BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Dema Guinn talks to the crowd about her Inaugural Ball Gown before she donated it to the Nevada State Museum during the Tin Cup Tea and Chuck Wagon Barbecue at the Governor's Mansion on Saturday.
The biggest surprise at the Governor's Mansion Saturday night wasn't the gunfighters on the front lawn or the governor's state-seal adorned cowboy boots, but the announcement by Gov. Kenny Guinn that he and wife Dema were donating $25,000 to the Tin Cup Tea and Chuckwagon Barbecue fundraiser.
"We want to thank you for supporting this, all the people of Nevada, for keeping history alive," Guinn told the crowd. "We will miss you."
Saturday was the last Tin Cup Tea event for the Guinns, who started the event seven years ago as a fundraiser for the Nevada State Museum in Carson City and the W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum at the UNR Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering.
First lady Dema Guinn instigated the fundraiser after visiting the two museums when she moved to Carson City. The future of the event rests on whoever becomes the next resident of the mansion.
"I went to the Keck Museum to get minerals to display for the students to see when they come to the mansion and was surprised that they had wonderful things that weren't on display," Mrs. Guinn said. "I went to the Nevada State Museum to see the inaugural ballgowns and they couldn't display them because they didn't have any mannequins."
At the tea Saturday night, Mrs. Guinn added another gown to the collection, donating her gown from 1999 to the Nevada State Museum's Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center.
The dress was made by Eavis & Brown of London. The designer has also clothed Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock and was commissioned to design the wedding dress of Heather McCartney. With the addition of Mrs. Guinn's dress, the museum now has inaugural attire going back 100 years.
More than 1,200 people took part in the tea, making it the largest event ever held at the Governor's Mansion, quite an increase for the 160-person afternoon tea held seven years ago.
"I never thought it would get this big. I kept the cost down so that everyone could come and see the governor's mansion and be a part of history," Mrs. Guinn said. "I just like having people here, that's what makes it great."
The 2006 event raised approximately $100,000 for the museums from the silent and live auctions as well as sponsors and donations, including the Guinn's.
"I am just shocked at their donation, we had no idea," said Jim Barmore, Nevada State Museum director. "That total is just a phenomenal amount. It allows 100,000 citizens, visitors to the state and school children to see our heritage."
Mrs. Guinn said, "History is too important for all of us to lose. If we don't keep it alive and show our children the history we aren't doing our job. But we need funding to do that."
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.