Mmmm ... time for the Candy Dance

Genoa is in high gear in preparation for the 89th annual Genoa Candy Dance Arts & Crafts Faire set for 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 26 and 27.

The fair features art and crafts, food and activity booths and 4,000 pounds of Genoa's homemade candy.

Admission is free. Parking in designated lots is $5. Round-trip shuttle service will be available at the Carson Valley Inn and Douglas High School parking lots for $2.

Saturday, Sept. 26, features the namesake Candy Dance with David John and the Comstock Cowboys providing music 4-9:30 p.m. in Genoa Town Park. Opening entertainment by Lacy J. Dalton.

Trimmer Ranch One caters the ranch-style barbecue dinner with dessert provided by J.T. Basque Bar & Dining Room. A no-host bar opens at 4 p.m. with dinner at 5:30 p.m.

Purchase dinner dance tickets by Sept. 17 at $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger. Dance-only tickets are $15, available in advance and at the door.

Tickets are available at the Genoa Town Office, the Dancing Deer, Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center. Shuttle service will be available.

Candy is the key ingredient to the continued success of the Candy Dance, which was founded in 1919 by Lillian Virgin Finnegan who served homemade candy at a community fall dance to raise money for the town's streetlights.  

The art and crafts fair was added in the 1970s. Funds raised by the Town of Genoa during Candy Dance weekend provide a substantial portion of the town's annual budget.

A number of the street lights purchased after the first Candy Dance still light up the Town of Genoa to this day.

For more information call 782-8696, www.genoanevada.org.