Silver City, Nevada - One of the things I love about Nevada is that it’s both small and large. We have a relatively tiny population of roughly 3 million people, with only about 300,000 in rural towns and the rest in Clark and Washoe. However, Nevada is geographically enormous – it’s 110,571 square miles makes it the seventh largest state. The juxtoposition between Nevada’s vast open spaces with lots of public land, and its largely urban population, makes for a dynamic state with diverse ideas and much to explore.
As I’ve mentioned before, I moved here from the east decades ago. There, just about everything was fenced and marked “private property.” When I got to Nevada, I spent the first years climbing and hiking every place that wasn’t fenced, and that is most of Nevada. This land, I thought, really was “made for you and me”.
The other thing that struck me about Nevada right away was that the everyday person can meet almost anyone in Nevada, and that includes our representatives in the Nevada legislature and in DC. Because our population is so small, and perhaps partly because Nevadans don’t tolerate displays of class and power much, we have remarkable access to our elected officials at every level. This simply isn’t possible in states with large populations.
Here Congress members usually appear at the annual chili feed on Nevada Day. The first time I attended a Nevada Day parade around 1990, I was surprised to find U.S. Senator Harry Reid serving chili and chatting with people at the Nugget in Carson City. I was even more surprised to find Governor Bob Miller serving cake during an open house that same day at the Governor’s Mansion.
Years later, Nevada’s elected officials were still very accessible. I recall Dean Heller participating in a 2006 candidates night in Silver City – a town of less than 200 people- when he was running for Nevada's 2nd congressional district. When I was looking for funding for the annual kids’ summer science and arts program in Silver City, I was able to make a donation pitch to then state senator Mark Amodei over lunch (his mom attended school in Silver City).
Over the years I’ve met many other elected officials, not only in the halls of the legislature, but at town meetings, schools, parties in modest homes, etc. I’ve met every Governor Nevada has had since 1990, and I’ve been able to meet with many state Assembly and Senate members, including Aaron Ford who is now Nevada’s State Attorney General, and Steven Horsford, who is now a Congressman. This would be an unlikely story in most states, and it’s one of the reasons I love Nevada.
On the simply fun side of things, over the years I’ve also met Nevadans like colorful boxing referee and TV personality Mills Lane, Phyllis McGuire of the once-famous McGuire Sisters, philanthropist Moya Lear, and First Ladies Dawn Gibbons and Kathleen Sandoval.
After being here for nearly 30 years, Nevada is still the “land that I love the best, fairer than all I can see. Right in the heart of the golden west. Home means Nevada to me.”
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