NEVADA CITY : Wiley's : Great people, controversial mural and Joe Cain Day

I am sure Bob Drake had no idea the impact on Nevada City that he would cause when he moved to town from Ohio. He purchased the building on Commercial Street that had housed Pete's Place and most recently Framastanyl's. The building had seen no active anything for two years
except real estate agents in their
attempts to sell the site. Many
would seem interested and that
sent rumors flying around town.
You see rumors are one thing
that our cute little town has perfected.
A rumor can literally travel at the speed
of light anywhere and everywhere in
town ! Sparky and a friend wanted once
to find out the power of the rumor. They
picked a fellow citizen, one who at the time
visited downtown on a regular bases. They
told him that the Old Brewery was purchased
by a group from Santa Cruz California.
This group they explained would turn the historic
building into a nightclub. They told just this one person and then waited to see what their " rumor " would produce. It was just a short time later that this fabricated story was all over town as if where a fact. They both laughed for days ! This soon proved to be no rumor as local craftsmen filled the place daily and soon Wiley's was born. The bar named after his grandmother became what all really good bars become a gathering place for all to gather. It became an eclectic home away from home for many. There are 1001 stories at least and most are glad that the walls can not talk. Here are two that gives a flavor of Bob Drake and his Wiley's Bar.

The mural. Since standing in the area that some day would become the deck for other names, but for Pete's Place it was Annie's dog run. Filled with all types of stuff none which would be called " atmosphere ", Sparky wanted to paint a mural on THAT wall. Who would have thought that 20-years later the chance would be staring him in the face. After many " Come on Bob !", conversations about the idea Bob had agreed and even had the wall painted a solid white. It was like looking at a blank canvas. Now after all those years the challenge was before Sparky. You must be thinking that is when the planning of the grid lines showing were it was all going and what would be the colors started. Get that out of your head right now that any of that happened ! Yes, Nevada City had become a home of artists of all kinds ,but a gallery was hard to find much less a mural in town. This was at a time when many towns in California had embraced murals and had found that they could be a draw for tourists. There would be no meetings with the planning commission ! Instead the first thing was to prop up the Budweiser umbrellas so that you could not see inside the patio from Commercial Street. The second thing was to grab a cold Bud in the bottle, sit down, take a deep breath and think " What the hell are you going to do now !" First thing...have another ice cold Bud. Then with brush in hand Sparky attacked the wall and the ideas flowed instantly out of the brush. In just three short days Sparky along with assistant Scott Pollock had created " Wiley's World ". As Scott and Sparky enjoyed yet another cold beverage they admitted to each other that "dreams can come true ". And it shows that one person's dream can be anther's bad dream. The art cop shows up !

For a month the patrons of Wiley's enjoyed their Wiley World with fun comments like, " Orca's in the Yuba River !?". Yes, it was Wiley World and of course that could happen. After all there was Wiley Dog telling all to " Think globally....and drink locally." The Wiley World credo. Soon to become the controversial Wiley's World. After a month the art cop spotted the mural. Traveling up Commercial he spied patrons enjoying the colorful wall. Off to city hall scurried the art cop and soon city hall was checking out the mural. That was soon followed by an official letter telling Bob Drake that Wiley World MUST go away. It threatened every thing that Nevada City stood for ! Bob calmly replied to city hall that it was an inside wall and while it broke no laws you all were invited down for a drink. Well rumblings at city hall had the press and public now all swarming to see what was going to be the ruin of town. Besides the local news outlets all the Sacramento TV stations and at least one Bay Area station covered the story. The San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee got into it also. Wiley's World had become good for business !The fight was on, Bob got his own lawyer, John Voodonick, who soon convinced the city that this would be a true knock down and drag'em fight. R.L Crabb created " Save Nevada City...Screw the mural " shirts. Drake had commissioned the now famous local artist. Fighting city hall it turned out gave him great pleasure. For such a dog fight it ended with a whimper as the city realizing that was enjoyment to those on Commercial Street and after all funds were extremely limited for this kind of fight it seemed to fade away. And so did the controversy. The mural stood for years and it's final demise came when new owner Tim Smith wanted to add a new addition to his now called Cooper's. It seems that to improve the site the first thing that he had to do, yes you have it. Remove the Wiley World mural. The last thing before that happened was the cutting out of Wiley Dog and the motto " Think globally....Drink locally.". It remains to this day in Jim and Dianne Hinman's cabana bar in their home.

Originating out of Wiley's was an event that would become the largest one day event for Nevada City. An event that all bars and restaurants would look forward too. When you look back at the humble start this would seem a big surprise. Sparky along with Kurt Colagross and Richard Waters had the good fortune to found Nevada City's Joe Cain Day. Joe Cain is a character who in Mobile, Alabama, returned Mardi Gras to that southern city right after the Civil War. While not as famous as New Orleans, Mobile actual is the home of America's first Mardi Gras. Curt a retired City of Berkeley fire fighter had just moved to Nevada City. Rich was still working for Berkeley and both had attended Joe Cain Days in Mobile and Nevada City's Commercial Street had reminded them somewhat of New Orleans French Quarters. The three of them organized and promoted the first Joe Cain Day. It really was one of the best bar parties ever and it took place in Wiley's. It took a few years but finally Nevada City accepted and saw how much fun it could be. Today's Mardi Gras is operated by the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce under the watchful eye of Bob Buhlis attracts crowds numbering up to 14,000 playful soles. There are many people who have worked very hard to make Nevada City's Mardi Gras be such a huge success. And two who from day one until today that put in such energy are Dan and Ruth McIntire. If they hadn't ,who knows what would have happened. Sparky on the other hand took advantage of this fun event and did just that ... had fun. His General Doo Dah Kazoo Band became a well known fun time group. General Doo Dah's image was spread all over town weeks before the event in the R.L. Crabb poster seen above. Anyone could join the band. Just have a kazoo and come in costume. Their last minute rehearsals provided hysteric's. Below you see two of Mardi Gras standouts on the left is The King of Fools being embraced by " Auntie Rue". One more time Nevada City proved it loved to party.