Minden Street Festival is this weekend

The 21st annual Minden Street Festival will be all along Esmeralda Avenue in Minden, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More than 100 arts and crafts booths will line the streets for this two-day event.

Street vendors will offer a variety of food, Oriental, barbecued and a new specialty this year, German dinners. Barone & Reed, The Bank Parlor & Pub and Francisco's will be offering even more choices in fine dining.

Tumblewind Antiques & Collectibles owner, Roxanne Stangle, has been one of the organizers of the event since the first Minden Spring Street Festival in 1986.

"We had such great success with the Fall Street Festival we had been doing for a few years that we decided, 'Why not do one in the spring too?'" Stangle said.

"Jeff Williams of Williams Ltd. in Reno, helps organize craft and entertainment events all over Nevada and Northern California," Stangle said, "He was there for the first event and is still helping us today."

The event grows a little bigger every year.

"We had about 75 booths the first year," Stangle said. "I'm guessing we are going to have at least 125 to 130 booths this year."

The Sound Bytes will make a return appearance offering their '50s through '70s popular music for dancing in the streets or just sitting on the hay bales surrounding the stage to take a trip down memory lane. The duo, Steve Dromensk and Dave Kibler, clad in Hawaiian shirts, will entertain both days of the event.

Both Dromensk and Kibler have been involved in music for more than 30 years, playing the opening acts for top name entertainment. As a duo, they have been performing since 1994, recreating the nostalgic sounds of groups like The Beach Boys, and Jan and Dean and the Ventures. Playing throughout the western United States with a concentration of play dates centered around the San Francisco Bay area and the coast of Northern California, explains their heavy devotion to the surf- and hot rod-style of music.

The Northern Nevada Chapter of the Inliners International, in conjunction with the Minden Street Festival, will present their third annual "Rappin' to Minden" both days, around Minden Park from Esmeralda to Sixth Street. This is the largest display of inline powered vehicles in Nevada, and it will surround Minden Park. The show will feature special guests, racers and their boats, cars and motorcycles.

Sunday morning, the Inliners International will host a Deuces Wild Poker Run, open to the public, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All cars and motorcycles are welcome. Poker run registration and departure from the town of Minden will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The cost is $5 per hand, with a total of 10 prizes. The first prize is $100. This event is sponsored by Carson Valley Inn and In-N-Out Burger of Carson Valley. For information, Dennis Bargmen, 782-7074.

The Minden Street Festival is sponsored by the Town of Minden and the Minden Business Group. For festival information, Roxanne Stangle, 782-2444.