GOODSPRINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2002 Old Timer's Reunion Report
May 4th & 5th, 2002
Report on 20th Reunion
GREAT TIME HAD BY ALL
Geo. A. Fayle General Merchandise
At final count there were 110 adults and a whole bunch of kids at this year's Old-Timer's Reunion - the biggest turnout yet. It just gets bigger every year. It was great to see so many friends and we are sorry for those who were not able to be there this time.
Somebody brought a 1917 Goodsprings newspaper which was displayed in the school (wish I knew who). The heading, above, and the adds in this report are copied from it.
Following the pot luck there was a meeting of the Goodsprings Historical Society. The Society has received a state charter, has received tax exempt status, installed officers, and is definitely up and running. They have set up markers at a number of historical sites around town and have organized a walking tour. They are collecting oral and written histories as well as pictures and artifacts. If you own any pictures, histories, stories, or artifacts that may be of interest please contact them at PO Box 603, Goodsprings, NV, 89019. The key people are Steve Fleming and Liz Warren.
I came home determined more than ever to write down some of my memories of growing up in Goodsprings. Overall it was a memorable time, spanning WW II. At least my kids might find it interesting.
Goodsprings with simulated windmills
Among the current worries of Goodsprings residents is a plan to put 187 windmills on the top of the surrounding hills. They are not there yet but if they do come it might look like the (simulated) windmills of this picture. There is also talk of a second and third natural gas line from Wyoming to California and an electricity generating facility to be built in the Goodsprings vicinity. But the new Ivanpah-Jean International Airport is imminent. It will be a major airport, built on the dry lake between Jean and Stateline (now called Primm). It will handle all of the international and air freight business for Las Vegas, and will employ several thousand people, many of whom may live in Goodsprings.
Blacksmith and Workmen advertisements
Already the town is growing, with quite a few manufactured houses and several new, large homes. About 1/4 mile behind the Pioneer Saloon, Steve Fleming is building a large home on a small hill. And coming into town there is a two-story log home on the hillside directly across from the cemetary. I could not help but notice that all of the streets are paved and named, and the houses are getting house numbers. Who knows, we may live to see the day when they get their first traffic light. Won't that be disgusting?
Next year the Goodsprings School will be 90 years old. I understand that a town celebration is planned and will coincide with the Old Timer's Reunion. It should draw our largest turnout yet, and that is the best part, isn't it? It is great to see old friends, and new ones too. Complete information will be sent out with the announcement for next year's reunion, after the first of the year.
At this year's reunion we were again indebted to Marcia Whitney's family who cooked, cleaned, washed dishes, etc. so that the rest of us could have a great time. It was they who made it possible. Thanks !!
See you next year. Bill & Frances.
Robert Harvey Reed
December 8, 1914 --- June 19, 2002
Robert Harvey Reed, better known as Bob, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 8, 1914 weighing in at twelve pounds. When Bob was only seven years old his father, John Joseph Reed, died from a heart condition caused from deep sea diving while he was in the Navy. A few years later, Bob moved to Southern California with his mother, Emma, step father, Donald Weaver, and brothers, Paul and Jack; later his brothers Al and Jim were born into the family. After Bob graduated from Alhambra High School in 1934, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and worked as a cook at Wimpy's Hamburgers on Fremont Street. After about six months in Las Vegas, Bob heard there was a cook's position open at the Goodsprings Hotel, so he moved to Goodsprings.
Bob met Stella Elizabeth Hammons in 1940 at a box social at the Goodsprings School House and it was love at first sight. Bob did not have enough cash on hand to win the bidding war and be able to share dinner with Stella, but they got together later and were married November 30, 1940 at Bob's Uncle Fred and Aunt Clara Reim's home in Sandy Valley. Elizabeth Fredrickson, the Justice of the Peace, married Bob and Stella; they were married for 62 years.
When Bob heard that the money was better working in the mines, he started working at the Barefoot Gold Mine as a hoist man. Before Bob left Goodsprings, he worked at the Chariot Mine, Barefoot Mill, Yellow Pine Mine, Milford Mine and The Molly in the Goodsprings Mining District. The workmen at the Yellow Pine Mine had a contest to see who could bring the most unusual item in their lunch, so Lucy Hammons, Bob's mother-in-law, made a lemon meringue pie about twice the size of a regular pie pan for Bob to take in his lunch. That seemed to end the contest.
Bob felt right at home in Goodsprings and immediately became involved in the community. Bob and Nadine Hamilton started the first Boy Scout troop in Goodsprings in 1945. Bob also served on the Goodsprings School Board.
Bob played centerfield and third base on the Goodsprings softball team. Bob and Stella enjoyed dancing at the Goodsprings' Hotel, Pop's Oasis and Child's, as well as the Green Shack and the Elks Hall in Las Vegas. They also enjoyed playing cards with friends. When Bob worked in Las Vegas, he provided the transportation for several high school students before there were any school busses between Goodsprings and Las Vegas. In their spare time Bob and Stella raised rabbits and chickens and completely renovated their house in Goodsprings.
Bob and Stella had two daughters, Bobbie Sue and Jo Ann, and the family moved to Las Vegas in 1954.