The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation records (1965-2007) contain information about the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (previously the Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands). It largely consists of newspaper clippings on a variety of events related to Red Rock Canyon from 1965 to 1998 with the bulk from the 1980s and 1990s. The records also include Bureau of Land Management documents pertaining to interpretive efforts, visitation statistics, and law enforcement reports. Also included are the newsletters (1990-1998) and volunteer training manual of the Friends of Red Rock Canyon, a non-profit volunteer organization.
Until her passing in 2017, Millicent (Siegel) Rosen was the living link to Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, one of Las Vegas’ most notorious links to the Jewish mob. A steadfastly independent woman herself, Millicent recalls Benjamin as a loving father to her and her younger sister. She is proud of his status as a Las Vegas visionary, though she affixes a footnote that the city of today might not be to his liking. She includes a few anecdotes about common names of the early days, including Meyer Lansky who walked her down the aisle when she married Jack Rosen. They had three children: Benjamin, Cindy, and Wendy. Millicent moved to Las Vegas to be with her daughter and her family in about 2000 and cherished her role as a grandmother. Always an artist at heart, Millicent once painted canvases for needlepoint and in 2015 promoted her clothing line.
S. Charles Snavely, a long-time Las Vegas pediatrician, arrived in Nevada in 1965 with his wife, Ann, and two children courtesy of the United States Air Force. The family lived at Nellis Air Force Base while Charlie completed his Barry Plan commitment to the military. In separate interviews, Charlie and Ann discuss their arrival in Las Vegas, their first house in the Glen Heather area of Ward 1, and their current house in the Scotch 80s (pictured above). Charlie and Ann met at a small private hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where Ann was working as a nurse. The two University of Pennsylvania graduates, now married 63 years, raised their children in their Scotch 80s house and so far have not been tempted to move elsewhere.
Adelaide was born in Manhattan, New York to a father who was a pianist and arranger and a mother who was a dancer on Broadway. She grew up as an only child in the theater district where she was exposed to the arts from a young age. Her parents insisted she be well rounded. To that end, she began piano lessons at age six and was frequently taken to museums. Adelaide was always drawn to music and began working professionally by the age of 12. She attended the High School of Music and Art for four years along with others who went on to great fame. While in high school, she earned awards for composition. Her knowledge and abilities of the bass earned her a full scholarship to the Eastman School of Music. All of the jobs she had during high school and college were music related; playing gigs or teaching. While working towards a triple major at Eastman, she felt over-extended and eventually transferred to the Manhattan School of Music who was honored to have a transfer from Eastman. Also because of the extra credits from Eastman, she was able to obtain a master’s degree inside of a year. Adelaide went on the road with Buddy Rich’s band where they played in Chicago and Los Angeles before finding their way to Las Vegas. Adelaide was always the only woman in the band, and there were difficulties of being a woman in the field of mostly male musicians. The band found their way to Las Vegas in 1967. She never realized how well known she was until she arrived in Las Vegas. Adelaide came to Las Vegas on a trial run and ended up staying. The first job she had in Las Vegas was playing solo piano at Guys and Dolls before moving on to playing as a rehearsal pianist for a Broadway show. Over the years, Adelaide played many venues with many famous musicians. She is not hopeful for the future of musicians in Las Vegas, feeling the casino owners would rather replace live musicians with canned music. However, Adelaide’s career is not over as she is still performing for a variety of events. With her two degrees from very prominent music schools, Adelaide feels she may have gone further in career if she had stayed in New York, but she has no regrets about coming to Las Vegas.
Kevin Brady was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Pennsylvania. Brady started in the gaming industry in 1993 as a surveillance officer for Players International Lake Charles and eventually became a surveillance supervisor at Paragon Casino Resort. He later became a surveillance manager and casino controller at Harrah’s St. Louis where he worked in finance while also earning his master’s degree in business administration. Brady later entered the position of eastern division director of slot operations for Harrah’s in 2001 before transferring to Harrah’s Shreveport to work in slot operations. He worked there during Boyd’s purchase of the property and then went to Delta Downs to manage several areas of that location. Brady became vice president of slot operations at Mohegan Sun in 2005 and after two years moved to the Sands Casino in Pennsylvania where he worked for another seven years. Brady currently works at Resorts Mohegan Sun in Atlantic City as vice president of casino operations. The interview with Brady begins with his narrative of his journey through his various positions and roles in the gaming industry. During the discussion, he also talks about his experience and approach in negotiating with vendors for new slot games on the floor, and he provides his philosophy on how to lay out a slot floor. Brady then discusses his view on what makes a good slot manager, with a focus on how to lead employees, and he then talks about the changes in technology since he first started in the slot industry. He also describes how the gaming business has changed overall since he first started, and he gives his opinion on what he believes the future of slots will hold, specifically regarding skill-based gaming and millennials. The interview concludes with Brady describing his personal gambling and his own advice to young people who might want to go into slot operations.