Tonopah’s Jim Butler Days returning for 55th year

The usually quiet streets of Tonopah will be bursting with activity next weekend as the town welcomes hundreds of visitors for a festival of historic celebration during the 55th Annual Jim Butler Days.

“Tonopah earned its reputation as the greatest, richest and best mining camp by sparking a massive silver rush in 1900 that essentially saved Nevada’s economy and anchored the last major flowering of the Old West,” Jim Butler Days event committee member Joni Eastley told the Pahrump Valley Times this week. “We celebrate that explosive beginning every Memorial Day weekend when the town hosts the annual Jim Butler Days celebration.

“After the parade on Saturday morning, hundreds of people head over to the Tonopah Elks Lodge to watch the Nevada State Mining Championships, where men and women compete for big dollars and the honor of taking home silver hammers and shovels,” Eastley detailed. “The town of Tonopah is sponsoring the Ladner Rodeo Sunday afternoon. After the rodeo, everyone is invited to the Tonopah Convention Center, where cowboy singer Dave Stamey will present a free concert, compliments of Ioneer Mining. The concert will be pretty special this year, as we plan to present Dave with a special resolution adopted by the Tonopah Town Board designating his song ‘Tonopah’ as the town’s official song. All events are free and there will be plenty of food and merchandise vendors!”

Festivities officially kick off several days before the weekend opens, with the Jim Butler Days Pageant and coronation of this year’s King and Queen set for Sunday, May 17. The following evening, a talent show will take place, with both set for the Tonopah Convention Center. And students across the town will also celebrate their own milestones, with kindergarten promotion, middle school promotion and high school graduation ceremonies taking place May 19, 20 and 21, respectively.

If those planning to travel to Tonopah for the event arrive on Thursday, May 21, they’ll have the chance to take part in Jim Butler Days Party Kick-Off Karaoke at Tonopah Liquor Company or pop over to the Mizpah Hotel for a spooky ghost tour, both starting at 8 p.m.

Friday, May 22 is when Jim Butler Days will begin to welcome large crowds, with a Food Truck Alley set up along Brougher Avenue all day long, as well as free admission to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. Author Jackie Boor will be signing copies of her book at the Central Nevada Museum and the craft and vendor fair will take place at the Tonopah Convention Center. Tonopah Liquor Company will be offering whiskey tastings that afternoon, too, and the Downtown Events Plaza will play host to live music, a frozen T-shirt contest, stein holding contest and bartenders’ race.

Saturday and Sunday, are by-and-large the most well-attended days for the Jim Butler celebration, with activities beginning bright and early on Saturday, May 23 with the Muckers Pancake Breakfast at the Elks Lodge. At 9 a.m., an array of fun will open, including a Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar at the Elks Lodge, an all-day blacksmithing demonstration at Tonopah Historic Mining Park, the Boys and Girls Club Kick-off For Summer in the lot next to Hometown Pizza and entrants starting to line up for the Jim Butler Days Parade, which will hit Main Street at 10 a.m.

Tonopah Historic Mining Park will again be offering free admission all day long, Boor will be back for another book signing, the Food Truck Alley and craft and vendor fair will both reopen for Saturday and a sanctioned horseshoe singles tourney is slated for that morning as well. There will be wine tasting, gold panning, craft beer and whiskey tastings, along with all the excitement that comes with the Nevada State Mining Championships and the Central Nevada Racing Association’s races at the Tonopah Speedway. And don’t forget to head over to St. Mark’s Church, where Tonopah Community Church will be holding an open house to celebrate the building’s 120th birthday.

The lineup for Sunday, May 24 consists of many of the same activities that are available on Saturday, including another pancake breakfast and book signing, a non-sanctioned doubles horseshoe tournament and for the youngsters, the youth and junior mining events. The Jim Butler Days Stampede will bring the rowdy rodeo fun on Sunday, too and the day will conclude with the Dave Stamey concert and cowboy karaoke at Tonopah Station.

Stick around for Monday, May 25 and join in the Memorial Day ceremonies at the Tonopah and Goldfield cemeteries and the Tonopah Army Air Field Airmen’s Memorial Wall, with lunch to follow.

“Why stay home Memorial Day weekend? Tonopah’s central location in the state makes it equally inconvenient for everyone, so come on over and stay for a few days,” Eastley encouraged.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit JimButlerDays.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com