Where does Dayton see itself in 2010?

DAYTON -- In a fantastic dream created during a forum Monday night on the future of Dayton, 25 community members went to a party.

They imagined traveling to the celebration with a thousand visitors on the rebuilt Carson & Colorado narrow-gauge railroad, riding in cars sponsored by area casinos.

Arriving at the new visitor's center, they spent the day enjoying a green park, golf courses and walking trails along the Carson River while visitors spent their time and money, walking wooden sidewalks to restaurants, shops and quaint hotels reflecting historic architecture.

Later they boarded the C&C again to the see the "glorious horses" at the Wild Horse and Burro Interpretive Center off Dorff Lane, stopping for trail rides and visits to ponies "virtually adopted" by schoolchildren over the Internet.

Then it was up to the Virginia Highlands estray sanctuary for more "horse tourism" which, according to forum host Lacy J. Dalton, attracts more visitors than Yellowstone's bears or South Dakota's bison.

As the dream unfolded and excitement built, someone's cell phone went off with the "cavalry charge" tune.

"That was appropriate," said forum leader Michael Havercamp of the University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension.

He asked individuals to list the traits of Dayton they are proud of or would brag about, then helped them understand how to develop those traits into the future.

Norene Silverek of Mound House described Dayton's collective treasures as a string of pearls -- separate gems which should be united.

Her idea caught on and in the end, the group decided the "string" uniting the pearls will be the rebuilt historic railroads -- the V&T coming out from Carson and more specific to Dayton, the Carson & Colorado.

"A string of pearls connected by steel rails, I just love it," said Carson City Mayor Ray Masayko, chairman of the Nevada Committee to Restore the V&T Railroad.

Armand Arnette, also promoting the V&T, stressed the importance of getting the V&T done first so the C&C spur can be added.

"The V&T will be the most important thing to happen in Northern Nevada in 50 years," he said. "Anybody who doesn't see that has their head stuck in the sand."

Masayko agreed. "This is the linchpin as far as restoring historic railroads all across Nevada," he said. "And when all these ideas come together that's real synergy."

The biggest concern raised during Monday's meeting was rapid, unchecked growth around Dayton.

"Nobody is really planning -- it's just growth, growth, growth," Bonnie Matton said. "Unless something is done to put a hold on growth here we won't see any of this."

The forum was the third in a series by Havercamp and another UNR professor, Thomas Harris who could not attend Monday's meeting. They plan to create a summary of their findings and distribute copies to all who attended the meetings.