August we will be seeing you downtown🌇

Summertime Greetings, Main Street Gardnerville!

As it’s been said, August is the Sunday of summer. It’s the time of year when the days are drawing shorter, and the mornings are starting to carry a cool nip in the air where it’s not too hot, not too cold; all you need is a light jacket – that is, until the sauna sets in mid-morning. Schools will be in session next week, and our state flower, the orange cone, will soon be a forgotten memory. These are all subtle reminders that our sweet summertime days are drawing to an end, but summer is not over YET!

Although summertime travel is winding down, we are still chasing those last days of summer. Luckily, we have so many fun family activities and events ahead, which is perfect for creating more Main Street memories together… like the Douglas County Rodeo, Town of Gardnerville Movies in the Park, Wind Down Wednesday, and so much more!

Last night was a fantastic kickoff to the Douglas County Rodeo at our “Champagne at the Bit” Rodeo Theme Third Thursday Wine Walk. It was a PERFECT summer night with a tremendous community turnout, ready-to-boot scoot, and boogie downtown, ready to support our Main Street business community. We were excited to have the Borges and their electric carriages present to test out the beautiful new highway, with electric carriage rides up and down the district. It is always a neat sight to see. We love Dianna and Dwight.

We have one remaining Third Thursday Wine Walk of the year, so mark your calendars for Thursday, September 19, and join us for our “Autumn Leaves and Wine Please”—Fall Festival-themed TTWW.

Although we had hoped for a clear, cone-free path, the traffic control worked in our favor by creating a more pedestrian-friendly experience. Our Nevada Department of Transportation friends, Wes and Matt, joined us in walking the district to personally thank our businesses and community for your patience during this LONG project. NDOT even offered complimentary scoops of ice cream at DST Coffee and The Sierra Sprinkle pop-up location as a gesture of gratitude for your support during this project. I’m telling you—ice cream makes everything better.

I cannot stress enough how thankful we at Main Street Gardnerville are for the opportunity to be a community partner in this major Highway reconstruction project. I can honestly say I have learned so much during this process about paving, engineering, and some acronyms that sound pretty silly.

Still, I am in awe of the project from start to finish and feel we witnessed some history in the making. Kurt, at the Record-Courier, referenced an article from August 20, 1904, where it was written: “Surveyors of the Nevada Highway Department under the supervision of Engineer Williams, who has charge of highway construction in Douglas County, are setting grade stakes for the concrete road to be built between Minden and Gardnerville and have completed this work within the limits of Gardnerville.” If all goes well, hopefully, on the 104th anniversary of the beginning of that community-altering project, we will be at the end of our generation’s impactful project. Like I said, history is in the making – and you know how we feel about preserving history around here. Thanks again, Nevada Department of Transportation and Sierra Nevada Construction, for our new road!

To answer the burning question about the first day of school on Monday, school zones will have limited traffic control and additional access for buses and the first day of school traffic! Hey, look, Mom, we made it!

With school starting Monday, this is your last weekend to squeeze in those last-minute family activities. We have just the opportunity for you TONIGHT! Thanks to the great turnout at our Community Paint Night for our Street mural at Heritage Park, we have a beautiful new street mural to reveal before the Town of Gardnerville’s Movies in the Park. We have much to celebrate thanks to a generous Nevada Art Council Project grant for this installation and the incredible lead artists Sherri and Eric Majors for their time and talent dedicated to this first-of-its-kind project in downtown Gardnerville. It is truly a masterpiece, and we hope you will join us tonight, Friday, August 16, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at Heritage Park for our Street Mural Reveal and Artist Meet and Greet. to celebrate the completion of this project and an opportunity to meet the Artists Sharri and Eric and take an up-close look at this beautiful art piece. Bring a chair and plan for an evening of entertainment provided by the Town of Gardnerville for the last Movies in the Park of the year. Tonight’s feature is the Barbie Movie. Don’t feel like making dinner? We have you covered. Blanhir Bakery will be on hand with your favorite street tacos and more. Grab a friend and meet us downtown. To learn more about this project, check out our Public Art Page.

Speaking of projects, we are beyond thrilled to announce we have been awarded $50,000 in Nevada Main Street Grant funding for three upcoming projects in our district, including a post-construction round of Facade Improvement Grants, an Architectural Master Plan for our Heritage Park Gardens, and our bold vision of an Open-Air Market—micro Retail Incubator! This funding is the first significant round of project grant funding from the Nevada Main Street state program since it was established in 2017. It is a breakthrough as Nevada Main Street has not had a budget to support the Main Street Community projects until now, and we are hopeful that this success will pave the way for future funding for this exceptional program, which currently benefits 28 fellow communities throughout the State of Nevada. Thank you to Shari Davis, our Nevada Main Street Coordinator, for your tireless work advocating for our communities. THANK YOU, Governor’s Office of Economic Development, for prioritizing support of this incredible program. We will share more as these projects unfold, so keep your eyes peeled.

Don’t forget the Annual Coffin Races and Fall Festival is right around the corner, and as soon as that first leaf and pumpkin spice-everything-in-my-life drops, you won’t escape the build-up to our Annual Slaughterhouse Lane showdown. It’s never too early to start your coffin build. I promise you that if I can do it, you can too. We have a team challenge throwdown where you can challenge another team to a foot race battle for bragging rights. A little friendly competition is always a good thing. We may be challenging another team to a showdown on Slaughterhouse Lane this year, so stay TUNED for more!

We have limited vendor spaces left, so if you are considering participating in this year’s Fall Festival as a vendor, don’t wait—we will sell out. All the registration links can be found below.

According to my word count, I have exceeded my attention limit with you. I have so much to share and so little time. As a person with “all the words,” this forever poses a challenge. It’s good that I have plenty of opportunities to share all the excitement brewing on Main Street with you in person.

I want to thank our Main Street business community and the community at large for coming together to support one another during this construction season. I realize the impacts were substantial and disheartening. The tenacity and perseverance of our business community is really something to admire. Now is our turn to do our part and support locals by visiting your favorite eateries, coffee shops, art galleries, bookstores, merchants, and boutiques and sharing the post-construction love. Together, we WILL make our downtown thrive once again. We can’t wait to see you out and about on Main Street. As always, spend local, tip generously, and be kind to each other.

Until next time, Main Street!