Two years ago, we covered the big move Last Chance Joe made to the Sparks Museum. Joe was in bad shape then, but there were big plans to refurbish the old statue.
Even though he was taken down from his prestige position standing guard in front of the Nugget, Last Chance Joe is still holding court on Victorian Square. Ever since 1958…a smiling, one-toothed, white-bearded 36-foot-tall gun-totin' prospector with a floppy hat. But have you seen him lately? Joe has certainly seen better days. Poor old Joe is looking colorless and undressed, like the Sparks version of Michelangelo's “David”…if David had a six shooter. Why does Joe have no clothes today? Sparks Museum board member Dick Dreiling answered, "Right now? Well, we're in the process of getting him restored."
But so far the restoration has failed. Joe has never looked this bad. "You could put your finger through him most anyplace. Just terrible shape." It pains Dick to say that. He and Joe go way back. In a special case in the museum, he keeps the glittering Joe knick-knacks his wife collected: "Now you can see here, we got an early ashtray. This is a little bobble head. This over here is a whiskey bottle..." When he thinks of Joe, Joe still looks bright, shiny and colorful. Dick remembers the days: "Every time you'd drive through town, there he was. And he became like a friend."
The hard times for Joe began two years ago, when he was evicted from his perch in front of the Nugget. He was moved to his place of honor in front of the Sparks Museum. He was patched, and primer was put on. But in October of this year, the work stopped. Money ran out. As Sparks Museum board president Barbara Young put it, "Oh its terrible, because he is special. He is Sparks history."
Joe's sad situation has not gone unnoticed. Museum director Kelly Reis and board member Richard Simmonds get calls all the time here, asking "What's up?" Reis told me, "I do get a lot of people who come in, and they say, "Why is Joe white? You know, he's Ghost Joe." All they can tell them is that the old prospector's lucky streak has long passed. No gold nuggets like before…Joe is flat broke. As Barbara Young put it, "We are desperate for funds. We cannot go forward without funds."
There's a small-scale effort to save Joe and bring back his former glory. Why? Richard Simmonds put it to us best: "There are a couple of other statues similar elsewhere in the country, but there's no other Joe." A lonely donation box sits waiting at the museum, and they take donations online too. But those are few and far between, which is why we came out today…to put some color and shine on the character that proudly represented the Rail City so long ago.
If you would like to help out Last Chance Joe return to his old self, you can call or visit the Sparks Museum…or donate online. We have a link to the Last Chance Joe fund. Just click the link below:
http://nevadafund.org/Last-Chance-Joe-Fund/
Joe even has his own Facebook page. Just search, “Last Chance Joe.”
