Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
LAST YEAR, when writing about Las Vegas and Clark County for a book, I was pleased with the additional delights I found in our area. This experience was repeated last month when writing a piece for an international airline magazine.
Yesterday my talk to the convention for federal court clerks was about Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. These key members of our federal judiciary system came from every state in the union. Like readers of magazines and books, many of them arrived with some curiosity about this tourist destination. What do you tell them?
If you ask a resident of the Las Vegas area about where and how they live, the answer you get would depend on how long he or she has lived here, in what neighborhood they live and their occupation. For example, if they have lived here five years or less there's a better chance they have visited the newest hotel or seen a Strip show during the last six months than if they have been a resident for 25 or 30 years.
Las Vegans are more interested in their own family, neighborhood, church and job than they are about the latest show on the Strip. In fact, I'll bet that attendance at a Rebels, Stars or Thunder game is much more in line with their pocketbooks and plans than gambling or going to a hotel show. Resident hunting and fishing licenses number more than 60,000 a year in Clark County so the great outdoors and Western lifestyle capture the attention of a large segment of our society.
Visitors are always somewhat taken aback when I tell them that I haven't been in the hotel in which they are staying. They came all the way across country to visit their hotel because of a glowing television advertisement. It's the finest hotel in the world, and some guy who lives a few blocks away hasn't taken time to visit it? Whatta klutz!
Don't I see the bright lights of Las Vegas which have been identified by a military satellite as making it the brightest city in the world? Sure, I see the bright lights of hundreds of soccer and softball fields that are lighted late into the night. Some nights our area has lighted fields from one end to the other where men and women play outdoor sports.
During almost any time of the year a familiar scene is a pickup truck or van loaded with kids heading for Lake Mead, Lee Canyon, Mount Charleston, Lincoln County or the mountains of nearby Utah. This time of the year a couple can snow ski at Lee Canyon, stop at home or a restaurant for lunch and then water ski at Lake Mead the same day.
When I first came to Las Vegas a fella could pick up all of the political gossip down on Fremont Street and most of the so-called movers and shakers could be found at one or two weekend social gatherings. Today there are hundreds of churches and social groups active every night of the year.
When thinking about Las Vegas, several questions could be asked of residents:
* Have you been out to Red Rock Canyon, Lee Canyon or Mount Charleston?
* Have you visited the Valley of Fire, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam?
* Have you attended a parade or Art in the Park in Boulder City? How about having a drink of Ocean Spray cranberry juice or a taste of Ethel M chocolates in Henderson?
* Have you attended a Thunderbirds air show at Nellis Air Force Base or watched boat races on Lake Mead?
* When was the last time you took a drive to enjoy the bright desert flowers in the springtime?
* Have you ever watched UNLV and high school rodeos?
* Have you fished or played in a public park, swam in a public pool or watched dog and horse shows in public parks and facilities?
* Have you watched the professional bowlers at the Showboat, dolphins at The Mirage, seen the view from the Stratosphere or tasted the new buffet at the Sahara? How about the Fremont Experience?
All of our Southern Nevada cities have great parades and the next one in Las Vegas will be on St. Pat's Day.
There's plenty of action to keep residents busy in and around our valley. Those who wish to wander can go up north to White Pine County and visit the Great Basin National Park or drive to Zion in nearby Utah. Don't forget an overnight trip to Grand Canyon as a great experience or an inexpensive room in Laughlin overlooking the rolling Colorado River.
Just thinking about what a good area this is for living and raising a family makes me want to write even more about Las Vegas. Las Vegas is "The Meadows" in Spanish, but has thousands of different meanings to both visitors and residents.
We, as residents, have the responsibility to keep this area from being destroyed by excessive use and abuse. Do you remember the flowing artesian wells and the wetlands between here and Lake Mead? Let's not allow or encourage further damage to our land, water and air. Let's protect the opportunity for the good life we can still enjoy and pass on to our children and grandchildren.
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