Typed description printed on front: "Presentation to Merv Griffin of a gold plated microphone in his continuing support of Las Vegas television. Presentation made by Maury Stevens for the Local Las Vegas Technicians."
Transcribed on the back of the photo: "09-038-2969-1/AJ-69. 20 May 69. Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. Group picture at Infantry Hall. Photo by: Mr. Jack B Stroud. Pictorial Branch, Ft Benning, Ga."
The non-profit Jewish Nevada is the central coordinating body for fundraising, planning, allocations, and community services for the Jewish community in Las Vegas, Nevada and serves as the local chapter of the Jewish Federations of North America. Jewish Nevada has served the community since the 1960s and has raised several million dollars to support Jewish and humanitarian causes in Las Vegas, Israel, and in 59 countries around the world.
Mark Fine was born February 10, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. When Fine was in fourth grade, his parents moved the family to Shaker Heights, and again moved to Arizona during his senior of high school. Upon graduation, Fine enrolled at the University of Arizona and became a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate.
Nevada businessman and Republican politician Jacob "Chic" Hecht (1928-2006) was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 1982. As a senator, he used quiet diplomacy skills to help Soviet Jews gain permission to emigrate. During the Korean War, Hecht served as a counterintelligence agent in Berlin. After the war he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and operated several businesses. Hecht also represented Clark County in the Nevada State Senate for eight years.
Bejamin Lesser escaped Poland to temporary safety in Hungary in 1943. He was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and other concentration camps. He survived and was liberated from Dachau in 1945.
The Emerson Avenue front doors were saved from the previous location, refurbished, and installed in Congregation Ner Tamid's Joyce & Jerome Mack Sanctuary on the Greenspun Campus for Jewish Life, Learning & Spiritual Renewal.
For decades Joyce Elise Straus opened her home, the "House of Straus," to area youth seeking art experiences. That effort included the opening of the School of Creative Thinking in 1976. Her varied artwork is widely collected in the Southern Nevada community. Straus was married for 56 years to Dr. Neil B. Straus. Her son David Straus and his wife Heidi continue the tradition.
For decades Joyce Elise Straus opened her home, the "House of Straus," to area youth seeking art experiences. That effort included the opening of the School of Creative Thinking in 1976. Her varied artwork is widely collected in the Southern Nevada community. Straus was married for 56 years to Dr. Neil B. Straus. Her son David Straus and his wife Heidi continue the tradition.