City's Rotary clubs spruce up BAC

Rotarians around the world rolled up their sleeves Saturday to make a difference in their communities, and in Carson City, the focus was on the Brewery Arts Center.

Ron Peterson, in charge of "Rotarians at Work Day" for District 5190, said about 50 members showed up to help with the spruce up.

"Every year on the last Saturday in April, we all find a community project to work on, and it goes from there," Peterson said.

District 5190 includes all of Northern Nevada and parts of Northern California, he said, but each community decides on its own project. The two clubs in Carson City - the Noon Rotary and the Sunset Rotary - came up with ideas for Peterson, and then voted to tackle projects at the BAC.

"The BAC is near and dear to all of our hearts," he said.

The project started at the front of the building where four cedar planter boxes - that had seen better days -were replaced by four beautiful new redwood planter boxes built by Larry Messina and filled with spring flowers.

"This whole project just grew and grew," Peterson said. "We asked the director what he wanted us to do next, and he said the beds underneath the trees (on King Street) could use a little help."

Rotary Club President Steve Reynolds gave Cinderlite Rock & Sand a call about rock for the landscaping, and they said, "We'll donate it if you put it in," Peterson said, so club members dug out weeds and spread the rock.

"While we were weeding, someone thought, 'Why don't we put some shrubs under the trees?' and someone else said, 'These benches sure could use a new coat of paint,' so it was done. The ladies did a lot of weeding, and we also painted the foyer into the administrative offices," Peterson said.

In fact, anywhere a visitor to the BAC looked Saturday, groups of people were busy at work. Someone was painting bright new yellow safety stripes on all the outdoor steps, another was using a push broom to clean all the sidewalks, others were pulling weeds from all the beds, some were spreading rocks, some were giving the outdoor benches a fresh coat of green paint, others were planting shrubs and giving them a good soaking, a small tractor carried loads of rock where needed.

"We just all showed up and said, 'This needs to be done,' or 'That needs to be done,' and it got done. This is a great group of people," Peterson said.

John Shelton, director of the BAC, was thrilled with the work project.

"So much of what makes the BAC great is its ability to work as a partnership. Our theme is 'Creating Together,' and we want to continue to work with the partnerships that exist in our community," Shelton said.

"The BAC has been here since 1975, and a lot of people love this place. We want to heighten awareness, and are looking at possibly having an open house in June," he said.

Shelton said he is grateful to the Rotary for their work.

"The Rotary allows us to do the things we couldn't afford to do otherwise. They have the connections and the resources," he said.

Shelton said the BAC is finding new ways to connect with the community through education as well as economic development.

"This is also part of the redevelopment district. Historical facilities are wonderful assets, but they require prescribed care" to stay within the guidelines of the district.

Reynolds said he was pleased with the turnout of eager workers.

"Rotary's motto is 'Service Above Self,' so it's great to see our members out here doing work the Brewery Arts Center might have had to pay for," Reynolds said.