History repeated itself on Sunday, January 15, 2012 when elaborately dressed Native American adults and youth, Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe tribal relatives of the dancers who performed at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games, danced at the official closing ceremonies of North Lake Tahoe's Olympic Heritage Week, held at Ed Z'Berg Sugar Pine Point State Park, in Homewood, on Lake Tahoe's West Shore.

The traditional Native American dances, designed to awaken the spirits, included a 'Round Dance' in which the public held hands with the dancers asking for spiritual help to bring snow to the Lake Tahoe region. Sugar Pine Point State Park was the summer home of the Washoe people. Every dance step taken is a prayer to honor their ancestors.

In a similar situation just over 50 years ago, an absence of January snow in the Sierra posed similar planning concerns for the organizers of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games' Nordic events, which were to be held on Lake Tahoe's West Shore. The nervous organizers of those original Olympics brought in Great Basin dancers to encourage snowfall.

Indeed, as the dances and events concluded on Sunday, light snow began to fall in Lake Tahoe, and forecasts for a significant change and end to Tahoe's dry spell in the week ahead are becoming more certain.

Olympic Heritage Week is an annual event in North Lake Tahoe that celebrates the cross-country events (held on the West Shore) during the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. The week's events included appearances by past Olympians, full moon hikes, dinners and fundraisers, as well as the opportunity to take part in guided cross-country skiing adventures along the recently restored Olympic trails.