the big winter we had, Stampede Reservoir is quite full. This limits the amount of beach space available around the lake, but also provides millions of gallons of additional water for recreation. Located at roughly 6,000 feet in elevation, this alpine body of water is much warmer than Tahoe, making it a pleasant swimming spot. However, the lake has no lifeguards or staffed safety stations, so take appropriate safety precautions.

The Captain Roberts Boat Ramp provides access for clean motorized watercraft to enter the reservoir. Other dirt-road access points allow plenty of opportunities for human-powered craft to get out on the water as well. Mornings and evenings are typically calm enough for kayaking, paddleboarding and canoeing. Afternoons can be windy, even on seemingly calm days, so check the weather before heading up with your boats.

There are limited amenities around Stampede; don’t expect to be able to get gas or a snack. Campgrounds along the south shore are great for a weekend getaway, with potable water and vault toilets to support campsites hidden among the Jeffrey and ponderosa pines along the shore. Be sure to make a reservation at recreation.gov before heading out, though, as space is limited, and dispersed camping in the area is strictly prohibited.

Hiking trails meander through the trees. Fishing in Stampede Reservoir is allowed yearround with a California fishing license. You may find kokanee salmon as well as brown, brook, rainbow and lake trout swimming in the waters. The nearby Truckee River Wildlife Area also provides seasonal opportunities for hunting, with the appropriate permits.

With around 25 miles of shoreline, Stampede Reservoir has plenty of space to explore and stay cool in the shade of the towering pines and gentle waves of alpine waters. Though it’s just a little more than 30 miles from Reno, Stampede Reservoir feels like a different world—offering a slice of wilderness and a welcome respite from the heat of the summer.

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Awall map in Rochanne Downs’ office depicts the ancestral homelands of the Paiute, Shoshone and Washoe people—a oncevast domain on the western side of the Great Basin now reduced to 28 scattered reservations and colonies across Nevada.

For millennia, Downs’ ancestors lived, died and were laid to rest in caves and other hidden places across the basins and ranges of the Silver State. Tradition says their spirits are on a trek along the “dusty trail”—the Milky Way—to the next world. In the course of 200 years, uncounted thousands of those journeys were interrupted when their remains and things buried with them were dug up and carted off to museums or universities. The finds were displayed as curiosities or studied like mammoth bones or Neanderthal fossils. For decades, researchers measured Native American skulls to support racist theories of white superiority.

The connection between the dead Natives and their living descendants was casually ignored.

“Some of our ancestors (bones) were used as note pads,” said Downs, a member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, who now works to return Native American remains to Nevada tribes. An amateur archeologist drew a site map of a dig on one of the skulls Downs helped to repatriate.

Bones in museums have been painted with catalogue numbers and treated with toxic

substances. Until recently, remains had the same status as rock samples in a geology class.

“These are humans,” Downs said. “They are people who had families. They are our people.”

After decades of legal battles and culture clashes, laws—and attitudes—are shifting. Native Americans’ concerns are being taken seriously; archeologists are working with the descendants of the people they have been studying. Human remains and objects from graves are being returned to tribes, but slowly.

A 1990 federal law requires agencies and institutions to return them. But as of this year, only about half of the more than 200,000 human remains stored at museums and other repositories in the U.S. and in Nevada have been repatriated.

Revised government regulations expected to be finalized later this year are aimed at accelerating the process. In addition, Indigenous people are telling their own stories and beginning to have a say in how their history and culture are presented to the public.

The University of Nevada, Reno, last year hired Downs to oversee UNR’s compliance with the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); she serves as a bridge between the university and Nevada’s tribes. As the former cultural resources director for the Fallon Tribe, she has been involved in repatriation efforts since the law was passed. Those battles, she said, are far from over, but she sees a lot of positive

movement in Nevada.

“It’s really great that the university wants to do the right thing,” said Downs, noting that UNR President Brian Sandoval has made repatriation of remains and artifacts housed at the institution a priority of his administration. She and others at the university’s Office of Indigenous Relations are working with anthropologists to complete a full review of the institution’s collections related to Native Americans.

“(There are) over 2,500 boxes that we’ll go through,” she said.

The contents of many are from donors who gave their collections to UNR. There also are recordings of Indigenous people made decades ago and other items that shed light on the lives and lifeways of the original people of the Great Basin.

“Oral traditions are the backbone of our history, and sharing and accessing these recordings is another way our elders have been able to share our traditions, history, songs, language and cultural knowledge,” Downs said. “They are another important mechanism to share our elders’ knowledge with our current and future generations.”

Once an ancestor’s remains are repatriated, the tribe involved determines where and how they will be reinterred. In most cases, she said, remains aren’t returned to their original burial place. That site could be unknown, Downs said, or could be unsafe, or subject to

looting, or it may have been obliterated by construction.

“I want make sure that everything is safe, that the ancestors are safe,” said Downs. “We’ve relocated (repatriated remains) to a private location so they’ll be housed solely by themselves.”

It’s a complicated process, she explained, and long impeded by some government agencies, museums and universities that refused to comply with the law.

ProPublica, a national investigative news organization, this year reported that three decades after NAGPRA was signed by President George H.W. Bush, the remains of more than 110,000 Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Natives’ ancestors are still gathering dust in museums, universities and federal agencies. The sets of remains include major parts of skeletons, skulls and fragments of bone.

The Nevada State Museum, which has returned about 300 sets of remains to tribes over the last 20 years, still has 259 sets in its collections. Of those, 39 are the state’s responsibility. The remaining 220 are under the control of federal agencies. Those include 127 that are under the purview of the Nevada office of the Bureau of Land Management, which hasn’t repatriated any remains at all since 2010.

“It’s been 33 years since NAGPRA was enacted, and I really believe we should be a lot further,” Downs said.

Some universities, institutions and individuals have looked at NAGPRA as compromise legislation, she noted, rather than as a mandate. But the tribes, Downs said, see the 1990 law “as human rights legislation.”

For more than 200 years, collecting the remains of dead Native Americans was a common practice. In the 1800s, the bones of Indians were gathered from battlefields and massacre sites like Wounded Knee, S.D., to be shipped to the U.S. Army Medical College and museums. Franz Boas, considered the father of American anthropology, collected and sold Indian skulls to help pay for his field work. “It is most unpleasant work to steal bones from a grave,” Boaz wrote in his diary in June 1888, “but what is the use, someone has to do it.”

Indigenous people were excluded from white society, but once dead, their skulls, bones and possessions were prized by the dominant culture as curios or objects of scientific inquiry.

Rochanne Downs, who was on the team that created the Under One Sky exhibit, at the Nevada State Museum on July 14. Credit: David Robert

“As human beings, we haven’t been valued, but our cultural items are highly valued,” said Michon Eben, historic preservation officer at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, “You go to any museum and you’ll have natural history, dinosaurs, and Native Americans. We’re a curiosity, a theory to be studied.”

Eben saw firsthand how some museums treated and used Indian remains during visits to Harvard University’s Peabody Museum. She said she and other tribal members were horrified to see catalogue numbers painted on skulls stored in file cabinets. In 2012, Downs, on behalf of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, helped repatriate remains that originated in Northern Nevada.

Beginning in the late 19th century, Harvard anthropologists conducted studies on Indian skulls to support the now-discredited field of eugenics, in an attempt to assert the superiority of white people over other ethnicities. The skulls of Native Americans and other ethnic minorities were compared to the craniums of Caucasians, who were considered to be at the

top of a racial hierarchy. Those theories were used by Nazis to justify the attempted genocide of Jews, disabled people and others they considered “unworthy of life.”

Harvard scientists, Eben said, measured Indian skulls for decades.

“It was sick,” she said. “It’s a sick policy, sick thinking, junk science. And why was it that our Native American human remains are ‘less than’?”

Traditional knowledge, she noted, was dismissed as myths and legends, while nonNative researchers shaped theories based on their own—and society’s—stereotypes and biases.

Archaeologist Diane L. Teeman, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at UNR, said she began studying that science to help her community navigate the maze of historical and legal issues that affect Indigenous people. Teeman is a member of the Burns Paiute Tribe in Burns, Ore., chairwoman of the tribal council and its cultural and heritage director. She noted that Native Americans were not consulted or notified when laws affecting them were being written and had no voice in telling their own stories. She is helping to change that paradigm.

“At the University of Oregon, they were continuing to drag out our ancestors’ bones to put them on metal trays for the students to fondle and learn about Native American human osteology,” she said. “I don’t think they do that anymore.”

In field studies, archaeologists mined the remnants of ancient communities and emptied graves while ignoring the voices of tribal people.

“But (now) there’s a growing number of archaeologists who see the value, and can empathize with the power dynamics between mainstream Western science and tribal communities that have been marginalized through colonialism,”

Teeman said. Some scientists now design research projects that have value for tribal communities and are done in a way that is culturally appropriate, or at least culturally acceptable, she said.

In 2019, Teeman and Sarah E. Cowie, an associate professor of anthropology at UNR, launched what may have been the first Native-taught archeological field school with all Native American students. The course, accredited through UNR, was conducted on the campus of the Stewart Indian School in Carson City. Stewart was among more than 400 Indian boarding schools nationwide aimed at erasing students’ tribal identities and “assimilating” them into American society.

“That (Stewart field school) was the only time where I felt that I and the students—Natives who are studying archaeology—were able to fully express themselves in a way that was going to be completely heard and completely valued without some of the colonial attitudes and power struggles that can happen in other conversations,” Teeman said.

over how archeology is conducted, efforts to understand the ancient history of North America will grind to a halt. Anthropology students, they argue, will abandon those studies to specialize in the archeology of other countries that have fewer restrictions.

Prof. Kent Lightfoot, an archaeologist at the University of California, Berkeley, doesn’t agree. He and others in academia are developing new methodologies that are sensitive to tribal concerns and can be done in partnership with Indigenous people.

“What we’re trying to do is a kind of archaeology which is not destructive and where we can be fairly precise (with) where we’re working and what we’re uncovering,” he said. “We’re making it so that it’s of interest— and of utility and of significance—to the tribes we’re working with.”

Traditionally, he said, archaeology was similar to exploratory surgery: cutting into a site without knowing what may be found. Trenches were carved with backhoes or shovels.

In

the 30

years since the repatriation law was passed, Teeman noted, the government agencies and institutions “still hold most of the power in assessing whether someone is Native American (and) whether someone’s going to be repatriated.” Those entities often want to retain remains for future study, she said, and consider tribal funerary, ceremonial and cultural objects as their property.

“The repositories covet those items; they covet our ancestors’ bones,” Teeman said. “I think it’s improved some, but that (attitude) still needs to be addressed.”

Some critics define the conflict over remains and artifacts as pitting scientific inquiry against tribal mythology and tradition. They worry that if Native Americans have too much control

“That was destructive,” he said. “They would really destroy places where they shouldn’t have been excavating, like burials and other things. And this was done back in the day when we didn’t work with tribes, and there wasn’t any real collaboration.”

Lightfoot said that hearing tribal peoples’ concerns led to “rethinking that whole methodology.” Today, before doing any excavation or sub-surface work, archeologists first look at the surface and near-surface of a site, he said. They use new technologies including ground-penetrating radar, satellite imagery, light detection and ranging sensors (LiDAR), and magnetometers. Like modern surgeons, they rely on non-invasive techniques rather than hacking away at a patient just to see what’s beneath the skin.

In addition, he said, archeologists typically no longer collect artifacts from dig sites.

“But we will analyze them in place, and again, this is done in partnership with the continued on next page

“

As human beings, we haven’t been valued, but our cultural items are highly valued. Go to any museum, and you’ll have natural history, dinosaurs and Native Americans. We’re a curiosity, a theory to be studied. ”

— Michon Eben Historic Preservation Officer attheReno-SparksIndianColony

Michon Eben, historic preservation officer at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.

Credit: David Robert

continued from Page 17

tribes,” Lightfoot said.

Research teams first ask if tribal members want to do excavation, and if so, where. For example, he said, if traces of buried ancient dwellings are spotted by radar, is there potential value in unearthing one of the buried structures to get a sense of what it looks like? If so, the archeologists can then make that case to the tribe involved.

“It’s a very different kind of process than what has been done in the past,” he said. “… We’re getting to a point where we’ve got it pretty well refined.”

Between 1994 and 2016,

Nevada was the epicenter of a repatriation conflict that made headlines world-wide. The case involved the mummified remains of a man who testing showed was laid to rest about 10,600 years ago in Spirit Cave, a rock shelter in Churchill County. The Nevada State Museum had stored the man’s remains in a box since the 1940s and commissioned carbon-14 dating tests in 1994, four years after the passage of the repatriation law. Because the cave is on federal land, the BLM controlled the disposition of the remains.

The carbon-14 testing—done without tribal permission—revealed the Spirit Cave man’s antiquity. BLM officials ruled that his remains

and two other cremated sets of remains removed from Spirit Cave were not “culturally affiliated” with any modern tribal people. In other words, the agency decided there was no evidence connecting the dead man to the tribe that wanted to rebury him. The ancestor remained in a box in Carson City; a legal battle stretched across two decades.

Downs, now at UNR, was the cultural resource officer for the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribe, which took the lead for repatriation on behalf of all of the Great Basin tribes. She was on the team that assembled evidence to prove the man from the cave was a forebear. The ancestor, who lived at the tail end of the Ice Age when the Fallon area was a wetland, was found with a rabbit-skin blanket, tule mats and other objects familiar to today’s tribal members.

“I’m a Toi Ticutta, which is a ‘tule eater’ from Fallon; we lived by the marsh, so all the items Spirit Cave man had were things we can

name,” Downs said. “In the Great Basin … tribes were nomadic. We lived in small groups. We traveled all around following resources.”

People were buried near where they died. Tribal tradition holds that the dead must be left in peace and allowed to make the long trek to the next world unmolested.

“Traditionally, when you put somebody away, you don’t talk about them,” Downs said. “You don’t go back and visit, because you want them to go on their journey,”

In the Spirit Cave case, experts testified for and against repatriation; the tribe offered evidence; and a federal review committee twice sided with the Native Americans. Lawsuits were filed, and the BLM repeatedly refused to explain its decision. A federal court in Reno later found the agency’s positions “arbitrary and capricious.” Judge Larry R. Hicks speculated its officials “purposely obstructed” the repatriation process. Spirit Cave man was “Native American,” BLM

officials admitted, but not affiliated with any modern-day tribe. That sounded like doubletalk to frustrated tribal members.

“Well, what does a modern-day Indian look like?” asked Downs.

In 2016, the tribe agreed to allow DNA testing of the Spirit Cave remains with the caveat that he and the other associated remains and artifacts be returned to the tribe afterwards. The results: The man had a DNA signature that exists among the Indigenous people of North and South America—and nowhere else on the planet. Although he was not found to be directly related to any modern populations, he was an Ice Age ancestor of countless Native people.

In 2018, the ancient one was buried in a hidden place with ceremonies. He resumed his celestial journey.

“The Spirit Cave remains were finally laid to rest,” Downs said proudly.

That controversy is resolved, but the Nevada State Museum lives with the fallout. Previous museum staff had permitted research on the remains after NAGPRA was passed, without consulting local tribes.

“That stigma follows us to this day with certain tribal members,” said Gene Hattori, the museum’s current curator of anthropology, “as well as (the stigma) of just being

A painting by artist Ron Oden depicts what life may have been like in central Nevada more than 10,000 years ago, when the area was a land of lakes and marshes. The man whose remains were found in Spirit Cave was laid to rest at that time.

“ We’re trying to do a kind of archaeology which is not destructive and where we can be fairly precise where we’re working, and what we’re uncovering. We’re making it so that it’s of interest—and of utility and of significance—to the tribes we’re working with. ”

—Prof.KentLightfoot ArchaeologistattheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

archaeologists, and housing archaeological collections.”

The case spurred the museum to collaborate with tribal people as it had not done before. Rather than devote an exhibit to the Spirit Cave remains, officials offered to work with tribal members on a display spotlighting their history, culture and traditions. The late Alvin Moyle, then the Fallon tribal chairman, accepted the proposal in a letter that suggested that all Northern Nevada tribes be honored in the exhibit. Moyle’s letter included the phrase “under one sky”—now the name of the exhibition, which opened in 2002.

Museum patrons viewing the exhibition hear recorded voices of Indigenous people speaking and singing in their mother tongues. Walls display life-size photos, both historic and more recent, of tribal members. One exhibit offers a peek inside a desert cave that sheltered generations of people. Artifacts include the tools and objects they created thousands of years ago. The exhibit presents both scientific and tribal perspectives side-by-side. Some critics complain Under One Sky gives traditional beliefs too much credibility; others insist it doesn’t go far enough in presenting Natives’ points of view.

“I deemed (the exhibit) a success because I got equal criticisms from tribal people and archeologists that I know,” Hattori said.

When NAGPRA passed in 1990, officials predicted that repatriation would be completed in about seven years. Three decades later, tribes are still waiting, but positive changes are

taking place.

Nevada lawmakers recently mandated that state officials adopt repatriation procedures previously hammered out by museum staff and tribal representatives. Changes in federal rules expected this year are aimed at eliminating obstacles to returning remains and objects in collections. The Nevada State Museum has a full-time staff member dedicated to NAGPRA repatriations. And, for the first time, an Indigenous person—Josh Bonde, a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone—is director of the museum.

BLM officials told the RN&R that they are “updating their records” relating to the 127 sets of remains the agency controls, and that they are committed to repatriating them.

Downs, who was on the team that created Under One Sky, is hopeful that the federal law will at long last do the job it was created to do—reunite ancestors with their own people without tribes having to navigate a maze of politics, contradictions and controversy.

“I learned from many elders and traditional leaders along this journey that tribes are not to fight amongst ourselves over repatriation of our ancestors,” she said. “We may not know who the individual is or where he came from, but what we do know is that the Creator knows.

“Our only job to get them back into the earth so they can get back on their journey—and the rest will take care of itself.”

Arrowheads, rabbit fur material, a grinding stone and other everyday objects used by Northern Nevada’s Indigenous people for thousands of years are on display in the Under One Sky exhibit at the Nevada State Museum. Credit: David Robert

Anatomy of a mural project

As local teens install a public-facing mural, Asa Kennedy teaches them the ropes

On a late-June Thursday morning, a mercifully wide shadow on a north-facing brick wall keeps the asphalt from being even hotter. Cheerful reggae drifts from a Bluetooth speaker. A couple of high schoolers position ladders. Others dip paint brushes into oversized plastic cups and begin defining bold, black lines over the swaths of color they’d laid down on a previous day. A few await marching orders.

Their teacher, Asa Kennedy, divvies out the remaining jobs. He offers a technical explanation here and there on color blending or some other detail, but tries to let the painters solve their own problems as often as possible.

This is the culmination of a project they’ve all been working on as part of an eight-week class at the E.L. Cord Museum School at the Nevada Museum of Art—a public mural on the side of Midtown Antiques.

Kennedy landed his first professional art stint at 17, as an intern for the city of Albuquerque’s public art department, where he got a taste for what it takes to see a large art project through to fruition. He wrote prospectuses in the office and helped a tile artist teach elementary school students to make clay tiles for a public mosaic.

While living in Portland, Ore., in the mid2000s, Kennedy joined the Portland Mural Defense, a committee that aimed to encourage

more mural art by lowering the cost of permitting. Portland’s outdoor wall space had previously been dominated by advertisers, he recalled. Eventually, they influenced the policy changes they wanted via a lawsuit.

“Now you can’t throw a rock in that town without seeing a mural painted,” he said.

In Portland, Kennedy got several painting commissions. Among the ones he remembers most fondly are an indoor mural for Outside In, a group that supports young people experiencing homelessness, and one for Satyricon, a nightclub that was a stronghold of the Pacific Northwest music scene until it closed in 2010. (It’s where Courtney Love met Kurt Cobain in 1990 and where the Foo Fighters debuted in 1995.)

Kennedy painted his first Reno mural in 2009 and moved here in 2015, wanting to be part of a fast-growing scene. He’s painted several local murals since—including a few in Midtown, some of which came and went quickly as the neighborhood underwent rapid economic growth and frequent cosmetic updates.

One of his most notable local pieces is a Día de Los Muertos-themed mural at the Highway 395 underpass on Wedekind Road. For this one, he invited members of the public, either with or without art experience, to paint images of their

lost loved ones on an altar.

For muralists, including Kennedy, one of the main facts of life as an artist whose work exists on city streets is compromise. Unless they work illegally (which is certainly not unheard of), muralists need to negotiate with businesses and governments for placement. When it comes to subject matter, “It has to be something … neutral-enough, where it isn’t going to ruffle anyone’s feathers,” Kennedy said.

How does he manage the negotiation?

“I cry into my pillow at night and say, ‘The world is so unfair,’” he said with a laugh.

He has a more practical answer, too: “That goes back to just knowing the deal and knowing that entering the realm of public art is less about the artist and the artist’s soulful expression, and more about catering to an audience—having things that are publicly digestible and appealing to the location. … To me, it is just such a blast, because that’s creative problem-solving in itself—when you have to go and examine a site and take into account what makes this area unique. Does it have a cultural identity? Does it have a social identity? You know, how has it changed? And, like, do you feel like it’s your responsibility to represent that … space, that neighborhood, that

block … the people walking by there? … You can’t just come in here and spread your own agenda. This is part of the responsibility that needs to be assumed and respected by an artist going into the public-art sphere.”

Kennedy has been discussing these concepts with his mural crew, made up of students from Hug High, Sparks High and EnCompass Academy. In class, they worked on drawing foundations—contour, gesture, value scales and the like. As they drew still lifes from an array of objects in the room—a pineapple, headphones, a toy tiger and wooden drawing mannequins— they also talked about how to work together as a creative community and how to consider their audience.

Initially, Kennedy said, students expected they’d be helping their teacher install a mural of his design. They were surprised to learn that they were expected to generate their own design as a group.

One girl proposed a collage of the students’ still lifes. Her classmates agreed it was a good idea. Kennedy made a digital collage of their images, to be blown up to wall size—100 feet long and 10 feet high.

Alba Servellon, a 2023 Sparks High graduate who’s part of the team, has done a lot of drawing, but never with a group or for the public eye. She said that that this type of project—which started with an open-ended still-life drawing assignment and ended with deadline pressure and creative compromises— necessitated a mind shift.

“It was difficult in the beginning,” she said. “Solely because when we first started the class, (Kennedy) kind of just put objects in the center of a table and was like, ‘Draw it.’ And I’m a person who needs to have it broken down before I can actually get the whole thing together. … Just by diving in, it was different, but it definitely did help in the sense of—I’m now able to break the elements down on my own. I just started seeing the shapes, because he told us everything is just shapes. You just have to see them and put them on the paper. This project definitely did advance my artistic abilities.”

The Nevada Museum of Art students’ new mural is located on the north wall of Midtown Antiques, 1052 S. Virginia St. For more information about the Nevada Museum of Art’s classes for teens, children and adults, visit www.nevadaart.org/learn.

This article was produced by Double Scoop, Nevada’s visual arts publication. Read more at www.doublescoop.art.

Janeth Murillo (front) works on the mural on the side of Midtown Antiques. Photo/ Kris Vagner

ART OF THE STATE

Grounded beauty

The Reno Chalk Art and Music Festival returns to the Atlantis—under new management

Reno is chock-full of artistic events and increasingly creative creatives—and in the case of one upcoming festival, you could say the city is also chalk-full!

The Reno Chalk Art and Music Festival is returning to showcase hundreds of fascinating displays of sidewalk-chalk art with competitions, music, vendors and a kids’ zone. The event takes place Friday, Aug. 25, through Sunday, Aug. 27, in the west parking lot of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.

Earlier this year, Liquid Blue Events announced it would be taking over the Reno Chalk Art and Music Festival. During a recent interview with Liquid Blue’s co-owner and co-founder, Jess Horning shared how and why the company is producing the event.

“We (Liquid Blue Events) produce quite a few events around the region in Northern Nevada and California,” Horning said. “We either do the events from A to Z, or do the marketing for them. The Atlantis reached out to us for the Chalk Art Fest, because they started the event just two years ago, and it’s grown so much that they don’t necessarily have the staffing and structure in place to continue to maintain the event at the size that it is.”

Horning and the team at Liquid Blue Events are well aware of how much locals love the unique art festival.

“We’ve seen all the videos and talked to quite a few people, and we know that it is a very popular event in the Northern Nevada community,” Horning said. “We can just tell on social media—the interactions that we get are very organic, and people definitely look forward to the event. It’s really different and unique compared to a lot of other events in the area.”

Horning said no major changes are being made to the festival.

“The most important thing is to maintain the integrity of the event,” Horning said. “They’ve done such a good job growing it to where it is, and we want to learn, so we’re working hand in hand with the event to get used to the event. There are not a lot of huge changes that we’re making in regards to the event itself, other than we’re enhancing our vendor areas quite a bit.”

Attendees can expect more, however—more art, more music and more tastes.

“We are bringing in 70 to 100-plus craft vendors that will not only allow people to enjoy the art and peruse the art around the parking lot at their own leisure, but they can also shop a variety of different craft jewelry, clothing and arts vendors that will be available at the event itself,” Horning said. “In addition to that, we are adding a craft beer and seltzer tasting experience to the event. … We’re enhancing the music a little bit to where we’re bringing new acts every day, so we’re going to have 12 different acts that will play over the course of three days, with a

Rachael Robertson and Melanie Walker won the Best Replica of a Masterpiece category in 2022 for “Battling an Octopus” (cropped), originally by Henry Luhrs.

headliner on Friday and Saturday night.”

Of course, there’s the art—and nearly 200 artists ranging in skill, approach, technique will take part. As of this writing, the festival is still accepting student, individual and team applications—and it’s free to apply.

“We want it to grow,” Horning said. “We get over 180 artists that will be coming. They are allowed to apply online, and they do submit some of their work or an idea of what they’re going to actually be drawing. There is some vetting there, just to make sure that the art is appropriate and not offensive or anything like that. We’re pretty open to any and all forms of art in a sense that it could be something that’s very detailed, or something that’s very opaque. We’re not really picky on the quality of the art; we just want to make sure the subject is family oriented.”

Artists will be competing for awards in categories including Best 3-D, Best Use of Color and Best Reproduction, as well as the People’s Choice award.

“The artists are really important to the events, and we want to be able to make sure

that they’re taken care of,” Horning said. “We provide all the chalk, and we provide them water, drinks, shirts, a comfortable environment and shade. We make sure that they have a good environment to work within, so taking care of them and hosting them is important to us.”

There is an admission fee for the first time this year. Horning explained why.

“The reason that it’s $10 is because it’s no longer owned and operated by the Atlantis,” Horning said. “By having the 12 musicians and the artists out there, the money is there to support those acts. The only way to actually have the events is to be able to make sure that there’s a prize pool for the artists, and that we’re able to actually afford to be able to bring in the music that makes the atmosphere so great at this event.”

The Reno Chalk Art and Music Festival will take place Friday, Aug. 25, through Sunday, Aug. 27, in the west parking lot of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, 3800 S. Virginia St. Tickets are $10 for a three-day pass; and $40 for festival entry plus the craft beer and hard seltzer tasting. For tickets, more information, or to apply to be an artist, visit atlantiscasino. com/chalk.

Faith Phillips’ “Touching Souls” (cropped) was the 2022 winner in the Student Division.

ART OF THE STATE

Think Free!

Killer night out

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival’s mainstage eschews Shakespeare in favor of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

If you’ve avoided the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival because of its … well, its Shakespeare, I have good news: There’s nothing at all highbrow about the LTSF 2023 season’s one and only mainstage production, Little Shop of Horrors.

In fact, its roots are in Roger Corman’s 1960 B-movie of the same name—a cult classic that was conceived by screenwriter Chuck Griffith and Corman during a drunken binge, written over a weekend and shot in just three days.

The wonderfully weird story was reimagined by powerhouse writing team Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as a 1982 off-Broadway musical and as a campy 1986 film musical starring Steve Martin and Rick Moranis. In 2003, the hugely popular musical debuted on Broadway.

For those of you unfamiliar with the frightfully silly plot (confession—that was me until recently), here’s the gist. Shy, clumsy, nerdy Seymour Krelborn (played by Steven Huynh) and the object of his affection, his ditzy blond co-worker, Audrey (Adrian Grace Bumpas), work at Mushnik’s Flower Shop on Skid Row, a rough New York neighborhood where pretty much no one ever buys flowers. Poor Mr. Mushnik (M.A. Taylor) decides it’s time to close the shop for good … until Seymour reveals the odd plant he found in Chinatown during the recent solar eclipse. When a customer glimpses it through

the shop window and is drawn in to make a big purchase, Mushnik is over the moon. Perhaps the rare species, which Seymour names Audrey II after his beloved co-worker, could save the shop? Mushnik places it in prime position in the window; the shop begins making money hand over fist; and Seymour is a hero.

No one else knows what Seymour has discovered about the plant’s diet—it needs blood to survive. To keep his job and save the shop, he has been pricking his fingers to feed the beastly plant. But instead of curbing its appetite, it only makes Audrey II bigger and hungrier—until blood will no longer satisfy it. Now it needs to eat people.

Meanwhile, Audrey has been dating Orin Scrivello, DDS (Mark Bedard), a sadist who satisfies his own appetite to inflict pain by abusing Audrey and his dental patients. Seymour’s no predator, but he’ll do anything to protect Audrey and keep Audrey II fed. He sets his sights on Scrivello, thinking maybe he can kill two birds with one stone. Oddly enough, this grisly tale is set to an upbeat, ’60s-style doo-wop soundtrack full of surefire earworms.

How, pray tell, do you create a man-eating plant that grows to monstrous proportions over the course of two hours on stage? “Two words: giant puppets,” explained producing artistic director Charles Fee. And amazing puppets—and puppeteers—they are.

The complexity of these plot details and staging are the reason behind the decision to have only one mainstage production this year.

| BY JESSICA SANTINA

“It’s an anomaly this year,” he said. “The set design for Little Shop and the puppets are so complex that we can’t put the set up and take it down every day.”

Truly, the set and the scale of the puppetry are impressive sights to behold. Plus, the high level of professional talent among the cast, as both actors and singers, makes the entire performance utterly entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish. Highlights include Bedard as an Elvislike Scrivello as well as several other characters who appear throughout the show, and the vocal talents of the three female street urchins, a Greekchorus-style trio with Chiffon (Kris Lyons), Ronnette (Sydney Jaye) and Crystal (Sydney Alexandra Whittenburg). Lyons, in particular, is magnetic, and her voice astonishingly good.

To be fair, it’s hard not to enjoy a show at Sand Harbor, with its views of Lake Tahoe at sunset, mild temperatures and delicious food prepared at the venue’s on-site restaurant, Shakespeare’s Kitchen. It’s kind of a bonus that the show is killer, too.

Little Shop of Horrors is performed at various times and dates through Sunday, Aug. 20, as part of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Shows take place at Sand Harbor, 2005 Highway 28, in Incline Village. Tickets start at $17; attendees must also purchase a Nevada State Parks entrance pass for $10. For tickets or more information, visit laketahoeshakespeare.com.

Steven Huynh and Adrian Grace Bumpas in the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. Photo/Jen Schmidt

Peachy in pink

Edgy, daring, witty and hysterically funny, Barbie is the comedic blast this summer really needed.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the stinging script with partner Noah Baumbach, the film is the perfect visual interpretation of the Barbie world, down to its major emphasis on pink and a lack of stairs in the Barbie Dreamhouses.

Gerwig doesn’t serve up a two-hour commercial for Mattel’s flagship toy. Nope, this is a barbed satire that takes aim at stereotypes, patriarchy, perceived gender roles and society in general. There is nothing about this movie that plays it safe in order to not upset some Mattel CEO. In fact, the Mattel CEO character in the movie is portrayed by Will Ferrell, in full bumbling-fool mode. (Side note: When Ferrell appeared onscreen, I heard a bunch of little kids in the theater yell, “Buddy!” in a nod to his character from Elf. Pretty cute.)

The title character is played by Margot Robbie. Through the many incarnations of this project over the years, the likes of Amy Schumer, Gal Gadot and Anne Hathaway

were lined up to play the part. It’s a good thing they exited, because Robbie is cinematic gold as the doll that changed it all. This isn’t a surface-type performance; it’s not at all onedimensional or “doll-like.” It’s fully nuanced, multidimensional work that’s funny at every turn—and it could, and should, get her Oscar buzz at the end of the year.

Barbie’s Ken is no slouch either, personified by Ryan Gosling, who confesses to borrowing from his Mickey Mouse Club days to represent Barbie’s most prominent accessory. Gosling is gonzo greatness here, giving Ken a vacuous yet earnest heart, before shifting into something altogether different as the screenplay steers into surprising territory. There are also a few musical Ken moments, including the character showcase “I’m Just Ken,” and Gosling’s very funny, very fitting Matchbox Twenty cover.

There are many other incarnations of Barbie and Ken in the movie, portrayed by a cast that includes Kate McKinnon (she plays a damaged, “weird” Barbie), Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Simu Lu, Scott Evans and others. Michael Cera gets his best role in years as Allan (Ken’s pal!), while America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt are terrific as a mother-daughter team who wind up in Barbie’s orbit.

The movie starts strong; the jokes come fast; and they never let up until the very sweet Billie Eilish song plays over the credits.

Laughing hard is the mark of a good

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie.

comedy. Continually having your mind blown by cleverness while having your heartstrings tugged more than once … those are the marks of a great comedy. Barbie is, most definitely, a great comedy. It’s also one of the summer’s best films.

Oppenheimer is a heady “summer blockbuster” that is being marketed as a bigscreen must-see—on IMAX, if possible.

It turns out that many of the film’s scenes take place inside of classrooms, conference rooms and Senate hearings, hardly the stuff of great visual IMAX movies. Yes, director Christopher Nolan has made a good-looking, wellacted movie about the father of the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer—but it feels a bit bloated at three hours, and it’s definitely not a film that must be experienced in IMAX.

Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer with the sort of understated professionalism that has propelled his career. It’s the biggest role of said career, and he embraces the moment with aplomb. As a performance piece, Oppenheimer qualifies as a must-see.

As a movie event of the summer? Not so much.

This is basically a long history lesson that spends almost as much time on Oppenheimer

getting his security clearance revoked postWorld War II as it does on the science of making the bomb that would change humanity forever. While it calls for some fine acting from the likes of Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. (outstanding and Oscar-worthy), Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh and, holy shit, Josh Hartnett blowing the roof off the house, it’s hardly a visual spectacle, even though it was shot on IMAX cameras.

This is a cast so large that Oscar winner Rami Malek is basically just holding somebody’s beer in his supporting-role scenes. The cast also includes Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Conti (as Albert Einstein), Matthew Modine, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Thirlby and Casey Affleck. The stars pop up often and are around every corner—and there is plenty of room for them over the three hours.

Oppenheimer is a good, if not great, movie that hits all of the basic biopic notes, with a couple of twists and a few shocker scenes to keep you on your toes. I knew most of the history of the Manhattan Project going in, so I can’t say I learned too much, but I did enjoy large swaths of the film—Murphy and Downey are excellent—and it did manage a few surprises along the way.

It just isn’t the huge event movie it was built up to be. In the end, it’s a relatively expensive art film—and you will be just fine if you choose to wait and watch it on your home screens.

‘Barbie’ is the summer comedy we all needed; ‘Oppenheimer’ is star-packed, well-acted, good-looking—and a bit bloated

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer.

TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN

Happenings

The Best in the West Rib Cook Off returns to the Nugget Casino Resort in Victorian Square from Aug. 30-Sept. 4. The Labor Day Weekend rib-stravaganza is open to the public, with food for purchase from more than two-dozen vendors. Learn more at nuggetribcookoff.com.

The Truckee Optimist Club is hosting the 16th Annual Truckee Brewfest on Saturday, Aug. 5, featuring award-winning craft breweries and homebrews, live music and festival food. The Truckee Optimist Club is a nonprofit that donates $100,000 annually to Truckee youth programs and scholarships. The fest takes place at Truckee River Regional Park, 10500 Brockway Road, and advance tickets are $45 (or $5 for designated drivers); find said tickets on Eventbrite.

The Tahoe Brewfest returns to Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, Aug. 26. The event will have 40-plus beer, cider and kombucha vendors, as well as DJs spinning different music genres on every block. For tickets, which are $55, as well as information, head to tahoebrewfest.com.

Northern Nevada took home some impressive team wins at the 2023 U.S. Open Beer Championship in Oxford, Ohio—one of the top-three beer championships in the U.S. Lead Dog Brewing took gold with their Fade to Orange in the American Berry/Fruit Beer category; Carson City’s Shoe Tree Brewing took gold for their Coco Burrito in the Specialty/Anything Goes category; and Great Basin Brewing Company took bronze with their Icky IPA in the English India Pale Ale category. Congrats!

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Method and madness

Batching tips for your end-of-summer plans

Here we are, nearing the end of another beautiful summer—and with the dog days sniffing at our backsides, we crave those last cookouts and pool parties. Oh, and Burning Man is just around the corner.

Most of us have had our fill of cheap beer and hard seltzers—so why not make something more fun for that get-together? Why not try a punch or a big container of fun cocktails? Fortunately, your friendly neighborhood liquid dork and his buddies have some tips for making refreshing and fun drinks by the dozen.

Be a planner

“My approach to batching starts with creating a plan,” said Trevor Leppek, owner of Pignic Pub and Patio. “I start with a list of all the necessary ingredients, the number of cocktails and people served, how and where I will store the final product, and how to dispense and serve the drink.”

Thinking through as many variables as possible before you put liquid in a container saves you time and money; nothing is worse than adding that expensive bourbon to the

wrong juice.

Planning is more than knowing who, what and where; drink planning also involves math. It’s best practice to start with the measurements in a complete single cocktail, then multiply each ingredient’s measurements by the number of guests or cocktails you are looking to serve. If you love your spiked sweet tea with 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon and 8 ounces of sweet tea, for 10 people, you would add 15 ounces of bourbon to 80 ounces of sweet tea.

Leppek also had some professional advice for those new to batching drinks: “Taste your drink as you’re batching it, making small adjustments to taste as you add your citrus/juice and sweeteners. That’ll help to keep your cocktail deliciously balanced.”

Nostalgia wins

There are people in the world who track which flavors and flavor ideas Americans love, and a vast majority of this data tells us that we love to eat and drink things that bring us back to a simpler time—when the only thing that mattered was the sound of the ice cream truck. Speaking to that little kid inside is a good idea when

deciding which drink you want to make.

Anna Vetter, the owner of Ramblin’ Libations, a local mobile beverage bus, reminds us: “Simple batched cocktails are always better, like spiked lemonade or a tasty blackberry sangria.” Flavors like pink lemonade, watermelon, rainbow sherbet and root beer float are all great starting points for making fun cocktails. Most of the time, these flavors are easy to pull off with a small number of ingredients—saving you time and money.

Cocktails are always better when enjoyed with friends, and hopefully, these tips and recipes can help you lubricate the last sweaty days of summer.

Moberly’s frozen blackberry lemonade

Yield: four 12-ounce glasses

6 ounces of vodka

1 cup of fresh whole blackberries

20 ounces of lemonade

5 cups of ice

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with an orange peel or mint sprig.

Trevor Leppek, owner of Pignic Pub and Patio: “Taste your drink as you’re batching it, making small adjustments to taste as you add your citrus/juice and sweeteners. Photo/David Robert

Epicenter of beer

Fourth Street’s Brewery District continues to grow and evolve

It was the summer of 1903. Industries such as a wool warehouse, a lumber mill and a slaughterhouse populated the east side of Reno along Fourth Street, well before it became the Lincoln Highway. That was also when three men of German descent opened Reno Brewing Company, just east of the current Wells Avenue.

For more than 50 years, Reno Brewing Company produced fine lagers—the famous Sierra Beer known throughout the state. After surviving Prohibition, by 1950, it was the only remaining brewery in Nevada, but in 1957, it halted production forever. All that remains of it today is the shuttered bottling plant, built in 1940, and a historical legacy that lives on in the neighborhood, now known as the Brewery District.

Fast forward to the 2010s, when Reno was exploding with growth—and struggling with an identity crisis. Districts like Midtown and the Riverwalk worked to develop their brands and attract visitors and locals with commerce, art and entertainment. Along East Fourth Street, a combination of the central location and reasonable rents drew local craft brewers to set up shop, hoping to capitalize on the rich history, location and thriving popularity of local craft beer.

Under the Rose was the first to put “brewery” in the then-unnamed Brewery District, opening in 2013 in a 1930s welding shop. Pigeon Head Brewery (pigeonheadbrewery.com), specializing in lager beers, opened the following year in a former SPCA shelter. Owners of The Depot

(thedepotreno.com), Nevada’s first combined brewery and distillery, spent more than a year revitalizing their 1910 N-C-O railroad depot building, beautifully balancing modern use with its century-old former glory, before opening at the end of 2014. Co-founder and brewer/ distiller Brandon Wright is proud when he talks about the “gem of the community” they occupy; instead of ownership, he talks of being “the caretakers of this asset—history gives a sense of community.”

In 2017, Lead Dog Brewing (leaddogbrewing. com) opened just east of The Depot. Lead Dog’s success with hazy IPAs, sours and a signature peanut butter stout led to a much larger brewery in Sparks two years later, leaving the original facility as a taproom. The brand was acquired by Mammoth Brewing in 2021.

As the district evolved, it reflected the ups and downs of the greater region and beyond: Businesses rise and fall; tastes change; trends vary. A startup, Lake Tahoe Brewing, announced plans to open nearby, only to fail quickly amid legal troubles. Under the Rose shut down unexpectedly in 2018. Record Street Brewing faced years of challenges renovating their historic building (dating back to 1929, with a 1954 addition) while brewing elsewhere, before opening at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—only to close suddenly last year.

But as they say, when one door closes, another door opens. The most recent addition to the neighborhood, Slieve Brewing (slievebrewing.com), opened in an old firehouse next to Pigeon Head last year.

The revitalization isn’t all about beer; much of the district’s character lies in its diversity.

| BY MARC TIAR

TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN

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Openings, Closings and Shifts

In 2019, the first meadery in Nevada, Black Rabbit Mead (blackrabbitmeads.com), opened its doors. Co-founder Will Truce, a former teacher, saw the potential in the district and got to work growing a community. He rallied the neighborhood’s fellow entrepreneurs, property owners and stakeholders to solidify the Brewery District name and create a coalition to bring the concept to life. Although not a brewer, he sees breweries as “sources of local pride, where people come together,” and embraces the spirit of breweries as community gathering places. After pandemic setbacks, the vision of Black Rabbit as a simple tasting room was abandoned, and the space is now established as a neighborhood center for live entertainment, tasty hand pies—and, of course, a varying selection of their lovely sparkling meads. Fittingly, another beer-related business, the Reno Brew Bike (renobrewbike.com), shares the building to house their multi-rider “brew bikes,” upon which people can enjoy breweryhopping journeys.

Transforming the neighborhood further, the Brewery District now includes three wineries sharing a tasting room next door to Lead Dog; Ferino Distillery, producing Italian-inspired spirits; and, rounding out the beer-related portfolio, the Reno Homebrewer, in a 1946 brick grocery building. Of course, many industrial and other alcohol-unrelated businesses call the district home as well.

As Reno continues to grow and evolve, so will the Brewery District. These days, the various business owners—Wright describes them as “a loose group of professional friends”—are like friendly neighbors. Someone, often Truce, will suggest a block party, or perhaps another “Tour de Brews” event, and everyone will join in. These small business owners work long, hard hours and can’t dedicate endless hours to organizing, so casual events tend to happen. Both Truce and Pigeon Head brewer/owner Bryan Holloway echoed a goal of getting past the area’s negative reputation (which still persists) and growing the historic, walkable neighborhood, where locals and visitors can spend an afternoon and evening enjoying food, drink and entertainment.

The old Reno Brewing Company bottling plant was sold in 2021 to an investor with a plan to revitalize the historic brick structure into an open marketplace—think small retail, eateries and coffee shops, a possible eastern anchor for businesses like Pigeon Head, slightly isolated in their spot furthest from downtown. When another business opens, it’s seen as growing the district—and making progressing toward their collective success more than competition.

Fox Brewery and Pub is officially open for business at 124 Wonder St., replacing what was once Huntsman Brewing and previously Silver Peak Brewing. The Carson City original is serving a selection of craft beers and pub fare like wings, burgers and sandwiches. For more information, head to foxpubs.com.

No. 731, a new bar located in the carriage house behind Calafuria, is opening at 731 S. Center St. The concept will serve Italian spritzes, domestic and imported beers, nonalcoholic cocktails and a selection of small bites provided by Calafuria. For more information, head to www.instagram.com/no731reno.

Ownership has changed at Washoe Public House, at 275 Hill St. Brent Ross has come to the table with Rodrigo Sanchez as head chef. While the menu will remain similar, keep an eye out for specials and updates along the way; www. washoepublichouse.com.

Midtown brewpub Wonder Ale Works has closed. Shuttering on July 17, the brewery made an announcement on Instagram (www.instagram.com/wonderaleworks), noting they “hope to be flying again soon!”

Friends Dinner Club, a local restaurant-grade meal-kit service, is open for business. The kit changes weekly (with past kits featuring carnitas tacos, Bolognese pasta and barbecue pork ribs), and guests can pre-order the kit online for pick up at Archive Wine Bar at 148 West St., or get home delivery. For more information, head to www. friendsdinnerclub.com.

Revision Brewing and Great Basin Brewing Company, two of Nevada’s most celebrated breweries, are merging under the name Nevada Beverage Alliance (NBA). Spearheaded by Jeremy Warren, brewmaster, CEO and co-founder of Revision Brewing Company, and Mark Estee, CEO, chef and co-owner of Great Basin Brewing Company, the integration aims to expand the distribution of GBBC beers into new territory while fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, with an expanded range of high-quality products. “The creation of NBA represents a tremendous opportunity for growth and advancement,” Warren said. “By joining forces, we can leverage our respective strengths to push the boundaries of craft brewing in Nevada and deliver exceptional experiences to our customers.”

Have local food, drink or restaurant news or information? Email me at foodnews@renonr.com.

Bryan Holloway at Pigeon Head Brewery takes a dip and a sip in the mash tun. Photo/David Robert

Hot August whites

Take

Since 1986, Hot August Nights has been a premier showcase for classic cars, custom hot rods and other exotic vehicles in Reno, Sparks and Virginia City.

August is not the time to be driving your mom’s 1980 Chevrolet Citation around Reno. It’s also not the time to be drinking your mom’s white wine. Don’t get me wrong; August is a perfect time to drink cool, refreshing white wines, but just as with the cars at Hot August Nights, why not enjoy wines that are classic, custom or exotic?

The first step in finding your hot-rod wine: Ponder the characteristics of what you normally drink. Do you normally drink an easy-riding, luxurious Cadillac of a chardonnay, with rich oak and buttery soft leather? Perhaps you drink a strippeddown sauvignon blanc that hugs the curves of your glass? Is it fruity, acidic (sour), mineral, tannic, spicy or earthy?

In order to find wines that have the highgloss finish and RPMs we desire, I spoke to Amanda Flangas, one of the owners of Midtown Spirits Wine and Bites, at 1527 S. Virginia St. I asked her about the white wines now being served.

“Every week, we change our wines by the glass, both reds and whites,” she said.

“We have a different offering of whites

every week in hopes that we will introduce our patrons to some wines that maybe they might not recognize right off the bat. So, for instance, we always have a really nice French sparkling. I will say sparkling rosés and sparkling white right now in our place are very, very popular. It’s hot, right?”

Now for the next step: Find a custom, exotic wine that has the same characteristics of your everyday drinker—especially fruit notes.

If your wine has citrus fruit notes—like lemons, limes, grapefruits or oranges—you likely enjoy more acidic wines. More common wines like sauvignon blanc, sparkling whites and pinot gris often have these characteristics—but if you want to impress your friends or simply enjoy something less common, try ordering an albariño, vermentino, verdejo, assyrtiko, roussanne or picpoul.

Fans of stone fruits, like nectarines, peaches and apricots, tend to find those notes in a chardonnay, pinot gris or riesling. Some wines that will turn heads that also have these flavors include chenin blanc, grenache blanc and grüner veltliner.

Flavors of tropical fruits—pineapple, mango, kiwi, lychee and passion fruit—can be found in everyday drinkers like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot grigio. If you want more of these tropical flavors in a sexy, exotic wine, you might want to try a

gewürztraminer, marsanne, soave or an airén.

Morgan Brody, the general manager and wine-buyer at Midtown Spirits Wine and Bites, said she’s seen an increase in customers asking specifically for imported wines.

“I have a very diverse clientele with people in their 30s to their 80s, and many are, like, ‘We want strictly imports; we want nothing from the States,’” she said. “Verdejo, vermentino, sancerre and albariño are all great options for them, from France, Italy and Spain.”

Those can all be great choices—and lead perfectly into the last flavor profile I want to mention: minerality.

Minerality often presents itself in wine as saltiness, a stone-like flavor or even chalkiness. These flavors can be very hard to describe or explain—but they can also create the “backbone” of a wine. Some of our everyday drinking wines that tend to offer these mineral flavors include riesling, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc. If you want to really lean in for more mineral horsepower, try a chablis, sancerre, albariño, muscadet or a vinho verde.

Just as I hope you appreciate all the beautiful vehicles you’ll see at the Hot August Nights events, I hope you will try some of these more exotic wines. If you are unsure, stop in and get a wine flight from Amanda or Morgan—and tell them you want a hot rod wine!

Morgan Brody, of Midtown Spirits Wine and Bites: “Verdejo, vermentino, sancerre and albariño are all great options … from France, Italy and Spain.”

Photo/David Robert

The authenticity of it

The 37th annual Bowers Bluegrass Festival puts a spotlight on the traditional music community

The 37th annual Bowers Bluegrass Festival is returning in late August to the historic Bowers Mansion Regional Park for four days of pickin’ and grinnin’.

While bluegrass music is commonly associated with Appalachia or the American South, its impact is global and instantly recognized thanks to the hallmarks of the sound: acoustic string arrangements, a quick tempo and a performance style in which musicians play a shared refrain and take turns with solos.

The Bowers Bluegrass Festival connects folk and traditional music to Northern Nevada’s own historical heritage through its chosen site. Bowers Mansion was built in 1863 by Comstock millionaires Lemuel “Sandy” Bowers and his wife, Eilley Orrum Bowers. The height of wealth and refinement at the time it was built, the mansion and its surrounding grounds are now a regional park where guests can tour the historic house, picnic on the lawn and enjoy the public pool.

The festival is put on by the Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association, a nonprofit with the simple and laudable goal to “provide information, instruction, performances and support to the bluegrass and traditional music community in northern Nevada.” Throughout the year, NNBA is responsible for organizing regular jam sessions, hosting classes and providing membership resources like discounted fees for events and free instruction. The Bowers Bluegrass Festival is the biggest event on their calendar.

This year’s festival will feature jamband-friendly camping arrangements and

a chuckwagon supper at nearby Washoe Lake, a bluegrass gospel concert at the Davis Creek Amphitheater, and performances by 12 bands. This year’s headliner is the Grammy Awardnominated Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, who will take the main stage on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 5:15 p.m. Eight of the 12 bands represent Northern Nevada’s own bluegrass community.

“As folk musicians, we all keep track of where the festivals are, and it’s like our family reunion,” said Holly Sternberg.

A fiddle player since childhood, Sternberg is the only act billed as a solo performer, although she intends to bring her students with her to perform some of the music that earned her the champion’s title in the Nevada State Old-Time Fiddler’s Contest in Eureka.

Sternberg grew up taking violin lessons in Quincy, Calif., learning to play classical music before graduating to her favorite discipline: Celtic music.

“I love the nuances and the ornamentations that you can get in Celtic music,” she said. “I really love the nitty gritty, minor, sad, mournful kind of sound you can find in Celtic music.”

After landing in Reno for college, Sternberg found out about the weekly Celtic jam sessions hosted at Ceol Irish Pub. This served as her introduction to what she considers a lively folk and traditional music scene in Reno—one that, in her experience, far outstrips even more populated cities.

“There are a ton of bluegrass players here in Reno,” Sternberg said. “And then there’s a little Celtic circle, and there’s a little old-timey circle. I’m really proud of Reno, because there’s hardly any of that in Vegas, and it’s huge, and hardly any

Holly Sternberg: “As folk musicians, we all keep track of where the festivals are, and it’s like our family reunion.” Photo/David Robert

of that in L.A., and it’s huge.”

Sternberg spent years ingraining herself in the folk music scene, becoming a part-time performer and full-time violin teacher. She’s played and recorded with other bands (including an upcoming album with her duo project, Fiddlers Two). While she’s the first to admit that bluegrass hasn’t always been her forte, her dedication to traditional folk music earned her a spot on the stage in August.

“We’re doing a lot of twin fiddling, though, which is really fun,” she said. “That’s where you have two fiddles, but one is playing melody, and one is playing either harmony or some kind of form of backing. It’s kind of cool, because a lot of times, you don’t see bands with more than one fiddler.”

While Sternberg and her students will explore some of the older styles of folk music surrounding the genre, bluegrass itself has plenty of modern practitioners. Another Reno band called Wheatstone Bridge has been performing for decades, recording originals and drawing inspiration from relatively modern artists.

“My favorite band in the world is Devo,” said Jill Marlene, songwriter, singer and co-founder of Wheatstone Bridge. “Our next album is going to be called Campfire Songs for the Apocalypse That’s because we write Dixie Chicks songs about the shit of the world. They’re lullabies and kind of passion songs about the end of the world.”

Like Sternberg, Marlene entered the folkmusic scene through Celtic music, although she said Wheatstone Bridge’s sound is more Americana-inspired. She is joined by guitarist and songwriter Steve Barron, singer and fiddler Amy Willoughby, mandolinist Zeke Griffin, percussionist Diana Ekins, banjo player Joseph Martini and bassist Jim Buehler.

Wheatstone Bridge got its start in the ’90s when Marlene met Barron, her songwriting partner. The lineup has changed and adapted over the years, but Marlene’s songwriting has been one of the through threads. “I was a poet way before I was a songwriter,” she said. “Sometimes Steve comes with an idea and a first line, and then I’m like, ‘OK,’ and then I take 10 minutes, and we write it, and it’s good fun.”

In Marlene’s experience, serious bluegrass players in town all know each other, either by proximity or reputation, and traveling to bluegrass festivals and jam sessions, even in nearby states, is common. While some of her bandmates have attended and performed in the Bowers Bluegrass Festival in years past, this will be her first experience with the festival as either a guest or performer. To Marlene, bluegrass music’s blend of simplicity, heritage and technical skill offers

the perfect vehicle for lyrics—calling the band’s catalog “therapy songs.”

“Bluegrass, there’s something ancient and mystical about it, and I feel like people are moved by that kind of sound,” Marlene said. “What messages can you send? How can you sneak those ideas in? How can you soften an idea for someone enough for it to hit their heart instead of hit their head?”

The fundamental connection to the nation’s musical spirit is a big draw for many bluegrass musicians.

“I really love the stories of bluegrass music and the cultural history of it that I think that we, as citizens of the United States, are most connected to,” said Brooke Chabot, guitarist and vocalist of Truckee-based band Rubicon Gold. “I feel like it’s the deepest root, along with blues, of our history.”

Rubicon Gold will also be playing at the Bowers Bluegrass Festival for the first time, and to Chabot and her bandmates Mick Melvin (bass and vocals), Peter Anderson (banjo and vocals) and Dave Zimmerman (mandolin and vocals), it’s a chance to meet and play with likeminded people outside of their Truckee bluegrass scene.

“I met all the guys in Rubicon Gold at the local bluegrass jam at Alibi Ale Works in Truckee on Sunday nights,” Chabot said. “We’ve been playing mainly in Truckee. We’ve had a couple of gigs in Incline Village, and we’re looking forward to recording. We have quite a few originals that we’ve put together.”

Rubicon Gold revels in its three- and four-part vocal harmonies, and aside from their originals, the band enjoys performing bluegrass renditions of popular songs from the ’80s and ’90s. Chabot said that the ability to meet and play live is integral to both their sound and bluegrass culture at large—even though they managed to keep the jam sessions going over Zoom during the pandemic.

“It can be very simple music, and you can pick up with almost anybody who knows it,” she said. “Everyone knows the same handful of songs that are a part of the collection. And it’s just a great way to connect with people. … You can just sit down and play the songs that everyone knows.”

To Chabot and many of the musicians attending Bowers Bluegrass Festival this year, the connection offered by the genre isn’t just reserved for the players.

“I think the authenticity of it, it’s just, really, the core of the genre,” Chabot said. “The feeling of it is going to be there, and it’s nothing but happy experiences for everyone.”

The Bowers Bluegrass Festival takes place Thursday, Aug. 24, through Sunday, Aug. 27, primarily at Bowers Mansion, 4005 Bowers Mansion Road, in New Washoe City. Tickets prices vary. For tickets or more information, visit www.nnba.org/bowersbluegrassfstival.

The last one showering shouldn’t be left in the cold! GO TANKLESS.

Wanted: Our next managing editor

THE LUCKY 13

DJ Sol Rising

Performing at the Tahoe Yoga Festival on Aug. 13

FREE Quotes

Tank Options & Tankless

The Reno News & Review is looking for an experienced journalist to become our managing editor. The managing editor coordinates coverage, works with writers, and maintains the high journalism standards the RN&R has long had. Flexible hours. So-so pay (for now, at least.)

Send a resume, cover letter and clips to jimmyb@renonr.com.

BVD Radio

When most people think of DJs, they imagine a booming, bass-heavy sound. For a DJ like Sol Rising, it’s all about transcendent, spiritual and uplifting music that is light and groovy. Check out track “The Journey” to hear his unique mix. For more on Sol Rising, visit solrising.com. It’s only right that Sol Rising would be performing at the Tahoe Yoga Festival, a day of meditation, music and more happening Sunday, Aug. 13, at the Heavenly Mountain Resort. Tickets start at $120. For tickets and more information, visit omnitahoe.com.

What was the first concert you attended? Green Day.

What was the first album you owned? It was either a cassette tape of Nirvana, Nevermind, or an LL Cool J tape. It was a long time ago.

What bands are you listening to right now? I mostly listen to electronic music: ODESZA, Bonobo and a lot of chill artists like Tycho. I like a variety of music, and those are some of my favorite groups.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? I don’t know how to answer that one, because I don’t know what’s trending right now.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? I saw them live, but ODESZA. That was epic. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift, but I’m curious what the hype is about with her tour right now. I hear it’s going to make over a billion dollars, so that would be kind of interesting to see.

What band or artist changed your life? How? I was in ninth grade, and I got this mixtape by this DJ that had a lot of old-school ’90s hip hop. It just changed everything for me; it opened up a whole new world of music. I just got really into that genre and the whole underground hip-hop scene. That was pretty pivotal for me, because at the time, I was mostly just listening to what was on the radio.

Bruce Van Dyke’s only on: jiveradio.org/bvd

"Big Bucket O’ Tunes" (a collection of some 4000+ tunes he curated from 2014-’22), old & current ID’s & Blurbs, and outtakes from his morning show on 'The X' in the ’90’s.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? Sometimes I’ll just hear a pop song that I don’t want to admit that I’m listening to, but I might find it catchy.

What’s your favorite music venue? I can tell you the venue I want to go to the most: Red Rocks in Colorado. I’ve never actually been there, but it just looks amazing, so how about that?

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head? Diplo’s “On My Mind.”

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? For ODESZA, I’d probably ask for some advice on their key to success and how they got to where they are, and probably just ask about some of their production techniques and plugins and instruments and stuff like that.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Probably some Sanskrit mantras—not a song, but something spiritual in nature.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? There are too many to actually name one.

What song should everyone listen to right now? Go listen to my new album, Melodies of the Heart

DJ Sol Rising. Photo/Nico Nelson

BY MATT JONES JONESIN' CROSSWORD

“Get the Hook”— another letter, please.

By

Matt

Across

Jones

1. Brooks who turned 97 this year

4. Planktonic crustaceans

9. Political Pelosi

14. Eggy start

15. Capital of Vietnam

16. “___ a couple seconds …”

17. Source of coincidental thoughts

19. Manicurist’s expertise

20. Driver’s permit that’s only for the First Lady?

22. Have a sample of

23. Faux ___ (misstep)

24. Copy mistake

27. Amounts owed

31. New Jersey players

35. Regatta racer’s implement

36. Le ___ (French seaport)

37. Decked out

38. “That sound! Is it a giant keyring?”

41. From ___ (effective immediately)

42. Baryshnikov’s company, once

43. Suffix for Nepal

44. Mumford’s backup?

45. Mombasa’s country

46. Bullet Train star Pitt

47. Shameless network, for short

49. Actress Vardalos

51. Either of my kids, compared to me?

58. Insults, when thrown

59. Obvious sticking point?

61. Monty Python member Michael

62. “Buenos Aires” musical

63. Matchbox Twenty’s Thomas

64. Concert venue

65. Spouts off without reason

66. Old-school icons, slangily

1. Actress Gretchen of Boardwalk

Empire

2. Satan’s specialty

3. The Avengers villain

4. Cambodian language

5. Save point?

6. Wayside taverns

7. Big deposit

8. Rolling Stone article, often

9. Stealthy sort

10. Henry and June diarist

11. Part of NdGT

12. Biology class unit

13. Gridiron stat

18. Hi-C ___ Cooler (Ghostbustersinspired drink)

21. “Call of Duty: Black ___”

24. Commuter train stops

25. Owner of Tumblr (until 2018)

26.

Proprietor of Kobold’s Keep

Eduardo Yarhi runs Kobold’s Keep, a unique and eclectic hobby shop located in the basement catacombs of an old church at 1188 Victorian Plaza Circle, Suite 100, in Sparks. Learn more at www. koboldskeep.com.

What is Kobold’s Keep? How long have you been in business? Kobold’s Keep is a tabletop hobby shop that started life as a pop-up shop on a convention circuit. We finally opened our physical location almost a year ago, in August 2022, so we are coming up on our one-year anniversary. It took us a few years to land a physical location, and that was mostly due to COVID.

Where did the name come from?

Like most geeks, I have an enduring love of the fantastical—dragons especially! “Dragon’s Den” was originally pitched as a name, but it’s far from original, so we workshopped it until it was based around kobolds (a mythical type of reptilianhumanoid). I have a soft spot for the little guys.

What services and products do you have?

We stock a wide variety of card games, RPGs (role-playing games), wargames and board games, as well as accessories for each. Among our most popular are Magic, Pokémon, UniVersus, Dungeons and Dragons and the Song of Ice and Fire miniatures wargame.

Magic: The Gathering has been very popular for years. What is the enduring attraction?

Magic: The Gathering is simply a seminal game. You can get into it very easily,

but its complexity scales near infinitely. You can play it with your friends on game night, or you can make a living as a career player. No matter how deep you want to dive, the game can accommodate you, and whether you enjoy the thrill of hunting rare cards, the beautiful art that’s put out every set, or the everchanging rhythm of its mechanics, you won’t be disappointed. Plus, you’ll find someone to play with in any city in the United States, and in a good deal of the rest of the world.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a player?

I’d recommend visiting our shop on Fridays and arriving near 6 p.m.! We’ve got a friendly crowd who meets for Magic, and who’s more than happy to lend out a deck and show somebody the ropes. I stay in the back myself, and there’s no better way to learn than through a rousing game of Commander It’s easy to learn. Once you’ve played and are ready to get in, you’ll want to pick up a starter deck. The new Tales of Middleearth starters are very fun, and they make several ready-to-play Commander decks you can pick up right off the shelf.

I see that there are some local conventions coming up. Aerie-Con is held Aug. 18-20 at the Odd Fellows Building, at 1300 Stardust St., in Reno. Donations go to the Solace Tree, an organization that helps grieving families. SNAFU Con is held Nov. 17-19 at the Grand Sierra Resort, benefiting the Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization that supports one-on-one mentorship with local youth.

Eduardo Yarhi