Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. vaguely remembers
the first years of the Lariat Motel, which once stood where today’s
Maverick serves customers.
It was altogether fitting that the city’s
top elected official turned on the switch Thursday to light the neon
signs of the motel to signal the beginning of Fallon’s events to honor
Nevada’s year-long celebration of its sesquicentennial.
Ray and Dee Dee Ferguson donated the sign
to the Churchill Arts Council in 2005. The sign was perched on two poles
at the Arts Council where the re-lighting ceremony occurred.
“The 150th celebrations starts right now
and also on Nevada’s real birthday,” said Tedford, who described himself
as a traditionalist for honoring the state’s birthday on the official
day. “This sign is iconic. People who traveled through Fallon would
remember the sign and the rope that the cowboy lassoed around the motel
sign.”
Valerie Serpa, executive director of the
Arts Council, said when the motel and its land were sold, she said the
Fergusons wanted to ensure the sign did not go away. Volunteers placed
the sign on a truck and hauled it to one of the hangars at the Fallon
Municipal Airport for storage. Over the years, Serpa said it cost
$16,000 to restore the sign.
“It has the original neon,” Serpa said
minutes after the re-lighting. “It is really unusual for a sign to have
the original tubing.” Read more...
No comments:
Post a Comment