Printed text about the Desert Inn Country Club. The paragraph reads: "'A Beacon of Welcome.' This motto of Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn in the early 1950s is apropos even today. The years have been kind to us. Sure, we're a little older, but who can forget those glorious seasons? The Desert Inn and Country Club is the brightest beacon in Las Vegas as a club that offers the finest golf course and community fellowship. The PGA and LPGA recognizes the Desert Inn Country Club as a playland for some of its greatest innovative tournaments. On April 23-26, 1953, the most prestigious golf event in the world was inaugurated on this spanking-new course - the Tournament of Champions. Its unique format of allowing only winners of the PGA Tour compete made the Tournament of Champions an instantaneous success. For 16 years it flourished as Las Vegas' sports headliner. But the Desert Inn Country Club has remained in the golf limelight by staging brilliant, exciting events as regular stop on the LPGA Tour. The Country Club has been the scene of gala festivities since that first T-of-C. Let's reminisce... Our first social affair was featured in the Skyroom of the hotel on January 25, 1957. Membership in the club was closed that evening with 194 Las Vegas men and women holding membership cards. Today we number 275. Although the clubhouse was not to be completed until the latter part of March, with the formal opening scheduled in April, sketches of the building were displayed at the gathering. Allard Roen, club president, officiated at that first meeting, the purpose of which to acquaint members with the policies of the club. Introductions went to Moe Dalitz; Mrs. Helen (Jack) Doyle, president of the Women's Golf Association; and Merv Adelson, director and handicap chairman of the Men's Golf Association. Remember the awards ceremony? That was Mrs. Carmen Colahan and Jim Henderson who presented the trophies to Myron Friedman and Mrs. Roen for their victories in the 1956 men's and women's championship flight divisions. Mrs. Rose (Bill) Holler, winner of numerous tournaments to follow and honored by having an event named after her, was the woman's first-flight winner. A full-page account of our first social function was carried in the Las Vegas Sun, resplendent with pictures. An accompanying article said the new clubhouse "will feature a variety of facilities, among which will be a TV room, dining room, card room, a grill and a lounge." Through the years we have formulated friendships, renewed acquaintances and cemented relationships at numerous festivities in the Country Club and grill room, a popular gathering place to hash things over. We have celebrated and shared our moments at New Year's Eve parties, Grand Balls, Halloween parties, Easter egg hunts, Mexican Fiestas, installation ceremonies and at many other functions. This evening is something special, too. For tonight we honor the 25 presidents of the Desert Inn Country Club who helped formulate and host these wonderful occasions. As we celebrate this Silver Anniversary of our club, let's reflect on the past. Our Family Album captures many of those fine moments. Yes, the years have been kind to us. Some of our friends are gone. But who can forget the nice times we had together? Ah, memories...
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.
Oral history interview with Robert Kim conducted by Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, Ayrton Yamaguchi, and Vanessa Concepcion on March 05, 2021 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Kim describes his career in law. He talks about his Korean roots, the model minority myth, and experiencing racial discrimination. Lastly, Kim discusses the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, his involvement with the Asian Bar Association of Las Vegas, and the importance of electing Asian Americans into political positions.
Oral history interview with Nancy Brune conducted by Monserrath Hernandez and Rodrigo Vazquez on August 21, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Brune recalls her childhood and her experiences growing up in Austin and San Antonio, Texas to a Mexican-American father and British mother. She often identifies herself as tejana. Brune has lived in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2007 and is the Executive Director of the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities. Brune is a graduate of Harvard and has a doctoral degree from Yale University. She and her husband, Richard Boulware, who is a born and raised Las Vegan, have three children.
Rabbi Felipé Goodman was born in 1967 and raised in an established Conservative Jewish community in Mexico City. This community would financially and emotionally support his seminary education was in New York City at the Jewish Theological Seminary. As a young rabbi eager for his own congregation, he became restless in 1998 and began his search for options which lead him to a listing for a rabbi at Las Vegas’s oldest synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom. During this oral history, Rabbi Goodman weaves a fascinating story of chance and good fortune of his interview process and visit to Las Vegas—including the generous parting gift of Snapple—and his surprising decision to take the position. Now, almost two decades later, he reflects on several of his accomplishments in addition to being Temple Beth Sholom’s longest serving rabbi to date. He mentions the opening of the synagogue’s move to a beautiful new building in Summerlin, where they were able to include a mikvah for conversions. He shares how he and Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, formerly of Midbar Kodesh Temple, worked together to establish chevra kadisha for burying Jewish people. As a member of the Rabbinical Assembly he was especially please to help host the 2011 annual conference in Las Vegas after years of persuasion. Israeli political leader Tzipi Livni was the keynote speaker. Rabbi also speaks about his passion for Israel, AIPAC and the Conservative Movement in Judaism.
Interview with Ron Lurie by Barbara Tabach on June 5, 2015. In this interview, Lurie discusses his family and his time in politics, campaigning for office, and some of his accomplishments while in office as mayor and in the city council. He also talks about growing up in Las Vegas and attending Las Vegas High School, and working for his father, Art Lurie, in the grocery store business.
Ron Lurie was a rambunctious teenager when the Lurie family moved to Las Vegas from California. He adapted quickly to Las Vegas and made fast friends. He is a 1958 graduate of Las Vegas High School. His father, Art Lurie, a supermarket businessman, was also a well-known professional boxing judge and a former Nevada Athletic Commission chair. In 1987 Ron became the first person of Jewish ancestry to be elected Mayor of Las Vegas. Previously, he was fourteen year member of the Las Vegas City Council and served on many community boards and commissions. Since political office was not a fulltime position, Ron's career path developed in a couple of different ways. He tells the story of becoming a butcher and the opportunities he experienced becoming a successful salesman of gaming machines for Si Redd, IGT and others. His over three decade gaming career continues as of this oral history. He is executive vice president and general manager of Arizona Charlie's Decatur location. In this oral history he reflects on some of his political accomplishments as mayor and city councilman. He also served six years on the State of Nevada Wildlife Commission and is a member of the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn.
Discussion of the new lease for W. T. Stewart for the Las Vegas Ranch with provisions that Stewart is obligated to use all the water that comes onto the ranch, freeing the Las Vegas Land and Water Company from problems due to effluent.