Even as attendees at the best turnout in nearly a decade enjoyed the festivities this weekend at Lovelock Frontier Days, committee president Misty Wood and the other volunteers who make the weekend possible were already brainstorming ideas to make next year’s festival even bigger.
Residents and visitors alike packed Courthouse Park and the surrounding streets for three days of fun, with activities ranging from family fun days, a dog show, horseshoe, and cornhole tournaments, exhibitions by the Nevada Gunfighters, and tests of strength such as the tractor pull and weight carrying contest.
The park was filled with dozens of vendors selling crafts, jewelry, toys, food, and other items, and the Saturday morning parade had 30 entries, including groups of antique and classic cars and five.
“The participation was outstanding,” said Wood, who has lived in Lovelock since moving here from Hawaii in 2016 and is in her first year as president of the Frontier Days committee. “From what I’ve gotten from the community and from visitors, this is the most packed it’s been in years.”
Wood was also voted as the co-Grand Marshal for the parade, along with Jeff Kerns, who donated a hand-crafted Conestoga wagon which served as the grand prize for the raffle.
“He has helped this community for so long,” Wood said.
The festival is put on entirely by a committee of volunteers, who raise money and plan events. They prepare for the event year-round, meeting monthly, and sometimes twice a month.
The Pershing County Recreation Board sponsored the live music, which was performed by Leilani & the Distractions, a pop/rock/blues/funk band out of Reno fronted by Keilani Villamor, a high school classmate of Wood’s in Hawaii.
Wood said while the past eight years of the festival have been slow, she and the rest of the committee were excited about this year’s turnout and energized by the enthusiasm they saw from vendors and visitors alike.
“My mission is to keep it how it’s always been and bring back some of the traditional things they’ve always had,” Wood said. "I want to bring back all the old events, like the three-legged race, tug-of-war, and arm wrestling.”
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