Genoa was crammed with happy shoppers at this year’s Candy Dance fair. Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.There were big dogs and little dogs. I saw a brown Great Dane at one end of town and a tiny black and white chihuahua at the other, even though a sign on a telephone pole said No Dogs. The pets were well-behaved and obviously having fun.
The human visitors were, too. It was Genoa’s 89th annual Candy Dance Arts and Crafts Fair, and the streets were packed. Parking was located about a half mile from the fair, but that didn’t matter: You could catch a ride on a tractor-driven trolley or an air-conditioned bus for the short ride into the center of Genoa.
We walked to the festivities from our home about a mile north of town. Cars were parked on both sides of Jacks Valley Road for over a mile. As we headed in, people streamed out carrying bags and pushing carts with their booty. Happy shoppers toted fanciful metal yard ornaments, framed artwork and photographs, home decorations, and, of course, candy.
Visitors line up to buy handmade candies at the candy booth. Photo by Joyce Hollister.Volunteers had whipped up four thousand pounds of candy, working diligently in the town’s kitchen each day for weeks before the event. Sixteen varieties were sold in one-pound packages, from fudge with and without nuts to peanut brittle and almond bark. Sales were brisk at the candy booth, but almost a thousand pounds were left over, victims of the recession, I learned later.
After we scored our pound to take to the folks back home and waved a greeting to Marian Vassar, the indomitable candy committee chair, we checked out the town concession booth. I bought a 2009 Genoa Candy Dance T-shirt in a soft gray-blue.
Lisa Lekumberry watches as helpers tend the Trimmer Ranch One grill. Photo by Joyce Hollister.Since it was noon, Gim, my husband, showed an interest in the barbecue at the Trimmer Outpost, a new store in town operated by longtime Genoa ranchers—the Trimmer Ranch One celebrated its centennial this year—across from the Town Hall. One of the operators, J.B. Lekumberry, husband of Lisa Giovacchini, great-granddaughter of ranch founders Robert and Sarah Trimmer, worked the grill with his brother-in-law Dan Walters. Lisa served Gim a chorizo sandwich. J.B. and Dan also grilled the ranch’s grass-fed beef hamburgers.
Trimmer Outpost hosted the Saturday night dinner and dance featuring locals’ favorite country-western band, David John and the Comstock Cowboys, with special guest Lacy J. Dalton. This year, the event was held at the Genoa Town Park.
Dark wildlflower and alfalfa honey was sold at Elmore’s Honey Products.Photo by Joyce Hollister.We wandered among the crafts booths nearby. The crafters’ work is juried, and the fair features only the best of the best among jewelry, ceramics, art glass, potpourri, wooden creations, handmade clothing and knitted items, soap, candles, herbal lotions, and leather. We bought a rich, caramel-colored wildflower-alfalfa honey at Elmore’s Beehive Products. Although based in Oroville, the bee farmer keeps his charges all over northern Nevada.
Kids from Jacks Valley Elementary School sold Gogurts and water.Photo by Joyce Hollister.We picked up up a Gogurt from Jacks Valley Elementary School students, then ventured to Mormon Station, where the booths were spaced among the old locust trees in front of the log cabin and inside the stockade, a replica of the fort that the pioneers built in the 1850s. Here we walked among paths choked with shoppers and worked up a thirst. Gim headed to the Genoa Volunteer Fire Department’s beer and food booth and picked up yet another sandwich, this time Italian sausage with marinara sauce and grilled peppers, from volunteer Bill Hutchison. Meanwhile, I purchased a pottery dish and bowl from Allan Wilks, a potter from Santa Cruz, California.
The food court in the GVFD parking lot was jammed—you could buy Indian tacos, taquitos, barbecued pork, beef, ribs and chicken, corn, ice cream, and lemonade as well as the volunteers’ beer, fries, wine and sausages. Diners gathered at long tables in the GVFD’s truck bays.
Bejeweled serving spoons gleam at one of the Candy Dance fair booths. Photo by Joyce Hollister.Surfeited with food and purchases, we decided to catch the bus for the ride to the parking lot at the Genoa Cemetery, where we proceeded to walk home, happily burdened with our purchases.
On the way, a yellow lab gave us a friendly grin.
Candy Dance info
David John and the Comstock Cowboys
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