Join us as we separate myth from fact, share stories of the men and women who helped build the town and celebrate one of the most fabulous cities ever built!
People really seem to like our early Interstate 15 photos, so here's some more! Again thanks to Wayne and Judy Bundorf!
Ok, not the freeway, but Las Vegas Blvd. South with the Riviera and Circus-Circus in the foreground! I don't know about you but I miss that traffic!
Now the freeway
Was traffic really that light back in the day?
Friend of Classic Las Vegas member, Curator of History at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas and my good friend, Dennis McBride contributed this piece about a recent exhibit of Cliff Segerblom's work at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.
On Monday, March 15, 2010 the Las Vegas Springs Preserve opened an exhibit of noted Nevada artist Cliff Segerblom’s photography in its Big Springs Gallery, an event which also served as a celebration of the 92nd birthday of Cliff’s wife, former Nevada State Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom. More than a hundred guests toured Cliff’s photos in gallery and honored Gene for her service to the state.
Cliff Segerblom [1915-1990] has been more recognized for his watercolor and acrylic paintings which chronicled the American Southwest, particularly Nevada's vanished frontier, its mining and farm towns, its rivers, canyons, deserts, and mountains. But his photography, the medium with which he began his career in 1939 when the Bureau of Reclamation hired him to photograph the Boulder Canyon Project, hasn’t gained the attention and following it deserves.
When Cliff died in 1990, his wife, Gene, donated his photographs and negatives to the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, from which the Springs Preserve’s exhibit was drawn. While many of his photographs served as models for Cliff’s paintings, the photos themselves are true works of art, few of which have ever been seen in public until now.
The March 15th opening of Cliff Segerblom’s photography exhibit was also a celebration of Gene Segerblom’s 92nd birthday. Teacher, writer, and politician, Gene Segerblom has long been one of the most influential people in Nevada.
In the early years of their marriage, Gene, Cliff, and their two children, Richard “Tick” and Robin, traveled the West, where Gene wrote feature stories for such publications as Desert Magazine, Arizona Highways, Nevada Highways and Parks, Nevada Magazine, and dozens of others. She was an inspiring teacher in the Boulder City schools, and served as a Boulder City councilwoman and in the Nevada State Assembly for four terms.
Gene, in fact, was a third-generation Nevada politician: her mother, Hazel Bell Wines, and grandfather, William J. Bell, both served in the Nevada legislature. Gene’s son, Richard Segerblom, elected to the state Assembly in 2006, is the fourth generation of Gene’s family to serve in the legislature.
Just a week later, on March 27, the Southern Nevada Women’s History Project honored Gene at the 2nd Annual Nevada Women’s History Celebration at the West Charleston Library in Las Vegas. As part of a This Is Your Life spoof, when Gene rose to speak to the audience, out from behind the stage curtain to share their “Gene Stories” came Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley; Nevada Senator Dina Titus; Nevada State Senator David Parks; Clark County Commissioner and former legislator Chris Giunchigliani; Nevada State Assemblyman Lynn Stewart; and a representative from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who presented Gene with a congratulatory letter from the Senate Majority Leader.
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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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.
