Peter Gratton was born in 1944 in Staten Island, New York, where his father was in the Coast Guard. However, he spent his childhood in Minnesota. From 1965 to 1969, Peter was a member of the US Marine Corps, serving a tour in Vietnam. As his military duty was ending, he learned that his parents were relocating to Vegas, bringing with them all of Peter's belongings. So Peter caught up with them in Vegas where he transitioned to civilian life in a new city by "bumming around for a couple of months." He decided to stay and took a keno job at Golden Gate Casino. In 1981, he graduated from UNLV and was accredit to teach history and earth science. This proved to be a good background for an opening at the UNLV library and he helped organize the map collection. With that, his UNLV library career was successfully launched. At the time of this interview, Peter was Administrative Assistant III Lied Library Building Department. In the following pages Peter tells of his experiences that lead up to becoming a Las Vegas resident and longtime member of the UNLV library staff.

When John Gubler's parents moved to Las Vegas in 1936, it was a simple desert community of only six or seven thousand people. John's father practiced law and his mother raised the four Gubler sons. Home was in the John S. Park area. It was a fenceless neighborhood where everyone knew each other. Parents worked hard at their various jobs and kids played on the barren stretches of desert shooting BB guns, exploring artesian wells and playing games. As the gaming industry and the city grew, the Gubler household focused on education and family. It was a life of freedom and no TV. They were a family raised in Mormon values. John went on to become a lawyer and move back to raise his own family here. Today he lives on the western side of the valley. He explains that as an adult when he drives through John S. Park Neighborhood, "I live in the past." It was a good life. As John reminiscences about growing up from the 1940s thru 1960s, his observations are vivid and range from local

Sarah Haggerty and Lance Kirk are a married couple with two small children. Both are born and raised Nevadans—he's from Reno and she's from Las Vegas. Sarah has deeply rooted memories of the John S. Park area, her paternal grandparents' home is there. As a couple, Sarah and Lance reflect on home ownership in both the Huntridge and John S. Park areas. Lance, an architect, talks about the house and the social communities. And ultimately asks the poignant question: Is the community making us or are we making the community? Sarah reminisces about the transition in the neighborhood, a transition that she feels began in the 1990s as the original owners aged and their homes were sold to a new generation of owners at a time when the greatest growth in the valley was to the suburbs. She may harbor nostalgic feelings, but she is also a realist: It's just different. We face different challenges but we have different rewards too, she says.. Among the most significant changes is the increased Hispanic demographic, which she guesses to be nearly 50%. They talk about the challenge of getting these residents more involved in the community's social and activist causes. About crime, they observe that is isn't necessarily higher, but it is affected by the homeless population that gravitates there. Their wish list includes: sidewalks, parks, community centers, more restaurants. However, none of this discourages their love of living in John S. Park. They have been actively involved in projects that draw the community together, from door knocking to using social networking to assist those efforts.

Dr. Blair Hale has been practicing dentistry in Las Vegas for over thirty years. He was born in Idaho in 1949, the third of four children born to Zendal McKay and Lenny Raymond Hale. His education includes semesters at BYU, El Camino City College, and a dental degree from Washington University. Dr. Hale recounts his experiences as an undergraduate at Washington University in Missouri, living in a dorm situation and signing for government loans. He also examines his early days in Las Vegas and the ease with which he obtained bank loans to start his business back in 1976. At that time there were relatively few dentists practicing in Las Vegas, and when he was the dentist society president in 1985, he knew most dentists by name. Blair explains his work with the Academy of LDS Dentists, which sends groups of dentists to Guatemala, Peru, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic to run week-long free clinics. The clinics not only treat the dental problems of the populace, but also serve as instructional seminars for local practitioners. In addition to running a practice and doing charitable work outside the country, Dr. Hale also teaches at UNLV's dental clinic one day per week. He describes the changes in technology, technique, and materials over the years, and the quality education future dentists receive at UNLV. He also delineates the differences dental work can make in a patient's life, not just aesthetically but emotionally and physically as well. Dr. Hale comments on the dynamics behind the large influx of dentists in the 90s, the future of health care in Las Vegas, and the impact of third-party carriers in the dental profession. He believes that dentistry is a wonderful profession and that students can receive an excellent education at any good dental school in the United States. His sons are contemplating following him into this field.

Kathleen and Tim Harney moved to the John S. Park neighborhood in 1975, about ten years after relocating from Ohio to Las Vegas, where teaching jobs paid more and the education system was more innovative. The Midwestern ambiance of John S. Park was attractive large trees and older homes among the outstanding features. In this interview, Kathleen laments the neighborhood changes that may be part of a normal aging cycle of any neighborhood as being more acute because of commercial changes on the Strip. Of the years they lived there, Kathleen speaks glowingly of the neighborhood's diversity—diverse in work schedules as much as in religion. She lists the various restaurants and describes the activities that drew the community together. It was a wonderful place to raise their girls who each graduated from Las Vegas High School. . As a passionate educator, she also speaks about the importance of schools, after school programs no matter what neighborhood one raises their children. And while the Harneys moved from John S. Park, she fondly recalls it as the place where she "really became a Las Vegas." It was the place where her family grew up and a place that "needs a little love" at this time. Special Note: Tim Harney, Kathleen's husband, and Kimberly Harney-Moore, their eldest daughter, are also participants in the Voices of the Historic John S. Park Neighborhood oral history project.

Tim Harney begins his reminiscences with an overview of his Irish-Catholic upbringing in Duluth, Minnesota. He recalls being smitten with the sunny west and moving to Las Vegas in 1965 to take a teaching position at Rancho High School. By 1973, the Harney family was calling the John S. Park Neighborhood home. He describes the attraction to the green trees and sprawling lawns and to affordable home prices. It was a close knit neighborhood where everyone had the same gardener, knew the local policeman by name, and where his daughters worked at the Luv-It Frozen Custard shop. Around 1987, Tim decided to move out of the John S. Park Neighborhood. He sensed a change—having been broken into by the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, watching drifters and homeless people sleeping in the yard, and seizing an opportunity to move to a new development. Nevertheless, Tim notes hopes for the neighborhood and reminds us that "It takes a village."

It was spring vacation 1971 when Mary Hausch arrived in Las Vegas with four girlfriends. As a Ohio University senior, the closing of college campuses due to anti-Vietnam War protests had given her a reprieve from final tests and papers. The spontaneity of the trip and her enjoyment of the weather resulted in her applying for, and getting, a reporter position at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. For the next nineteen years, she worked her way up the newspaper ladder, covered local education issues that included desegregation, a groundbreaking series of POW-MIA war stories, and the Nevada legislature. She became the first woman city editor and managing editor of the newspaper. Her career journey was not always smooth. It was an era of cultural roadblocks and emerging feminism. Eventually, Mary was passed over for the ultimate appointment of R-J editor and was placated with a short-lived "associate editor" position. She describes the ensuing civil rights complaints and how she segued into teaching at UNLV. During her robust journalism career, Mary's personal life also hit some rocky times, but ended happily when she met and married Bob Coffin, a then reporter for the newspaper. [Bob is interviewed separately for this John S. Park neighborhood series.] The couple bought the Gubler House in John S. Park and Mary describes the charm of the house as well as the neighborhood, historically and currently. Mary was a tireless participant in the efforts to have John S. Park designated a historic neighborhood. This two-part interview paints a picture of a community that has weathered various phases from what she calls the "widow phase" to the "homeless" to the rebirth stirred by new residents. She also offers advice and thoughts for those looking to achieve the historic designation for their neighborhood.