Columnist Susan Snyder: Pioche still plays it fair

Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

By the time you read this, I will be on vacation.

And I am going with some reservations (other than the hotel variety) because being out of state means I am going to miss the Nevada State Fair in Reno and, more sadly, the 99th Annual Pioche Labor Day Celebration.

But you can go. The fair opens Wednesday and closes Sunday, which doesn't give you much time to plan. If you can't go until Friday you're going to miss the biscuits and scones bake-off Wednesday and the drop-cookie bake-off Thursday. But your Wranglers will fit better.

Hang around until Sunday and catch the Nevada state demolition derby finals, which are a staged version of what the typical Las Vegas Valley commuter sees on any given weekday along Interstate 15. At least you don't have to participate.

But there's still plenty of time to plan a Labor Day jaunt up to Pioche, a 19th century mining town on U.S. 93, 180 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Pioche, named for the San Francisco financier who bought the land and laid out the town in 1869, was considered one of the West's wildest. It is home to the famous Million Dollar Courthouse, which in 2003 was listed as one of Nevada's 10 most endangered historic landmarks.

At the peak of its mining activity in the 1870s, Pioche's population reached 4,000 or 10,000 depending on whose version you believe. Either one is far more than the estimated 700 people who state figures show live there now.

But come Sept. 3 locals expect the population to triple -- at least for the weekend.

"We are so busy during Labor Day. It's about 2,000 people who come up here," said Donna Morgan, who works at the Overland Hotel & Saloon and has been assisting Overland owner Candace Martinson with coordinating this year's festival.

A highlight, she said, will be the light parade on Sept. 4. Floats awash in lights will motor up Main Street showcasing this year's theme of "Your Favorite Old Movie." Morgan said anyone can enter a float, so it should be fun to see what the favorites are.

Events scheduled throughout the three-day event include the annual turkey shoot, a pet show, horseshoe and softball tournaments and a fishing derby (a contest involving hooks, not hats). A new attraction will be the Desert Drifters gunfighters, who will stage Old West battles throughout the weekend.

Several of the weekend's contests revolve around mining skills, with the adults' mucking contest being among the toughest.

Now, mucking means something else entirely in our urban setting, especially in an election year. In Pioche it's a contest to see who can shovel a pile of dirt into an ore car the fastest.

Be sure to wear pants with an elastic waist. There's a chili cook-off, a cake walk, a dutch oven dinner and two pancake breakfasts. And you can bet the temperatures will be a little cooler and the air a little clearer.

"It's a great time. It really is," Morgan said. "We have reservations two years in advance for this."

But Morgan said they'll work to find places people can stay or park an RV for a couple of days. Call them at (775) 962-5895. For a festival schedule, log onto www.piochenevada.com.

And eat a couple of pancakes for me. See you Sept. 10.