RENO, NV (Nov 30): Hot August Nights celebrates its 40th anniversary next year. One big change is the organization has a new Executive Director, Lisa Jansen, who has an interesting background.
“My claim to fame was that I was the Director of Special Events at the Nugget,” she said. “I was the Rib Cook Off Queen, had a blast, loved it and I’ve always loved special events.”
Jansen was at the Nugget for five years and was there when it was sold. She also was there when it was sold twice after that.
“I also love business and I figured is I would meld those two things together I’d have the perfect job. After the last sell decided I got to get out and take a break as I was burnt out. I went into banking as I felt it was great as you got a lot of help and had banker’s hours.”
She moved to One Nevada Credit Union where she did community engagement, sponsorship, public relations and she was there for nine years.
“I had been watching Hot August Nights the whole time as I’m a huge fan. I was born and raised here in Reno and went to it my whole life as a kid. I got to work it at the Nugget so was very familiar with the Drag Races, all that and I loved it.”
This past year she made another major change.
“I’ve been watching and saw there was an opportunity so I reached out and said, ‘Hi, I’d like to talk to you.’ With my background I’m a great fit for this because I’ve got the business and special events background.”
Now that she’s there the work has begun as she is learning all she can about the operation and festival.
“I’m going to listen a lot, we’re going into our 40th year and you don’t get there overnight,” she said. “They know some things here, they’ve learned some things, done some things. So my goal is to come in and expand on what I can expand on and preserve the beautiful parts of Hot August Nights and what is successful for them. So that’s kind of my main focus with that.”
She’s also aware of how things have changed in the community and area.
“I’m really, really excited for the 40th anniversary, want to do something special and really unite everybody.
Last year was a trying year for a lot of folks, not just internally her but like the participants and the community.
“The economy is a little weird and so what I want to do is to unite everybody to go celebrate Hot August Nights. It’s a free event for most to attend and you can have a lot of fun. It’s great for families and when times are tough it’s nice to have an escape and get some entertainment like Hot August Nights.”
One challenge is the rising expenses like insurance. She also mentioned the Grand Sierra where the usual show used to be held. Seems they had to test the ground where the new stadium will go so last year’s location was changed to UNR.
She added that Hot August Nights won’t be returning there. There is another site being considered but no final decision has been reached.
Asked about challenges she said, “You know bringing more volunteers into the organization is one of those.”
She added that over the years the number of volunteers dropped. Jansen feels this is partly due to people being so busy these days as they have to work.
“One of the things I’m trying to figure out is how to make it easier for people to volunteer and how we can get more to be involved. We’re definitely doing some volunteer drives and going out there to find more folks to join our team. So I just think they need to know they aren’t signing their life away if they volunteer with us.”
Another challenge is Virginia City. She explained it’s been a rough go over the past few years. Her aim is to return and make it more spectacular as well as having it more friendly to everyone and welcoming.
This coming year they’ll park the cars like they used and she’s looking at a few little tweaks to that event. She also added that Virginia City is very photogenic and the goal is to make it a fun experience.
She also expressed appreciation for the event’s Casino partners.
“We cannon do this without them. I was recently downtown checking scoping it out and we’ll definitely e down there. You can’t have Hot August Nights without being downtown.”
She also likes the cruises and they’ll be working on communicating parking options to help people figure out where they can park and get to events easier. Jansen also expressed how she loves how people can cruise through the Peppermill and Atlantis.
Another area she’s looking at is registering cars for next year’s event.
“Our sell out is 6,000 cars and we actually raised that number in the last few years. My goal this year is to sell that out. I think we’ll get there as we’ve got a lot of interest since it’s the 40th anniversary.
“We’ve got just a ton of people checking in with us all the time. We want to want to get them registered fast because there is a good chance it will sell out. And we have people that always show up to the event to register and when we do sell out it’s very sad. Volunteers keep telling me stories about people getting turned away when we’ve sold out before.”
She feels there is a lot of positive momentum ever since the press release her phone and e-mail has blown up. Jansen is also aware of how the town has changed although some have gotten frustrated with the growth and she wants to address that.
“I really want to bring them back and give us a shot again. I think if you go on a cruise you’re going to feel that nostalgic feeling that you had 20 years ago when you went to Hot August Nights and how great it was. If you don’t like crowds try to find out when earlier in the week you can go. Try the different locations and different venues as they all have different things to offer.
Looking toward next year she mentioned that on Mother’s Day, May 8 and 9, the Hot August Nights Spring Festival is at the GSR. That’s going to be a Friday/Saturday event.
Looking ahead Jansen knows there is work to be done but is optimistic that the 40th anniversary of Hot August Nights will be one to remember as they celebrate the cars.
REPORTER’S NOTE: To register one’s car or truck please go to their website at www.hotaugustnights.net.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• On Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Trucks and Tacos of Northern Nevada will meet. This week’s location is Tacos Los Campesinos located at 1601 Vassar Street in Reno.
• This weekend there are three major toy drives and one of them covers two days.
- Saturday at Reno Harley-Davidson its Cookies with Santa. Times are noon to 3 p.m. and they ask for a donation or unwrapped toy.
• Sunday has three events scheduled.
- Starting at 10 a.m. is when Reno Cars and Coffee meets for their 10th annual Toy Run. They meet by the Human Bean Coffee Stand, at 3380 Keitzke Lane, then at 11:30 head for the Northtowne Winco parking lot.
- The 45th Reno Toy Run also starts at 10 a.m. and is at Reno Harley-Davidson. Once again they ask for either a donation or unwrapped toy. Those registering receive a t-shirt and meal ticket. At noon Santa leads a convoy to the Convention Center where the meal is and toys are distributed.
- Up at the Northtowne Winco parking lot, from 11 until 3 p.m., is where the Old Sllammers of Reno host their 12th annual Toys For Kids 2025. They ask people donate an unwrapped toy and the meet is to benefit the Children’s Cabinet.
• Davey’s American Racing can be found on Face Book.
He also posts schedules for various tracks and there related subjects.
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