Genoa, NV

Candy Dancing in Genoa

In 1919, Genoa, a community in far west Nevada, decided it needed streetlights. It wasn’t as simple a matter as saying, “Let there be light,” but the outcome surely was sweet.

To raise money for the project, town leaders turned to those they knew and trusted—their wives. The women put their heads together and came up with a winning idea: make and sell homemade candy. Their tireless efforts resulted in the first Candy Dance of Genoa.

Lillian Virgin Finnegan first suggested the idea. With the help of her aunt, Jane Raycraft Campbell, Lillian and other Genoa townswomen labored long hours making fudge, divinity, peanut brittle, and caramels. People from all over the Carson Valley were invited to the candy sale held along with a buffet and dance, and a Genoa institution was born. The event was so successful that the town has held one every year since. This year marks the 81st Candy Dance.

Multitudes descend upon the town for the event, conducted the last weekend in September. During that time, the community swells from 400 residents to more than 60,000 visitors. Last year, volunteers made more than 4,000 pounds of delectable candies for the affair. Since the 1970s, the Candy Dance also has become the setting for one of the finest arts and crafts fairs in Nevada. More than 300 vendors set up booths in Mormon Station State Park in the center of town.

What started as an incentive to gain streetlights has expanded to include road repair, building and park maintenance, and other needs. With the help of the Candy Dance and other fund-raising events, the community is able to remain generally independent of outside funding.

Even back beyond the Candy Dance’s distant origins, a colorful past trailed through historic Genoa. It is the oldest permanent settlement in Nevada, established in 1851 as a trading post for pioneers traveling westward through the desert. Originally named Mormon Station, Genoa now contains 175 homes, 14 businesses, and one working cattle ranch. Thirty buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, many of them private residences.

Linda and Bob Sanfilippo own an 1872 Victorian home, which has been renovated and now functions as a bed & breakfast, the Genoa House Inn.

“Each year, we all pull together for not only the Candy Dance but other events as well,” Linda says. “This past Fourth of July, for instance, the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra played in Mormon Station State Park.”

The liveliest attraction in town is the Genoa Bar and Saloon, the oldest bar in the state. “It doesn’t look like it has changed much since it was built in 1853,” says Shawn Hall, one of the establishment’s six owners. He points to the faded walls covered with old photos, paintings, posters, and deer heads. Behind a timeworn bar, complete with wood and brass counter, hangs a “Wanted” poster for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.

Another popular spot is the Genoa Court House Museum, once the original town schoolhouse. The museum houses numerous displays of memorabilia depicting the Carson Valley’s fascinating Old West history. Maps are available that point out various historic buildings and their locations.

This sleepy enclave that attracts visitors to its quaint Victorian homes, antique shops, cozy bed & breakfasts, and fine eateries produces an enduring vision of Western times past. And at the heart of it all, swirling to its own unmistakable beat, is the timeless Candy Dance—a sweet treat and every confectioner’s delight.

Susan Babbington is freelance writer from Henderson, Nev.

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