Dear Editor,
Thank you for the photo of the Churchill County Lawmen in the Post's February 25, 2022, issue. https://www.thefallonpost.org/news/4352,huntsmans-history
Those men were well known around Fallon and all the kids were proud to know them.
It brought to mind an experience my family had during the WWII years. Everything was geared around government priority back then.
Many men with families were deferred for defense work and my father was one of them. He owned a ton and a half Chevrolet truck which was sold, by government priority, to Elmer Huckaby for use at Huck Salt. That left our family with no vehicle and my father was part of a carpool that drove each day to Hawthorne, Nevada, 75 miles away. The large bomb-making buildings there, on the base, were being built and these men were all carpenters.
Al Berg owned the Nash dealership on Center Street. He had a brand-new Nash 600 Sedan in his showroom. My father was able to buy it to drive to Hawthorne to work, because of his work in the war effort. It was the last new vehicle to sell in Fallon until post-war production began in 1946.
The Nash was a flashy vermillion red and had lots of shiny chrome. We lived on Park Street and there was a streetlamp right over the parking spot. Needless to say, the car received much attention. Really, too much attention. One Saturday night, we went to bed and the next morning—the Nash was gone.
Suddenly, Churchill County Lawmen arrived to enforce. Sheriff Ralph Vannoy and Albert Hicks were first on the scene and after an initial investigation, the news flash went out that there was a vehicle stolen in Fallon. We waited with bated breath for a couple of days. Not a word was heard.
Two days later Sheriff Vannoy and Albert Hicks came by to tell us that the Nash had been located in Las Vegas. They and my father hurried away to Las Vegas to reclaim our vehicle and bring the car thief back to face his fate. It seems that the thief was just traveling through and was not from Fallon.
I am going to cherish the photo of the Churchill County Lawmen. It is my fondest wish that everyone living in Fallon these days had known those wonderful guys.
Joann Mattmann Stark
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