Nice day, bad luck, for sculpting contest at Cave Lake festival

Call it coincidence, call it irony, call it a case of art imitating life or vice versa, but Fire & Ice Festival ice-sculpture entry number "13" was to have been a full-sized pickup truck breaking through the ice at Cave Lake.
While none of this year's 17 entries did so, thankfully, none of the ice sculptures made it past its work-in-progress stage.
Heads, hubcaps and hot tubs revert to puddles of ice water Jan. 16, and Cave Lake, ankle deep in slush, resembles a 32-acre, mud-rimmed margarita: Mother Nature's first entry in the annual Ely event.
The grand dame's name pops up frequently during this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, as does Al Gore's and global-warming jokes, all punctuated by cannon fire.   (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2011/01/21/lifestyle/life01.txt 

Bowleses have a deja view back to the '70s

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing

With reluctance Bruno Bowles, 49, confesses: one-hit-wonder Carl Douglas'1974 "Kung-Fu Fighting" was his favorite song when he was a teenager growing up in Olympia, Wash.
"But please don't print that," Bruno begs from inside his camp trailer. Sorry Mr. Bowles. Your confession is too good to pass up. (Plus how can one take seriously a man who is wearing bad '70s clothes?) He tries to backpedal on "Kung-Fu Fighting." "The Doobie Brothers was my first concert, in '78, in Seattle," he adds. (Click link for complete story.) 

http://www.elynews.com/articles/2011/01/14/lifestyle/life01.txt

 

Pat Fillman gets his ideas off the rack

Make no bones about it. Pat Fillman has a thing for antlers. Bordering on obsession? Maybe. Antlers - of all types - dangle from ceilings, cling to walls, spill from bins. They're scattered here and there, thousands of them.
An enormous arch of culls in front of his home/business, the aptly named "Horns-A-Plenty Antler Art," is a beacon to curious passers-by, like an entrance to some ancient elephant burial ground.
But after 17 years, all this calcified bony mass is clearly more than a passing fad. Fillman made and makes his living turning shed antlers into chandeliers and other functional works of art.
"17 years later and were still going. I thought if we did 10 years we'd be doing well," the 42-year-old says with a big barrel-chested laugh that resonates throughout his workshop high atop Sacramento Pass, 15 miles east of the junction of Highways 93, 6 and 50.
You can't miss his place.
And tourists don't. (Click link for complete story.) 

http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/11/26/lifestyle/life01.txt 

There are Chevy guys, Ford guys, and then there's Jay Derbidge, Studebaker Dude

There are Chevy guys. And there are Ford guys. And then there are Studebaker guys.Studebaker?
Not the sexiest car ever built, although Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention upped the image of the Studebaker Hawk with the group's 1972 song of the same name.
But for Jay Derbidge, 30, Studebaker is the car of choice, and it seem he's on a one-man mission to restore as many of the vehicles as possible at his Ely shop, Battleborn Restoration, 550 13th St. East. (Click link for complete story.)  http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/11/12/lifestyle/life01.txt

Parade, Politicians and Rednecks

Pregnant-and-barefoot Dawn Brown, in soiled wedding gown, takes a big swig from her can of Natural Light and pats her extended belly as she clip-clops horseback down McGill's Second Street Friday evening.
Husband, Rick, wrists bound with a leather thong, rides alongside sheepishly. Behind them, a shotgun-wielding "relative" bears a placard: "I now pronounce you brother and sister."
Hands down, the Browns have filled in the missing blank - and then some - at the McGill Labor Day parade.
This year's theme: "You might be a redneck if ..."
There's is a shtick worthy of Jeff Foxworthy, and the crowd assembled along the parade route gets a big laugh as the creepy horseback trio creeps along. (Click link for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/09/08/lifestyle/life01.txt

White Pine Horse Race attendance up; county fair's attendance down fun at all-time high

The wind howls across the White Pine County Fairgrounds, kicking up dust and threatening to send Dale Taylor's stock of Dora The Explorer inflatables airborne and McGill-bound.
Taylor and his wife, Vierla, travel the carnival, powwow and county-fair circuit, selling fair fare - cheap trinkets and baubles - to kids eager to spend their parent's money.
The wind doesn't bother the Taylors as much as the prospect of a sparse crowd at the Aug. 20-22 event.
Dale says he's seeing a disturbing trend: declining fair attendance across the country. At the close of business Sunday afternoon, he estimates his sales were down 10 to 15 percent over the previous year. "Maybe Elko will be better," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. (Click link for complete story.)  http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/08/25/lifestyle/life01.txt

Hot cars big and small draw envy

Dean and Ina Wakefield arrive early Friday morning, their orange 1954 Ford gliding across the grass at County Park.
In no time, the Maricopa, Ariz., couple is armed with spray bottle and chamois, buffing their two-door baby to a blinding sheen.
Ina does most of the buffing, while Dean does most of the talking. "It takes you back to a time in life when life was better," Dean says of his car and the other 91 entries at the White Pine Rodders 2010 weekend car show, the club's 17th event.
Most owners follow the Wakefields' lead, spraying and buffing as onlookers peer into windows
and under hoods. (Click link for complete story.) http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/19/lifestyle/life01.txt

Shoshone community gathers, celebrates at annual Fandango

It seems most White Pine residents skipped the last Fandango - with nary a single city or county official or stumping candidate in site.
Even so, Alvin Marques, chairman of the Ely Shoshone Tribe, is pleased with the July 30-Aug. 1 event's turnout: a few hundred folks, members of the Ely Shoshone Tribe mostly, with visitors from neighboring Duckwater and Goshute.
"It's just basically a celebration," Marques says of the tribe's 13th annual event.
"A lot of tribes have fandangos or powwows. It's just really a community get- together."
Last year's event was held at Marich Park, and although it gave the event broader exposure, that off-site location was met with mixed reviews from the tribe, Marques says. "The people wanted it back at reservation. They felt like they were attending an event instead of being part of it. They felt like they were attending someone else's event." (Click link for complete story.) http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/11/lifestyle/life01.txt

Wisconsin teenager gets his wish at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum

For Josh Hegge it's planes, trains and . . . chickens.
Chickens?
The 14-year-old raises them at his Verona, Wisc., home. And while airplanes fascinate him, it's trains that rule the roost - to mix metaphors - in the Hegge household.
On July 28 Josh's dream came true when he and his dad, Paul, rode the rails in the cab of Engine 93 (his mom, Judy, and brother, Jake, 19, rode in a passenger car) during a trip to Ely arranged by the Make A Wish Foundation(r).
Josh, beaming, and sitting in the waiting room at the East Ely Station, sums up the experience in four words: "It was totally awesome," he says.

(Click link below for complete story.)  http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/06/lifestyle/life01.txt

Hillbillies and Vikings, Sailors and Invaders avoid drowning

during The Great Bathtub Race at Cave Lake

The irony is too much, almost scripted. On its maiden voyage, at 12:25 p.m., June 26, 2010, the SS Bathtanic capsizes just a few minutes after its launch into the Cave Lake.
Its lone navigator, Allen Nance, soaked from stern to bow, stands on the dock and utters two carefully chosen words: "Oh, s**t."
Ah, spoken like a seasoned sailor, Mr. Nance. Looking down at soaked shirt, pants and shoes, he says it again: "Oh, s**t."
The Bathtanic, with its flat bottom mooning the early-birds who have come to watch the launchings and to drink cold beer in the hot sun, is dragged back to shore, righted, emptied of 65-degree lake water and hauled to the parking lot/dry dock - but not before Nance agrees to pose for a photo in the water-filled tub.
He's a good sport. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/06/30/lifestyle/life01.txt

Artist impressed with Ely's murals adds several of his own

The unmistakable aroma of paint permeates every inch of Andrew Sabori's art-studio-on-wheels at the Prospector Hotel & Casino's RV parking lot.
Sabori, 62, is leafing through a binder filled with samples of his work while his wife, business manager and sometimes background painter, Roberta, sits at the computer.
Space is tight in their RV/studio/home, and Sabori's portfolios, paints and art books take up the lion's share.
Roberta looks up from the screen periodically to provide missing information and to correct Sabori as he discusses his 45-year career as artist/muralist.
"I'm the only artist who has six paintings hanging in the Apollo Theater," he says with obvious pride. "And I'm the only artist who has a painting hanging in the Juilliard School." It's a portrait of the artist Georgia O'Keefe. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/06/23/lifestyle/life01.txt

When death is near, there are helping hands nearby

White Pine County Treasurer Beverly J. Cornutt knows all about taxes.
And death.
As founder of Ely's Hospice Helping Hands, a group celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Cornutt says death plays an important role in her life.
"Weird, huh?' she says from the Clark Street office where she spends her days keeping tabs on the county's finances.
As a hospice volunteer, Cornutt forgoes ledger and spreadsheet and turns to helping families and terminal patients understand the dying process.
Her first brush with death was when her father died in 1994.
"I was with my dad when he died, the week after I got elected. He waited for my election."
At the moment of his death, Coruntt says she saw her father leave his crippled body - running. "I was with him when he died. That was the most awesome experience."
Some folks might find Cornutt's alter ego and volunteer work a bit on the macabre side. She shrugs this off.

(Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/19/lifestyle/life01.txt

Nevada Northern Railway strikes the mother load

Sunday morning's trip was the mother of all train rides - the spring weather warm enough for passengers to sit outside in the observation car as Engine 93 chugged along, spitting out an occasional cinder and perfuming the air with the spent-match scent of sulfur.
Better yet, moms, grandmas and great-grandmas (and kids under four) rode for free on The Nevada Northern Railway's "Mother's Day Train."
For Idaho Fall's Suzanne Hobbs and daughter, Lillie, 6, the train ride has become an annual tradition - and then some. She and Lillie haven't missed it in five years. Each Mother's Day the duo drives down to Ely - past the defunct Club 50 - and puts flowers on Lil Sunrud's grave before boarding the train. Sunrud and her husband, Sunny, owned and operated Club 50, and Lillie was named after, Lil, her great-grandmother. "Lillie was born six weeks after my grandmother died," Hobbs says looking out the window as sage brush whisks past. "We try to ride the train as often as we can," she adds. Lillie looks at her mom and smiles.(Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/12/lifestyle/life01.txt

Loren O'Donnell has family history of volunteerism

Loren O'Donnell has fire in his eyes and compassion in his heart.
Just 18, though he looks and acts much older, the White Pine High School senior is the newest and youngest member of the 104-year-old Ely Volunteer Fire Department.
A few years ago, in an effort to recruit more volunteers, the department lowered its age requirement from 21 to 18, says Jim Alworth, a volunteer fire fighter and Ely City Clerk.
"With volunteerism being at an all-time low throughout the United States, the Ely Volunteer Fire Department voted to change its bylaws in an effort to boost its membership and welcome other young men and women, 18 years or older, to accept the challenge."
Enter Loren O'Donnell.
O'Donnell, an EMT-B, got his feet wet last year at the Ely Fire station as a paid summer hire - testing hoses and making sure all the equipment was ready for action - though he'd been around EMTs all his life. (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/12/lifestyle/life02.txt

Ely City Corrals take on a new life -- and it's not just the balmy spring weather

The animals at the Ely City Corral couldn't be happier these days.
Months of snow and muddy slush under foot, hoof and claw have given way to drier ground, and the first sprigs of tasty spring greenery are poking through brown manure pack.
This weekend was as good as it gets, and both man and beast were basking in warm sunshine.
Jack, Bessie and Bunny, a trio of Corsican sheep are running circles around their pen. Bunny, still a little wobbly on her spindly legs, was born the day before Easter. Jack shows no shame or restraint in his affection for Bessie. The ram's owner, Aaron Martinez, laughs at Jack's display of machismo, and tosses out a few racy comments. He's obviously proud of Jack. Corral Boss Dave Conger, 59, leaning on the fence of Martinez's corral, laughs at the display. (Click link below for complete story.)  http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/04/28/lifestyle/life01.txt

Abandoned houses are more than an eyesore;

they pose serious health and safety threats

An overpowering stench of cat urine brings tears to your eyes as you step into the tiny abandoned house on this cold Ely morning.
Once the weather warms up, look out. That rank ammonia smell will permeate every inch of this decades-old structure. It is embedded in the walls and floor.
The last human residents, meanwhile, left behind a mountain of refuse - old clothes, a cupboard full of canned and dry goods and a family bible, which rests on table in front of a broken window.
This ramshackle house is not only an eyesore to neighbors, it's also a breeding ground for vermin, a hazard for curious neighborhood kids, and a possible spot for deviant behavior, says Chris Flannery, White Pine County building official.

(Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/04/21/lifestyle/life01.txt

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