By VERNON ROBISON
It has taken nearly a decade to catch on. But it seems that the ambitious community vision of one little-old-lady from Overton may finally be approaching its full fruition this year.
Those who had the chance, several years ago, to associate with Ms. Virginia Powers will certainly remember her well. She was an elderly resident of the Robbin’s Nest in downtown Overton. But her frenetic and vibrant activity level would never have given away her advancing age. Though she was growing increasingly frail at the time, Virginia was involved in everything. She was an active member of the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce and of the Rotary Club; and she made a point to be in regular attendance at all of their meetings. She loved living in the Moapa Valley, loved the people here and was forever optimistic and upbeat about the potential of this little community.
Most of all, Virginia was always thinking! She seemed to have a new idea every minute. She was a never-ending stream of innovative thoughts on how to make the community a better place. And, though they always sounded like a lot of work, you had to admit that her ideas were usually pretty good.
I remember, a little over nine years ago now, being invited to an informal little luncheon meeting at her home. She had called my office at the PROGRESS and said she wanted to discuss some ideas with me. She seemed pretty excited about it. So I found some time and scheduled her in. I had no idea what I was in for!
She spent more than an hour pitching this crazy idea about a Community-wide Yard Sale. She was so excited about the possibilities that such a thing could bring. She said that it would bring the community together. It could give a chance for people to sell or donate their old stuff; just junk really. But that junk could provide a fundraising mechanism for community non-profits and churches. And best of all, it could bring people into the community from far and wide to spend their dollars here on that junk. This would be a win all around for the community, she excitedly told me. Of course, I told her I’d be happy to do whatever I could to help get the word out to the community about this event if she was able to pull it off. After all, what else could one say to this sweet, determined and energetic lady?
Of course, I wasn’t the only one that Virginia talked to about this idea. Not by a long shot! She shared her vision with anyone and everyone who would listen. In the end, it was Logandale resident Chris Green, and the Moapa Valley Rotary Club, who finally picked up the idea and ran with it. Every year for the past nine years now, Green has hammered out all the details of this major event. And, though it had some slow and humble beginnings, the Community-wide Yard Sale has become a considerable success. It is easy to overlook the tremendous community spirit that Green, and the other Rotarians, have shown in getting this event off the ground all these years.
But though it has been a tremendous accomplishment, Virginia would have only viewed this Yard Sale as a partial success. The fact is that she had much more in mind. Her vision wasn’t limited to just a series of rummage sales scattered around town. That was just a starting point for her. Rather she saw the chance for the entire town to pull together and make a small town showcase of the affair. She wanted every organization and business in town to get involved and make this the kind of true community celebration that the Moapa Valley could be proud of. This more extensive vision has not yet been fully realized…..at least, not, perhaps, until this year.
This year, a whole series of community events and activities have sprung up during the same time as the Community Yard Sale. If the weather cooperates, and if the many logistics get all ironed out; it could end up being worthy of Virginia’s lofty vision. In fact, so much is being planned this year by various groups, to bring this sleepy little town to life, that it can’t possibly all be done in one day; or even in one weekend. Instead the event will be spilling over onto no less than three consecutive weekends!
The festivities will start out this weekend with the second annual Valley of Fire Bicycle Stage Race. This huge event is expected to bring more than 500 cyclists from all over the country to Moapa Valley. The time trial races start on Friday. But on Saturday, the Overton community will hopefully be putting on its best and holding a Community Expo for the athletes and their spectators. It will be a great chance for local folks to come out en masse, watch the races and enjoy what the community has to offer.
Then, on the following two weekends, the homespun fun will begin in earnest. The Chamber of Commerce is calling it “Moapa Valley Days”. It is an appropriate name as it is a celebration that truly promises to bring the whole Moapa Valley community together in the effort.
On the weekend of March 7-8, a great lineup of activities are planned. Friday night the festivities will begin in the Wild Horse Gallery parking lot. Some of the best Cowboy Poets in town will be performing their works. In addition, members of the Greater Las Vegas Buffalo Soldiers, a Civil War cavalry re-enactment group, will be there in full regalia to entertain the crowd.
The following day, on March 8, will be a beehive of activity in town. The members of the Moapa Valley Revitalization Project (MVRP) are hosting a Street Fair with activities and vendors lining the downtown area throughout the day.
The M.V. Archery Club is also hosting a regional tournament that day, bringing hundreds of sportsmen and -women to the community to compete. This will be held in the old abandoned Simplot Mine area at the west end of Bryner Ave in Overton.
The Moapa Valley Days event comes to a climax on the following weekend (3/14 – 3/15). Starting early on Saturday morning at Overton Park will be the Classic Car Cruise-In, being put on by the MV Chamber of Commerce. This informal car expo event will come complete with an Automotive Swap Meet which is free and open to the public. In addition there will be awards, raffles, inflatable bounce houses for the kids, free zumba classes, a dance performance by the Ballet Folklorico and food and craft vendors.
Meanwhile at the Old Logandale School, the MV Art Guild will be holding its annual Spring Art Show with many local artists displaying their works and making them available for sale to the public.
The Moapa Valley Riders will also be holding Barrel Racing and Gymkhana events throughout that weekend at the Logandale Fairgrounds arena.
A major spring training baseball tournament will be going on that weekend too, bringing hundreds of youngsters and their families from far and wide to play expo games at the Logandale Sports Complex.
And, of course, while all of this is going on, the Community Wide Yard Sale will still be plugging away as usual; the true icing on the cake of all the Moapa Valley Days festivities. It will, of course, be bringing deal hunters a-plenty from throughout the region into this community. And what a huge variety of friendly, hometown activities will greet these folks here when they arrive!
As I now think back to that working lunch with Virginia Powers nearly a decade ago; I realize that Moapa Valley Days promises to be exactly what she envisioned. It has taken a long time to get there, requiring a lot of work and the involvement of a broad spectrum of community members and organizations. But this year’s hub-bub of activities finally seems to be realizing that crazy idea of an energetic lady who was always working things out from her house in the Robbin’s Nest.
If it all works out as planned; and if the members of this community will come out in full support of it; the Moapa Valley Days celebration may be every bit as wonderful as Virginia envisioned it. We hope that it is! After all, this community could certainly use an economic success story for a change.
