Carson Valley Historic Ranch Tour with Lunch at JT Restaurant

Welcome to the tour of historic Carson Valley ranches — some working and some preserved.

The 2014 Carson Valley Ranch Tour will travel through the valley and features four of the most historically significant ranches in the Carson Valley. The Mack/Springmeyer Ranch and Stodieck Farm are still owned by the families that founded them in the period of 1860–1870. Both have adapted to changing conditions and have found niches which allowed them to survive as the circumstances of their ranching enterprises have changed with time. The Mack Ranch has over the years, raised high quality timothy hay for racehorses like Secretariat, had a purebred Angus herd and run a commercial cow-calf operation. Fred Stodieck has a magnificent set of commercial cattle. He does custom farming for other ranches and is known as an excellent farmer! A deep and abiding historical approach combined with modern practices sets the tone for these ranch families. Interact and learn firsthand from the people on the ground. The originators of both of these ranches had direct ties to the Dangberg Home Ranch and still neighbor that property.

Curator Mark Jensen will prepare a special exhibit for our visit at the Dangberg Home Ranch. A collection of very significant family artifacts will be shown for the first time! Development of the water system in the central Carson Valley and the water wars with the Comstock will be covered. The production of ice before refrigeration and the significance of the other Home Ranch buildings will also be covered while half of our group tours the new exhibit in the home. Then the groups will switch places!

Bently Ranch is important as an efficient combination of many other pre-existing ranch properties. Today they are on the very cutting edge of agriculture in Carson Valley. All ranches, large and small, have to be sustainable to survive. Bently ranch is taking sustainability and adaptive reuse to an entirely new level! We will learn about their developing organic beef program and their upcoming farm to table program. Even more exciting is the field to distillery program which will feature a grain to liquor distillery in the old Minden Milling building. See how the fields are developed and the equipment used. Compare that to the historic practices and antique equipment.
This tour offers the history of the families, the old ways and the most modern and efficient new ways of dealing with the water and the ground.

Utilizing his almost 40 years of experience working with these families, Dr. Michael E. Fischer will lead the tours and facilitate the discussions. A lunch at the J&T Basque restaurant is included in the bus tour price. Humor, a better understanding of agriculture and a deep respect for the land are our goal. We will start at the Genoa Cemetery where parking will be available. Bus loading will begin at 8:30 AM and the bus will leave at 9:00 AM for full but fun-packed day!

Friday, May 2nd
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tickets: $125 — Lunch at the JT Restaurant. Coach bus transportation included. The historic ranch tour will take the most of the day on May 2nd, so wear layers of warm, comfortable clothes and sturdy, comfortable shoes you can walk in for hours.

To purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE to purchase online.

Carson Valley Emigrant Trail

Bus Tour

The tour begins at 9 a.m. at the Mormon Station State Historic Park in Genoa where ticket holders will board a bus and travel roughly the same route of the 1850's emigrants heading to the California gold fields.

The tour includes stops at trail markers near the original 1850s supply and stagecoach stations: The first Mormon Station (site of Beatie's original lean-to), second Mormon Station (downtown Genoa), Walley's Hot Springs, Van Sickle Station, Mottsville Station, Sheridan Station, Fairview Station, Fredericksburg Station and Woodfords Station.

Additionally, Chautauqua characters will lead excursions into local cemeteries including Genoa Cemetery, Mottsville Cemetery and Fredericksburg Cemetery. Also, at the Mormon Station State Historic Park, Margaret Ormsby's Chatauquan will be there to begin the tour and answer questions about the story of Col. John Reese and the founding of the Mormon Station in Genoa.

The last stop will be at Snowshoe Thompson's cave in Carson Canyon (not far from Woodfords Station), with the final leg of the tour returning to Mormon Station State Historic Park by 1 p.m.

Parking with shuttle bus pick up and transport is at the Genoa Cemetery.

To purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE to purchase online.

Gary Allegretto’s Learn to Play Cowboy Harmonica Instantly Workshop

Join the world-renowned “Harmonicowboy” for his award-winning workshop and learn to play four Western songs in lightning speed.

Family fun for adults and kids, 5 years and over!

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY — EVERYTHING IS PROVIDED.

Only $25 admission includes top quality harmonicas, song booklets, and everything needed for this remarkably entertaining workshop!

Register early because this workshop routinely sells out.

Saturday, May 3rd
2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Genoa Town Hall
Tickets: $25 — includes harmonica, song book and lesson.

To purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE to purchase online.

Dangberg Home Ranch Tour

FREE to Cowboy Festival Day Pass holders

The Dangberg Home Ranch began in 1857 when German immigrant Heinrich Friedrich Dangberg started a new life in Nevada. He built a log cabin and cleared and irrigated the land. He also married, and the cabin grew into a large house as he and his wife, Maggie, raised five children. Dangberg prospered, and his success as a rancher, businessman and politician established the Dangbergs as one of the most influential families in Carson Valley history.

In 1902, the family founded the Dangberg Land and Livestock Co. and over the next few decades expanded their holdings to almost 50,000 acres supporting cattle and sheep production, along with vegetable crops and other products. In 1906, the family founded the town of Minden and there, in partnership with other ranchers, established several businesses focused on agriculture, banking and a hotel.

Today, the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park preserves this essential chapter in Nevada’s history. Nevada’s elite once passed through the doors of the Dangberg Home Ranch, and now you’re invited to visit, too.

READ MORE about the Historic Dangberg Home Ranch on their website: DangbergHomeRanch.org

Cowboy Festival Day Pass holders are invited to visit the park for a guided tour beginning on the hour and the half hour between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd and 4th. There are no extra ticket fees or bus rides to and from the ranch — you must provide your own transportation (approximately 7.5 miles from Genoa). Comfortable walking shoes and weather appropriate clothing are highly recommended.

Allow at least 75 minutes for your visit.

MAP to Dangberg Ranch: CLICK HERE to download a MAP to the Historic Dangberg Home Ranch Park. Tour are usually scheduled by invitation only at this time. Please click on the Facebook link below to contact the park manager for details on tours or to book a tour.

Find the Dangberg Home Ranch on Facebook

Genoa Cemetery Tour

The Genoa Cemetery Tour explores the history of Genoa through the grave makers of past residents, including one of our most famous residents, John 'Snowshoe' Thompson.

Some of the oldest graves in Carson Valley can be found in the Genoa Cemetery — men and women, fathers, mothers and children, who lived and died here since the founding of Genoa, site of the original Mormon Station built in 1850.

Genoa Cemetery contains many ancestors of currently living Genoa residents as well as beautiful grave stones and monuments to those who came before.

Kim Copél hosts the tour and relates haunting tales of love and loss for all to hear and learn.

Sunday, May 4th
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
1-Day Pass (or 3-Day Pass) required to attend the tour. The Genoa Cemetery has all dirt streets and walkways: Please wear comfortable, sturdy walking shoes. (The cemetery is located on an alluvial fan which is fairly well sloped and may be difficult for some people to traverse.)

To purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE to purchase Day Passes online.

Sweet Sippin Sundays

Sweet Sipper's Special Pastport includes a Day Pass for Sunday at the Cowboy Festival

SUNDAY, MAY 4TH — Cowboy Festival

PUCHASE A SWEET SIPPIN' SUNDAY PASSPORT and attend all the Sunday Day Pass events for no extra charge starting at 10 a.m. Then enjoy "a sweet and a sip" at local participating businesses from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. If you are a new "Sweet Sipper" and need a glass, purchase the Passport & Glass for $12, then bring your glass back on the 1st Sunday next month and save $2!

In 2012, the GGBA and local businesses teamed up to create the monthly event known as "Sweet Sippin' Sundays" which provides visitors a "drink and a nosh" and raises funds for a local organization or charity — as well as supporting the GGBA and Genoa businesses.

Once a month, May through October plus a special event in December, people can purchase a special "Sweet Sippin' Sundays" glass, walk around town, stop at participating Genoa businesses and get "the drink of the month" and a sweet treat.

$12 gets you a Keepsake Glass ($10 for a returned glass) and a Sweet Sippin' Passport to sample a sweet and sip some spirits at each participating business. Live music, prizes, sweets and good spirits make the walk around Genoa a happy and pleasant experience.

The GGBA urges you to drink responsibly and designate a driver.

The event was very successful in 2013, and we look forward to doing it again in 2014.

We support local organizations and charities

Many local charitable organizations need our help, especially now. As a community organization striving to make things better for everyone, we felt it was necessary to bring attention to and support organizations in need of community funding. Below is a list of organizations we helped in 2013:

• DAWG — Douglas Animal Welfare Group
• Local elementary schools: C.C. Meneley, Gardnerville, Jacks Valley, Minden, Pinon Hills and Scarcelli.
• Suicide Prevention Network of Douglas County "Reaching out in Hope"
• Greater Genoa Business Association "Promoting Business & Tourism in Genoa since 1991"

GGBA and Sweet Sippin' Sundays need Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer to help us set up and take down the tables, glasses and other items for the event, please contact us.

In December, the GGBA hosts a Christmas Sippers Special Event for the holidays. Check out our Facebook page for details and flyers for each of the events

Sunday, May 4th
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Purchase Passports at local businesses or at the Cowboy Festival when the Cowboy Festival Box Office opens.