Turning 230 with a bang

Nothing serves as better symbols of Independence Day than Uncle Sam and Old Glory. Both were present at the events in Virginia City on Tuesday - kind of.

Uncle Sam showed up adorned to the hilt with muted patriotic colors, riding in the back of a cherry-red Ford Mustang Convertible.

Old Glory - well, Old Glory was everywhere: on T-shirts and hats, peeking out of pockets and flying high above C Street.

Henry Jones, leader of Henry J's Breakfast Club, wore stars-and-stripes Joe Boxers over his red long johns, accentuated with South Park character Eric Cartman on his slippers during his parade walk.

In all 67 floats participated in the annual parade, marking a higher participation than in previous years. The parade started promptly at noon and ran for one hour and 15 minutes.

Seven hours before the parade started, Bill Sampson was already staking out his spot by parking his truck on C Street. Sampson has seen the parade for the last 22 years, coming early to make sure he always gets a good spot.

"When I got here, there were already a couple of cars on the street," Sampson, 38, said.

With his excellent view of the proceedings, Sampson said he was most impressed with the group of Chevrolet Corvettes that had gone idling past.

Just after the parade in Virginia City ended, a group of families in Carson City were securing their spot for the fireworks display over Mills Park Tuesday evening.

"We don't want to deal with the large crowds and people over there," said Mike McIntosh, of Carson City.

The group of friends has spent the last 30 years watching the fireworks in the capital city, but only discovered the preferred space across the street from the park several years ago.

Over in Mills Park, the Meshaqu family had their blanket spread ready for the show just before 8 p.m.

"It's been a family tradition since we moved to Dayton five years ago," said Shellie Meshaqu.

Earlier, in Virginia City, BobbiLyn Simmons was retying her 2-year-old daughter Michaella's bonnet. The entire family was dressed in Civil War-era costumes.

"I love the historical value of Virginia City. We have been coming here for 17 years. This is our family's favorite attraction," Simmons, of Fallon, said. "Coming here, I feel like I stepped back a couple of centuries, and I always learn something new."

Farther up the parade route, a crowd of children gathered behind a red truck, waiting to pounce on promised treasures.

All at once, the ground was littered with glints of copper as more than 40,000 pennies hit the streets.

"We wanted to do something that would become an annual event. This is something that I did as a child where I grew up," said Deana Dorey between tossing handfuls of pennies to the children.

The inaugural Mel Cowan Penny Scramble was sponsored by Cowan, owner of Country Cupboard Food Products of Virginia City. He was unable to attend because of health problems.

Eight-year-old Nick Toll, of Cold Springs, was among those dodging falling coins while collecting candy and pennies. Toll estimated that he had collected more than a 1,000 of the coins in his red, white and blue top hat.

"The is the first time we've come up here for the parade. It's really fun," Nick said.

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.