Gold Digger Days

On the third Saturday in July, Greenville’s Main Street fills from the curbs inward. The day begins with pancakes. The 2026 listing put the breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at the American Legion Hall. Parade entries line up at nine, and at ten the Gold Diggers Parade steps off through downtown. Food vendors, artisan booths and local businesses hold the street from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and an evening street dance, listed from 8 p.m., closes the day. The Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce runs it. The event has gone by Gold Diggers Day, Gold Digger Days and Gold Digger’s, and the Visit Plumas County listing called the 2026 edition the 64th.

Candy, fire engines and a logging truck

The 2026 celebration fell on July 18. Lalini Pedris of the Plumas Sun reported a blue morning sky and a strong sun, with parents and children lining Main Street after breakfast to wait for the ten o’clock start. Hundreds came, the paper said, and the day marked five years since the Dixie Fire.

Spectators stood for the national anthem, and a boy waved an American flag. Parade participants tossed candy, and children raced to gather it into their pockets. The Indian Valley Fire Department rolled in to the crowd’s cheers. A Forest Service fire engine followed a long line of cars, with Smokey Bear riding along. Classic cars passed on their way to a car show, and a logging truck went by. The Greenville Parents Club and Greenville Little League took part, and Taylorsville Silver Buckle Rodeo royalty rode through, among them 2025–2026 Princess Lou Tenney. The Greenville Fire Cat Rescue won first place for its float.

The chamber’s parade entry form gave the year’s theme as “Bringing the Green Back to Greenville.” The Sun reported it as “Putting the Green Back in Greenville” and read it as a hope for green hillsides and for strong economic development.

Vendors sold crafts, clothes, purses, art and food. Thai Thai BBQ had returned to Greenville with Thai and Chinese cuisine, and there was barbecue. NikNek Lemonade, which the Sun had described two years earlier as a family-owned Maidu business, sold fresh-squeezed lemonade in several flavors from a mobile stand. The Greenville Rotary set up a Cool Zone with shade and cool air. Keli Ward, the Plumas County disaster recovery coordinator, watched people pass her booth. Ward is a former county resident who had come back to work with the Indian Valley community. “People here are resilient,” she said.

Slow-pitch at the community park

All weekend, a men’s slow-pitch softball tournament ran at Greenville Community Park. In 2024 the chamber had said it hoped to bring the tournament back as a traditional part of Gold Diggers weekend. Children watched from the bleachers as batters from teams called Dead Bunnies and Matty’s Boys stepped in, and Riley’s Jerky sold to the crowd. The Hillbilly Hackers of Corning took first place and the Trash Pandas, also from Corning, took second. Ridge Softball of Paradise was named second-chance champion.

A green ribbon at The Spot

The 2026 grand marshal was Michaela Trammell, chief executive officer of the Dixie Fire Canopy Project. At The Spot in Greenville she talked about the project, then cut a bright green ribbon on space she had bought for a nursery. “We’re gonna go slow,” she said. “We’re gonna focus on the greenhouse, putting some trees out for people to come and grab as they’re rebuilding, and then we’re gonna slowly work into landscaping the whole area and making it a beautiful green space that the community can still come to and enjoy.” On the town’s recovery she said: “They’ve grown with us, and they were patient.”

Logging shows, and marshals since 1970

The celebration was established in 1962 to honor the history and heritage of Indian Valley. Julie Ann Richard ran Healing Hands by Julie Ann Therapeutics in Greenville for more than 28 years and once won first place with a Healing Hands float. She remembered the early years: “Gold Diggers in the ‘60s was huge. It was on Main Street all the way down, tons of vendors and music and classes two days straight … and they had a logging show … giant floats.” The Sun wrote that for residents who remember Greenville at the height of the logging industry, the day brings nostalgia and a tinge of disenchantment. Richard came in 2026 with her son Jedidiah, her daughter-in-law Cambria and four granddaughters, the youngest seven months old.

At the eighth celebration, in 1970, the parade honored Maidu elder Seymour Smith as marshal for his contributions to local culture and community. The Indian Valley Record photographed Jane McIntyre and Etta Brunk smiling that day. Karen Morcomb, who later shared the picture, identifies them as her great-grandmother and great-aunt.

The 57th grand marshal, on July 20, 2019, was Judy Dolphin, born and raised in Indian Valley. She taught culinary arts and advised the cheer squad at Greenville High School. Her nominators cited the Crab Crack Dinner and the Pheasants Forever dinner she organized with her students, and the Tuesday morning “Making and Baking” café at the high school, open to the public during the school year.

The fire, and the parades after

In the summer of 2021, American Legion Indian Valley Post 568 marched in the Gold Digger Days parade. Marj Goosey, commander of Legion District 3, described it as “somewhat reduced from normal years.” The post had been chartered in 1941. In August 2021 she wrote that the Dixie Fire had taken most of downtown Greenville, including the bank, the drug store, the fire station, the library, the post office, the old hotel, Hunter Hardware, the Chamber of Commerce building and the Legion Hall. “So much of the town’s history was wiped out in less than 30 minutes,” she wrote, as the fire roared through town, “exploding propane tanks and buildings alike.” She knew of no deaths. Of that year’s Veterans Day parade she wrote: “This year there’s no main street left to Parade down.”

In 2022 the Region Burger float rolled through the parade declaring “Greenville lives!” Christi Hazleton, owner of the Region Burger food truck, planned the 62nd celebration on July 20, 2024. Members of Post 568 led that parade, followed by fire trucks, a Sierra Pacific Industries logging truck and the Indian Valley Riding and Roping Club. Silver Buckle Rodeo Princess Brynlee Kingdon rode with her mother, Heidi. After the parade, children played in a water area set up to beat the heat. Kira Wattenburg and Indian Valley Supervisor Kevin Goss staffed the Gold Diggers bar, and that night The Jeff Pershing Band played the street dance at The Spot.

The 63rd, on July 19, 2025, took the theme “Honoring Builders, Paving Our Future.” It paid tribute to the contractors, architects, tradespeople and volunteers rebuilding the town. Organizers said The Way Station, a longtime local favorite that had ridden in past parades, was set to rise from the ashes soon. The band Side FX played the street dance, with Vortex Fire Dancers between sets. The day began at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast hosted by American Legion Post 568 in its newly constructed building.