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Call it a city in the black.
A solvent South Lake Tahoe celebrated its 40th birthday Tuesday with pins of the city flag, stickers, cake and much reminiscing since its incorporation.
"It will be a year of planned activities," City Clerk Susan Alessi said.
Of the slew of challenges, disagreements and accomplishments too long to all be listed here, one striking aspect of life in South Lake Tahoe stands out.
Tough as they may seem, some issues from decades ago are still pending. Case in point, talk of a proposed convention center resumed Tuesday during the City Council's regular 9 a.m. meeting. In a search through the city's first scrapbook assembled by Alessi and Assistant City Clerk Ellen Boyle, a clipping in the Tahoe Daily Tribune in July 1966 pointed out how the early council talked about building a convention center on Happy Homestead Cemetery land. This was property Tahoe pioneer Marjorie Springmeyer donated to the city through her ranching family's estate.
To hear many of the old-timers tell it, the town on the South Shore's California side incorporated in November 1965 with the promise of independence - like the attitude of its El Dorado County lake settlers.
"We wanted to have control of our own destiny," said Del Laine, the city's mayor in 1977. Her daughter, Brooke, followed in her footsteps, taking the gavel 24 years later.
Laine reflected fondly on a time when most residents knew each other, the community seemed "self-contained" and "99 percent of the businesses were locally owned," said Laine, who ran an advertising firm and photographic lab with her husband, Ed. The population at that time of incorporation barely topped 14,000 people, according to the U.S. Census.
The mid-1960s marked a less sophisticated time.
"We'd stay amused playing a lot of Monopoly and card games. We'd go for walks after dinner from the cabins with a flashlight, and full moons were wonderful," she said. "We'd see a kid walking, pick him up and take him to school. Now you wouldn't think of doing that."
The time also brought forth an age of prosperity with a building boom. Motels soon popped up on Highway 50, and the visitors followed.
Longtime residents have their most memorable moments.
For Laurel Ames, it was when Caltrans considered mapping out a highway between Highway 50 and Pioneer Trail in the early 1970s. The idea proved unpopular for business groups and environmentalists. The latter didn't like the proposed line running over several meadows. Merchants couldn't embrace losing tourist dollars.
"They feared people would just drive through," said Ames, whose husband, William, led the Citizens for Local Government, which was established to drive the incorporation. The couple lived in a cabin where Alpen Sierra Coffee's retail operation at Pioneer Trail and Highway 50 is located.
Tourism, transportation and togetherness highlighted a region in the state of transition. Its first city hall was located in the community room of Tahoe Savings and Loan where Nel's Hardware now sits. The local government to this day seeks a site for a permanent city hall.
Again, some things don't change. A city sign ordinance forced the building management at the savings and loan to take down a sign advertising its interest rates. This year, the city was forced to remove a banner off its parking garage because it violated its own contemporary ban on temporary signs.
And the South Shore Chamber of Commerce played an active role in spearheading the drive for incorporation, half a year later requesting money to fund tourism efforts. The chamber's bid to do so again this year will probably unravel as the council is expected to take the necessary steps to disband the Tourism Promotion Business Improvement District.
"We've changed a lot in the last 40 years. We have to be cognizant of that and evolve in changing times. We don't have to evolve physically. We just have to be true to locals and visitors," said outgoing Mayor Kathay Lovell, who will turned over the gavel to Councilman Hal Cole Tuesday. "We as a city have had our successes and our challenges. But we're checking off our goals and our wrongs. I guess the BID was one of them."
A solvent South Lake Tahoe celebrated its 40th birthday Tuesday with pins of the city flag, stickers, cake and much reminiscing since its incorporation.
"It will be a year of planned activities," City Clerk Susan Alessi said.
Of the slew of challenges, disagreements and accomplishments too long to all be listed here, one striking aspect of life in South Lake Tahoe stands out.
Tough as they may seem, some issues from decades ago are still pending. Case in point, talk of a proposed convention center resumed Tuesday during the City Council's regular 9 a.m. meeting. In a search through the city's first scrapbook assembled by Alessi and Assistant City Clerk Ellen Boyle, a clipping in the Tahoe Daily Tribune in July 1966 pointed out how the early council talked about building a convention center on Happy Homestead Cemetery land. This was property Tahoe pioneer Marjorie Springmeyer donated to the city through her ranching family's estate.
To hear many of the old-timers tell it, the town on the South Shore's California side incorporated in November 1965 with the promise of independence - like the attitude of its El Dorado County lake settlers.
"We wanted to have control of our own destiny," said Del Laine, the city's mayor in 1977. Her daughter, Brooke, followed in her footsteps, taking the gavel 24 years later.
Laine reflected fondly on a time when most residents knew each other, the community seemed "self-contained" and "99 percent of the businesses were locally owned," said Laine, who ran an advertising firm and photographic lab with her husband, Ed. The population at that time of incorporation barely topped 14,000 people, according to the U.S. Census.
The mid-1960s marked a less sophisticated time.
"We'd stay amused playing a lot of Monopoly and card games. We'd go for walks after dinner from the cabins with a flashlight, and full moons were wonderful," she said. "We'd see a kid walking, pick him up and take him to school. Now you wouldn't think of doing that."
The time also brought forth an age of prosperity with a building boom. Motels soon popped up on Highway 50, and the visitors followed.
Longtime residents have their most memorable moments.
For Laurel Ames, it was when Caltrans considered mapping out a highway between Highway 50 and Pioneer Trail in the early 1970s. The idea proved unpopular for business groups and environmentalists. The latter didn't like the proposed line running over several meadows. Merchants couldn't embrace losing tourist dollars.
"They feared people would just drive through," said Ames, whose husband, William, led the Citizens for Local Government, which was established to drive the incorporation. The couple lived in a cabin where Alpen Sierra Coffee's retail operation at Pioneer Trail and Highway 50 is located.
Tourism, transportation and togetherness highlighted a region in the state of transition. Its first city hall was located in the community room of Tahoe Savings and Loan where Nel's Hardware now sits. The local government to this day seeks a site for a permanent city hall.
Again, some things don't change. A city sign ordinance forced the building management at the savings and loan to take down a sign advertising its interest rates. This year, the city was forced to remove a banner off its parking garage because it violated its own contemporary ban on temporary signs.
And the South Shore Chamber of Commerce played an active role in spearheading the drive for incorporation, half a year later requesting money to fund tourism efforts. The chamber's bid to do so again this year will probably unravel as the council is expected to take the necessary steps to disband the Tourism Promotion Business Improvement District.
"We've changed a lot in the last 40 years. We have to be cognizant of that and evolve in changing times. We don't have to evolve physically. We just have to be true to locals and visitors," said outgoing Mayor Kathay Lovell, who will turned over the gavel to Councilman Hal Cole Tuesday. "We as a city have had our successes and our challenges. But we're checking off our goals and our wrongs. I guess the BID was one of them."
