A woman driving in the passenger seat of a vintage convertible, films on her DSLR camera. When they reach the Reno arch she stands and points the camera up at the monument then leans back so she’s laying on the back of the car’s exterior. Her smile is huge.
Fellow observers cheer for Mardi Gras necklaces. Kids crouch to collect lollipops and small bags of candy thrown from vintage Thunderbirds and Corvettes. Sirens and horns have their own category for speculation. Is that a rusty ice-cream van playing Mozart? No, it’s Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Was that the Scooby-Doo mystery van? No, a bit too green.
The sun sets on Reno’s murals and a multicolored pickup with a purple flourish on its fender. Nearby food trucks and vendor booths start to glow with the procession of colorful headlights.
Helping hands are quick to push when a car stalls.
Dani DeRosa is the Sierra Nevada Ally’s Civic Action Coordinator. She is a multimedia journalist from Sparks, Nevada driven to serve stigmatized and underserved populations and has done so in both healthcare and as a grassroots events coordinator. She’s led entrepreneurial workshops with both The Holland Project and Reno Bike Project.
Founded in 2020, the Sierra Nevada Ally is a self-reliant 501c3 nonprofit publication with no paywall, a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, offering unique, differentiated reporting, factual news, and explanatory journalism on the environment, conservation, and public policy, while giving voice to writers, filmmakers, visual artists, and performers. We rely on the generosity of our readers and aligned partners.
