Floyd Francis (center), Jake Beckley (right), and unidentified man in the "Old Swimming Hole" on the Von Tobel and Beckley property
Transcribed Notes: Transcribed from photo sleeve: "Floyd Francis (center), Jake Beckley (right), and unidentified man (on left) in an old swimming hole formed on the property of Von Tobel and Beckley."; Transcribed background history: "Early Las Vegas History by Florence Lee Jones, April 1969: Creating their own oasis in the Las Vegas Valley was the hobby of the late Ed Von Tobel, Sr., and his partner, the late Jake Beckley, when they came to Las Vegas in 1905 as gay young bachelors. At their ranch in Paradise Valley, where they owned the 120 acres now comprising the Sierra Vista Ranchos, exclusive residential area, they used the facilities at hand to form an 'old swimming hole.' From one of the three wells they drilled they diverted the free-flowing water into a nearby creek bed, built a cement dam to contain the water, and had their own pleasure resort. In this picture, from left, an unidentified man; Floyd Francis, early employee of the Von Tobel Lumber Company; and Jake Beckley, a partner in the fi
Lance Burton delights in talking about his magic craft and the joyful memories of his early and swift rise to become a master magician. This oral history includes memories of his rise to fame from youthful phenomenon to an over-thirty year Las Vegas career that began in 1981. He believes in the extraordinary value of magic and shares a poignant anecdote of a young autistic boy’s reaction to his magic show.
Folder of materials from the Mabel Hoggard Papers (MS-00565) -- Personal papers file. This folder contains correspondence addressed to David Hoggard and newspaper clippings about him, particularly in his role as Program Coordinator and Executive Director of Clark County Economic Opportunity Board, and also multiple letters from NAACP Special Contribution Fund West Coast Representative Tarea Hall Pittman. It also includes a name plaque: "J. David Hoggard Executive Director"; Hoggard's U.S. government motor vehicle operator's identification card; Hoggard's business cards for his roles as Advisory Board member for Clark County Community College and sales manager representing Milico; and a fraternity certificate initiating him as a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, May 1, 1954. Volume 6 Issue 2 (May 1981) of "The Rocket!", a newspaper "serving the more than 45,000 older citizens of Las Vegas & Clark County," and a special anniversary supplement from May 1981, are present in this folder but not digitized in their entirety.
Jonathan “Jon” Sparer of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a retired architect who is active in the local Jewish and LGBTQ communities. He grew up on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Woodmere, where his father was an importer. After graduating in Architecture from Ohio State University in 1977 Jon moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked first with architect Jack Chernoff, then with architect Bob Barnett until 1981, when he accompanied his future wife and college classmate who worked for Martin Stern to Las Vegas. Stern sent her to open a field office to supervise the reconstruction of the MGM Grand after it burned in November 1980. Once in Las Vegas, Jon began working for architect Homer Rissman on Steve Wynn’s future project, The Mirage. Although Jon switched firms, he continued working on The Mirage and other Wynn projects with Marnell Corrao, where he would stay until 2001. Ironically, Jon’s original supervisor at Marnell Corrao was his future husband, architect John R. Klai II; Klai’s subordinate in turn was Jon’s Spring Valley neighbor. After Jon left Marnell in 2001, he became a founding principal architect at YWS Design & Architecture. Although he has retired from full-time architecture, Jon has since designed the Temple for Congregation Ner Tamid (pictured above) and The Center (Las Vegas's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer community center). Jon remains active in the AIA Las Vegas Chapter as the incoming president as well as serving as a board member for Jewish Family Services Agency and The Center.