Book store offers last minute gift ideas

Kathleen Belles' winning photo for the November 2009 calendar will be displayed at the main desk at the Carson Valley Museum in Gardnerville all month. Stop in and see it when you have the chance.

There has been some interest in being able to get the rules and entry forms for the photo contest from our Douglas County Historical Society Web site. Check back here or visit the Web page to find out if this will be done in the future.

Our weather is trying to cooperate for the December photo contest. Hopefully we will have another snow storm or two and maybe even have a white Christmas this year for some great photos this month.

All this talk about snow and ice reminds me of the years we have had such amazing pogonip. For those of you new to the area, pogonip is a kind of fog consisting of ice crystals. It occurs when the humidity is very high and the temperature is very low. This ice fog then settles on surfaces like bare branched trees. The result is lacy and white and quite beautiful. According to Wikipedia, pogonip is a Shoshone/Paiute word meaning "white death."

In searching through the Main Street Bookstore, I have found a book called "Pogonip Magic" by Karen Collett Wilson with photos by Susan A. Zerga. This amazing little book features some of the best pogonip photographs I have ever seen. The photos were taken in Lamoille which is near the entrance to the Ruby Mountains southeast of Elko. Though the story is written for children, the photos are so beautiful I would recommend it to anyone. I even bought myself a copy.

That's just one of the many treasures you can find in the Main Street Bookstore. The best treasure might just be the See's Candies right at the cash register already wrapped for Christmas. DCHS members get a 10 percent discount off the price.

While I mention DCHS's need for volunteer help at the end of each column, I wanted to let you know that we really do need all the loyal volunteers we can get. We can offer you a variety of jobs to do. We install our own exhibits, so if you have any interest in displaying local history this might be an ideal job. We put on performances on Student Day and other occasions. If you have a flair for the dramatic or love to paint scenery, this could be your ideal spot. We need people to staff the main desk and answer questions and tour guides for visiting history students of all ages.

We need volunteers who are willing to roll up their sleeves and who are not afraid of work. We always need great ideas for drawing people to our museums and we need people to make those ideas and events happen. Next time you feel like doing something in the community, come see us. We'd love to have you on our team.

If you have any questions about anything mentioned here, please call the Douglas County Historical Society at the Carson Valley Museum in Gardnerville at 782-2555 or visit our Web site at www.historicnevada.org. And if you have the time, the museum is always looking for interested volunteers.

-- Contact Ellen Caywood at in2my2cats@yahoo.com or 790-1565.