April 2024

HRPS News & Updates

Dear HRPS Members,

It's officially Spring, and we're busy getting ready for our 25th Anniversary Gala. It's going to be a wonderful event and we can't wait to celebrate with you! Registration and sponsorship details below.

We had a full house at last month's program presentation by award-winning journalist/photographer, Marilyn Newton. Those who attended were treated to a rare collection of photos and stories that only she could tell.

This month, what could be more appropriate than a virtual walk through the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden with horticulturist, Luke Sorenson? After Luke's talk we know you'll want to go straight to the arboretum and be inspired by this gem in our midst.

Our April 14 program includes our Annual Report to Members, with highlights from 2023 and upcoming events for 2024. We hope you'll join us.

We bid farewell to board member, Bradley Carlson, this month, and thank him for 6 years of service to the HRPS board. As an architect and Historical Resources Commission member with longtime family roots in Northern Nevada, Brad has been an important voice for preservation. We'll still see him conducting a couple of our walking tours this summer and he promises not to be a stranger. Thank you, Brad!

The Spring issue of FootPrints will be out soon, featuring a retrospective of HRPS' first 25 years along with profiles of its leaders, a history of FootPrints itself, and a list of our May and June Walking Tours. Walking Tour registration will open by April 15.

Keep scrolling for articles on efforts to save the Southern Pacific Railroad Repair shop in Sparks, a new book and author presentation on Reno divorcees, a City of Reno Public Art survey, the Barber Brief, and what to do if you've been wronged by a licensed contractor.

We've used daffodils as the background for this month's newsletter because it is one of the earliest flowers to bloom in spring, I love their fragrance, and because of a vivid memory of unexpectedly stumbling across hundreds of them in an overgrown wooded area back in the Midwest, decades ago. I still recall the contrast of the brilliant yellow against the drab brown earth. It was an enchanting moment.

Reno still has many old historic buildings tucked away here and there, in parts of town that you might not even think of as historic, since so much as grown up around them. I encourage you to get out, walk or drive around, and discover what may be hiding in plain sight. As with my daffodils, may you be delighted with your discoveries!

Joy Orlich, President

joyorlich@sbcglobal.net

775-544-0686

HRPS 25th Anniversary Celebration!

Are you ready to celebrate?

Get out your vintage attire and get ready to slip back into yesteryear as you stroll the galleries of the National Automobile Museum, drink in hand, recalling your grandparent's old jalopy, your first car, or the swanky cars of the stars.

Your $50 ticket includes admission to the museum and all its galleries, a free drink, appetizers and heavy hors d'oeuvres, a free photo taken by a professional photographer in a vintage auto, and a retrospective of HRPS' first 25 years, honoring our past presidents.

We'll have an enticing array of silent auction items for you to bid on, including an exclusive Dinner for 6 at the Redfield Mansion, featured on our 2023 Harvest of Homes Tour.

Registration Deadline April 19, 2024

BECOME A GALA SPONSOR!

Your sponsorship will help underwrite our event and provide you or your organization with recognition of your support for historic preservation.

$100 – Name(s) listed in program/website

$250 – Business logo in program/website

$500 – Name/logo plus 2 tickets to Anniversary Gala

$1,000 – Name/logo, 4 tickets to Anniversary Gala

$2,500 – 25^th Anniversary Sponsor

Name/logo in our program and on our website

4 tickets to a private reception for Carol Coleman before the Gala

4 tickets to Anniversary Gala

Reserve a Sponsorship

April Program

The Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden:

A Reno Gem

with Luke Sorenson

Sunday, April 14, 2024, Noon-1:30pm

Downtown Reno Library, 301 S. Center Street, Reno, NV 89501

Free street parking on Sundays

Luke Sorenson

The Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden was established in 1983 and now houses more than 4,000 native and non-native plant species on nearly 23 acres inside Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno. It’s a showplace for plants and wildlife in the transition zone between the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin and is one of Reno’s real gems.

Luke Sorenson, the arboretum’s Horticulturist, will talk about the day-to-day challenges of maintaining it and some of its history as a Reno showplace. He’ll also reveal its next big project.

Program is free and open to the public.

Nevada Historical Society and Washoe County Libraries present

High Noon with Neal Cobb

Playa Life: Journey to Inner Space

with Bob Goodman, writer, photographer

Thursday, April 18, 2024, Noon-1:00pm, via Zoom

Admission is free but advance registration is required.

Bob Goodman

Join us while we take a journey through the surprising life forms that have developed from the Black Rock, Toulon, and 4-Mile playas during the summers of 2021 and 2022.

The Great Playa Designer has outdone itself with some of these new features. This continuing playa project will dispel the idea that playas are lifeless, boring, meaningless landscapes. They are full of life, both flora and fauna.

Have you subscribed to The Barber Brief?

What is the Barber Brief?

"I started this newsletter to help keep my local community in Reno, Nevada better informed about actions that impact our city’s development. I’m a frequent contributor and op-ed writer for media including This is Reno, C-SPAN, and The Nevada Independent, where my focus is on issues related to urban policy & planning, historic preservation, and the built environment.

But my expertise also extends to analyzing how the power of private interests, media, marketing, and PR efforts is leveraged by various entities to pursue specific political outcomes and shape public perception of these issues."

Readers know Alicia has a gift for explaining complex issues in a straightforward, easy to understand manner. With the decline in local news coverage, the Barber Brief is the only consistent, comprehensive review and analysis of activities that can have a big impact on our community, especially as it relates to growth, development, livability, and potential impact on historic places.

We encourage you to become both a reader and a subscriber of the Barber Brief.

The Barber Brief | Alicia Barber | Substack

The City of Reno Wants Your Input on Public Art

"Believe" sculpture on the Reno City Plaza - Survey must be completed by April 20 Reno Public Art Survey (surveymonkey.com)

The Divorcees - Book signing on April 3

Join the author for a special reading and discussion of the novel The Divorcees. Rowan Beaird will be joined in conversation by Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters. - Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 6pm at Sundance Books.

A "delicious" (Rebecca Makkai) and "deeply compelling" (Lauren Groff) debut novel set at a 1950s Reno divorce ranch, about the complex friendship between two women who dare to imagine a different future.

Lois Saunders thought that marrying the right man would finally cure her loneliness. But as picture-perfect as her husband is, she is suffocating in their loveless marriage. In 1951, though, unhappiness is hardly grounds for divorce—except in Reno, Nevada.

Rowan Beaird in Conversation with Katy Hays, The Divorcees | Sundance Books and Music (sundancebookstore.com)

Saving the Southern Pacific Railroad Repair Shop

Back in December, Sparks approved a resolution to save one of the oldest buildings in the city from demolition.

These days, the 120-year-old building located at 599 Nugget Ave. in Sparks, is used for storage. But it was once the foundation for the city we know today. The Machine Shop building was once used to repair trains. Between 1904 and 1957, the site was the largest terminal for Southern Pacific lines between Ogden, Utah and Sacramento. It is said to be the most significant railroad building in Nevada, if not in the entire Western U.S.

Politicians have been working behind the scenes to save the oldest building in Sparks (kolotv.com)

City of Sparks pushes to save historic Machine Shop building (sparkstrib.com)

Warehouse (Southern Pacific Repair Shops) | SAH ARCHIPEDIA (sah-archipedia.org)

National Register #82005066: Southern Pacific Railroad Repair Shops in Sparks, Nevada (noehill.com)

Wronged by a Licensed Contractor?

Nevada Has a Fund for That

Thinking of having work done on your yard or home? Worried about your recourse if they don't perform? You may have options if things go wrong.

Wronged by a licensed contractor? Nevada has a fund for that (thisisreno.com)

Aubrey's Grocery

The small brick building on the northwest corner of South Virginia and Mount Rose Streets (Currently the 40 Mile Saloon) has been a busy neighborhood bar for generations. When first constructed in 1937, however, it was a simple market and service station on the southern edge of Reno.

Photo courtesy of Mickey Pillers, ca. 1945

Aubrey's Grocery - Call it Aubrey's, Dunc's, Mr. O's, Eddie's Corner Bar, or 40 Mile, this neighborhood market turned bar has spanned generations. | Reno Historical

Join HRPS Today!

HRPS is "Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership". With over 500 members, your membership is a vote and a voice for historic preservation.

Do you have friends, neighbors, or family members who share an interest in local history? If so, forward a copy of this newsletter and encourage them to join HRPS! Or have them go to our website - Historic Reno Preservation Society - and click on the "Join Us" tab at the top of the page.

A single membership is just $25/year ($45 for a family membership), and you can now join and pay online.

Benefits of Membership