Celebrate Nevada's statehood this weekend

NEVADA DAY is here Saturday (of course, it's REALLY on the 31st, but that's another story), and the parade starts at 10 a.m. down Carson Street. The Nevada Day program is on page A6 in today's paper, so flip back two pages and get "in the know." The Carson Calendar Girls will be in the parade (and thanks to Bill Burnaugh of Capitol City Loans, C and M will FINALLY be wearing their tiaras), and they expect you to wave and yell at them (you can also buy their calendars in front of Mom & Pop's Diner). We hope everyone has a great and safe time. The trains will be running on Sunday, so come on down, take pictures and go for a ride. It should be a great weekend.

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While you're out and around during and after the parade, go over to the Elk's Lodge, at 515 N. Nevada St., and try out their Cornish Pasties from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. They will serve hamburgers and hot dogs, too. Sounds good.

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Words of wisdom: Terry Beauchamp tells us: "If at first you don't succeed ... skydiving is not for you." Good thinking.

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We see where the Nevada Wolfpack is worried about not being chosen for one of the 60 or so bowl games this year. We remember (yeah, it was the "old, old" days) when you had to have an undefeated season, or only one or two losses, to even be considered for a bowl game. That's when they meant something, not just another excuse for an extra game and money. Gee, now you can go to the Watchamacallit Podunk Bowl, or maybe the Gizmo Galloping Ant Bowl (there's one for every town and sponsor who wants one ... hey, name your own) and have a 4 or 5 loss record to boot. Sure isn't a reward for an excellent season anymore. Too bad. No wonder the stands at many of the "bowl" games aren't even close to being full ... booooo.

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Send "get well wishes" to Jennie Cordisco, who's recovering from surgery; Mike Downey, who's awaiting a lung transplant; and to Jonni Moon and Nancy Grundy, who are getting "carved" on this week. They should both come out splendidly. And happy birthdays to NDOT's "Viking Brothers," Russ Law and John Burgess ... may they eat pickled herring. Father Jerry had his @#$% birthday last week (we weren't supposed to mention it, so we didn't), and Carolyn Shinn had her 90th with a dinner at Garabaldi's. Congratulations all. We also saw Jane and John Devaney at the Villa Basque Deli ... nice people.

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Al Nicholson strikes again: "A husband was met at the door by his sobbing wife telling him that the druggist had insulted her terribly on the phone. Immediately, the husband went down to the drugstore to confront the druggist and demand an apology. But before he could say a word or two, the druggist said, "Wait a minute, you need to hear my side of the story. My alarm failed to go off and I was late getting up. I went without breakfast, then found I had locked my house and car keys in the house. I had to break a window to get them, then I had a flat tire. There were people waiting at the drugstore when I arrived, and, as I waited on them, the phone was ringing off the hook. I tried to break a roll of nickels on the cash drawer, but they fell and scattered all over the floor. As I bent over to retrieve them, I hit my head on the drawer and staggered back into a perfume rack, where it fell all over me. When I finally answered the phone, it was your wife asking how to use a rectal thermometer ... and, believe me, mister, as God is my witness, all I did was tell her."

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Carson City has a Special Olympics gold medalist. Colleen Stainbrook won the game's 400 meter walk in Shanghai, China. She was also fourth in the shot. There were 7,500 athletes from 169 countries, so "way to go" Colleen. We're all proud of you.

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Proscenium Players' "Wonder of the World," a comedy, needs a light board and sound board operators, plus a backstage dresser and house assistants. Please call producer Nancy Podewils at 343-8100 for information, or to volunteer. If you want to get into theater, this is a good way to do it. The show starts Nov. 2, so time is of the essence.

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Sierra Scott, and her fiance, Nick, will appear on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on Feb. 4-5, 2008 ... their "Play to Pay for your Wedding" week. We don't know if they won, so be sure and watch for them next year. All we know for certain is that her family was a "lifeline" during the show. Exciting.

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If you all don't know about P.J. Degross of Carson City, you should. She runs the "Web of Support," wherein you can "adopt a soldier" and see that he or she gets packages and letters when they're in Iraq or Afghanistan. She needs more volunteers to help out, so please call her at 887-1767, or e-mail her at pjdahling@aol.com. A soldier will appreciate it more than you know.

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The summer issue of NDOT News has a fine story on Wm. "Skip" Skivington, Jr. (whom we've mentioned before ... M wore his MIA/POW bracelet for years) and the "Freedom Tree" in Las Vegas. The tree needed to be moved, because of a building renovation, to the Southern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, and NDOT's Chad Pollock, and Parole and Probation's Merritt Carlton (he and volunteers raised over $20,000 to move the tree), saw that it was safely replanted. Sgt. Skivington went MIA on Mother's Day in 1968, and, not until this year were his remains found and interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Thanks to all who see that our soldiers are not forgotten.

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"Little Johnny" comes to us again, courtesy of Vern Manke: "A new teacher was trying to make use of her psychology courses. She started by saying, 'Everybody who thinks they're stupid, stand up.' After a few seconds, Little Johnny stood up. "Do you think you're stupid, Little Johnny?' she asked. 'No, ma'am, but I hate to see you standing there all by yourself.'" Then, "The math teacher saw that Little Johnny wasn't paying attention in class, so she called out to him, 'What are 2 and 4 and 28 and 44?' Little Johnny quickly replied, 'NBC, FOX, ESPN and the Cartoon Network.'" Happy Nevada Day!

• Carolyn Tate and Maizie Harris Jesse are longtime Carson City residents. Write to them at carolynandmaizie@yahoo.com.