December 18, 2004 - First, I would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!
Many thanks to Steve Fischer for his monetary donation to this site. As you all may know by now Steve is omahagrampa on Ebay. I've added his plaque to my Donations Plaque.
I'm done with the 1954 Holiday issue of the Fabulous Las Vegas Magzine as far the stories go. I'm not done with the holiday wishes ads yet but I figured I'd rather have the stories up now for you to read rather than take a chance and not have any of it done. The stories are great in this issue so I hope you take the time to share the holiday spirit with those of 1954. They can be found in my Holiday Section towards the bottom of the page. I will update this page when I add the holidays wishes ads.
I must tell you, I've encountered many a mystery in dealing with the Ladies on the Strip. One of my biggest mysteries is that of the 9th Lady on the Strip - Riviera. Where I could find the original permits and licenses on most of the other Ladies, or I know where they are and haven't gotten to them yet, the first mention of the Riviera I could find was in 1954, a little more than a year before she opened and she was clearly under construction. I knew there had to be prior ones but just couldn't find them. As humans, we all pretty much know how we are conceived (if you don't, please discuss this with your parents) but the Ladies' were conceived in many ways. All I could think of was that the Riviera will be celebrating her 50th Birthday and I can't find out where her "seed" is. Well, since my last update to you I've been looking up each individual that I have that owned the Riviera in the beginning and finally found it (that's why the 1954 Holiday issue isn't done yet). She had another name and it appears that because some of the partners weren't, shall we say, upstanding citizens of the community, the "Casa Blanca" couldn't get off the ground. Partners came and went and the Gaming Commission kept denying her permits. In September of 1953 they finally did, after a big overhaul of owners were listed. Then for some reason, and I haven't found out why yet, the same owners turned around and refiled all the paperwork that had just been accepted but under the name Riviera. My guess would be that since it took years to get the proper permits and licenses, that just maybe bad luck could always be associated with the Casa Blanca. Therefore, get rid of the past demons and start anew - alas, the Riviera. Anyway, Riv's conception is detailed on her page.
I'm still adding tidbit of information when I ran across them while trying to research the Riviera's beginning. Its just a line or two and all involving the first eight resorts on the Strip.
Also, I got a few e-mails stating that I haven't given any updates on Stan Irwin's book "Stan Irwin Presents". You are right and I must apologize. I sort of have this addictive/obsessive personality so I was concentrating so much on the Riviera, that all else is forgotten. Stan's book is running quite a long right now and Stan is hoping to have the book out in May of 2005. I'll keep you advised and when its out I'll let you know. If for some obsessive reason, I don't advise you, please e-mail me. You will get this warning when you e-mail me but just to repeat myself - DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE. I have my spam filters set to trash all e-mails that don't have certain subject lines.
I would like to go non-Vegas for a minute but I must share this with you. I don't know about all of you, but I have a hell of a time getting my boss gifts for Boss' Day, birthdays, Christmas, etc. Some of you who I met through this site have met Bob when you stopped by my work and as you all know, he is a great boss but impossible to buy for. All I could get him that I knew he liked was Starbuck's gift cards so every special occasion he got the same thing. He loved it but me being a female, got bored with giving him the same thing. Well Bob is a great train fan. Loves them, all kinds. Well I found a man, Philip Anderson, who has compiled the history of train wrecks in America and has created CD's documenting the original reports, pictures, diagrams, history, etc of all these train wrecks. I got Bob I think it was the Santa Fe one and he absolutely loved it. He is finding out all this trivia about trains and what happened to them and the like. As a matter of fact, he talked about this CD so much that the Executive Board contacted Philip and bought a whole collection for Bob for Christmas. Now my roommate Sean who a few of you also met, is a steam train fan. Well, now I ordered him Philip's steam engine CDs for Christmas and I don't have to worry about what to get him.
I know its too late for Christmas but I want to share this with anyone who knows someone who loves trains and you can't figure out what to get them. I asked Philip to describe his CDs because I know nothing about them so here it is:
Right now we're trying to find a way for you to reach Philip without the spamming robots getting his e-mail address and then he is the proud owner of millions of spam coming in hourly. So for now, if you are interested in obtaining these wonderful CDs, please e-mail me (again, do not change the subject line) and I'll forward your e-mails to Philip and he will get in touch with you directly. After all, we want Philip to spend his time doing more research, not weeding through spam. I've also added this paragraph to my Links page as well so you can find it easy.
November 29, 2004 - I hope you all had a wonderful turkey day and napped off the overdose of the bird.
First, I want to thank Kim Friberg for her monetary donation to this site. Kim, I've added your name to my Donator's Plaque and your donation is very much appreciated. As I stated, I guarantee that any monies donated are used ONLY for the website.
Next, many thanks to Larry W. Thut for sharing with us his experience of the Dunes' final night party. It is always nice to hear memories first-hand and I'm sure we will all enjoy it.
I'm still adding tidbits of information and I think I've added a little something to most of the major resorts. Of course, the Riviera is celebrating her 50th birthday in 2005 so I'm paying extra attention to her adding everything from additional facts on Greenbaum's death to the moguels attempting to save her from the same fate that the Royal Nevada had. I still have more to add but at least this is the beginning.
As some of my seasoned readers know, I had pictures and stories from the annual Fabulous Las Vegas Christmas issues. I stalled in converting them to encryption as I knew the work that was going to go into it. Well, I'm finally done with the issues. In these issues are stories, recipes, pictures, and the like.
I was hoping to get more Christmas issues to share with you but the rich cats always outbid me. I did manage to get two though when I had donations stored up and I added one - 1949. I was pleasantly surprised when I got this one as one of the writers was none other than our own Stan Irwin. Of course, how quickly could I get to the phone and discuss the article with him. This is definitely a treasure to me because of Stan's article. This one he wrote when he was in New York. He ended his tenure at the Club Bingo but Jack Cortez asked him to submit an article to his magazine.
I've also added a new link to my website - Vegas Views. This is not a commercial site that mainly shows pictures of the various resorts.
I'm hoping to get more done before the holidays!
November 8, 2004 - I hope you all had a frightful Halloween with plenty of kids. Not too many where I was.
I'm still adding tidbits of information here and there. I've added the 1940's, 50's, 1992, and 1972. I think I've hit most of resorts on the Strip as I've been uploading all weekend but I do remember - Aladdin; DI
Dunes;
I'm going to the future history now and the Riviera. The Global Art Gallery opened on November 2, 2004, at the resort. Hail Hail Rock 'n Roll is also back at the resort. I have two friends who went to see the show the first time it was at the Riv and they loved it. They're happy its back and plans on going to see it again. Also the opening of An Evening With Marilyn - Starring Roxanna Bonilla-Giannini, as well as other additions to the Riv's calendar.
As we all know, Riviera is going to be celebrating her 50th birthday in 2005. This birthday is eventful, not only for the Riv's birthday, but that the Riv was the only resort that opened in 1955 that still exists today with her original structure (the other two were the Royal Nevada which is now part of the Stardust, and the Dunes which was imploded and the Bellagio is now on that property, and the Moulin Rouge which was closed and most recently, was a victim of a fire.) John Neeland at the Riv, has been working overtime to prepare for this very special occasion and he's been letting loose tidbits about the celebration. I've added his most recent news to the Riv's page. You keep the teasers coming John!!!
I also had a chance to fix my Obituary page. I found an interview that Totie Fields gave and I thought what better obituary than her actual story so I added Ms. Fields to the Obits.
October 2, 2004 - I've been still working on all the little tidbits from the 1940s/1950s. It funny, when I add all the tidbits together it makes a story in itself which I think at this point the El Rancho Vegas proves that. All the resorts from the El Rancho to Tropicana has been added to.
David S. donated some pictures of Caesars' Maximus Room right before it closed which I've added to the site. Many thanks David for sharing with us.
As you will note from the main page, Riviera is hosting their 20th Annual Houdini Seance on October 29th. I've added the information to the Riv's page. I've also added future history to the La Cage and Crazy Girl pages off of Riv's index page.
Now that I'm encrypting the site it is taking forever to upload the site. Where a page used to take a few minutes, now it could take up to 20 for each page depending upon the amount of pictures, the amount of the page, etc. That is why you are seeing the various resorts being divided up more and more.
While I'm sitting here waiting for each revision to upload I was getting pretty bored so I went on the internet and I ended up collecting digital cards or what are called. Now I just collect and trade with others but I've heard that these cards can be downloaded and made into cards, place-cards, items for scrapbooks and the like. So far I've found a whole but for Disney characters, one set for Scooby Doo, Harry Potter, etc. Just in case any of you are interested I'm giving you the links so you can check them out. Now I will warn you that Harry Potter's site I have trouble with and 50% of the time the Token Zone won't come up. Some of you may find a better way to access both set of cards that are on the site. Anyway, here they are:
Disney's General Tokens
By the way, I just wanted to let you know that since it does take so long to update the site, I begin by adding the revisions and then this page and main page. This process can take a couple of days so if you stumbled on to the new information before being notified, that is why.
September 13, 2004 - I hope you all had a safe holiday!
Well, I'm still working on my tidbits of information. I have so many documents that have a sentence here, a paragraph there, that I usually put these bits on the back burner for the bigger items. Well, I've decided to add all these pieces and it is interesting to see that they form their own stories. I'm sticking with the 1940s and 1950s still and I have to say, some of the pages, especially the El Rancho Vegas, have evolved to its own story.
August 28, 2004 - I've been working on the very early history of some of the ladies including in the llate forties and the fifties for El Rancho, Frontier, Flamingo, and Desert Spa.
August 21, 2004 - It's been a couple of months since I updated this site of which I do apologize. Been hectic here with Stan's book, getting a summer cold, and dealing with a stray cat. Speaking of which, I've been a dog owner all my life and when my own Trapper died in 1996, I decided no more pets. In came a 9 month old stray girl cat that I decided to take in. Of course she needed a boyfriend so I went to the pound and got her one. Out of the blue her father shows up at the door, also a stray as well as a deadbeat dad. Every time I let him he goes after the other two and no matter how many times I kick him out of the house, spray him with water, and yell at him, he still does it. As a matter of fact, while working on this site today, my boy cat was sleeping in the living room and Dad went after him. My boy cat still hasn't come out of hiding (yep, feline domestic violence right here in my house). If anyone out there knows what to do about this situation, please e-mail me. I run out of ideas and since these are my first cats, I'm at a loss. Okay, back to the site -------
First I'd like to thank Las Vegas Hotels and Hotel Reservations for being an advertiser on my site. They are are listed on my main page right above the resort listings. Many thanks LV Hotel Accomodations.
I also want to thank a couple of people. J.T. read how one of my tapes for Stan Irwin's book was broken and he offered to fix the tape so I can transcribe it. In looking through my luggage I found another one that was broken but I'm not sure if it contained any information. So both they went to J.T. to see if he can help us out. Many thanks for your offer. Also, Henry Hadley became a monetary donator and I have included his name on my donator's plaque. Many thanks Henry!
A lot has been happening with the Ladies on the Strip but I decided just to add Aladdin's recent happenings as well as the Riviera's right now. Riviera is still preparing for her 50th Birthday Party, adding new shows, and Frank Marino had his picture taken with Fantasia which I put on Frank's page off of the Riv's main page.
I've been adding bits and bits and pieces to most of the resorts as I found them but these have bigger chunks of information and/or pictures added:
- Tally-Ho/Aladdin - 1965, 1966, 2004; Algiers - 1963; Barbary Coast - 2004; Wilbur Clark - 1962; DI - 1965; Dunes - 1965; Flamingo Capri - 1965; Flamingo - 1965; Frontier - 1963; Hacienda - 1965, 1966; Thunderbird - 1965; Riviera - 1963, 1965, 1966; Sahara - 1965, 1966, 1967 Stardust - 1965; Stratosphere - 1996; Tropicana - 1963, 1965, 1966.
June 14, 2004 - I'm back from Vegas and have some tales to tell which can read off of my Miscellaneous page. I usually don't go to Vegas this often but this visit was indeed special. If you have read the Frontier's page you will see a page created by Dee Alwes, who appeared at the Frontier in 1949. She took her granddaughter Jennifer to Vegas for her 21st birthday and asked me if I wanted to go and meet them. When she sent me pictures to create her page, she sent me a picture of the comedian who was appearing at the Club Bingo during that time, Stan Irwin. I called Stan and asked if he could meet us since the last time Dee and Stan saw each other was in 1949. He agreed to meet us there. I had the honor and pleasure not only for meeting Dee since we spoke so much on the phone, but seeing Dee and Stan get together for "the rounders" reunion. Stan and I also worked extensively on his book and I have a lot of tapes to transcribe.
I think I'm done with the repairs, revisions and additions to the Desert Inn's page for now anyway. Also, there were plaques on the pillars that was part of the entrance to the DI. I was contacted by a gentleman who now has possession of one of the plaques. I've added the plaque as it looks today under 2004. This donator doesn't want to be named but I can tell you that the plaque is no longer in Nevada but is being well taken care of. Many thanks to Mr. X for the scan and update.
Barry Temple of KXNT was able to provide me with the opening and selling of the Tahiti Motel which is now the Harley Davidson Cafe. Thank you Mr. Temple for the information.
Greg P. From Toronto had a coupon showing the structure of the Silver City which I put on her page. Thanks Greg for sending that to me.
That's it for now. I'm hoping to get through Stan's tapes and doing some face lifts to the Sahara's pages.
May 18, 2004 - I've gotten plenty done this week with converting this site. I finished the Ma & Pa Motels and Bios sections, as well as Vegas World and Stratosphere. I'm presently working on the Desert Inn so you may see pictures disappearing/reappearing and information being added.
Since I don't have a set plan with the new program I'm using, for the near future anyway, I'm going to be uploading the updates when I'm done with them and then updating this page once a week. If you happen to read my updates and say, "hey I already read that" then you probably hit that page as I got done.
I've added some trivia to the Venetian which David Silverstein dug up for me. Many thanks David for providing me with some trivia facts!!
I'm going to the future history first. As you know, I have stopped showing chips on my site as the chip sites on my links page is doing just fine and Dan Kubota, and Pete and Chantel Rizzo can explain things I can't as I don't collect chips unless its something new or different. John Neeland over at the Riviera sent me some new chips they introduced this month so I put them on the Riv's site.
Also, notice to all guys, save up your dollars as Crazy Girls Ruth Gastineau and Rayma Alfred have put themselves up on the auction block for some lucky guy to have a date with for a good cause. I put the auction up on the calendar section of my main page as well as the Crazy Girls section of the Riv's page.
I promised the people who wrote in asking for a status of Stan Irwin's book that I will give an update every time I update this site so ------ It is coming along. I have some more transcribing to do this week so this site will be go to the back burner. We are meeting again in the beginning of June to continue our work and I'll let you know then how it is going. I'm also going to Vegas in June and I'll let you know of my experiences upon my return.
I recently had another birthday and my buddy Dan Kubota surprised me by bringing lunch to me at work during my lunch break. He also gave me some wonderful gifts including Landmark ashtrays of different colors (for those of you who don't know, this site was originally suppose to be a tribute site to the Landmark and Aladdin only and Dan talked me into doing the entire Strip), and a wonderful framed picture of the Strip and downtown which I have put on my Vegas page. We even invited my boss Bob to sit down and help us celebrate and we had a nice chat and all. Many many thanks Dan for the surprise and wonderful gifts!!! Bob wanted to thank you for lunch but it got so crowded after lunch that he didn't see you leave so I'll say thank you for him as well now. It was quite an enjoyable lunch and a definite break out of the ordinary!!
Now all of you who have MSIE probably wouldn't know this but this site can no longer be accessed through Netscape, Opera, WebTV, etc. I've gotten a ton of complaints in accusing me of selling out to Microsoft. If you do use another browser, please open it up and go to my site to see the explanation.
With all that said, shall we talk about the past? Here is some information and/or pictures I've added from 1951 to Thunderbird, El Rancho, Desert Inn, and Silver Slipper.
I've also added some pictures that Jay C. Sarno gave me for when Slots-A-Fun opened. Many thanks Jay for lending these to me!
In mid-1951, former owner of the Hotel Last Frontier Bill Moore had a house warming party inviting the press. I added the information and pictures to Moore's bio.
May 2, 2004 - First before anything else, I would like to thank my first two monetary donators of 2004, David R. Drummond and Steve Fischer!! I have added their names to my plaque which you can see at Vegas Miscellaneous. Many thanks for the donations David and Steve. I really appreciate it, and as I've said, all monies I receive from this site go right back to this site. If you like this site please make a monetary donation. I haven't added anything really new in a while as I'm converting the site but I will begin again when the conversion is done. In the meantime, I've had to forego plenty of items I needed for the site because I just didn't have the money.
I've heard from John Neeland over the Riviera regarding the 49th birthday party I attended and he gave me one teaser tidbit of information for the 50th Birthday party next year. Many thanks John, and please don't stop teasing us!! I've also updated the Riv's page (the addition of Amazing Jonathan) as well as the Crazy Girls (Ruth Gastineau appearing on Blind Date & Fear Factor) and La Cage's pages (Debbie Reynolds at their show).
I've finally finished converting the Stardust's page. I've added some things I had close by and Steve Fischer donated a story and a picture from his upcoming book on the theme that was a subject of the movie Casino. As you Ebayers may remember, Steve is actually Seller OmahaGrampa, which I've added his Ebay auctions on my links page. Many many thanks Steve for everything!
I've got to say, converting the site can be a major bore so I couldn't help it, I had to add some new things just to break the routine. I've added an interview with Shecky Greene in 1969 at the Riviera, and an article written by Pop Squires on April 14, 1956. With all this talk about elections, etc., I did some research to see if good old Pops had any memories of elections from the "good old days" and sure enough he did. You can find his article on my Fun Facts page.
Still converting. Now I'm working on Westward Ho and Vegas World.
April 19, 2004 - I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday!
I was in Vegas April 8-11, 2004, participating in the 49th birthday of Riviera. My daughter and I had a great time and I've outlined my trip on my Miscellaneous Page.
Let me shoot down that vicious rumor and say I did NOT cause the power outage at the Bellagio. I also explained this on my trip outline.
I'm still working on converting the site along with everything else and I think I'm doing pretty good. Just got the Tropicana done. I'm hoping to start the Stardust soon.
Please keep in mind that when you e-mail me do not remove the subject that I place on the e-mail links. I have set my span control to delete everything automatically except for particular phrases seen in the e-mail links. If you change the subject line, I definitely will not receive it.
In addition to the outline of my latest trip, I have added information regarding image requests located on my Pictures/Ad Page. I think I pretty much explained why I'm changing my policy.
For those of you who have written in asking about Stan Irwin's book, we are still working on it and we will be meeting again in the beginning of June to hopefully finish it or at least get a good chunk of it done. Thanks for asking!
March 23, 2004 - I know, you all thought I fell off the face of the Earth. I've been working on the site but mainly converting it to the new program. How can you tell if a particular page has been converted? If it has pictures - its done. No pictures - I haven't gotten to it yet. Now I will be honest with you. I've been kinda updating the pages as I go so if you see the pages with pictures, it will also contain new information. Now I'm not doing major revisions but if I have information sitting in front of me while I converting the page, I'm adding it. Slowly but surely it will be done.
As you can see from my Main Page, Riviera is having her annual Passion Play. I have also updated her page. I contacted our own John Neeland over at the Riv and told him what I was doing and if he wanted to stop notifying me of the Riv's happenings until I'm done I would more than understand. John would have none of that and he has continually updated me every week so since the information was sitting there, when I converted her site I've added all the revisions. Many thanks to John Neeland for not giving up on me.
Staying at the Riviera for just a minute, I wanted to let you know that Steve Fischer has donated some excerpts from the book he is writing tentively titled "YESTERDAY IN VEGAS - 50 Stories From The Mob Years." You Ebayers know Steve better as "omahagrampa". You will find his excerpts under 1958 on the Riv's page. More information will be forthcoming.
Let's walk a little north and go from the ninth lady of the Strip to the sixth - Sahara. As I reported to you and what I'm personally elated about - Stan Irwin has decided to do a book. Not to worry - we are indeed working on it ----- but it does present a problem - updating the Sahara's page. I told Stan I don't want to duplicate parts of his book until it has been on sale for awhile. I personally would rather read his book, from his memory, then read it on my site where an extra person has been added to the chain.
We have decided that when I come up with something that I need Stan for, he will decide whether it will be the site or the book. Not to leave you out in the cold until his book his out, Stan has given me some pictures of the resort from his personal collection which I've added to the site. I have also added his "Stan Irwin Presents" cards under 1965 to this site, which Stan is most happy to share with you all. Now neither Stan nor I know if these cards are collector items but when I showed him the cards he saw the one I had for Marlene Dietrich. For those of you who are collecting these postcards, Stan has a special message for you regarding this particular postcard which I've also added. As Stan said, he is not sure if this information is valuable but people who like the cards may like to know this information.
I had also strayed upon an article that was written about the Sahara's opening night. This article surprised me as I hadn't run across this story before and I was taken aback. I raced to the phone and called Stan right away (he is now on my speed dial). I read the article to Stan and simply said - Help!!!! After he got done laughing he said from that reporting person's point of view, he was 100% correct. If he had been working for management he would've known that the situation had been taken care of and thought of even before it occurred. Stan said the whole story should be known by all so he told me to put it up on my site. I've added not only the article but Stan's "continuation" of the article under the Sahara's opening. Once again, and again, and again, many thanks to Stan for putting up with the emergency "Spanish Inquisition" he gets all the time from me. Again, as in the past, I would like to thank Tony Lani, for connecting me with Stan.
Last but certainly not least - the reminder I have on this site. If you had list your e-mail address before January, 2004, Change Detection is not getting notification that the site has been updated and therefore, it can't notify you. What used to be the main page, the one you listed on Change Detection, is now the direction page. The new program I am using directs the person to a part of the site depending upon what browser you are using. If it sees you are using Netscape, etc., you get a main page telling you that this site needs MS IE to view it. That is part of the lock-down that I am now using. If you are using IE it will bring you to the entire site. Since that particular page never changes, Change Detection is left unaware of any changes and therefore you won't be notified. You can either go to the top of this page and re-enter your e-mail address or go to the main page (which is actually the second page) and put your e-mail address in. Then Change Detection will be able to see the site has been changed and let you know. Once again, I apologize for this but as we all know, I'm certainly not enjoying converting the site or having to worry about it getting stolen every couple of days so in a perfect world . . . . .
February 24, 2004 - As you can see, the notice is off of my main page. Jason did it!!! It convinced all the culprit sites into removing ALL of my site from theirs. Let's thank Jason for all his help!! I also want to thank Carol Knoll for writing to everyone and their brother and finding Jason. I appreciate your help!
I'm back from Vegas and you can find my narration of this trip under February 20, 2004, on my Miscellaneous Page.
As you will note from reading my narration from February 20th on my Miscellaneous page, this site will be put on the back burner and I will slowly convert it in between typing Stan's notes.
January 25, 2004 - Hi everyone. I just wanted to give you a brief update and hopefully answer the e-mails I've been receiving through this route. I'm still working on converting the site so nothing you see or experience while here will surprise. PLEASE don't write to me about it. The site is far from being converted. One of the main problems is the backgrounds for each of the lady's pages. I have contacted tech support and they are working on it. I'm been converting Aladdin, Barbary Coast, Bonanza/MGM clan, Caesars, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Desert Inn, Dunes, and Riviera. Now this is just converting - not adding anything. I did add the Riv's Super Bowl Party and updated her page but she is the only one.
Regarding the e-mails about the e-book about downtown. As you can imagine, I am no longer working on it until this site is up and running so my deadline has been pushed way way forward. I can't even begin to tell you the date as changing this site is taking up so much time, and I'm still trying to learn it on top of it all.
For those of you who have sent me e-mails and haven't received a response - I just haven't had the time. I've been keeping them but to be honest with you I just don't have the time right now to right back. All I do as far as e-mails is keep up the jokeline that I started back in 1994. I do apologize for this but working 11 to 12 hours a day and then coming home and working on this site doesn't leave me a lot of time to sleep much less anything else.
I'm hoping to get this site done by the time I leave for Vegas February 20 & 21. I hate to leave it half done so I'm trying to work on this and nothing else. I tried to get a room on the Strip but it was way way too expensive unfortunately. I ended up booking with the Plaza downtown.
This is okay though. Since I'm working on the E-book for downtown I can snoop around there and pay my respects to the closed down Binion's Horseshoe. What a shame isn't it? My research has shown it opened in 1951 as "The Horseshoe" aka "Horseshoe Club".
Anyway, this is just a short update so you know I'm trying to get the site back to where it once was.
January 17, 2004 - First, I have some bad news - Comedian/Strip veteran Bernie Allen passed away. My Vegas guys, Sam Melchionne, Mike Christ, and Nelson Sardelli told me that his funeral will be held at Palm Mortuary on South Eastern Avenue on Monday the 19th at 5:00PM. I will add his obit as soon as physically possible.
As you know this year definitely did not start out on a good note. With yet another Canadian gaming site stealing this site. I don't know what it is about the owners of these Canadian gaming sites but they seem to think my site was made for them to steal. They couldn't reach my site so they gave up and only kept the wording from my first page. I'm not happy about it as I don't want to be a part of any Canadian gambling site in any way but its better then having the Ladies on Strip on their site - the only class their sites had from what I can see.
Because of all the grief I've had to spend quite a bit of money for a program that will help in deterring people in taking this site. I'm still learning it and I'm going through the site alphabetically to bring it up as the way it was before the theft. I will let you know all know when I'm done as I will ask all of you to report any broken links as I'm still not sure about this program. I do know you will need Microsoft Explorer to view this site and I'm sorry about that. I use IE, Netscape and Opera and I hate to just have the one but until people turn honest this is the way it has to be. Also, there won't be any new updates until I finish transferring the site - sorry to say. I would rather add to the site but again, these creeps ruined it for us all.
I don't mind telling you that this site came really close to be taken down and turned into an E-Book. I was really disgusted. Just as I was about to push the delete button and bring it down I called our own Stan Irwin and after a two hour conversation here the site stays. Of course he did give me some stories that I will add to the site later. I do want to thank you all who wrote in with encouraging words. They did help, believe me. I guess I needed a visionary to cheer me on and of course he always adds variations of this statement: Thank you for keeping alive those who would otherwise be forgotten - no wonder he accomplished so much huh!
January 4, 2004 - Happy New Year to everyone!
As you can see from the main page, the end of 2003 saw the passing of two Strip greats, Claude Trenier of The Treniers on November 17, 2003, and Charles "Blackie" Hunt of The Characters on December 30, 2003. I want to thank our own Sam Melchionne Nelson Sardelli and Mike Christ, and Riviera's John Neeland for immediately advising me of the deaths knowing it is most important to document the soon-to-be history as well as the history of the ladies on the Strip and the people who created her.
As some of you know, I do have an obituary section on this site for the Strip entertainers gone but not forgotten. Unfortunately, many a time I have to decide whether to record the history of the ladies on the Strip or work on the obituaries. Most of the time, my decision, right or wrong, is to work on the ladies themselves and put the obituaries on the back burner. I do apologize for this but I only have so many hours in the day and I choose to work on the site itself.
I decided to work on the Obituary Section for Buddy Hackett, Claude Trenier, and Blackie Hunt. Buddy Hackett was easy for the most part but I did have trouble with Trenier and Hunt. I never met Trenier and even though Hunt was at Sahara's 50th birthday party, I got a chance to see him but didn't meet him. I also never saw The Characters nor The Treniers perform. This is where Nelson Sardelli and Sam Melchionne stepped in. Sam helped me identify them both in pictures and Nelson provided me with his thoughts and a recent photograph he took of Hunt and donated it to this site. Once again, thanks buddies for taking the time to help me out when you saw me treading water so to speak. I don't know what I would do without Sam, Nelson, and John.
When Hackett passed on, Nancy Williamson donated poems which Hackett had sent to her when she heard him recite them in a show and asked for copies. I knew I couldn't get to his obituary right away so I put them on the Sahara's page until I could get to the obituaries. I have now moved them to where they belong and I once again thank Nancy for sharing his poems with us. They are wonderful!
I've been adding tidbits of information to all the resorts from 1952, 1958, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1979 but its only been a sentence here or picture there on just about every lady on the Strip. It would take me longer to list the revisions than the actual revisions so I will only put down the major additions as follows:
Bellagio - 1993
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Caesars;
Flamingo;
Frontier;
Hacienda;
Riviera;
Sahara;
Silver City;
Stardust;
Thunderbird;
Tropicana.
Disney's Good Boy
Scooby Doo Tokens (click on Mugshots)
Harry Potter Tokens
Harry Potter Magical Cards
Bonanza - 1969
Caesars Palace - 1969
Dunes - 1964, 1965, 1977, 1993, 1994
LV Hilton - 1978
Riviera - 1958
Sahara - 1964, 1965 1969, 1978
Treasure Island - 1993