Rosemary Christian, David Peinado, Dale Pryor, Virginia Velasquez, and Greg Venezia are among the elite of Las Vegas bartenders. The bars that they work and have worked span from one end of the Strip to the other; the original Aladdin, The Silver Slipper, O’Sheas, the Monte Carlo, Slots ‘A’ Fun, the Luxor, Caesars Palace, and the Rio. Their stories take us from family ownership to corporate. Families allowed all casino bars to be set up in an identical fashion, each type of glass and each liquor bottle was set in the same location all over town. A bartender could walk into a new location and start work without a moment’s hesitation. Corporate thinking changed that need for an outside bartender to work in random places. When women began in this lucrative field, tension occurred but lessened as men recognized that women could lug beer kegs with the best of them and they could easily calm down a drunkard using her womanly touch. The thread throughout this roundtable discussion sews together the exceptional lives of these five bartenders with their membership in UNITE HERE Bartenders Union Local 165. In conjunction with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, insurance, wages, job satisfaction, uniforms, giving back to the Las Vegas community, and many other benefits occur, seemingly, without effort. “We are skilled craftsmen.” “We have security working for the union and health benefits and a pension. So it's something that's long term. It's longevity working for a union. You know you always have someone backing you.”

Chris talks about living in Las Vegas since he was 6 months old. He also talks about starting his own valet parking company while he was in college. Later Chris talks about Silver State Film Productions, a film company he founded. The schools Chris attended during his childhood were located in Las Vegas, Nevada at that time. Film producer Chris Ramirez moved from Colorado to the east side of Las Vegas in 1973, when he was six months old. Son of Greg Ramirez, owner and founder of Viva Zapatas restaurants, Chris and his family moved to Rancho Bel Air, where he completed his school years, in about 1980. Chris and other Clark County School District students of his age participated in a school desegregation program unique to Las Vegas. After completing fifth grade at Howard Wasden Elementary School, Chris and his classmates rode a bus for one year to Mabel Hoggard Sixth Grade Center in North Las Vegas. After sixth grade he attended Hyde Park Middle School and Bishop Gorman High School. Chris’s family and school connections combined with the barter culture in Las Vegas combined to create an emphasis on “who you know” rather than “what you know.” Chris formed his film companies on the basis of his Las Vegas knowledge and his contacts and credits Las Vegas for allowing him to be in the right place at the right time to meet and work with celebrities and become an entrepreneur. Chris enjoys the urban excitement of living, doing business, and participating in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas.

Narrator affiliation: Physicist, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Family member