VINTAGE VEGAS

An old-timer shares Helldorado memories

I feel you need some old-timers to help you younger people make the Helldorado Days authentic.

I am qualified. My memory is very accurate, and my stepfather, C.C. Boyer II, was grand exalted ruler of the Elks in Las Vegas in 1942.

I am an active, healthy 85 years old.

In 1942, I won first prize for best Western outfit for women and danced with a genuine cowboy in sheepskin chaps at the old El Dorado grounds.

Our family lived in a house adjacent to the grounds and dance hall. Rodeos were held there, where the freeway passes over North Seventh Street near Stewart Avenue.

For weeks before Helldorado the local men grew beards hoping for a prize. All men, women and children wore Western clothes, boots, pioneer bonnets and dresses.

There were parades each day -- children, pioneers, a royal court, etc. Also a kangaroo court.

All of this took place between Main and Sixth streets on Fremont Street. For the four days of Helldorado, the town literally shut down; stores closed. Everybody was too busy to work. Of course, the bars and casinos stayed open.

There was no Strip in those days. The El Rancho was the only road house outside of town, at Fifth Street and Sahara Avenue. It was new in 1942. The place to go.

The hot spot downtown for dining and dancing was the Apache Hotel owned by P. O. Silvagni. Binion's Horseshoe is on that corner now. A block away was Wimpy's Hamburger Stand, the El Portal Theater, Ruby White's Flower Shop, where I worked, the White Spot Drugs, and Smith and Chandler's Indian Store.

The big action was at the Pioneer Club and Boulder Club. The Sal Sagev Hotel was on the southeast corner of Fremont and Main streets across from the train depot. Sid Martin was the bartender, and it was busy.

The big businessmen gathered there after work. My favorite drink they made was the whiskey sour in-the-rough served in a malt-size glass with lots of fruit floating in it.

High school graduates partied at the El Rancho on their big night. Chateaubriand was $5 for two; a roast prime rib dinner was $1.25. Maxine Lewis was the entertainer and goodwill ambassador.

There was no Sahara Hotel in those days. On that spot was the Bingo Club.

On the corner of Fifth Street and Charleston Boulevard was Sill's Drive-in. The one and only place for hamburgers.

I'd be happy to get involved in Helldorado Days. There can't be too many folks in town who remember the grand early days. They would have to be between 70 and 100 just like me!

A trip to Vegas brings on an instant 'I do'

Hello, I'm French, and I just want to say that eight years ago my girlfriend and I were on holiday with friends in California and thereabouts. Two days before going to Las Vegas, my girlfriend said, "Why don't we get married while we're there?" "OK," I said.

france