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Hippie Weekend brings lots of color to VC

 

(April 9, 2008) – The hippie era returned to Virginia City at least for one weekend from April 4-5, with a parade, movie and sold-out concert at Piper’s Opera House by Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks.

 

The film “Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon” was shown Friday, and on Saturday the Hippie Peace Parade and the concert were held.

 

About 50 participants in three vehicles and about 6 marching groups made up the parade, with tie-dye everywhere, flags, and hilarious signs, like the one that said “Who put the acid in my Viagra?”

 

The Silver City guard, made up of Larry Steinberg, Kat Heiss and another participant led the parade, with Pierce Powell following as grand marshal, driven by Sweetwater John Buie in his Cadillac convertible.

 

The parade was announced by Bobby Kittle, who donned tie-dyed shirt and headband for the event, though he admitted that didn’t make him a hippie

 

“I tried to look like a hippie and ended up looking like Olivia Newton-John,” he quipped.

 

Candy Silveria, an employee of the Delta, wasn’t too impressed with the hippie movement, though she did give it some credit.

 

“One of the only good things that came from the hippie movement was that people started questioning government more,” she said. “First they questioned the war, then the government.”

 

Kittle was in top form, telling the crowd “Afterward we’re going to protest the parade,” in a reference to the 1960s penchant for protest.

 

There was one somewhat light-hearted protest by George Kahabka and Bob Russell, who held American and POW flags while the parade went by. Russell’s wife, Alta, explained.

 

“The hippies protested us, so now we’re protesting the hippies,” she said.

 

But Kahabka and Russell were more conciliatory.

 

“We’re here to support both ends, Kahabka said.

 

“They were fine, they were friendly,” said Russell. “They gave us the thumbs up.”

 

He acknowledged that it wasn’t really the hippies that protested the war in Vietnam in the 1960s, it was the students.

 

The parade, sponsored by Old Virginny Ink, was put together by Sharon McCrary, Pierce Powell and his friend, Margaret.

 

It got off to a really slow start, causing some to wonder if they all took a joint break at the Fourth Ward School. Others joked about the hippies’ ages.

 

“The hippies are getting pretty old now,” Kittle said. “Maybe they need some WD-40 for their wheelchairs.”

 

As Kittle let participants talk when the parade made its way to in front of the Delta Parking Lot, one woman said she had been arrested 70 times at the nuclear test site, to cheers from the crowd. Others implored the crowd to oppose the Iraq War.

 

When Paul Smith and Jesse James, aka known as the Fillmore Zone, got to the mic with their guitars, Kittle joined them in the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, “Teach Your Children,” to much applause from the crowd.

 

Debra Burns brought her three teenagers, who twirled colorful banners and juggled.

 

“Irish” Tommy Pigott, a well-known John Lennon fan, was on hand with his sign “Give Peace a Chance.”

 

Another Irish, this one of Silver City, which Kittle said is where the Comstock keeps most of its hippies, was in the parade, using his jeep to tow an antique truck carrying Chandler Laughlin, also known as Travus T Hipp, who had a sign that said “I’m Revolting.”

 

“This is how to save money on gas,” Kittle said.