In 1965, Chilean-born Mariteresa Rivera-Rogers (b. 1943) and husband Enrique Rivera set out on their adventurous leap and moved to the United States. Sponsored by an aunt living in Las Vegas, their resident visas took only three months to process—a task that would take years in today’s world she explains. Their first home was on Convention Center Drive, though they and their four children would experience several different neighborhoods over the years.

Meli Calvo Pulido was born in Mexico City and immigrated to the United States with her parents and eight siblings. In 1975, at 11:00 p.m. she woke up to the Silver Slipper on the Las Vegas Strip. She was raised on Las Vegas’s 28th Street, where she helped her family and their neighbors by becoming the neighborhoods unofficial translator. The need to serve her community and the hardships faced by her family and the families around her translated into her work after she graduated from what is now Southeast Career Technical Academy.

Martin Lopez-Castillo was born in the small town of La Perla, Cuautitlán Izcalli in the State of Mexico. He grew up in a large Catholic family and was taught the meaning of hard work from a young age. Competitive by nature, he excelled in academics and always understood the importance of receiving an education. He left his hometown, immigrating to Phoenix, Arizona, and finally reached Colorado, where he worked as a cook for a Village Inn.

Shirley Edmond and Althia Taylor grew up on Jackson Avenue where their parents owned Johnson's Malt Shop. Both women worked in the postal service until their retirements; Shirley worked for 36 years and Althia for 32 years. Shirley went into management but Althia loved mail delivery even after 14 dog bites. Mackie Edmond worked for the Stardust and interacted with MOB figures like Frank Rosenthal. He explains why people thought that era was better than corporate ownership.

Retired City of Las Vegas Assistant Fire Chief Cherina Kleven was born in Taiwan, the fifth of her parents' seven children and the first daughter. The family spoke Taiwanese at home, but once the children started school all instruction was in Mandarin Chinese. Her father was in charge of the motor pool for the U.S. Embassy, and her mother stayed home. In 1970, the family immigrated the U.S. and to Las Vegas, where her father could use his training as an electrician to work with air conditioners. Cherina attended Roy W.

Flo Mlynarczyk was born in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Her parents divorced and she moved with her mother first to Loveland, Colorado and eventually to Los Angeles, California. Upon graduation from high school in 1943, Mlynarczyk moved to Kodiak, Alaska, to live with friends.