Joelee Johnson told her mother, Kathy Hiatt, “Main Street would look so good with Edison lights going through the old part of town.” 

The Pioche Beautification Committee, at the time consisting of Judy Beam, Kathy Hiatt, Diane Kelley, Jo Fogliani and Irena Ciesielski, ran with the idea. Three years later, Johnson’s vision has finally become a reality. 

The idea of streaming 1,275 lights spanning 2,000 feet over and across Main Street wasn’t an easy task. This type of jigsaw puzzle took the efforts of many people and companies working together. Judy’s husband, Bob Beam, with longtime friends Dana Bartholamew of Silver State Wire Rope and Rigging, Eddie Hassen of Nedco Supply in Las Vegas, Dell O’Connor, plus the Lincoln County Power District, began the daunting task of measuring distances from light poles and piecing together the safest and strongest ways to make this challenge possible. 

A project of this size also comes with many expenses. All of the lights and materials needed were sold at cost to the committee, and donations were made by the Lincoln County Room Tax Board, the Pioche Town Board (spearheaded by Anna Williams, former town board secretary), Ken and Susie Adams, Dick and Kathy Mallory, Shannon Spendlove of the Alamo Club, the Bleak family of Tillies and the crew at the Lincoln County Power District. Without them, this idea would not have become a reality. The lights will be on every night, bringing that extra bit of charm to what Pioche’s Main Street already offers.