Fallon is the place to be this weekend

Be safe this weekend, and for those looking for something to do, the annual Fallon Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair is the event to attend.

For the first time in years, the annual cantaloupe festival and fair will be one, big event at the fairgrounds. For the past year, a committee has been working extensively to bring a quality product to the Lahontan Valley. Billed as the longest-running agricultural event in Nevada, the festival recognizes the many growers in the valley who have cultivated a way of life that is beneficial to not only Churchill County but also to Nevada and the West.

Although other Labor Day weekend events are happening in Northern Nevada, we encourage Churchill County residents and our friends in neighboring counties to come to Fallon.

In addition to activities associated with cantaloupes and a farmers market, the country fair features numerous exhibits, a Civil War re-enactment and much more.

The Discovering Science Exhibit returns along with Marshall Brown’s World of Corn and the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s Educational Milk Cow Moolisa. On Saturday morning, bring your canine pals for the Doggy Contest for the best-dressed pooch.

While attendees are viewing the numerous exhibits or listening to the music, the annual mud volleyball tournament takes place on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and the Lions Junior Rodeo, a longtime Labor Day weekend tradition, has three days of action beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and the Top 10 Monday at 11 a.m.

The Kiwanis Club breakfast kicks off Labor Day early in the morning in the parking lot next to E.H. Hursh Insurance. Later in the morning, one of the oldest parades in Nevada winds through Fallon beginning at 10 a.m. The Fallon Lions Club solicits entries and arranges the parade order.

This year’s theme is Celebrating Agricultural Heritage.

Leading this year’s parade as grand marshal is Dr. Stuart Richardson, an optometrist and owner of Richardson Stuart OD-Complete Family Vision Care. He is also the chairman of the Churchill County Planning Commission and owner of the Fallon Theatres.

The combined festival and country fair is the place to be this weekend, which has always been labeled as the “official” end of summer.

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Also, AAA Travel estimates 34.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend, the highest volume for the holiday since 2008. The Labor Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday through Monday.

LVN editorials written by the LVN editorial board appear on Wednesdays.