November Memories

Holidays like this always make me think back to my days in Nevada. Had some great Thanksgivings out there, invited friends in, generally had a crowd at the house.

But also, spending Thanksgiving in a casino, always seemed a little depressing for our customers. They were taking in a long weekend and a great few days in Reno. And of course some time up on the mountain doing some Winter sports.

I thought of old Hoot Havens, actually Jerry, and his Ford, the one where the top moved down into the trunk. I thought of Don Eammelli and some of the deals we got him into. I remember the "Crap Suckers" he bought, a truckload, cleaned your drains. They ended up in his basement, water and heat turned them into one big blob. Or, the watches he bought, all pinwheel movements, the one we sold to the dealer as a gift for her son, set it on the TV, got heated, when he opened it, the crystal popped off, hit the ceiling.

Jeanette Fenner, worked at Harold's Club, rented an apartment from the "Slot" guy, Bob I think, Had his picture posted in all casinos in the state. He hit a lot of jackpots, way too many. Alice Tuttle rented from him, had the basement apartment. I think Alice worked at Harold's also. Both 21 dealers. I remember stories of when she was married to Jimmy, they saved their tokes all year (which was a LOT of money in those days) and splurged them on each other at Christmas.

Fitz and Meta always come to mind. I wish I had stayed with Fitz, big mistake leaving him. Rumors were that I would have gotten the Bal Tabaran to manage, or at least have a nice job there, when he bought it up at the lake. I don't know how far I might have gotten if I had stayed with him.

Danny Fagan always comes to mind, Mark, Bettye Johnson, Thelma Ganz, all were part of my early training at the Nevada Club. It's hard to believe that I outlived the old Club. It is gone, I am still here. The largest part of Nevada history was lost when they tore down Harold's and the Nevada Club. Times change, I guess. I would not recognize Reno today. I will just keep the fond memories.