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For a listing of July 4 activities around the Eastern Sierra, check out the 2012 Eastern Sierra Summer Guide by clicking the link below:

Summer Guide

Photo: Geisel

Looking for the ultimate guide for your summer in the high country? Click the link below for The Sheet’s 2012 Eastern Sierra Summer Guide, or pick up a copy from newsstands everywhere!

Summer Guide

Or click on this link to check it out online: http://thesheetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012WeddingGuide.pdf

Mammoth local Gaasch readies Jaymin to serve as someone’s eyes 

April 25 is International Guide Dog Day, typically commemorated the last Wednesday of each April, and it’s also the 70th anniversary of Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB). Decades later, thousands of lives have been changed for the better by the organization, and thanks to Mammoth local Leigh Gaasch, two more lives are about to be changed: hers and the recipient of Jaymin, which Gaasch raised from a pup.

“GDB has helped visually impaired and blind people have independence and freedom, and that’s one of the best gifts you can give somebody,” Gaasch enthused.

GDB was created in 1942 to aid servicemen blinded in WWII. Services are offered free of charge to people throughout the U.S. and Canada. Owners do not need to be totally, just legally, blind to receive a guide dog.

GDB has campuses located San Rafael, Calif., and Boring, Ore., near Portland, but have “puppy clubs” established in various locales. (In the Eastern Sierra, Betsy and Peter Thomsen head up Eastern Sierra Guide Puppies.)

GDB has paired more than 13,000 dogs with vision-impaired humans since 1942. The non-profit organization receives no government assistance, and is funded entirely by private donations.

Subsequently, GDB relies heavily on its network of volunteers, with many opportunities on the campuses available in the breeding program, raising puppies, helping out as drivers and even as public relations speakers, among many others. “A puppy raiser receives their puppy when it’s around 8 weeks of age, and starts right away with teaching the guide puppy good house manners, basic commands and above all socializing the puppies to the world,” Gaasch explained.

She said people typically ask one of two questions. “The first is, ‘How can you give up the dog at the end? I could never do that?’” she related. “Puppy raisers do grow a very strong bond with their puppy. It’s hard not to shed a tear saying goodbye, after all we are only human.”

Second question: do the dogs ever get to just be a dog? “Absolutely,” Gaasch said. “The dogs learn that when a vest or harness is on, they are working, but when it’s off, they are like the other dogs. They can play in the backyard, be more like a family dog.”

GDB’s work is one part of several service dog groups that train puppies in Mammoth Lakes. Others include Search and Rescues dogs, avalanche dogs, and other more for all sorts of disabilities and impairments. The benefit, according to Joanne Ritter with the Guide Dogs organization, can be mutual.

“It takes a community to raise a guide dog,” Ritter said. “We have a saying: ‘Inside the heart of every Guide Dog beats the heart of a puppy raiser.’ Jaymin has changed Leigh’s life, and you get something rich and rewarding back by raising a puppy.”

Prospective first-time dog owners are a great fit for a GDB puppy. “We need puppy raisers and if you’ve ever thought about getting a first dog, you might consider raising a Guide Dog puppy first. You’ll learn a lot about how to have a well trained, well behaved, socialized dog,” Ritter said. “You can’t raise a dog in a kennel and expect it to properly live in a home and go out into the public. These dogs save lives every day.”

One Oregon woman has had GDB dogs for 60 of the organization’s 70 years, and still has one today, even after just celebrating her 94th birthday.

Don’t think you’re not the right person to be a puppy raiser. Methods have advanced considerably over the years, Ritter noted. “You don’t need any prior dog raising experience, but you do need a big heart.” One last treat for puppy parents: Gaasch will be invited to attend Jaymin’s graduation and meet her new human companion.

Learn more at www.guidedogs.com. If you would like to learn more about the Puppy Club, and raising a guide puppy or being a puppy sitter, you can reach Betsy Thomsen at 760.920.8891 or betsythomsen@hotmail.com.

The 2012 Eastern Sierra Wedding Guide is now available online. Check it out by clicking here.

Want to know where to eat on the Eastside? Click the link below to check out The Sheet’s inaugural dining guide! Warning: it might make you drool a bit.

Dining Guide

Ladies and Gentlemen, the story you’re about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

With that opening borrowed from the TV series Dragnet, let’s begin.

A local property owner called Mono County on Monday to pay her property taxes.

According to the information printed on the back of her tax bill, “Taxes … are delinquent if not postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service by 5 p.m. on December 10th. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the hour of delinquency is 5 p.m. on the next business day.”

So she was on time.

The County lists four ways a person can pay their taxes: By check, cashier’s check, money order, or by credit card. It does not list restrictions as to when these methods of payment can and cannot be used.

When our dutiful property owner went online to pay by credit card on Monday, the system was down.

She was told by an employee in the Tax Collector’s office that the system would be functional in two days time.  At that time, however, the payment would be late and penalties would be assessed.

The clerk suggested that the property owner pay by check and get her payment postmarked by 5 p.m.

“Would I be paying by credit card if I had any money in my checking account?” asked the property owner in exasperation.

As of press time, we had not heard back from Mono County Tax Collector Rose Glazier or Finance Director Brian Muir as to whether the 10% late penalty would be rescinded.

On a side note, the property owner points out that the County charges a special $40 fee to pay online. “It does not state on the tax bill that a ‘convenience fee’ will be added to pay online. You do not find that out until you go on the site.”

This reminds me of my own spat with the dreaded Tax Collector’s office some three years ago. I bought a house in December 2008 and then sometime around May I got a notice that I’m delinquent on my 2nd half taxes.

Me: I didn’t know I owed these taxes. Why didn’t you send me a bill?

Tax Collector: Well, you should have known that you owed these taxes and read through the mountain of mortgage documents to understand that.

The appeal failed. I paid the penalty because I am not Nostradamus.

Guide v. Planner 

Some local business owners were miffed this week by what they perceived as preferential treatment granted to Mammoth Mountain, Snowcreek Resort and 101 Great Escapes by Mammoth Lakes Tourism.

Mammoth Lakes Tourism publishes the Mammoth Visitors Guide as well as the Mammoth Vacation Planner.

MLT Executive Director John Urdi said MLT published 155,000 Visitors’ Guides this year. This piece is distributed along the 395 corridor and in town.

Urdi said 115,000 Vacation Planners were printed. These pieces are distributed throughout California and Nevada, at official State Welcome Centers and in sport shops.

The Visitors’ Guide is a 5” x 7” piece. The Vacation Planner is 8.5” x 11.”

Traditionally (at least for the past five years anyway), the Vacation Planner has been advertisement-free. The idea being that the Planner should sell the community as a whole and should do so without advertising “clutter.”

This year, at the last minute, Mammoth Lakes Tourism decided to sell three full page advertisements in the Vacation Planner at $6,000 apiece.

It appears that these ads were offered first to the three largest advertisers in the Visitors Guide. All quickly accepted.

This didn’t sit well with at least one business owner who spent $1,400 for a 1/2 page in the Visitors Guide.

“The larger format is distributed outside of our market which is exactly where the potential customer is that I want to reach! Isn’t that what we are trying to do, influence the customer before they’ve made a purchase decision? You’re spending our T.O.T. marketing dollars and only representing three players without even an offering to the hundreds of others.”

Urdi said the Vacation Planner ads were sold without prejudice. “I don’t want to bastardize it, clutter it. But I wanted to offset some of the [production] cost and expand the reach.

“I understand the concern … we’ll talk about it in-house and with our Board. Maybe next year, we don’t do it.”

Urdi added that in these difficult economic times, his concern is to not only be fair, but to reach as far and wide as he possibly can.

Now available online, not only does the Official 2011 July 4 Guide (produced in partnership with the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce) walk you through Mammoth’s July 4 festivities, it’s also a great source for all summertime fun in the Eastern Sierra. Check it out by clicking the link below! Pick up a print copy in this week’s issue of The Sheet.

July4Guide2011

The 2011 Monster Energy Mammoth Motocross Guide includes racer names, race day info and much more! Check it out by clicking the link below.

MotocrossGuide2011

More content and additional directory listing! You have to take a peek!

UpdatedWeddingGuide2010