Week of June 28, 2023

From the editor’s desk

More than 100 parents and children attended the first dray queen story hour of the summer at the Downtown Reno Library. Outside the venue, volunteers twirled rainbow umbrellas to shield attendees from protestors who were shooting video of the families and trying to engage them in debates. Inside the library, Zoe Dixon reports, the kids sang songs and heard stories aimed at promoting reading and teaching lessons about diversity.

Last winter was the second-snowiest in the 77 years of record-keeping, according to the Central Sierra Snow Lab. Fourteen “atmospheric rivers” dumped more than double the “average” amount of snow on the Sierra Nevada during the relentless winter of 2022-23, with accumulations second only to the winter of 1951-52.

In this month’s Taste of the Town column, Maude Ballinger previews the Reno Garlic Festival; shares some details about a new endeavor by the owners of the Noodle Box Kitchen; and offers up a lot more news about the area’s food and restaurant scene.

Krys Vagner’s Art of the State column gives readers a preview of this year’s Artown—a full month of concerts, theater, poetry, history talks, art and music workshops for kids, and other events, all over town—which kicks off July 1.

National Pride Month is June, but locals celebrate it in conjunction with Artown in July. Northern Nevada Pride’s festival and CommUNITY Pride Parade, which will be expanded this year, are scheduled for July 22.

Pride Month seems the perfect time for the Brüka Theatre’s production of Kinky Boots, the story of a man who takes over his family’s shoe-manufacturing business and discovers a niche market—drag queens—for “kinky” boots in large sizes. The play is a decade old, but its themes still resonate today, notes theater reviewer Jessica Santina.

Movie reviewer Bob Grimm was disappointed by Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which he says is the writer-director’s second straight misfire  after a string of flicks that were “full of life and emotional sweetness,” Anderson, Grimm worries, has “suddenly become a flat, boring director.”  

These stories and many others are featured in the RN&R’s July print issue, going on newsstands this weekend. Be sure to vote in the final round of this year’s Best of Northern Nevada competition for your favorite people, places and events. The poll is available online until July 23.

I’ll see you in the funny papers.

Take care,

—Frank X. Mullen, Editor