Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Boulder City Bill Speaks Out:

Father, son reconnect after 15 years

Bill Erin

Bill Erin

Another enterprise has joined the Boulder City entertainment scene. And it's a fitting sequel to the heart-warming Christmas story in this column during the holidays.

To refresh your memory, Boulder City restaurateur Brad Lane had searched for his missing son for 15 years without success. Then suddenly one night, with what he believes could have been some sort of divine guidance from his deceased ex-wife, he was led to the Internet site MySpace and his son's name and picture.

After some mutual investigation and exchange of e-mails, it was confirmed. Lane had, almost miraculously, found his missing son, Kristofer.

Now Kristofer has moved to Boulder City and, with the help of his father, has opened a new sports bar, Kris' Dam Sports Bar, next to his father's restaurant.

I caught up to Kristofer recently as he worked in the bar getting it ready for its recent grand opening. I asked him what his reaction was when he received that first e-mail from his father that speculated on their relationship.

"It threw me off balance," he said. "It came out of nowhere."

Kristofer was convinced when his father sent him photos of Kristofer when he was a youngster with his father and mother. "From then on, we talked on the phone every day," Kristofer said.

He visited his father over the holidays, and the idea of opening the sports bar was furthered.

I asked Kristofer if he had any experience with bars or as a bartender. He explained that his grandfather owns a country nightclub in Kansas City, Mo., and he was working there when his father found him. After seeing the setup of Lane's new restaurant, the former Two Gals, he decided to move out to Boulder City and started construction on his sports bar.

Kristofer has a unique concept for the bar. It not only has pool tables, video games, a bar and TV monitors with sports events showing all the time, but it will also have an arcade with games for younger patrons. During the day, it will be open for the family. At 8:30 p.m., it will be closed to anyone under 21.

"During the day," he said, "the family can come in, mom and dad can have a beer and play some pool, and the kids can play in the arcade." It's an interesting concept.

But even more interesting is the story behind it. In this day of so many tragic stories in the headlines, it's nice to see a happy ending. After all these years, here are father and son working together and getting to know each other.

On one side is Brad's Dam Barbecue, and right next to it is Kris' Dam Sports Bar. Father and son.

What are the odds of a man coming home at night, tired from a hard day's work, inexplicably turning on a network he seldom watches, being led to a Web site he had never before patronized and stumbling onto the name and picture of a son he hadn't seen in 15 years?

That's a story in itself. Then to develop a close relationship that leads to them going into business together carries the story to the point of incredulity. It would never sell on the fiction market. But once gain, truth is stranger than fiction.

The truth is, there are forces in this world we do not understand and never will. But it's nice to know they are not all evil forces.

And now we have to go back to elections, politics and finding the money to keep our dreams alive.

Bill Erin is a Boulder City News columnist.

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