21 third-graders, 21 names for one photo

"You are good at this. You could do it all day," said Dayton Elementary School teacher Delane Pennington as I tried to gather the names and ages of her 21 third-grade students.

I was there to take a photo of the quilts the children made every Friday over the past months.

With an average age of 9, they brought in flannel and worked on sewing machines. Little Stephanie Jones asked me to sign her yearbook.

Getting the children to stand still for the picture and getting their names was another matter entirely.

Just as I was wrapping up, the Leader-Courier's Laura Tenant showed up to take a photo of the same class. We were both gathering names as fast as we could.

Delane lives in Lake Tahoe but commutes down to Dayton for class.

"The quilts are so cool," she said. "It is something they did during Friday fun time." Delane has taught at Dayton Elementary for 12 years.

The photo appeared in Friday's Appeal.

Both Judy Harris and Betty Anderson called me to say Tuesday's final Capital Community Concert Association performance was a doozy.

"More than 500 people attended," Judy said. "It was a very appreciative crowd and we were really pleased with all the artists. Everything turned out fine."

I spent most of Wednesday fielding phone calls from what seemed like every cook in three counties after all the fractions disappeared from the food page.

The correction appeared in Thursday's paper, should anyone have missed it, and we're working to fix the problem so it never happens again, or at least waits until I'm long gone.

Dianna Borges met her husband of 10 years, Dwight, during a romantic carriage ride.

Dwight was driving the carriage.

The Lake Tahoe native was named 2003 Horseman of Distinction by the North American Horseman's Association. Dwight is the owner of 11 horses and operates the family carriage and sleigh business at the corner of Lake Parkway and Highway 50. Dwight's parents, Sam and Rosie Borges, started the business 35 years ago with sleigh rides.

Dianna, who works for the Nevada Appeal as a circulation customer service representative, says the company always serves to carry dignitaries during the Nevada Day Parade. Usually a Supreme Court justice or two.

She said she met Dwight when she was on a carriage ride.

"I was on a date with someone else and he struck me as someone special and I went back and talked to him," she said.

Today the couple lives at Lake Tahoe and is building a home on Foothill Road in Carson Valley. They live with Dianna's four children, Rhiannon, Christian, Austin and Veronica.

"We all do the carriages and the sleighs," she said.

Joanne Bailey says she received a postcard in the mail the other day that was partially torn and addressed to her deceased husband and told her to call a toll-free number about the expiration of her warranty.

Now Joanne's husband hasn't purchased a car since 1985, so it is unlikely that any warrant on the car was in force.

"It says 'Call to ensure continuing coverage,' but there is no identification on the mail piece and no address," she said. "They tell you to have your VIN handy when you call."

Online, I found a description that resembled the card on the Web site for the Ohio Better Business Bureau.

Apparently the cards are mailed out to people who call thinking they've received notification of a recall or a problem with their car.

Then the people on the other end of the line try to sell them a warranty.

If you get a postcard from someone you don't know trying to get you to call a number, don't be surprised if they start trying to sell you something.

A couple of weeks ago, C.D. Blakney came in to ask about an article appearing on the editorial page about a meadow being protected near Bridgeport.

Neither C.D. nor I could place the meadow when we were talking, but I got a chance to talk to the Appeal's Mono County expert, Kelli Du Fresne, and she just rattled off the answer.

The lush meadow that was once part of the 6,350-acre Centennial Ranch, formerly the Dressler Ranch, is located along Highway 395 just before you climb back into the Sierra as you head north from Bridgeport.

Kurt Hildebrand is acting city editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com