Funding services without taxes

Genoa's experiment with funding government services without taxing its populace will turn 90 next year.

Candy Dance was founded to establish streetlights in town, a measure of public safety in a place where the sun goes down at 4 p.m. in the dead of winter.

For the first 50 years, it didn't have to raise much money to keep the lights on. Townspeople volunteered their services making candy, cooking the dinner, organizing music for the dance, and businesses donated the food, all with an eye to maximize the revenue from the event.

In the old days, there were fewer distractions, so helping out with Candy Dance was entertainment as much as work.

And when the dance was over on the Saturday night, which historically ranged over the calendar from the dead of winter to late summer, residents knew they would be able to see their way home thanks to their own efforts.

In the 1970s, parents of children in town founded the crafts fair to pay for recreation. It was a simple way of raising a couple of thousand dollars to help keep Genoa's tykes out of trouble. Following tradition, volunteers organized the fair, which grew to about 300 booths in 20 years, eventually shutting down the town for the weekend.

In response, businesses started renting space for their own booths in competition with the town and a 12-year battle royal ensued in Nevada's first settlement.

An olive branch in that battle was offered to the businesses and accepted last week. But the compromise has generated some hard feelings on the part of volunteers who feel that they've worked hard to support the town. Healing that rift needs to be the priority for the town board over the next few months.

Here's hoping that Genoa will be able to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Candy Dance in 2009 with a new spirit of volunteerism.