Local briefly Oct. 18

Legal Aid Fair offered by VARN

In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Pro Bono Week, Volunteer Attorneys for Rural Nevadans (VARN), will host a Legal Aid Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Carson City Nugget, Ballroom A.

The Legal Aid Fair is free and is designed to inform the public of the availability of legal aid services in the community, and will provide legal information to the public on a variety of civil legal matters. Attorneys will be available to talk to people about family law matters - domestic violence, divorce, child custody, guardianship - debt collection, bankruptcy, small-claims actions, worker's compensation matters, wills and estates, landlord-tenant and public housing matters, Social Security and Social Security Disability and other government benefits, foreclosure and other matters.

For more information or to apply for legal assistance, contact VARN at 775-883-8278 or toll free at 1-866-448-8276, or visit the VARN website at www.varn.org.

Haunted house in Gardnerville

The Douglas High School Key Club hosts a haunted house for youngsters ages 1-10 each year at the Methodist Church, 1375 Centerville Lane in Gardnerville.

The haunted house is a small play that the visitors walk through, which takes 15 to 20 minutes. Different rooms in the castle belong to different characters, including a witch, a mummy and pirates. There is a lot of slapstick humor involved in the presentation, and there is always a scavenger hunt.  

This year, "Wacky Wanda" gets locked out of the castle by Igor and Egor. Wanda asks the little trick-or-treaters to help her out by going into the castle to retrieve the keys. Of course the keys get split apart and one is hidden in each room. The trick or treaters will need to find each key and return them all to Wanda before her father finds out that she lost them. Once the trick-or-treater's finish the task, they will be escorted to the Mad Scientist's lab for cool science demos and treats. 

The haunted house is free, but a can of food for the food closet is suggested. It is open from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28-29.

Artist reception to benefit breast cancer

An artist reception for six Northern Nevada artists, benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Artsy Fartsy Art Gallery, 220A W. Telegraph St.

The evening will offer a wine tasting, light appetizers, espresso bar, belly dancers, and local musician Jay-Paul Malikowski. A raffle table also will be available. For more information, call 885-2787.

GOP leader prepares for 2012 elections

Carson City Republican Women President Sandra Markoe joined more than 1,200 other Republican women leaders from across the nation Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at the National Federation of Republican Women's 36th biennial convention, which featured a presidential straw poll.

During the four-day event, which was one of the largest national gatherings of Republicans this year, registrants participated in leadership training seminars, a campaign management school, and political and policy workshops taught by nationally recognized experts. They heard from Republican leaders, elected officials and others, including presidential candidates Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Other Republican presidential candidates were invited but did not attend.

In the NFRW presidential straw poll, Cain received 48.9 percent of the 505 total votes cast, with Rick Perry placing a distant second and Mitt Romney placing third. The poll featured nine Republican presidential candidates.

"With the 2012 elections on the horizon, the underlying theme of the convention was to revitalize, renew and refresh our political skills and knowledge to ensure a Republican is elected president in November 2012," Markoe said.

Travel club to meet

Silver Sierra Adventure Travel will meet at 6 tonight at the Carson Nugget. The program will focus on Lake Almanor, Chester and the surrounding area. There also will be a presentation about future trips.