Transcript of interview with Virginia Beckly Richardson by Claytee D. White and Carole C. Terry, November 5, 2009

An Interview with Virginia Beckley Richardson F in L3S ion An Oral History Conducted by Claytee D. White and Carole C. Terry Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries Junior League of Las Vegas 2011 © The Junior League of Las Vegas, Incorporated Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Junior League of Las Vegas Producer: Carole C. Terry The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries and the Junior League of Las Vegas. The Center and the Junior League members worked together to generate this first-person narrative. The transcript received minimal editing. These measures include the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrators. Furthermore, the two narrators have reviewed the material to assure accuracy. Virginia Richardson wrote the Appendix No. 1, “Recollections of Early Las Vegas,” and provided Appendix No. 2, “Address by Bruce Beckley at the dedication of the Will Beckley Elementary School.” In addition, she loaned the Junior League the historic newspaper articles, copies of which are included in this project. The Junior League of Las Vegas and the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries thank the University for their support of this project. Carole Terry, Project Director Junior League of Las Vegas Claytee D. White Oral History Research Center, UNLV Libraries iii Table of Contents Oral Interview with Virginia Beckley Richardson Appendix No. 1 - Recollections of Early Las Vegas by Virginia Richardson Appendix No. 2 - Address by Bruce Beckley at the dedication of the Well Beckley Elementary School Las Vegas, Nevada. November 7, 1966. Page 1 Page 23 Page 28 IV Newspaper Articles (Listed by headline) Following Page Mrs. Richardson Elected President of Service League vii April 15, 1951 ‘League’ Tells New School Plans 5 August 11, 1963 Set “Yum Yum Tree” Premiere as Annual Service League Benefit 6 October 13, 1963 Benefit Ball is Outstanding Fall Event 7 September 27, 1959 Service League Benefit Party Set on Saturday Evening 8 June, 1951 Service League Benefit Garden Party 8 June 10, 1951 Charter Members [of the Service League] 9 March 5, 1961 Silver Tea Will Fete Anniversary of Las Vegas Service League 10 February 26,1961 Two Pioneer Families May 14,1950 Officers Honored by Service League May 14, 1950 Soiree Highlights Noted September 27, 1959 Benefit Party Set for September 16th September 3, 1961 Celebrate 50 Years September 6, 1960 Merchant’s Home Becomes Monument March 11, 1979 v Preface Through her oral interview and the materials she provided, Virginia Beckley Richardson gives us a unique and fascinating look at both a pioneer family of Las Vegas and the early activities of the Service League, the forerunner of the Junior League of Las Vegas. Her personal recollections are an insight into life in the city’s early years, and the biography of her father written by her brother, Bruce, humanizes a prominent figure in Las Vegas’ history. The newspaper articles she made available enhance her descriptions of the Service League’s activities. In addition, the article, “Merchant’s Home Becomes Monument,” describes her family home originally located on Fourth Street and relocated by the Junior League of Las Vegas in 1979. Her recollections clearly demonstrate her enthusiasm about her family’s accomplishments and her involvement in the Service League VI The Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries Use Agreement/ J Name of Narrator: Name of Interviewer: We, the above napie# dve tp the Junior League of Las Vegas, the recorded interview(s) initiated on ///£j&'£ / as an unrestricted gift, to be used for such scholarly and educational pu/pojfcs as shall be determined, and transfer to the Junior League of Las Vegas, legal title and all literary property rights including copyright. This gift does not preclude the right of the interviewer, as a representative of the Junior League of Las Vegas, to use the recordings and related materials for scholarly pursuits. There will be no compensation for any interviews. Signature of Narrator ,-n £l 1 JUNIOR LEAGUE OF LAS VEGAS The Morelli House - 861 Bridger Avenue - Las Vegas, NV 89101-5539 702.822.6536 LEAGUE PRESIDENT—Mrs. Jack Richardson, prominent young Las Vegas matron, will serve as president of the Service League in the coming year, succeeding Mrs. C. Norman Cornwall. Mrs. Richardson is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Will Beckley, prominent early-day Las Ve- gas residents, who are identified with much of the history of the community’s social and bus- iness life. Mrs. Jack Richardson has been honored by election as president of the Service League and will assume her duties at the installation, luncheon to be held on May 9. She succeeds Mrs. C. Norman Cornwall, who has served this year as leader of the organization. Other' new officers include: First vice-president, Mrs. George with Mrs. John McNamee . .as. committee chairnaan, assisted by Mrs. Gerald Sylvain and Mrs. John Conlon. * A discussion was held on the recently inaugurated project for training of the blind, which is sponsored by the League, under direction of Mrs. C. D. Baker. To expand her committee and increase the activities, Mrs. represent., tlje Service League In the Association for the School for Handicapped children of Clark County, including: Mes- dames Roy Flippin, George Boman, Ray Morford, and Lorin Ronnow. Mrs. Richardson is-a member of one of Las Vegas’ earliest pioneer, families, the daughter Mrs. Richardson Elected President of Service League April 15, 1951 Boman; second vicerpresident, Mrs. Charles L. Fletcher; cor- respondipg secretary, Mrs. How- ard Cannon; recording sec- retary, Mrs. Fred Beeman; tre- asurer, Mrs. Robert Schmutzer; parliamentarian, Mrs. Howard Woodbury; and membership cohimittee, Mesdames Richard Ronzone, William J. Moore, Jr., and John Hirsch. The annual luncheon honor- ing new officers will be planned by the provisional members, Baker asked for additional vol- unteers. They are Mrs. Corn- wall; Mrs. Milton W. Keefer, and Mrs. R. Julian Moore,'- ? — Those who volunteered to aid in the well baby clinic at the Clark county health department' were Mrs. Clifford A. Jones and Mrs. Kenneth Smith,, and those who will assist with filing at the Clark county civilian defense, office are Mrs. Jones and Mrs, Oscar Bryan. A delegation was named to 1 of Mr. and Mrs. Will Beckley, 120 South Fourth street. She at* tended ber elementary and high schools Here and was graduated from the University of Nevada, where she was prominent in studeht activities. She was affi- liated with the Kappa Alpha The- ta sorority on the campus. Her husband is the owner of the Las Vegas War Surplus store. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have two sons and make their home at 424 South Eleventh street. This is Claytee White. And I'm with Virginia Richardson in her home here in Las Vegas. And it is November 5th, 2009. So, Virginia, how are you doing today? I'm doing fine. Thank you. Wonderful. And we also have here at the table with us Carole Terry. And the reason that Carole is here is to make sure that I'm doing this right. So if you hear another voice that's the voice of Carole Terry.* So tell me, Virginia, about your early life growing up here in Las Vegas. You can start anyplace you like. It was really a fun time because most of the families lived on Fremont Street between Third and Las Vegas Boulevard. Also, many families lived on South Second Street in houses built for people who worked for the Railroad. Ours was a half block off, Fremont at 120 South Fourth Street. Our home phone number was number 21 and Beckley’s Men’s Furnishings Store (my father’s business) was number 27. But all the children played together and our parents entertained each other. Our mothers would sometimes make us a picnic lunch and we would ride our bicycles out to the Old Ranch (Mormon Fort) which was located on Fifth Street (now Las Vegas Boulevard) just past the Palm Mortuary. And our games were I guess you'd say kind of corny now, playing jacks and alley-oop and run-sheep-run and hop scotch, which kids have probably never heard of today. Then, all the functions almost always included the entire family as far as dinner parties and outings. We all went to Sunday school every Sunday. Most of the girls belonged to the Brownies. It prepared us for being Girl Scouts. The boys joined the Boy Scouts. Do you have brothers and sisters? I have one brother, W. Bruce Beckley. He was an attorney here, a local attorney. *Note: Claytee White’s questions are in bold type, Carole Terry’s in italics, and Virginia Richardson’s answers are in regular type. 1 He spearheaded the forming of the firm of Beckley, DeLanoy and Jemison, chartered. The firm is still practicing on Las Vegas Boulevard and Gass Streets. Okay, good. Did your mother work outside the home? No. She never did. She helped dad in the store often. She carried his lunch with a little lantern up the back alley up to the store every day. Then she stayed and worked in the store until it closed at nine. Well, that was a lot of work. Yes, it was, a good twelve hours. Running the house and working in the business. Tell me more about the business. Give me your father's and your mother's full name. And then tell me about the business. My father's full name was William Ulrich Beckley. He was bom in Guntalingen, Switzerland, and came over here when he was about six years old and settled in Fairbury, Illinois. He worked for one of his brothers, John Beckley, who had a men's clothing store. And that's where my father got an interest in the clothing business. Tell me about the type of clothing and tell me, then, about your work in the store. He had all the first class clothing, Hart, Schaffner and Marx, Edward V. Price made-to-measure suits, Stetson hats, Florsheim shoes, Freeman Shoes - all top lines. I remember we sold Levi’s by Levi Strauss for $1.98. Gloves and a lot of western shirts were available for Helldorado. Stetson hats, the western hats, and cowboy hats were also popular. And so how did you help out in the store? 1 was a clerk a lot of the time. I kept his books for a couple of years before I went to college. Where did you go to high school? I went to the Las Vegas High School and graduated in 1933. I went to college at Scripps College in Claremont, California — it was a girls' school -- for two years. And then I transferred to University of Nevada for two years. I was a Kappa Alpha Theta. That's where I met my husband, Jack. It was a real snowy day. And I majored in business administration and it was the first time I had gone to the business administration class. 2 Not many girls took business then. And so when I went in I must have looked like I was petrified. And Jack came up and he asked me if I'd like to be seated by him. I did. And that was the beginning. Wow. That's great. That's a wonderful story. So how long did you date before you got married? About two years. We were married in '39. So was he from Las Vegas? No. He was from Ely, Nevada. How did you persuade him to move to Las Vegas? Well, it was just kind of a natural — he was in the Air Force and graduated as a second lieutenant at the University of Nevada (Reno). It was the Nellis Gunnery School at that time. So that is how he came to Las Vegas. So 1939 was just before the war. Did he stay in the military and get involved in World War II? He was called back in the Korean War. But I remember December 7th very well. We were out at the Colorado River. And I just had the one son then, Bob Richardson. And this other couple had their daughter. We had a radio on and it said all military personnel return to the base at once. We rushed back. He was here for about two years. Then he was transferred to Foggia, Italy for two years. By that time he had been promoted to a Lt. Colonel. Wow. Now, did you go to Italy with him? No. So you stayed here. What was the separation like for a young wife at that time? Well, it was just something you did. I mean you were proud to do it for your country, and I had the support of my family. And I had the one son that was about two then. So I kept busy. I truly missed him, but I accepted it as we all did. Great. And so he was a career military person? No. He retired in ’46. So right after the war he retired. And then he went back for the Korean conflict? 3 Luckily he was stationed out at the base here in Las Vegas. We were very fortunate about that. Yes, you were. At that time he operated a Las Vegas surplus store connected with a men's clothing store. So then he established a Real Estate office. What did you learn about Las Vegas real estate from that involvement? What was it like at that time, right after World War II, to be in real estate? It was in '47, '48, right in there, and real estate was on an upward swing.. John S. Park was developed. Yes. Do you remember that community? I remember Dr. John S. Park and their home. He was a local dentist. Their home was on east Charleston Boulevard. Marybelle Park, his wife, had a fabulous collection of Indian baskets. Do you remember all of that being developed? Yes. Chapman Drive was near there. The McNamees and the Hirsches (a dentist), the Conways (an accountant) and lots of my good friends lived on those streets. Great. So now, at that time you were already -- when did you finish college? I attended Scripps College in Claremont, California, for two years and transferred to UNR and graduated with a business administration degree in 1938. Okay. Did you ever use that business administration degree other than working in the family business? No. I was secretary to one of the governors here for a couple of months during the summer. He had his office on the second floor of our building with his store on the first floor. Dad built the first three-story building in town. He bought the two-story building and then added the third story when the dam was being built, about 1928, and rented that to the Bureau of Reclamation for several years. So which governor did you work for? 4 You know, I think it was Scrugham. I really can't remember. I was so young then. How many children do you have? I have two children, Bob and Bill Richardson, who both live in Las Vegas now. Bill constructed the Mandalay Bay hotel and the Monte Carlo hotel and still does a lot of construction work. He still has his W. A. Richardson Builders, L.L.C., on Sunset Boulevard. I would say. And what did Bob do for a living? Bob was a partner in the White Cross drugstore for quite awhile. And then he went into real estate. He’s now retired. Wow. That's great. When did you become involved in community work? Right after the war when we came home and got our lives settled down and bought our little home. Where was your first home? Our first home was on the comer of 11th and Garces Streets. Now, there was an early hospital. Do you remember that? The Las Vegas Hospital?. Yes. That was in the north side of town, on Seventh or Eighth Street. Is that where you had your children? I had Bob at the Mildren Clinic on South Second Street. Bill was bom in the Las Vegas Hospital. Tell me about getting involved in clubs and organizations. Where was your first involvement? Junior League was the main one, originally called Service League, and I was President in 1951-52. Tell me about being a member of the Service League. How did you get involved at the very beginning? In 1946, it was just a group of about twelve young women, headed by Florence Lee Jones. And then the year after that I joined. It was just a group of good friends who decided we wanted to do something for the community. 5 Do you remember some of those firsl Yes, I’ve got a new newspaper 'League' Tells New School Plans August 11,1963 Vei This fa'll, Service Leagi Las Vegas will hold its a: Benefit Party, the proeee be used for some parti community need. In Febr an “Unmet Needs Commi was formed with Mrs. C. man Cornwall as chairmai This committee made inq into all facets of Las Vega termining that wihere the test need was with retardec dren in the three to eight did group. Mrs. Dwight Babcock, u special committee, also i ligated the opportunities ' cou/ld he given to these chi Service League then voti begin a retarded childrens sery school in the fall. A qualified teacher was s then a building in which cate. Service League mei are required to take a s] training course held at the ctal Childrens’ Clinic, tta devoie six shifts at leas s.s-iing the hired teacher tile nursery school. The benefit will be give these retarded children party committee meonbea eluding, Mrs. Vincent S; chairman; Mrs. Art Srnit chairman; Mrs. Wiliam tickets; Mrs. Richard Roi patrons program chairmai Mrs. Ed Treacy, Benefit treasurer. PROJECT CHAIRMEN From left, Mesdames H. Don Ackerman, committee member; Dwight Bab- cock, Retarded Children's Nursery School chairman; and C. Norman Cornwall, 'Unmet Needs' committee chairman dissuss the new project to be supported by members of the Las Vegas Service League. Review .journal Phnlo Sunday, August 11, 1963 Lbs Vegas Review-Journal 7-A _________________________________i Plans ie of ruiual da to cular uary. ttee” Nor- I ’• uiries s, de- grea- I ohil- year- ?ith a nves- which Idren. sd to . wr- ought, to lo- nbers oecial . Cm, n to with n lor with * in- innar, oo- Laub, w«, t; and Party PAST PRESIDENTS APPROVE Eight past presidents of the Las Vegas Service League pose for a picture taken during the initial organization meeting for the support of the League's new project, the forming of a Retarded Children's Nursery School. Among scheduled events on the group's fall agenda is a benefit party to begin funds for the school. Shown are, from left, bottom row, Mrs. Harry Allen, Mrs. Jack Richardson and Mrs. A. Dwight Babcock. Second row, Mrs. C. Norman Corn- wall, Mrs. George Phillips and Mrs. John F. Cahlan (League's first presi- dent) Top row, Mrs. C. Gail Andress and Mrs. M. J. Wiens. Review-Journal Photo Do you remember some of those first projects? Yes, I’ve got a new newspaper pictures. That's wonderful. So what we're going to do now is we're going to go through some pictures. And she has a very nice stack of some newspaper clippings and photographs. So we're going to look through some of those. This is a picture of past presidents. And we're looking at the Review-Journal and we have photographs here of the past presidents. And we want to make sure that we scan that one. And this is one of the pictures of one of our service benefits that we all worked on. And this is called the Yum Yum Tree? Yes. Do you remember enough to tell me a little something about the Yum Yum Tree premier? I believe it is described in the article. It's one of the annual Service League benefits. Yes. We put one on every year. And it was all done by the husbands and the wives. And they did all the electrical work and they built different stages for us. They were very good about helping us. And this first paragraph of this article is very interesting. The newspaper is dated — it's the Las Vegas Sun and it's dated October 13th, 1963. And the first paragraph has, “Since 1946, when the Service League held its first benefit party, many Las Vegas projects have benefited from the work of this socially conscious group of Las Vegas matrons.” And we have lots and lots of photographs of people who were involved. This is wonderful. I'm so glad you kept these. Yes. I’ve have some more over here, too. Good. And she's going to make a list of what she's taking so we'll be sure to bring everything back to you. This is another benefit. This was in ‘59. Oh, a ball. So what kinds of balls do you remember? 6 TELLS STORY — Mines. Frances Conway. William Urga and C. Norman Cornwall look through scrap book illustrating Service League aid to City Library, for which two benefits were given. Sunday, October 13, 1963 LAS VfGAS SUN GERRY APPIEBY, Women's Editor vuuuicu ui me nome with clothing and handicraft materials. The Las Vegas City Library has been greatly benefited by League projects and this work has included purchase of a pro- jector and screen, donation of books, assistance at summer reading programs and repair of books. Variety School is also on the list of Service League benefac- tors. The League was the larg- est contributor of funds in 1950 for the new building and treat- ment center and for equipment used by children there. Pro- visional members get part of their training at the school. At Nevada Southern Memor- ial Hospital a large bare room became a friendly meeting place for aged patients when benefit funds were used to repaint, in- stall healers and coolers and in- stall comfortable furniture and a piano. Rose dc Lima’s pedi- atrics ward has also received furniture, toys and pictures from the League. Thrift Shop and Blind Center, Hadland and Fantasy Park. Ne- vada Southern University, each great need in Las Vegas lias met with cooperation and assist- ance from the Service League as the need has developed. Z 7 This year the project is the nursery for retarded children. Wholehearted assistance to this project was decided upon when a survey of unmet community needs revealed there was no service available for these chil- dren in the 3 to 8-year age group. Benefit funds are being used to pay a teacher, prpvide a building and purchase equip- ment. in addition the League has made it mandatory for each member, active or provisional, to take a course at the Re- tarded Children’s Center and put in specified hours acting as assistant to the paid profes- fi/mnl lArv/>li Av* rtnl \i Set "Yum Yum »TWa’ a Set "Yum Yum Tree" Premiere as Annual Service League Benefit October 13, 1963 REVIEW THRIFT SHOP — Mines. Harry Allen, C. W. Pierce and Cal Cory review Thrift Shop activities which began operating in 1SI7. Donated clothing sold at low prices was used for many worthwhile charitable projects and to help individuals in need. The Thrift Shop still carries on and rags and useable materials are diverted lor the use of the Nevada Sightless. TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE - This year’s benefit promises to be a gala affair with the premiere showing of “Under the Yum Yum Tree,” starring the latest movie idol Jack Art Trelease, assistant city manager, right, looks on as Mayor Oran Gragson buys the first ticket from Mrs. Vincent Sanner. We sold tickets to it to raise funds for our charities. And the community was very generous to us. We did our own little skits. They're all local people, all members of the League took part - even the husbands. That’s great. These look like some really interesting skits. This is a benefit ball. And this newspaper we're looking at now is September 27th, 1959. So do you remember where some of the balls were held? I have one. It was held at the home of Dr. Karl Krause, which was located just about where the University Medical Center hospital is over here on Charleston. So near UMC? Yes. Their home was there. They had a great big home on one acre. That's where we had one of the big parties. You can see how they were putting up the stages and the decorations. Oh, that’s nice. So what did you like about Las Vegas at this point? So this is 1959, 1960. What was Las Vegas like? It was really a wonderful community then. It was when everyone knew each other, bonded together and helped in all the activities, the school functions and the PTAs and all organizations. The Service League was very helpful with the blind community. It was a time the hotels were allowed to give their leftover food that was still usable. We'd go every week early in the morning and collect that food and distribute it to the blind and to those who needed it the most. Then the county cracked down on us and said it wasn’t sanitary. And the food was — it was all excellent condition. When we had some of these benefits, about three or four of us would have to go to all the hotels and beg for booze. And I remember we used to go to the El Rancho, Frontier and the Sands hotels. We'd have to go late in the evening to see the owners, Jake Kozloff, Tommy Hull, Tutor Scherer, Farmer Page and Guy McAfee. But they were all so generous to us. They gave us case after case of whatever we wanted. So everyone was bonded in the community. It's not like it is now. You probably couldn't even get in touch with whom you wanted to see. 7 WELCOMING COMMITTEE Mr. and Mrs. Joe Rue (left) are greeted at the Convention Center by the League hospitality committee, including from left: Franklin Rittenhouse; Mrs. Rittenhouse, League president; Mesdames Michael Mc- Laughlin and Jack Staggs, party co-chairmen; Jack Staggs; Mrs. John F. Cahlan, first League president; ? and John F. Cahlan. IF YOU PLEASE ?nault donated by Boulevard Motors to Service "We are Siamese, if you please.” Mrs. William is out the car, which was won by Mrs. Irene Coker W Wright (left) and Mrs. Donald English pose terson, and at right is Mrs. Ted Brandt, one of party before a gilded Buddha as they begin the opening ___________ ' • • ..song oJLthe show. Thev san? a rtarnrlv. written TANDING FALL E VENl HONG KONG STREET SCENE Dist. Judge John Mowbray serenades Mrs. A. W. Ham Jr., the “western tourist,” while David Boles sits with folded arms after pulling the rick-shaw for the visitor, and A. W. Ham calmly smokes a Malayan j pipe. More than $6,000, raised at the annual league benefit party, will be used to build a children’s “Fan- ! tasy Park.” Wc omen 5 Clubs—Society—Features— JANE TUCKER, Women’s Editor Telephone Number DU 4-4660 Sunday, Sept. 27, 1959 Las Vegas Review-Journal 17 That's right. So at that time you were dealing with hotels owned by sometimes we call them mob. What was that like? Well, I will say they're the most generous people. Tommy Hull, Jake Kozloff, Tutor Scherer, Farmer Page, and Guy McAfee who owned the Golden Nugget at Second and Fremont. And the Last Frontier and the Sands. They were all so generous to us and just glad to help us. Was that the general attitude of your friends of the city when you would think about the Strip? There wasn't too much of a Strip right then. Sometimes these hotel owners would invite us to attend the floor shows at their hotels. I remember seeing Jimmy Durante and Lily St. Cyr at the El Rancho and Liberace at the Last Frontier. Marlene Dietrich also appeared. We always dressed well to attend the shows - hats with veils, white kid gloves, etc. The men, as they call them racketeers, were very generous to the community. This is the Review-Journal and it's dated June 10th, 1951. This is great. I'm so glad you saved these. A beautiful benefit. It looks like some people are in costume.This is a benefit garden party held Saturday night, June 2nd at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Karl Krause. And they put the address in the newspapers at that time. And you did this for furnishing the children's reading room at the new city library. Oh, this is fantastic. And according to the newspaper this party was a success. It was a lot of work. I know it was. At one time did you have a store? The Service League? Yes. We had secondhand goods donated by local residents. Our store was on the West Side just under the underpass on Bonanza. W we ran that for many, many years. We rented it from a Mr. Gilbert who had a grocery store nearby. We were open all day and had different shifts. We did all the washing and sorting of the clothes. We raised a lot of money for our charity work. Now, this was across the tracks? Yes. So do you remember when that was? 8 Service League Benefit Party Set on Saturday Evening ] Sunday, Jt m ornei Sncid Service League Benefit Party uv. Set on Saturday Evening June, 1951 i benefit serving ’ which r which 1 a* K Ctf . K- >» » o rt 3 jo GJ ^ O a> G 5 rt ^ <u S to _ cs g S o JL <u > q <D ' o r* ^ -4-> <L »-< 5 o £c 0,^43 _ l, to u .fi a r-> ^ <D 3 T-* mi « tub-*-3 « C ^ 0)^ sas ?§> si gi ?V3 O t- O (D £3 £<-g i « di Gj » X2 ,G O V to °V.g ^ O o> t_ <d <3 ^ ;2 ^ T3 V & p.r& ^OM -§^xJCD'orcj^o XCJrJ tUOflco "SjrfgS0^ . 8 -S-B^gS <y a> a) to ~ bfl - '"'?'^aJ-eSSSa) mh3 s & g § !> £ S3 X3 o ctJ .5 J o ^ Jh x3 . 2 ° 3 ~ c £ ^ O <D <L> T3 O . ctf cd W *2 o «-* fckJOl—4 l> fctO /!» fl) Tl +» •—* aJ <i> % to r~: i ^ > 5 S « > 1 8 >.3 *C •^SQ1 ^ ^ !r *h oi 0> p CL O W Gj aj ~S*S o «M t, £ •« Gj * £ i«3 o <u O 3 O tuo 05 sS' ng£ J_} d V £ £ S g *>2 S £ G G GS ..G 2 >i cJ £?“ 8? < ] Sunday, Ji Service League Benefit Garden Party Telephone Number 2724 t, .Tune 2, at the were raised for a, right, showing irranging a min- y, the house and sandy for picket jh was an exact ipped in an elec- Tlie path was of REFRESHMENT TIME—Husbands as well as Service League members assisted at the benefit party. C. W. “Woody” Pierce was a “waiter” at the “hot dog” stand. He is shown here serving Mr. and Mrs. J. Dewey Solomon, party guests. The “hot dogs” were free, but the “kitty” which Pierce kept on the serving table brought in a large donation to swell the library fund far which the party was held. Ilplllp ... /.......... BIG WHEELS—For the past five years the “big six wheel’’ has been one of the money making features of the annual Service League benefit party, and each year Sheriff Glen Jones (right) has been in charge of dispensing the prizes. One of the good customers this year was Tony Lucey, left, who responded to the ringing of the cowbell by Sheriff Jones, who was dressed as a typical “barker.” The sheriff was decked out in a bright red suit, with wide watch chain, a polkadot bow tie, and a bowler which was slightly too small. *mi*$*2w* m J ' { W&fe&k 1 ^V**1'* f'i ? LI w**l**Mmm eaaue access The fifth annual benefit cock- tail party of the Service League held Saturday evening, June 2,j was one of the outstanding sum-i mer social events in Las Vegas i and was attended by approxi-j mately 750 members and guests, j who gathered n the garden of j the home of Dr. and Mrs. Karl' J. Kraus, 2020 West Charleston boulevard. Through the cooperation of business men, who contributed generously for refreshments, prizes, labor, and entertainment, the League raised approximate- ly $3500, according to Mrs. Jack Richardson, League president. The fund wall be used to furnish children’s read-, In the 50s, middle 50s. Do you remember the Moulin Rouge? Oh, of course. Yes. So in 1955 when the Moulin Rouge opened, do you remember that period? Yes. I remember when it was open. I did not go. I had several friends that went. And they said it was a lovely affair, actually. It was quite formal. I have been told stories that that area was not a safe area at that time. We were a little bit hesitant to go there, but it never fazed us. We never had any problems. Everyone that came in was very good to us and bought our little old clothes and other donated items. We raised quite a little money for the community. Wonderful. We used to collect clothes from everybody. We had a little Boy Scout hut tha