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Whenever Paul Huffey drives through John S. Park Neighborhood he visualizes his youth and the times he spent with his childhood friend Michael Mack, who joined in this interview. Together they reminisced about their teen years in the 1950s and living in John S. Park Neighborhood. Paul's first home was Normandie Court, the first authentic motel in Las Vegas. In 1947, Paul's father purchased a lot on Paseo Park and built a home for his wife and only child. He describes life in that home as idyllic: no war or unemployment issues, a time when the Strip was "meaningless" unless you had a parent working there. An era when mothers, at least in his neighborhood, were stay-at-home moms and children freely roamed on their bicycles. Of their teen years, Paul and Michael recall their hi-jinks, discovering beer, and admiring pretty girls. In 1956, he graduated from Las Vegas High School, enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve and enrolled in University of Nevada Reno. He taught history at Basic High School in Henderson for nine years.

Music brought Jay Poster to Las Vegas for a brief time in 1974. Jay wanted to pursue a musical career and his cousin was a professional musician with the Nat Brandwynne Orchestra at Caesars Palace. To Jay?s disappointment, within a few months his cousin Jack Poster left Las Vegas for a road tour. So Jay decided his best strategy was to return home to San Diego and his studies at San Diego State University. It would be over a decade later before Jay returned to Las Vegas to live and this time it became permanent. This time it was not for music. For beyond his musical talent, Jay had a gift for connecting with people of all of ages and walks of life. He was good at sales and his day job selling office furniture offered him the opportunity to transfer to Las Vegas in 1986. Within a few years, however, it was a recruiter for Palm Mortuaries who introduced Jay to his defining career moment and to Allen Brewster, a prominent Jewish leader and founder of King David Cemetery and Mortuary. It was 2001. Jay has been King David?s ever since and is the General Manager. In this interview, Jay describes his personal and spiritual growth through his career in funeral services and his respect for the Jewish traditions of burial and grieving. In addition, his passion for music has also soared and he talks about his participation in the Shabbatones at Congregation Ner Tamid and Desert Winds, a community based performance organization. He shares his love of traditional Jewish klezmer music and the Meshugginah Klezmorim.

Sydney Wickliffe, nee Botkin, was born in Long Beach, California in 1944. Her parents, Donald and Betty Botkin, moved their young family first to Denver and then to the small town of Ulysses, Kansas before heading for Las Vegas in 1952, when Sydney was eight years old. Since then, she has called Las Vegas her home, graduating from Rancho High School's inaugural senior class in 1962. Growing up in a growing city, Sydney combined an active youth with long hours working in her father's North Las Vegas pharmacy and, later, would earn her degree in accounting from UNLV. As a CPA, she worked as an auditor for the Gaming Control Board and, in 1987, was promoted to deputy chief. From there, she took on the challenging role of director in Nevada's Department of Business and Industry as a member of Governor Kenny Guinn cabinet. As she says, even "one of the north-town girls" can go a long way - and in this interview, she shares memories that help us all see what the Las Vegas she remembers was like in the 1950s and 60s and how it helped to shape the person she is today.

On February 26, 1977, Lynn Kelstrom Ballard interviewed Teresa Jones Denning (born in Overton, Nevada in 1912) about her life in Southern Nevada. Denning first talks about her family background and her upbringing in Overton, including her life on a farm and her education in that small town. Denning also talks about her recreational pastimes before talking about the building of Boulder Dam and her life in Boulder City. Towards the end of the interview, she talks about her work as a driver for Las Vegas High School, her husband’s work on the Boulder Dam, and the changes in living conditions that she has noticed in Boulder City over time.

On June 26, 1975, Sharon Hildebrandt interviewed Dorothy Ross Fletcher (born 1936 in Las Vegas, Nevada) about growing up in and living in Southern Nevada. Fletcher first talks about that various towns in which she lived while growing up before discussing the schools she attended. She also discusses the changes in schools, her involvement in politics, church activity, gambling as a recreational activity, and prominent visitors who came to Las Vegas. Fletcher also talks about living in Nevada during World War II, the atomic testing, environmental changes and extreme weather, and the social changes in Las Vegas. The latter part of the interview involves discussion of real estate, the introduction of air conditioning for cooling, changes on the Las Vegas Strip, recreational activities available to youth in Las Vegas and the increase in the nonnative population.

On March 7, 1975, collector David R. Patt interviewed dairy and vegetable farm owner, Mary Habbart (born January 1st, 1719 in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview offers an overview of life in Las Vegas in the early days, which included: atomic testing, floods, prostitution on Block 16, early Fremont Street and Duck Creek. Also discussed during this interview: Sunset Park, The Roosevelts, Bugsy Siegel, local government and the Hoover Dam.

During this interview, Michael Mack visualizes his childhood memories of the later 1930s, when Las Vegas was a small, but steadily growing, desert town. As he says, "The desert was our backyard." The Strip hotels like the last Frontier and the Flamingo pop into the stories, but it was basically an innocent time. He attended John S. Park Elementary when classrooms were temporary buildings from the local Air Force base and the neighborhood was filled with children. He still maintains close friendships from that time. And he also recalls friends from the Westside neighborhood. Michael talks of scouting, riding horses, and watching Helldorado parades.

Michael Mack's first recollection of Las Vegas is as a two-year-old living in a duplex on Bonneville Ave. Though the family moved several times, they remained in or near the John S. Park neighborhood. Michael's father was a Polish immigrant who arrived in Boulder City, where he opened a shoe store, in 1932. The building of the Hoover Dam brought opportunities and his father Louis expanded into the salvage business. In time Louis moved the family to Las Vegas, opened a retail clothing store, which eventually sold uniforms, and set up the first local bail bondman office. During this interview, Michael visualizes his childhood memories of the later 1930s, when Las Vegas was a small, but steadily growing, desert town. As he says, "The desert was our backyard." The Strip hotels like the last Frontier and the Flamingo pop into the stories, but it was basically an innocent time. He attended John S. Park Elementary when classrooms were temporary buildings from the local Air Force base and the neighborhood was filled with children. He still maintains close friendships from that time. And he also recalls friends from the Westside neighborhood. Michael talks of scouting, riding horses, and watching Helldorado parades. Though the Macks were a Jewish family, Michael's mother always brought the Christmas tree to school. It was a period when people memorized each other's 3-digit phone numbers, went to movies for 14 cents, and there was a ranch for people to stay while getting divorced. Halloween Trick-or-treaters in the John S. Park neighborhood might get a tasty cupcake or a shiny dime. Michael has a plethora of stories about innocent mischief and the unique experiences of a boy growing up in Las Vegas.