Labor Day weekend 2012 in Tahoe South

Labor Day weekend is the last of the big summer holidays in Lake Tahoe, and we have a lot of great public events from concerts to parties to boat races to help you end the summer season in Tahoe in style.

Shows that last all Weekend:

• Heavenly Village Labor Day Car show featuring classic cars and trucks on display at Heavenly Village
• Arts and Crafts fairs at the Horizon, South Tahoe Middle School, and in Truckee and across the region.

SATURDAY 9/1:

Firehouse pancake Breakfast 8-10AM

The Douglas county fire department will be hosting their annual all-you-can eat pancake breakfast at the firehouse on 9/1; all proceeds go to benefit the Tahoe-Douglas fire protection district. Great way to come out and meet the community while raising money for fire safety and defensible space in Lake Tahoe... Only $5.00 and kids eat free.

20th Annual Great Lake Tahoe Sternwheeler Race: 10:30-12:30AM

Every Labor Day weekend since I was a kid the Tahoe Queen has raced the M.S. Dixie II along the south Shore of Lake Tahoe. You can see it from any of the beaches along the south shore from Stateline all the way to El Dorado beach, though the best shore views are usually from Ski Beach where you can watch the Tahoe Queen leave and return, though you may find it hard to get a space there.
Lakeview commons also offers an excelent view of the race and has a much larger crowd capacity because of the big stone ampetheatre there. Of course, the best place When I was a kid my Grandpa used to take us out on his boat every year to watch the sternwheeler races, and I can highly reccomend the view from a boat since you can see way more than anyone on shore can. Check out my video of the 2010 Sternwheeler races if you're interested in seeing what it looks like from a boat.

By far the most exciting place to watch the races from is the deck of one of the two boats, and it's really a pretty good deal if you think about how rare the opportunity to be on the deck of a race boat is. If you go to ZephyrCove.com you can get tickets for as little as $25. I'm going to be filming it from the deck of the Tahoe Queen this year; so if you're on the Queen come say Hi and you can be in my video.

Sammy Hagar - The Red Rocker: 8:00PM

Also September 1st former Van Halen frontman and multi-platnum solo artist Sammy Hagar will be finishing off the season at Harvey's Outdoor Ampetheatre with his band the Wabos and special guests from Montrose, Chickenfoot, and Van Halen will be doing music from all across Sammy's long career. Better yet, according to Sammy's website RedRocker.com there will be an afterparty with ALL the artists at Sammy's basement bar in Harvey's Cabo Wabo.

LABOR DAY SUNDAY 9/2:

Montbleu end-of-season pool party:

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of the outdoor pool season in Lake Tahoe, so the Montbleu will be having an end-of-season pool party at their pool on Labor Day. There'll be a DJ, discounted drinks, and lots of people in swimsuits on display.

Sample the Sierra: 1:00-5:00 PM

Down at Ski Run on Labor Day there will be an all day Sample the Sierra organic food and wine event going on where you can sample wines from a dozen different wineries as well as food from Freshies, Lakeside Inn, the Blue Angel Cafe. There will also be an arts and crafts fair and a farmer's market where you can buy locally grown and organic produce from across the region. Tickets are $30.

Labor Day Fireworks: 8:30PM

As always, Lake Tahoe will be having another one of our amazing fireworks displays from Pyro Spectacular's Inc. on Labor Day. The show begins at 8:30PM and will be visible from most of the beaches on the South shore with synchronized music on KOWL 1600AM and KRLT 93.9FM. Check out my 4th of July weekend Planner for more information about Tahoe fireworks and where to watch them. For a sample of the fireworks themselves watch my video here

South Tahoe Antique and Classic Boat Show

I am boycotting the 2014 event See why here.

I went down to the Tahoe Keys Marina for the 5th annual South Lake Tahoe classic wooden boat show, and I got to see a bunch of great antique boats and classic boat reproductions; and got to talk to the passionate people who restore and care for these amazing boats. 

I got to talk to John Walti, the vice-commodore of the vintage division of the California Speedboat Association, who showed me the FT Barron perpetual trophy with every race winner since the club was founded in 1934.

I also got to talk to the owners of the 1924 gold-cup racer the "Baby Skipalong", which was widely considered to be the fastest boat on Lake Tahoe in the late 1920s. 

I got to talk to the owner of a reproduction 1938 Ventnor Gold-cup boat that was originally designed to carry a 500Lbs bomb in it's bow; as well as the builder of of a reproduction B-Racing Runabout from the early 1950s.

By far the most famous boat I saw there was George Whittell Jr's famous 60ft wooden Yacht "The Thunderbird".  Launched in 1940, by a man so rich he owned pretty much the entire east shore of Lake Tahoe, the Thunderbird represents the absolute hight of art deco wooden boat design.

I talked to Gary Jesh of the Thunderbird preservation society, and he said:

"We're enjoying a great afternoon with a lot of interesting people coming by. You know, this boat has been on Lake Tahoe for 70 years now, 72 years.
It was actually launched in 1940 by George Whittell Jr. himself! And it's a special thing for me today because in 1962 my dad Ray Jesh was working for Bill Harrah and Bill Harrah bought this boat from Whittell and restored it. So my brothers and I were up at the Thunderbird Lodge for 5 summers in a row, and that's what we were doing: getting this boat restored and ready, and look at the beautiful condition that it's in here."

"So today, this morning, for the first time in 37 years I got a chance to ride this boat once again, and it was just incredible! I can't tell you how beautiful it was with the memories of those years ago plus the new ones I made today coming all the way from the Thunderbird Lodge down by Sand Harbor, NV down here to the south shore at 20 knots. It was just a great morning and I know I'll never forget it."

For a full gallery of the boat show on google+, click here.