How Carson City has changed

I spoke with Ernie Rabe's daughter Hazel on Friday. Ernie was a lifelong Carson City resident who died last week.

Hazel said that the only time Ernie lived outside of Carson was when he was in the U.S. Marine Corps. After World War II, he met and married the love of his life and they moved back to Carson in 1949.

"When they came around the mountain at Lakeview Hill, he pointed and said, 'There's Carson City.' And she answered, 'Where?'"

Hazel notes there were only two paved streets in town when Ernie returned.

Ernie was a member of a grand old Carson Valley family and his father, Ernie Rabe Sr., appears on the front porch of the family home in this year's Nevada Magazine calendar.

A dozen people showed up to help clean up Silver Saddle Ranch last Saturday, despite it being a fairly nasty day, according to Friends of Silver Saddle Ranch President Nancy Bish.

Nancy said last weekend's work day was one of the smaller ones the organization holds to enjoy the ranch.

"We organize a couple of work days and we meet every other month and hold a slide show or go stargazing," she said.

The group is a couple of years old and consists of 20-30 members, though they are always looking for more.

At the next general meeting, which is held on the first Saturday in July, the group will go out stargazing and look for the great horned owl which nests near the Carson River.

Nancy has lived in Carson City for 10 years.

Teresa Annas has started a community Web site for Carson City and surrounding areas.

"This is something we've never had," she said of mycarsoncity.com.

"Schools and parent groups can post events. There's a host of things that can be done."

Teresa is a Realtor working for Century 21 in Minden. She has lived in Carson Valley for nearly five years.

"It is a great way for people to communicate," she said. "When my son was little, if there was anything going on at school, there was a list of parents who would call other parents. Now they can just post on the Web site."

The site allows people to submit items and the Web host runs it by Theresa before posting it.

March of Dimes volunteers in Carson City raised about $30,000 last weekend, according to the charity's Shelly Young.

Little Andrew Harris was the top youth fund-raiser for the March, hitting $1,120 before he was done, according to his mom, Stephanie.

Last year's top youth fund-raiser, Kiara Riske, read about Andrew in the paper and raised another $150.

"We had a fun kind of fund-raising competition.

Anyone interested in donating to the March of Dimes may do so at the organization's Web site, www.marchofdimes.org.

Organizers for the Reno Division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps are making the rounds to service organizations raising money for their cadets.

Lt. Cmdr. Dave Treinen described the program to the Carson City Kiwanis, who made a $600 donation to support a cadet.

According to Dave, it costs $600 a year to support a cadet. I met four cadets on Thursday, all of whom go to St. Teresa School. Hannah Putnam, 13, Michael Colyer, 14, Phillip O'Neill, 12, and Neil Aronson, 13, were in attendance in their dress whites.

Anyone seeking more information about the sea cadets may call Dave at 849-9148.

Lisa Lee of Advocates for Domestic Violence said she hopes the weather turns nice in time for the annual Taste of Downtown fund-raiser.

The Taste is bigger than ever, she says, with 24 restaurants, nine bands and only 1,500 tickets.

Anyone wishing to attend the June 21 downtown affair needs to get their tickets early, because Lisa says when they are out, that's all there are. For information, call the Advocates at 883-7654

Kurt Hildebrand is acting city editor of the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or e-mail him at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com