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We deserve
nice things
By Jackie Shelton
I
’ve lived in Northern Nevada my
entire life and it feels like I’ve been
defending Reno for as long as I can
remember, including much of my
professional career. However, this has
changed.
I love Reno and the fact that you can
see theater-goers in jeans and cowboy
boots mingling with their friends in
velvet gowns. It makes me happy that
people feel comfortable being who they
are and that Reno’s quirkiness allows
for that. But that hasn’t always been the
case.
Growing up, whenever I would travel
out of state I would say I was from
Sparks. Though technically true, it
also helped me avoid questions about
how much time I spent gambling and
looking at hookers. Back then, out-of-
staters didn’t understand teenagers
weren’t allowed to gamble or visit
bordellos.
Fast forward a few years to 1995 when
the Pioneer Center introduced our
area to “Broadway Comes to Reno,”
and I got to do the marketing for the
series. I had a hard time convincing
my friends, let alone the general public,
that it was the same touring show
they would get to see in Seattle or Los
Angeles. Why? Because Renoites have
(had?) a bit of an inferiority complex
and we didn’t believe that we deserved
nice things. In February 2016, I went to
see “Book of Mormon” in downtown
Reno, an event that sold out the day
it went on sale. It was incredibly
rewarding seeing that same Pioneer
Center packed to the brim.
In 1997 I wrote a cover story for
Comstock’s Business Magazine
about
the downtown Riverwalk, the Century
Riverside and the whitewater park
being planned under the guidance of
then-mayor Jeff Griffin. During my
interviews, and after the story was
published, I was bombarded with
negativity. “Why would they build
a movie theater down there?” “Why
did the city invest all that money in
the Riverwalk?” “Nobody is going
to actually kayak there.” The theme
throughout all these comments?
“Residents will not go downtown, so
why are we even trying?” Have you
tried finding a parking space in the
Riverwalk area lately?
In 2004, my team and I started
RLife
and
Family Pulse
magazines. I can’t
tell you how many times I heard, “Your
magazines are really great… for Reno.”
We had and still have incredible talent
in this community – writers, graphic
designers, photographers, illustrators –
and many of them were contributing to
our publications. The magazines were
really great… for anywhere. Today we
have amazing local magazines and
my guess is that their publishers aren’t
hearing the “for Reno” comment quite
as often as we did.
Our community has worked hard to
build Reno up to a place that we can
all be proud of, in every way. Midtown
business owners took a somewhat
sketchy area and turned it in to an
artistic treasure trove. Downtown is
bustling with restaurants, theaters and
our beautiful river. Our government
and business leaders have encouraged
companies like Tesla, Switch and
Amazon to move and expand here,
helping with our local economy. The
gaming properties are bringing in
world-class dining and entertainment.
And we don’t even need to talk about
the fabulous outdoor recreational
opportunities we have all around us.
Now comes the hard part – we need
to actually be proud of our city and to
accept that we do indeed deserve nice
things. We’ve earned them.
Jackie Shelton is the Vice President
of Public Relations at the Estipona
Group
Join us on April 30
th
at The Bridge Restaurant & Bar.
Enjoy a welcome cocktail followed by five delectable courses paired
with exquisite Opolo wines. Learn about the inspiration, history, and
techniques that went into creating these fine wines.
TICKETS ARE $80 PER PERSON AND MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE.
LIMITED SEATING.
PLEASE CALL 775-432-1633 FOR TICKETS OR MORE DETAILS.
Winemaker Dinner
F E A T U R I N G O P O L O V I N E Y A R D S