Santa's helpers roaming Carson

Carson City's old Wal-Mart building is dark no longer. Although the store remains vacant, its roof is aglow with reindeer and a sleigh created by Willow Bill.

The lead reindeer is lit with red lights.

"When the red reindeer comes out, it lets the folks in the North Pole know it's time to come pay us a visit," Willow Bill explained. "He's like the leader of the pack."

Willow Bill spends the holiday season making willow reindeer with elementary school students and other children's groups. The reindeer are on display at the Capitol and other parts of town.

His goal, he says, is to create 2,000 reindeer over the next six years to be displayed along Highway 395 from Topaz to Bordertown as a community enhancement project.

He'll be looking for homeowners and businesses to display the reindeer along the route.

"Wherever there's cool people to put them up."

And he's hoping local leaders will join the effort.

"It could be a tourist destination," he said. "My goal is to have people want to drive down 395 to see all the reindeer."

Willow Bill has a booth set up at the Carson Mall where he is selling the reindeer for $25 apiece, or call 842-3594 to place an order.

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Realty Executives agents, members of the Carson City 20/30 Club and volunteers spent Saturday afternoon wrapping more than $3,500 worth of presents for needy Carson City families.

Realty Executives funded Saturday morning's shopping spree at Wal-Mart with donations from agents and tips from last week's guest bartending night at D'Vine Wine tasting.

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Sierra Pacific Power Company employees are answering the call from a Portland, Ore., utility to assist in restoring power to the area knocked out by devastating winds and heavy rain.

Power was cut to 245,000 customers of Portland General Electric (PG&E) Thursday, when hurricane force winds forced the closure of major roads, flooded lowland areas and knocked down trees and utility poles.

Approximately 30 percent of PG&E's customers were without power overnight. Sierra Pacific crews and operations experts from Reno and Carson City will travel with their equipment to Portland to assist in repair work, and are expected to be working there for about one week.

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Brenda Woods of Stagecoach was the big winner of an 1847 replica Colt Walker, a black-powder revolver that was raffled off at Piper's Opera House on Dec. 9.

"I can't believe this, I never win anything," she said.

The winning ticket was drawn after the late performance of "Christmas in the Sierra" by David John and the Comstock Cowboys.

Woods said she and her family are regular visitors to Virginia City, where the local chamber of commerce raffles off an Old West-style gun about every quarter.