Senior College Students Enjoy Day Trip

It was a Nevada history class taught the fun way, when Churchill Area Regional Transportation, Churchill County Museum, and Western Nevada Community College Fallon teamed up to offer a day trip to more than two dozen Senior College students. Participants enjoyed narrated tours of Fort Churchill, Buckland Cemetery, Buckland Station, and the Lahontan Dam.

“We had 28 senior citizens, three bus drivers, and three in my car,” said Western’s Ginny Dugan. “The trip was a terrific success based on the comments I received. We are now planning another one for the spring, perhaps to Virginia City for a possible tour of Piper’s Opera House.”

CART provided three vehicles for the class trip. Two left from the senior citizen center and one filled up with students at the college. At Fort Churchill, the seniors toured the museum, listened to a presentation from Park Supervisor Jim Prida, and watched an adobe brick making demonstration. At the Buckland Cemetery, Churchill County Museum Director Jane Pieplow provided information about the Buckland Family.

The group then traveled to Buckland’s Station and was able to go inside and see the progress being made on the recently-named historic site. After a lunch break at the Vittles Restaurant & Lounge in Silver Springs, it was off to Lahontan Dam for an inside look at the control tower and power station.

Park Supervisor Jim Prida talks with Fallon Senior College students on their recent trip to Fort Churchill State Historic Park. Prida gave a history of the park, fired a musket and a cannon, and demonstrated adobe brick making.