A longtime craftsman, community leader and business owner will lead this year’s Labor Day Parade.
Ken Tipton will be the 2018 Grand Marshal, heading up the annual procession that kicks off each year’s Tri-County Fair and Stampede.
The parade, which will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, is sponsored by the Agricultural District No. 3, or Rodeo Board.
Ag District 3 President Kent Maher said there are many reasons why Ken was chosen as this year’s honoree.
“When we consider who should be named Grand Marshal, it always come down to who’s made the most difference,” said Maher.
Maher said that each year’s Grand Marshal represents the best that Humboldt County has to offer in terms of volunteerism, service and sacrifice for the good of the community.
“That’s why Ken Tipton was chosen,” said Maher. “He has made such a difference for Humboldt County in so many different areas.”
The ironic thing, said Maher, is he knew Ken would be totally uncomfortable being singled out for the honor.
“But like the good community citizen he is,” said Maher, “we also knew he would say yes in order to help us.”
He added, “That, more than anything, ought to give you an idea of who Ken Tipton is.”
The lifelong resident of Humboldt County was born in Winnemucca at Humboldt General Hospital to Clay “Buck” and Jean Tipton. Ken was the second of four children. Older brother Frosty also lives in Winnemucca while sisters Clayre Moiola and Julie Tipton live in South Fork, Nevada, and Discovery Bay, California respectively.
Buck, at age 99, still lives at home; Ken’s mother, Jean, passed away 25 years ago.
Ken’s early childhood was spent on ranches in northern Nevada playing with ranch animals and a seemingly never-ending menagerie of bugs, birds and reptiles.
As he grew older, Ken spent more time irrigating crops, putting up hay, feeding the hay, riding horseback gathering cattle, and roping and branding calves, which were eventually shipped to other markets.
Ken started school in Imlay, Nev., before moving to the Golconda school. He started the third grade at the new Sonoma Heights Elementary School, before moving to the Winnemucca Grammar School, Humboldt County High School (now the Winnemucca Junior High School) and finally graduating from the all new Lowry High School in 1970.
And while he enjoyed participating in football, basketball, track and, of course, rodeo, the best was yet to come.
“Through mutual friends I met my future beautiful wife Cathi McErquiaga at a Labor Day Dance in 1968,” relates Ken. The two dated on and off for the next nine years before marrying in 1977. Together they have two beautiful and accomplished daughters.
Tara is a nurse practitioner specializing in oncology at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. She and her husband, Rudy Martinez, are the parents of grandson Grayson.
Hailey is the Administrative Director for Clinical Trials Office at the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego. She is engaged to Bryan McDaniels.
Ken opened a saddle shop—Nevada Saddlery—in August 1973 in Elko, Nevada. In April 1974 he moved the shop to Golconda and renamed it TIPS. Then, in 1977 following his marriage to Cathi, he moved the shop to the couple’s home in Grass Valley where he produced custom saddles and began doing custom silver work.
In 1979, the shop moved to its present location at 185 Melarkey Street in Winnemucca under the name Tips Western Wear and Custom Saddles.
“Forty-five years later, we’re still producing custom saddles,” said Ken, noting that he enjoys working with leather and silver and plans to stay active in both “as long as my work is up to my standards.”
The Tipton’s time in business has been marked by great dedication and care; the same could be said of the many close friendships they have developed with their employees, including Manuel Mercado and Angel Mercado. “They have been with us for most of the journey and are more like family to Cathi and me,” said Ken of the two men.
There have been plenty of highlights over the past nearly half century as well. Ken was invited to The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. to demonstrate saddle making; he was also selected by saddle makers in his industry to participate in a show in Elko, Nev.
Ken says he has tried to do his part in giving back to his community as well. He served as a member of the Kiwanis Club for a number of years, helping to produce the Labor Day Rodeo when it was a PRCA Rodeo.
And while he can’t remember the exact number of years, he served on the Agricultural District No. 3 board—the Rodeo Board—for about 15 years, and the Humboldt Fair and Recreation Board (now the Winnemucca Convention & Visitors Authority Board) for a dozen or more years.
In the past he was also active in the Winnemucca Merchants Association, The Humboldt County Chamber of Commerce, and the Winnemucca Host Committee.
Most recently, he served one term on the Winnemucca City Council and is now in his first term as a Humboldt County Commissioner. In that capacity, he also serves as the commission appointee on the Humboldt County Hospital District Board of Trustees.
Saturday morning, Sept.1, he’ll fill another important community role as this year’s Grand Marshal.
The 2018 Labor Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Model T Resort Casino. The procession will travel down Winnemucca Boulevard before coming to rest in the parking lot at the Winnemucca Events Complex.
For more information on the 2018 Tri-County Fair & Stampede or its related events, log onto www.LaborDayFair.com for a full schedule of the weekend’s events.
