Ely
Ely Renaissance Plans for 2016
The Ely Renaissance Society is ready for 2016. The Ely Art Bank will host at least 5 art shows: Native American art in mid-April for the Nevada Indian Tourism conference, the local student art show in May, the July National Spelunkers Conference display of Lehman Caves in the 1950’s and the same photos today, Anthony Ithuralde’s Andre the Alligator book presentation the end of July, and, finally, a tentatively planned show brought here by Turkey Stremmel from Reno. Exact times and dates will be posted as they become available.
The Ely Art Bank will also undergo improvements, including new carpet, outside planters adorned with mosaic tiles compliments of artist LeiLoni, and more black metal easels now being constructed by our local artist and volunteer Darl Clark.
The Renaissance Village will open on June 4th, after a scheduled cleaning date prior to opening. This year the Village will have 20 new residents from 100 years ago. The residents will have their photos and memorabilia in the
appropriate houses for visitors to enjoy their accomplishments. These stories will be presented in a book that may be purchased after the unveiling party to thank each of the contributors of these (mostly women) who made our community a home. The Village is open on Saturdays, June through September, from 10 am to 4:00 pm.
The Village will host three days of fun during the July 4th weekend, the most successful Art Wine Walk on July 30th, and three Saturdays of Farmers Market Aug. 27, Sept. 3 and 10th . The Village closes Sept 24th.
The Ely Renaissance Society will also see two new murals and one repainted one! Artist John Steinauer will start repainting the mural on the Economy Drug wall once the snow stops and the days warm up.
The Spelunker Association has chosen Ely and surrounding area for their conference this coming summer. They have generously offered to give Ely a new mural as a thank you for hosting this large gathering. The mural they are proposing will be placed on the Park Vue Motel wall facing the County Park. The mural will honor Mr. Lehman, who discovered the caves, and will suggest we continue to care for this treasure. The unveiling for this mural will be on July 16th, followed by a celebration in the County Park. The mural will be done on canvas in Kentucky, where the artist lives.
The second mural being offered will be on the wall next to Hotel Nevada, that has long needed help! The Hotel will pay for this mural, and one of the owners, Paul Kellogg, will be an overseer/advisor of two future artists wanting to have this experience of creating a mural on canvas. The work will be done in Las Vegas, as they go to school there. This mural will tell the history of the Goshute Indians.
Fire and Ice is Great Family Fun
Cave Lake State Park near Ely, Nevada, just hosted the 11th Annual Fire and Ice Snow Sculpture event. This is a great family activity with ice skating, sledding, bowling, horse shoes, hockey, and of course the snow sculptures.The event kicks off Friday evening with fireworks shot from the steam train as it leaves the tunnel coming into Ely. Live fireworks from a moving steam engine against the starry night sky. Wow!
Teams can begin their sculptures early in the week but the final judging takes place at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. First prize winners receive $1,000, second place is $500, and third place gets $250. This is definitely worth the time and effort, never mind the fun, it takes to create this great snow sculptures.
BOOM!!! Did you hear that? It’s the cannon being fired that adds to the atmosphere of the lake. And the event ends with the announcement of the winners and fireworks over the frozen lake at 6 p.m. The hills surrounding the lake with their cover of snow not only echo the blasts from the fireworks but also reflect the lights and color.
This three-day event is a great winter activity with time to play in the snow that the whole family can enjoy.
Complete details are available HERE. The event is held every third weekend in January, weather permitting.
— Lorraine Clark
