Nevada 150 Sesquicentennial events lined up through September

The deadline to submit applications for Official and Signature Nevada 150 events will be 5:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. Over 400 events have been held across the Silver State since Nevada Day 2013, in celebration of Nevada’s Sesquicentennial, with many more ahead. To submit an event application please visit www.Nevada150.org. For questions or additional information please contact Scott Carey, events and community relations manager, at 775-687-0645 or shcarey@nevada150.org.

The following events will be held Sept. 1 through Sept. 14.
The annual Virginia City International Camel & Ostrich Races will be held Sept. 5-7. The races have been going on for 54 years in Virginia City. Camels have long history in Nevada, once being used as service animals for the gold & silver mines in the 1800s. This event is known all over the world and riders are made of a real organization called the International Order of Camel Jockeys. For additional information please visit www.visitvirginiacitynv.com or call 775-847-7500.

The Great Reno Balloon Race is the largest free hot air ballooning event in the world and is part of the inaugural Nevada State Balloon Champion Series. Sept. 5-7, you can look up into the Reno skies and see a rainbow of hot air balloons soaring about. From its humble beginnings in 1982 with just 20 balloons, The Great Reno Balloon Race has taken flight with up to 100 balloons each year including a special Nevada 150 balloon this year. Taking place just a few miles north of downtown Reno, the event enchants both young and old with its vibrant colors and inspiring music.

With an average of 150,000 spectators attending the event each year, the number of lives touched by the beautiful spectacle continues to rise just like the balloons themselves. For further information about the Great Reno Balloon Race, please visit our website at www.renoballoon.com or call 775-826-1181.

Flashback Fridays – Free Museum Day will be Sept. 5 at all major Virginia City Museums. In honor of Nevada’s Sesquicentennial celebration the following museums will open their doors at no charge: Comstock Gold Mill, Historic Fourth Ward School Museum, Mackay Mansion, Piper’s Opera House, Silver State National Peace Officers Museum, St. Mary’s Art Center, Territorial enterprise – Mark Twain Museum, The Way it Was Museum and the Washoe Club Haunted Museum.  Virginia City’s free or donation only museums will also be participating including, Comstock History Center, Comstock Fireman/s Museum, Julia Bulette Museum, Marshall Mint, St. Mary’s Catholic Church & Museum, Storey County Courthouse and Virginia City Cemetery. For more information please visit www.VisitVirginiaCityNV.com or call 775-847-7500.

The Elko Classic Car Show, held annually in September, this show brings in the best of the best. The show running Sept. 5-6 starts off a two day extravaganza with a kickoff party, featuring live music, great food, drink, fantastic people, and classic vehicles. Over the years, the Car Show has grown from a simple exhibition into a celebration that includes a Poker Run, Show n’ Shine, Cool Cruise, Raffles, Prizes and more. This celebration features the fastest rides in the west and a chance to win first place in an array of car class categories. For more information please visit www.exploreelko.com or call 775-738-4091.

This is event is part of the first Annual Native American Visiting Artists Series continues at the Old Las Vegas Fort. The Friends of the Fort will be hosting Native American Artists in a four-month series, with the third being on Saturday, Sept. 6 with Everett Pikyavit, a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes. Everett’s work includes all traditional Southern Paiute and Goshute styles: open and closed twined winnowers, conical burden baskets, seed beaters, hats, water jugs, cradleboards, and various types and sizes of coiled baskets using traditional material. His works are found in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Everett passes on his knowledge to other Southern Paiutes and encourages them to follow traditional basket designs, styles, material, and thought in their individual basketry, for he hopes to ensure that this ancient art form will continue for generations. He will demonstrate basket weaving and discuss the traditions of his culture. Everett will also have baskets for sale. For more information please contact the Friends of the Fort at 702-486-3511 or visit www.friendsofthefort.org.

In honor of Nevada’s Sesquicentennial Helen Stewart’s Basket will be on Display at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort on Saturday, Sept. 6. “The First Lady of Las Vegas” Helen J. Stewart (1854-1926) was an avid collector of baskets made locally from the early 1910s. During her years in Las Vegas, Helen befriended the local Paiute Indians and by the early 1920s Helen's collection had grown to nearly 550 baskets. This collection was considered one of the finest in the West. The basket is temporarily on loan from the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas to the Old Fort and will be on display for one day only. For more information please contact the Friends of the Fort at 702-486-3511 or visit www.friendsofthefort.org.

The Joseph Moore Graham Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy will hold its annual meeting on Sept. 6 at the Marie Callenders Restaurant located at 8175 W. Sahara Blvd in Las Vegas. The featured speaker will be Dr. Michael Green from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, presenting a program on Nevada’s importance in the Civil War. Dr. Green will inform attendees about Nevada’s participation in the Civil War and the value leading to statehood in 1864. For more information please call 702-877-6755.

Home Means Nevada 15th Annual Model Contest in Reno on Sept. 6 will feature models displaying 150 years of everything Nevada. This could be anything from Nevada Highway Patrol cars to Nevada themed airlines to Area 51 “aircraft.” This is a popular Northern Nevada hobby event. For more information please visit www.renohighrollers.com or call 775-835-0140.

Humboldt County will host the 69th Annual County Fiscal Officers Association Conference in Winnemucca Sept. 9-11. The County Fiscal Officers Association of Nevada is an organization of elected and appointed officials that promotes high work standards, unquestionable ethics and the highest standards of integrity in the Silver State. For more information please visit http://cfoa-nevada.org/ or call 775-623-6445.

In honor of Nevada’s sesquicentennial the Lambda Business Association, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce for Southern Nevada, will be hosting a special presentation by Mark Hall-Patton at its monthly lunch on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Hall-Patton is the administrator of the Clark County Museum and he will be discussing the history of business in Nevada. The lunch will be held at Palacio Del Sol #2 located at 953 E Sahara Ave. in Las Vegas. The public is always invited to these events and the cost for lunch is $15. For more information please visit www.lambdalv.com or call 702-893-2088.

National Championship Air Races will be held Sept. 10-14. An exciting celebration of speed and aviation featuring six classes of aircraft racing at speed of up 500 miles per hour in pursuit of a near $1 million dollar purse. Also demonstrations of America’s air power by elements of our Naval and United States Air Forces. Thrilling aerobatic acts and static displays all take place the 51st Annual National Championship Air Races. Nevada 150 merchandise will be available for sale at the races on Friday Sept 12. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.airrace.org or call 775-972-6663.

Thirteenth Annual 9/11 Commemorative Dinner honoring those who gave their all for our country will be held Sept. 12 in Minden, NV. Our military, police and fire will be honored at this dinner. It is a non-political special event, and not a fund raiser, and is to carry on the “we shall not forget” so aptly adopted after that tragic event. For additional information or to purchase tickets please visit www.sierranevadarepublicanwomen.com or call 775-267-6937.

In celebration of Nevada’s 150th Birthday, the Mt. Grant Memorial Challenge invites 150 participants on Sept. 13 to hike to the Peak of Mt. Grant in honor of those who lost their lives in the September 11th terrorist attacks. At 14,300 it is the highest point in Mineral County and the Challenge is a 17 mile, 4000 foot incline up some of Nevada’s most pristine wilderness. Participants will climb 7,000 feet to reach the summit and be rewarded with a breathtaking view and finisher’s medal. Limited to 150 participants. For more information please visit www.911challenge.org or call 775-316-1953.

Dr. Belladonna’a Spirits of the Wild, Wild West Revival is a variety medicine show infused with a vaudeville theme with fantasy characters from the wild, wild west recognizing spirits from Nevada’s rich and colorful past. The event on Sept. 13 will take place at the historic, Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City, reenacting the entertainment that was brought to the opera house, as well as bringing Nevada’s spirit back to life. For more information please visit www.highdesertsteam.org or call 775-848-7203.

Enjoy an other-timely/worldly atmosphere at the 4th Annual Victorian Steampunk Ball “Traveling to Futures Past” full of dancing, artists, musicians, vending, and playfully interactive antiquity all encompassed by a truly historic venue on Sept. 13 in Virginia City. During the day a parade, steam-train rides, Victorian artifacts, art cars, and a host of surprising activities yet to be unveiled will celebrate the futures past of the Comstock and beyond! This event is held in conjunction with the Asha World Dancers’ ground-breaking Silver City Spectacular Medicine Show. Throughout both day and night all manner of fantastical costume is admired (but not required) – Sci-fi Steampunks, Victorian ladies and gentlemen, soldiers and cavalrymen, Neo-cultures, explorers, miners, and others will be on display/participating by the hundreds. For more information please visit www.highdesertsteam.org or call 775-722-8425.

Tractors and Truffles brings local cuisine from farm to table on Sept. 13. Acclaimed chefs and a family fun format come together to form this premier Northern Nevada culinary event. A farm-to-plate gourmet dinner prepared by renowned chefs with the freshest, locally grown ingredients featuring guest Chef Ryan Scott followed by Hot Buttered Rum, in concert, at the Oats Park Art Center’s Barkley Theatre. Leading up to the dinner are several options including: a tour of Lattin Farms that includes cooking demonstrations and a light lunch, Churchill Vineyards wine tasting and tour with Colby Frey, and a music workshop with Hot Buttered Rum. For more information please visit www.tractorsandtruffles.com or call 775-423-4556 or toll free 866-432-5566.
Nevada Sons of the American Revolution 50th Anniversary Dinner will be held Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. The dinner will be a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Chartering of the Signers Chapter, Nevada Society, Sons of the American Revolution in conjunction with a commemoration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. For more information please visit www.signers-lasvegas.com or call 702-379-1317.

The Annual Fiesta Las Vegas Latino Parade and Festival will celebrate the Hispanic Heritage Month. This event will take place in Downtown Las Vegas featuring a parade on Saturday, Sept. 13 followed by a daylong festival on Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Clark County Amphitheater located at 500 South Grand Central Pkwy. Fiesta Las Vegas celebrates cultural diversity and highlights unique customs that make Latino culture special. Fiesta Las Vegas features an array of colorful floats, performing artists, traditional food and family activities. Fiesta Las Vegas strives to encourage and promote cultural pride by uniting Latino organizations, community groups, schools, and businesses to share folkloric costumes, traditions, music, dance and comida! For more information please visit www.fiestalasvegas.org or call 702-608-1278.

About Nevada 150
Nevada’s Sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of Nevada’s admission to the Union, will provide opportunities for celebration and reflection as we come together statewide to commemorate our shared history and build a foundation of cultural appreciation for generations to come.  Nevada’s one of a kind and diverse history will be celebrated throughout the state for an entire year in order to promote pride in the shared heritage of all Nevadans. Nevada’s Sesquicentennial celebration commenced on Nevada Day 2013 and concludes with an expanded Nevada Day celebration October, 2014. For more information, please visit www.Nevada150.org.