Community news briefs for week of Nov. 20

Thanksgiving dinner

The American Legion Post 16 will serve a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.

Dinner will be served from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The hall is located at 90 N. Ada St.

Toys for Tots

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and Marine retirees are gathering gifts for area children.

The Marine Corps League Toys For Tots in Fallon has set up toy boxes around the region to provide toys for needy children and will park its truck in front of Walmart and Big R on the weekends.

The Toys for Tot truck will be at the tree lighting on Dec. 1 and the Convoy of Lights the following day.

Local Marines gather toys for distribution and wrapping for Fallon, and once those orders are fulfilled, he added the program will focus on the outlying areas.

Once an order is filled, arrangements will be made to distribute the toys to the requesting family.

Convoy of Lights

High Desert Grange and Toys for Tots are sponsoring their third annual Christmas Convoy of Lights on Dec. 2.

People are asked to line up by the Churchill County Library at 5 p.m.

To enter, a toy or cash donation to Toys for Tots is required. Trucks, tractors, trailers, ATVs, and UTVs are permissible entry vehicles. However, no animals are allowed.

Entry forms are available at https://form.jotform.com/220085593831154. For information, contact Gloria Montero at 775- 427-8210.

First responders food drive

The first responders of Churchill County are having their Holiday Food Competition on Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the Fallon Walmart.

During this competition, people are encouraged to give any food item to the agency of your choice. The agency that receives the most food in weight wins.

Agencies competing are the Fallon Police Department, Churchill County Sheriff’s Office, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police, Fallon-Churchill Volunteer Fire Department, Nevada Highway Patrol and Banner Churchill Community Hospital EMS.

During the 2022 food competition, the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office captured the title with 7,260 pounds. The Fallon Churchill Volunteer Fire Department had 6,560 pounds; Banner Churchill Emergency Medical Services, 3,520 pounds; Fallon Police Department, 2,980 pounds; Churchill County Search and Rescue, 1,800 pounds; Nevada Highway Patrol, 1,640 pounds; Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police, 280 pounds.

Since the annual competition began in 2016, volunteers have collected 122,877 pounds of food.

Tintabulations

The Churchill County Museum on Dec. 16 will host Tintabulations. The free concert is at 1 p.m. as part of the museum’s annual open house.

Holiday schedule

Most businesses are closed on Thursday, and state, county and city government offices are closed on Thursday and Friday. Federal government offices are closed Thursday. Both post offices resume their regular hours on Friday and Saturday. Naval Air Station Fallon operates on its holiday schedule.

The city of Fallon will have no garbage pickup on Thanksgiving. Those affected will have their garbage picked up on Friday.

Financial institutions are closed on Thanksgiving but check with your bank or credit union for any closures on Friday. Churchill County schools are closed as is Oasis Academy. No classes are scheduled at Western Nevada College.

City of Fallon events

Dec. 1 — Open house at the Fallon City Hall and the Douglass House from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Christmas tree lighting, Main Street, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — City Hall courtyard, 10 a.m.-noon: Santa’s Wonderland with cookie decorating, ornament making, letters to Santa station, free photos with Santa and more.

Lahontan Valley Concert Choir

The Sounds of Christmas Past will be conducted on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Fallon Theatre, and on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Churchill County High School theater.

Pennington Life Center

Stop by the Pennington Life Center in November for the many activities planned for the month.

Plenty of good eats at the Pennington Life Center: All are welcome to partake. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays. Cost is $6 for those under age 60 and a suggested donation of $3 for those 60 and older.

Rotary Club of Fallon

Rotary meets every Tuesday at noon at the Stockman’s Steakhouse. Each meeting usually has a speaker. Guests are welcome.

Donations to support seniors

Churchill County Social Services and the Independent Telecommunications Pioneer Association (ITPA) are joining forces this holiday season to collect donations from the community to help pay for utility bills (up to $150 initially) for local homebound seniors who use Meals on Wheels.

Social Services will verify the eligibility of seniors and keep all collected information confidential. Seniors who wish to participate will be entered into a raffle and donations raised will be distributed via raffle among those seniors who elect to participate.

“The more we raise, the more help we can provide those eligible and less fortunate folks. We can only succeed with businesses and citizens of our community making donations,” said Dawn A. Ballard, ITPA holiday coordinator.

Those wishing to donate should make payment to ITPA and mail to ITPA, CC Communications, P.O. Box 1390, Fallon, NV 89407.

Ballard can be reached via phone at 775-217-8773 or via email at: dawn.ballard@cccomm.co if there are any questions.

Donations accepted through Dec. 18.

Churchill County Library

Enjoy some of your holiday time at the Churchill County Library in December. After-school programs are suspended the week of Dec. 11 and there will be no story time on Dec. 21. Closed Dec. 25 for the Christmas holiday.

Special events:

• Teen Library Club: Heartstopper 5 Release Party on Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. in the library annex. Come dressed as your favorite Heartstopper character and spend the afternoon making your own graphic novel and doing other Heartstopper-related crafts. Register at: bit.ly/CCLHeartstopper.

• Learn-to-fly-a-drone workshop happening on Dec. 6 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

• Board game night also planned for Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. Families encouraged to attend.

• Sen. Rosen’s office representative at the library on Dec. 7 for “office hours” at 1 p.m. Stop by and let the senator’s staff know what your concerns are.

• Reading with Rover takes place on Dec. 7 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Children read books to dogs to improve their reading skills and confidence to a decidedly captive audience. Added bonus: our furry friends are great listeners!