By Monday, Oct. 5, storefront windows around Battle Mountain are supposed to be painted. Expect more than pink. Dark blue stands for colon cancer, white for lung cancer, orange for leukemia, teal for ovarian cancer and purple for pancreatic cancer, and the official list goes on from there. The Battle Mountain Chamber of Commerce calls the campaign "Paint the Town in Cancer Ribbon Colors." Instead of building October around one big fundraiser, it gives each part of town its own deadline.
That changes how the month works. Businesses have a window deadline, employees have four Wednesdays, home football games have themes, and anyone with a free afternoon can join a ribbon hunt. The Fall Festival, the VFW Craft Fair and Halloween all still happen around it. If you want to take part in October 2026, the dates to watch are the campaign's.
Why the ribbons come in so many colors
The Battle Mountain Bugle reported that Chamber Executive Director Holly Preece has been working on the idea for about a year. The campaign widens breast cancer's familiar pink to cover many types of cancer, and each type has its own ribbon color. Lavender stands for all cancers.
Every group that joins picks one cancer type and uses that color all month. Businesses, churches, clubs, schools, athletic teams, county offices and families can all sign up. According to Preece, the Lander County School District, the Lander County Commission and area mining companies have all agreed to take part.
Her letter gives the reason in plain terms:
"Currently Battle Mountain has multiple community members fighting the most challenging battle of their lives."
Preece names two goals for the money: raising funds for cancer research and helping local families with costs that come with treatment.
Windows first, then Wednesdays
The windows come first. Displays are due Oct. 5. On Oct. 15, a panel of county, Chamber and school district representatives and community members will judge them. The Bugle's October calendar has the winner announced Oct. 16. The prize is an engraved traveling award, and the winning business or organization keeps it until the next competition. A traveling award means the contest is set up to come back. That matches what Preece hopes for, which is that Battle Mountain "becomes known statewide for what it accomplishes for cancer awareness and fundraising during the month of October."
You'll have a better chance of spotting the windows between now and Oct. 15, before the judges see them. Displays may stay up longer, but no source says how long.
Wear It Wednesdays fall on Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28. Participating businesses and organizations are asked to have employees wear their chosen color and send group photos to the Chamber. If the bank teller or the county clerk's office shows up all in teal one Wednesday, this is the reason.
Friday nights in the stands
The Chamber is working with the Lander County School District on October home football games, and each game has a theme:
- Light up the Fight: pink glow sticks for spectators
- Beat the Beast: noisemakers
- Colors of Courage: flags in cancer ribbon colors in the stands
The schedule changed after it was first announced. The Chamber's Sept. 4 letter says it swapped the Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 halftime activities, and I-80 Gold/Lone Tree is now sponsoring the pink glow sticks for the homecoming varsity game. The Bugle's calendar matches that. It lists Flags of Courage at the Oct. 9 varsity game, Battle Mountain High School Homecoming week Oct. 12–17, and Pink Out with glow sticks on Oct. 16. If you saw an older flyer, go by those dates.
The games are also where the 50/50 raffle runs. Ticket sales start Oct. 9, and the winner will be announced at the Oct. 23 varsity game.
Saturday, Oct. 10, does double duty
Mid-month, the campaign shares a Saturday with the Lander County Fall Festival.
Battle Mountain Recreation runs the Lander County Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Elquist Park, 561 Altenburg Ave. Plans include pumpkin painting, bounce houses and food trucks, and no admission price is listed. The Bugle's Oct. 1 calendar gives the hours as 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Recreation Center and Elquist Park. The paper's earlier festival story said this year's flyer had no schedule, so it's worth a call to the Recreation Center at 775-635-9209 to confirm. The same story suggests bringing cash for the food trucks and a box for a wet painted pumpkin.
The Chamber's adult event is the same day, and it goes by two names. The Bugle's campaign story calls it a Chamber beer crawl with a proposed chili cook-off. A Sept. 15 Tourism Authority report calls it the Chamber of Commerce Spirit Call and Chili Cook-Off and places it at the Elkhorn. At that meeting, the board approved a $700 package from Disc Jockey Connection that covers announcing, raffle tickets and beer pong, with $100 donated back to the raffle. No source lists a start time, the stops on the crawl or how to register. If you plan to go, check with the Chamber that week.
This event handles its money differently from the rest of the campaign. The Chamber says it will keep only enough of the beer crawl proceeds to cover alcohol insurance and prizes. Part of the rest goes to a local organization that helps families pay for travel or lodging tied to treatment.
The ribbon hunt runs into Halloween week
The Cancer Ribbon Hunt runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 27. Participating businesses and organizations hide cancer ribbons. You pick up a passport, collect a stamp for each ribbon you find, and return the completed passport to the Chamber on Oct. 28 or 29. The people with the most stamps go into a drawing for Chamber Bucks, worth $50, $25 and $15.
Those nine days overlap the busiest stretch of the month's other events, so you can pick up stamps on the way to things you were already going to. This is the back half of October from the Bugle's calendar:
- Oct. 16–17: VFW Craft Fair at the Civic Center, Friday evening and all day Saturday.
- Oct. 17: The Sober Senior Haunted House opens at the old jail. It's open again Oct. 22, 24, 29 and Oct. 30–31.
- Oct. 19: The Cancer Ribbon Hunt starts.
- Oct. 22: The drive-through flu shot clinic runs 4 to 7 p.m. at the John Peters Building, 555 S. Humboldt.
- Oct. 24: The Shiver Me Quivers Archery Shoot runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Willow Ponds. The Quilt Parlor holds Get 'er Done the same day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Oct. 25: The Halloween Four-Person Scramble Golf Tournament tees off at 8 a.m. at the golf course.
- Oct. 27: Last day of the ribbon hunt.
- Oct. 29: Trick or Trunk, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at Eleanor Lemaire Junior High.
- Oct. 30: Chamber Business Trick-or-Treating, 2 to 4 p.m., at participating local businesses.
The listings don't give an organizer, hours or admission price for the Haunted House, or a format or fee for the archery shoot. Ask around before you head out for either one.
The Quilt Parlor runs on a steady schedule of its own, with a Quilter's Guild Retreat on Oct. 30–31. You can reach it at 775-635-2600. Weekly events continue too, including Trivia Night at Overtime on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and pickleball at the Recreation Center on Mondays and Thursdays.
The money closes at noon on Oct. 30
Groups taking part have been able to collect donations since Oct. 1. Each group chooses a cancer research organization or facility, then turns its money in to the Chamber. The Chamber totals everything and sends checks to each organization on behalf of the group that raised it.
Money is due at the Chamber by noon on Oct. 30. Business Trick-or-Treating starts two hours later the same day. If your shop, church or team is collecting, plan to turn in the money that morning. Afternoon will be busy with costumes and candy.
Events like this are part of what our office pays attention to in the community we work in. If you have questions about land, a ranch or a home in Lander County, Nolan Realty & Investments is in town all month. Call our Battle Mountain office to talk with a Northern Nevada land expert.
