Oral history interview with Elaine Newton conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Kristel Peralta, and Vanessa Concepcion on May 19, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Elaine Newton shares her family's history living in Hawaii and Japan, and memories from her childhood growing up with her six siblings in Honolulu. She talks about becoming a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways and how she met her former husband, Wayne Newton, after a stop in Vietnam. Elaine recalls their courtship and marriage as well as what Las Vegas life, fashion, and entertainment were like during the 1980s. She also speaks about racial discrimination and anti-asian violence in the past and present.
Daytime and nighttime views of the Arco ampm sign on the Strip. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet. Site address: 2728 S Las Vegas Blvd Sign details: Amid the few smaller properties that compose the area north between the Circus Circus and Sahara Boulevard, the Arco AM/PM is located on the west side of the Strip between the Guiness/Arby's parking lot to the north and the Fantasia gift shop to the south. Like many other everyday institutions located on Las Vegas Blvd, it's roadside advertisement fits into the neon picture with ease. The structure itself is nothing like the treatment of the pylon, which sits on the eastern most edge of the property, in close proximity to the street. The actual mini-mart, customer facility is located in the background, on the western end of the lot, and faces east. The standard array of fuel pumps occupy the majority of the remaining space on the lot. Sign condition: Structure 4 Surface 4 Lighting 4 notes: The structure, surface and lighting all are around the same condition. Several neon bars have come loose at the base of one of the legs, and the neon on the north side of the pylon is not functioning properly. The surface of the sign is in good shape, in need of a thorough cleaning. Sign form: Pylon Sign-specific description: The pylon sign for Arco AM/PM resides on the southeastern corner of the property, near the street, sitting in a planter of rocks. It sits on the west side of the strip, and faces north/south. The basic shape of the double-backed roadside pylon is a simple design, similar to any other sign at a typical gas station. Two square posts support a cabinet wider in diameter with the lettering and logos for the property. Between the two posts are three, descending, square, internally lit, message boards, advertising the price for gas. It stands in a bed of rocks, in close proximity to the street and faces north/south. The two legs are finished in a polished, silver, reflective surface. The three internally lit, white plastic, cabinets advertise for the prices of fuel, and begin approximately six feet or so from the ground up into open space inside the legs. At this height, neon wraps the poles, creating a pattern up the sides. Tubes of white neon wrap the three outer sides of the pole, repeating every two inches or so, striping the surface. The legs actually support two smaller cabinets stacked on top of each other to create a larger surface. The two cabinets are the same in general dimensions with the top section having rounded corners. The bottom cabinet is black on the exterior with the inner face a giant white channel pan lined horizontally with tubes of white neon. Two sets pan channels are set onto this field. The first is the two letters "am" and the other being the finishing portion "pm" The "am" section is painted two-tone orange and red, and the "pm" is a two-tone purple and blue. The letters are lined on the inside edge with neon. The white field is bordered in neon as well. The top cabinet is a blue pan channel lined horizontally with blue neon. White channel spell "Arco" in the middle of the field, and four triangular shapes converge to form the diamond shaped Arco symbol. Sign - type of display: Neon; Backlit Sign - media: Steel; Plastic Sign - non-neon treatments: Graphics; Paint Sign animation: Chasing Sign environment: The fueling station resides on the northern edge of the strip before Sahara Avenue. Directly to the east, across the street is the Sahara Hotel Casino, but is flanked by smaller non-resort related properties. Along with the other two properties to the north and to the south, they seem as functional aspects for tourists and patrons of the larger properties of the Circus Circus and the Sahara. Almost dwarfed by the two nearby giants the properties can easily go unnoticed without the treatment of the illumination Sign manufacturer: Larsen Sign Sign - date of installation: 31758 Sign - thematic influences: The property and sign has no real thematic influence other than being an everyday facility influenced by its environment. The surroundings of abundant neon influence the sign to its treatment in order to have an impact. Sign - artistic significance: The sign is significant artistically for it represents a piece of everyday life, dressed up to fit in on the Las Vegas Strip. The structure of a two-legged pylon so often seen at other non neon treated gas stations is the same, yet the coat of neon turns it into a unique piece of the Las Vegas strip. Other facilities seen with the same treatment are the Walgreen's, Arby's, McDonalds, and Fatburger. Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday Survey - date completed: 2002 Sign keywords: Chasing; Pylon; Neon; Backlit; Steel; Plastic; Paint; Graphics
As Sari and Paul Aizley recall their separate childhoods and journeys to Las Vegas, their work and volunteer histories, their efforts to build a better society, and their life together they speak to each other as much as they respond to questions about their observations on the growth of the Las Vegas urban environment and their contributions to Southern Nevada's cultural development and a just society. In this interview, Sari and Paul speak to the cross-town commute and the physical UNLV campus in the late 1960s; the growth of the UNLV Math Department; the evolution of UNLV's Continuing Education; the State's North-South funding rivalry as reflected in the built environments of University of Nevada in Las Vegas and in Reno; plans to build a paleontology research facility at Tule Springs National Monument; the Review-Journal's "Ask Jessie Emmet" Real Estate column; local ACLU offices and politics; Fair Housing; transgendered persons; the Nevada State Assembly, and Class! magazine for Clark County high school students. Sari and Paul smile at each other as they recall how the editor/publisher met the bearded math professor and fell in love—despite the fact that they tell slightly different versions of their initial meeting(s). Sari passed away November 1, 2017, three days shy of one year after she participated in this interview.