39 North Pole Village 2017

I’m a proud board member for 39 North Downtown, community group. Our next special event is 39 North Pole Village. Below is a press release I wrote for the event. Hope to see you all at 39 North Pole Village!

 

39 North Pole Village Grows to
Three-Day Light Festival  

WHEN: Thursday, December 7 – Saturday, December 9, 2017
WHERE: Victorian Square Plaza
TICKETS: FREE event!

Santa at 39 North Pole Village

Sparks, Nevada – Two-days of holiday cheer in downtown Sparks was not enough for the thousands of people that attended 39 North Pole Village holiday light festival last year, so this year event planners have added a third day of festivities.

The popular event held December 7 – December 9, in downtown Sparks has thousands of holiday enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the transformation of Victorian Square into a winter wonderland. More than 10,000 people are expected to visit 39 North Pole Village this December. The annual holiday light festival features thousands of twinkling lights, FREE Engine 39 train rides, live music, craft vendors, great food, family fun and holiday cheer.

The heated vendor village tent will provide guests with an opportunity to stay warm while they shop local this holiday season. Santa will also be there to take requests and read special letters he has received to make this a truly special holiday tradition.

39 North Pole Vendor Village 2016

Returning this year is the Griswold Challenge, where local families and businesses compete in a light display contest inspired by the one and only Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Last year Salon 2000 from Sparks won $300 in the contest. To enter teams will pay a $100 entrance fee for a 10×20 space to decorate.

Salon 2000 won the Griswold Challenge in 2016. The team won $300.

The Griswold Challenge is a unique contest because the displays are all built by local businesses and families. This is a People’s Choice award contest, so people attending the event will determine the winning team.  The winners will receive half of the contest registration fees as a cash prize. The more teams that compete, the larger the prize money awarded. “It’s really fun to compete in the Griswold Challenge. Last year contestants were working their displays and encouraging people to vote for them. It was really competitive,” said co-chair and community volunteer Lisa Jansen. “Voting ends at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night, and then the winner will be announced as soon as the ballots are counted. Everyone should make sure they come down early and vote for their favorite display.”

“This is a community event and we are seeking help from families and businesses in the community that would like to sponsor the event, compete in the Griswold Challenge, or volunteer,” said Angela Handler, 39 North Events Director. “We’re also accepting donations of new holiday lights and decorations.”

39 North Pole Village is sponsored by 39 North Downtown, City of Sparks, Nugget Casino Resort, One Nevada Credit Union, Tholl Fence Company, NV Energy, Nevada Health Link, and Contract Flooring.

People in the community who would like to support the event or compete in the Griswold Challenge can contact Angela Handler at (775) 690-2581 or angela@39NorthDowntown.com for more information.

39 North Pole Village Schedule of Events*
Thursday, December 7:

Event Hours: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.

• 4:00 p.m. – Display lighting and booths open
• 4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Free rides on Engine 39
• 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Santa Visits
• 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Excel Christian School Live Nativity Scene
• 9:00 p.m. – Event Closes

Friday, December 8:

Event Hours: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.

• 4:00 p.m. – Display lighting and booths open
• 4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Free rides on Engine 39
• 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Santa Visits
• 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Excel Christian School Live Nativity Scene
• 7:00 p.m. – Retro Radio Dolls Musical performance
• 9:00 p.m. – Event Closes

Saturday, December 9:

Event Hours: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.

• 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Food Trucks
• 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Fate Awaits: Teen local band
• 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Ugly Sweater Making
• 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Excel Christian School Live Nativity Scene
• 2:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Visit with Santa
• 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Free Rides on Engine 39
• 4:00 p.m. – Display lighting
• 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. – Laughing Owl Preforms: Egg Nogged (A tale about a clumsy Elf)
• 5:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Visits with Santa
• 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Free Rides on Engine 39
• 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Excel Christian School Live Nativity Scene
• 7:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. – Tintabulations Handbell Ensemble
• 9:00 p.m. – Event Closes

*Subject to change. Please check website for the latest schedule information.

 

Visionary Board Retreat

39 North Downtown Board of Directors

I recently joined the 39 North Downtown community organization board of directors. We had our first board retreat on Friday at Visionary Reno where we created vision boards. We worked on individual boards and a group board. It was an excellent activity that I highly recommend personally, professionally, and for all your non-profit groups. It is a great tool for building focus and making goals a reality.

What is a vision board?

A vision board is a collection of images that help you clarify and focus on whatever you want to be or make happen in your life. The concept is based on the law of attraction: “like attracts like.” Thinking about something means you invite it in. What you put out to the universe will be attracted to you.

Supplies:

• A large board for photos and magazine clippings
• Scissors
• Glue sticks or tape
• Pens
• Fun decorations like gems, pearls, ribbon, pictures, etc.
• Magazines
• 2-3 hours of dedicated time to focus on creating a vision board

Our board of directors’ visionary experience took place at Visionary Reno. Our exercise leader was Jessica Snyder, owner of Visionary Reno. Jessica started by giving us some ground rules and encouragement. She frequently leads inspirational workshops and team building classes. She puts out so much positive energy you can’t help but be inspired.

Our goal for the day was to create vision boards for our involvement as 39 North board members. We went through magazines and ripped out any pages that meant something to us or resonated with what we wanted to do with our board position. We didn’t have to know why the magazine page meant something to us, we just had to pull it out if it inspired us on our mission.

After pulling out lots of pages, we started cutting out the meaningful parts of the page. We then separated the cut outs for our individual boards and for our group board. As we were crafting our boards we were visiting with each other and discussing what we wanted to achieve. We also got to know each other better through small talk and a little bit of a gossip session. It was a great team building exercise for our group since we are always so rushed when we see each other. The exercise took about two hours.

We each started crafting our own boards. Jessica helped us put together the group board. When we were all done, we each mentioned one highlight from our board and then we went over the group board. It was a great exercise because it got us all moving in the same direction on the same goals. It was a very inspiring afternoon!

I highly recommend using vision boards. No matter what the goal or project is, a vision board can help you visualize what you want to do and keep you focused on your objectives. If you live in the Reno-Sparks area I encourage you to contact Visionary Reno and make an appointment. They hold classes for individuals, nonprofit organizations, work teams, and groups of friends. You will definitely feel inspired!

If you can’t make it down to Visionary Reno, you can try to make a vision board at home.

First you will need to find a place at your house that is an inspiring setting. When you go to Visionary Reno you walk into a beautifully decorated room stocked with everything you could possibly need. Visionary Reno is clean, it has all the supplies you could dream of, and if you like…it also has a bar where you can buy drinks. Try to replicate this inspiring setting in your home. Find a nice quiet place with no distractions. Look for a clean working space that inspires you and allows you to focus on creating your vision board.

Next, you will want to start working on what you would like to get out of this experience. You want to work on visualizing a goal or focusing on what you want to feel. It doesn’t have to be anything big, small goals work too. Don’t just focus on materialism, focus on how you want to feel and how you want to live.

Start the exercise by looking through magazines and visualizing and focusing on what you want and what you want to feel. You can’t mess this up. Anything can go on your vision board. As you look through the magazines start ripping out pages that mean something to you or that you identify with. Even if you don’t know why you like the page, or why it resonates, just rip it out.

After you’ve got a nice pile of magazine pages, and you feel good about what you’ve found, start clipping out the meaningful pieces. Clip out pictures, phrases, anything that will help you create the vision that will inspire you. Then start laying these pieces out on your board and gluing them in place.

It was funny to watch our board members do this part of the exercise because two of us are event planners and very Type A personalities. We put everything in order all organized and then started gluing. Other members just glued the pieces as they went and built it as a puzzle in real-time. It was funny to see the group dynamics and personalities showing up in such a small gesture.

Once you finish your board look back over it and go over all your pieces. It is really inspiring! You can’t help but feel you are on your way to reaching your goals.

After you are all done make sure you put your board in a place where you will see it often. This will help you stay motivated on your achievable goals. Use this as a daily affirmation to keep focus on your goals and you will see results in no time.  If you can see it, you can achieve it!

I have placed my vision board on the book case near the front door at my house. I look at it every time I leave the house and every time I come home. I take pride in the board and I feel like my goals and objectives are obtainable. I already feel like this exercise has inspired me and that I’m ready to put more energy towards my goals.

Vision Board 1-27-17

Here are some tidbits from my vision board…

• An extraordinary year – Make this an extraordinary year. There are changes on the horizon and lots of opportunity. Make the most of this for 39 North.
• Gardens that inspire – We are planting seeds right now that will make the community better for years to come. We just need to water these seeds and watch them grow
• You’ve Got A Great Team – The 39 North board is enthusiastic and ready to climb mountains. With a great team like this, we will make a difference.
• Local Designers on Decorative Arts – We want to focus more on art and bring more art to Sparks, NV.
• Share Some Holiday Happiness – Make 39 North Pole Village the best one yet. Share the event with more people and get more sponsors and Griswold Challenge contestants.
• Own A Moment In Time – Remember to focus on the present and not get too carried away planning the future. Live in the moment.
• Business – I’m the new leader for Sparks Business Connection so I need to focus on that and take it to the next level.
• The Change Maker – Make positive change.
• Dig A Little Deeper – Keep working even when you think you don’t have anything left.
• Photo of a present with the letter C – This is to remind me to focus on what a blessing my boyfriend Charlie is and to show him appreciation.
• Travel – I crave it, and I need more of it.
• The essentials of life – Don’t lose sight of what is important and what you can’t live without.
• Tiny Home Big Dreams – My house may not be the biggest right now, but the dreams under its roof are mighty.
• I’m thankful for… – this is a reminder to show appreciation and count my blessings.
• Who Wants Happiness? You – ME! Work hard to make things happen. Remember to give myself time and space to be happy and do what I enjoy doing even if it has nothing to do with accomplishing goals or moving to the next level.
• Simply Beautiful – Making a difference and reaching new heights is a beautiful thing.

I’ve enjoyed the process of creating a vision board. I’m a big fan of this concept and the law of attraction.

If you are already a vision board enthusiast, please comment below about your experiences with vision boards and what is on your vision board. 

For everyone else, I encourage you to go out and make a vision board, heck make five of them! If you’d like to go to Visionary Reno and experience the perfect setting to dream, please check out their website and contact them to sign up for a session.

39 North Pole Village 2016

39 North Pole Village Returned to Sparks December 9 – December 10, 2016

Volunteer Sweatshirt

39 North Downtown community group presented the 2nd annual 39 North Pole Village on Friday, December 9 and Saturday December 10 at Victorian Square Plaza. I have had a lot of fun with this event because I helped start it last year, and I am helping it grow each year.

The event unofficially started in 2014 with a tiny event where parents brought their kids down to Victorian Square to write letters to Santa and put them in a large mailbox. Then in 2015, we decided to add a light festival and vendors to the event and call it 39 North Pole Village. Interest in the event skyrocketed! It has been very rewarding to see the event grow and I’m proud to be co-chair of the committee that is making this happen for the Sparks community.

Photo by: Donald Abbott

The second-year of 39 North Pole Village was at least twice as large as the 2015 event. The winter wonderland featured thousands of sparkling lights, holiday shopping booths, great food and holiday cheer. There were free pictures with Santa and a special booth where children could write letters to Santa. The highlight of the event was Engine 39, the newest member of the “Rail City” fleet. Rides are always free, so this is a great option for families that are looking to entertain the little ones.

Another new addition this year was the Veterans Resource Center of America booth run by Shane Whitecloud and crew. This booth was fully stocked with Christmas cards so event attendees could sign a card and have it sent to military folks serving overseas. It was so popular that they ran out of cards and had to find more. It was a great addition to the second annual event and nice to see our community sending holiday wishes to our military serving far from home.

39 North Pole Village is a truly special holiday celebration. This year we added the Griswold Family Challenge. The event, inspired by Clark Griswold in the Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation movie, saw families and businesses compete for the best light display. This is a really fun competition because there is cash on the line. It costs $100 to enter the competition and $50 per entry fee goes into the prize pool. The winner this year was Salon 2000 and they won $350. I’m going to try to get a lot more businesses to compete next year, hopefully the prize money is more than $1,000 in 2017.

This was my Griswold Family Challenge display. I didn’t win, but the kiddos loved my display.

We also had a larger vendor tent in 2016. It was sold out to vendors renting space. The tent is heated so it is very popular at this winter event. The vendors said it was a great event for them and they all went home with quite a bit of extra money in their bank accounts just in time for the holidays. We hope next year to have so many vendors that we need two tents.

Vendor tent at 39 North Pole Village – Photo by: Donald Abbott

We were happy with how the event turned out this year, but there was one big issue. Mother Nature. On the second day of the event it rained all day and all night, which put some pressure on the power grid and caused some of the light displays to go dark. We are going to need to invest in more electrical supplies and protective boxes since this is an outdoor winter event.

We also had a bit of flooding in the vendor tent because it was raining so hard. Our volunteers and board members jumped into action and we were able to save the light displays and reroute the flood waters as best as possible. Having events during the winter is challenging to say the least!

We have big plans for this event. I personally hope that over the next 10 years it continues to grow and eventually it is so big that the displays stay up the whole month of December. It is a lot of work to setup the displays so it is a bummer when you take them down after two days. The event needs to grow so that the displays can be built and left open to the public for the whole month.

We had several new sponsors this year and I’m sure that will also continue to grow next year. With the community’s help, we will grow a new holiday tradition for future generations!

I can’t wait to see what we accomplish with the 2017 event!

For more information about 39 North Downtown click here.

If you would like to become a sponsor or volunteer for 39 North Pole Village, please email me at LisaJansenNV@gmail.com and I will send you more information.

 

Best Holiday Events to Attend: Sparks Edition

Photo Source: pixabay.com

The holidays are a magical time of year. There are so many traditions and more special events to attend than one can put on the calendar. To make the most of your family time this holiday season, don’t miss these three special events. They all offer family fun at an affordable price. Enjoy the season!

 

Sparks 29th Annual Hometowne Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 5, 2015 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
This year the theme of the parade is “All Aboard The Hometowne Express!” and you should come down to Sparks to see one of the best holiday parades in the great State of Nevada. The traditional Christmas parade will feature a train theme this year. Enjoy entertainment, photos with Santa, and arts and crafts. Don’t forget to bring a toy for the annual Toys-For-Tots toy drive.
Cost: FREE
Parking: Surface lots around the parade route, in the parking garage by the theater or the garage on C Street.
Sparks Hometowne Christmas Parade Facebook Page

 

39 North Pole Village – New Event!
Friday, December 11, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. and Saturday, December 12, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
The Nugget Casino Resort and 39 North Downtown are partnering to bring you this new event that will turn downtown Sparks into a holiday winter wonderland. The event will feature thousands of sparkling lights, holiday shopping booths for unique gifts, great food, family fun and holiday cheer. Santa will be there to read special letters and take requests. Stop by the Hot Chocolate Holiday Train and take in a special showing of “The Polar Express” in the Amphitheater. This is an inaugural event that is sure to become a new holiday tradition for families in northern Nevada.
Cost: FREE (Christmas light donations are appreciated)
Parking: Surface lots around the event, in the parking garage on C Street, or in the Nugget parking garage.
39 North Pole Village Facebook Page

 

The Nutcracker
Friday, December 18 – Wednesday, December 23
Reno Dance Company’s 14th annual Nutcracker appearance will be held in the Celebrity Showroom at the Nugget Casino Resort. The Nutcracker ballet is based on the story “The Nutcracker and the King of Mice” written by E.T.A. Hoffman, and is always popular during the holiday season. The story takes place on Christmas Eve and has become a special tradition for many families that take in the show each year the week before Christmas. Proceeds from the show benefit Reno Dance Company.
Cost: Tickets are $26.95 for regular seating. $21.95 for seniors, and $19.95 for children under 12. VIP booth seating is available for $36.95 per ticket. Click here for show times, ticket purchases and additional ticket information.
Parking: Nugget Casino Resort parking garage or surrounding parking lots.

It truly is the most wonderful time of year. Enjoying time with family and friends is important, so please share this information with your loved ones. We hope to see you at all of these great events in Sparks!

Do you have a tradition or favorite special event you attend during the holiday season? Please share your traditions by posting a comment.