HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT JCPenney's ribbon is cut at Floyd's ACE Hardware. On hand are, among others, Lucy Ivins, Dave Uthoff, Karen Clayton, Eileen DeCosta, Dan Rodriquez, Kristin Memmott, Carl, Julie and Nikkie Moore, Sally Keeney, Michael Selbach, Ron Frazier, Tonya Brum, Brenda Rankin and Ray Burch. Advertisement

For the past week, Ace Hardware and JCPenney put on spectacular events to let all Pahrumpians know they have been here for 45 years.

From the ribbon-cutting for JCPenney's new location at Ace Hardware, to the closing concert at the park, there was so much happening that it was just hard to keep up.

On Sept. 30, the Pahrump Chamber of Commerce shared the frivolity of the ribbon cutting for the new JCPenney catalog store.

The event was well attended by chamber representatives as well as several from Ace Hardware and our own Ms. Senior Golden Years, Eileen DeCosta.

Representatives of JCPenney included Julie Moore, store manager, and Kristine Memmott, JCPenney corporate representative.

When Ron and Charlotte Floyd brought their family to Pahrump in 1962, there was really nothing here, but they came anyway to join other family members. Both worked hard to get the community converted from using diesel fuel for power to electricity.

Daughter Julie Moore said, "One of the things that we had to do was to take all our laundry to Las Vegas to use the laundromat. You only went every two weeks to make the trip worthwhile."

In 1987 the Floyds were contacted by JC Corp. to open a catalogue store in Pahrump knowing there was a real need to help residents who did not want to go all the way to Las Vegas for products. The first store was opened in the big red barn off Highway 160 (where Xtreme Audio is now) and it remained in the same location until 1992, when it was sold.

The store was sold twice more before being purchased by Laduke Team Realty and was located on Highway 372. The Floyd family bought the store in August.

Moore said, "We hope to have a lot of customers. We will be sending mailers to surrounding areas to let them know the store has moved but is still available. We will continue to take orders and receive them for our customers."

Carl Moore, Julie's husband, said, "I believe that even in this bad economy Penney's will help keep Pahrump somewhat balanced. However, customers need to understand that prices will likely go up on items ordered due to increased costs to JCPenney."

On Friday, Ace held a big raffle for a new barbecue and a 42-inch high-definition television, as well as offering free hot dogs, cake, cookies, coffee and soda to all of Pahrump.

The closing event of the celebration was a free concert at Petrack Park on Saturday evening. The Tony Marques Band entertained a large crowd with his interpretations of great country-western songs like "Six Days on the Road," "Folsom Prison Blues" and many more.

The line dancers were out in force and put on a show of their own in rhythm with the band.

The chamber, Maverick Saloon, Saitta Trudeau and Walter's Cajun BBQ donated their time to help raise funds for the Pahrump Valley High School Athletic Department due to cuts in the school budget.

Charlotte Floyd said, "We appreciate the support for the last 45 years. The wonderful people of Pahrump have become friends as well as customers. They are all great."

The Floyds celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this past week as well.

How did they do it? Well, Charlotte said, "We never held anything in; we told each other what we thought. We worked together on things and made sure the kids were included. Oh, it also helped that we loved each other very much."

In addition to the JCPenney catalog store, Ace has other areas of business such as construction, sports, etc.

You can reach Ace Hardware and JCPenney by calling 775-727-4440.