The best of Nevada was on display Saturday

It was all there. Everything that makes Nevada unique was on display in Carson City on Saturday for the Nevada Day celebration.

The history and tradition were evident all over downtown Carson City, with parade entries including the grand marshal (a locomotive), the rock drilling contest and even the proud multi-generational Nevada families who took it all in.

The eccentricities were there, too, especially in the beard contest on the Capitol steps.

The openness and friendliness were on display as candidate after candidate filed past and, at the Carson Nugget, people accepted free chili ladled up by the governor.

And over it all loomed the state's stunning beauty and the flag of the United States.

There are those who believe that Nevada is losing its character as wave after wave of new residents arrive to take advantage of the very things that were celebrated on Saturday. The state's population grew by 21 percent from 2000-2005, and by 66 percent in the decade before that.

That makes Nevada Day even more important, and it promises to get even better and bigger with the impending rebirth of the V&T and a growing appreciation and stewardship of the state's history.

Congratulations to H. Reg Creasey, president of Nevada Day Inc., and all of the volunteers who made the event so successful.