County officials met with Gardnerville bar owners on Tuesday in an effort to find a way to limit the amount of drunkenness on the Friday before Carson Valley Days.
Downtown Gardnerville has attracted its own drinking life on several nights of the year, but Carson Valley Days eve seems to be the one that causes the most trouble.
It has been three years since deputies were injured during a melee in Gardnerville and every year there is a fracas that results in some arrests.
The county is hoping that bar owners will stop serving in order to reduce the flow of alcohol fueling some of the mayhem.
Downtown Gardnerville is a hard place to control. The bars are close together and it is home to the Valley's second largest casino, which means it is very convenient for drinkers to wander from place to place.
There just isn't much to do in downtown Gardnerville on the night before Carson Valley Days. Idleness and alcohol make for a potent cocktail.
Add the drain on law enforcement on the night before the busiest day in Gardnerville and Minden, shake thoroughly and the result is often chaos.
We believe that Gardnerville businesses have an interest in watering down the potential for trouble and hope a way can be found to help curb what has been an unacceptable level of public drunkenness.
