Fish Springs woman wins Internet photo contest

Fish Springs photographer Martha Brodkey won The Record-Courier's online photo contest.

Martha's a 29-year resident of Carson Valley who moved here in 1980 from Los Angeles by way of Texas and Europe.

The 71-year-old said her first husband worked for International Business Machines, which she joked really meant "I've Been Moved."

"I loved it," she said. "We had two boys and a girl and got to live in Europe. They went to a Dutch school where they learned Dutch and French at the same time."

Martha said she began taking pictures in 1973 when she left her three children with her husband and traveled Europe for a year.

"I visited all of Western Europe and part of North Africa," she said. "It was then I realized I had an intense love of photography."

It was the birth of her grandchildren that rekindled her interest in photography.

The three grandchildren are grown now and she's turned her lens to the wildlife near her Fish Springs home.

"I have an unobstructed view of the siblings," as she calls Jobs Peak and Jobs Sister. "I think there is no more beautiful place in the Valley than where I sit. It is an absolute passion of my life. I have a never-ending view of nature and wildlife, bears and rabbits and everything in between. There's always something at my deck door."

It was Martha's photo of a hummingbird that won the contest. She said she has more than 50,000 photos in her collection.

She is married to second husband Joel Brodkey, a retired police officer and teacher, who presently works the security desk at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Building in Minden.

Martha retired from Harrah's in 2002 where she worked for 19 years in the accounting sales departments.

"I figured out I traveled three and a half circumferences of the Earth to get to work," she said.

But, she said, she wouldn't trade her life with anyone else.

"It's been wonderful," she said. "I've been a happy camper out here and I wouldn't leave Fish Springs for anything."

Martha raised an interesting question. Is the springs in Fish Springs plural or not?

Carson Valley is featured on the cover of DeLorme's Nevada Atlas and Gazetteer. On the lower center are both uses within a half inch of one another. Fish Spring Flat and Fish Springs, referring to the road. There's a ton of these in the Pine Nuts, including Pinenut Road and Pine Nut Valley. Both China Spring and Double Spring are singular. There is no apostrophe in Jobs Peak, Jobs Sister, Walleys Hot Springs or Jacks Valley.

I finally got around to watching the winning anti-drug videos put together by Douglas High School students for Drug Use is Life Abuse.

Douglas High graduates Will Sheerin and Bryant White took home the big prize of $1,500 for their full-feature video. Graduate Kyle Gardner and senior Andrew Andraski won $1,000 for their 60-second public service announcement. The $500 prize went to Avninder Dhaliwal, Jacob Larson and Joshua Lawrence.

Susan Bullard said it was the first time the school has done the video contest, but it doesn't appear to be the last.

About 20 entries from Douglas, Whittell High School, Sierra Crest Academy and Carson Valley Middle School were submitted to judges Lloyd Higuerra, John Tyson and Victoria Campbell for selection. The students had to do all the paperwork for the videos, including getting releases from the people who appeared in them.

Harold Willard said the Douglas County Sheriff's Advisory Council provided the money for prizes and sponsored the contest.

He said the group gave the students cash rather than making it a scholarship.

Bullard said the videos were shown at the senior awards night last spring.

Former Record-Courier Publisher Peter Kostes has taken the reins as interim editor at the Tahoe Daily Tribune in South Lake Tahoe.

Kostes served as publisher of The R-C from 1999 to 2003 when he was named associate publisher of the Nevada Appeal in Carson City.

Kostes is a nine-year resident of Saratoga Springs in northern Carson Valley and will continue his duties as regional editor for Sierra Nevada Media Group. In addition to The R-C, the Tribune, the Appeal, the Carson-based group operates the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, the Tahoe World, the Sierra Sun, the Lahontan Valley News. The group is part of Swift Communications, whose headquarters are in Reno.

Reporter Scott Neuffer brought back a little taste of Candy Dance fudge with him on Tuesday.

It's the good stuff and will be available for sale on Candy Dance weekend Sept. 28 and 28. This marks the 89th year of the fundraiser which helps support the town of Genoa, Nevada's oldest settlement.

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