Las Vegas Photos: 1960s
Thanks to Friends of Classic Las Vegas members Wayne and Judy Bundorf over the weekend I will posting some photos of freeway construction from the mid and late 1960s.
Hope you enjoy!
The International Hotel home to Elvis, Ike and Tina Turner and owned back then by Kirk Kerkorian
A view of Downtown Las Vegas with the Mint (now Binion's closed tower) in the background
The Spaghetti Bowl being laid out
LasVegasLynn
in Fremont Street, Friends of Classic Las Vegas, Historical, Las Vegas History, Las Vegas Strip, Memories
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Gilcrease Sanctuary Fire ruled Accidental
From the R-J:
"Who wants a cookie?" she asked, and the birds, which can live more than 80 years, flocked to the treat. As the birds plucked peanuts and dates from her hand, she tried to sound upbeat as she explained to the two donors the facility's plans to become an elaborate educational center. But the past few days have tested Salinas and the employees of the sanctuary near Durango Road and Grand Teton Drive. A Friday morning fire tore through wooden structures at the preserve, killing more than 150 birds. "I'm trying to keep my composure," Salinas said after the donors left. "Before the fire, you would walk by and hear birds saying hello to you." "Now it's all quiet." Also killed in the blaze was Zapatos, the German shepherd who watched over the sanctuary and its animals. The dog was barking in alarm as the fire ripped through the buildings that housed the birds. Zapatos woke up Carlos Gilcrease, who lives on-site and is the son of the sanctuary's namesake. "He's our hero," Salinas said of Zapatos. But while Gilcrease phoned the fire department, Zapatos ran into the burning building and perished. "We don't know why he did it," Salinas said. "I can only say that he was trying to help some of the birds inside." Clark County Fire Department investigators ruled the fire accidental. Department spokesman Scott Allison said investigators believe the cause was electrical in nature and started near the ceiling of one of the buildings. The blaze spread to the sanctuary's rehabilitation building, a wooden structure that houses about 30 ill or injured animals at any given time. Investigators valued the loss in the fire at $100,000. That includes the value of the buildings and the birds, Allison said. The fire has forced the preserve to cancel more than 100 school field trips since it will be closed for some time, Salinas said. She did not have an estimate of when it will reopen. The sanctuary was in the beginning phases of redesigning the property into an educational center when the blaze struck. It recently received a $4 million grant, $500,000 of which was to be used directly for renovations. Architects had been hired to develop the sanctuary's cages into a modern aviary, which would have been more resistant to flames than the wooden buildings. Those plans will continue, Salinas said. The Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary houses about 1,500 abandoned animals, including parrots, ostriches and goats. A few animals are endangered. Salinas said she and the other workers become very attached to the animals. She hired a trauma intervention specialist to help those workers cope with what happened. Donations of cash and material goods are being accepted on-site at the preserve. The animals will be buried in a pet cemetery and will be remembered during a memorial planned for the weekend of April 24-25. The preserve will be hosting an arts and crafts fair that the community is invited to attend.
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Sandra Salinas led two potential donors into a large, half-cylinder building on the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary's eight-acre campus on Monday afternoon.
Inside, brilliant macaws clung to chain-link fencing and watched their visitors. Salinas grabbed a plastic bowl of fruit and nuts and held a peanut through the fence.
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LasVegasLynn
in Cultural Tourism, Current Day, Las Vegas History
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Bob Taylor, owner of the Ranch House Supper Club, has passed away
BOB TAYLOR Bob Taylor, founder of "Ranch House Supper Club," in North Las Vegas, passed away Sunday, March 14, 2010, one day short of his 88th birthday. Bob was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, as an airplane armored gunner and mechanic, keeping our airplanes in the air.
Bob built the Ranch House Supper Club in 1955. He brought in aged beef from Chicago Stockyard Packing. He cut up all of his own steaks and personally cooked them over a mesquite coal fire. An evening at the Ranch House meant you took a trip "way out of town" back in those days, but the effort was well worth it, as this was the premier steak house of that era.
This practice was continued until he sold the Ranch House in September 1980. Bob said he served three generations over the 25 years. Though Bob has been absent there for the past 30 years, the steak house still carries his name today.
Bob had a love for shooting clay targets and constructed trap and skeet fields on his property. Elvis Presley and Ann Margret were filmed there shooting skeet in the movie "Viva Las Vegas." When Ann was filmed shooting, it was actually Bob breaking the targets just out of sight of the camera.
In the 70's, Bob added 20 more trap and skeet fields to the property and hosted some of the most popular trapshooting tournaments in the country, awarding dozens of automobiles and some of the largest cash purses in history. His innovative NFL Pro-Am Tournament in 1977 featured a representative from each of the 26 professional football teams.
When Bob turned 85, a party was held for him at the Elks Club. Mayor Oscar Goodman stopped by to personally deliver birthday wishes. The Elks Club is also where Bob's wife, Dotti, will have his memorial at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 28, at 4100 W. Charleston Blvd. A celebration of his life will follow. Bob was an Elks member for 57 years. Donations can be made in Bob's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice.
LasVegasLynn
in Current Day, Historical, Las Vegas History, Las Vegas Neighborhoods, Obituary
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Gilcrease Sanctuary Fire Update
Updated news reports on the fire at the Gilcrease Sanctuary earlier this morning:
From the R-J:
Sandra Salinas was in a panic. Salinas, executive director of the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary, awoke Friday morning to news that a fire was ripping through the facility she manages, near Durango Road and Grand Teton Drive in the northwest part of the valley. As she arrived, tears streamed down her face as she rushed to a group of Las Vegas firefighters and sanctuary board members who huddled near the entrance. The blaze had just been extinguished, but firefighters were not yet allowing staff inside. She looked to the group for an answer: What happened? The news wasn't good. "They're all dead," cried Salinas a short time later, her panic giving way to grief as staff members consoled her. "How could this happen, how could this happen?" Official reports from Clark County Animal Control indicate that 151 birds and a guard dog perished in the fire, which was reported at 5:23 a.m. Staff reports estimate the figure to be higher, with between 250 and 350 birds believed to have died, including at least 60 exotic parrots. Some breeds, such as the cockatoos and the peacocks, were almost entirely wiped out, the staff said. An additional 30 birds were taken to an animal hospital in North Las Vegas for treatment. Fire investigators have not yet determined the cause, or given a damage estimate, a Clark County Fire Department spokesman said. Although the city's fire department battled the blaze, the investigation falls under Clark County's jurisdiction because the area is unicorporated land within city limits. The sanctuary is home to about 1,500 abandoned animals, including parrots, cockatoos, peacocks and even a few ostriches, said Salinas. The facility also houses several types of barnyard animals, including goats, llamas, donkeys, and a mule deer fawn named Bambi. Bambi survived the fire, as did the barnyard animals, said Salinas, but the birds in the path of the flames had no chance to escape. "There was nowhere they could go, nowhere they could fly," she said. "They were just trapped." Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said the fire started at the northern edge of the facility and spread to the sanctuary's rehabilitation building, a wooden structure that houses about 30 ill or injured animals at a given time. When firefighters arrived, the rehabilitation building was consumed with flames. One of the staff members was on the roof of another building with a water hose, but his methods weren't effective, Szymanski said. Firefighters assumed a defensive position around the building and the fire was extinguished within 30 minutes, he said. The building, which burned quickly, had collapsed. Salinas said the rehabilitation building housed many of the larger birds at the facility -- and the most exotic and rare, she said. "These were people's pets that they couldn't take care of, and they sent them to us to be cared for," Salinas said. "They were rare, they were priceless." Standing among the charred cages, Don White, a board member for the sanctuary, could only shake his head at the sad irony of the situation. The sanctuary recently received a $4 million grant, $500,000 of which was to be used directly for renovations, the other $3.5 million to be invested into an endowment for future development, he said. Architects had been hired to develop the sanctuary's cages into a modern aviary, which would have been more resistant to flames than wooden buildings that had stood for almost a century. "We were working on a master plan for it (the renovations)," White said. "We were going to take a lot of this old stuff out of there. Now we'll have to tear everything out." The sanctuary, which will be 40 years old this year, is a historical facility that has remained essentially unchanged since it was built in the 1920s by the Gilcrease family, aside from remodeling throughout the years. Bill Gilcrease, now in his 90s, and his late brother, Ted, also developed a well-known fruit orchard near the nature sanctuary, both of which have survived decades of urban development. Bill Gilcrease, who lives at the sanctuary, was sleeping when the fire started. He spent a majority of the morning wrapped in blankets in a van near his home. He wasn't injured, but fled the home quickly and wasn't dressed for the cold weather, said White. Although the fire department hasn't determined a cause, there was speculation among staff that heat-lamps to warm the birds overnight may have been knocked over by strong winds, causing a spark. But that is just one theory, Salinas said, adding that "not knowing why" the fire started is a huge weight on her shoulders. The sanctuary, which is nonprofit and offers daily admission of $5 and under, is not a private collection of birds, she said. It's a piece of the community -- an educational landmark that 5,000 students visit every year to learn about nature, she said. The birds weren't just birds to the staff, she said. They were like family. "The only good news is that some of them are still alive," Salinas said. "That's what keeps us going." From the Las Vegas Sun: A fire damaged a building and killed about 150 birds Friday morning at the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary in the northwest Las Vegas Valley. Las Vegas Fire & Rescue responded to the fire shortly before 5:30 a.m. at the sanctuary at 8103 Racel St., which is northeast of U.S. 95 and Durango. The fire destroyed the rehab building at the private nature preserve and sanctuary. Clark County Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said about 150 birds and a German Shepherd guard dog were killed. He said all of the animals killed in the fire were taken to Clark County Animal Control for cremation. Thirty to 40 birds that were injured in the fire were taken to the North Las Vegas Animal Control facility for treatment, Allison said. Firefighters said three people were sleeping inside another building at the sanctuary when one of them was awakened by popping sounds. Fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said someone at the sanctuary used a fire hose to try to battle flames, but the one-story wooden building was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived. Investigators said one man suffered minor smoke inhalation injuries and was treated at the scene. Firefighters were leaving the scene this morning as investigators tried to determine how the fire started. Vernon Weir, director for the American Sanctuary Association, said the fire is one of the deadliest involving animals he has seen in the last 10 years. The preserve is a nonprofit sanctuary, education center and rescue operation for animals including tortoises and horses. It has housed large birds including ostriches and emus, along with smaller species like finches, parakeets and parrots. The fire is being investigated by the Clark County Fire Department.
LasVegasLynn
in Cultural Tourism, Current Day, Las Vegas History
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Cheri DeCastro has passed away
The last remaining DeCastro Sister has passed. The DeCastro Sisters were a well-known and beloved act during the heyday of the Classic Las Vegas Strip. Two years ago, Cheri was a panel I put together for the Clark County Museum. The focus was on Hispanic Entertainers and she kept the audience entranced with her stories, some of the slightly ribald, and her memories.
From the R-J obit:
CHERI DECASTRO Cheri DeCastro, 87, a retired singer, of Las Vegas, passed away March 14, 2010. She was born Sept. 1, 1922, in New York, N.Y., and was a 55-year resident of Nevada.
Cheri was the middle sister of the famous Latin singing group, the DeCastro Sisters. The group consisted of Cheri and her sister, Peggy and Babette. They first gained attention in Cuba for their flamboyant nightclub act. The group moved to Miami in 1945.
The sisters became proteges of Brazilian singer, Carmen Miranda, who put them in the film "Copacabana." The DeCastro sisters performed their three-part harmony on the first live broadcast of the Los Angeles television station, KTLA, following an introduction by Bob Hope.
They hit the big time when their 1954 song, "Teach Me Tonight" sold more than five million copies. Over the years, the "Cuban Andrews Sisters" appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows. They built a library of songs including, "Boom Boom Boomerang," "Too Late Now," "Snowbound for Christmas" and Cowboys Don't Cry."
The DeCastros provided many of the bird and animal voices for Walt Disney's, "Song of the South" and became a popular singing act in Las Vegas nightclubs and hotels.
In 1997, the trio performed on KTLA's 50th anniversary show, although Babette (who passed away in 1992) was replaced by their cousin, Olgita DeCastro Marino. Three years later, the DeCastro sisters were inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame as "Las Vegas Living Legends." Cheri DeCastro was known for her great beauty and her uncanny resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor.
She adored her many cats, whom she considered her children. She was known for never turning away a stray. Cheri was preceded in death by her sisters, Peggy DeCastro Carricaburro and Babette DeCastro Cammack. Cheri is survived by her nieces, Kathy Black of Las Vegas, Jackie Karnavas of San Diego; nephew, Jimmy Carricaburro of Los Olivos, Calif.; longtime partner, Trevor Young; and several great-nieces and nephews. Services were privately held. Donations can be made to The Animal Foundation. For more information, please call (702) 384-3333.
LasVegasLynn
in Current Day, Las Vegas History, Las Vegas Strip
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