VINTAGE VEGAS

I grew up in a small town along the muddy Mississippi River and always dreamed of traveling. In high school, a friend of mine moved with his parents to Las Vegas and we stayed in touch through letters and pictures. A few years later, when I was going through a divorce, I decided to move to Vegas. I was 23 and had never been on an airplane, let alone out of state.

It was the summer of 1969 when I first walked off the plane at the tiny airport in Las Vegas. I was told to go to the Labor Union and sign up. My first job was as a change girl at the Landmark when it opened.

I loved Las Vegas. I loved the weather, the sunrises and sunsets, the millions of stars, and the lights all around the valley. The people were friendly and helpful. Vegas was wonderful. But I was young and wasn't ready to stay in one place for very long, so I left.

I returned to Vegas in 1973 and started working for a newspaper located on Industrial Road called the Panorama Newspaper. I worked for a man named Ralph Petillo. It was so much fun working in the newspaper business and learning everything that was going on in town, eating out at all the great restaurants and meeting all the celebrities who came into the office. I stayed for several years and then left again.

I'm gone from Vegas now, but I have so many memories that I often think of moving back. To me, there is no better place to be.

BONNIE BROWN

WALTON, IL

In September 2001, my daughters and I visited Las Vegas for the first time. It was my oldest girl's 21st birthday. Little did we know that only two days after we arrived, the world would change so dramatically.

On the morning of the 11th, we were up and ready to go when the news stopped us in our tracks. After sitting in the hotel room for hours watching the television, we decided to get out of our room and away from the pain we were witnessing.

Upon reaching the Strip, we saw that the Vegas we had come to know the past several days was gone. A new, quieter Vegas greeted us. The cabbies weren't honking at people trying to cross the street and every billboard had been changed to reflect what we were all feeling -- deep sorrow.

In a coffee shop on the Strip, total strangers were working together to help each other get home. I saw the best of America that day. If I had to be somewhere other than home, I'm happy that it was Las Vegas. Thank you, people of Las Vegas, for giving such a wonderful view of what America is all about on that day and the days that followed.

BETTY TUNNELL

WASILLA, ALASKA