Theater news and vehicle blues

by Karl Horeis

I've received a lot of encouragement and condolences for my automotive troubles. In last week's column, I described my Toyota breaking down in the snow at Wildhorse Reservoir. I had to get it hauled 65 miles into Elko. The thing is still out there - today is day 14 without wheels.

Swift newspaper group publisher Peter Starren and Appeal business writer Susie Vasquez have offered spare vehicles, sportswriter Dave Price has volunteered numerous rides, and Cliff Rutherford (night press foreman and my roommate) has generously driven me all over town.

Readers have been encouraging, too. Folks wished me well at Virginia City's mountain oyster cookoff (where I had my first - in wontons and pate). I ran into Pam Graber at the Cowboy Poetry and Jubilee, which raised "pert-near" $30,000 for the Carson Tahoe Hospital Auxiliary. Graber gets an A+ for reading comprehension - she remembered the vexing part.

"Did you get that air flow meter taken care of?" she asked. "I had the same problem."

It turns out the truck needed an ECU computer, too. We ordered it from Toyota and waited five days for it. They stuck it in, and the car ran great - for 10 seconds. Then it fried the new computer and died. Back to the drawing board.

Can somebody give me a ride to the Ford dealership?

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Exciting news in the theater world: Carson City's "drama mama," Pat Josten, who volunteers extensively with the BAC Stage Kids and the high school, has been nominated for a national Jefferson Award. She won the local award a month ago. The Jeffersons, offered by the American Institute for Public Service, are sponsored locally by Channel 4 and Wells Fargo.

"It was a big surprise," said Josten. "I didn't even know I had been nominated."

If she wins the national award, she'll go to the capital to collect.

"Yep, I'm in the running to go to Washington, D.C.," she said Tuesday.

To see Channel 4's story on Josten, learn more about Jefferson Awards, or nominate an "unsung hero," go to www.krnv.com.

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More theater news: Alliance Repertory Theatre is performing "The World of Carl Sandburg" at the Brewery Arts Center through Sunday. The show, about the life of the Midwest poet, opened last week. Alliance is one of many groups who have booked the Brewery's stage, according to BAC director Phil Caterino.

"We're getting all kinds of different theater groups from Lake Tahoe and Reno who want to come down and use our theater space. We're getting booked like almost the rest of the year with theater."

"The World of Carl Sandburg" starts at 8 p.m. each night. There is a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday. Instead of buying a ticket Thursday, bring a bag of non-perishable food items worth $15 to be donated to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. Otherwise, tickets are $15 general, $12 for students and seniors, and free to those 15 and younger. Call 883-1976.

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Doctors Gil and Gail Linsley, co-ministers of the Spiritual Living Center, are hosting an organic-gardening workshop Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the center, 675 Fairview Drive, Suite 218.

Leading the class will be Marcia and Steve Litsinger of Silver Springs, who were featured in a home and garden story in the Appeal Saturday.

"Their methods are conducive to the natural ecology," said Gil Linsley.

He would know - he and his wife are customers of the Litsingers' community-supported agriculture business.

"We've been using their products for quite a spell now," Linsley said.

The Litsingers provide organic greens to customers as far away as South Lake Tahoe and Gardnerville. The Saturday workshop is free and open to the public. For details, call 882-0901.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.