Sertoma entertainment books go on sale

Ruhenstroth resident Dave Rich is from Brooklyn originally, where he said he had to go to the zoo to see a horse. Now he owns one.

The recent arrival from Antelope Valley in Southern California is a former assistant school superintendent who retired to Carson Valley at age 62.

He called to remind us that Sertoma is getting ready to sell their annual entertainment books, which they use to raise money for the club's many good works.

Dave said the new books are going for $25 and if you buy one, they'll throw in a free 2006 book.

Among the things Sertoma does is provide hearing aids for those in need and they put on the annual Oktoberfest on Sept. 24.

Anyone wishing to purchase a book may call Dave at 265-3099 or contact a member of the club.

Sertoma means Service to Mankind. They meet 6:30 a.m. Fridays at Sharkey's.

Dave is the father of Lake Tahoe adventure photographer Cory Rich, whose work has appeared on several covers of National Geographic's "Adventure" Magazine.

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Members of the bicycle group former Douglas County commission Chairman Dave Pumphrey belonged to are installing a ghost bike in his honor on Sept. 3.

A ghost bike is a bicycle painted white with a sign saying an accident occurred there.

Dave died from injuries after he collided with a vehicle while riding his bicycle on Double R Boulevard in Reno.

Members of the Procrastinating Pedalers of Reno are setting up the memorial to increase awareness in both motorists and bicyclists to be careful.

Dave collided with a car on July 20 and died nine days later. He served as a county commissioner from 1989 to 1996.

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I met two Cordes cousins who are working on a collection of their Aunt Frieda Goedecke's columns that appeared in The R-C in the late 1970s.

Myllie Hoover graduated from Douglas County High School in 1951. Back then she was Myldred Emma Cordes and received the Fleischmann Scholarship to attend the University of Nevada, Reno.

Her cousin Patty Myers, was valedictorian of the Class of 1953 and received the Harold's Club Scholarship.

Nevada Magazine Editor and former R-C People Editor Joyce Hollister said Frieda's files contained stories about old Carson Valley.

Patty is the daughter of longtime Douglas County Recorder Ethel Schacht. Ethel was elected Recorder in 1942 and re-elected to five terms in office. Patty said that when she got out of school, she would go to her mother's office and browse through the old R-Cs.

Both women live in Reno now.

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While I was browsing the old R-C I came across an item in the June 5, 1953, edition about the 11th nuclear test.

People got up to watch the 4:10 a.m. June 4 blast, which sent a flash of brilliant light across the desert. Minden resident Dick Coles reported the sound and shock from the blast hit about 12 minutes later.

The test was Upshot-Knothole Climax, which was dropped by a B-36 bomber on the Nevada Test Site. The bomb was 30 inches across and weighed 1,840 pounds. It's yield was 61 kilotons, according to radiochemistry.org, which was the highest of any continental test up to that time.

Exposure in Douglas County, which is upwind was less than .01 rads, far less than the up to 10 rads experienced by people living downwind in southern Utah and parts of Colorado.

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