Looking Back at Great Finds and Memories at the Antique Faire in Reno, As it Pivots Indoors

While the Reno Antique Faire is done for now for its outdoor iterations, it will be having an upcoming gathering on December 21st at the National Bowling Stadium from 2 to 7 p.m. with over 100 vendors.

In the meantime, reporter Emilio Milo filed this report about what has become one of the nicest, laid back daytime events downtown has to offer.

This past Sunday in the early morning, people were approaching a closed off Virginia Street to attend the last Reno Antique Faire of the season.

Closed from 4th to 2nd with over 140 vendors present, attendees browsed a wide selection of items on sale that included a variety of items.

Ranging from vintage clothing, unique home decor, and items you might have never expected to see for sale, the event was a true treasure trove.  

“Oh my wife just forced me to buy a vintage, I don't even know what it is, a shot dispenser?,” said Reno local Meikin Gasuad in describing a surprising purchase he and his wife made that morning.

“It's like a shot glass carousel with a central pump in the center. And so you just kind of use that pump and you can pump liquor right into shot glasses, it's ridiculous,” he said beaming.  

The curious find brought Gasuad to reflect on the event and what a positive impact the faire has brought to town.

“It's like a nice way to kind of get out. And I've been running into a lot of people I know as well. And in any community event like this, where you can actually be outdoors in Reno and kind of see a big market like this antique fair, I think it's always fun,” he said.  

That’s what the founder of the Reno Antique Faire, Laura Jasorka, hoped would be recognized in her efforts in bringing the faire to life.

"So I love vintage and antiques and buying reusable, so that's one thing. But it's also the community and Reno as itself,” says Jasorka.

“[Reno] needed this, and being someone who drove to Sacramento and San Francisco for many years to vend. I always just, I wished this was here basically.”

Jasorka says support from city officials helped in making the event possible.

“The city of Reno also has been very kind to me and really allowed me to do this and believed in me,” Jasorkas states. 

“Everything just fell into place and it was perfect timing. And so, seeing the community come together and be a part of that sustainable concept. And also, my love for antiques and vintage was basically how I got here.”

Jasorka also cites how this is a great opportunity to bring business into town, as vendors are coming from out-of-state to come and sell here.

“So bringing these people here, being a part of that, gaining tourism, bringing back downtown, revitalizing that is, it's been amazing to see the community come together,” Jasorka explains.

“And it's now at this point to see that a lot of my vendors are not just Reno vendors. I have people from Sacramento here and San Francisco.” 

One of the vendors coming from out-of-state is Bay-area based vendor Karina Soto. For Soto, this was her fourth time selling here at the faire.

“We actually used to live out in Nevada. So we kind of have a soft spot for Nevada,” says Soto.

“And this is the closest market to us that we can come to that's also not crazy far. But we just love the vibe here, the people, and just the crowd. It’s perfect.” 

Soto sells a variety of items, including vintage clothes and toys. A specific item she really adores is a Beetle Bailey sweatshirt, which is on display in her tent.

“It's reversible so it's like a two in one but it's also all the colors and like it's more than just a piece of clothing like you can sit down and read it,” Soto explains.

“[You] can talk about it with a bunch of people, like pieces like that where you can have conversations with someone and kind of connect over a piece.”

Although it is the last event of the season, the faire still plans on hosting an event on December 21st at the National Bowling Stadium, and will return next year in April. 

Jasorka says she guarantees people attending will enjoy the experience.

“Come walk, be a part of something that's unique and be a part of the sustainability concept and find yourself quality items instead of shopping at Temu,” she concluded.  

Photos, reporting and audio feature by Emilio Milo 

Puerto Rican Food in Reno Coming Right Up

Unlike in New York, where Jay Anthony Irizarry used to live before making it out to the West Coast, it’s much harder in these parts to find a Puerto Rican restaurant.

With his Cabo Rojo Cocina Caribeña pickup based weekend takeout restaurant at 160 Sinclair street, Irizarry is bringing his own blend of savory, aromatic Spanish, African, and Taíno influences to the Biggest Little City. He also offers catering and shipping for some of his food products.

One of the first things that stands out is his restaurant’s logo which displays the iconic Puerto Rican Coqui frog.

“ My main thing was about rediscovering and claiming that identity again,” Irizarry said.  

The restaurant is only open on the weekends but has still done relatively well according to Irizarry.

News about Puerto Rico or Puerto Ricans such as Bad Bunny being the next Super Bowl halftime entertainer helps create awareness about the richness of Puerto Rican culture in general.

In this light, Irizarry is planning to offer Super Bowl catering.

His cooking inspiration he says came from his older brother.

“We grew up, me and my sister, my brother, have two other siblings with a single mom, and so she would often be out working all day, and my older brother would be the one to step up in the kitchen, start inventing things, and it would taste so good. Eventually I wanted to have my hand at it, and I did later on,” Irizarry said.

One popular menu item at Cabo Rojo Cocina is “coquito chicken pasta” which bring the flavors of coquito which is a traditionally loved Puerto Rican alcoholic drink combined with chicken pasta. 

“I had that feeling two years ago, when I first started, I had a strong feeling that Puerto Rican cuisine was going to start to become more mainstream than it is, and it's happening just like that,” Irizarry said.

There’s also a Coquito cream pasta he says he invented as well as combining tostones which are savory, twice-fried slices of green plantains, and nachos.

He plans to expand his services for banquet meals and hopefully soon become a daily restaurant.

“As Puerto Ricans, you know that we are proud of our culture.  I'm sure you have a flag somewhere,” he concluded speaking to my own heritage.

Reporting by Jake Santiago shared with Our Town Reno

Keep Reno Rad: A Student Field Trip To Collect Wild Clay at Boca Lake

Students at UNR recently went on a field trip to look at wild clay collections at Boca Lake.

Stella Kraus who is in this Art 397 advanced field studies class reports about this mid October visit coordinated by ceramics expert Rick Parsons, director of the Holman Arts & Media Center, and director of the Summer Arts Workshops with an audio version below.

Students shovel the dried, crumbling clay into five gallon buckets to take back to their classroom studio on the Tahoe campus. Clay has been used to create sculptures and functional pottery for thousands of years. 

“One of my favorite parts is how easy it is to convey an idea. Like clay is so malleable no matter how big or small, you can pretty much make anything you desire out of it,” says Charzie Janovro, an exchange student from Australia who has taught others how to make and use earthenware which is pottery fired at a lower heat to reveal a porous texture. 

Paige, who only shared her first name, collects her own bucket of clay to bring back to the studio to rework into something the whole class can all use. 

“I like being able to make, like, functional vessels, but customize them and make them fun and silly, and my own and yeah. I just like being able to like serve someone something in my bowl and be like, “Yeah, I made that.” And they’re like woah,” says Paige. She’s a third year UNR student studying wildlife ecology at the UNR Tahoe campus where she is taking her third ceramics class this semester. 

Parsons has been working with clay for about 30 years. As he drops dried clumps of clay into his bucket, he thinks about the idea-based visual and conceptual work he plans to create.

 “In my own personal practice, I use make mixed media sculpture that speak to the environment and the effects of humankind on the environment,” says Rick. He occasionally brings his students to Boca Lake to collect clay from the deposits in the dirt off the shore from the water. Parsons explained that each type of clay requires different firing temperatures to achieve desired outcomes.

Boca Lake has easily accessed clay deposits related to the Truckee River cutting through the land.The clay deposits are difficult to collect as the Lake Tahoe basin is primarily shaped by glacial activity leaving unusable sediment. 

Reporting by Stella Kraus shared with Our Town Reno

Vendors Seek Out Community at Sunday's Riverside Farmers Market Even During Colder Months

The Riverside Farmers Market at Idlewild Park in Reno is popular for locals and families to visit their favorite vendors for fresh products every Sunday. People gravitate towards this market as it runs all year round, even during the colder fall and winter months.

Mushroom Co., Pink Elephant Kitchen, and Terroir Herbals are three of many booths that stay open at Idlewild throughout the changing seasons.

Mushroom Co. is a family run company that has been coming to this market for about five years, with Cheryl DeFlipp and her family running their booth.

“It does slow down especially when the weather is severe, but we do a lot of our sales online then so we mail all over the country… and we do this farmers market and many other events in this area,” DeFlipp explained.

Pink Elephant Kitchen succeeds during the fall and winter months due to the nature of their product, warm Thai curries. Birdie Harthono and her family run their booth setting up warming stoves.

“We have a very supportive community that comes out especially when we have rain or snow they come out just to support us. In winter we do hot foods, and we serve hot foods here, we do curry, hot foods during winter. I would love for people to come out here, this is a great, great market where you find lots of talented people,” Harthono said.

Terrier Herbals, run by Brooke Walshaw, is an apothecary farm to table booth that is also open all year long. Walshaw sees familiar faces at her booth every week, and has been at the market for about four years.

“One thing that I always remind myself is if I show up, the people show up, so a community built around vending and a lot of people rely on this as their livelihood,” Walshaw said, asking locals to keep coming to the Riverside Farmers Market even when the weather turns colder.

Reporting and photo by Samatha Wittke shared with Our Town Reno

Musician Vivid Helene Returns to Reno Stage, After Finding Inspiration, Opportunities and Her Voice Elsewhere

After more than a year in Portland and seeking opportunities in LA, 22-year-old Filipino-American artist Vivid Helene recently returned to her hometown stage, performing at RareTea to a crowd of devoted fans, close friends, and supportive family members. 

Helene wants to continue making music in Portland, where she has found more opportunities for her soulful style of music but she hopes to return to Reno for many future performances. 

The intimate setting at RareTea marked more than just a homecoming. It was a full circle moment in a journey that began in middle school with quiet uncertainty.

Helene, born Helena, has long walked the line between introspection and impact. Though her early years in Reno shaped her identity, her sound was born from exploration outside of Reno.

“Growing up in Reno and being Filipino American, I was exposed to more artists that didn’t really resonate with my kind of sound,” she explains. “I wasn’t really exposed to the music that I make until I spent my time actually in the Bay Area. So a lot of my music is actually influenced by the Bay Area and my time in California.”

Still, she recognizes that the intimacy of Reno’s close-knit community plays a vital role in her artistry.

“I like the feeling of that, you know, the Biggest Little City in the world. That’s the Reno experience,” she said.

Helene traces her earliest push into performance back to her father and a surprise entry into a school talent show.

“My dad put my name without my permission on a talent show for him,” she recalls, “And he put the song 'Only Girl in the World' and he put it into my folder without me knowing. And I remember instead of using my courage to say, OK, I'm going to go ahead and sing that. My dad just already did it. I used my courage to say, no, I'm not going to do that anymore.”

Looking back, she wishes she had leaned into the moment instead of pulling back and refusing to perform. 

“I should have just done it when I was like in second grade and done choir and just started off then and like really honed it in,” the artist says.

“Because it would have done more for me because before that everybody was like, oh, Helena is just, you know, she gets good grades and she’s so quiet. And then my whole entire image changed. And that was what I liked to be,” she says.

Find a podcast version of this feature here: https://ourtownreno.simplecast.com/episodes/from-reno-to-portland-and-back-the-journey-of-a-filipino-american-rb-artist-DAki2zQy

Now living in Portland, Helene balances a distinctive creative process with a dedication to authenticity. Her music, often inspired by moments of personal struggle or philosophical reflection, comes to life in bursts.

“If I feel like I am down in the dumps.I take those experiences and I let myself be aware of them,” she said. “That’s usually how I do things with my creative process. Once I have that idea, I can’t record a voice memo and then go back to it later. I have to do it right there.”

The process is deeply emotional and intuitive. When Helene was grieving her late father she wrote a song from those emotions.

“I had to do it all in one take because I was super emotional and everything like that,” she said. “Ninety-nine percent of my music is that. It’s very much on a whim.”

In an era where trends drive visibility, Helene has remained grounded by her sense of self.

“I just can’t be anything else except for myself because I’ve always been like that,” she said. “That authenticity comes from a place that can’t be replicated.”

She credits her fans, teachers, and lifelong friends with encouraging her to stay true.

“Even my fans on TikTok or Instagram, they tell me, Helene, nobody tells me the things that you tell me,” she said. “When I listen to your music, I feel the most like myself because you make music.”

One of her most vivid memories of feeling seen came from a middle school teacher during an aptitude session.

“My religion teacher slash math teacher came up. He took the paper, crossed out everything and then just wrote ‘singer’ with exclamation points,” she recalled. “And I remember thinking this person actually thinks I can do this.”

Despite finding creative growth in Portland, Helene says Reno still calls her home.

“I want to come back because I offer something that nobody else does here,” she said. “Every time that I come here, people listen and people resonate with it.”

Even if Reno’s music scene leans toward rock, folk, and rap, she finds power in being different.

“I feel like I’m one of the first to have ever really like gone out like that and do my own thing like this,” she said. “There’s more rappers than anything but that slow R&B kind of rap that’s not really something that’s here.”

Asked why she continues to return, the answer is simple: she’s wanted here.

“People were asking me for the show. They said, ‘hey, I heard you were coming back to Reno. So are you going to do the show or not?’” she laughed. “And I’m like, okay... I want to be here. But it’s like you guys want me here, too.”

Helene’s proudest moment came in 2021, when she left her job and bet everything on her music.

“There was nothing else for me. I literally was like, Okay, you know what? You got nothing else to lose,” she said. “You just lost your job for your own integrity, something will come from it.”

That “something” came quickly for the artist. 

“I made this video for Jackson Wang’s verse challenge,” she says. “The next morning I got a notification from Instagram, it was his comment.”

She soon was contacted by a Los Angeles based musician. At first glance it could have been a scam but she took a chance on the producer and musician.

“It's like the person that I looked up to literally recognized me from some video that I did with three takes and all I did was just sing a couple I felt like I had nothing and then I was like okay like the momentum is great let's keep going and like making singing videos,” she said.

“Then I got a comment and it was like hey do you record in LA often like I'd love to get your background vocals for an artist that I know and then the DM came and it was like this could easily be a scam.”

“I went on a whim and I still went I was like oh yeah I'm gonna be in LA in like a couple weeks, no I wasn't I wasn't gonna be in LA in a couple weeks for anything, I just I made that trip to do that because I was like this is my chance,” Helene remembers.

For Helene, it’s not just about fame or recognition. It’s about connection, authenticity, and showing others they can be seen for who they are.

Reporting, photo and video by Amanda Avilla

Keep Reno Rad: A Twice a Week Run Club Keeping Locals Fit while Building Community

What started as a joke and fun way to hang out with friends, the local Summit Run Club has become a regular twice a week event on Tuesday evenings at the Sparks Marina and Saturday mornings at varying locations fostering a love for running in the local community. 

 “It was me [Jose Anguiano] and my buddy Gerardo … and then my buddy Eddie Gomez. It was us three. We ran the LA marathon, and then we came back and we were like, you know what, let’s start a run club,” club organizer Jose Anguiano explains.

The club now brings out 20 plus members weekly and is a tight knit community of its own. Whether you are brand new to running, or regularly run ultra marathons, the Summit Run Club will welcome you.

“Right here we have a mix of everything. You have people who come after work, people that come after school, after everything,” Anguiano said. 

Anguiano, a Reno local and recent UNR grad, is a teacher in Washoe County, teaching Spanish at Spanish Springs high school.

Isaac Anguiano, another run club member, does landscaping with his two older brothers, helping to run their family company. “I would run here [Sparks Marina] and I would see them around and you know, I decided to join them, and I’ve made a lot of friends,” Isaac said.

An important attribute of this club is the fact you can count on the Tuesday and Saturday runs to happen rain or shine, whatever the weather. “At most, I think we’ve only missed once or twice, either due to graduation or being out of the country. We stay consistent,” Anguiano said. 

The summer months got so popular it became difficult to find parking. “Me and my buddy Gerardo, we'd bring a whole cooler full of Celsius, probably like 100 [cans of] Celsius. All of them would get wiped out. Then, Celsius sponsored us for a solid one or two months,” Anguiano said.

With the support of the community and consistency of runners, the dream of creating a successful run club became a reality for its founders. 

Apart from being successful, the run club became a way to start friendships, and even love. “Social media helped because they said that run clubs were the new dating platforms. We actually had people come over here and then they found the love of their lives,” Anguiano said.

Even if finding a soul mate isn’t in the cards for participants, “seeing people push their limits, seeing people get out here every Tuesday, being consistent, you know, and just making friends and having a good time with it. I think that matters a lot,” Anguiano said.

The Summit Run Club meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Sparks Marina and Saturdays at 8 a.m. with updated info on the Instagram @summitrunclub where that meetup is.

Reporting and photos by Morgan Kilbourne

The Community and Fall Tradition that is the Andelin Family Farm

As customers walk in, they are greeted with this pumpkin-filled truck, one of many spots on the farm to take pictures, grab a pumpkin, and embrace fresh air.

Andelin Family Farm, a family-owned farm located in Sparks, Nevada on 8100 Pyramid Way, is typically open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Since 2010, Andelin has been giving the Northern Nevada community Halloween fun with their iconic pumpkin patch.

Now with events year-round, such as their ‘baby animal and tulip festival’, ‘sunflower festival’, and even hosting birthday parties and field trips, the Andelin Family Farm is a center for many to come out and enjoy the amazing atmosphere they’ve created. 

From corn mazes to shooting paintballs at zombies during this Halloween season, Andelin Family Farm has a ton of events to currently offer for the whole family. They offer a wide variety of new attractions and things to do such as their ’Jurassic Park’ themed corn maze, where you help grow a dinosaur, or the ‘bumpy buggies’a fun ride for kids. 

“I think what stands out the most to me is the friendliness between not only our guests but as employees and our bosses as well. Everybody is treated with respect and kindness and in this day and age we don’t always see that. So it makes it a very special place to be here when everybody is welcomed and kind,” Megan Johnson said.

Megan Johnson, the head of cashiers explains that the workers prepare months in advance to set up the pumpkin patch and that “the weeks leading up is a lot of work– everybody’s working hard and working together trying to get all of this put together. It’s not a simple task.”

“The people that we work for, the Andelin family, are wonderful, wonderful people,”  Kimberly Yost, the buggy-driver at Andelin says.

It is clear that the Andelin Family Farm is a treasured place for the Reno-Sparks community, and its workers as well.

Reporting, audio, and photos by Julia Donovan and Adrienne Jordan

Behind the Haunt: Dark Prison’s Fusion of Fear, Creativity and History

Out in the Nevada desert, thirteen years after its closure, Carson City’s historical state prison on East 5th Street has been transformed into the Dark Prison Halloween-themed attraction.

Stepping onto the property, sunlight slowly fades into the skyline. The haunt begins to bustle, actors and crew stalk into the prison preparing for the night. The sounds of an electric drill in the courtyard and the excited steps off the metal railways echo in the air. 

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Dark Prison is an immersive haunted house crafted by local artists, actors and horror lovers. Holly Spahr, the owner and operator of Dark Prison Haunt, was previously featured on HBO’s Craftopia as a Halloween enthusiast.

Matthew Hakins, 27 year old, makeup Director, works fast with his air brush to face paint actors, trying to keep up with the 15 minute intervals.

Behind every mask and makeup design is Matthew Hawkins, the haunts makeup director and props lead. His team of skilled artists and the custom department transform actors into nightmares. Hawkins coordinates a tightly run make-up operation that begins each show at 6 p.m..

“I show up at three [p.m.] to refill the paint bottles, make sure all the stations are together,” says Hawkins. 

“I kind of have them separated out to do like 15-minute intervals,” he says. “It keeps us also kind of on schedule to know that every 15 minutes a new group of people is gonna come through.”

While some character designs were carried over from their former location at the bowling stadium, the majority of looks are crafted in-house from scratch. 

By creating three designs for the other 40-50 actors working on the site, Hawkins helps create a visually diverse and immersive environment for every guest who enters the site.

“Then in addition to that there are kind of a few larger characters that we're adding to our list of what we call icon characters that I've been fortunate enough to design masks for and kind of create a more head-to-toe design for them,” Hawkins says.

The “icons” of Dark Prison are fully custom creatures, sculpted with detail and intention. One of these twisted characters includes Jorgen, a futuristic nightmare built from both latex and LED lights. That design was a collaboration between Hawkins, the Vice President of Build and Special Projects Ryan, and Russel, the actor who coded a fully functioning bionic suit complete with air pistons and LEDs.

“Jorgen is this cyborg creature that runs experiments on people in the prison,” Hawkins explains.

“For his mask I created this like a human you know hybrid situation so he's got these like long slits where his mouth is usually supposed to be and then he's got like boils on the top of his head.”

And while the looks are specific, the masks are designed to be versatile. Hawkins hand-sculpts and mends together the silicone masks on a generic bust. This allows the character to shift from one performer to another without losing their terror.

Tiara Quintana, 28, is the talent director for the haunt.

It’s what's behind the masks and under the makeup that brings them to life. Tiara Quintana, the haunt's talent director, helps the actors to build out their characters from within. 

“We did it really in a cool way where we had three different zones,” says Quintana.

The goal is to create a space where actors feel safe to become the monster and scare.

“We had a room where we were playing, like, really heavy EDM metal music. And when the beat would drop, they would have to break into a character. Whatever that would be. And I gave them free range.”

Even with free range, Quintana gave some directions. Quintana guides the actors through improv, music, and movement.

“Are you a zombie? Are you a monster under a bed? Like, are you a mental asylum patient? Like, what are you?”

“But when that beat dropped, they were going freaking nuts. And it was so iconic,” says Quintana.

Quintana brings an outside perspective into the Northern Nevada haunt scene community. The talent director, having moved to Reno two years ago, is a former Hollywood Universal scare actor. Quintana shares that the scare community offers space that fosters creativity, talent, and connection.

“Coming from Los Angeles, and coming from such a big city to a small town and literally still being part of the haunt….Dark Corner and Dark Prison is just that they took me in. So even though I got to say goodbye to home,I was, like, the home away from home.”

The basketball court was added by Tom Selleck when he filmed the movie An Innocent Man in 1989. The Haunt uses the basketball court as a walking scare zone to keep people immersed into the haunt.

Dark Prison isn’t just a stage for horror but one of refuge for local creatives. For those who don’t always fit in, the haunt becomes a second home.

“We scare because we care, literally. These are people that love haunt,” says the talent director. “The haunt community, horror, Halloween, and we're just here to have a great time and make sure you have a great time as well.”

The haunt's most chilling element might just be that it is located at the Historical Nevada State Prison. 

The prison closed its gates in 2012, but its legacy is hard to bury. The prison stands as one of the oldest correctional facilities in the country, Opening in 1862. Now it serves a new role, blending tourism and education in Northern Nevada.

Jim Spahr points out cellblocks, factories, and guard housing. 

Jim Spahr, 75, known affectionately by the crew as “Haunt Dad,” ushers guests out of the attraction and into the reality of the prison’s past. He is the site's prison history buff.

“If they have any questions that they want answered, I can basically answer all the historical issues that people bring up,” says Spahr.

“Like, where are the prisoners buried? I can answer questions like that. So my job is to facilitate their closure of their experience.”

While Dark Prison is the first haunt attraction to use the facility, the facility is also used to having historical firsts.

“So there's a lot of historical firsts on these grounds. So the first telegraph, the first state legislature, the first state prison…the first gas chamber,” says Spahr.

The haunt operates on a rental agreement with the historical preservation society, splitting ticket profits to help maintain the aging facility. In exchange, they’re granted access to the historical site.

“It's a win-win for both. We get this cool location. They get a portion of the ticket sales,” says Spahr.

The Dark Prison haunt brings a new creative outlet to inspire a new crowd to come onto the historical site and experience something only halloween can inspire.

Holly Sphar, Matthew Hawkins, Tiara Quintana, and Jim Spahr will continue to welcome guests into the haunt for the next four weeks between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. For specific dates to witness the haunt or more information go to https://www.darkprison.com 

Reporting and photos by Amanda Avilla and Emilio Milo

Aly Fowler, Giving a Comforting Space for Tattoos at an All Female Studio

Local tattoo artist Aly Fowler shares about her work at the all female Shades of Gray Studios, as well as some insider industry thoughts in a competitive and crowded local market. Fowler has been in the tattoo industry for about five years now, and as she continues to learn she also fosters a comforting environment.

Aly and I have been close friends since middle school, and I have watched her go from being a baby apprentice to a full fledged artist.

“Usually people come in and then I have them fill out all the paperwork and everything. We have to answer questions and stuff like that, about like their medical history and just, you know, basic stuff,” she explained.

“I am a tattoo artist, at an all female shop in Sparks. It's definitely difficult because I feel like it's a little oversaturated in the city, but at the same time, I feel like it helps me push myself to do better. But I think it's really neat having so many different artists and so many people, from different backgrounds to learn from and to look after.

I feel like myself, the people I work with and people that come here feel safer. Generally if it is a male dominated shop, I have heard some not so good experiences about it, especially if you are a young woman as well.

I just think people don't take us seriously because of the stigma around body modifications and tattoos.

And even in today's society, I guess it's more common, but the people who don't like you really let you know they don't like it.”

#workersofreno contribution by Sara Ewing

At the Down Under Kitchen, Prasan Vatella Brings a Lifetime of Cooking Experience and a Journey Around the World

In the Down Under cafe kitchen at the University of Nevada, Reno, Prasan Vatella, 65, chops broccoli and carrots on the open grill.

“When you feed people, you make people happy,” Vatella says. 

 He’s been cooking for over four decades and it’s become second nature for him. “It’s all that I know,” he explained. 

Vatella was born in Thailand in 1960 and was raised by his Thai mother and his American stepfather who was a U.S. Airman. In 1975, after the Vietnam War, Vatella immigrated to South Carolina along with his family.

When hearing the news that they would be moving to the United States, Vatella was overjoyed after he says he faced discrimination in Thailand for being raised by a white stepfather.

“I wanted to be American,” Vatella said.

In South Carolina, Vatella did not feel American though. The nickname he gives himself comes from an insult he was often called in high school: “China Man.” 

“Everybody when they look at me you know…. They don't know Thai …  Filipino.” Vatella said. “I just laugh at them. I smile.”

Vatella says his positivity comes from his mother’s Buddhist teachings and the time he spent with her.  

“[When] I talk to her, I feel good. I ask her to show me the way –the good way,” he says. “My mom is like my god, man”. 

After two years in South Carolina, Vatella and his family moved to Reno in 1977 to be closer with his aunt. He went to Hug High but dropped out when he was seventeen to work as a bus boy at the Nugget. After two years he left to become a line cook at the Tivoli Garden, a Chinese restaurant in the Eldorado. He then started cooking at the Down Under because he says it was closer to his apartment. 

“I like working at Argenta Hall, I know everybody there,” he concluded.  

Reporting and photos by Bobby Diaz and Elijah Reyes

J1 Visa Holders, One from Peru, the Other from Ecuador, Experience Tahoe As Part of their Travel Journeys in Work

“Home for me means family. Home is those people who have shared many moments and memories with you,” says Marco, an Ecuadorian J1 visa worker who has traveled to multiple countries, now working at the Tunnel Creek Cafe in Incline Village.

A J-1 visa allows foreign students, recent graduates, and professionals to train and work in U.S. restaurants and the hospitality industry for a structured period, promoting cultural exchange and professional development.

“Home is where you feel comfortable and joyful, and that can mean family,” adds Miguel, his colleague, a Peruvian J1 worker.

“Never in my life did I think I would travel around the world, but over time things developed for me, which gave me the opportunity to leave my country, " Miguel said.

For them and countless other immigrants, home is no longer a single place, but a tapestry of memories, connections, and resilience.

Adapting to new surroundings is never easy, especially for immigrants who must adapt to unfamiliar languages, norms, and cultures in order to feel like they belong. Many might feel caught between two worlds, balancing their roots with the pressure to belong in a new land.

“It's something you experiment with when you're outside of your country. You feel like you left everything behind. It feels like you have to start all over again to blend in another country that isn't yours,” said Marco, about how he felt when he first landed in Spain 15 years ago.

For Marcos, this was his second year working at Tunnel Creek, while this was Miguel's first just concluded summer in Incline.

“Where I felt the most cultural shock was in Spain, where, despite speaking Spanish, the customs and daily life felt so different it was quite hard to adapt at first”, Marco said. During his 15 years of living there, Marco adapted well which made him embrace the Spanish culture. “I felt the need to fit in, and time helped me do that. Now I feel identified not only with my country (Ecuador) but with Spain as well.”

For Miguel, who has also lived in Spain, the evolution of identity and adaptation was equally profound. “It wasn't cultural but one moment that changed me the most was in Spain, this one person made me experience racism. It made me feel sad, but it was just one person, the rest were great. I couldn't let that change my outlook,” Miguel said, emphasizing on his determination to focus on the warm welcome of those who weren't ignorant.

Living abroad forces you to open up. I’m not just tied to Peru anymore; I’ve adapted to Ecuador’s traditions and norms. You become one of them,” he said of having many Ecuadorian friends and having lived in Ecuador himself as well.

“I remember when I was back in Peru for a family gathering, and I brought a CD with me with a bunch of Ecuadorian music. I played it and after I finished dancing with my family, I got a bunch of uncanny looks, and I didn't take it personally. I said it's logical, I live there now, so it felt normal for me to feel close and connected to a culture that wasn't mine although some didn't understand.”

For Marco and Miguel, blending into new cultures has redefined the meaning of home. The pressure to adapt to a foreign country made them realize that home is a feeling of connection, not a fixed place.

Home isn’t a pin on a map, but a feeling crafted through courage, adaptation, and patience, transforming a new country into their new home. They have both traveled throughout the world, and they had to sacrifice their identity in order to blend in.

“Here people are less sociable. Everyone seems to be living in their own world, I don't see many people caring for each other as much,” Miguel said of his latest challenges in the Tahoe area.

Reporting and photo by Bryan Fragoso

From Scotland to the Silver State: Scarlett Ferris’ Journey to the Wolf Pack

When Scarlett Ferris first dove into a pool in her hometown of Cupar, Scotland, she never imagined that swimming would one day take her across the Atlantic to the Biggest Little City.

Now a 20-year-old junior kinesiology major at the University of Nevada, Ferris balances life as a student-athlete in a new country while staying connected to her roots.

Ferris was nationally ranked sixth in Scotland when Nevada associate head swimming coach and recruiting coordinator Adriana Contreras first discovered her on Instagram.

“(Contreras) actually DM’d me and asked if I had ever thought about training in the States,” Ferris said. “They made me feel super comfortable and supported throughout the entire recruitment process, even before I committed.”

Her recruitment visit sealed the deal.

“Everyone I met was incredibly nice and friendly. Justin, my athletic trainer, and Kendal, my academic advisor, were amazing with helping me work out all the logistics. It made for such a smooth transition,” she said.

Arriving in Reno, however, came with a few surprises.

“Casinos everywhere. Frat culture. American football — and not calling soccer football,” she laughed. “Back home, you could drive across the country in 90 minutes. Here, you can drive eight hours and still be in the same state.”

While she loves her new home, Ferris admits she misses Scotland — especially her dog, the food, and the closeness of community.

“Everything is fresher and seasoned better back home,” she said. “Whenever I’m really missing home, I’ll have some Percy Pigs candy, or some cheesy beans on toast. Don’t knock it until you try it!”

Keeping in touch with family is a daily effort, made harder by the eight-hour time difference.

“I call my mum pretty much every day. FaceTime helps a lot, and most of my family follows Nevada Swim and Dive on Instagram, so they keep up that way too,” she said. 

Even with the challenges of life abroad, Ferris takes pride in representing both her country and her university.

“I love bringing part of Scotland over to Reno, and it makes me immensely proud to show how it’s shaped me as a swimmer. The same is true when I go home — I get to showcase the progress I’ve made here.”

She has also brought her culture into the Wolf Pack program in more lighthearted ways.

“Swear words and sarcasm,” she joked. “I’m always confusing people with words like ‘bin’ instead of trash can, ‘boot’ instead of trunk, or ‘costume’ instead of swimsuit,” she said.

But being an international student-athlete hasn’t always been easy.

“People make fun of my accent, or don’t understand it,” she said. “I also have to be careful about my visa and make sure I don’t do anything to put it in danger.”

Ferris has learned to balance academics, athletics, and life far from home through routine and support.

“Once I got into a routine, it was easier. My professors have been amazing and understanding when we travel. My friends here have made Reno feel like home. I’ve made friends for life,” she said.

From her competitive fire, she expresses before and after every race, to her fun and encouraging messages for her teammates. New goals are set this upcoming season for Ferris, as Nevada’s first home meet takes place on Saturday, October 4, at 10 a.m. at Lombardi Pool in Reno, Nevada, against Cal State East Bay.

Last season, Ferris was an injury scratch at the 2025 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, after earning her second-straight invite to the national meet, qualifying in the 100 back, 50 free, and 100 fly.
Ferris' 2024-25 season featured her successfully defending her 2024 crown in the 100 back at the Mountain West Championships.

Reporting and photos by Matthew Means

Mariel Day, from the Philippines to Reno, Living Out Her Mother's Words

Mariel Joy Day, at 13, got to live out a fantasy of anyone that age, celebrating her birthday twice.

Day came to the U.S. with her mom, celebrating in the Philippines and then once she arrived in Reno, celebrating her special day again of turning into a local teenager, as there is a 15 hour time difference.

Day is now a 20-year-old university student still living at home with her mom and studying at the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR.

Day is interested in both news journalism and public relations, and while she is unsure of which field she wants to go into specifically, Day is sure that she is following her passion.

Currently, Day also works as a student reporter at KUNR. Next semester she wants to explore the public relations side of journalism.

The decision to pursue journalism was not one that Day made lightly, as she explains it is not always seen as a viable career option in the Philippines. 

Before arriving in the U.S., all Day knew about this country was from the movies she watched. These movies gave her an idea of U.S. culture, but failed to include the struggles of adapting and living here.  

She had a hard time adjusting to making new friends and the different education system.

“Movies have a very specific idea of America,” Day said, “and I don’t think it’s fully accurate.”

When Day first arrived in the U.S. she was in the middle of 7th grade. Making friends quickly became a challenge for her.

“People here are meaner,” Day said. “In middle school I had a hard time making friends.” 

Making friends wasn’t her only struggle, as Day realized how different her classes were. On one occasion, her class was learning about the 13 British colonies of the U.S. before they gained independence. Day was unaware of what they were.

“They’re not going to restart history for me,” she said.

While Day knew English as she was taught it in the Philippines, hearing it from people here made her realize the language barrier that she would have to overcome.

Adjusting to a brand new culture, different educational content and a language barrier, caused Day to miss home.

“I genuinely told my mom I want to go back home,” she said after a few months in the U.S. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

For Day, she says it took her until her senior year of high school to fully adjust while still discovering more cultural differences.

“Looking back, I’m proud that I kept going and pushed through,” she said.

Day says she is still connected to her culture in the Philippines, especially through her humor, using a lot of wordplay.

“My humor is very Filipino coded, so if you don’t get it, you’re not going to think I’m funny,” she said.

Her friends frequently and positively comment on Day being “so Filipina” something that Day is proud of.

Day first entered college as a nursing major, a choice she would quickly change her mind on.

“You get more respect … in [the Philippines] if you were in medicine or law,” she said.

Thus, Day’s passion for journalism came with fear of what her family would think. 

“The person that was really scary to disappoint was my mom,” she said. “She’s gonna think I am a failure.”

The rest of Day’s family was excited to see her become a nurse, and even now some are still unsure about her decision. Though, they mainly want her to be happy.

When Day eventually told her mom, she got an unexpected response.

“I told her and she was like, ‘I don’t even know why you did nursing in the first place,’” Day said.

Regardless of her major, Day’s mom wanted her to go to college and be successful. Now Day says she makes an effort to follow her mom’s advice of  “do what makes you happy.”

Reporting and photo by Samuel Kahnke shared with Our Town Reno

Life in a Different Key: Finding Rhythm in Reno after leaving Caracas

“You can’t put a price on the quality of life,” says Alfredo Cavaliere, a 41-year-old dual citizen of Venezuela and Italy currently residing here with a working visa. After arriving in the United States in 2017, Alfredo has lived in California, Florida, and has been in Reno since 2020. 

Growing up in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, was overall a good and fulfilling experience for Cavahliere. He says that his neighborhood, however, was classist. 

 “There’s a thing in my country where if you have white skin and green or blue eyes like me, they think that you’re rich, so kids picked on me a lot growing up,” he said 

In terms of education, Cavaliere attended an Italian private school as a child until he had to move to public school due to his family’s financial situation at the time. He attended college for a couple years after graduating high school, but was forced to drop out and start working again as he couldn’t afford the tuition. 

Cavaliere’s father has worked as a jeweler and now works in the restaurant industry in Venezuela, while his mother didn’t work until her 40s when she began to teach karate to children as she is a black belt herself. 

Cavaliere has been working since he was 15. He started work at a phone company and later worked in the fish, sound and transport industries. He is now an arborist and musician in Reno. 

In terms of music, he started playing the guitar at 13. His father and uncle are both musicians as well and inspirations. He started performing after moving to Reno as he explains there is a tight-knit music community here.

“I knew enough about American culture through music, movies, movie references, and things like that that helped me fit in with people,” he says of adapting here.

On the topic of diets, Cavaliere misses the abundance of agriculture in his country that we do not have here.

He grew up in a house where they had the ability to grow their own fruits and juice them to constantly have a supply of fresh juice among other fresh produce.

Asking Cavaliere about his future plans to introduce his daughter to his family, he tells me that he wouldn’t want to bring her to Venezuela though.

“Considering how bad the things are there, I would like for my family to come here so they can experience the same things that I have,” he said.

“I don’t need fancy shit or money. I have a roof, three meals, a beautiful wife, and a beautiful daughter. Like, in my country, I didn’t have this mindset that I have now. I was in a black cloud, always sad, always depressed, I didn’t have any hope,” he concluded.  

Report and photo contributed by Stella Kraus

Shavon Rowe, a Jamaican in Reno Finding His Voice as a Rising Comedian

To help Americans picture his hometown in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, local comedian Shavon Rowe (@theshavoneffect on Instagram and X) says “imagine if Compton had a beach.” 

Rowe arrived in Reno in 2022 after spending time in other states, marking the latest chapter of his interesting journey now including more and more stand up. 

The 26-year-old comedian prefers what he calls dark comedy, a style of humor that can draw laughter from any awkward, uncomfortable, or serious situation. 

Dark comedy doesn’t always land when you have a tough crowd, but he believes it’s the perfect remedy needed for life’s hardships. Rowe’s humor and personality may leave some people on the fence, but once you get to know him, he proves to be warm, friendly, and open-minded.

“When I started comedy, I was in a low season of my life. But I’m probably one of the most optimistic comedians you’ll ever meet,” Rowe said.

Rowe worked in the service industry in southeast Jamaica before moving to the U.S. in 2022, first landing in New York after his family encouraged him to apply for a visa. However, after finding that he “wasn’t a fan” of the East Coast, he decided to move to Alabama. He planned to settle in the South, but a winter vacation to Reno in January 2022 changed his mind.

He discovered a fondness for Reno because of its scenery, nightlife, and community. After attending a few late-night shows with his friends, Rowe stepped on stage himself in February 2024. He performed a five-minute stand-up at Midnight Coffee Roasting in Midtown. Now “when I’m on stage, no one is safe,” he says.

“My comedy is dark because of my upbringing, like things that I’ve seen. We [my family] would laugh at the darkest stuff, even at funerals,” he shared.

In Jamaica, the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ feels more true than in the U.S., according to him. Americans tend to be more focused on themselves and on approval from others, and Rowe says he’s sometimes expected to conform to a stereotype rather than being allowed to be himself.

Saint Andrew was not an easy place to live because of an ongoing climate of violence. Rowe says he feels desensitized to brutality and violence, shaped by the dangers he faced growing up in Jamaica. He notes that Americans are more prone to gun-related incidents, which has given him a different perspective on safety and breaking news. 

“It was very violent, so I’ve been accustomed to violence. Murder, losing friends at an early age, stuff like that,” he remembers.

Here, Rowe says he’s found his community through the comedy scene. Dark comedy is not an identity for Rowe, but a way of bringing light to already dark situations. It serves as a bridge between grief, anger, and fleeting moments of happiness.

“We just need to lighten up. Even in your depression, you can find a joke in it,” he says.

Rowe starts off his 5-minute stand-ups by wearing a construction vest, joking with the audience that it may be easier to spot him on stage. The stunt immediately sets the mood for his performances, showing he is not afraid to laugh at himself, and eventually, other people. By finding humor in uncomfortable topics like racism or skin color, Rowe shows he isn’t afraid to shed light on them with the use of dark comedy.

Reporting by Dallasia Samuels with photos provided by Shavon Rowe

From a small town in Italy to experiencing high school in northern Nevada

“I live in a very small town,” says Reed High Italian exchange student Camilla Sciarinno.“There are 1,000 people, so all the people know each other.”

The 16-year-old just made the move from Lozza, a miniature town just north of Milan, Italy, to a host family home in Sparks. Sciarinno grew up in Lozza with her mother, father, and younger sister.

“I like it because my friends are the same since kindergarten,” Sciarinno said. “But sometimes it’s okay, we grow out in different ways. You have to find new places.”

She applied to an agency for foreign exchange programs, going through extensive paperwork and documents which would help them get a feel for who she was and where she wanted to go. She completed four parts of a test, which consisted of oral, written, listening, and psychological sections. Sciarinno found the psychology test to be strange.

“The first question she asked me was, are you ready to return with more weight?” she remembers.

Young students wanting to study abroad can reach out to education companies, such as EF Education First, and apply to different high schools in the U.S. They are assigned to stay with a host family for a year, traveling with a J-1 visa.

The U.S. has a multitude of organizations which offer study abroad programs for American high school students as well, not just college, including opportunities for shorter trips that are similar to Sciarinno’s, in which students stay with a family for an extended period of time and attend a local high school.

Sciarinno was set up with a partnering organization in Nevada to help complete the process, where a family would choose to take her into their home for a year. When Sciarinno got off her plane, she was warmly greeted by the Murphey family with a big welcome sign.

Now, she spends her weekends going to different outings with them, teaching them a little bit of Italian here and there. She makes a point to not message her family back home every day, which would distract her from her new routine in Reno/Sparks.

“It’s like a rule of the agency, that it’s better not to write every day because you have to make your life here.”

This is the first time Sciarinno has been away from her family for more than two weeks. When they send her photos, it hits her again just how much she misses them, especially her 14-year-old sister.

“I think she’s one of the people I miss more,” Sciarinno said.

In Italy, there are many different types of high schools you can attend depending on what you might want to focus on.

Sciarinno decided to focus on social studies, although it separated her from her friends. In high school, you stay with the same classmates for all your years, and every day the subjects change and the teachers shift around.

At Reed High School, the schedule was much stranger to Sciarinno, who was used to being around the same people at school.

“It’s not that easy to make friends if every hour you have to change classmates, change your class,” Sciarinno explained.

Despite this, she says classmates around her here are friendly and curious.

A lot of people question Sciarinno on her choice to come here to study for a year, and she is quite confident in her decision to get out of her own little world.

“Why do I have to stay in Italy when I can go on the other side of the world, discover new places, new people,” Sciarinno said. “The world is not in Italy, [it’s] not in my small town.”

Reporting and photo submitted by Joss Higgins

Boom Goes the Bachi: Brandon Villon’s Thunderous Journey in Taiko

It’s late in the evening on a Thursday night. I’m sitting on the floor, chowing down my budget-friendly dinner courtesy of Taco Bell. Before the interview begins, a large drum is unveiled from two sheets concealing its presence. The barrel-sized drum is hefty and monumental. This is a “Taiko” which translates to “drum" in Japanese. As I’m preparing to initiate the interview, a strike is made toward the center of the hide which covers the top of the drum, filling the small room with a powerful boom. A few more strikes later and then what began as a demonstration transformed into an effusive performance; and I, the one-woman audience, had floor seats.

When Brandon Villon began his journey with Taiko drumming in 2017 at the California State University, Northridge, it wasn’t another hobby to pass time – it was a life-changing art he adopted. With a background in western music and prior experience with percussion, Villon was drawn to the historical significance behind the art of Taiko drumming. His participation in the art form, specifically American Taiko, became pivotal after learning about the amount of violence against Asians during COVID-19. American Taiko, compared to traditional Japanese Taiko, emphasizes social activism, particularly anti-racism. “Taiko has become one of the many cultural safeguards that keep the Asian-American mentality alive and healthy,” Villon said.

Upon preparing for a Taiko competition in Los Angeles in 2024, Villon had practiced on tires. Yes, real black rubber tires used for cars. These tires are wrapped securely with duct tape to recreate the effect and build of a true Taiko drum. Villon says he practiced from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the week leading up to the competition. It was a brutal practice schedule. When the competition came, he won. While this victory showcased Villon’s skill and talent for the Japanese art form, it does not encapsulate the purpose of his involvement in Taiko.

Wolf Pack Taiko did not begin as a thriving club. Established in 2022 by Juliann Schultz, the membership was small and eventually dwindled to only three members. Villon entered the Taikai, or tournament, in Los Angeles to show “the participants and the community watching that Taiko competition that Wolf Pack Taiko existed.” Since the competition, the club escalated to over 20 members within the year.

“I wanted to show to them that even though we were small, we were very mighty and even though we didn’t have a lot of equipment, we still knew how to hold our own,” Villon says.

Photo and reporting submitted by Lindsay Burback

Jp Avilla, Giving It His All, from Surviving Cancer to Diving for Conservation to Wildland Firefighting

This is a story of survival, not just from disease, but from limits most of us never push past. It's about fire, water, and new beginnings.

From the front lines of wildfires to the depths of the ocean, to surviving cancer, my older brother Jp Avilla, 30, has given it his all. 

As a teenager, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that normally occurs in young children between the ages of three and five.

“For some reason mine was dormant… it affected me later in life when I was like 14 or 15,” says Avilla.

ALL is a blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow, causing it to produce too many immature white blood cells. This overproduction makes it difficult for the body to fight infections and diseases. 

“For treatment, there was no radiation because there was no cancerous mass to pinpoint or focus on,” says Avilla. “It was my entire circulatory system, my bone marrow and my spinal column.”

Avilla began daily and nightly chemotherapy the day he was diagnosed. Doctors prescribed steroids and medications for pain, nausea, sleep, and anxiety.

“The first day I was diagnosed, they surgically inserted a port-a-cath in my chest… a tube that went straight into my main artery,” he remembers.

“My body was going through all these chemicals and they didn’t help. I became bedridden, unable to leave the house.”

Avilla’s parents stepped in after watching him continue to fail, letting him join the forefront of medical marijuana before it became more socially accepted.

“I was able to sleep, go the whole day without throwing up, I was able to go to school and be a somewhat normal kid,” he says with a smile.

It took four years of daily chemo and another five years before Avilla was declared cancer free and out of remission. After his recovery, Avilla says he became something of an adrenaline junkie.

“I danced with the veil. I experienced surviving something, and that shaped me a lot,” he says.

Avilla’s first dive off the coast of Utila, Honduras hunting lionfish for the Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center. Photo provided by Jp Avilla.

After graduating high school, Avilla struggled to find direction, and after dropping out of the University of Reno, Nevada (UNR) he started to look for a new path. 

“I got a second chance at life and I wasn’t living it like I wanted to,” he says.

Plan B for Avilla was to join the military like his older brother. However after sharing the plan with his older brother he abandoned it for plan C, traveling. 

“One of his military buddies had just come back from Southeast Asia. He broke down how far the dollar would stretch. I left that same year, after my best friend graduated from UNR,” he says. “That’s when I really started living.”

Avilla spent over nine months backpacking across Southeast Asia, staying in hostels and diving into a new world, literally. 

“We were in Koh Tao, Thailand, one of the scuba diving capitals of the world. I immediately fell in love with the ocean underworld.”

In two weeks Avilla completed over twelve dives never expecting to make it to instructor level six years later.

“I overstayed my welcome. I went from basic diver to advanced to specialty diver in just a few weeks,” he says.

Still, something felt missing when he returned to the U.S. While working at Tahoe Forest Hospital and pursuing his advanced EMT certification, he discovered a new calling.

“I felt like I still needed a purpose, and it eventually led me to work for the Tallac Hotshots.”

When Avilla first started training for wildland firefighting it was the most grueling, physically and mentally demanding experience of his life.

“I kept thinking that they were going to fire me. I told myself everyday that as long as they’re not gonna fire me, I’m gonna keep putting one foot in front of the other up this massive hill.”

Avilla found a new community that taught him discipline.

“I found myself with people who were ready to put their blood, sweat, and tears into something bigger than themselves,” he says.

During his first year, Avilla recalls a couple close calls fighting the Dixie Fire, one of the largest wildfires in California history.

“It just seemed impossible to stop. The fire break ended up being six dozer blades wide. It would be jumping miles ahead of itself from fallout in the air,” he says.

The crew was emergency demobilized just days before finishing their role on the Dixie. A new fire broke out: the Caldor Fire, south of Lake Tahoe.

“About half of our crew had homes in South Lake Tahoe or Meyers. We started putting out fires on people’s fence lines, saving entire neighborhoods.”

Despite the trauma and close calls, Avilla returned for two more fire seasons. In between fire seasons Avilla continued to travel and dive for conservations.

“I traveled to Honduras for 10 weeks and got my dive master and instructor certification while helping the Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center,” he says.

The Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center was attempting to revive the local coral reefs by creating a coral nursery and medications to help with infections. There, he contributed to coral reef restoration and lionfish population control. When not traveling abroad, Avilla volunteers for Clean Up the Lake, a conservation project that focuses on cleaning local alpine lakes.

“I believe we were among the first people to dive in Spooner Lake to help pilot research,” he says. “I felt a little like Neil Armstrong. One fin for man, one giant frog stroke for conservation.” 

While he enjoys volunteering he has also found a new passion for teaching people to dive.

“It’s pretty cool seeing new divers I’ve trained get passionate diving. Teaching people to dive has been a whole new layer of healing,” says Avilla.

Avilla’s next step? Currently Avilla is studying for the entrance and pharmacology exam to return to the University of Nevada, Reno to pursue the competitive paramedic program for spring 2026. 

“I think this will open doors for municipal fire for me,” he explains.

When asked what advice he’d give someone struggling with a health diagnosis that’s shaken their identity, Avilla answers from the heart.

“It might sound cliché, but the number one thing is: You’re not alone, and it’s going to be okay. Step out of your comfort zone and find people you connect with, there’s no shame, no ego, and no pride worth feeling alone,” he said.  

Reporting by Amanda Avilla shared with Our Town Reno

Keep Reno Rad: A Locally Made Hand Drawn Web Comic About a Bat and a Ferret

Venturing into the hand-drawn world of the @koz_comics webcomic Instagram channel by local Reno artist @sheepish_eye is an enchanting, ongoing rom com journey, with frequent slice of life relatable short videos, mixed in with vignette micro stories starring Kelsey the Bat and Ozzie the Ferret.

“I created the comic to help push me to continuously create art on a regular basis, to practice making simple animations and to creatively express myself by drawing me and my partner as cute cartoons,” @sheepish_eye explained in a message exchange today.

Bats and ferrets are often under appreciated, she explained.

“My goal for the comic was for it to be relatable to nerdy couples, and to follow trends I find funny and amusing,” she added.

The Reno born and raised artist said she’s always had an interest in art and cartoons, getting education along the way in animation and design at TMCC and Nevada State University.

“I like it here in Reno since they often do events promoting art and give opportunities to artists to do public art installments,” she said of staying in the Biggest Little City.

A firm advocate of promoting artists to combat the growing pervasiveness of AI designs, her two pinned posts at the top of her channel, introducing her two characters, indicate in the top corner “Hand-drawn with love Never made with Ai.”

Our Town Reno reporting, August 23, 2025

Reno Teenager Qualifies for US National Teams with Precocious Triathlon and Aquathlon Racing Abilities

Proud local Dad Robbie Ferrito wanted to share photos he took of his son Rhys Ferrito (on top of podium in center), a rising sophomore at Sage Ridge and a local teen who at just 14 recently qualified for two world championship races next year.

Rhys has been practicing the three sports of triathlon (swim - bike - run) since he was 10.

He has been racing the Youth Triathlon non-draft (which means you must maintain a minimum distance from the bike rider ahead) Nationals since 2021, and finished third in the nation in 2022 in that competition.

He then won his first national title in 2023 in Milwaukee in that race and then again in 2024 in Des Moines.

For the first time he raced at the adult U.S. Nationals earlier this month in Omaha, Nebraska, finishing 26th overall in the super-sprint race (200 meter swim, 5 kilometer ride, 1 kilometer run) while winning the 15-19 age group.  

In a separate race, the aquathlon, which is a 1k swim and 5k run, Rhys finished seventh overall, qualifying for the U.S. team for a world championship 2026 competition in the United Arab Emirates and also won the 15-19 age group.

In a third race, the Sprint Triathlon, which is a 750 meter swim, 20k bike race and 5k run, he finished 28th with the adults and fourth in the 15-19 age group, which qualified him for another US national team for a 2026 competition in Pontevedra in Spain.  

“Thing is, Rhys is not 15 yet, he's still 14, he was allowed to race because of the age-up rule in triathlon,” his Dad explained to us in a message today.

“I am his Dad and also his coach, or one of his coaches I should say. I knew, given the great results of the last few years, that he had a chance to qualify for Worlds, sooner or later, but I didn't expect that until he was 17 or 18. So it is truly amazing that he achieved that at his first attempt, and he is not even 15. It goes without saying really, we, Mom and Dad couldn't be more proud,” Robbie Ferrito concluded in his message to Our Town Reno.  

Our Town Reno reporting, June 2025