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Boys and Girls Club likes new digs

William Ferchland, Tahoe Daily Tribune

It was a short move but a long time coming for the Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe.

The club is now in several portable buildings at Al Tahoe Elementary School and has allowed staff the opportunity to split students and activities.

The club leased the five portables from Lake Tahoe Unified School District for a year. The program was previously located at South Tahoe Middle School.



The row of portables are divided into the game, art, dance/martial arts, computer and administration rooms. The playground and ball fields are accessible as well as the multi-purpose room after Al Tahoe closes at 4 p.m.

“The kids have a sense of ownership here,” said Program Director Eric Driekosen. “It actually feels like a club.”



One change is that now children’s art can be permanently displayed on the walls. Also, equipment doesn’t need to be pulled back and forth from a storage area.

On Sept. 8 the club opened to elementary and middle school students. While some preferred being at the middle school, all echoed they enjoy the new digs.

“I really like the playground and stuff, just when it was at the middle school there was a lot more room but I still like it here because there’s a room for almost everything,” said Kaitlyn Barrett, a fourth-grader at Tahoe Valley Elementary School.

The changes won’t stop with the new location. Thanks to a grant from the Beaumont Foundation and money from El Dorado County, the club is expected to get 25 new computers by December.

Executive Director DeAnne Hooper said the club now flows more smoothly since it was dependent on the availability of classrooms at the middle school.

“Our programs are enhanced by this facility,” Hooper said.

Plans for a permanent building on Lyons Avenue are still in the works. Dependent on funding and when money arrives, it will likely be built in stages, Hooper said.

In the past weeks the club has done a lakeshore clean-up day and watched a demonstration from a South Lake Tahoe police K-9 unit.

Driekosen said he plans on having the children do more community service work.

“It seems the youth in this town can’t wait to get out of this town,” Driekosen said. “I would really like to build a sense of pride in them about this community.”

The club runs from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A fee of $10 allows a child to become a member for a year.

For more information, call (530) 542-0838.

— E-mail William Ferchland at wferchland@tahoedailytribune.com


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