Ed Von Tobel, one of the last of the first generation Las Vegans, passes away
Ed Von Tobel passed away on Wednesday at the age of 96. He had seen Las Vegas grow from a small dusty railroad town into the metropolis of the 21st Century. And he was always willing to share his stories and his memories with anyone who wanted to know more about the real history of Las Vegas.
He talked with us on camera for 90 minutes and I still remember his warm voice, his jaunty newsboy cap and his wonderful stories.
Rest in peace, Ed, you will be missed by all of us who value the history of the place you called home.
Ed Von Tobel was born in Las Vegas on March 11th, 1913. He was the third child of Ed and Mary Von Tobel. His brothers were George and Jake. He was born "at the little hospital there on Second Street".
His father had come to Las Vegas for the land auction in 1905. He had read an ad in the paper that said for $20 you could take the train to Las Vegas for the land auction. So George and his partner, Jake Beckley decided that they needed an adventure and bought tickets. The first day of the auction the main lots on Fremont Street were sold at fairly expensive prices. However, the second day, the remaining lots on Main Street and the surrounding area were selling for more reasonable prices. Von Tobel and Beckley bought a lot using the refund on their train tickets as the money down.
Von Tobel Lumber opened on South Main a short time later (near where the Ice House Bar sits today). However, the small town had a number of lumber yards. Within the year, Von Tobel and Beckley moved the little frame building closer to town to 217 South First Street (where the Golden Nugget parking lot is today).
Ed remembers that Las Vegas was a "dirty, dusty railroad town" and that "everyone had to get to know one another because they were all newcomers". Las Vegas at that time had the Rail Yard, the shops and a Roundhouse to keep the trains running on time. Many of the men in town were employed by the the railroad.
The Railroad, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake line, served the area between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Las Vegas became the stop between the two because Las Vegas had water. Also cattle was brought down from Montana and Utah via the train.
The city built an Ice House to keep the vegetables and such cold or frozen for the long trip.
Ed remembered when he was growing up that there were two big churches at the time: The Episcopal and the Methodist churches. He went to school at the original Grammer School which he describes as a "small building about the size of a good size house". That school ultimately burned down and the Railroad provided land on South Fifth Street for a new Grammer School.
There was a movie theater, a Post Office and if you needed to shop, the first two blocks of Fremont Street was where you went. "The Grocers didn't sell meat in those days".
"We didn't have any paved streets until 1923. In the early days my mother would have to get 25 lbs of ice about every other day to put in the icebox. We didn't have refrigerators and so we'd go out when the ice wagon came around."
The Majestic Theater (where part of the Golden Nugget is today-click here for history link) was right on Fremont Street. "In the summer they would have to close it down and put an outdoor theater at 3rd and Fremont. That was just an open area with a tin wall and seats where you could go there in the evening to watch movies".
"They had a big Christmas tree right at Second and Fremont Street. My dad would haul all the planks up there to a raised platform. All the kids in town would be around there and Santa Claus would show up and give out bags of candy with walnuts and peppermint sticks".
Of Block 16, the red-light district, Ed remembers "we'd cruise down there and the girls would be sitting out in front on the sidewalk. I never yelled at 'em because I was pretty shy. But some of my friends would yell at 'em 'Hey girlies, what are you doing over there!'. They wouldn't say anything. But they were part of the community."
"It was so hot and no business to be had. Dad would say sometimes he not only didn't sell anything for a whole day, nobody even came in to inquire about buying anything."
Ed married his high school sweetheart in 1939. They built a house in 1940 near the High School (today a nationally landmarked historic neighborhood district) on 7th Street.
Von Tobel Lumber survived the lean years of the Depression and the War years with its rationing and housing shortages. Ed says "during the war we had no lumber, no critical materials to sell and dad just barely held on during that period".
After the War, Ed and his brothers convinced his father that they should go after the service contractors. Von Tobel Lumber to that point had catered mainly to homeowners. They began advertising in the newspaper and the business, in the Post War boom era, began growing. They acquired more land and built a bigger headquarters on First Street.
But by the 1950s, the face of Fremont Street was changing from the heart of a community to Glitter Gulch. The Von Tobel's began to realize that their location would ultimately not be a good retail location. Las Vegas was growing outward and away from its roots.
A business expert came through town and the Von Tobel brothers tracked him down. They asked for his opinion regarding their location. "He said, well where's Sears? And we told him it was at 6th and Fremont and had been there several years and they're right across from the El Cortez Hotel. And he said 'If I was you boys I'd just wait to see where Sears goes".
So when Irwin Molasky began to build the Boulevard Mall out on Maryland Parkway, the Von Tobel brothers decided that would be a good location to relocate to. So they moved to Maryland Parkway and Karen (today the Las Vegas Athletic Club) and opened up a retail hardware store and home center, with air-conditioning. In the center of the store was a Hot Dog Stand that had not only hot dogs but soft ice cream, sandwiches and ten cent coffee. Ed liked to joke that it was Home Depot before Home Depot was even a thought.
Ed never expected Las Vegas to grow up to be the metropolis it has. But he is not alone in that regard. None of us ever expected that.
The Original Von Tobel Lumber
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Las Vegas Strip will be closed to automobile traffic on New Year's Eve -UPDATED
Getting around town will be a tad tougher on New Year's Eve night with these closures announced:
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Getting around Las Vegas will be a little more difficult than normal Thursday night as thousands of people descend on the city to ring in the new year, closing the Strip to vehicle traffic for the night.
Las Vegas Boulevard will be closed from Sahara Avenue to Russell Road from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Beginning at 6 p.m., walkways, elevators and escalators along the boulevard will be shut down and hotels and other Strip business close their driveways.
Metro Police will beginning closing roads that connect to the strip at 6:30 p.m.
Because the Strip will be closed to allow for foot traffic, cars also will not be allowed to use the east-west arterials to go through the area, including Tropicana Avenue, Harmon Avenue and Flamingo Road.
Locals who want to get from one side of town to the other will need to use roads north of Sahara or south of Russell, or take one of the valley’s freeways.
Freeway ramps on Interstate 15 will be partially closed to only allow traffic to go west on the arterials beginning between 5 and 6 p.m.
If you want to get around the valley without driving, the Regional Transportation Commission is offering free bus service valley-wide from 6 p.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. Friday. Buses will then run on a reduced Saturday schedule for the rest of New Year’s Day.
The bus will also offer free service from the new Centennial Hills Park and Ride lot on Grand Montecito Parkway, near Durango Drive and Elkhorn Road. The buses will go from the lot to downtown Las Vegas from 5 p.m. New Year’s Eve to 4 a.m. New Year’s Day.
Because of the closure of the Strip, the double-decker Deuce service will only run on Las Vegas Boulevard from downtown to Sahara Avenue.
In addition, routes 105 (Martin L. King), 108 (Paradise) 116 (Koval/Industrial) and 207 (Alta/Steward) will have detours during the street’s closure.
Celebrations on the Strip officially end at 1 a.m., when cleaning crews move in to get the road reopened by 4 a.m.
The Fremont Street Experience will have restrictions as well on New Year’s Eve.
The pedestrian street will close at 5 p.m. Gates to enter a party, which costs $10 for locals and $20 for out-of-towners, open at 6 p.m.
New Years Eve also brings tighter restrictions for minors and drinkers on the Strip and in downtown.
City and county ordinances ban cans and bottles on the Strip and in downtown areas from 6 p.m. Dec 31 to 5 a.m. Jan. 1.
Metro also asks partygoers not to carry large backpacks or other bags that could carry cans or bottles.
A parent or legal guardian must accompany children under the age of 18 from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. on the Strip.
Don't Drink and Drive
Drunken revelers have several options for getting home safely this new year. The Regional Transportation Commission will offer free bus rides along its regular bus routes from 6 p.m. today until 9 a.m. New Year's Day. The Designated Drivers program makes sure both inebriated drivers and their vehicles get home safely. It's free over the New Year's Eve holiday. The program's number is 456-RIDE (7433). And AAA Nevada will pour you into a tow truck cab and haul your vehicle home. The ride is free for the first five miles; after that drivers must pay the company's regular towing fee, which varies. The service is offered from 6 p.m. today until 6 a.m. New Year's Day. Its number is 800-222-HELP (4357). If none of these options appeal to you, there's always a cab. DON'T SHOOT, EITHER North Las Vegas police are again promising stepped-up enforcement of firearms laws to reduce celebratory gunfire meant to ring in the New Year. It's part of the city's "What Goes Up Must Come Down" campaign. Additional officers will be on patrol tonight, with some specifically assigned to respond to gunfire calls. The extra officers are necessary to "reduce this reckless behavior before someone is seriously injured or killed," Police Chief Joe Forti said. Residents should call 911 if they see someone firing a gun and can help police pinpoint the shooter's location. But refrain from reporting "possible gunfire" because those noises often turn out to be fireworks, police said.
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Las Vegas New Year's EVE Fireworks and Celebrations- UPDATED
With New Year's Eve kicking off a long-holiday weekend this year, it was announced that firework displays will return to famed Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced today that the New Year’s Eve celebration known as America’s Party: Las Vegas New Year 2010 will include a spectacular fireworks show fired from seven rooftop locations along the Las Vegas Strip.
The firing locations (from the south, heading north) include the following resort properties: MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island (TI), Venetian and the Stratosphere.
Fireworks by Grucci of New York will again coordinate the pyrotechnic display. Locally, Fireworks by Grucci has produced many of Las Vegas’ largest special events and grand openings, including the official Las Vegas Centennial celebration.
In addition to designing the pyrotechnic display, Fireworks by Grucci will work directly with the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services to ensure both fire and structural safety guidelines.
“We are moving the fireworks show back to where it should be,” said LVE President Pat Christenson. “Fireworks by Grucci, the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services and the individual resort properties have worked tirelessly since January of this year to address the fire and structural safety issues associated with firing the show from the rooftops. Our goal each year is to design a show that is befitting of this city and provides a great backdrop for the thousands of revelers on the Strip.”
According to the LVCVA, Las Vegas hosts several hundred thousand visitors for New Year’s Eve.
"Las Vegas continues to be the best venue in the world to ring in the New Year," said Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the LVCVA. "The fireworks will culminate an evening of celebrity-hosted events at nightclubs, special dining experiences at restaurants, live music at the Fremont Street Experience downtown and much more. There is no other destination that offers the excitement on New Year's Eve."
The pyrotechnic show will display the letters LV along with such effects as blue comets, a golden kamuro, silver palm trees and multicolored peacock tails.
The New Year’s show, which will last 7 minutes, 11 seconds, will feature about 96,000 aerial bursts launched from the rooftops of seven casinos along the Strip.
If you are going to Las Vegas for the holiday weekend and need show tickets, click here: Las Vegas Show Tickets
Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience party will feature "TributePalooza," a collection of classic rock acts playing the music of Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Guns N' Roses, INXS, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, U2 and Van Halen. FSE will also have a live fireworks show. The event begins at 6 p.m. and there is a $10 charge for locals. The event was free last year.
"It's a nominal fee. It won't break anybody," Goodman said. "The priority is to have a great party."
Las Vegas' famed Fremont Street Experience is ready for a rockin' New Year's 2010 Weekend celebration with its 2nd Annual TributePalooza. The spectacular New Year's Eve includes live concerts by eight of the world's best tribute bands, a 2009 year-in-review show on the Viva Vision screen, followed by a countdown to midnight with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and then Fireworks by Grucci under the canopy choreographed to virtual fireworks on Viva Vision.
TributePalooza bands will deliver performances emulating classic favorites Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Guns N' Roses, INXS, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, U2 and Van Halen. Plus, there will be a live stage show, Jimi Hendrix and the Psychedelic Ride.
New Year's Eve is the only day of the year with ticketed admission to Fremont Street Experience. Wristbands are $10 for locals with valid Nevada ID and $20 for out-of-state visitors. Fremont Street Experience is restricted to persons 21 and over on New Years Eve. Wristbands can be purchased in advance by calling 702-678-5600.
The street will be packed with action while the giant Viva Vision screen dazzles with a light-and-sound extravaganza 90 feet above the street. The five blocks of the fabulous Fremont Street Experience, home to 10 legendary casinos, will be transformed into the biggest private party in Las Vegas, with upwards of 30,000 people in attendance.
Revelers are invited to celebrate the dawn of a new decade in true Las Vegas fashion at the citys one-stop outdoor entertainment venue. The night will be filled with music as the eight ultimate tribute bands will provide continuous live concerts on both 1st Street and 3rd Street stages from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. The performance schedule is as follows:
6 - 7:15 p.m.
INXS-IVE (INXS) 1st Street Stage
The Joshua Tree (U2) 3rd Street Stage
7:30 - 8:45 p.m.
Blasphemous Rumours (Depeche Mode) 1st Street Stage
Fan Halen (Van Halen) 3rd Street Stage
9:15 - 10:30 p.m.
No Duh (No Doubt) 1st Street Stage
Led Zepagain (Led Zeppelin) 3rd Street Stage
10:00 -11:15 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.
Jimi Hendrix and the Psychedelic Ride Main Street Stage
11,11:45 p.m. and 12:15-1 a.m.
Aeromyth (Aerosmith) 1st Street Stage
Appetite for Destruction (Guns N Roses) 3rd Street Stage
The New Year's Eve celebration at the Fremont Street Experience brings crowds of partygoers to Downtown Las Vegas every year and has become a tradition for visitors and locals alike. Fremont Street Experience continues the 2010 launch party throughout the holiday weekend with Rock `N Recovery free concerts on Friday, January 1 and Saturday, January 2.
About 250,000 people are expected to be on the Strip, with more than 30,000 downtown.
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Education Advocate Helen Cannon passes away
She was fiesty, she was stubborn and she was strong willed. That's how I want to remember Helen Cannon. From the day she fell in love with flying when a barnstormer's plane landed in a nearby field, to her own flying days during World War II to her post-war life in Las Vegas and her strong support for educational matters throughout her career, Helen Cannon was one of kind.
From the R-J:
Helen Cannon, a pioneering, 20-year veteran of the Clark County School Board whose efforts had a lasting effect on education in Southern Nevada, died Christmas Day in a Utah rehabilitation center. She was 93. Cannon helped govern the Clark County School District from 1960 to 1980, overseeing a period of astronomical growth while making students her priority. Her contributions earned her a middle school named in her honor. “If you talk to administrators or teachers, they will tell you that she left an everlasting philosophy of children as number one,” said former Gov. Kenny Guinn, who served as district superintendent while Cannon was on the board. She was born May 16, 1916, in Cameron, Wis., a small farming town about two hours east of St. Paul, Minn. She earned a degree in physical education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After teaching for a few years, she earned a pilot’s license. During World War II, she flew and tested repaired aircraft for the Army Air Corps. She was among just over 1,000 women to earn one of the exclusive, albeit dangerous, positions at a time women were excluded from flying in combat. “We all thought we were being discriminated against,” she told the Review-Journal in 1988. “We were as good as the rest of them (men). But we didn’t fight it because we were so happy just to have had the training.” She met her husband, Robert Cannon, after the war. The two moved to Las Vegas, where he eventually became vice president and general manager of the Tropicana. While on the School Board, Cannon was instrumental in introducing free lunches at elementary schools, establishing the Southern Nevada Vocational Technical Center and the Variety School for the handicapped and creating KLVX-TV, Channel 10. During her 20 years on the board, the student population more than quadrupled, going from 20,000 to nearly 90,000 students. Her daughter, Alice Kennedy, said her mother worked tirelessly for students. “She was on the phone all the time, and if anyone called her about any problem they were having ... she called up and got to the bottom of it,” Kennedy said. A 1980 Review-Journal editorial about Cannon declared that she probably “touched the lives and directed the means of learning for more young Nevadans” than all other trustees at the time combined. She was an avid golfer, woodworker and reader. She was a Cub Scout den mother, sat on the local Girl Scout Board and taught swimming for the American Red Cross. In 1988, she ran for a sixth term on the School Board against Lois Tarkanian. She raised more than $9,000 — more than her five previous races combined — yet she was still thoroughly outspent by now-Las Vegas City Councilwoman Tarkanian, and Cannon lost. Cannon is survived by her daughter, Alice Kennedy, son Robert Cannon Jr. and seven grandchildren. Services will be held in Las Vegas but have not yet been arranged.
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Fireworks return to the Las Vegas Strip for New Year's Eve
With New Year's Eve kicking off a long-holiday weekend this year, it was announced that firework displays will return to famed Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced today that the New Year’s Eve celebration known as America’s Party: Las Vegas New Year 2010 will include a spectacular fireworks show fired from seven rooftop locations along the Las Vegas Strip.
The firing locations (from the south, heading north) include the following resort properties: MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island (TI), Venetian and the Stratosphere.
Fireworks by Grucci of New York will again coordinate the pyrotechnic display. Locally, Fireworks by Grucci has produced many of Las Vegas’ largest special events and grand openings, including the official Las Vegas Centennial celebration.
In addition to designing the pyrotechnic display, Fireworks by Grucci will work directly with the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services to ensure both fire and structural safety guidelines.
“We are moving the fireworks show back to where it should be,” said LVE President Pat Christenson. “Fireworks by Grucci, the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services and the individual resort properties have worked tirelessly since January of this year to address the fire and structural safety issues associated with firing the show from the rooftops. Our goal each year is to design a show that is befitting of this city and provides a great backdrop for the thousands of revelers on the Strip.”
According to the LVCVA, Las Vegas hosts several hundred thousand visitors for New Year’s Eve.
"Las Vegas continues to be the best venue in the world to ring in the New Year," said Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the LVCVA. "The fireworks will culminate an evening of celebrity-hosted events at nightclubs, special dining experiences at restaurants, live music at the Fremont Street Experience downtown and much more. There is no other destination that offers the excitement on New Year's Eve."
The pyrotechnic show will display the letters LV along with such effects as blue comets, a golden kamuro, silver palm trees and multicolored peacock tails.
Las Vegas Events president Pat Christenson said this year’s events will take on a theme called “Takin’ it to the Streets” with fireworks that will be fired from ground locations mainly on the Strip, rather than casino rooftops, which had been the tradition in previous years.
“It was partially to get people down to the Strip but also it was to redesign the show, do something different," Christenson said. "Also, in terms of shooting off the rooftops, it was getting more and more difficult to meet the requirements Clark County had."
Rather than having spectators strain their necks by looking up, they’ll be able to look directly out and see the firework display, Christenson said. However, the fireworks won't be visible to those at locations off the Strip.
More than 30,000 effects will be fired from eight locations during the eight-minute, 10-second program.
Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience party will feature "TributePalooza," a collection of classic rock acts playing the music of Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Guns N' Roses, INXS, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, U2 and Van Halen. FSE will also have a live fireworks show. The event begins at 6 p.m. and there is a $10 charge for locals. The event was free last year.
"It's a nominal fee. It won't break anybody," Goodman said. "The priority is to have a great party."
Residents will receive free admission downtown with a Nevada ID. Wristband distribution for locals will begin at 10 a.m. Dec. 31 in the storefront next to Walgreens on Fremont Street. Gates will open at 6 p.m.
About 250,000 people are expected to be on the Strip, with more than 30,000 downtown.
