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In this oral history, Gary explains how the family came to live in the United States?Cleveland and Los Angeles. In 1957, he married Noreen and they eventually came to live in Las Vegas where Gary worked for Sears selling washing machines, had a repair business and an importing business with Noreen. Gary was an entrepreneurial soul and inventive much like his father. He owns three patents.

On August 25, 1931, Augusta and Herman Sternberg welcomed their second child, Gerd (aka Gary), into the world of Cuxhaven, Germany. Augusta was a devout Christian of Polish ancestry who had fled Russian persecution. Herman was a German-born Jew salesman and inventor. The couple fell in love and had two children, Gary and Ruth who was a year and half older. By 1938, German politics were targeting Jews and Herman was ripped away from his Christian wife and children and sent to a concentration camp. Fate and friendship rescued Herman with the option to go to China. And so begins the history of the Sternberg family and how they all would eventually live together during World War II in the confines of a Jewish ghetto in Hongkew, China from May 1939 to July 1948. Gary had an extraordinary career as a dealer. He was not the stereotypical young dealer-to-be: he was in his 40s when he signed up for the Michael Gaughn Dealing School in the mid-1970s. Gary?s charming wit and ease of making friends soon gained him a position at El Cortez and then Caesars Palace. It was the same personality that would sustain his stellar thirty-one year career at Caesars. He was employed there from April 1974 until his retirement May 8, 2005. Though Jewish tradition would identify Gary as Christian, he self-identified as Jewish, officially converted and has been an active member of the Jewish community. Among his anecdotes-and he has many-is one about securing a $30,000 donation from Frank Sinatra and Jilly Rizzo for Congregation Ner Tamid.

Marilyn Glovinsky discusses her upbringing in New York and moving to Las Vegas. She was involved in establishing Congregation Ner Tamid. Her daughter, Melissa, talks about growing up in Las Vegas and attending Hebrew Academy.

Marilyn Glovinsky was born January 20, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a teacher, Lilyan, and police sergeant, Solomon Goldberg. Marilyn split her childhood between New York City and Los Angeles, where she spent the summers with her maternal grandparents. In 1963, she graduated with a bachelor?s degree in speech pathology from Brooklyn College. A year later she married, and the couple soon moved to Salt Lake City, where her husband had been hired as a graduate assistant at the University of Utah. In Salt Lake City, Marilyn worked as a first grade teacher. It was there that she attended her first High Holidays service, at the Reform synagogue. It wasn?t long before her husband enlisted in the United States Navy, and they were stationed Camp Legeune, North Carolina, for nearly three years. The couple later moved back to Utah, where their children Melissa and David were born. In June of 1974, Marilyn and her family moved to Las Vegas. She quickly integrated herself into the Jewish community, and was amongst a small group of families that started Congregation Ner Tamid. She went on to play a critical role in the growth of the synagogue, including taking on an interim operations management role at one time, and also leading the development of the Hebrew School, to tremendous success. Marilyn?s daughter has emulated her mother?s dedication to making Judaism accessible to members of the local community, particularly through education and social activities. Even as a fifth grader at the Hebrew Academy, Melissa took on additional responsibilities, assisting in the school office. Now, in addition to her job as a teacher at Doral Academy, Melissa teaches b?nai mitzvah, conversion and Hebrew School classes at Ner Tamid. She also leads programming for NextGen, a group dedicated to creating community amongst young Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s. Melissa is married to Todd Lemoine, and they have one child named Colton.

In this interview, Suzie discusses growing up in Las Vegas, with a strong community of friends, particularly within Temple Beth Sholom. She also talks about her real estate career, both in residential and commercial properties, highlighting some of the successes and challenges. She describes her working relationship with Milton Schwartz, as well her time working with the Greenspuns while selling advertising at the Las Vegas Sun.

Suzie Chenin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in August of 1949. The next year, her parents, Joseph and Irene Chenin, moved the family to Las Vegas. Her father, a dentist, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, becoming the first Jewish dentist in the state ? and only the thirtieth overall. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Suzie attended Arizona State University. However, she quit school and moved to Los Angeles where she got a job with a large real estate developer. This was her first foray into the industry. A few years later, back in Las Vegas, Suzie got her real estate license, eventually starting her own brokerage firm, Chenin and Associates.

Interviewed by Maribel Estrada Calderón. Claytee White also participates in the questioning. Eddie Escobedo was born in 1961 and two years later, he and his family immigrated to the United States. He fondly remembers his father, Edmundo Escobedo. Escobedo is currently in charge of the newspaper that his father started, El Mundo Newspaper.

Interviewed by Rodrigo Vazquez. Cruz was born in Lima, Peru to Carmen, who retired from CCSD as a teacher's aide, and Jaime, who was a professional soccer player. When young Jaime emigrated to the United States in 1987, it was to join his mother and brother in Las Vegas. The culture shock was significant, but he was undaunted. And, despite his engineering degree, the only employment he could secure was that of dishwasher. Cruz quickly understood the employment barriers that he would encounter and thankfully with the encouragement of mentors he improved his English skills and never omitted his degree from his resume. Eventually, it was noted and the decision to take a position that utilized this training would be one he never regretted. Today Cruz is the Executive Director of Workforce Connections, Southern Nevada's Local Workforce Development Board.

On March 2, 1980, Dennis Hunt interviewed his mother, Catherine Hunt (born August 25, 1932 in Palmyra, Missouri) about her life in Southern Nevada. The two discuss Catherine Hunt’s work as a secretary before becoming a housewife. The interview concludes with Catherine Hunt’s thoughts on population growth, women’s rights, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

With the explosive growth of the Las Vegas Valley over the past 30 years, it is rare to find someone who has deep battle born roots that go back to the early mining days of Nevada. Nancy Cummings-Schmidt is an example of that rare kind of gem. As a fourth generation Nevadan, her family came to the state in the 1800s form Ireland and England. Looking to capitalize off of the mining boom in Virginia City, they transitioned to ranching. She spent her first years in Reno and when her father went off to fight in the Second World War, her mother moved to Herlong, California and sent her to live with her grandparents. Upon moving to Vegas for fourth grade, her mother remarried and worked for the Las Vegas Sun while Nancy attended the Fifth Street Grammar School and later became a member Las Vegas High School’s first graduating class in 1956. After graduating from high school, Nancy invested in the spirit of wanderlust as it carried her to study theatre at Texas Christian University (which sh