Community news briefs for week of Nov. 27

Toys for Tots

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and Marine retirees are gathering gifts for the area’s 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 Museum at 5 p.m.

To enter this growing annual event, 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, Churchill County Sheriff’s, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police, Fallon-Churchill Volunteer Fire Department, Nevada Highway Patrol and Banner Churchill Community Hospital EMS.

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

Rotary annual Christmas drive

Fallon Rotary annual Christmas Drive has begun for local homebound seniors.

Bring items for the local homebound seniors to Kent’s Supply Center, 260 N. Maine St.

Please drop off unwrapped gifts by Dec. 12.

The following items are needed: Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, lotion/diabetic lotion, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, mouth wash, laundry soap, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, sanitation wipes, wash cloths, hair brushes, Kleenex, hand towels, blankets, pillows, socks, compression socks, thick gloves, jackets, warm PJ’s, winter hats/scarves, calendar, notebook, bed sheets, slippers, crossword/word searches (large print), dish soap, door mat, tape, napkins, paper plates, canned soups/tuna, cookies cat litter/food, treat, dog food/treats and anything else you think they might need.

Please look for easy to open packaging for both male and females.

Tintabulations return

Join us the Churchill County Museum on Dec. 16 as we welcome back Tintabulations. The free concert is at 1 p.m. as part of the museum’s annual open house.

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.

Military mail deadlines

Holiday Overseas Mail deadlines approaching: The U.S. Postal Service is preparing for the holiday season as many families spend holidays apart due to military service.

In order to ensure overseas packages are delivered before Dec. 25, it has provided the following deadlines: Dec. 9 for all Air/Army Post Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO) and Diplomatic Post Office (DPO) addresses with AE zip codes using Priority Mail and First-Class Mail; and Dec. 15 for APO/FPO/DPO addresses using USPS Priority Mail Express (excluding zip 093).

The Postal Service offers a free military care kit to ship items.

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, 2023.

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 December 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!

• Need a career change for the new year? Let EmployNV help you with aspects of finding a new job on Dec. 14 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the library. EmployNV staff will help you with aspects of finding a new job!

• Stop Motion Animation workshop happening on Dec. 20 at 3:30 p.m.