Senior stories by Cogir: Nancy

Transcript

Dave: Is this the famous Nancy?

Nancy: This is Nancy.

Dave: Hi, Nancy. Dave, how are you?

Nancy: I’m good. How are you?

Dave: Well, Nancy, I’m great because we have cupcakes today because it’s my executive producer’s birthday.

Nancy: Oh, can I have one of those?

Dave: I’m gonna send them your way. You’re in Carson City, right? Well, Nancy, I would certainly do that, but it’s like 118 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona today.

Nancy: Is that where you are?

Dave: Yes, Nancy. So, by the time you get the cupcake, it would be soup.

Nancy: Don’t do that

Dave: Nancy. Why Carson City? Nancy? 

Nancy: Well, I love the desert and I worked in Nevada every summer for maybe 20 years at a summer camp here in Nevada, very near Carson City. And so when I left Monteray where I lived for 20 years, I thought I would really love to live in Carson City because I love the desert and I have a brother here and I have a lot of really close friends that live here. It was a good choice.

Dave: Well, Nancy, you and I just became best friends because you pronounced it Nevada.

Nancy: Oh?

Dave: So Nevada. It drives me crazy. Nancy, I’m from Elko.

Nancy: Oh.

Dave: And people always say two things, Nancy. Are you from Nevada?

Nancy: Yeah.

Dave: No, talk to Nancy. 

Nancy: They try to give it the Spanish pronunciation, which is not correct. 

Dave: That’s why we’re buddies now—because you said Nevada.

Nancy: Yeah.

Dave: Or Nancy, they say, “Oh, somewhere around Vegas.” I’m like, “No, there’s a whole other part of the state, right, Nancy?”

Nancy: And you’re from Elko. Elko? Who’s the cowboy festival?

Dave: Oh, look at you. You know about that.

Nancy: Well, I went every year for years. I knew the woman who began it, Sarah Sweetwater, before Hal Cannon took it over. I’m very familiar. I actually sang there a few times.

Dave: Oh, wow. I love that. For our viewers, Nancy’s referring to the cowboy poetry festival that is in Elko. It’s one of the biggest in the entire nation. And Nancy sang at the festival.

Nancy: Yeah. I had a group where I lived in Monteray. We would get together because Monteray had a kind of a mini cowboy festival and we would sing there and then we would come and bring those songs to the Elko Festival and sing on one of the minor stages. We were never on the main stage.

Dave: Oh, I love that, Nancy. I’ve spent an entire career never being on the main stage. So why again, One of the early poets in the poetry festival there, the cowboy poetry festival, his name’s Waddie Mitchell.

Nancy: Oh, right.

Dave: I went to high school with him.

Nancy: Really?

Dave: He called me out of the blue one day. I’d been in radio for a long time. He said, “Dave, you’re not going to believe this. I’m going to be on The Tonight Show.” I said, “Come on, Wadd,” because he was always just kind of quiet in high school, right? I thought, “Come on, Wadd. What are you calling me for?” And he goes, “No, Dave, I really am. I’m gonna be with Johnny Carson.”

Nancy: That’s great.

Dave: And Elko hit the map.

Nancy: Yeah.

Dave: It’s funny because that’s what you refer to as well. So, tell me about living in Monteray and tell me a little bit more about Nancy.

Nancy: Well, living in Monteray—I was there for 20 years. I moved there because I wanted a place where my grandkids would be comfortable coming. I lived in Oakland for many years and they were always a little uneasy about coming to Oakland to visit because of the bad news that was coming out of Oakland. So I thought, okay, I’ve got to move to someplace where my grandkids and family will come and stay. I found an old kind of a shack on Del Monte Beach. I bought it and moved in there, renovated it, and then ended up buying a new house there. I was there for 20 years just walking on the beach every day. It was wonderful.

Dave: Nancy, there’s no such thing as a shack on a California beach.

Nancy: It wasn’t on the beach. It was back a couple blocks, but it was affordable for me at that time. So that’s where I ended up, but it was wonderful.

Dave: You mentioned Oakland. It certainly fell on some tough times. It became a challenging area, but it wasn’t always like that. There was one time that Oakland was beautiful. Were you living there in Oakland for quite a while?

Nancy: I was living there for probably maybe 10 years.

Dave: Okay.

Nancy: But it was not during the beautiful times. It was during the tough times.

Dave: Yeah.

Nancy: I lived really near MacArthur Boulevard, so I had to be careful at night and so forth. But I had great neighbors and we formed kind of a little safety check with each other. If any of us felt a problem in the neighborhood, we would be able to call each other and say, “Be on the lookout. Something’s going on.”

Dave: Oh, that’s wonderful. Is that where you’re from, Nancy? California?

Nancy: Yeah, Southern California.

Dave: So you were born there and then you told me that you spent some time in Nevada?

Nancy: Yeah. Oh yeah. I came up every summer for many years and worked at that summer camp there on Franktown Road out of Washoe Pines.

Dave: We know that you’re a singer. When you were working at the summer camp, what were you doing at the summer camp?

Nancy: Well, I was teaching music and art. I was leading the evening program with cowboy songs and teaching the kids local kind of folk music. During the day I ran art classes for the kids. After being there for so many years, I ended up actually being the director for the last three years before I retired. The camp was founded on land that was a divorce ranch at one time. My good friend Maya Miller and her husband Dick bought property next to it. When the divorce ranch went up for sale, they thought somebody’s going to come in here and develop and put a bunch of little ranchos on there. So they bought it instead and turned it into a kids’ camp. We ran that camp for many years.

Dave: Yeah. And I do know that road and I know where you’re talking about. If you’re from Nevada, you have to know Carson City because that’s the capital. Some people know Carson City because it’s where the state penitentiary is. But it’s also a very beautiful area that a lot of people really enjoy and those camps are absolutely beautiful. You mentioned folk music and cowboy music. So does that mean country music? Are those your genres?

Nancy: No, my main genre was children’s music. I sang with children for over 50 years in libraries and daycare centers and schools. I did school assemblies and it was always multicultural music. I had bags of instruments that I would take to the programs and hand out instruments to the kids so that they could play. I found the best way to sing songs to children about other countries was through the food that those countries ate. I would find really cute songs about food and invite the kids to play the instruments and we would sing. I sang over 50 years with kids up and down the coast of California and Washington.

Dave: Have you always had this warm spirit to give back and to help people through music?

Nancy: I just love doing it. It’s just such a great way to reach out to people. Everybody loves music—if you just present it right and get them to sing along. If you can not just be the performer, but get them to sing and join with you, it makes the world of difference.

My favorite folk act is the Kingston Trio.

Dave: Oh, yeah. They were great. They had talent. They had musicianship. They had humor. They had it all. I don’t know if Judy Collins counts as folk, but I always loved her. And Pete Seeger. Is that folk?

Nancy: Oh, Pete was definitely folk. Yeah.

Dave: Love that type of talent. What about music at Cogir in Carson City? Do you still get a chance to enjoy or teach music?

Nancy: I don’t right now because I’ve got arthritis in my hand that disallows me from playing my guitar anymore. I used to do a music program here once a week singing songs that people could come in and join and sing along. That was fun, and I gave that up a few years back.

You know, turning 96 does a lot of things to your body.

Dave: Nancy, you look beautiful. 96?

Nancy: Yeah. Well, I had good genes.

Dave: Nancy, what is the secret?

Dave: Good genes. Music is the secret. 

Nancy: The secret is music and singing.

Dave: How are you so in shape and so full of energy and that big smile? Life’s been good, right, Nancy?

Nancy: Life has been very good to me. I’ve had a great life.

Dave: Well, I’ve enjoyed this and I’ve made a new friend because of Nevada.

Nancy: Yeah.

Dave: I enjoy talking with you, Nancy, and I know that Cogir Carson City loves having you because they told me before this interview how much they enjoy you. So I knew you would be a special conversation today. I’m gonna save a cupcake for you.

Nancy: Okay. Whether it’s melted or not.

Dave: Well, I’m gonna freeze it and maybe send it next year.

Nancy: That would be great.

Dave: Have you ever been to Arizona, Nancy?

Nancy: Oh, I’m so glad you’re there. And I’m not.

Dave: Well, part of the year it’s beautiful.

Nancy: I’m sure it’s beautiful.

Dave: This time of year…

Nancy: You’re in Phoenix?

Dave: Yes. And this time of year, it’s pretty hot.

Nancy: What is it today? 114?

Dave: It’s like 376. It’s on pre-bake. It’s so hot I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking. It’s a little warm here. Nancy, all my best to you and thank you for the fun today.

Nancy: Well, thank you for inviting me.

Dave: Cupcakes for everybody. Thank you, Nancy. 

Nancy: Bye bye.

Dave: Bye bye.

Summary

Nancy is a vibrant and spirited 96-year-old woman living in Carson City, Nevada, with a lifelong passion for music, education, and community. Originally from Southern California, she spent decades in Oakland and Monterey before settling in Carson City, drawn by her love of the desert and her connections in the area. She worked for over 20 years at a Nevada summer camp, eventually becoming its director, where she taught music and art and led evening programs with cowboy and folk songs. Nancy was also deeply involved in the Elko Cowboy Poetry Festival, where she performed with a group from Monterey.

Throughout her life, Nancy focused on children’s music, performing in schools, libraries, and daycare centers along the West Coast for more than 50 years. Her multicultural music programs often centered around food-themed songs and hands-on instrument activities, creating an inclusive and engaging experience for kids. Though arthritis now prevents her from playing guitar, Nancy reflects with gratitude on her rich life, attributing her longevity and happiness to music, good genes, and a positive spirit.