Mom's proud of her speller

Scarselli sixth-grader Jared Mora is excellent at everything, according to his mom Eileen Mora-Pierret.

But he's definitely a good speller. The Gardnerville Ranchos 12-year-old won second place in the Scarselli spelling bee and went to the district finals, which were Monday.

The district champ is Pinon Hills Elementary School student Maddy Weiss. We've got a feature in the works on her.

The new LED lights at the Minden Park gazebo are reported to have saved the town nearly $360.

A report Minden Town Board member John Stephans handed reporter Sheila Gardner compared electricity use from Christmas 2008 with Christmas 2009.

The town paid $621.94 to light the old incandescent lights, but only $263.27 for the new LED lights.

Former Douglas County Historical Society museum director Mary Ellen Conaway has been selected to receive an excellence in peer review service award from the American Association of Museums.

She's scheduled to receive the award at the annual meeting and museum expo May 23-26.

Gardnerville resident A.J. Danna appeared in the BAC Stage Kids production of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So," according to his mother Theresa. He played the Parsee Man, a crazy hermit on an island in the play last month. The play is based on the Rudyard Kipling stories about how certain animals got their unique characteristics.

Happy birthday to Gardnerville resident Jeanne Moore, who celebrated her 93rd birthday the week before last. Jeanne said she was born, raised and worked in San Francisco, before moving here.