July Meeting Recap

Wow.  What a turnout for the meeting today at the Railroad Pass Casino. We had 48 in attendance!  Thanks to all of you that made the trek all the way out to the edge of Boulder City for this lunch meeting.  I’m sure each one of you will say that it was well worth the long drive.                                                                                                                                                            Thanks go to Curt Thompson, Pat Malloy, and the entire staff of the Conductor’s Room who provided us with an amazing lunch of salad, steak sandwich and strawberry shortcake.  Curt was our speaker, giving us a brief history of the casino (opened in 1931 and celebrating its 80^th birthday on August 1^st), a few great stories about his early Las Vegas life, and gave us a tour of both the Heritage Museum and the vault containing a safe put in place in 1931 and not opened for at least two decades.  No one can recall if the safe is empty or not, and for the time being, Curt and his team want to keep the mystery alive. There were so many new faces today, as well as many folks who don’t get a chance to visit us too often.  I bounced around to take as many pictures as I could. 

 

Rex Bell

 

I had six copies of the DVD containing the late Rex Bell’s talk back in March.  They are $1.00 each so if you wish to have one, just let me know and I’ll get one to you at the next meeting.  And for all of you who might be interested in attending, Mr. Bell’s service takes place this Saturday (July 23^rd) at the South Point from noon-3 pm.  Thanks so much to Cork Proctor for the fantastic job he is doing on booking speakers for us.  It is through his great contacts that we have so many great ones.  Make sure you let Cork know how much you appreciate his efforts.  We have some surprises for you in the near future, so stay tuned!

 

New Name

 

As you know, we’ve been talking about giving our group a new, updated name.  We aren’t just a group of “Old Timers” who worked as journalists and photographers any more.  We are growing so much and include in our ranks entertainers, hobby and professional historians, life-long Nevada residents, and members both young and not-so-young – we are quite an eclectic group whose main goal is to keep our state history alive and remembered.  Curt Thompson offered a great name for our group for your consideration – I think it needs a little more attached to it, but maybe I’m wrong.  He thought of The Founders, because, as he explained, this group of people really did “found” Las Vegas through their media and entertainment efforts, and now with our monthly meetings we continue the legacy of recalling the history.  Why not weigh in on the name and tell us what you think? 

 

Jane Ann Morrison Column

 

Look for a mention of our group in Jane Ann Morrison’s column this Thursday!  Thanks, Jane Ann, for coming to our meeting.