Scott Schrantz's Blog

Press release from Arlington Group:

As we all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On October 18th, the Leather & Lace Motorcycle Club, a women’s charitable group, is holding its first “Nomad Poker Run for Cancer Awareness” in Carson City. A poker run (open to all), crafts, live music, a Hunk-a-Thon and a chili cook-off will fill the day. Mustang Sallie of Deuces Grill @ Cactus Jacks will BBQ for our hungry friends and, of course, chili taste tickets will be sold for those who like their food hot and fiery! All event proceeds will benefit both Renown Health Foundation and Carson Advocates for Cancer Care.

Leather & Lace is a woman's Motorcycle Riding Club, established in 1983. It was created to bring women together who have a serious interest in motorcycling and in making a difference in the lives of others. Upon this foundation, the women of Leather & Lace Motorcycle Club have built a strong sisterhood. Not only do they share the wind and the roads, they also share an unwavering purpose & spirituality. Though the miles may separate them, they remain together as one. A group of local women riders are in the early stages of establishing a local chapter of this club. If this is something that you might be interested in, just ask Robin, the organizer of the “Nomad Poker Run for Cancer Awareness.”

This great new event will take place on Saturday, October 18th on Curry Street between Spear and Robinson, behind the Nugget Parking Lot in downtown Carson City.

We still have space for crafters of all kinds. Entry fee is only $20 for a 10’ x 10’ space. And, for the guys, come on out and compete in our Hunk-a-Thon. Men over 18 can strut their stuff for glory and bragging rights. Tight jeans, shorts, or speedos will do. Get your gym, spa, or workout location to sponsor you at only $10, they can share in the bragging rights.

We need chili cooks, too. This is a “no holds barred” chili competition (Amateur) from moose meat to rattlesnake; all kinds of chili are encouraged. Red or green, with beans or without, hot, medium, or mild – you decide. Tables and chairs will be provided. Supply your own utensils and camp stove and shade tent. Bring your uncooked ingredients for preparation on site. Entrants will cook a minimum of 2 quarts of chili. Cooks will set up at 9 AM and start cooking as soon as they are ready and have been given the “GO” signal by a chili official. Judging and public tasting will begin at 1 PM. Prizes will be awarded at 2 PM. (All times approximate). The entry fee is only $20.

Robin of Leather & Lace Motorcycle Club says, “This is our first event and we’re hoping for a great turnout. Everybody will have fun while supporting a great cause!”

Do It for FUN, Do It for CANCER AWARENESS!

For more info on the Nomad Poker Run for Cancer Awareness, or for crafter and cook-off entry forms, visit www.EventsNevada.com/LLMC.htm. Hunk-a-Thon entries please email us at agEvents@sbcglobal.net or call 775.887.1294

For information on the Leather & Lace Motorcycle Club, visit www.LeatherandLaceMC.com

It seems the government doesn't like the people getting involved in government affairs. Jim Lohse has found this out over and over again while attending meetings of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway. He had another run in at a meeting yesterday, where he stood up to try to make public comments, which at a public meeting you're supposed to be able to do. The Commission shut him down and wouldn't take his comments, so he went to the newspaper instead. He also wrote up a report on the meeting on his website.

It's a good thing that the V&T Railroad is finally being rebuilt, but it seems like it's being mismanaged at every turn. Jim is doing a good job of exposing this.

I went out Hwy 50 East today to get a look at the new Sak 'N Save and get some pictures. Uggh. I still can't think of one way this is a good idea.

A trilogy of new Carsonpedia articles today. These articles tend to come in clusters, as one subject can spawn several others. Today the topic is Treadway's Park, which was written about in the Nevada Appeal a couple of weeks ago.

Treadway's Park was one of the earliest parks and picnic grounds in Carson City. It was actually the private ranch of Aaron Treadway, but he let people come in to enjoy what he had built. At its peak there was a different club or organization coming to the park every day, many of them arriving on the V&T Railroad from Reno and Virginia City.

The park is gone now, all except for a small grassy area. Much of the land is taken up by the former Carson-Tahoe Hospital, and what's left of the park, which is still called Treadway Park, is in the parking lot of that facility. The last I heard the hospital owned the park, but was negotiating to sell it to the city.

Here are the articles:

Treadway's Park
Aaron Treadway
Treadway Park

Based on the Guy Rocha article I found a few weeks ago, I've written up my own article and taken some pictures of the Nevada Bicentennial Tree. This tree sits at the corner of Washington and Division, and somehow got swept up in the bicentennial celebrations of 1976. The plaque is still there, calling it a Fremont Cottonwood (Populus Fremontii). This is supposedly because explorer John C. Fremont camped out underneath it in 1844. Just one problem - Fremont never entered the Eagle Valley, and the tree isn't that old! Okay, two problems.

Trent Dolan has a story today about Carson City's Chinatown, which used to sit along Third Street east of Stewart. The whole neighborhood was torn down around the 1950s. Today the site is a taken up by a parking lot and scattered State buildings.

There's a new placeblog for Reno. Titled This Is Reno, and run by Ryan Jerz, it can be found at www.thisisreno.com.

Hey, Carson City residents. You've paid over $20 million dollars into rebuilding the V&T Railroad, and up for a vote next month is a proposal to spend $10 million more. Now this is your money, your tax money, going into this project, so you might as well get something for free out of it. That's why the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau has arranged for free train rides for Carson City residents during the month of October. Anyone who wants to head up the hill and grab a seat on the 4pm train is free to do so. It's normally a $9 fare to get on board. This deal is for Carson City residents only (so I'm disqualified since I live in Douglas County). I suppose you have to show a driver's license or something with your address on it to get the tickets. You can get them from the visitors center in the Railroad Museum parking lot, or up in Virginia City at the V&T ticket office.

We swung by B'Sghetti's tonight for dinner, as we do once or twice a month. But this time we noticed something a little different. B'Sghetti's had always had three dining rooms, because of the way the building they're in is laid out. The main dining room is where we always sit, but on really busy days they open a second room that is up front looking out onto Carson Street. And on really really busy days, there is a third dining room set at the back of the restaurant, sunken down a few feet. I haven't seen anybody use that room for quite a while now, so more or less it was empty space that they could use for just about anything.

So tonight when we went in, we noticed that the third dining room has been transformed into a nightclub, the plan:b micro lounge (website and MySpace). Black leather couches curve around the perimeter of the room, with a wooden dance floor in the middle. Everything is lit with blacklight throughout. And the lounge is conveniently located right next to B'Sghetti's bar, of course.

Fuzzy cell phone pic

plan:b opens every Friday and Saturday night at 10pm. It seems like they're trying to inject a little nightlife into a downtown Carson that's mostly dead after dark, except for the casinos. I think this is just the kind of thing downtown needs. So let's get the word out.

The dress code

Old Man Winter came knocking on our door yesterday. Down here in the valley we only got a light sprinkling of rain, but up in the mountains they got a good old fashioned winter storm. This is evidenced by the glimpse of Jobs Peak this morning, finally covered with a coating of snow again, after being completely naked for several months.

So winter has begun again. This doesn't mean it's cold weather as far as the eye can see. Summer usually has one more blast waiting for us in October, and it's not uncommon to have a mini heat wave come in near the end of the month. But the first snow of the season is always a good indicator that the stifling heat of summer is behind us, and now it's time to get on with the business of winter. Let's hope it's a good one. We can use the water next year.