Little Feet, Big Winter Adventures: Getting Tahoe Kids Ready for Ski Season
October 15, 2026 | Member Submitted
Little Feet, Big Winter Adventures: Getting Tahoe Kids Ready for Ski Season
Before the snow piles up, Tahoe’s youngest adventurers are getting ready for winter through play. At Daisy Trails Forest Preschool in Incline Village, children are beginning ski readiness classes and early ski skill activities that bring the excitement of the coming season into their everyday learning.
For young children, preparation starts with the basics: balance, coordination, confidence, and learning to move their bodies in new ways. Through playful, age-appropriate activities, Daisy Trails introduces skills children can build on as they grow into winter recreation.
Weekday learning for little skiers
Ski readiness and ski skill activities are part of Daisy Trails’ Monday–Friday preschool program, with experiences adapted to each child’s age and stage of development. Alongside these seasonal activities, children explore outdoors, practice independence, and learn through hands-on play.
The program runs Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., with full-time and drop-in openings for children 11 months through 4 years old.
Friday fun for children, an evening out for parents
Families can also join Friday Parents’ Night Out, welcoming ages 0–10. Children enjoy caring supervision and age-appropriate play while parents have an evening to themselves. Ski readiness and ski skill activities are available for children who are developmentally ready to participate.
Sunday adventures build stamina for winter
For children ages 5 and up, Daisy Trails offers Sunday forest adventures from 2–4:30 p.m. These outings focus on building endurance for ski season through hiking, active exploration, and time outdoors with friends.
Sunday sessions do not include ski skill instruction. Instead, they give older children opportunities to build stamina and confidence navigating outdoor terrain. The adventures will continue through winter, keeping children moving and connected to nature as the seasons change.
Rooted in outdoor learning
Led by Harmony Gradiz, who brings nearly 30 years of early childhood education experience, Daisy Trails Forest Preschool is a licensed, nature-based program in Incline Village. Its approach centers on curiosity, independence, and helping children feel capable and comfortable outdoors.
Congratulations to Our 2026 Best of Sierra Nevada Winners!
October 13, 2026 | Member Submitted
The results are in!
We are proud to officially announce the winners of 2026 Best of Sierra Nevada, as voted by the community. This program recognizes the businesses, professionals, and places that residents trust, recommend, and return to again and again. This year’s winners represent the very best of Sierra Nevada. From neighborhood staples to standout destinations, each honoree earned their place through the support of loyal customers and engaged voters.
The Best of Sierra Nevada Winners Guide showcases the businesses the community chose to celebrate. It reflects the pride residents have in where they live, eat, shop, and explore.
Thank you to everyone who nominated, voted, and participated in this year’s program. Your involvement continues to make Best of Sierra Nevada a true community-driven celebration of local excellence.
In The News – Fall Fest Returns with music, food, and family fun in Incline Village
October 13, 2026 | Member Submitted
Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 10/11/2026, Staff Report
Fall in Tahoe is a time to get outside, connect with neighbors, and enjoy the season before the snow starts to fly. The second annual Fall Fest returns to the Village Center on Saturday, October 17, from 12–3 p.m., bringing together local families, friends and neighbors for an afternoon of live music, great food, fall activities and community fun.
Hosted by the Incline Village Crystal Bay Community & Business Association (IVCBA), Village Center merchants, and Tahoe’s Connection for Families, Fall Fest is a free community celebration with something for everyone.
Live music, local food, beer, and wine tasting will make it an easy afternoon to meet up with friends, catch up with neighbors, and enjoy a fall day in Incline. Local businesses and community organizations will also be joining in with booths, activities, and more throughout the event.
October 17, 2026 | Osteria Sierra at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino
Celebrate National Pasta Day with a one-day culinary collaboration between Osteria Sierra at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe and La Zozzona at Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort. Guests will enjoy exclusive menu features from the partner restaurant, including signature pasta dishes and cocktails inspired by each destination.
The celebration also includes the Culinary Getaway Raffle, where diners can enter for a chance to win a two-night stay and dinner for two at the partner property. No purchase is necessary; guests may also request a complimentary entry card at the hostess stand.
Adding a charitable component to the event, proceeds from the special menu at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe will benefit a local STEAM-focused nonprofit.
The Tahoe Prosperity Center is leading the 2026 Tahoe Business Walks October 19–23, bringing together volunteers and regional partners to gather real-time feedback directly from businesses across the Tahoe Basin. The volunteers will speak with businesses to understand the challenges they face, what is working well, and what support they need.
Tahoe Prosperity Center is looking for business walk volunteers and community advocates to help make it happen.Interested in joining the effort? Sign up here.
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Debuts “Pour with a Purpose” to Support Breast Cancer Prevention
October 5, 2026 | Member Submitted
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino, an award-winning year-round destination nestled in the stunning natural beauty of North Lake Tahoe’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, debuts “Pour with a Purpose” at Cutthroat’s Saloon. The program features specialty pink cocktails and mocktails benefiting Climb Against the Odds, an annual Mount Shasta mountaineering expedition that raises funds for breast cancer prevention and honors those impacted by the disease.
“We are proud to support such an incredible event as Climb Against the Odds through our ‘Pour with a Purpose” program, said Andrew DeLapp, Resort Manager of Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino. “Our team has created a thoughtful selection of specialty beverages that gives guests an opportunity to support a great cause while enjoying a delicious beverage at Cutthroat’s Saloon.”
Throughout October, Cutthroat’s Saloon will serve two specialty pink beverages. The “Sip for Hope” cocktail features pink lemonade vodka, house-made strawberry puree, brut sparkling wine, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice. The “Grace & Grit” offers a non-alcoholic take on the cocktail made with Ritual Zero Proof Agave.
All proceeds from the specialty beverage sales will benefit Climb Against the Odds, hosted by Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), a national organization working to prevent breast cancer by eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals and other environmental risk factors. The annual event welcomes novice and experience climbers for a five-day experience that includes a guided three-day ascent of Mount Shasta’s 14,179-foot peak in Northern California. For more information on the organization and annual hike, please visit https://www.bcpp.org/get-involved/events/climb/.
In addition to the “Pour with a Purpose” specials, Cutthroat’s Saloon offers a delicious dining menu with featured dishes including a Sierra Cheesesteak sandwich, smoked brisket chili, beer-battered fish and chips, a chicken and wild mushroom pizza, and more.
For more information or to book a stay at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, please visit HyattRegencyLakeTahoe.com, or call (775) 832-1234.
About Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino
Situated among the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the award-winning Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino offers a premier destination based in the nature-infused setting of North Lake Tahoe. The resort is home to an on-site Adventure program offering daily guided activities to help guests explore the Tahoe outdoors with everything from group hikes to meditation sessions. Guests can enjoy premium amenities such as a year-round heated lagoon-style pool, two hot tubs, and a 25,000 square-foot Grand Lodge Casino. The resort also boasts the 20,000 square-foot Stillwater Spa featuring a variety of relaxing massages, facials and body treatments as well as state-of-the-art touchless therapies including the Cryobuilt Cryo Chamber, the “Pearl” revolutionary float orb, and the “Harmony” bioacoustic mat. The property showcases premier dining opportunities at the brand-new Osteria Sierra offering elevated Italian cuisine, pub-style fare at Cutthroat’s Saloon, and grab-and-go selections at Tahoe Provisions. Additional culinary delights include afternoon tea service on the weekends and a selection of world-class pastries created by the resort’s renowned team of pastry chefs. Recognized for excellence, the resort has garnered numerous awards including Travel + Leisure’s 500 Best Hotels in the World, Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best, Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, Smart Meetings Smart Stars Awards, and U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hotel Awards.
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino is located on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, at 111 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, NV, 89451. For more information, visit HyattRegencyLakeTahoe.com or follow the resort on Facebook or Instagram.
About Hyatt Regency hotels
The Hyatt Regency brand is a global collection of hotels and resorts found in more than 200 locations in over 40 countries around the world. The depth and breadth of this diverse portfolio, from expansive resorts to urban city centers, is a testament to the brand’s evolutionary spirit. For more than 50 years, the Hyatt Regency brand has championed fresh perspectives and enriching experiences, while its forward-thinking philosophy provides guests with inviting spaces that bring people together and foster a spirit of community. As a hospitality original, Hyatt Regency hotels and resorts are founded on openness—our colleagues consistently serve with open minds and open hearts to deliver unforgettable celebrations, effortless relaxation and notable culinary experiences alongside expert meetings and technology-enabled collaboration. The brand prides itself on an everlasting reputation for insightful care—one that welcomes all people across all countries and cultures, generation after generation. For more information, please visit hyatt.com
Sometimes it’s a building or a business. Other times, it’s a child who discovers a love of reading, a teacher who brings an idea to life, or a student who begins to imagine a future they never thought possible.
Those legacies don’t happen by accident. They happen because a community decides its children are worth investing in.
For the past six years, Mary Danahey and Sharon Schrage have quietly helped make that possible.
Before founding the Incline Education Fund, they spent years as parent volunteers in Incline’s public schools. They saw remarkable teachers creating extraordinary learning experiences with limited resources while promising opportunities disappeared when funding fell short.
“It’s easy to rally around a crisis,” Mary says. “It’s much harder to rally around a slow erosion of resources that nobody is talking about out loud.“
They saw dedicated educators, engaged families, and visionary school leaders doing extraordinary work. What was missing was a sustainable way for the community to stand beside them.
So instead of asking why schools couldn’t do more, they asked a different question:
How can the community help?
That question became the foundation of the Incline Education Fund.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the organization is that it exists to fund “extras.”
“We don’t fund distractions from academics,” Mary says. “We fund opportunities that strengthen academics.”
That philosophy drives every decision they make. Whether supporting literacy, STEM, the arts, classroom technology, educator development, or career exploration, every investment begins with the same question:
Will this help students become stronger learners?
Academic excellence isn’t one priority among many. It’s the foundation beneath everything they do.
That commitment has helped shape one of the community’s most significant educational achievements. The Incline Education Fund led the effort to earn the Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation & Technology (OSIT) STE(A)M Designation for all three Incline public schools, establishing Incline Village as Nevada’s first, – and still only, – K-12 STE(A)M Pathway. Today, students benefit from a seamless continuum of learning, from Makerspace robotics, coding, and art at Incline Elementary School to hands-on Exploratory learning at Incline Middle School and College & Career programs at Incline High School.
Just as important as what they fund is how they decide where to help. Rather than arriving with their own agenda, Mary and Sharon meet with principals, teachers, counselors, district leaders, PTAs, and Booster organizations and ask one simple question:
“What do you need?”
By listening before acting, they help bring to life the ideas already growing inside Incline’s schools instead of imposing solutions from the outside.
That philosophy was tested almost immediately.
Just months after launching, the pandemic transformed education overnight. When Mary and Sharon asked then-Incline Middle School Principal Kari Michaels what the school needed most, the answer stunned them: there were only 18 working computers available for more than 160 students.
“I remember looking at Mary and thinking, ‘Well…we have to figure this out,'” Sharon recalls. “There really wasn’t another option.”
Today, the organization has invested more than $900,000 into Incline’s public schools, strengthening academics, expanding innovative programs, and creating opportunities for students from kindergarten through graduation.
Incline Middle School Principal Dan Lediard says the partnership has helped transform the school’s Exploratory Program.
“When students discover something they’re passionate about, they become more connected to school, and that engagement shows up in both participation and academic achievement.“
Ask Mary or Sharon what they’re most proud of, however, and they won’t point to a dollar amount. They’ll talk about partnerships. Teachers. School administrators. Parents. PTA and Booster leaders. Businesses. Foundations. Service organizations. Volunteers. Donors.
“When an entire community works together,” Sharon says, “small schools can provide extraordinary opportunities.“
It’s also easy to overlook one remarkable fact: Mary and Sharon are volunteers themselves. Like so many people they work alongside, they’ve devoted years of their time because they believe every child deserves the opportunity to discover what they’re capable of. Their volunteer-led model means approximately 96 percent of every dollar raised goes directly toward programs that benefit students and educators.
Perhaps that’s the Incline Education Fund’s greatest legacy: strengthening a community where teachers, parents, volunteers, businesses, donors, and neighbors all believe they have a role in a child’s success.
As Mary puts it, “Dollars by themselves don’t change lives. Opportunities do.“
Together, they are the people behind the possibilities.
A free public symposium on artificial intelligence
St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Incline Village invites you to a morning of conversation with some of the people shaping artificial intelligence. They include engineers, entrepreneurs, legal and business leaders, and people of faith. Together they’ll look at where AI shows up in our lives today, where it’s heading, and what it means for all of us.
Welcome and Setting the Stage The Very Rev. Marla Asson, Rector, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church
Panel 1: Where do we see AI today? Who should we listen to? Moderated by Kristen Miller, Reporter, Lake Tahoe TV
Panel 2: Where is AI going? What can we expect? Moderated by William Bryan, Ph.D.
Jen Elena Romano, CEO, CURA
Puneet Kalia, CEO, Kategos AI
Fr. Brendan McGuire, Pastor, St. Simon Catholic Parish, Los Altos, CA
The panelists will take on questions that matter to all of us. Is the growth of AI sustainable? Can it be controlled, and should it be? Is there a moral dimension to how we use it? The morning ends with an open conversation about continuing the dialogue in our community.
When: Saturday, October 3, 2026, 8:00 AM – 1:30 PM (registration and continental breakfast from 7:30 AM) Where: Community Room, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 341 Village Blvd, Incline Village, NV
This event is free and offered as a service to the community. Continental breakfast and lunch are provided.
In The News – Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to host annual Incline Village and Crystal Bay Ice Cream Social
September 22, 2026 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 9/22/2026, Staff Report
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office invites community members to join us for the annual Incline Village and Crystal Bay Ice Cream Social on Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Aspen Grove and Village Green, 960 Lakeshore Blvd. in Incline Village.
Each year, the event brings together more than 500 community members for an afternoon focused on community connection, family activities, public safety and community resources. The Ice Cream Social provides a relaxed, family-friendly setting for residents to connect with local first responders and community partners while learning more about the services and resources available in our community.
Attendees will have the opportunity to visit with members of the Sheriff’s Office and several WCSO special units, including RAVEN, SWAT, Mounted Horses, K9s, Motors, Bomb Squad and Search and Rescue. Community partners will also be on hand throughout the event.
Enjoy Free Coffee All Week + a Chance to Win at Tahoe Provisions!
September 22, 2026 | Member Submitted
To celebrate National Coffee Day (sept 29th), Tahoe Provisions will be hosting a Coffee Week promotion from September 22 through September 29, featuring a raffle
Grand prize ;
Locals will have a chance to win:
One free daily coffee at Tahoe Provisions through December 31, 2026 (including specialty coffee beverages)
Complimentary parking validation when redeeming
50% off coffee beverages for one accompanying guest per day
Hyatt beanie
Drink Coffee Do Stuff bag of ground coffee
How to enter ;
Guests can visit Tahoe Provisions between September 22-29 and complete an entry card for a chance to win.
Guests who make a purchase will receive an entry card with their transaction
Guests may also enter by completing an entry card without making a purchase
Limit one entry per person, per day
Completed entry cards should be placed in the raffle box located at Tahoe Provisions.
The winner will be selected and announced on October 2nd.
