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.”

HENRY SHEPHERD MOVED FROM A LIFE OF SHARECROPPING ON A PLANTATION IN TALLULAH, LOUISIANA, WHERE THE PRIMARY CROPS WERE PEANUTS AND CORN. HE FOUND THE WORK IN LAS VEGAS REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT AND LESS TAXING. HE WORKED AS A BARTENDER AT THE SANDS HOTEL, “THE PLACE TO BE.” HENRY WAS ABLE TO SEND HIS DAUGHTER TO COLLEGE. DURING THE PERIOD OF THIS 2014 INTERVIEW, SHE WAS WORKING ON HER DOCTORATE. THIS ONE GENERATIONAL ADVANCEMENT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CULINARY WORKERS UNION LOCAL 226. HIS VERY FIRST COCKTAIL PREPARED FOR A CUSTOMER WAS QUITE MEMORABLE. AFTER TRAINING WITH FREDDIE SALATTO, FREDDIE SAID, “HEY, WE WANT YOU TO WAIT ON THAT BLACK LADY,” I’M LIKE, “WHO IS SHE?” HE SAID, “LENA HORNE.” “I MIXED A MARTINI FOR HER.” THE CULINARY UNION GAVE HIM FLEXIBILITY. LEAVING THE SANDS, HENRY WENT TO THE LANDMARK, AND THEN CIRCUS CIRCUS. THE LUXOR WAS HIS FINAL STOP IN A CAREER THAT SPANNED OVER THREE DECADES. THIS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT TO FIND BETTER AND BETTER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE CULINARY UNION SERVICED ALL THOSE LOCATIONS. LIFE IS GOOD.

Nevadans Dixie Morrison and Neil A. Brundy met in 1959 at a rodeo in St. George, Utah. Born in St. George, Utah, Dixie was raised in Meadow Valley Wash, in Lincoln County, Nevada, on an 800-acre ranch, where she milked cows, barrel-raced, and attend high school via correspondence. Neil lived in Caliente until he was four, when his parents bought ten acres near Rancho Road (US 95) and moved to Las Vegas. Neil attended Fifth Street School, Las Vegas High School, and graduated from Rancho High School’s first graduating class in 1957. The couple married in 1964 in the Little Church of the Flowers and proudly parented six sons. In this interview, the Brundys describe life in rural Nevada and in Las Vegas in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s; work on the railroads; barrel-racing; and rodeos. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they also talk about their family history work. Their memories evoke the streetscapes of pre- and postwar Las Vegas, its outskirts and downtown; race- and class-based tensions in the schools; the glamour of Las Vegas casinos when they were owned and operated by the mob; and the country music stars who performed downtown. Now residents of Southern Utah, Dixie and Neil come to Las Vegas to hear hardcore rock. Their three youngest sons formed the hardcore rock band, Folsom. When Folsom plays locally the proud parents attend a performance and enjoy family time with their band member sons and the sons and their families who live locally.

Herb Jeffries, a renaissance man, loved life and lived it well. A consummate professional, Jeffries excelled as a singer, actor, businessman, and lover of the finer things in life. He appreciated good literature, art, culturally-diverse food selections, freedom, and worthwhile conversation. The pioneering black singing cowboy, was born Umberto Valentino in Detroit, Michigan on September 24, 1913. His career as an entertainer began as a teenager in Chicago, singing with Earl “Fatha” Hines. Next came the movie career and then back to the stage in 1939 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. By the early 1950s, he had moved to France and opened a popular jazz club in Paris and another in southern France. According to this interview, these clubs drew “beautiful people” from all over the world. Jeffries’ career moved from performances in the American South restricted to tobacco warehouse and black-only movies theatres to starring in numerous movies leading ultimately to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The most famous of his five wives was Tempest Storm the burlesque star and motion picture actress. Herb Jeffries made his transition, leaving behind his fifth wife, at 100 years of age on May 25, 2014.

Arte Nathan is trained in Human Resources. He evolved the thinking in the casino industry to allow management and labor to work for the best interests of both. Educated at Cornell University, he worked with Jim Wilhelm of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 to develop an unusually profitable relationship that served the casino owner and the people who maintained the cleanliness of the property. “Look, before I got here it was Al Bramlet. I mean the strike of '84 is something that's indelibly etched in all of our minds. The strike in '86 in Atlantic City was much the same. But that type of contentious labor relations is not the future. And there are progressive companies all over the U.S. whether it's General Motors or Ford or Steve Wynn and Mirage Resorts. That's really the story. Are there disconnects along the way? Are there fights and arguments and egos? Of course, there are. But the overriding story of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas between 1980 and 2014 is that they forged a different relationship, a different model that was unique and successful and helped people to live and achieve their dreams. You don't often get that opportunity.” “I'm not the smartest guy in any room. Never have been and I never will be. But I'm willing to try. I'm willing to be open. I have an opinion and I'll fight with my opinion; you fight with yours because two heads are better than one.” He made room for the disabled, ex-felons, and drug addicts. Arte believes that no person is better than another.

Barbara Barrett talks about her life experiences as a nurse, and her education background. She also discusses the Distance Learning Program at UNLV.

On Tuesday, July 11th, 1995, Margaret Louis interviewed distance learning student, Andrea Chrestensen (born March, 23rd, 1948, in Carson City, Nevada) at Northern Nevada Community College. During the interview Chrestensen discusses nursing education and her job as a school nurse to kindergarten and grade one students. She expresses her aspirations of becoming a nurse practitioner working in emergency rooms in hospitals. She is a fifth generation Nevadan. Her family was one of the founding families of Nevada.