Las Vegas Memories
The Alpine Village sign in the YESCO boneyard circa 2003.
The Alpine Village Restaurant board (Thanks to Lonnie Hammergren)
Anderson Diary
Andy Anderson as part of the Neon Museum
Aqueduct Building, the Sands Hotel
Bonanza Village ad
Caesars Palace parking lot following a flash-flood.
Caesars Palace brochure cover
Original Caesars entrance
Mid-Mod Marvels Recap!
Our buddy Dennis McBride, the Curator of History at the Nevada State Museum not only saved our Saturday programs with his canny foresight but he also wrote up this wonderful recap of all the events:
A Successful Weekend
On October 22-24, the Friends of Classic Las Vegas hosted its second annual Mid-Century Modern event. Co-sponsored this year by the Architectural and Decorative Arts Society, the El Cortez Hotel, Retro Vegas, VeryVintageVegas.com, the Metro Arts Council of Southern Nevada, and RAFI Planning, Architecture, and Urban Design, Mid Mod Marvels proved once more the enduring popularity of mid-century modern living.
The weekend started with a swank affair Friday night at the Morelli House, maybe the best known Mid-Century Modern landmark in Las Vegas, owned and restored by the Junior League. League members dressed in period clothing, provided tours of the house, and hosted a meet-and-greet reception for Mid-Century aficionados. The Nevada State Museum supplied a series of photographs of mid-century Las Vegas from the Jay Florian Mitchell Collection to round out the evening. With plenty of wine and nibbly things, the evening gave a hint of the fun yet to come.
Saturday included two panel discussions and the Las Vegas premier of the film, William Krisel, Architect, a documentary detailing the career of famed mid-century architect Bill Krisel. The Las Vegas National Golf Club on Desert Inn Road, around which Krisel and his partner, Dan Palmer, built their iconic Paradise Palms residential development, hosted Saturday’s events.
Dr. Hammargren and Nevada Day
From Dr. Lonnie:
The END of an ERA
The Liberace Museum is closed and the
“The Hammargren Home of Nevada History”
WILL NOT
Hold its annual Nevada Day Open House
It is with deep regret that I must cancel my annual Nevada Day event that was planned to be held this year on Sunday, Halloween, October 31st, 2010.
Although it was a sincere and honorable invite, this cancellation is due to the recent rain & wind, illness in my family and a very complicated legal situation wherein I have been successfully acquitted of inappropriate CRIMINAL charges in the construction and use of my house, which is now currently up to code. Hopefully in the future we will be able to entertain and share my extensive collection of old Nevada memorabilia collected over the past 39 years.
I am proud to be a Nevadan and to be able to experience the changes of this great city and State and to keep the memories alive! We have had fun along the way, whether it is a Halloween spook house, Nevada Days, live nativity scenes at Christmas, political fundraisers, fundraisers for many charitable organizations or Easter egg hunts, I have done it all with the sincere intention of bringing camaraderie and friendship to the general public.
It has been a pleasure entertaining all of you; unfortunately a few of my neighbors do not enjoy life to its fullest and insist that I curtail the enjoyment of my home by Clark County citizens. With all due respect to them; this was a major factor in postponing the Last Nevada Day open house at the “Hammargren Home of Nevada History”. I invite you to visit our website www.nevadadays.org and take your own virtual tour and view videos of past events held at my home.
Over the years, it has been a pleasure serving you all on the Nevada State Board of Education, University Board of Regents, Honorary Consulate to Belize, a renowned neurosurgeon for 35 years and as your Lieutenant Governor to the wonderful State of Nevada. May you all be blessed and be proud to be a part of our great State.
Thank you all,
Lonnie Hammargren, MD