Harley A. Harmon was born in 1882 in Wier City, Kansas. His father, Elmer Harmon, was an attorney who moved the family to Los Angeles, California when Harmon was nine years old. In 1903, Harley A. Harmon unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles City Clerk. In 1905, Harley A. Harmon joined the Union Pacific Railroad as an engineer and drove one of the first construction trains to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Harley A. Harmon was stationed in 1908.
Lester Benjamin "Benny" Binion was born on November 20, 1904 near Dallas-Fort Worth, in Texas. In 1951, Binion purchased the Eldorado Club on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada and renamed it the Horseshoe Club. He established a reputation as a casino operator for providing customers with well-received hospitality and amenities. After his conviction for tax evasion in 1953, Binion sold the majority interest in the Horseshoe to Joe W. Brown, but later regained full ownership.
Bio taken from obituary on Las Vegas Review Journal: "D'VORRE OBER D'Vorre (Dee) Ober, 76, of Las Vegas, passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2008. Dee was preceded in death by Harold Ober, her beloved husband of 55 years; and her younger sister, Myrna Supowitz-Walzer. She is survived by her five children, Ron (Gail), Ed (Gail), Jami (Scott), Scott (Barb), and David (Jennifer); 14 grandchildren; a great-grandson; and younger siblings, Lennie (Lennie), and Lynda (David). D'Vorre was born Feb. 17, 1932, in Pittsburgh. Dee had a very wonderful and fulfilling life.
“My goal with [pageantry] was: I just want to have as much impact as possible within the community, and then, self-servingly, it’s an amazing networking opportunity; you meet tons and tons of people, and so that’s what I did.”