Town welcomes back Markleeville postmaster

Markleeville Postmaster Margaret Daniels was greeted by a banner and flowers upon her return to work.

Margaret was named postmaster of the year by the National League of Postmasters in July. The people of Markleeville took up a collection to pay for the items and they were waiting for Margaret when she came back from vacation.

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Laurie Hickey invited me to be the reporter at the Hanging Tree on Sept. 21. She said people come in and out, so I wouldn't have to do all three shows or dress up. Apparently the reporter just sits there, which I am capable of doing, sometimes for hours at a time.

It was a surprise to me to learn there are two people playing Adam Uber. For the Friday night shows they need to have someone for the trial for the second show while someone else is getting strung up for the first show.

"One year both of them were late, so I ended up dragging some poor devil out of the audience," she said.

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The president of Nevada's chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary, Gardnerville's own Genevieve West, led the state delegation at the 94th National Convention in Kansas City.

Genevieve got her picture taken with new national president Virginia Carman of Seattle.

Genevieve is heavily involved in the auxiliary's annual patriotic art contests.

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Over the weekend, a bear got into my father-in-law's car and decided to drive himself to Minden for the street fair.

When he got back, I had the opportunity to interview him.

Me: So why are there so many bears around this year?

Bear: You people think we have idyllic lives getting fat off berries in the forest, but it isn't all that easy. We've got a very good sense of smell, and the smell that's coming from your houses is very tempting. It's overwhelming our ability to find berries. It's like trying to hear someone talking to you while a helicopter is landing.

Me: But those smells have been wafting your way for years and you haven't come down before?

Bear: Think about it. We've had a third of the moisture we're supposed to. Berries and other forage require some sort of rain. If it's dry, there are fewer berries and we have to find something else to eat.

Me: Is it true that once you've tried garbage, the whole nuts and berries things is pretty much ruined for you?

Bear: Those folks marketing fast food can't all be wrong.

At that point the bear ambled off to check out some ripening fruit in the orchard. Next week: Interview with a mountain lion.

-- Kurt Hildebrand is editor of The Record-Courier. Reach him at khildebrand@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 215.