Goldfield’s biggest event of the year brings out people from many parts of Nevada and across the country.
Dozens of individuals and families lined the streets of Goldfield in early August from the early morning hours and into the evening for the three-day-long Goldfield Days that ran Aug. 3-5. Temperatures climbed above 90 degrees in the afternoon hours as visitors made their way to various vendors, activities and the annual land auction.
Patty Huber-Beth, president of the Goldfield Chamber of Commerce, said the town was going to host a mucking event for the first time.
“They’re just setting it up — kind of seeing how it does,” Huber-Beth said. “Maybe next year they’ll be able to do a little bit more for it.”
The mucking event got underway on the morning of the second day of events along Euclid Avenue, south of U.S. Highway 95.
Huber-Beth said they’re hoping the event will attract more people.
The event follows the 2018 Nevada State Mining Championships that occurred during Memorial Day at the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. However, the Goldfield event is not currently certified or sanctioned or anything of that nature, according to Huber-Beth.
The top winners received a gold shovel.
The turnout varies from year to year for the number of people that travel to Goldfield for the events, according to Huber-Beth, but the number of vendors that showed for the 2018 venue was more than was anticipated.
“We have 30 vendors this year, which is awesome because that’s more than we expected,” she said.
Eventgoers enjoyed a car show, live music and other festivities during the venue, including a parade.
The parade included a crew of men representing the Tonopah Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, classic hot rods, gunfighters and others that walked down the rows of people along Goldfield’s main drag. Signs that it was an election year were also prevalent in the parade that included Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly and others.
Other candidates such as Gregg Luckner, a Libertarian candidate who is vying to win Nevada’s District 4 seat for the U.S. House of Representatives, rented a booth during Goldfield Days. Luckner is running against Steven Horsford and Cresent Hardy, two candidates who have held the seat previously.
Mucking event
Muckers of all ages showed for the morning event during Goldfield Days for the debut contest.
Five groups competed for the team mucking event on Aug. 4: the Jackasses, Old School, Silver Peak, Lost Cause and a kids’ team.
Dirt flew through the air as muckers worked to fill an ore cart. The teams fought for the top prize of a gold shovel.
The Jackasses team was the top performer with a time of one minute and 38 seconds. Lost Cause came in at 1:45.05 with Old School coming in at 1:48.66.
Land auction
Also part of the 2018 festivities was the annual Esmeralda County land auction, which brought in just over $147,000 on more than 20 properties and mining claims.
The mining claims went well beyond the minimum bids.
Four mining claims ranged from $1,725 to $1,900 for minimum bidding. The ending bids on three of those claims went over $10,000 with one selling for $8,500.
Goldfield Hotel owner Red Roberts was the winning bidder for all the mining claims.
Several other properties in Goldfield and Fish Lake Valley sold at the auction with one going for more than $20,000.
Four properties were not sold because no bids were given on the parcels.
Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com