Photo submitted Members of the Misfits Theatre Group and Chuck's Old West Grill present a check for $1,000 to the Dayton Historical Society to help restore the Carson & Colorado Railroad Depot in Old Town.
The Historical Society of Dayton Valley is working hard to restore the Carson & Colorado Railroad Depot, but they are looking for help.
They received some help in the form of a $1,000 check from the Misfits Theater Group.
The Misfits put on a presentation of their melodrama "Asparagus Blight," as a benefit to restore the historic depot at the corner of Main Street and Highway 50 in Old Town in Dayton.
Mabel Masterman, secretary to the society, said the C&C once connected with the better-known Virginia & Truckee Railroad in Mound House and extended 300 miles to Keeler, Calif., near Owens Lake.
In 1881, the Dayton Station was the first one built. It's now the state's only surviving original C&C passenger station.
In 2002, the Lyon County Commissioners started looking for ways to keep the property from falling to burgeoning commercial development.
With a groundswell of community support between 2002-04, the Historical Society of Dayton Valley, the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, local and county officials, residents and developers all worked together to obtain the site and station.
No funding was available to purchase the depot, and things looked bad until Landmark Homes developer Jim Bawden bought and then held the station and adjoining land until grant money for purchase could be obtained.
Grants were approved, Bawden has been reimbursed and Lyon County now owns the station. The Historical Society of Dayton Valley has a stewardship agreement with the county to manage the property.
Now that the property is secured, members of the Historical Society are looking for help to turn the old building into a showpiece, by restoring it to its original appearance so it can house a new visitors center and the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
•••
Eight families in Dayton have achieved the American dream of home ownership with the help of Citizens for Affordable Homes Inc.
The organization, which works with prospective homeowners to help them build their own homes and obtain mortgages through Irwin Union Bank using the My Community Mortgage loan program through Fannie Mae.
CAHI director Ron Trunk said CAHI has helped more than 140 families become homeowners.
Another 11 are scheduled for closings in the next to weeks, to complete the Gold Country Estates Phase I in Dayton.
•••
Silver City is having a Community Barter Fair and Halloween Costume Repurposing Day from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday at Silver City Park.
The event is hosted by Case For Change Task Force and will include a table where families can "repurpose" Halloween costumes or make completely original creations with recycled craft materials.
There will also be a cookie-decorating table with a fall decoration theme.
To help out, call Quest Lakes at 847-0742.
•••
If you like a comedy with a bit of a moral to the story, stop by the Gold Hill Hotel on Wednesdays through Nov. 14 to see "The Dream," a new play written by Paul Sweetwood.
It is filled with laughter, celebrities, several killers and some surprising twists and turns.
Set in 2012, the play features Peter Rilea as Edgar, owner of the Gold Hill Hotel, who has a wife that lords over him, which he gets around by simple dishonesty.
Dinner and show is $30; show only is $10. Call the Gold Hill Theater Troupe for information.
Also playing on Thursdays is "The Uninvited," but I haven't made it to that one yet. If you have, e-mail me and let me know what you thought.
•••
Jerry Sloss of Reno stopped by Virginia City on Wednesday, on his way back from a bicycle trip from the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.
He said that he had been traveling off and on for 35 years and called this trip for his journal "Whirlwind 2007" tour. Sloss is a traveling veteran, having gone all over the continental United States and Alaska by mountain bike, motorcycle, backpack or thumb.
On this trip one of his favorite places were the Indian ruins at Chaco Canyon, N.M.
Sloss said that being this kind of a free-sprit entailed some discipline to stick to a budget of $5-$7 a day and packing the bike properly for weight and balance daily.
He said that he never solicited money but that people, after hearing his story, sometimes donated to his cause in either goods or money.
Some people around Pioche gave him and his bike a ride and a cabin to stay in for the night.
Sloss has kept journals of his trips and said he would like to publish them some day.
• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.