by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Oct 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – For the second year in a row, the Marcella Foundation is running a food drive to help feed community members and support local food pantries. Throughout the month of November, businesses are invited to host a collection bin to accept non-perishable food donations.
As a lead up to Thanksgiving, they are also sourcing high-demand items to create a holiday meal. The Marcella Foundation’s goal is to fill 500 bags of Thanksgiving sides to match a donation of 500 turkeys from the El Dorado County Community Turkey Drive. For the third year in a row, Kings Meats, a butcher shop located on the west slope, is bringing turkeys to South Lake Tahoe, which is spread between multiple organizations, who then pass them out to families. Together, they plan to provide not only turkeys, but a whole Thanksgiving meal to 500 neighbors.
There are multiple simple, yet impactful ways to participate in the food drive and help get food into the community leading up to the holidays. All materials, including the cardboard collection bin, branded tote bags, and flyers, are provided by the Marcella Foundation to get partners onboarded.
If you’re a business, here are ways to participate:
- Host a collection bin at your business to have community members drop-off non-perishable food items that volunteers will pick up and donate
- Offer Fall Food Drive tote bags for community members to fill up with Thanksgiving sides and drop-off at your business that volunteers will pick up and donate
- Have your staff members each fill up a Fall Food Drive tote bag to help reach the goal of 500 bags filled
- Donate surplus food from your business–anything from prepared trays of food to wholesale items you cannot use
If you are a business that would like to participate, please visit the website below to sign up, receive your food drive materials, and start accepting donations!
If you would like to participate in the Fall Food Drive in another way, please come to the Marcella Foundation’s Volunteer Kickoff event on October 22nd at Cowork Tahoe at 10am to explore volunteer opportunities, food rescue logistics, and ways to support this work.
All food donations go to local recipients, such as Christmas Cheer All Year, Family Resource Center, Phoenix Food Pantry, Boys & Girls Club, Tahoe Youth and Family Services, SOS Outreach, Catalyst Community, and many more.
To learn more about the Fall Food Drive and to sign up to participate, please visit the website: www.feedtahoe.org/fallfooddrive
If you would like to learn more about the El Dorado County Community Turkey Drive, please visit this site to support their efforts: https://edcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=3640
by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Oct 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Sugar Pine Foundation (SPF) has been awarded a $22,000 Community Impact Grant from the Tahoe Community Foundation to continue reforesting the Caldor Fire burn scar near South Lake Tahoe. The funding will support the planting of 5,000 native conifer seedlings across approximately 50 acres over the next year, with work concentrated at three priority locations: Fountain Place Road, Hell Hole Road, and Echo Summit.
For many South Lake Tahoe residents, the Caldor Fire is still a vivid memory: the smoke, the evacuations, and the eerie aftermath of a landscape transformed almost overnight. Nearly five years later, the burn scar is in active recovery. Hazard trees along roads and trails have been cut, piled, and removed by logging contractors, and in steeper areas hand crews have piled the dead trees to be burned. Some areas are recovering naturally with a carpet of young seedlings, but many hillsides are filling in with dense, flammable brush (ceanothus, manzanita, and chinquapin) rather than recovering as forest. These areas may not in our lifetime return to the open, shaded woodland that hikers, mountain bikers, and neighbors knew before the fire.
SPF focuses its reforestation efforts on key recreation areas. Strategic post-fire tree planting accelerates forest recovery, and SPF has already seen this play out locally. Following the 2007 Angora Fire, areas where USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU), California Tahoe Conservancy and SPF planted trees now support a young forest over 20 feet tall. In nearby areas where no planting occurred, head-high whitethorn has taken over, nearly impenetrable and dangerously flammable, right next to residential neighborhoods.
“The Caldor Fire scar is at our doorstep and affected many areas we visit on a daily basis,” said Maria Mircheva, Executive Director of the Sugar Pine Foundation. “This grant from the Tahoe Community Foundation lets us accelerate the forest recovery in areas that people in this community hike, bike, and love and bring them back decades sooner than nature could do it alone.”
The recovery of the Caldor burn scar has been a collaborative effort. LTBMU has planted approximately 15,000 trees in the Tahoe basin, while El Dorado National Forest and American Forests have planted an estimated 800,000 trees across the broader Caldor fire footprint. SPF has contributed more than 20,000 seedlings, working alongside these partners to ensure that reforestation reaches priority areas along roads and trails. By the end of next year, partners expect to reach one million trees planted in the Caldor fire scar, one of the most ambitious post-fire reforestation efforts in the Sierra Nevada.
SPF will plant across three focus areas over the coming year. First is the Fountain Place Road corridor home to the popular Upper and Lower Corral, Sidewinder, Armstrong Connector, and Saxon Creek mountain bike trails. Second is Hell Hole Road, a Forest Service Road that branches deeper into the burn area and opens access to interior sites where no living trees remain as a seed source. Third is Echo Summit, where many families have owned cabins for generations and are eager to see the trees come back. Planting here will help restore the forested character that defines the community and the views that people treasure. All sites have been identified and prepared by the LTBMU through a formal environmental review process.
Species selection is guided by elevation, slope aspect, and soil conditions: Jeffrey pine on warmer, drier, exposed slopes; sugar pine in cooler, moister soils on north-facing aspects; western white pine and red fir at higher elevations. To maximize survival, seedlings are planted on the north side of stumps, logs, and rocks which leverage natural shade and cooler temperatures during the critical early years of establishment. Staff will hand-water many of the seedlings through the summer. SPF has formal monitoring plots to track survival after one year and three years in accordance with Forest Service protocol.
“Through our Community Impact Grants, the Community Foundation invests in organizations that are creating tangible, measurable change in the Tahoe region,” said Aimee LaFayette, Chair of the Tahoe Community Foundation’s Community Impact Committee. “The Sugar Pine Foundation is helping turn recovery into action, restoring areas impacted by the Caldor Fire and ensuring future generations can enjoy healthy, resilient forests.”
Community Planting Events Across the Tahoe-Truckee Region
SPF is hosting free public planting events this October across both South Lake Tahoe and Truckee. No experience is necessary as SPF staff provide all tools and instructions. Everyone is welcome!
You can pick up free sugar pine seedlings for your yard at any of these events or at the Incline Recreation Center to plant before the snow falls.
South Lake Tahoe
- Sunday, October 11 — Caldor fire scar at Sierra at Tahoe Ski Resort
- Saturday, October 24 — Caldor fire scar at Corral Trailhead
Truckee
- Saturday, October 10 — Royal Gorge, Donner Summit
- Sunday, October 18 — Truckee River Day planting, Sagehen Summit
- Saturday, October 24 — Canyon Springs, Truckee
To view the full schedule, or learn more about SPF’s work, visit sugarpinefoundation.org or follow @sugarpinefoundation on Facebook and Instagram.
by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Oct 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Barton Health is holding a Community Health Fair, an inclusive event to benefit members of the Lake Tahoe community. The event offers an opportunity to connect with healthcare providers and explore resources to support health and wellness.
El Dorado County Health & Human Services will provide free flu vaccines. Vaccinations reduce the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% in adults. The annual vaccine remains the most effective way to protect yourself.
Attendees can also meet Barton Community Health Center providers and access blood pressure checks and health screenings, Covered California enrollment assistance, CPR training, family resources and more. Interpretation services will be available on site.
Barton Health’s Community Health Fair will be held on October 22 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Bijou Elementary School. The event is open to all community members, and no registration is required. Attendees are encouraged to bring their family and friends to make the most of this informative and engaging event. A complimentary meal will be provided by Tacos Por Favor.
For more information on available health care services and events, visit BartonHealth.org.
by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Oct 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – For public safety, the parking area for Rabe Meadows and the Lam Watah Historic Trail is temporarily closed while contractors grade and pave Kahle Drive as part of the Kahle Complete Street Project. The closure is expected to last through Friday, Oct. 23.
During the closure, parking will be available in the Douglas County parking garage on the east side of U.S. Highway 50.
Kahle Drive provides access to key connections for the Stateline-to-Stateline Bike Trail and throughout Rabe Meadows and the Douglas County community. The Kahle Complete Street Project began construction in May 2025 and is expected to be completed by the end of October 2026.
This Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Project aims to enhance sustainable recreation and transportation by improving public safety, pedestrian and cyclist access, reducing urban runoff into Lake Tahoe, and mitigating wildfire risks and improving the landscape views by burying electrical and communication lines.
Funding for this project was made possible through the Bureau of Land Management’s Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service.
This project is a collaborative effort by Barton Health, Douglas County, Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, Nevada Division of State Lands, NV Energy, Oliver Park General Improvement District, the Tahoe Fund, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
by n Staff Report Follown editor@tahoedailytribune.comn | Oct 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Tahoe Arts Project presents the 13th Annual Dancing with the Tahoe Stars, returning to Bally’s Lake Tahoe on Saturday, October 10,. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m.
This year, ten local community stars will team up with professional dancers to take on Heroes & Villains, bringing unforgettable characters, creative storytelling and plenty of surprises to the ballroom. After weeks of rehearsals, each couple will take the stage for one night of incredible performances, friendly competition and community spirit.
Couples will compete for the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy while raising funds for Tahoe Arts Project, a local nonprofit dedicated to bringing performing arts and cultural enrichment to students throughout the Lake Tahoe region.
Dancing with the Tahoe Stars has become one of Tahoe’s favorite fall traditions, bringing the community together for an unforgettable night while supporting Tahoe Arts Project’s arts education programs for local youth.
Join Tahoe Arts Project at Bally’s Lake Tahoe and cheer on your favorite stars as our Heroes & Villains take the stage.
Tickets available at tahoeartsproject.tix.com
Donate to your favorite couple at tahoeartsproject.org
