News
ENLARGE
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Get a wiggle on, all you gold diggers and high hats, skirts, swells and Joe Palookas.
The Jazz Age returns to Lake Tahoe Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 13-14, for the Tahoe Heritage Foundation's Great Gatsby Festival.
Now in its 26th year, the free event celebrates the free-wheeling days of the 1920s when families like the Baldwins, Popes and the Hellers spent their summers vacations at elegant and rustic lakeside resorts.
Like the residents of the past, volunteers and visitors gather along expanses of grass, wander the beach or stroll under towering pine and Sequoia tree-lined paths.
Often they wear similar era garb from crepe dresses and cloche hats to argyle socks under knickers. Wearing period clothing is a major component at the event.
“Some turn up to their first Great Gatsby Festival in T-shirts and shorts, and by the second year they are decked out in vintage clothing,” the event's chairwoman, Leslie DeTarr said.
The highlight of fashionable wear is the very popular tea party and fashion show on Saturday afternoon held outside the Grand Hall at Valhalla.
Volunteer hostesses decorate 18 tables with period sweets such as lemon bars, English breakfast tea and a flute of chilled champagne.
Deborah Rush narrates a 1920s fashion show with models wearing vintage wedding trousseaus, cruise wear and recreational outfits from her San Francisco based Fashions of Yesteryear.
The models are mostly daughters of staff and volunteers who are able to fit into the slim boyish silhouettes from nine decades ago.
Volunteers, in costume or regular clothing, are a key component for making the fundraising event, said Jacqueline Dumin, the acting Tallac Site director with the US Forest Service and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Some are returning RV enthusiasts from Alabama, Maine and Nebraska who exchange hours of working for a free site to park their vehicles. Others are full-time and part-time residents who have a love of history.
“Seeing how happy everyone is, it is just a ball, makes first time attendees want to become volunteers,” Dumin said.
They can also be found conducting tours of the Pope Estate or helping with the children's activities like watermelon seed spitting and chocolate pie eating contests.
Keeping the melodic atmosphere aces is the return of the Central Valley's Bark ing Dogs and their high-energy jazz music. Vintage cars also add to the ambiance.
Silent movies, like early Laurel and Hardy comedies, will be shown through out the event.
Traveling back in time requires the occasional stop for fuel. Kiwanians will cook hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob. A favorite souvenir is the event's annual poster.
Parking is at a premium around the event. The Nifty Fifty Trolley from South Shore makes periodic stops throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Proceeds from the event are utilized year-round by the Tallac History Society to keep Lake Tahoe's past alive and thriving.
With that attitude, everything's Jake for the lake.
The Jazz Age returns to Lake Tahoe Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 13-14, for the Tahoe Heritage Foundation's Great Gatsby Festival.
Now in its 26th year, the free event celebrates the free-wheeling days of the 1920s when families like the Baldwins, Popes and the Hellers spent their summers vacations at elegant and rustic lakeside resorts.
Like the residents of the past, volunteers and visitors gather along expanses of grass, wander the beach or stroll under towering pine and Sequoia tree-lined paths.
Often they wear similar era garb from crepe dresses and cloche hats to argyle socks under knickers. Wearing period clothing is a major component at the event.
“Some turn up to their first Great Gatsby Festival in T-shirts and shorts, and by the second year they are decked out in vintage clothing,” the event's chairwoman, Leslie DeTarr said.
The highlight of fashionable wear is the very popular tea party and fashion show on Saturday afternoon held outside the Grand Hall at Valhalla.
Volunteer hostesses decorate 18 tables with period sweets such as lemon bars, English breakfast tea and a flute of chilled champagne.
Deborah Rush narrates a 1920s fashion show with models wearing vintage wedding trousseaus, cruise wear and recreational outfits from her San Francisco based Fashions of Yesteryear.
The models are mostly daughters of staff and volunteers who are able to fit into the slim boyish silhouettes from nine decades ago.
Volunteers, in costume or regular clothing, are a key component for making the fundraising event, said Jacqueline Dumin, the acting Tallac Site director with the US Forest Service and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Some are returning RV enthusiasts from Alabama, Maine and Nebraska who exchange hours of working for a free site to park their vehicles. Others are full-time and part-time residents who have a love of history.
“Seeing how happy everyone is, it is just a ball, makes first time attendees want to become volunteers,” Dumin said.
They can also be found conducting tours of the Pope Estate or helping with the children's activities like watermelon seed spitting and chocolate pie eating contests.
Keeping the melodic atmosphere aces is the return of the Central Valley's Bark ing Dogs and their high-energy jazz music. Vintage cars also add to the ambiance.
Silent movies, like early Laurel and Hardy comedies, will be shown through out the event.
Traveling back in time requires the occasional stop for fuel. Kiwanians will cook hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob. A favorite souvenir is the event's annual poster.
Parking is at a premium around the event. The Nifty Fifty Trolley from South Shore makes periodic stops throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Proceeds from the event are utilized year-round by the Tallac History Society to keep Lake Tahoe's past alive and thriving.
With that attitude, everything's Jake for the lake.
