Jacques Ribons describes his life during the Nazi occupation of Poland. During the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto, his family decided to turn themselves in to the Germans. They were sent to a prison and separated. He and his brother survived and went to France with the OSE, and came to the United States in 1947.

Photos show Little Church of the West signs during the day and at night. Two surveys were conducted to gather information about this sign. One was conducted in 2002 and one was conducted in 2017. PDFs are available for both surveys. See the 2017 survey PDF for additional information that is not included in the object description.
Site name: Little Church of the West
Site address: 4617 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Greg Smith
Sign details: The Little Church of the West now resides on the south end of the Strip, along the east side among the smaller roadside hotels. Surrounded with pleasant landscaping the property is a charming and welcome sight among the more barren area of the strip.
Sign condition: Structure 4 Surface 4 Lighting 5
Sign form: Pylon; Fascia
Sign-specific description: There are two specific signs which are significant to the property. The first being the double backed internally lit pylon roadside sign which sits on the east side of Las Vegas Blvd and faces east/west. The 10 feet at its widest, and thirty seven feet tall. The structure consists of a center pole upon which an internally lit plastic sculpted message board sits. Painted in an old west script upon the plastic are the words "Little Church Of The West Wedding Chapel," with painted scrollwork on the top and the bottom of the plane. The entire message board is bordered in neon. Sitting on top of the message cabinet is a small, sculpted apse and bell. The original sign from its original construction still exists atop the actual structure of the Little Church of the West. It is an image of a cross outlined in white neon.
Sign - type of display: Neon; Backlit
Sign - media: Steel; Plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Graphics; Paint
Sign animation: none
Sign environment: The property sits among the dying roadside motel environment of the South end of Las Vegas Blvd It stands as on of the properties that is still in good repair. The pleasant landscaping and grass provide a pleasant establishment among the southern strip. It seems to capture the environment it has always tried to attain, of the picturesque country church.
Sign manufacturer: Larsen Sign
Sign - date of installation: It was originally part of William J. Moore's Last Frontier Village, which was assembled in the late 1950's. The current pylon sign was manufactured in 1996.
Sign - date of redesign/move: Originally, it resided in the Las Frontier until it was demolished in 1954. The Little Church of the West stood approximately in the spot where Sax Fifth Avenue is located. When the New Frontier was constructed, it was moved to the east side of the Strip approximately where the Silver Slipper was located. It stood in this location until 1978 when it was moved to the south edge of the Hacienda's property. The property was moved to its current location in 1996.
Sign - thematic influences: The thematic influence of the Little Church of the West draws from its original property which was the Old Western theme of the Frontier Hotel Casino. The Last Frontier Village was assembled from actual Western towns and reassembled on the Last Frontier's Property. With its wooden facade, brown color tones, script and pylon structure, the Little Church of the West rings true with its origins, while still incorporating the subtle elements of Las Vegas such as neon.
Sign - artistic significance: The Little Church of the West is reminiscent of old west theme which extends back to the very beginnings of Las Vegas and which dominated the themes for a period of time. " Before it became filled with themed western architecture, Las Vegas was an actual western town with a Spanish Style train station and false front facades fronting plank sidewalks"-Alan Hess, After Hours Architecture. Such properties, which dominated the early years of Las Vegas, were the Pioneer Club, the El Rancho Vegas, the El Cortez, the Last Frontier, Binion's Horseshoe, and the Silver Slipper.
Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday
Survey - date completed: 2002
Sign keywords: Pylon; Fascia; Neon; Backlit; Steel; Plastic; Graphics; Paint

Daytime and nighttime views of the Candlelight Wedding Chapel sign. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 800 S 4th Street
Sign details: The Candlelight Wedding chapel is located on the corner, just north from the Riviera and in the same parking lot as The Algiers. The small white, wooden roofed structure sits just to the east of the street and the northern side butts against Stardust Rd . Outside, the corner is treated with grass, and landscaping, creating a pleasant environment to go along with the charm of the building as well. The low level pole sign faces north/west. The building has a small wooden cross, surrounded on the edges with white neon, on the top of the building, in the same fashion as the Little Church of the West. The style of the building is classic New England architecture
Sign condition: Structure 4 Surface 3 Lighting 3
Sign form: Pylon
Sign-specific description: The main sign for the candlelight wedding chapel is essentially a small pole sign with three separate sections of cabinets along with lighting elements. The white steel pole rises out of the ground ,before transforming into a large two sided marquee cabinet. The cabinet is crafted with sculptural elements into its outer edge. The four corners swell up and bulge, before slightly swooping inward. The top and bottom edges are climaxed into a shallow point. The sides sweep into the notch of a negative circular shape. The sides are given a scroll type feel. In two lines across the red face of the sign, Wedding Chapel is spelled is white text, occupying most of the space of the cabinet. Across the very bottom of the cabinet Wedding Information is spelled in an all white single row of text. The larger text is lined with incandescent bulbs and outlined in neon. The bottom line of text is just lined in neon. The pole protrudes through the top of the sign where a small horizontal, internally lit cabinet, sports sculpted edges as well. The top and bottom edges sweep from either side, then descend meeting at a point in the center. The sides are simply concave, radiuses inward. The white cabinet is lit internally, illuminating the white plastic face. Black text stretches across the plastic face, reading candlelight. Below the main cabinet two internally lit cabinet sandwich the pole, creating two faces. The cabinets are all white, with white faces, utilizing red letters. At the very top of the pole is a tree tiered formation created with raceways and lined with incandescent bulbs. One raceway rises vertically into the air perpendicular to the ground, while the two flanking pieces arch out created a three-pieced fountain shape. It is also reminiscent of a Fleur de Lis.
Sign - type of display: Neon; Incandescent; Backlit
Sign - media: Steel; Plastic
Sign animation: none
Sign environment: The positioning of the Candlelight Wedding chapel gives it a unique role as an accent of softness, among a bombardment of neon and pulsating lights. Just to the North, is the Algiers parking lot, and to the south, the Riviera. Directly west across the strip there is the ever electric Circus Circus. Amid all this chaos of incandescence, screeching cabs, and buzzing current, the green shrubbery and plot of turf finely houses the pylon, and leads up to the structure itself. It is very charming and fresh compared to. It definitely is reminiscent of the era of establishment such as its neighbor the Algiers.
Sign manufacturer: YESCO
Sign - thematic influences: The theme of the sign has little to do with the theme of the wedding chapel, and more so to do with the architectural theme, than the function of the establishment. The pole sign contains standard elements of local signage. The logo cabinet, and internally lit message center. It even contains the most common element of a raceway lined with incandescent bulbs. The sculpted edges of the pylon's logo cabinet are reminiscent of other cabinets with sculpted edges. The most famous reference to this shape seen in classic Vegas history, is the original corner fascia seen on the Golden Nugget. As far as being compared to the only other existing independent wedding chapel, its structure is similar, that being a small structure boasting a highly visible steeple.
Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday
Survey - date completed: 2002
Sign keywords: Pylon; Neon; Incandescent; Backlit; Steel; Plastic