Valley groups organize fundraisers

Staff Reports

Mardi Gras Magic dance for Austin's House

Celebrate Mardi Gras in Minden on Feb. 12 to benefit Austin's House. The second annual Mardi Gras Magic dinner and dance in the Shannon Ballroom at the Carson Valley Inn recreates the party atmosphere of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday with outstanding music, dancing, prizes and food.

Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. featuring the Crocatini martini named for Casey the Crocodile, the mascot of Austin's House. With a Crocatini purchase, receive a commemorative martini class and an entry in the drawing for the grand prize of a three-day, two-night vacation at Harrah's New Orleans, including dinner at Besh Steakhouse; tickets to the Audubon Zoo, Aquarium of the Americas and Entergy IMAX theater; and $500 toward airfare.

Dinner is a Cajun buffet featuring peel and eat shrimp, chicken gumbo, blackened fish, Louisiana hot links steamed in beer, shrimp etouffee and smoked rib eye roast with all the trimmings.

Dance music for the Mardi Gras Magic party is by Fabrizio. A silent auction features donated prizes from local businesses and raffle prizes will be drawn.

Cost of the Mardi Gras Magic dinner dance is $50, with 200 tickets available. Tables of 10 are available for $500. Call 267-6676 to order tickets. Visa and MasterCard are accepted.

Information about making a donation at www.austinshouse.org or 267-6711.

Crab feast benefits senior lunches

Carson Valley Sertoma hosts a crab and tri-tip feast, 5-10 p.m. Feb. 13, at the CVIC Hall in Minden. The event raises funds to keep soup on the menu at the Douglas County Senior Center.

Soup's not only the first, but the most important, course of the lunch cooked each day at the senior center. But this year the county can't afford it, so Carson Valley Sertoma Club is stepping into the budget gap, hosting a benefit crab and tri-tip feast of its own to raise enough donations to put free soup back on the seniors' menu all year.

Cost of $30 includes all-you-can-eat dinner and music. Beer and wine available. Tables of 8 are $240. Tables of eight are available for $240. Donations for the soup budget are also accepted. The cost is $40 a day for the soup course at the senior center.

Mail checks and contact information to Carson Valley Sertoma, 1913 Catherine Court, Gardnerville NV 89410. Dinner tickets available at Tahoe Ridge Winery in Minden. Information, Peggy, 781-3773.

Knights cioppino dinner Feb. 13

The 4th Degree of the Knights of Columbus annual cioppino dinner is Feb. 13 at the St. Gall Pastoral Center.

Cioppino is a fish stew of shrimp, crab, clams and white fish in red sauce. The cioppino dinner includes green salad, French bread, dessert and nonalcoholic beverages. Steak may be substituted for cioppino. Cost is $30 per person. Tickets are available at the St. Gall Catholic Church office until Feb. 7.

The Knights' first cioppino dinner in 2006 revived a tradition established in the 1960s by the Pagni family, who operated the Jubilee Club Italian restaurant in Pleasant Valley.

The family hosted an annual cioppino at the former Pyrenees Hotel in Gardnerville in appreciation for selecting the Pagni brothers as contractors on an addition to the Gardnerville Elementary School. The Pyrenees used to occupy the two-story building next to Sharkey's and was owned by Joe and Jeanne Micheo.

The 4th Degree assembly of Carson Valley, Carson City and Dayton supports men and women of the armed forces. Profits from the dinner benefit this cause.

Information at the church office, 782-2852, or Julian Larrouy, 265-2366.

Lions Club collect eyeglasses

The Carson Valley Lions Club is collecting unwanted eyeglasses to distribute in developing countries. The Lions are asking people to look through drawers and closets for old, unwanted eyeglasses to donate to the Lions Recycle for Sight program.

The Lions Club collects used prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses as part of a recycling program throughout Nevada. Glasses are distributed in countries where eye care is often unaffordable and inaccessible.

"In most developing countries an eye exam can cost as much as a month's wages, and a single eye doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people," said Carson Valley Lions president Tom Cheney.

Glasses are shipped to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center to be cleaned, categorized by prescription and prepared for distribution by Lions and other groups. The World Health Organization says the eyesight of a quarter of the world's population can be improved through the use of corrective lenses.

Donate used eyeglasses in Lions Recycle for Sight collection bins at the Minden post office, Douglas County Senior Center, Raley's, Scolari's, Smith's, Rite-Aid, and other Valley businesses. Minden resident Lion Jim Kneeland chairs a year-round Lions recycle program. Information, 782-0845.

Soroptimist Savor the Flavor

Soroptimist International of Carson Valley hosts the Savor the Flavor wine tasting fundraiser, Feb. 27, at Genoa Lakes Golf Resort. Event features wines, microbrews, food from area restaurants, silent auction and Megabucks slot raffle. Tickets are $35 and are available at Aloha Discount Wine & Liquor, Battle Born Wine, Carson Valley Market, Genoa Country Store, Historian Inn, Nevada State Bank, Tahoe Ridge Winery, US Bank.

Soroptimists International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and children. Information, Linda Faff, 265-1746.