“September reminds us to lean into change, to trust the process, and to welcome the opportunities that come with every new chapter. As the air shifts, we are reminded that every ending carries the seed of a new beginning. Life whispers that change is not to be feared, but embraced… a gentle reminder that letting go is a part of growth and that beauty is found not only in what blooms, but also in what transforms.”

― Steve Maraboli

Fall greetings, Main Street Gardnerville!

It’s hard to believe the Autumn equinox is only days away. It seems like only yesterday we were pulling the Hawaiian shirts and crisp linen from the depths of our closet, and here we are, almost ready to put it all away again. Summer came and left in the blink of an eye, but oh, the fun we had while it was here.

It’s no secret, I love autumn and the fall season. It is the season of sacred balance. The threshold moment where day and night stand in equal balance before we journey into the winter months. A time to slow down and harvest what we sowed during the warm summer months, whether it be a harvest to sustain and nourish us, or a harvest of newfound friendships and memories, we celebrate it with an abundance of gratitude.

This beautiful transition shifts us from the languid, carefree days of summer into the stillness of the winter months to come. With each turning leaf painting the landscape from lush green into bold red, orange, and yellow hues, to the delicate dance of each falling leaf. Autumn reminds us in the most beautiful ways to hold fast, a graceful release and impermanence, and that even change can be beautiful, and to embrace it.

But who am I kidding… beautiful transformations aside – Fall is here! Which means my most beloved time of year has arrived…. festival season. I could wax on about the beauty of the season, but the absolute joy is celebrating with one another this beautiful transition, together. Summer may be over, but we are just getting started here.

Last night we celebrated the start of this transition most perfectly at the last Third Thursday Wine Walk of the season: Wines, Vines and Fall Times. The weather was moody, with a coolness in the air and an overcast sky setting the stage with the perfect atmosphere, giving us hints of what’s to come.

It was wonderful to see our merchants and businesses welcome the community with that infectious charm and hospitality we have come to know and love. There was music drifting from one stop to another, smiling faces, and of course, the season veteran wine walkers dressed in full fall mode. We saw you, pumpkin posse! This community is fantastic, always showing up to support our downtown and our merchants, always opening their doors to welcome the wandering walker. We are left with a bit of melancholy as this fantastic summer fundraising event series has officially come to an end, but there is no time for crying on Main Street. We have festivals to host!

We are mere DAYS away from the Annual Coffin Races & Fall Festival, Saturday, October 4, the unofficial, official kick off to fall here in the valley. This event has become a staple and tradition in welcoming Fall into our lives, and it is, by far, my favorite event we host. Year after year, we are so lucky to see our community, families, and young ones build scarecrows, perform for the crowd, enjoy live music, have their faces painted, enjoy a haunted hayride, and watch some coffins racing downtown at Heritage Park. The food, the music, the vendors, and the entertainment. You really have to experience it to believe it.

Our Friend Monique De Haviland is back at the helm, helping to create an incredible lineup of music by local musicians, and our local performers: All About Dance, Dance Workshop, CBP Aerial Arts, and Northwest Martial Arts, not to mention Tahoe Sleigh Rides, will be back with their Haunted Hay Rides. Nothing says welcome Fall than the Fall Festival.

We’re thrilled to have our friends at the East Fork Gallery partnering again this year with their Scarecrow Festival. East Fork Gallery has hosted its Scarecrow Festival for OVER 35 years and combined efforts with Main Street Gardnerville to help create the incredible community event we have today. Over the decades, hundreds, if not thousands, of scarecrows have been made thanks to East Fork Gallery, meaning generations of families have passed down this tradition. It is so special to see this legacy live on.

We are also excited to announce that Heritage Park Gardens, whose idea it was to host a Fall Festival years ago, will be bringing their festivities back to Heritage Park Gardens during this year’s event. There will be so many activities for the young ones, so make sure you pop in and check out this inspiring space, and see firsthand what love can grow.

AND of course, the Slaughterhouse Lane Coffin races! If you’ve never seen a coffin race, you’re missing out on one of Main Street’s most unforgettable spectacles. This will be our tenth year of rubbing and racing, and we can assure you that this year’s annual event will be the best yet! It’s not too late to get your Coffin built and team registered, and we hope you will help us make these the most memorable races yet.

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our generous sponsors: Carson Valley Health, Chase and Sheets, Carson Tahoe Health, Jacobs Berry Farm, JT Basque, Distinct Interiors, Bill Hemphill, and, of course, Settelmeyer Hay. Your support has been instrumental in continuing to make this event a reality, and we are truly grateful for your contribution.

October also means we will be Painting the Town Pink for the month of October. The month will kick off with a proclamation recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness month, during the Board of County Commissioners meeting on October 2, at 10 am. The community is invited to attend and WEAR PINK in honor of our survivors and those we hold in memory.

Our fantastic partner, Carson Valley Health, will be dressing the light poles downtown with pink ribbons. Our flower committee is working hard to transition the summer blooms in our flower pots into Pink Flower Bowls that you can sponsor.

Of course, the “Paint it Pink” Fun Run/Walk will be at Heritage Park on Saturday, October 18, at 8am. This is the final run in the We Run This Town 5k series. Participants who complete all three races will receive a limited edition “We Run this Town” T-shirt. Make sure to register soon, and let us know that the cutoff to secure your t-shirt is October 1. Portions of funds raised from these events will be donated to Carson Valley Health Foundation and Carson Tahoe Health Foundation to help their efforts and cancer treatment centers. We can’t think of a better way to give back and have fun while doing it.

We assure you that there is still much in store for you to come, so don’t worry, our time together is far from over. This town thrives because of the people who care, those who celebrate the good, support one another through the hard times, and keep looking forward through transition with hope. We are honored to continue building this vibrant and welcoming community with you.

As we look ahead, it’s impossible not to feel grateful for the way this community shows up, time and again. You are the heartbeat of Main Street Gardnerville.

The summer sun may be setting, but the golden light of autumn is on the horizon. Let’s capture every chance to make Main Street memories together. Remember to keep sharing those smiles, check on your neighbors, slow down, soak it in, tip generously, support local businesses, and, above all, be good to one another.

See you soon, Main Street Gardnerville!

“Some days in late August at home are like this, the air thin and eager like this, with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar.”

— William Faulkner

August Greetings, Main Street Gardnerville!

August.. the Sunday of summer. August has a way of sneaking up on us. One minute we’re soaking in those long, golden midsummer nights, and the next, backpacks are being filled, pencils are being sharpened, and school bells are warming up for the year ahead. Whether it’s kindergarten drop-off, middle school orientation, or moving a child into their college dorm, this season tugs at the heartstrings of parents everywhere.

I think I speak for many when I say that this time of year brings a mix of joy, pride, and just a touch of melancholy as we watch the little (and not-so-little) ones step into a new chapter. We celebrate their independence, we cheer on their growth, and we quietly adjust to the quieter spaces they leave behind. It’s a reminder of how quickly the seasons and our seasons of life move in harmony. And while we may wish for just one more summer afternoon with the whole crew under one roof, we know these new beginnings are precisely what we’ve been preparing them for. How lucky are we?

We recently had a big send-off of sorts, on Wednesday, July 31, when we gathered for the long-awaited dedication of Heritage Park Gardens. It was a perfect evening for a long-awaited celebration of all the hard work and commitment that had poured into that space. With perfect timing, the beautiful cedar beds showcased their abundance of growth, thanks to the loving care and attention of their gardeners. Standing in that space, you could feel the months of hard work, planning, and collaboration that had brought it to life. Volunteers who had worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality stood alongside families who will someday harvest vegetables here, together with the community that has watched this project unfold right before their eyes.

As we stood together, we were reminded that a few thousand square feet can hold an incredible amount of love, laughter, and hope. As I shared during the dedication, the sunflower has been a symbol of Heritage Park Gardens since its inception. Recently, in my new gardener capacity, I learned some fascinating things about the sunflower. The sunflower isn’t just one flower. Its center is actually composed of hundreds of tiny florets or flowers, and the bright yellow petals aren’t just petals. They are composed of many larger petals fused together, giving the illusion of a single, large petal. Hundreds of tiny flowers and larger florets work together to create the beautiful sunflower we see as a whole. The sunflower could not be a more perfect emblem of the Heritage Park Gardens and our community. No matter the size of the floret, from the tiniest to the largest, they represent every person who continues to help create something beautiful for everyone.

Douglas County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Sharla Hales captured the spirit of the evening perfectly, calling the project “an indication of what can happen when a community comes together.” She added, “A lot of people have big ideas. But not that many people follow those big ideas with action. People of Gardnerville, you are people of action, and it is inspiring to support the health and happiness of everyone involved by being outdoors and physically active, having great things to eat, and making connections, one with another.”

Her words reflected not only the beauty of the space itself but also the deeper meaning behind it, a testament to what can happen when vision, hard work, and community come together in harmony.

I won’t delve into the perfect symmetry on display in the gardens, but the “golden rule” of the Fibonacci sequence can be found not only in the sunflower but also in the construction of the cedar beds. Trust me, there is more that meets the eye at first glance. Simply stated, it’s brilliant. It reminds me of something Henri Matisse once said, “There are always flowers for those who want to see them,” and we hope you will take time to come see the beauty of this space.

And speaking of flowers! We had a special delivery from our friends Jim and Michelle Moffit of Twisted Steel just in time for the dedication. Adjacent to our growing area, we are breaking ground on the soon-to-be memorial rose garden. To get this project started, we commissioned Jim to create the most magical metalwork in the form of a grand atrium and eight arches, which will soon, in a few years, be adorned with the most beautiful roses and vines to create an enchanting experience. All of our Sexy Rexys, Dainty Bess, Neil Diamonds, Rosa Nevada ( I really wish I were in the rose-naming business), and more will be on display in all their glory. It will be a florabunda-nce to behold. Just when you think the work is done… it is not!

We have a great deal more work to do and are excited to launch the future phases. Thank you to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development – Nevada Main Street Program for the generous grants that made this dream a reality, and to all our sponsors listed below and volunteers for keeping the momentum going. You are all amazing.

You know volunteers are the heart and soul of our organization. I want to take a moment to thank everyone who attended last night’s ‘I Scream for Main Street Ice Cream’ social. It was a perfect evening on the Patio at DST Coffee, where we gathered to share about what we do and how you can help. We met many new friends and enjoyed the time of our dedicated volunteers who took time out of their evening to share with curious attendees what we do. Our community is fantastic, and I want to thank the Patio and DST for hosting us last night. Plus – ICE CREAM… need I say more? Ice cream makes everything better.

If you missed us last night, don’t worry! Our upcoming volunteer opportunities are listed below, and we would LOVE to have you participate.

What’s Next on Main Street?! You know the party never stops downtown. Please mark your calendars because we have more coming your way!

🍷🤠Third Thursday Wine Walk – Boots, Bling, and Chardonnay Things Thursday, August 21st. Dust off your best western gear and get ready to sip, stroll, and strut in celebration of the upcoming Douglas County Rodeo on September 5 & 6. Our participating businesses will be pouring and hosting with their signature warmth, every pour, smile, and conversation, adding to the fabric of our downtown.
⚰️🍂Annual Coffin Races & Fall Festival Saturday, October 4. Yes, we’re already in full Summerween planning mode! If you’ve never seen a coffin race down Slaughterhouse Lane, you’re missing out on one of Main Street’s most unforgettable spectacles. Whether you’re racing, vending, or cheering from the sidelines, you won’t want to miss it. Vendor and coffin team spots are filling fast; secure yours now before the first leaf of fall drops.As we look ahead, it’s impossible not to feel grateful for the way this town shows up, time and again. Whether you’ve joined us for a fundraising event, helped out at the gardens, or shared a smile with someone downtown, you are the heartbeat of Main Street Gardnerville.

This town thrives because of the people who care, those who celebrate the good, support one another through the hard times, and keep looking forward with hope. We are honored to continue building this vibrant and welcoming downtown area with you.

So here’s to the kids, and the young at heart, the little ones with too-big backpacks and big ones with carloads of dorm supplies. Here’s to the parents holding back tears in school parking lots, to the teachers prepping classrooms with care, and to the friends who keep our hearts steady during life’s transitions.

Here’s to the gardens we plant, the communities we grow, and the seasons that remind us to cherish each day. The summer sun is still shining, but the golden light of fall is on the horizon. Let’s not waste another moment to make Main Street memories together. Until then, remember to share a smile, check on a neighbor, slow down, soak it in, tip generously, support local businesses, and, above all, be good to one another.

Until next time, Main Street Gardnerville! 🫶

“November comes and November goes, with the last red berries and the first white snows.” – Clyde Watson

Snowy Greetings, Main Street Gardnerville!

What a beautiful site waking up this morning with a mist hovering over the valley floor and a fresh dusting of snow and powder in the mountains. There is something so blissful and comforting in the calm after a storm, especially after the cold, blustery days we have recently had. As Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark eloquently said, “Winter is Coming,” and boy, are we ready for winter and ALL of the festivities that come with it. We are on the threshold of the most magical time of the year, filled with thanksgiving, gratitude, and reflection of the many things we are grateful for before we head into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Plus Turkey and Pumpkin Pie?! Hand me my stretchy pants. I am going in for seconds.

We here at the Main Street office have many things to be grateful for as we reflect on the end of our festival and event season. Earlier this month, we finished on a high note with the most beautiful Dia de Los Muertos Festival we co-hosted earlier this month. This was the third annual festival, and we had the pleasure of partnering again with our friends at Douglas County Community Services and Carson Valley Arts Council. It was the perfect day for the event, although we were biting our nails a bit with the storm that pushed through.  It didn’t deter the vendors or community from participating.  This event has grown each year and is widely embraced by our Hispanic community and the community at large.  We estimate we saw over 3000 people throughout the day. Some came as far as Reno and beyond to participate in the festival. This event has also become a top favored event for our families and community thanks to the incredible entertainment lineup: Paso Fino, a local band of recent DHS Graduates, Mariachi Sol De Reno, dance by the Ballet Folklorico Flor de Castilla, and the highlight of the event, Latino Arte de Culture with the 12ft Catrina Dolls and Folkloric Dancers, not to mention our local vendors providing this beautiful heritage’s taste, sounds, and smells.

It is so special to see this event grow into what it is now and the families returning each year with their children, dressed in traditional clothing and painted faces.  This cultural celebration is made possible through team effort and collaboration from Main Street Gardnerville, Douglas County Community Services, the Carson Valley Arts Council, Visit Carson Valley, our fantastic sponsors Dave Taylor’s Appliance, Northwest Martial Arts, VIP Plastics, and the Town of Gardnerville.  I would be remiss if I did not pause to extend my gratitude to Jen Calabrese, Senior Recreation Coordinator at Community Services, for all her hard work in helping to organize this event.  We are excited to do it all again next year. Keep your eyes posted for highlights of the day on our Facebook Page.

Jingle my bells! The holidays are coming at you at Mach speed, and we have no shortage of festivities to get you in that holiday spirit. Even the Grinchy of Grinches will surely get a little jingle in their step.

Kicking off this year’s holiday celebrations is the Town of Gardnerville’s Annual Christmas Kickoff on December 5, 5:30 pm, at Heritage Park. This free family annual event will feature complimentary hot cocoa and Dutch Oven Chowder by the Town, popcorn from the Gardnerville water company, entertainment by local youth performers, photos with Santa, Tahoe Electric Carriage Rides, the Pavilion lighting, and FIREWORKS!

Main Street Gardnerville’s Candy Cane Main Shop Main Street is back! This year, we are excited to host a Cocoa and Cookie Crawl for the kickoff shopping extravaganza on Saturday, December 7, from 11 am to 2 pm. For a $15 registration, you can access Tahoe Electric Carriage rides to whisk you up and down the district, a limited edition commemorative holiday shopping tote to carry your unique shopping finds, a cookie box to store your treats from your favorite local merchants, and photos with Santa. Make it a complete day by eating at one of our fantastic restaurants and refuel just in time for the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce Parade of Lights at 5 pm on Main Street.  We have a limited amount of 200 commemorative totes available for registered shoppers, so preregister today! 

The best part of the Candy Cane Main Shopping kickoff is that all the proceeds from shopper registration will go directly to the 2025 Facade Improvement Grant Program. You will not only be supporting our local business community but also directly investing in your downtown. We can’t think of a better way to spread joy that will last beyond the holiday season.

Our Candy Cane Main campaign will continue throughout December to promote our local businesses and merchants and encourage you to shop locally for the holiday season with an enhanced interactive map of participating companies and our Perfect Gift guide of hand-selected favorites from our local businesses to help you find that perfect gift from the heart for your loved one. Please watch for a special edition newsletter in December with your Perfect Gift Guide of must-haves.

According to Capital One, in a recent study, 68% of money spent at local stores remains in the local economy; that’s $68 out of every $100! Local retailers retain 289% more revenue for the local economy than chain stores. Dollars spent at an independent business may recirculate an average of six to 15 times in the local economy!

Small businesses make up to 136% more charitable donations per employee than businesses with 500 or more employees. Our small businesses are the heart and soul of our community, and by supporting them, you are also supporting a neighbor, a parent, a friend with a dream, and helping to keep the heart in our community.

Our local merchants and businesses have weathered quite the storm this year, trying to keep their doors open during the road reconstruction, not to mention supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, recession, and inflation; they need our support now more than ever. The Record-Courier recently published this article on the impacts of the highway reconstruction project our business community has endured over the last year and a half. Together, we can help to ensure they bounce back. With our support and local shopping, we can keep our downtown thriving. To our small business community: WE LOVE YOU!

Don’t forget we have our Wreaths Across America Ceremony less than one month from now! We SO CLOSE TO OUR GOAL!! We have 13 wreaths left to sponsor! On Saturday, December 14, at 9 am, we will gather at the Garden Cemetery for the Annual Wreaths Across America Ceremony, where we will honor the 225 veterans laid to rest by laying wreaths on their gravesites. The Garden Cemetery has many of our founding families laid to rest who established this beautiful place we call home and made the ultimate sacrifice by serving our country with honor. We are actively looking for military branch representatives for the ceremony. If you are interested in representing your branch of service or volunteer, check out the flyer below.

We hope to see you downtown soon, Main Street. There is never a shortage of things to do or company to enjoy on Main. On behalf of Main Street Gardnerville, we wish you and your families a lovely and safe Thanksgiving holiday filled with the same gratitude you have given us over the years. Thank you for making this community so unique and special.

We look forward to kicking off the holidays with you! Until then, remember to check on your neighbors, share a smile with a stranger, support your local businesses, and be kind to each other.

See you soon, Main Street!

“I wish that every day was Saturday and every month was October

— Charmaine J. Forde

Octobrrrrr is here, Main Street Gardnerville!

It was a beautiful sight to wake up to a dusting of snow on the mountains this morning. Fall is such a lovely time of year here in the valley. Watching the trees transition to fall is a spectacle. The tiny leaves dance as they fall, revealing colors that are so bright and vibrant that they can only occur in nature. The gold, oranges, and reds—they’re exquisite. I say this often: how lucky are we to live in a place of such beauty and all four seasons.. albeit sometimes all four seasons occur in the course of a single day. Ah, Nevada, you beautiful wonder. Happy Birthday to you.

We survived our first fall freeze here in the valley; even though it will be short-lived, it’s getting us ready for cozy evenings by a fire, our favorite coffee shops and eateries’ seasonal offerings, fabulous fall fashion, and Santa! It’s never too early around here to talk about the magic of the holiday season that is coming your way like a freight train, so get ready. Enter eye roll and heavy sigh here.

Before we get whisked away by the scent of pine trees, gingerbread, and cider, we still have the beautiful, bountiful season of autumn, with celebrations and giving thanks to enjoy. In true Main Street Gardnerville fashion, we kicked off fall in the only way we know how to do things around here—over the top!

All I can say is WOW, what a turnout for our Annual Slaughterhouse Lane Coffin Races and Fall  Festival. I was blown away this year by all the families and the community who attended this event, which has grown so much over the years. This event has become a staple and tradition in welcoming fall into our lives, and it is, by far, one of my favorite events we host. I love seeing the families, and young ones year after year build scarecrows, performing for the crowd, enjoying live music, getting their faces painted, taking a Tahoe Sleigh Rides haunted hayride, and watching some coffins racing downtown. Our friend Monique De Haviland did a fantastic job, as per usual, of bringing an incredible lineup of local musicians paired with our local, talented youth performers: All About Dance, Dance Workshop, Northwest Martial Arts, and CBP Aerial Arts; it was perfection.

We are so grateful that our friends at the East Fork Gallery partnered again this year by bringing the 35th annual Scarecrow Festival back for the community to build their seasonal scarecrows. We even welcomed a new addition, Grandpa Archie’s Haunted House—all made possible by the hard work of the retired DCSO Duffy Family and their incredible support team.

The Slaughterhouse Lane Coffin races celebrated nine years of rubbing and racing. It would not be a spectacle without a few coffin malfunctions and a team eating hay. Congratulations to our coffin teams for their incredible builds and for laying it all out there on Slaughterhouse Lane, and a more enormous congratulations to the winners of this year’s races … drum roll, please… ECV Clampers won the title of Crappiest Coffin (10 more minutes!); Dance Workshop the Cracked Nuts won Best Costume; StorAll 20/30 Black Betty won Fan Favorite, and Main Street Gardnerville Who Do the Voodoo laid it all out as the 2024 Championship team. Congratulations to all the teams; we can’t wait to see you back on Slaughterhouse Lane next year.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the tremendous support from the Town of Gardnerville, our amazing Volunteers, my overworked and incredible assistant Minos, our wonderful vendors, Mike Olson, the best Coffin Race MC around, and our generous sponsors: Carson Valley Health, Quick Space, Chase and Sheets, Carson Tahoe Health, Jacobs Berry Farm, Dixon Realty, JT Basque, Pacific Crest Dermatology, the UPS Store, Thomas Real Estate Group, Bill Hemphill, and Settelmeyer and Reiman Hay. Your continued support has been instrumental in continuing to make this event a reality and tradition for our families and community. We are truly grateful for each one of you. If you missed it this year, don’t worry; we will return to Slaughterhouse Lane on October 4th, 2025, and do it all again.

October has been a busy month around here. This month was recently proclaimed Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the October 3rd Douglas County Board of County Commissioner meeting (at the 53:00 minute mark). This is the 4th year Commissioner Mark Gardner has made this proclamation for a cause near and dear to his heart and so many of our community affected. Our Paint the Town Pink campaign is in full swing to support this proclamation. We recently partnered with our community health champions at Carson Valley Health by hanging pink ribbons along the light posts downtown. To add a unique flair, our flower sub-committee worked hard to transform the seasonal adopt-a-pot flower pots into Pink Flower bowls that now adorn our Main Street. You can click on the link below and sponsor these Pink Flower bowls; three-quarters of the funds raised will be donated to our local cancer treatment centers.

But wait… there is MORE. Tomorrow, Saturday, October 19th, is our inaugural Paint it Pink 5k Fun Run/Walk at 8 am at Heritage Park with $5 for every entry donated to our cancer treatment centers. Online registration is closed; however, you can still register on the day at 7 am. Our partners in health, Carson Valley Health, and Carson Tahoe Health, will be on hand with resources, fun giveaways, and raffles. With everything we do, this fun run is costume-encouraged, and we hope to see every shade of pink as far as the eye can see. We are sitting at just under 200 registered runners, and it will surely be a perfectly pink affair for all to enjoy.

This is the final run in the We Run This Town Series, and we are excited to see 75 runners ready to earn that limited edition I Run This Town tee shirt for completing all three runs in the series. Congratulations to all you dedicated runners out there. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Like I say, exercise gives you endorphins; endorphins make people happy, and we LOVE happy people.

Remember, we have the 3rd Annual Dia de Los Muertos Festival on Saturday, November 2nd, from 11-5 pm at Heritage Park. This is quickly becoming a community favorite and a beautiful cultural celebration in downtown Gardnerville. We are partnering again with our friends at Douglas County Community Services and Carson Valley Arts Council to present this festival. We are very excited to announce the Latino Arte De Culture will return with Aztec Dancers and their 12ft La Catrina Doll. Mariachi Sol de Reno will return with incredible mariachi music, local Grupo Paso Fino is scheduled to perform, and the Nuestra Dancers will also return with beautiful folkloric dance. It will be a day filled with authentic food, beverages, and vendors from our local Hispanic business community and beyond. If you haven’t attended, please add it to your must-do list. For a quick highlight of last year’s event, click HERE!

There is always a little something for everyone on Main Street Gardnerville. Thank you for hanging with me through all the exciting news and upcoming events. We can’t wait to see you downtown.  Please take some time to visit our unique shops, businesses, and eateries. Without our downtown businesses, we wouldn’t have a downtown. Let’s ensure they feel our love and support for all they do for our community.  Remember, spend local, tip generously, and be kind to each other. We can’t wait to see you downtown.

See you soon, Main Street!

To read the full email newsletter CLICK HERE

Fall-elujah… Autumn is here, Main Street!
Can you believe the Autumn Equinox is already upon us? After experiencing the quick change in weather over the last week, the answer is a resounding YES! Fall is in the air, but don’t fret; like the other forty-two seasons this area experiences, we are definitely in a false Fall that may be followed by fake Winter and then right back to summertime sauna, all before we even hit Halloween. Alexa… please google transitional outfits for Fall.
The recent dreary weather couldn’t have come at a better time, adding to the ambiance of our ‘Autumn Leaves and Wine Please’ Fall Fest theme, the last wine walk of the year! Despite the rain, our community’s unwavering support was evident, and we had a fantastic time visiting our businesses. There was a unique buzz in the air as many of our businesses unveiled their newest projects, expanded spaces, and new locations. It’s hard not to feel a surge of pride when you witness our businesses’ impact and their vital role in our community. Our businesses are the heart and soul of our downtown, and we are so proud of what they are building together – a place for us to gather and enjoy one another.
As the Main Street Gardnerville Summer Season ends, we’re not ready to say goodbye to the fun just yet. The shorter days and cooler air are just reminders that we have more exciting activities and opportunities to look forward to. We have a few surprises in store for you that will guide you through Fall into winter, so hang in there.
Have you heard about the Annual Slaughterhouse Lane Coffin Races and Fall  Festival? If not, you’re in for a treat! This event has become a staple and tradition in welcoming Fall into our lives, and it is, by far, my favorite event we host. I love seeing the community, families, and young ones year after year build scarecrows, performing for the crowd, enjoying live music, getting their faces painted, taking a haunted hayride, and watching some coffins racing downtown at Heritage Park. Our Friend Monique De Haviland is back at the helm, helping to create an incredible lineup of music by local musicians, and our local performers, not to mention Tahoe Sleigh Rides, will be back with their Haunted Hay Rides. Nothing says welcome Fall than the Fall Festival.
We’re thrilled to have our friends at the East Fork Gallery partnering again this year with their Scarecrow Festival. East Fork Gallery has hosted its Scarecrow Festival for 35 years and combined efforts with Main Street Gardnerville five years ago to help create the incredible community event we have today. Last year, they had over 200 scarecrows built at the festival, often attended by repeat customers and generations, regularly attracting adults who participated as children, now bringing their children and grandchildren. It is so special to see this legacy live on.
As the Slaughterhouse Lane Coffin races prepare to celebrate nine years of rubbing and racing, we assure you that this year’s annual event will be the best yet! We have a special announcement about some friendly competition coming to Slaughterhouse Lane from our neighboring community, so stay TUNE’d. It’s not too late to get your Coffin built and team registered, and we hope you will help us make these the most memorable races yet.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our generous sponsors: Carson Valley Health, Quick Space, Chase and Sheets, Carson Tahoe Health, Jacobs Berry Farm, Dixon Realty, JT Basque, Pacific Crest Dermatology, the UPS Store, Thomas Real Estate Group, Bill Hemphill, and of course, Settelmeyer Hay. Your support has been instrumental in continuing to make this event a reality, and we are truly grateful for your contribution.
Speaking of Carson Valley Health, we want to congratulate our community partner on the recent expansion of our community hospital. Growing up here, I remember a time my dad had to begrudgingly take me to the emergency room for scrapes and falls as a kid. At the time, our emergency room was located in the Stratton Center by the Garden Cemetery, where Valley Eye Care and Eyewear is now. Seeing how far we have come from that tiny “ER” to this beautiful state-of-the-art expansion our community hospital can pridefully boast was profound. Congratulations, Carson Valley Health, and thank you for executing this vision that will better serve our community for generations to come.
Congratulations are also in order for one of our local legends on Main Street, Meredith Fischer. Earlier this week, Douglas County recognized our Preservation-minded dynamo with a Spotlight Award for Historic Preservation at the recent Business Council of Douglas County Critical Issues Conference. We all know and are inspired by Meredith’s work on Eddy Street at her Vintage Market and newly reimagined space, The Warehouse, but some might not know how deep her passion for historic preservation runs. Daughter of legendary Dr. Michael Fischer and Janet Fischer, Meredith learned at an early age not only the history of our valley and Town but also the importance of cherishing pieces of history and how to act as a steward and placekeeper of these treasures entrusted to us by generation and generations before us. We are honored to have Meredith as a driving force in our organization and are very proud of her recent accomplishments. Congrats, Mere, WELL DESERVED.
Hats off to the Business Council of Douglas County for hosting another incredible Critical Issues Conference at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, Lake Tahoe’s newest jewel. The BCDC works tirelessly on behalf of our business community to ensure an environment where our economic development can thrive. Thank you, Renea Louie and your incredible team, for all you do behind the scenes for our community. And I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you and Nikki Rudleback, Douglas County Economic Vitality Director,  for the prestigious honor of being recognized as the “Cone Queen” for our efforts here at MSG during the Highway 395 reconstruction project. THANK YOU!
If historic preservation is your jam, we have an upcoming opportunity for you to see some in the making. Next Tuesday, Wednesday, September 25th, at 11:30 am, we will be celebrating the completion of our first Facade Improvement Grant Program project of the 2024/2025 cycle. Join us at 1420 US Hwy 395 Gardnerville, Nevada, at 11:30 am for a quick award presentation and meet and greet with the owners of this space, which is soon to be the Valley Merc. Javelin Ventures, LLC has recently completed a beautiful upgrade to its historic structure with vibrant new exterior paint to freshen up the aesthetic of our downtown. Come down and take a peek and learn about the exciting future this spot has in store for us.
October is right around the corner, and we will be back at it with our efforts to paint the Town pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Once again, we will partner with our community health champions at Carson Valley Health to hang pink ribbons downtown. Our flower sub-committee is working fast and furious to transform the adopt-a-pot flower pots into Pink Flower bowls. You can sponsor the pink flower bowls that will adorn the district on our website, and the funds raised will be donated to our local cancer treatment centers.
We also host our inaugural Paint it Pink 5k Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, October 19th at 8am. In place of the October Wine Walk fundraiser, this new race will donate $5 of every entry to our cancer treatment centers. This is also the final run in the We Run This Town Series. We have a lot of participants who will be completing this as the third in the series and earning themselves our limited edition I Run This Town tee shirt. As with everything we do, this fun run is costume-encouraged, and we hope to see every shade of pink as far as the eye can see. To register for the run or sponsor a flower bowl,  scroll down and click the link to learn more.
Thank you for hanging with me through all the exciting news and upcoming events. I never seem to be at a loss for words, and it’s easy to see why. There is always something happening that is worthy of celebrating in our community. This place is fantastic. We can’t wait to see you downtown at our upcoming events and visit our unique shops, businesses, and eateries. Enjoy that new highway that will get you here and stay a while. As always, spend local, tip generously, and be kind to each other.

Until next time, Main Street!

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!

“Sometimes you just need to sit back and watch life perform its art of storytelling.“

― Parth

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Welcome to sweet summertime, Main Street Gardnerville!

School is out, vacation mode is set, the days are long, and the nights are short. These are the magical days of summer, where we spend more time outside than in and gather together to catch up, soak up some sunshine by the lake, sit by a fire pit, share stories, and find laughter that always feels a little lighter this time of year—the careless, lazy days of summer.

Yesterday was the summer solstice, and we had a rare opportunity to celebrate the FIRST official day of summer downtown with a thousand of our closest friends, family, and neighbors at our “Sip, Sip, HURRAY” Sport-themed Third Thursday Wine Walk.

Going into the event, I was concerned that it may not be well attended due to downtown construction. (In case you didn’t notice, we are missing half our highway.) That did not deter the close to 500 registered Wine Walkers who attended our fundraising event last night!

Once again, I was reminded of how special and supportive our community is. The current state of the downtown highway repave project has taken its toll on our local merchants and businesses, so having the opportunity, like last night, for the community to come together and visit with and support our local businesses is imperative. And luckily for us, you understood the assignment and showed up to support them. THANK YOU!

We are nearing the final phases of the NDOT 395 Reconstruction Project, and as it seems like we have been under construction FOR-EV-ER, the magnitude of the project and how much progress Sierra Nevada Construction and the Nevada Department of Transportation continue to make is impressive and deserves some praise. YES, we are down to two lanes, and YES, we have lost access to a lot of our businesses, BUT .. they are removing a 100-year-old original concrete roadbed from our downtown. That means you can see layers of our town that have not been exposed in over 100 years. Like I said, impressive.

We appreciate Sierra Nevada Construction and the Nevada Department of Transportation’s continued efforts to communicate the current project status and ever-changing road closures through the mile-long active construction site. Thanks to their efforts, we can continue to share the most up-to-date information on our website and social media regarding the progress and affected areas of the active construction zone, as well as alternate routes and parking hubs so that you can continue accessing your favorite spots downtown.

Nevada Department of Transportation has established text alerts sent daily to your phone. You can receive it by texting “Downtown” to 1-866-540-8466

This is a one-in-twenty (ish) year project, and when it’s all said and done, we will have some beautiful new asphalt to carry us through our beautiful downtown. We are almost there—the end is near, I promise.

In the meantime, if traffic is getting you down, ditch the car and take advantage of the Martin Slough Trail that will lead you on a stroll down Main Street. You can visit some of your favorite businesses and discover new favorites while you’re here. It is an entirely different experience, and you will discover new things you may not have noticed existed. It’s worth it, trust me. Ditch the car.

If we aren’t paving our roads, we are PAINTING them. You heard that right: our “Stop and Smell the Flowers” Ezell Street Asphalt Art Street Mural is underway! We had a fantastic turnout at the first “Fill in the Mural” community paint night before the Town of Gardnerville’s Movies in the Park at Heritage Park last Friday, June 14th. Artists from all ages and skill levels came to help paint the piece and accomplished a great deal thanks to our lead artists and all those volunteers who have earned their titles as artists.

I have said this before, and I am saying it again: it is truly remarkable to watch the process of art manifesting into existence. Our incredibly talented lead artists, Sherri and Eric Majors, along with the guidance and support of our community and Main Street Gardnerville volunteers, helped to shape this project from a pipedream idea into a reality. As a person of many words (all the words), it is hard to find the right ones to describe the feeling of watching an imaginary concept be placed onto paper and then into a large-scale, colorful, tangible piece of art. It’s phenomenal.

This project is so fun, but we still have some work and need your help! Mark your calendars for the next Community Paint Night on July 19th at 5:30 pm before the Town of Gardnerville Movies in the Park featuring the Super Mario Bros. Movie. For more information, check out the link below and our Public Art Page to learn all about this project.

Heritage Park is becoming the happening place downtown. We launched our inaugural CV Days 5k Classic Fun Run/Walk from Heritage Park on Saturday, June 8th, on Carson Valley Days. We had a great turnout for our first run, with 186 registered runners making their way through the Martin Slough Trail onto Highway 395 and along the parade route. The CV Days 5k Classic was the first race of the three-race series in our “We Run This Town” 5k race series. Registering and completing all three runs in this series will give you a limited edition ” I Run This Town” tee shirt. These runs/walks are great! There are many endorphins and smiling, happy people in one place, plus a chance at a limited edition tee shirt. Sign me up!

The next race in the series is our ever-popular Freedom 5k Run for the Wreath Fun Run/Walk, held on the 4th of July at Heritage Park. It’s the most patriotic 5k on this side of the mountains. We have prizes for first, second, and third place, PLUS the best patriotic attire. I can’t think of a better way to kick off your Freedom Festivities and hot dog eating than a quick little jaunt downtown. You have two weeks to register before prices go up the day of, so RUN, don’t walk, and sign up today.

We have some exciting news brewing here on Main Street Gardnerville. We recently closed our 2024 Façade Improvement Grant cycle and have some incredible projects headed to Main Street in the coming weeks and months! Congratulations to our winners: Manoukian Building (the former hospital built in 1914 and location of All State Insurance) for their historic preservation-based project and Javelin Ventures for the first of many improvements to the old Country Carousel space and Richford Hotel (Original structure from 1906). We will see some fresh paint at the Country Carousel and the creation of a third space outdoor seating area at the Richford Hotel.

The total amount of improvements is projected at $84,180.00. Thanks to the tremendous support and investment from Douglas County’s Economic Vitality Program, Douglas County Community Services through its TOTTS, and our Main Street Gardnerville fundraising, we awarded a combined total of $35,000 to these lucky awardees in this reimbursable grant program. These are your Main Street dollars at work. Every Wine Walk, fundraising event, and donation is helping to improve our downtown. We couldn’t do it without you. THANK YOU!

Speaking of thanks and gratitude, thank you to our Flower Sub-committee and the Town of Gardnerville for the flawless execution of hanging our annual Hanging Flower Baskets and delivering Adopt a Pots to businesses. The Hanging Flower Basket program is one of our longest-running beautification projects, made possible thanks to our incredible Flower Sub-committee. Under their guidance, the Douglas High School FFA, Smith Valley High School FFA, and China Springs Youth Camp, future farmers plant and cultivate our flowers through the spring. It is a combined effort, and the results are the beautiful iconic baskets that grace our Main Street each year. Kudos to everyone for another thriving Main Street in Bloom.  If you are interested in helping to support this program, click on the link below for more information on how to sponsor.

Well, Main Street, you made it to the end. It was incredible seeing you downtown last night. It was an entire vibe of happy people that was so fun to be a part of, and we are very thankful for the continued Main Street memories we are making together.

Please continue to support your downtown merchants and businesses so we can ensure they remain and thrive through this disruption and can continue to give us places to gather downtown. Support local, tip generously, and, as always, be kind to each other.

Until next time, Main Street!

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“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

― Lewis Carroll
Alice in Wonderland

May Greetings, Main Street Gardnerville!

What an incredible time to be alive and kicking on Main Street. We have successfully made it through most of the winters and false springs the Carson Valley offers, right into the warm sunny days leading into summer. I don’t want to get ahead of myself because we could still see that notorious June or July snowstorm to keep us on our toes, but that’s not a worry for today.

Today, we are excited about the GORGEOUS weather we have been blessed with just in time for the official kick-off to summer and all of the events in our community! Sweep the Town, Third Thursday Wine Walk, Just a Drop in Farmer’s Market, Heritage Park Garden Plant Faire, We Run This Town 5k Fun Runs, Community Street Mural, not to mention hot air balloons are gracing our skies for this weekend’s Hot Air for Hope Festival! It really is a great time to be downtown.

The warmth of May gave us the perfect setting for our first Third Thursday Wine Walk of the season last night and the “Painting the Rosé Red” Mad Hatter tea party theme. We followed the white rabbit downtown for a jolly time with our wonderful merchants and community on Main Street. Last night marked the 15th anniversary of the Third Thursday Wine Walks if you can believe it, which made the theme fitting as we celebrated our Merry Un-birthday.

The Main Street Gardnerville Third Thursday Wine Walks came to be inspired by our first Main Street Gardnerville Director, Paula Lockridge, in 2009 after attending her first Conference during her first week on the job. She saw it as a way to encourage the community to come downtown, mingle with our downtown business community, and help support our small business community. The rest is history.

The Third Thursday Wine Walk continues to connect our community with the special people who own and operate businesses downtown and in the surrounding area. Despite the name, our Third Thursday has evolved into an event for everyone, including hydration stations, non-alcoholic options, food, live music, and much more.

In case you didn’t know, TTWW is our signature fundraiser for Main Street Gardnerville. It allows us to continue Projects like our Heritage Park Gardens community garden and beautification Programs to enhance our downtown with public art, hanging flower baskets, Adopt-a-Pots, and our Façade Improvement Grant program. Who knew sipping and strolling could impact our community so much? Apparently, Paula did! Thank you, Paula, Jim Park, and the founding MSG Board of Directors, for encouraging this vision for our downtown. Next up: “Sip, Sip Hooray” Sports theme Thursday, June 20th. See below to pre-register!

Speaking of gratitude, THANK YOU to our District Vitality team headed by Meredith for another successful Sweep the Town event that got the downtown spruced up just in time for the first Third Thursday Wine Walk! We had a team of close to 40 dedicated volunteers who showed up with brooms and ready to tackle the dirty job of the downtown cleanup. After 138 collective hours of light post and curb painting, sweeping, and weed pulling, the Town of Gardnerville reported over 7500 pounds (under 3.75 tons) of debris from downtown! You all really did kick some trash! Thank you, Mere, the District Vitality committee, our incredible volunteers who showed up, and especially the Town of Gardnerville, for your tremendous support!

We had our first Just a Drop in Farmer’s Market last Wednesday. Teressa did an incredible job organizing this market, which brings much-anticipated fresh, organic produce to the area. This year, she is upping her game and featuring more vendors and fresh food options to make it a one-stop shop. Plus, her Big Bag giveaway makes it a must to just drop in. Just a Drop in Farmer’s Market will be held every Wednesday from 8 am to 1 pm at Heritage Park through the summer.

If you are the grow-it-your-self type, DON’T FORGET; the Heritage Park Gardeners are at it again with their annual Plant Faire and Expo this Saturday, May 18th, from 9–1 pm. Get a jump start on your garden with locally grown starter plants and hand-painted garden goodies available for donation to bring beauty and charm to your garden. We have BIG visions and much-needed upgrades in store for the gardens, like enclosed, raised gardening beds, electricity, and a greenhouse to extend our growing season and to create further a space for the community to learn, grow, share, and beautify, and to cultivate and nurture our community together. Come support this event and our gardeners to help us make this vision a reality.  The HPG Gardeners will also be at the Hot Air for Hope Festival with garden goodies and beautifully painted kindness rocks this Saturday. Make sure to stop in and say hi at either location this Saturday. The Heritage Park Gardens is a Main Street Gardnerville community garden project made possible through 100% volunteer efforts and donations.

The CV Day’s Classic 5k is BACK! Let’s get moving on Main Street. Run, walk, or stroll through the beautiful Martin Slough trail and up the Carson Valley Day Parade route at our inaugural CV Days Classic 5K Run Run/Walk, the first event to kick off our “We Run this Town” 5k Fun Run/Walk series. We are VERY excited to announce the ” We Run This Town” 5k series intended to get you moving on Main Street. The run starts and ends at beautiful Heritage Park at 8 am sharp on Saturday, June 8th. We highly encourage you to dress in theme with the Active 20/30 Club of Carson Valley #85 Carson Valley Days Parade theme: MCV Music in Carson Valley. Preregistration links are live! Registering and completing all three runs in this series will give you a limited edition ” I Run This Town” tee shirt. Prices will increase for a registration day, so run, don’t walk, and register now!

Greenlight GO! The town of Gardnerville has approved our Main Street Gardnerville Asphalt Art “Stop and Smell the Flowers” Street Mural Project for installation on Ezell Street by Heritage Park Gardens. This is our first community-driven mural project from conceptualization to execution.

Under the direction of local artists Sherri and Eric Majors, two-decade veterans of large-scale chalk art competitions, and our lead artists on the project, we are collaborating with other local artists, the Town of Gardnerville, and the community at large through planning workshops for the concept and design of the art installation and implementation of the project through community paint nights. The community Paint by Numbers “fill in the mural” opportunities will occur during the Town of Gardnerville’s Movies in the Park nights this summer on June 14th, July 19th, and August 16th. We invite you to be a part of the process! For more information on this project, check out our flyer below or visit our public art page HERE.

Like the weather, we are experiencing a false summer regarding the NDOT 395 Reconstruction Project. Don’t let the lack of cones fool you. We are preparing for construction to ramp up again with the final phase—the reconstruction. Great news—no more potholes! Not so great news—the cone zones will be back for summer. In anticipation of the downtown highway reconstruction project, we are hosting our second State of Main Street on June 11th, 7:30 am at the Gardnerville station to provide an overview of the significant repave phase of the project. We HIGHLY encourage our small business community and stakeholders to attend and be informed of what will come.

We will continue to share the most up-to-date information on the progress and affected areas of the active construction zone, as well as alternate routes and parking hubs so that you can continue accessing your favorite spots downtown on our website. Thank you, Nevada Department of Transportation and SNC construction, for all your efforts in getting us to the finish line as quickly as possible. It is a hassle sometimes, but they are paving the way to a better downtown experience.

Construction won’t last forever, and we want to ensure our downtown is still thriving when the repave project wraps. Please continue to support your downtown merchants and businesses during this time so we can ensure they remain and are thriving through this disruption.

Well Main Street, that is the LONG and long of it. It was incredible seeing you on Main Street last night. There is always a little something for everyone downtown, and we are very thankful for the Main Street memory-making we do together.

Remember to support your local merchants and businesses, tip generously, and be kind to each other.

Until next time, Main Street!

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

― Mitch Albom

What is happening, Main Street Gardnerville!

Spring has sprung in the Carson Valley. We were off to a snowy start but are on our way to the fourth false spring of the year. If you have lived here for any length of time, you know it’s only really spring once it’s summer! You must love and admire the tenacity of our flowers and blooming trees this time of year. As they emerge from their winter dormancy, they are the gentle reminder of the beauty of perseverance to hold out for sunny, warmer days ahead. It is also a reminder that the beginning of our Main Street Summer Series of events and celebrations is just around the corner!

May is the official kick-off to our event season, and we are excited to share some exciting and fun additions to the lineup. But before we do, we need to roll up our sleeves and get some work done at our annual Sweep the Town event on Saturday, May 11th, from 9 to 12 pm.

We encourage our community to grab a broom and meet us downtown as we sweep the remnants of winter out of the district in preparation for the first Third Thursday Wine Walk of the year. With construction, things might look different this year, but we assure you much work needs to be done. Last year, we had a tremendous turnout of just shy of 80 volunteers who contributed close to 300 hours and removed over 8 tons of debris from downtown! This event is open to EVERYONE, so bring your friends, and let’s kick some trash!

Did someone say Third Thursday Wine Walk? Mark your calendars; it is time for sipping, supporting your favorite small businesses, and strolling down Main Street. This year, our Third Thursday Wine Walk officially turns 15, and to celebrate, we are having a Merry Un-Birthday party! Join us as we celebrate the First TTWW of the year at our May’s Painting the Rosé Red – Mad Hatter Tea Party theme.

If wine isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Despite the name, our Third Thursday has something for everyone, from hydration stations to non-alcoholic options, food, and more. The Wine Walks are an excellent way to meet and support your local small business community and meet some pretty incredible people along the way. Season Passes are still available for a limited time, and pre-registration for the event is open and can be found HERE.

Do you want to paint a Mural?! We do! Main Street Gardnerville is excited to announce our Public Art Installation for 2024. This year, we will install our first Asphalt Art Installation on Ezel Street by Heritage Park Gardens as our first community-driven mural project from conceptualization to execution.

We have selected local artists Sherri and Eric Majors, who have completed large-scale chalk art pieces and won chalk art competitions over the last 15 years, as our lead artists on the project.  Under their direction, we are looking to collaborate with other local artists, the Town of Gardnerville, and the community at large through planning workshops for the concept and design of the art installation and implementation of the project through community paint nights to be hosted as a community “fill in the mural” paint-by-number events during the Town of Gardnerville’s Movies in the Park nights this summer. We invite you to be a part of the process! Our first meet-up is Wednesday, April 24th, at 5:00 pm at the Patio by DST Coffee. For more information, check out the flyer below!

We are mere weeks away from fresh organic produce back in the valley. The Just a Drop in Farmer’s Market returns Wednesday, May 15th, from 8 am to 1 pm at Heritage Park. Teresa has been working hard behind the scenes to make this year’s series better than ever. The market will be held every Wednesday through the summer until September 4th. We can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.

Speaking of fresh produce, the Heritage Park Gardeners are at it again with their annual Plant Faire and Expo on Saturday, May 18th, from 9–1 pm. Get a jump start on your garden with locally grown starter plants and hand-painted garden goodies available for donation to bring beauty and charm to your garden. The Heritage Park Gardens is a Main Street Gardnerville community garden project made possible through 100% volunteer efforts and donations. We have BIG visions in store for the gardens, like enclosed, raised gardening beds, electricity, and a greenhouse to extend our growing season to create further a space for the community to learn, grow, share, and beautify, and to cultivate and nurture our community together. Come support this event and our gardeners to help us make this vision a reality.

You may be wondering how we intend to pull it off with our downtown being an active construction site. Where there is a will, there is a way. I say this often and as often as possible: our local merchants and small businesses depend on us and our community for support now more than ever. With the increase in construction, interruptions to access, and traffic woes, our businesses have experienced a decrease in visitation and revenue. Support for them can come in the simplest ways, like sharing their social media content, stopping in for a quick visit, or purchasing gift certificates for later use. Construction won’t last forever, and we want to ensure our downtown is still thriving when the repave project wraps.

When will it all end?! Soon… ish. Nevada DOT and Sierra Nevada Construction are putting their heads down and getting the job done, with an optimistic wrap-up for the end of summer. We will continue to share updates on active construction sites and recommend alternative routes and parking hubs to access your favorite spots on our HWY 395 REPAVE PROJECT landing page. Besides, who needs roads when you can ditch the car and enjoy a stroll downtown… or a 5k fun run/walk? More on that below!

However you get here, we hope to see you soon on Main Street. There is always a little something for everyone downtown, and we are so excited to see you soon for more Main Street memory-making.

Until then, remember to support your local merchants and businesses, tip generously, and be kind to each other.

Until next time, Main Street!