50 years ago, Reno hosted the first gay rodeo, an opportunity for LGBTQ participants and fans to enjoy the rodeo in a more inclusive and accepting environment. Since then, the International Gay Rodeo Association has helped put on gay rodeo events across the county. Reno hasn't hosted the event for almost 2 decades but this coming weekend, October 9-12, the rodeo will return to the Livestock Events Center for the 50th year since the event's founding.

On this episode, I spoke with Brian Helander and Roger Bergmann, the current and former presidents of the IGRA respectively, about the history of the organization and the gay rodeo, what attendees can expect that's different from the "regular" rodeo, special events unique to the gay rodeo, creating a more inclusive rodeo culture, how gay rodeos connect with other gay sports organizations, the challenging history of the event (in the 1980s the rodeo was cancelled in Fallon with the sheriffs department blocking the entrance with shotgun in hand), sexy gay cowboys, dances and other events taking place through the weekend, and much more!

You can get tickets AT THE DOOR so just head on down to the Silver Legacy any night around 6:30 for the evening events, or the Livestock Events center starting at 10am on Saturday or Sunday. Learn more about the event at http://www.igra.com

Thanks for listening and sharing!

Spooky Season has arrived and one of the best ways for scare enthusiasts to get the most out of it is to spend some time getting chased by monsters and zombies and horrors of all kinds (without ever being in real danger.) And of course the best place to do that is at a haunted house. Northern Nevada's premiere haunted house, Dark Corner, is moving this year from the National Bowling Stadium into the decommissioned state penitentiary in Carson City and becoming Dark Prison.

On this episode of Renoites, we're joined by Matthew Hawkins, makeup director for the company and creator of characters and props appearing in the 30,000+ square foot haunted houses (there are 3 separate areas within the prison). We talked about what goes into creating new characters for the haunt, the importance of storytelling and building on previous years, the difference between working in beauty makeup and effects makeup, doing makeup for a cast of dozens, the huge impact of horror movie culture, why it feels good to get scared, and much more!

You can buy tickets to Dark Prison at http://www.darkprison.com and find them on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/darkprisonhaunt

You can follow Matthew at http://www.instagram.com/matthew_hawkins_artistry

And of course follow Renoites at http://www.instagram.com/renoites and learn more about the show at http://linktr.ee/renoites

Send feedback and guest suggestions to Conor at [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

As the media landscape changes and we deal with new ways to get news and information, broadcast television still plays an important role. The national 24-hour cable networks aren't equipped to report on issues that are specific to Northern Nevada, and even as more news moves online, local news shows play an indispensable part.

Not all that news needs to be heavy or serious or focused on things like crime and disasters. There's also room for lifestyle content that highlights nonprofits and events and change makers in the community. That's where Katey Roshetko and her morning show "Morning Break" on KOLO channel 8 come in. Morning Break airs 5 days a week at 9:00 am and features a wide variety of local guests.

On this episode of Renoites, Conor and Katey talked about her journey into local broadcasting from early dreams of being a Disney star, overcoming anxiety in a highly visible profession, the difference between video and audio formats for news and talk, strategies for making interview guests feel at ease, how local news stations can remain relevant in the digital media era, the effects of large corporation ownership of local television stations, and much more!

You can watch Morning Break on KOLO Channel 8 weekday mornings at 9am and follow the show on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kolo8morningbreak

Be sure to follow Renoites on Instagram as well at http://instagram.com/renoites and learn more about the show at http://linktr.ee/renoites

You can always email feedback and guest suggestions to Conor at [email protected]

Thank you for listening!

Several times a year, dozens of amateur Northern Nevada filmmakers work to create short films 5-9 minutes long, in only 2 weeks. Their submissions are judged and winners are chosen in categories including Best Director and Audience Choice, and the films are screened and awards given at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City. The competition is coming up soon for Carson Creepy, a horror themed edition. This year's screenings will take place on October 25 and you can learn more at https://breweryarts.org/event/20241019-carson-creepy/

On this week's episode of Renoites we talk with Lyric Burt, Co-founder and President of Silver State Storytellers, the non-profit that puts on this great event. We talked about the ever-increasing accessibility to filmmaking, the local filmmaking community, Northern Nevada's appeal as a location for film production, Reno's local theater and the recently announced merger of Reno Little Theater and Good Luck Macbeth, and more!

You can find out more about Silver State Storytellers and their other events at https://nvstorytellers.org/ 

Thank you for listening! Be sure to follow Renoites on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites and send any comments/feedback/suggestions to [email protected] 

*This episode contains adult language

Family Soup Mutual Aid has been serving dinner to 150-200 local residents, many of them unhoused, every Tuesday night at the Believe plaza in downtown Reno for the last several years. This "distribution" event also provides clothing, shelter items, and basic over the counter medicine. As a horizontally organized, leaderless organization, decisions are made through collaboration and consensus and all work is done through volunteers and donations.

On this episode of Renoites, Conor sat down with the founder of the group, Nicole Anagapesis, to discuss how the Tuesday night distributions work, the challenge of getting people to overcome their fears or concerns about sharing space with our unhoused neighbors, strategies for improving downtown Reno without displacement, the benefits and challenges of being a leaderless organization, the sometimes contentious relationship between FSMA and the City of Reno and Downtown Reno Partnership, the chain link fences and questionable value of this summer's Rollin Reno skating rink, collaborating with local churches for the Good Neighbor Warming Centers that provide a place for women and families to escape the cold overnight in the winter, gun ownership and training for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable groups, and a whole lot more!

You can learn more about Family Soup Mutual Aid on their Instagram account at http://instagram.com/familysoupmutualaid or on their Substack newsletter at https://substack.com/@familysoupmutualaid

Thank you for listening! If you have suggestions for guests or any comments or feedback, please feel free to email me at [email protected] and be sure to follow me on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites

Tell your friends!

Tyler Colton moved to Reno from New York about 6 years ago to transition from a long career as a professional celebrity hair stylist into a bar owner and operator here in the Biggest Little City. Named after his cat, he opened The Emerson in Midtown as a craft cocktail bar staffed and supplied by women (as much as possible) and designed to feel like an upscale hotel lobby bar- a great place for a date.

In those 6 years, The Emerson has grown to be a mainstay in the Midtown neighborhood, winning Best Local Bar in the Reno News and Review the last two years in a row. Tyler also had to deal with the covid pandemic, which he described as a blessing in disguise, and multiple curveballs from the City of Reno along the way.

Cabaret licenses, live entertainment restrictions, conditional use permits, public comments, planning codes, and more are huge parts of the process in operating a local drinking establishment. And of course let's not forget that South Virginia Street had major overhaul during this time as well, with a hotly-debated median and roundabout installed.

On this episode of Renoites, we talked about the journey and the challenges of opening and operating the bar, the most important thing for new business owners to consider and plan for, the important decision of what kind of city Reno is going to grow into being, the introduction of major outdoor events like Dancing in the Street and Northern Nevada Pride to Midtown, his upcoming new bar The Selden (an LGBTQ+ cabaret style bar in the former Junkee building), ideas for revamping Virginia Street again but with bike lanes and parking, and much more!

If you have comments, questions, feedback, or just want to get in touch, be sure to follow me on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites or send me an email to [email protected]

Thanks for listening and telling everyone you know to listen too!

For any business or nonprofit or government agency, it is very important to be able to tell the story about what you do and why it matters. It is important to relay information clearly and in a culturally appropriate way. In a state like Nevada, with one of the highest Spanish speaking populations in the United States, that can mean providing evacuation instructions for wildfires, or during covid it meant ensuring that information about prevention and vaccines had to be accurate.

For local media, it has meant figuring out how to include Spanish language reporting on mostly-english channels, or including more diverse voices in the stories that are being told.

Our guest on this episode is Vanessa Vancour, a bilingual strategic storyteller and marketer who worked with UNR to launch noticiero movil, a Spanish language media outlet that began at the Reynolds School of Journalism, and currently works as the Language Access Coordinator for the Nevada Secretary of State’s office. She also operates her own consulting firm, Vancourage. 

You might have seen Vanessa’s popular Ted Talk “I’m Mexican. Does that change your assumptions about me” in which she talked about the experience of straddling two different languages and cultures. On today’s episode, we talked about the difference between just translating words and actually telling stories, how language accessibility includes prioritizing simple and clear vocabulary, the importance of capturing the stories of our elders including in their own words and voices, and a lot more!

It has been wonderful to see so much growing support for the work I am doing to create this show. Renoites is an independent, locally oriented and community funded project. It can’t exist without financial support from listeners just like you. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this work on Patreon, including several new patrons this week! You can learn more about how you can support the show at patreon.com/renoites or just renoites.com

If you have suggestions, comments, feedback or otherwise want to get in touch, you can reach me at [email protected] 

Federally Qualified Health Centers were created during the civil rights era to bring health care to more people, particularly underserved communities. Here in Northern Nevada, HOPES was originally a clinic for patients with HIV but has since expanded into a FQHC providing primary care and other services to around 14,000 patients in the Reno/Sparks area.

On this episode of Renoites, I spoke with HOPES CEO Sharon Chamberlain about the history of HOPES and the services they provide, especially the type of services needed by our most vulnerable citizens. We also discussed how health care options have changed during her career, and the priorities of HOPES including harm reduction syringe exchange, sexual health and STI testing, medically assisted treatment for addiction, and mental and behavioral health.

HOPES recently opened a second clinic immediately adjacent to the Cares Campus and operates the Hope Springs tiny home transitional housing community right across the street. We talked about the importance of this new location and making health care accessible to the unhoused.

Thank you so much for listening! Did you know that Renoites is entirely funded by listeners just like you? Please consider supporting the show financially! You can just send a one time contribution via Venmo to @renoites or sign up to support monthly on Patreon!

If you have guest suggestions, feedback, or otherwise want to get in touch, email me at [email protected]

Please tell people about the podcast and help spread the word by posting about it and telling your friends! Your word of mouth is worth much more than any online ad or boosted social media post. Thank you!

Nevada has an unusual legislative calendar, in which our legislature doesn’t meet every year, but every other year. And they don’t meet the entire year either- the session is only 120 days. 120 days to do all the lawmaking for a state of millions of people. Obviously, these are busy times and there is a lot going on.

Thankfully, our guest on this episode is political reporter Lucia Starbuck from KUNR. Lucia hosts her own podcast called Purple Politics Nevada and focuses on political issues particularly affecting us here in Northern Nevada. We talked about some of the current proposed legislation, what it’s like being one of only a few reporters following all the happenings, and much more.

On this episode, we mentioned an upcoming live event being hosted by Lucia. That event took place on March 4 and can be seen here on YouTube

I am hoping to do more audience Q&A and interact a bit more. If you have questions, suggestions, ideas, or things you'd like me to answer or talk about on the show, let me know! Thanks to Dan for submitting a question for this episode! My email address is [email protected]

You can find links to my social media and Patreon (if you are able to support the show financially) at http://www.renoites.com

Thank you so much for listening!

The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is the agency that handles much of how we get around in Reno. They design and execute road projects, manage our local public transit, and very soon they will be installing bike infrastructure along several major streets downtown to create the Biggest Little Bike Network.

Today on the show, we welcome Sara Going, Project Manager at RTC for the Biggest Little Bike Project, to talk about these upcoming street improvements, how they affect local businesses, connecting different neighborhoods, creating safety (and a feeling of safety) for bike riders and all users of the road, what was learned from 2022's micro-mobility pilot project, planned replacement of structurally deficient bridges, and so much more!

If you enjoy this episode and would like to support Renoites financially, your generous contribution is incredibly appreciated. You can learn more and sign up to help this ad-free, locally-oriented project continue on into the future. Learn more at http://www.renoites.com

Thank you so much for listening! If you have guest suggestions, comments, feedback, or questions for an upcoming mailbag/Q&A episode, send them over to [email protected] or connect with me on social media. Links can be found at http://www.renoites.com