The Dayton Valley Community Center building on Pike Street in Old Town Dayton has been the center of town

Christmas celebrations for more than 100 years! Before then, town Christmas programs were held at the one, and

then a two-room- grammar school built in 1865 on Shady Lane. (This schoolhouse is now the Dayton Museum.)

The state-of-the-art Dayton High School on Pike Street opened its doors in 1918 and from then on, the town’s

children and their parents attended Christmas school plays in the auditorium (gymnasium) where everyone gathered

to sing Christmas Carols and await the arrival of Santa Claus. Old-timers played Santa and the jovial, bearded man

gave each child a gift bag that contained nuts, popcorn balls, oranges or apples, a real treat in those days. (Having

been raised at Nevada mining camps, I remember the joy of receiving a fresh orange at Christmastime. Mom usually

bought canned fruit because fresh fruit was never available.)

Even in my oldest children’s day in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a school Christmas play often included the story

of Jesus nestled in straw asleep in the manager in a barnyard setting with Joseph and Mary standing aside while the

pianist played “Away in the Manger.” The community’s shared singing of religious Christmas carols added joy,

peace, and harmony to our lives and did not harm anyone, whether they were Christian or not.

When a community as small as Dayton gathered then, the older folks knew most of the kids and they enjoyed

watching the young ones’ excitement when Santa Claus arrived with a myriad of jingling bells and “ho, ho, ho’s”, and

it made them happy to see the little one’s smile when St. Nicholas, played by Ray Walmsley, Dayton pioneer native

son, called preschoolers and students by name and they raced across the gym to get their brown paper bag of

homemade popcorn balls, nuts and an orange. Our six-year old Sheri’s eyes glowed in wonder when Santa called

her name!

In later years, after Dayton had grown from a one-room grammar schoolhouse to having three elementary schools,

the teachers and music teachers always organized the best Christmas programs and plays. When it was my job to

cover the performances for the Dayton Courier, I loved sitting on the floor up front with my camera so I could capture

the innocent looks on the faces of the fancifully-dressed young students who shyly wiggled, smiled, and waved at

their parents who were seated in the jam-packed auditorium, watching their children with pride! So America!

Cañon

History Lives: A Glimpse Into Our

HSDV Newsletter: December 2018

Dayton Christmases Past

Christmases Past Continued….

A Christmas Ball in 1863

Residents of Dayton were invited to a ball at Como at the three-story Cross Hotel on Christ-

mas Eve 1863. Thirty-two people from around Carson City, Virginia City, Gold Hill, Dayton,

and Como comprised the committee planning the ball, including Adolph Sutro. Tickets cost

$6 with dinner. Can you imagine riding a buggy or buckboard from Carson or Dayton about

12 miles on rocky roads to Como the end of December? -

Italians and Befana

Many Italians settled in Dayton around the turn of the 19th Century. Victoria Della Santa

Kraai Pradere was born and raised in Dayton on River Street. Her parents, Vittorio and As-

sunta Della Santa had emigrated here from Italy around 1903.

Victoria said her parents still believed in the “Befana” when she was little. Befana had been

a mythical character that was probably the precursor of Santa Claus. In Italian fork lore, the

Befana, an old woman who delivered gifts to children on January 5, the Epiphany Eve, and

filled their socks with candy or presents if they had been good –– if they bad not behaved,

the kids earned a hunk of coal and dark candy. I wonder if “dark candy” is candy that had

been burnt in the cooking process.

Victoria said she always tried to be extra good at the time of the Epiphany and the family

eventually adopted the American Christmas traditions. I believe Victoria always received

good treats in her stocking because she was a sweet, loving Dayton lady, who is buried in

the family plot at the Dayton Cemetery.

Traditionally speaking, the Italians remembered Befana as an old women, or hag, who wore

a black shawl, rode a broomstick through the air and was covered with soot because she

entered homes through chimneys; however, she was said to smile often when she carried

treats to the children. The kids who received a hunk of coal in their stocking probably called

Befana an old hag or witch.

If ever there was a true native to Northern Nevada, it would have to be Gloria Manning. Unlike many Day-

tonites, who are transplants from California, she was born in Carson City and raised in Silver City. No

stranger to the world of mining, she was the daughter of a Comstock miner, assayer, and mill man. With the

outbreak of World War II, the famous Comstock district came to a screeching halt, forcing her family to

move to Bishop, California where her father worked for the Vandium Mine. She recalls the move: "We lived

in a tent. I was a baby then and have a picture of my mother holding me outside of the tent in several feet of

snow." After her father finished his stint there, the family moved to Humboldt County, Nevada where he

worked in the Getchell mine followed by a move to a mining town close to Lovelock, Nevada. There, her

father worked for Standard Mill and she remembers starting school at the age of five. Before she knew it

though, the family was uprooted again and they found themselves in Gabbs, Nevada where her parents be-

came overseers of the Gabbs Hotel. This employment was short lived: her family made a full circle and re-

turned to their roots in Silver City.

Gloria attended the Silver City Grammar School from 1951-1955. It was during this time that Gloria's father

left them. "Because my mother did not drive, of course we had no car so she had to depend on other peo-

ple to get her to Carson City so she could work." Eventually the Silver City home was sold and the family

moved to Carson City. Because the little one room school house in Silver City accommodated first through

eighth grades, Gloria was traumatized when she started high school in Carson City where she had to

change rooms every period. "I definitely did not like going to high school in Carson City, so in my second

year, I got a ride with Mrs. Hunt, a Dayton High School teacher who lived in Carson City. That way, I was

able to attend Dayton High School with all of my old grammar school friends.” Unfortunately for Gloria, this

means of transportation didn't last long and she had to return to the high school in Carson City. But in her

senior year, her mother moved to Reno and she moved in with her sister, Laura, who resided in Dayton.

She happily and proudly became a 1955 graduate of Dayton High School. As a historical note, Gloria points

out that the old high school was where the community center now presently resides.

As an adult, Gloria has been married twice. Her first marriage ceremony took place in Virginia City at the

Silver Queen Hotel; the second was in Carson City. From both marriages she has three children. Her career

portfolio includes working for the State of Nevada DMV and for the state welfare system as a systems ana-

lyst and a computer programmer for over thirty years. She also worked as a contract computer analyst for

the state of Virginia for fifteen years. "I really did not like Virginia, too many trees and rain. I returned home

in 2013. Home means Nevada."

And why is Gloria involved in HSDV? " History was always my favorite subject in school, so I am living my

dream: helping to preserve Dayton History."

Member Spotlight:

Gloria Manning

Gloria Remembers: Silver City School

The Silver city school is located at 2nd and High Streets in Silver City, Nevada. The

original school house burned in 2004 and has since been rebuilt. My memories of

how the school house was is not reflected in the newly built school house. It does

not look anything like what I remember. There were actually 2 rooms, but because

the enrollment was so small we only used the lower southern room. All grades from

1st

thru 8th

were schooled in one room. Our teacher Mrs Clay drove from Carson City.

We were not allowed to wear pants unless the weather was bad, then we could

wear jeans.

Silver City is pretty much the same, with a few new houses built and others remod-

eled and some things have burned or been torn down. I have attached a picture of

the new school house, I can’t find one of the old school house, except when it was

on fire.

DOCENT DOINGS

by

Patrick Neylan, Museum Curator

The 2018 museum season has come to a close.

Of course, this does not mean that the museum

will be idle throughout the winter months. It will still be available for special

tours and involved in display enhancements, maintenance etc. The most im-

portant point about the end of the season is the gratitude we all owe the dedi-

cated and devoted docents who operated the museum and made our history

available to tourists from all over the country and indeed the world. The mu-

seum is still the cornerstone of the Society’s Mission Statement and the foun-

dation of our ability to educate children, their parents, locals, and visitors

about the rich and unique history of Dayton.

The commitment of a docent at the museum seems very simple on the sur-

face. We just ask for a mere 3 hours a month from March to November and our

dedicated staff gladly agrees. Of course, they all also know that they will be

needed for special tours, town wide Dayton events, walking tours for the

school program, some maintenance details, the Halloween Hayride, and some

unexpected call outs throughout the year. Each and every docent gladly

agrees to all of this also. We are proud of and grateful to everyone who faith-

fully serves the Society at the Schoolhouse Museum!!!

If you approach Dayton from the east or the west you will find a very pleasant

valley with a river running through it. On both ends of the Old Town there are

signs that state Dayton is Nevada’s first settlement. It’s not hard to imagine

that the first people thru the area would not stop and rest their animals and

themselves before going on. There was good grass and fresh water for the ani-

mals and it was just a good spot to stop before tackling the Sierra passes.

Abner Blackburn stopped in 1849 long enough to find the first gold. He told

others about the gold on his way to California and that created a small gold

rush from California.

On a drive through Jack’s Valley a few months ago, as we approached Genoa,

there before our eyes was a sign that said Genoa was Nevada’s first settlement.

How can this be? Clearly folks had to come through Dayton to get to the pass-

es to the gold fields of California. There are accounts of people passing through

the area that stated there were miners living in the Gold Canyon area. Lucena

Parsons wrote in her diary on May 28, 1851 that there were about 200 people

living and mining in the Dayton area. This was about two weeks before John

Reese came through looking for a place for a Mormon settlement. He had to

come through Dayton to get to the area now known as Mormon Station. I am

willing to except that Genoa was the first town, but Dayton was indeed the first

settlement and trading post.

In the Dayton Museum you will find a state proclamation stating that Dayton is

Nevada’s first settlement. What more do we need to prove our place in history?

One thing is don’t let the myth persist. Let people know about the error in histo-

ry. Dayton was the first settlement. Period!

Ruby’s Recollections

HSDV Updates/News

2018 Annual Awards Dinner and

HSDV Christmas Party

This year’s Christmas party was a huge success. The food was great, the carol-

ing and games were fun, and best of all, we all enjoyed each other’s company in

the warm and festive atmosphere of the Dayton Valley Country Club. What a

wonderful way to kick-off the holiday season!

Following a session with luscious home made desserts furnished by the at-

tendees, the awards were given to the following:

Laura Tennant Award: Don and Elaine Bergstrom. Andy and MaryAnn

Schiak

Gold Nugget Award: Dan South and Lynne Ballatore

Posthumous: Joe Sbragia for George Schaad