Desert Companion - October 2018 by Nevada Public Radio

GOLD RUSH

A PREVIEW OF THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS’ SECOND SEASON

FEELIN’ KNIGHTS FEVER: A H O C K E Y FA N I S B O R N

P L AY E R S , G A M E S , A N D X FA C T O R S T O WAT C H

DERYK ENGELLAND’S LO N G R OA D H O M E

O Society

LV’S WOMEN ARCHITECTS BUILD THEIR FUTURES Food and Drink

BLOWING UP BAR CLICHÉS AT NEVADA TASTE SITE

X X O X

MATT JACOB PROFILES THE TEAM’S LOCAL ICEMAN

U.S. $4.99

OCTOBER 2018

OCTOBER 1 REMEMBERED

THE BOND UNITING RESCUERS AND THOSE THEY HELPED PLUS

INSIDE THE MUSEUM COLLECTING HARVEST FESTIVAL ARTIFACTS

SUSHI COMES TO SILVERTON!

OPENING IN NOVEMBER

SHARE &

SHARE A

I-15 & BLUE DIAMOND • 702.263.7777 • SILVERTONCASINO.COM

NEW ALL-ELECTRIC 2019 I-PACE

ELECTRIFY THE PACE The revolutionary design of the I-PACE is both true to the spirit of Jaguar and the I-PACE Concept. From the pronounced front wheel arches to the rear diffuser, every supercar-inspired styling element allows the I-PACE to slice cleanly through the air for improved range and stability. The bold grille curves inwards - reducing drag by channelling air through the hood scoop and out, where it passes over the roofline that is curved for optimum efficiency. To experience the I-PACE for yourself, visit Jaguar Land Rover Las Vegas for a test drive today.

5 YEARS

60 ,000 MILES

New Vehicle Limited Warranty

Complimentary Scheduled Maintenance

24-Hour Roadside Assistance

Jaguar InControlÂŽ Remote & Protectâ&#x201E;˘

B E S T I N C L A S S C O V E R A G E* Jaguar Land Rover Las Vegas

5255 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89146 702.579.0400 www.jlrlv.com

Jaguar Land Rover Reno

9150 S. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89511 775.332.4000 www.jlrreno.com

#lifeatthedistrictgvr

VISIT THESE FINE STORES & EATERIES: Bath & Body Works, Anthropologie, Charming Charlie, Lululemon, Zero Degrees, REI, Victoria’s Secret, West Elm, The Walking Company, White House | Black Market, Coming Soon–SkinnyFats, AT&T, Brighton Collectibles, Pressed for Juice, Soft Surroundings, Bella Vita, Athleta, DripDoctors, Williams-Sonoma, Shake Shack, King’s Fish House, Me Gusta Tacos, and more…

ShoptheDistrictGVR.com Henderson, NV

TheDistrictGVR

Districtatgvr

702-564-8595

VOLUME 16 ISSUE 10 D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

October 09 COMMUNITY

Cataloguing the artifacts of October 1 By Dan Hernandez

14 PROFILE

Meet the city’s most enthusiastic amateur hockey player By John M. Glionna

18 LOOKING BACK

FEATURES

DRAMA

GOLDEN KNIGHTS PREVIEW

As the city’s first pro sports team launches the followup to its Cinderella first season, we profile defenseman Deryk Engelland, the team’s hometown hero; spotlight the games, players, and X factors to watch; and chronicle one newbie’s conversion to Golden Knights fandom.

A graphic account of a perilous rescue at Lake Mead

23 CULTURE

Thoughts on the Las Vegas Book Festival, writing, and the West By Claire Vaye Watkins and Derek Palacio

RESCUE + REUNION

Many kinds of heroes emerged on the night of October 1. A year later, victims and rescuers find themselves redefining heroism in post-tragedy Las Vegas. By Heidi Kyser

( EXTRAS ) 06

EDITOR’S NOTE

4 | DESERT

C O M PA N I O N

THE GUIDE

Here we are now, entertain us — exhibits, concerts, shows, events, and miscellaneous chee-chee to fill your calendar .

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

26 ENTERTAINMENT

Good vs. evil, with masks: It’s lucha libre time! By Jessica Keasling

29 SUBCULTURAL

The Dark Arts Market offers a home for artisans “too weird” for traditional venues By Veronica Klash

32 DINING

Plenty of beer, Thai food, and authentic memorabilia help Nevada Taste Site

transcend bar clichés By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

36 BEER

Everything you need to know, and then some, about the current state of beer in Las Vegas. Get hoppin’!

DEPARTMENTS 40 PROFILE

Spurred by his family’s never-quit ethic, Danny Tarkanian defies his losing record in what might be his final race By Steve Friess

48 SOCIETY

The valley’s women architects are making progress in a profession still dominated by men By T.R. Witcher

( COVER ) DERYK ENGELLAND PHOTOGRAPHY

Sabin Orr

E N G E L L A N D : S A B I N O R R ; TA S T E S I T E : S A B I N O R R ; L A K E R E S C U E : R YA N I N Z A N A

As Circus Circus turns 50, a Vegas native reflects By James P. Reza

B R O A D W A Y

©Disney

The Company of Disney’s THE LION KING. Photo by Joan Marcus. ©Disney

THE LION KING NOVEMBER 7 - 25

DISNEY’S THE LION KING NOVEMBER 7 - 25

H E A D L I N E R S

BALLET FOLKLORICO DE MEXICO OCTOBER 15

The Smith Center & Mark Cortale Present

KELLI O’HARA WITH SETH RUDETSKY

DRUMLINE LIVE DECEMBER 29

DECEMBER 2

VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO SEE THE FULL LINEUP 702.749.2000 | TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711 | Group Inquiries: 702.749.2348 | 361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106

Did the dealer do a great job selling you a car

but not so great with the loan?

Rates are better at non-profit Clark County Credit Union. We’ll treat you like you’re the boss and get you out of that dealer payment. Like 2.49%* and no payment for 45 days. Call now to Refinance and get a great, lower rate. Keep the car – dump the dealer payment.

Loan rates as low as

* % 2.49 APR

Open an account today at (702) 228-2228 or visit OpenCCCU.com

* Special rate offer on new or used cars – purchase or refinance. Current CCCU auto loans not available for refinance. Not all borrowers will qualify; other rates/terms may be possible. APR is annual percentage rate quoted “as low as.” Loans subject to DMV title/registration fees. Payment example: 2.49% APR, 60 monthly payments of $17.75 per $1,000 borrowed subject to underwriting. Ask about other member discounts.

A LL IN

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

7 PEOPLE, ISSUES, OBJECTS, EVENTS, AND IDEAS

YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS MONTH

ONE | C O M M U N I T Y

‘We Have to Tell the History’ At the Clark County Museum, cataloging the October 1 memorial objects is an exercise in institutional purpose — and simple humanity BY

regret to make your acquaintance under such awful circumstances,” the email reads. It was October 2, eight hours after the Route 91 concert shooting, and Pamela Schwartz, a history museum curator in Orlando, Florida, was reaching out to her counterparts in Southern Nevada. The subject line: “Collecting after the Shooting.” “We had hoped that we would never lose the designation of being the location of the largest shooting by a single gunman in American history, but here just 15 months after our nightclub shooting, we have. … There will be temporary memorials, there will be items from the families and stories from the survivors and it will be a difficult task, but rapid response collecting

Daniel Hernandez

Photo caption if needed placed here needed if captioned elderstiff vantage gat

PHOTOGRAPHY C hristopher Smith

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

is important in memorializing these events, interpreting the story much later, and plays a huge role in community healing.” Las Vegas, Orlando and Charleston, South Carolina — to name just a few cities impacted by mass shootings — belong to a growing network of communities that share best practices when news breaks of mass violence. The first responders send cards. Victims’ families and survivors connect. Grief and trauma counselors share treatment methods. And museum officials reach out with guidance on saving memorial items because, after all, these are historic events. “Our job is to educate,” says Cynthia Sanford, registrar at the Clark County Museum, which has led the effort to save October 1 memorial items. It’s not something all afflicted communities do. There are those

10 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Shortly after the shooting, the Nevada that prefer to discard the heartbreaking State Museum in Las Vegas, the Mob Muserelics, and in areas with wet climates, the um, UNLV Library Special Collections, the posters and teddy bears and artwork that Oral History Research Center at UNLV, the collect can become too ruined to retain Las Vegas News Bureau, and Clark County their meaning. Here, though, cultural inMuseum leaders gathered to coordinate stitutions were willing and able to collect the effort. Public works emmemorial artifacts in the wake ployees did the heavy lifting. of the shooting. So far, the Clark Road and park maintenance County Museum has catalogued crews kept the memorials more than 15,000 of these sym“We don’t always remember things tidy and transferred items to bols of grief and resiliency, the because we’re the archival institutions six most poignant of which will be proud of them,” weeks after October 1, when on display for the anniversary. Sanford says. county officials decided that “We don’t always remember “We have to tell normalcy should return to things because we’re proud of the history, and the “Welcome to Las Vegas” them,” Sanford says of the colsometimes that’s sign, where crosses and flowers lection. “We have to tell the uncomfortable.” began to appear within hours history, and sometimes that’s of the shooting. uncomfortable.”

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

A 25-foot trailer made the first delivery to the Clark County Museum. At Heritage Street, a set of relocated historic buildings on museum property, Sanford and two volunteers began cataloging the items in an old Boulder City train depot. There were 58 wooden crosses bearing the names at the shooting’s 58 fatal victims. The symbolic grave markers sat in boxes with the items that surrounded them — paintings, hearts, cowboy hats, boots, candles, alcohol bottles with messages on the labels, stuffed toys, and more. Everything was separated into categories to streamline the documentation process. All personalized items would be preserved for future exhibits, but it was impractical to save unmarked candles or coins, so only those that had been altered in some way (marked with an “R.I.P.” or “RT91LOVE,” for example) were kept. The exhibit includes a description of the shooting, but is focused on these moments from the aftermath. “We’re trying to tell the story of the community,” says Sanford. “This was an event that happened, but what’s far more important to us is how the community reacted, because that’s what tells us about who we are.” They performed minor cleaning, but in the interest of authenticity, nothing is spotless. If a stuffed animal is shaken, dust will come out. Many of the items remain covered in candle wax, and though that’s not good for the artifact, Sanford said, it’s part of what happened. They sat in the sun for several weeks, in desert wind and dust. The feeling is that without the wear, these items might not have the same impact. To preserve the story, the museum is also asking people who laid these items at memorial sites to share their narratives for reference in future exhibits. Some of the artwork obviously took many hours to produce, and there are many personal notes written on candle labels and T-shirts. “In most history museums, the story behind the object is almost more important than the object itself,” Sanford says. “And that is definitely true of this collection.” A volunteer, Lynn Lenart, is engaged in the tedious work of labeling and bagging rosaries when I visit. In all, the Clark County Museum received 12 trailers’ worth of memorial items. For the past 10 months, a team of 25 volunteers has worked under Sanford’s supervision to catalogue each piece. They described, numbered, and photographed each item for the museum database as well.

America’s Most Popular Shutters Polywood® Shutters are Beautiful, Durable and Environmentally Friendly

Give your windows the treatment they deserve with Polywood® Shutters. Polywood is exclusive to Sunburst Shutters and adds tremendous value to your home. ❖

Reduce your energy bills

❖

Add equity to your home

❖

100% lifetime warranty

500

Get up to $ Off ® Polywood Shutters Minimum Order Required.

Design Center: 6480 W. Flamingo Rd., Suite D, Las Vegas

Free in-home consultation:

702-367-1600 SunburstShuttersLasVegas.com

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 11

“I just moved here three months before the shooting,” Lenart says. “I guess I felt since I didn’t know any of the victims and I’m not from here, it would be something emotional I could do, where people who wanted to help who knew the victims would have a harder time dealing with it.” Lynn Mertens, another volunteer, put the necklaces into heart shapes for the photos because “everyone should have a heart for what happened to those people.” She and another woman, Chris Barker-Stone, both mentioned that they were unable to donate blood, so this was their contribution to the healing process: sweat and tears. “It keeps you emotionally involved with what happened,” Mertens says. “I don’t want to lose that. I’m glad people are still keeping it in the news because it shouldn’t be forgotten.” The cataloging work took more than 7,000 volunteer hours. Of the 15,000-plus items, there are 405 rosaries, 416 stuffed toys, 450 candles, about 1,400 painted rocks, and about 1,500 artificial flowers. Barker-Stone says, “In the beginning, we were all crying. It was tough going for a while, but we’re okay now.” Some victims’ families have been granted private tours of the collection, and many out-of-state survivors told Sanford they intend to visit for the one-year anniversary. According to Schwartz, the Orlando-based memorial curator, the people most impacted by these tragedies often feel grateful that a museum honored their loved one’s memory, and for those participating in the collection work, there’s solace too. “After these events, a lot of people struggle,” she says. “Some go give blood, some donate water, some people make memorial items, and for other people, what we do is preserve the memorial items somebody else is making. Everybody tries to find the role that they can fulfill. We’re incredibly honored to be able to serve our community in that way.” ✦ How We Mourned: Selected Artifacts from the October 1 Memorials is on exhibit through February 24 at the Clark County Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway, 702-455-7955.

12 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

BRAIN DRAIN

Election results notwithstanding, a lot of experience will be leaving the Legislature soon BY STEVE SEBELIUS

NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MIDTERMS, NEVADA’S LEGISLATURE WILL be a much different, much less-experienced place when the 2019 session begins. At least six members of the Senate won’t be back, and a seventh — state Sen. Aaron Ford, the majority leader — would abandon his seat if he’s elected attorney general. Those seats comprise fully a third of the Senate’s membership. In the Assembly, at least 10 members are leaving, nearly a quarter of the body. All told, the Legislature stands to lose at least 105 years of experience. Although some would argue new blood is good in politics, lawmakers — like the holders of any job — get better the longer they practice. Time spent crafting bills, vetting legislation, and forging the kind of compromises that get measures through the process and to the governor’s desk is hard-won. It can’t be taught by anything but experience. Anyone who’s watched the final night of a Legislative session — as bills race between the houses, lobbyists jockey for the attention of elected officials, and last-minute amendments come in a torrent — knows the value of that experience. The six definitely leaving the upper house represent a combined loss of 69 years of service, ameliorated slightly by the fact that some experienced Assembly members will seek some of those Senate seats. But even if every one of them is elected, we’re still looking at a net loss of four decades of experience in the Senate. In some cases, senators decided not to seek re-election, such as nonpartisan Patty Farley, or Don Gustavson, R-Sparks. In another case, a job beckoned: In January, Sen. Becky Harris, R-Las Vegas, was named chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Two others are pursuing higher office: Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, and Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, are running for lieutenant governor and the Clark County Commission, respectively. And state Sen. Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, resigned after years of sexual harassment allegations. He had the most combined experience of any senator, with 23 years spent in the Senate and Assembly. There may be some familiar faces on the Senate floor come February, however. Former Assemblywomen Valerie Weber, a Republican, and Marilyn Dondero Loop, a Democrat, are facing off to replace Farley. Term-limited Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, is vying to replace Manendo. Freshman Assemblyman Keith Pickard, R-Henderson, is looking for a promotion to Roberson’s seat. And Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, will likely replace Gustavson. But those departures will leave the Assembly with less experience, too: Thanks to new jobs, members not seeking re-election, or runs for higher office, the Assembly will lose 10 members with 64 combined years of legislative service. That includes Minority Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, who took a job heading the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Five more — Elliot Anderson; Irene Bustamante-Adams; Justin Watkins, all D-Las Vegas; Amber Joiner, D-Reno; and Melissa Woodbury, R-Henderson — are not seeking re-election. The others are seeking higher office, including Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, who is running for secretary of state. One group that won’t be seeing much turnover is the legislative lobbying corps, an experienced group of advocates that doesn’t change much from session to session, and which vastly outnumbers the 63 elected lawmakers. In many cases, institutional knowledge reposes with the people paid to get bills passed (or, more commonly, killed), rather than with the people elected to actually pass those bills. Decide for yourself whether that’s good or bad. ✦

y o u r

14 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Steven Poscente THREE | P R O F I L E

To this lifelong amateur player, hockey is much more than a sport BY

John M. Glionna

t’s another sweltering late-summer evening and Steven Poscente is on the ice, like he always is, playing hockey. He wears No. 88 for the Shamrocks, and they’re skating hard against a team from Nellis Air Force Base in the cool, 60-degree confines of a casino rink in North Las Vegas. Near the end of the first period, Poscente takes a pass just outside the crease and gracefully flips a shot over the shoulder of the Nellis goalie, putting the Shamrocks up 2-1. Poscente is no schoolboy. In his day job, the 55-year-old manages eight funeral homes. Most of his teammates in this adult amateur league are about his age. There’s a helicopter pilot, a college professor, a baker, and a guy who sells auto loans. They’re among some 200 avid players who compete in the Average Joes league at the Fiesta Rancho hotel-casino rink, skating for teams with names like Puck Dynasty, Ice-a-Holics, and Drunk Deplorables. Poscente grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where hockey is life. And that didn’t change when he moved to Las Vegas in 1991. In a desert city where ice usually means the cubes that tumble inside a cocktail glass, Poscente is part of a thriving hockey fraternity that has existed for decades, long before the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights ignited a fan frenzy this spring by reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs in the team’s first year of existence. Poscente says the passion for hockey here makes perfect sense: “A lot of people move to Las Vegas from cold places. And what do people do in cold places? They play hockey.” Only one of the dozen Shamrocks is a Las Vegas native; most speak in clipped East Coast accents honed in Boston or Long Island. One Michigan native says he was attracted to Las Vegas not only by such

PHOTOGRAPHY C hristopher Smith

NEVADA BALLET THEATRE PRESENTS

Music by Franz Liszt Choreography by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E.

October 25–28, 2018

(702) 749-2000 • NevadaBallet.org

PHOTO BY JERRY METELLUS

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 15

former semi-pro teams as the Outlaws, Gamblers and Thunder but by the thriving amateur circuit: “I didn’t come here for the weather or the women. I came for the hockey.” Along with the Fiesta rink, skaters slap sticks at the Las Vegas Ice Center in Spring Valley and at Summerlin’s City National Arena, where the Golden Knights practice. There are plenty of players to fill amateur squads. “If I type the word ‘hockey’ in my iPhone address book, 300 names come up, including a guy in his 70s. The word ‘goalie’ brings up 20 names,” Poscente says. “People think the hockey culture arrived with the Golden Knights, but I’ve played three nights a week for 27 years. I tell my wife that I shower with my hockey guys after games a lot more than I do with her.” Poscente has 8mm film of his parents putting him on the rink at age four. He played in college and continued skating after he married and started a family. His father was a hockey player; his son plays college hockey. He says there’s nothing sweeter than five teammates touching the puck before it slides in for a goal. He’s played all the positions: goalie, defenseman, and forward. Before the Nellis game, as he changes into his green-red-and-white Shamrocks uniform in the locker room, he explains there’s no checking in the Average Joes league. “Just incidental contact,” he says and laughs. (Gray-haired and husky at six-feet tall and 226 pounds, he later sent an opponent sprawling to the ice.) “When you get in my way, you fall over.” Poscente doesn’t just play hockey; he’s also been a coach. On Monday nights in North Las Vegas, he sponsors “Hockey Nights in Vegas,” an open skate for all ages that features competitive games with music during warmups, and drinks afterward. He’s also the public-address announcer for events such as UNLV hockey, the Las Vegas Storm semi-pro team, and the Mountain West Hockey League. Poscente even recently got married on the ice. In February, during a Golden Knights game against the Edmonton Oilers, Poscente staged what may very well be a sports first: He made a surprise proposal to his girlfriend, Cari, during a TV break in the first period — and the couple was married in an on-ice ceremony (officiated, of course, by an Elvis) before the third period that same night. As the arena roared its approval, the team presented the newlyweds with “Mr. and Mrs. Golden Knights” jerseys. In the end, the game against Nellis went into overtime before the Shamrocks lost 6-5. “I had the final shot and I messed up,” Poscente says. But in the Las Vegas hockey fraternity, there are no hard feelings. “You can be mad at a guy on the ice,” Poscente says, “but five minutes after the game, you’re having a beer together.” ✦

16 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

4 Pop Quiz D O YO U TA K E H A L L OW E E N T O O S E R I O U S LY ? That is a fake skeleton in your front-yard decoratio n, right? Right? BY

Scott Dickensheets

Your costume will be …

❑ Normal clothing, because “I’m going as myself” (0 pts) ❑ Handmade superhero outfit (3 pts) ❑ Clown suit, with a little of the original clown still inside (10 pts)

What phrase best describes your front-yard display?

❑ “You’ll scream — with delight!” (3 pts) ❑ “It’ll scare the bejesus out of you!” (5 pts) ❑ “We have paramedics on speed dial!” (8 pts)

What word best describes your party?

❑ “Spooktacula r!” (3 pts) ❑ “Boo-riffic!” (5 pts) ❑ “Donner” (8 pts)

The best thing about Halloween is …

❑ Adorable trick-or-treaters (2 pts) ❑ Dissipating my real-life fears with a few harmlessly macabre

antics (5 pts)

❑ Really getting into Jigsaw’s headspace (8 pts)

Instead of unhealthy candy, you give trick-or-treaters …

❑ Sugar-free candy (2 pts) ❑ Bags of celery and granola (4 pts) ❑ Embalming tools (6 pts)

Hey, nice skeleton by your door!

❑ “Thanks! I bought 30 of ’em for $12 at Costco!” (3 pts) ❑ “Do you have a warrant?” (10 pts) ❑ “You do have a warrant? But not for the clown suit, right?” (Eek!)

Your jack-o’-lantern …

❑ Is carved in the traditional manner (2 pts) ❑ Has a complex scene cut into it by a skilled artisan (6 pts) ❑ That’s not a pumpkin, is it? (10 pts)

Your favorite part of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, is …

❑ Snoopy dresses up as a WWI flying ace (3 pts) ❑ The whole gang joins Linus in the pumpkin patch (5 pts) ❑ Your imagined post-credit sequence in which Charlie Brown

finds himself in the Blair Witch’s basement, standing silently in the corner, as Pigpen keels over in the foreground … (9 pts)

SCORE: 18-30 You’re as boring as cheap plastic fangs 31-45 You can understudy Jack Skellington! 46-59 We’re backing slowly away …

Discover

CENTENNIAL HILLS HOSPITAL

Our Cardiology Program Is Good For Your Heart Specialty cardiac care at Centennial Hills Hospital: • Accredited Chest Pain Center

• Specialty trained clinical team

• Certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center

• Advanced treatments and procedures - Cardiac catheterization - Pacemaker placement - Intravascular ultrasound - Angioplasty and stenting - Echocardiography

• Stroke Gold Plus Honor Roll Elite (American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association) • Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Center Silver Recognition Award

Recognize the signs and symptoms of a possible heart attack and know what to do if you suspect a heart attack. In case of an emergency call 911. Learn about the signs and symptoms of a possible heart attack at www.centennialhillshospital.com

6900 North Durango Dr. • Las Vegas, NV 89149 702-835-9700

Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. For language assistance, disability accommodations and the non-discrimination notice, visit our website. 183021

Midway Reflections FIVE | MEMORY

A local kid remembers Circus Circus, which turns 50 this month, as the Las Vegas version of the malt shop BY

James P. Reza

rom Downtown to the Strip, from Nellis Air Force Base to the Nevada Test Site, Las Vegas in 1968 was bursting with ambition and enthusiasm like any good boomtown should. We were a desert island of opportunity, one not just isolated from the upheaval found in much of the country, but also providing an escape from it. Savvy entrepreneurs and risk-takers like Jay Sarno knew it. It was Sarno who, in 1966, opened Caesars Palace. As grand as it was, Caesars was not unique to Las Vegas. It was, rather, the culmination of Sarno’s obsession with highly stylized, mid-mod Greco-Roman hotels. Historic photos of his Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, California (1962), depict a Caesars Palace in miniature, replete with a breezeblock façade, a row of sexily lit fountains, and statues that reportedly made the move to the Strip. It wasn’t until two years later, in October 1968, that Sarno’s only-in-Vegas phantasmagoria — Circus Circus — would forever color the myth of Las Vegas. Ironically, despite Circus Circus being featured in Diamonds Are Forever, Caesars was the James Bond setting, all posh and demure and civilized. Meanwhile, at Circus Circus (described by Hunter S. Thompson as “what the whole hep world would be doing on a Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war”), parents furiously pumped quarters into the machines downstairs while kids did the same upstairs. Cocktail waitresses in circus-styled leotards and fishnets

18 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

scampered about as circus acts careened wildly above the gaming floor, a massive net placed to catch any falls. Ringmasters booming though the public-address system. Elephants and trained poodles prancing. Acrobats and trapeze artists tumbling and swinging. G-string-clad showgirls tossing phallic balloons from a “pony parade in the sky” to the kids on the second-flood midway. Not even kidding. It was that midway that captured my preteen attention. Permanent carnival games like Kentucky Derby

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Hear More

and the Clown Water Balloon Race (both still operating!) offered giant prizes (I once won a Sylvester the Cat bigger than I was). Later, into adolescence, weekend nights at Circus Circus were essentially the Las Vegas version of the malt shop. Teens would hang out in the sizable arcade, socialize, meet for dates (or find one), scarf pizza, and spend the evening making laps around the midway, waiting for something to happen. One night, it did; a parking garage confrontation with older kids from another high school left my friend Jeff with a sizable black eye. I don’t remember going back to Circus Circus as a teen after that. Years later, Circus Circus served as the go-to for cheap eats while my girl and I put ourselves through school and survived on soup and potatoes. We’d save quarters we’d get in tips, and treat ourselves to a buffet gorging session — endless hot food! piles of soft serve! $3 a person! — once a week. More recently, a group of us rented a party bus on New Year’s Eve, starting our night at the legendary Circus Circus Steakhouse. Sadly, by that time, the notorious Horse-A-Round bar had stopped serving alcohol. Today, it’s just another ho-hum snack bar. Even the FrightDome Halloween attraction has ended its run. As a Las Vegas native, I was born between the arrival of Sarno’s two gifts to the Strip. Thus it makes sense that I often find myself walking an emotional high wire, balancing between my own highbrow and lowbrow instincts. As much as I like the overarching influence of Caesars — the fancy dinners, the pricey martinis (stirred, with apologies) — there is something wonderful in knowing that all these decades later, Circus Circus still stands to remind us of what Las Vegas once was: a kaleidoscopic confluence of the id and the ego, the adult and the child, coexisting in a place on the fringes where one can indulge the desire to have it all, without decorum or apology, for what appears to be lowest price possible. ✦

knpr.org, search “Grandissimo”

ROLLING THROUGH MEMORY Reliving the unchanging past at Crystal Palace

When I was in elementary school, my mom enrolled me in the Crystal Palace skating program. I never perfected my T-stop, but all 9-year-old me cared about was skating backwards and beating everyone in our after-class races. I still enjoy skating, but this place offers so much more. I love having a corner in Las Vegas that still exists from my childhood, that remains almost the same every time I go back 20 years later. It’s such a rare occurrence for a Vegas kid. You walk in and the rows of blue and red metal picnic tables atop sapphire-colored carpet with the confetti pattern are exactly the same. You hear skates whirring, mixed with all your favorite ’80s and Sense ’90s R&B, while the lights from the disco ball bounce off the walls of Place in the darkened skating hall ... Krystal Ramirez In which creative people find meaning in specific sites around town

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 19

Rescue on the Lake SEVEN

With all the other disasters that occupied headlines last summer, you may have missed the news of a dramatic night rescue at Lake Mead. On June 24, National Park rangers rescued 17 people from two boats, one sunken and the other swamped. STORY

A group of friends took two boats to Lover’s Cove for an afternoon barbecue. By the time they were ready to leave, it was getting windy. A group of eight took the larger boat to unload heavy gear at the marina, planning to return for the others. But the boat was beached before reaching the marina.

Heidi Kyser |

ILLUSTRATION

Ryan Inzana

After midnight, the remaining nine — including two toddlers — piled into the smaller boat to make a run for home. Thirty-eight mph wind gusts whipped up four-foot and higher waves. The boat took on water, flipped over and dumped the group into the water.

At nearly 2 a.m., someone from the sinking boat reached 9-1-1. A Lake Mead dispatcher could only hear faint screams, as the caller held the phone in his mouth and treaded water. Using GPS tracking, rangers located the call.

By the time search and rescue arrived, the boat was submerged except for the bow, and the group had been treading water for nearly an hour. In news reports, those rescued described bright searchlights arriving in the cold dark like a scene from the movie Titanic. A second ranger crew located the larger, beached boat and group of eight. All 17 friends, including two infants and an expectant mother, were rescued by 4 a.m.

20 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

The park superintendent lauded search and rescue’s effort for returning everyone to safety. Three people went to the hospital; all recovered.

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

PROHIBITION EXHIBITION | HAND-CRAFTED COCKTAILS | DISTILLERY TOURS & TASTINGS

O C TOMUSEUM B E R 2 0 1 8 .| DTHEMOBMUSEUM.ORG E S E R T C O M P A N I O N | 21 HOURS OF OPERATION: 9 AM - 12 PM |300 STEWART AVE | LOCATED INSIDE THE MOB

3 Plays for the Price of 2 Fall Season Pass - $99 THE LIAR • THE FOREIGNER • AN ILIAD

Download our new app for show dates, information, and more!

800-PLAYTIX

A LL OUT FOOD, CULTURE, STYLE, AND OTHER PULSE-OF-THE-CITY STUFF

Hear More knpr.org, search “Claire Vaye Watkins”

Coming Home, Sort of C U LT U R E | EXCHANGE

Married authors Claire Vaye Watkins and Derek Palacio discuss the Las Vegas Book Festival, haunted writers, and returning to the West

ILLUSTRATION

Delphine Lee

Derek: Claire, we made it! We live in the West now, which has been a dream of ours for quite some time. We’ve talked a little bit about how that feels, but now that we’ve settled a little more into our Las Vegas lives, I was curious how you’re thinking about our relocation. We spent 10 years in the Midwest, and now we’re in the big city over the mountain from your childhood home of Pahrump. Do you feel like this is a homecoming? Or are you still just taking in Las Vegas, noticing all the ways it’s changed since the last time you lived out here? Claire: I’ve never lived in Las Vegas, but it’s been my city since I can remember, destination of many long car trips from Pahrump or Tecopa. We’d come here about once a month for groceries and supplies and to visit my relatives, and you and I have come through town just about every summer for the past five years to do the Mojave School, our free workshop for teenagers in Pahrump. So, I feel a kind of uncanny sense of homecoming — homecoming to a city where I have never actually lived. I think it will take me some time to articulate just what it means to me to be back under this sky. And of course, it’s a tremendous honor to be here as a Shearing Fellow at UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute, which has already done so much to invigorate the city’s literary and cultural scene, the Believer Festival, and beyond. They’ve got a stelO C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 23

BOOKMARKS

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAS VEGAS BOOK FESTIVAL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad), Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars), Luis J. Rodriguez (Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.)

A F R O F U T U R I S M PA N E L Nnedi Okorafor leads an all-star discussion

GREGORY CROSBY Former local poet returns to read from his new collection

P O P C U LT U R E AND POLITICS Culture critics Hanif Adburraqib, Carina Chocano, and Tom Carson discuss the intersection of entertainment and politics

WRITING ABOUT PLACE Amanda Fortini moderates a talk featuring locally connected novelist Claire Vaye Watkins and others

TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS UNGER The venerable UNLV English prof is feted by former students including George Saunders, Maile Chapman, Vu Tran, and more

COMPLETE SCHEDULE lasvegasbookfestival.com

24 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Everybody in Las Vegas has a good story. lar season of programs this fall. I’m super I’m working to capture that, now that I’m stoked about the Las Vegas Book Festival, immersed in it. What are you working on which is always amazing. during your Black Mountain fellowship? Derek: Yes, I’m really excited, as this will Derek: That sounds really exciting. I be my first appearance at the Las Vegas hope you let me read it ... I’m working on Book Festival! I’m fortunate to be talking a new novel about a swimmer, an Olymabout immigration and fiction with Joe pic hopeful. The book is also Milan Jr., award-winning auabout sex and religion, and it thor and one of the current does venture into some mysBlack Mountain Institute tical terrain (or at least it does Ph.D. fellows. My novel, The “Hauntings right now — I’m only halfway are crucial for Mortifications, concerns a Cuwriters, don’t there!). But I wanted, in the ban family moving back and you think? All my wake of The Mortifications, forth from the island, and I’m favorite writers to explore a little more diexcited to revisit some of the circle the same rectly my own ambivalence conversations surrounding few obsessions, about my Cuban identity, to that kind life-changing relocaeven when find a way to engage the modtion and exile. I made my first they’re branchern tenuousness of the Cutrip to Cuba after the book ing out in other ban-American experience. came out (just three weeks ways.” My swimmer is of Cuban herafter), so it will be really initage, and at some point, he is teresting, now that I’ve had going to defect to the island some time to process that exin order to compete at the Olympics. I’m perience, to dig into questions of home curious as to what this might look like, and identity. I think in the end we might how a character might engage one of their be covering similar ground at the festiidentities as a response to their ambition. val. As I recall, you’ll be on a panel about I also think there might be wonderful writing about the American West. I’ve and revealing tension in a character’s unalways marveled at your ability to engage settled experience of a country he claims in the mythos of the West without gloribut does not know. At the same time, the fying the propaganda, and I wonder now book, I hope, is also about Catholic mystiif you feel your writing responding to this cism, about a sense of the self in relation sort-of homecoming. Do you think your to larger spiritual mysteries. I do think current projects will shift from the rethere is some exciting overlap between turn? Do you think coming back is going the two, as the call toward an unknown to affect your writing with the same force “home” does not feel too distant from the as leaving the West did 10 years ago? call toward an unknown god. More likely Claire: Well, I hope so! As you know, this I just can’t think of anything new to write was one of the many reasons for moving about, so I’m returning to old haunts. back here: The writer I want to be lives Claire: Old haunts are the very best in the West. For years I’ve been describhaunts! I mean it. Hauntings are crucial ing myself as a Westerner in exile in the for writers, don’t you think? All my favorMidwest, which you always roll your eyes ite writers circle the same few obsessions, at. I’ve made so many trips back here to even when they’re branching out in other research the novel I’m working on, but ways. That Rachel Cusk trilogy we deultimately, I knew I needed to be out here voured this summer? Circles, hauntings. for good. The first Westerns were written The main character Faye’s family is specby folks who only visited the West, about tral in those novels, yet they’re central to a place and a way of life (open-range agriCusk’s inquiry — her kids, that jettisoned culture) that they had never experienced. husband. I think one of the spider-senses Propaganda and nostalgia filled the void. a writer must develop is a sensitivity to Literature of the American West grew in what haunts them. And then, of course, response to this flattening, and many of you have to somehow summon the bravus are still working against this narraery to run toward that thing, to not run tive. That being said, nowhere has stories away from it. That’s the advice I give to like Nevada. I love the way people talk writers most: Write what scares you. here, the frankness and the music of it.

10 20

LAS VEGAS BOOK FESTIVAL Begins at 9 a.m., Historic Fifth Street School, free, lasvegasbookfestival.org

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Derek: I love this, and I can see in your own work how seriously you take this advice. I think in each of your books, you’ve tried to engage some deeper level of Nevada and/or the American West. Some element of the culture and places you come from that feels both true but also unnerving, a bit unsettling. In Battleborn, you wrote so stunningly about how the landscape governs our sensibilities, and in Gold Fame Citrus, you confronted the limits of the myths of the American West, the decay of a philosophy in the face of environmental crisis. So perhaps you would agree with me on this idea, that the writers we both love to read (like Rachel Cusk, Louise Erdrich, Tommy Orange, Joy Williams, Toni Morrison) probably

feel equally haunted by their obsessions. Really, I’m saying it’s a two-way street, that when a writer finds her materials — the obsessions — that content exerts a force on her. It shapes and influences the resulting text as much as the writer’s own impulses and aesthetic. It’s easy to treat the writer as an authority, and what I love about our obsessions is how they lean on us, consciously and subconsciously, such that we can never claim complete control over a novel or a short story. The best material, when we engage it openly and honestly, resists absolute power. That’s the mystery I sense in my favorite books, and I think it’s also what allows us to return to certain subjects, to make of each new project a homecoming. ✦

NURTURE YOUR VENUE: Once you choose a location, develop the relationship. Some sites charge fees. Others require food minimums. In Las Vegas, plenty of businesses will provide space pro bono to support the community. Whether you are blessed with one of these or tied to restrictions, you cannot succeed without this partnership. Be vocal in your appreciation, online and in person. Your success is tied to theirs.

PRO TIPS

Create Your Own Book Event!

Veteran literary organizer Tonya Todd tells you how

I L LU S T R AT I O N : S C OT T L I E N

Las Vegas provides a wealth of cultural opportunities, but we can always use more. As the coordinator of the reading series Dime Grinds for the Henderson Writers Group, I’m familiar with the challenges of organizing literary events. These tips will help you start your own. ATTEND LITERARY FUNCTIONS: It’s the best way to meet your pool of authors. See firsthand how venues are arranged and what types of crowds to expect. Study successful examples: the EXPO series hosted by the Writer’s Block (five writers each get five

minutes to read); the 25-minute excerpts for Writers Group of Southern Nevada’s Painted Stories; and yes, Dime Grinds, where three authors have 30 minutes each. This will help you determine your event’s goal, whether it’s showcasing unpublished talent, providing genre-themed readings, or bringing the public within reach of established authors. DECIDE YOUR FORMAT: Establish logistics up front. Event length determines how long each author may read. Decide attendance fees (if any), qualifications for featured authors, and other details before you approach venues or prospective talent.

CREATE HANDOUTS: Word-of-mouth won’t beat a tangible flier, take-home postcard, or online presence. BE PREPARED: Cancellations happen. The show must go on. Have a list of backup authors in case you need a short-notice replacement. Once your event builds momentum, you may find authors jumping at the chance to fill an earlier slot. Above all, enjoy yourself. Learn as you go. Smile. Snap lots of pictures. You’ll need them to celebrate your success. (For more on Dime Grinds, see hendersonwritersgroup. com) O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 25

Lucha Libre Las Vegas brings playful action, colorful masks, and tales of good and evil to Sin City BY

Jessica Keasling

n a sweaty summer afternoon, a line forms outside the Sahara Events Center. Kids, families, couples, and friends are waiting to see a theatrical battle between good and evil — which is to say, Lucha Libre Las Vegas. Lucha libre translates in Spanish as “free fight” and is a Mexican style of wrestling dating back more than a century. It’s distinguished in part by its aerial and acrobatic combinations, and even more so by the iconic masks (màscaras) worn by many, though not all, luchadores. The show begins when the deep, raspy voice of the announcer signals the fighters to come out and rev up the audience. As they jump into the ring, you hear the uproarious echoes as they hit the floor. Nicholas Cvjetkovich — known in the ring as Sinn Bodhi — is the creator of Lu-

26 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

cha Libre Las Vegas. A veteran wrestler, Cvjetkovich has performed all over the world, including time spent in WWE as KiZarny. He also produced Freakshow Wrestling and coaches wrestlers. “In all of Las Vegas there is such a big Latin population, but there’s no lucha libre,” Cvjetkovich says. “Well, I’ve been in Mexico wrestling, and I’ve wrestled luchadores all over the world, and I thought, ‘I live in Las Vegas. This would be a wonderful place to do lucha libre.’” For two years now, Lucha Libre Las Vegas has brought in fighters with names like Mariachi Loco, Ricky Mandell, Socal Crazy, Psychosis, Bestia 666, Puma King, Funnybone, Gabriel Gallo, “The Juice”

10 28

LUCHA LIBRE LAS VEGAS October 28, 1:30p, Sahara Event Center, 800 E. Karen Ave., $15-$45 ($5 for children)

I L LU S T R AT I O N : S C OT T L I E N

It’s Lucha Time! E N T E R TA I N M E N T | WRESTLING

Juventud Guerrera, and King’s Ran$om. Also featured in the July event was an intermission appearance by El Matemàtico, a legend in the lucha libre community — his name is reflected in the numbers that decorate his màscara — who signed memorabilia, posed for pictures, and greeted fans. “I’ve been in wrestling for over 50 years, so I’m amazed that people still remember,” El Matemàtico says through a translator. “The people still know us, so it’s very rewarding.” In addition to its high-flying moves and athleticism, not to mention the excitement of letting go of your nonviolent 9-to-5 demeanor, lucha libre brings a storytelling element to the mayhem. It’s all about good vs. evil. Cvjetkovich describes the técnico, the beloved good guy: “The good guy is this good-looking Mexican hero who’s waving to the crowd and smiling.” Then out comes out the rudo (the bad guy, disliked by the crowd), which in July’s lucha libre event was none other than Sinn Bodhi. As the luchadores jump, hit, and slam each other, the 400-500 people surrounding the ring cheer the choreographed violence. When the rudo appears to get the upper hand, everyone boos. And when the técnico pins his opponent, the crowd counts in unison. “When we have our matches,” Cvjetkovich says, “when they get to see what the good guy does to the bad guy, the little kids get to see, ‘Ahh it doesn’t pay to be the bad guy.’ You’re kind of shrinking the heads of these little kids, letting them see the fight between good and evil. You know, it’s a really powerful tool, and I’m super flattered that we wield that tool.” In the end, the hero almost always prevails. A week later, there’s a different dynamic between performers. Bodhi and Matemàtico are in the same place, not as rudo and técnico but as friends enthusiastic about lucha libre. They are there for wrestling students Cvjetkovich coaches. Matemàtico is giving them a seminar. “People deserve smiles,” Cvjetkovich says, “and this is how I know to give it to them. Like, if I knew how to solve world peace or cure cancer, I would do that. But I’m not that smart. What I can do is be a fun-to-watch bad guy, and deliver fun-to-watch good guys, and deliver a smile that way.” ✦

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

THE

Hot Seat

Culture

ART WALK UNLV

Dance

Dracula THE SMITH CENTER

Nevada Ballet Theatre puts its vamp stamp on the spooky season with Dracula, an epic gothstravaganza of Ben Stevenson’s choreography; Franz Liszt’s music; lush costumes and sets; and rich, evil atmosphere. There’s also a love story! October 25-28, 7:30p and 2p, $29-$139, nevadaballet.org

UNLV’s fine and performing arts programs kick off the fall with a campus-wide kulcha stroll. You’ll begin at the Barrick Museum, with the gotta-see-it installation Jubilation Inflation — bounce houses of art! — and then you’ll meander through the university’s various galleries, theater spaces, and more, to see what the music, dance, theater, architecture, art, and film people have in store for you. October 12, 5-9p, unlv.edu/ calendar

THE BIG (SOCIAL) D: Come on, you know the words: “Well, it’s been 10 years and a thousand tears/And look at the mess I’m in …” Ha! Now you’ve been earwormed by Social Distortion’s insistently catchy “Ball and Chain.” Good luck with that! October 27, 7p, $40-$60, brooklynbowl.com

Recreation

Dance

LAKE MEAD VISITOR CENTER

THE SMITH CENTER

LAKE MEAD BIRTHDAY

BALLET FOLKLORICO DE MEXICO

Lake Mead? Let’s call it Cake Mead on this, the 54th anniversary of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area’s birth. There will be a celebration, complete with birthday cake served at 12:30p — but what flavor? Chocolate? Angel food? Carp? You’ll have to show up to find out. October

Broaden a cultural horizon or two — especially at this fraught moment in U.S.-Mexico relations — with this troupe’s vast repertoire of traditional Mexican dances, newly reinvigorated with fresh choreography for this American tour. Look for the Ballet Azteca, a tribute to the ancient Aztec people, which the company hasn’t performed in America for some 50 years. October 15,

8, 702-293-8990.

7:30p, $26-$79, thesmithcenter.com O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 27

THE

Hot Seat

Discover

Bishop Gorman

Prospective Student

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 • 1:00–3:00 PM APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE visit:

BISHOPGORMAN.ORG

MAKE ROOM FOR SOMETHING NEW. Donate furniture, housewares and clothes Recycle glass, plastic and cardboard Bring your old computers and appliances Shred paperwork and magazines We’ll even take your unused and expired medications

RECYCLE DAY November 17

FREE from 8 a.m. to noon. For the full list of items we can accept please visit NevadaPublicRadio.org.

28 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Opera

A NIGHT WITH THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

CHARLESTON HEIGHTS ARTS CENTER

Whatever outdated notion you have of opera — women in horned helmets singing in a foreign language; men in odd suits singing in a foreign language; Elmer Fudd bellowing “Kill da wabbit” — is sure to be retrofitted for the 21st century by a production like Sin City Opera’s latest. A contemporary reworking of the Richard Wagner classic (about a cursed pirate seeking love), it mashes up the old (a 14-piece orchestra) with the new (“multimedia video, projections, and movies”) in what almost can’t help but be a fascinating endeavor. October 25-28, 7:30p and 2p, $15-$50, sincityopera.com

WRITE ON: Joseph Cassara reads from The House of Impossible Beauties, his debut novel about gay and trans club kids. Presented by Black Mountain Institute. October 4, 7p, The Writer’s Block, free, blackmountaininstitute.org

Film BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL: RADICAL REELS CLARK COUNTY LIBRARY Whether you’re an extreme sportster yourself or prefer to shred vicariously, this batch of big-action films will challenge your ability to sit still. So much bike jumping, kayak dropping, and ski stunting! Live on the edge, and then go over it. October 3, 7p, free (but wristbands are required and will be distributed beginning at 6p), lvccld.org

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

FINCH OSSUARY What does one find at a Dark Arts Market? Erin Emre’s “finch ossuary,” a tiny terrarium of bird bones, for one. $80. CRASS STITCHING Artist Slade Vegas fashions these embroidered doodads, with prices that range from $10 and up. Preview her work at sladevegas.com/ shop FIGURINES These cuties were devised by artisans Christopher Moore under the name We Become Monsters. Time for a new spirit animal!

The Rising Dark S U B C U LT U R E

FIRE SKULLS Turn your barbecue into a macabrecue with these firepit skulls. “We strive to make the most realistic portrayal of a human skull,” insists FKAfire Skulls. Various prices.

The Dark Arts Market is finding an audience for its celebrations of the charmingly macabre and the strangely beautiful BY

Veronica Klash

t’s a Friday the 13th. We park in the crowded dirt lot by Artifice. As we wait for the light to change at the Charleston Boulevard crosswalk, I notice the population around us. They’re clad mostly in black, fishnet stockings make an appearance or two, and there are piercings, tattoos, and hair in magnificent colors only found in rainbows. But there are also strollers, toddlers, teens, and everything in between. The Dark Arts Market at Cornish Pasty is for the whole (Addams) family. After all, the family that’s table, as a charismatic sword-swallower weird together stays together. And, according to founder Erin Emre, “lots of weirdness” takes the stage. is one of the market’s best features. Emre began The Dark Arts Market as a As the name implies, the event showcases vendors who deal in the macabre, dabble in small gathering after traditional festivals and the peculiar, but, most important, deliver artistry. Once inside Cornish Pasty, we — along arts venues rejected her for being “too weird.” with many others; the back room and billiard area are both brimming — examine tables But something about this small gathering decorated in chilling craftsmanship. An assortment of jars containing reptiles suspended in has struck a chord in the community, and clear liquid churns my stomach. In stark contrast, the neighboring table is home to dainty attendance has been increasing steadily. I tea cups, each emblazoned with a single, shiny gold, not-safe-for-work word. There are also meet Emre at the urban farm McKee Ranch, coffin-shaped shelving units and intricate jewelry in all the many shades of black. her workplace, to discuss the Market. While My husband lingers by a fluffy white taxidermied jackalope with millennial-pink glossy redressing a fly-covered bandage for Duncan, eyes, wearing a floral prairie dress. I recognize the look in his eyes and tell him we should a burro, she explains the increase in turnout take her home; he sighs and reveals the price tag. It’s completely justified, but sadly out of our range. My luck is better, and I snag a matte sea-foam-green tiki mug starring a menacing 10 THE DARK ARTS MARKET October 13, 7p-midnight, Cornish Pasty and beautifully textured aquatic creature. We 13 Company, 10 E. Charleston Blvd., $5, facebook.com/darkartsoddities continue to navigate the crowd, waiting for our

PHOTOGRAPHY

Brent Holmes

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 29

YOU REALLY LOVE OUR MAGAZINE. NOW YOU CAN LOVE IT VIRTUALLY, TOO. Visit us at desertcompanion.vegas and check out our website. Between editions of our Maggie Award-winning magazine, you’ll get web-exclusive stories, breaking cultural news and fresh perspectives from our writers.

30 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

as a response to the event’s humility and lack of pretension. She describes it as “dinner with friends” — particularly challenging for someone who characterizes herself as an “antisocial hermit type.” She makes a concentrated effort because what started out as a defiant middle finger to the venues that rejected her has morphed into a platform for emerging artists, some who are still figuring out how to make money creating the unusual things they love. In our conversation, punctuated by rooster crows and goat bleats, Emre stresses time and again the importance of that platform and getting those artists seen. “The biggest challenge is to keep pushing forward so that these kids have a platform, ’cause it’s not about me anymore,” she says. At first glance, this “accidental promoter” might seem like a contradiction — a warm, welcoming smile surrounded by labyrinthine face tattoos, the bright sunshine of McKee Ranch in contrast to the darkness of the Market. Emre, however, is nothing if not consistent: The care provided to Duncan sprouts from the same heart that’s pushing boundaries and encouraging creativity. Thinking about the future, she says, “Some people want it to get bigger; I really like the homey feeling.” The Market feels DIY in the best sense of the acronym — it’s the embodiment of forging something out of nothing. “The owners of Cornish Pasty, they’re amazing,” she says. “For the last three times that we’ve done the Dark Arts Market, they’ve allowed us to come and set up for no charge. To me, that’s what supporting the artist really means.” This allows Emre to charge vendors a smaller fee, helping ensure the evening will be profitable for them. The one-night-only Market normally takes place on Fridays the 13th. However, since we’ve run out of those this year, Saturday the 13th will have to do. There was no way Emre would pass up the chance to mount Dark Arts Market during October, the most appropriate month. Cornish Pasty is on board to host the free bizarre bazaar again, but keep an eye on social media just in case. During this month’s event, Market-goers can look forward to artists selling ghoulish wares, more arresting sideshow performances, insect pinning, and the Hearse Kids, who will have a variety of hearses on display for the funereally inclined. What better way to set the mood for Halloween celebrations to come? Of course, the real draw will be the sense of camaraderie and family among those who might be just a little too strange or different for the rest of the world. ✦

There’s a big life inside every Ascent. ™

Presenting the all-new 3-row 2019 Subaru Ascent.

Families grow and so does the list of things you want to see together. That’s why we’ve built our biggest SUV ever. Standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive + up to 27 mpg.* Room for up to 8 passengers, with a choice of second-row captain’s chairs or bench seating. You can even tow up to 5,000 pounds.† Love is now bigger than ever.

Ascent. Well-equipped at $31,995.**

There’s a dog park at the new location!

Subaru is a registered trademark. *EPA-estimated highway fuel economy for 2019 Subaru Ascent and Ascent Premium models with standard equipment. 2019 Subaru Ascent Limited shown is rated at 26 mpg highway. Actual mileage may vary. †Maximum towing capacity varies by trim level. Trailer brakes may be needed. See your retailer for details. **MSRP excludes destination and delivery charges, tax, title, and registration fees. Retailer sets actual price. Certain equipment may be required in specific states, which can modify your MSRP. See your retailer for details. 2019 Subaru Ascent Limited shown has an MSRP of $41,945. Vehicle shown with accessory equipment.

Subaru of Las Vegas 6455 Roy Horn Way (702) 495-2100 Subaruoflasvegas.com.

History in the Tasting FOOD

Nevada Taste Site celebrates a sense of place with a little Vegas camp — and a lot of flavor BY

Lissa Townsend Rodgers

veryone’s gotta multitask these days. Your receptionist is also a dancer, dogwalker, and Uber driver. Your phone is a camera, computer, and form of crack. And Nevada Taste Site is equal parts bar, restaurant, and archive. The Main Street hangout is the latest establishment opened by Derek Stonebarger, one that refines his Silver State-centric aesthetic from thrift shop to museum. “I’m originally from California, but I love Nevada,” Stonebarger says. “This is where I can just drink around the things that I love.” A collage of casino showroom menus from Don Rickles to Casino de Paris adorns one wall, alongside a portrait of Vegas legend Buffalo Jim and a set of crude police dispatch maps with flashing lights, props from a Kenny Rogers movie. The bar itself is constructed of woods repurposed from both the Nevada State Supreme Court building and the Palms casino, lined with stools made from beer kegs. But its most revered relic of vintage Vegas is the remains of the once-legendary Davy’s Locker sign, a neon fish that swam above a bar on East Desert Inn Road for decades. “I read about it being thrown away — it was one or two in the morning, and I just couldn’t sleep,” Stonebarger recalls. “‘Maybe there’s a very small chance that there’s a dumpster it’s still sitting in.’ And I was like, ‘I have to go look, the dumpster could be gone in the morning.’ I show up and there’s a huge pile of garbage in the parking lot. I see a piece of the tail and I go, ‘No way!’” He packed up what he could in his truck and got a friend to rebuild and refurbish the remains with new neon, but, he says, “That’s the original face and shell and tail.” The sign now glows above a row of beer taps that are a less obvious but equally potent product of Nevada — well, more potent if you have the Revision Dr. Lupulin Pale Ale at

32 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

11.3 percent APV. All the beers poured at Nevada Test Site are made in-state, from Reno to Henderson, porter to saison, Pigeon Head Black Lager to Imbibe Cucumber Key Lime. “We’ll have our standards that don’t change, about eight beers, but 12 to 20 we’ll change out regularly. Sometimes, even if we can only get one keg, we’ll go for it,” says Stonebarger. Can’t decide? Go for a flight, which comes on a tray shaped like Nevada and inset with a shiny Silver State quarter. Of course, interesting surroundings and abundant brews cannot be fully appreciated without something on your plate. Taste Site’s kitchen is known as the Bunker Grill, PHOTOGRAPHY

Sabin Orr

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

NION D E S E R T CO M PA

PUB CRAWL

T H E D I S T R I C T atN C H RA G R E E N VA L L E Y

SILVER STATE PLATTERS Left, Nevada Taste Site’s beer sampler features brews from all over the state. Above, the vegan sliders have a tang of Korean barbecue. Next page, the salt-pepper baked wings are crisp and flavorful.

which serves a small menu of Thai-inspired food courtesy of chef Nikki Hughes. The chicken wings put the basic bar version to shame. Baked wings can have a soggy texture and bland taste, but these are firm and satisfying. The salt-pepper rendition gets a flavor and crispy texture out of those simple spices, while the sweet chili will put any thoughts of Buffalo out of your mind. The chicken satay sliders are a welcome variation on the skewer staple, topped with a slice of cucumber and a smear of salty, slightly crunchy peanut sauce; vegan sliders feature a Ruse meat substitute, which has a satisfyingly garlicky-sweet taste, a bit like Korean barbecue. All of the establishments Stonebarger has launched defy the usual Vegas drinking establishment rules of dimly lit spaces with au courant cocktail menus and stripped-down chic. “Millennials like us because they are able to take really good photos. This stuff is very Instagrammable. Neon always is,” he explains, adding, “We run the gamut of all kinds of people. One guy came into ReBar and said, ‘This is my grandmother’s favorite bar!’ I should put that on a T-shirt.” Stonebarger’s latest project takes the tack of preserving a building, rather than filling it with relics: He’s taken over management of the venerable Hard Hat Lounge and its glorious Damon Runyon/

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18 6-9PM

Space is limited. RSVP required. Details at desertcompanion.vegas

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 33

Street Foodie

Diner, Meet World

The area adjacent to UNLV offers knowledgeable eaters a university of culinary diversity PHOTOGRAPHY & CAPTIONS BY

N E VA DA TA S T E S I T E 1221 S. Main Street 702-381-0812 nevadatastesite.com Sun 11:30-10p; Mon-Thu 5a-10p Fri-Sat 11:30a-midnight

34 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

WINGS: SABIN ORR

James Cain nightworld mural of men in shirtsleeves drinking bourbon, playing poker, and ignoring the imprecations of the Salvation Army lasses to ogle the topless broad across the airshaft. Soul City Deli has taken over the kitchen, turning out spicy jerk chicken sandwiches and smoky pulled-pork tacos, as well as a satisfyingly creamy mac ’n’ cheese that will reward a hard day’s work or fuel a long night’s drinking. Stonebarger hopes to put the liquor store back in effect, as well as renovate the upstairs apartments into an Airbnb or event space. Back at Nevada Taste Site, there’s still space on the walls — space that will be filled with more than just objects. The plan is to have notable Nevadans donate items of historic significance, then host a night devoted to explaining the new addition, with journalist and Area 51 expert George Knapp on tap. It fits in with Stonebarger’s view of bars and restaurants as part of the Downtown community, whether it’s partnering with local chefs, donating to local arts organizations, or even helping the City of Las Vegas kick off the newly upgraded Main Street. “Here, we have a lot of support,” he says. “I like to do what I like, and it turns out other people like it.” ✦

Brent Holmes

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

PHO THANH HUONG (1) Would banh mi by any other name be as beautiful? Street Foodie thinks not. This no-frills Vietnamese spot provides beautiful flavors at a wonderful price. The grilled-pork banh mi is a smoky-sweet thing with a spicy kick — cool it down with an avocado boba and you’ll be mighty fine. 1131 E. Tropicana Ave., phothanhhuonglv.com

NIGERIAN CUISINE (2) Nigerian Cuisine has been serving deliciously spiced sub-Saharan food to those in the know for some three years, but it was a new experience for this chronic masticator. Tried the jolof rice. The beef was perfectly spiced — think curry-like flavors but with a slightly sour hit — and the rice and plantains were lovely. Street Foodie is excited to find a new culinary world to explore. You should be, too. 5006 S. Maryland Parkway #11, 702-798-0303

Start Early. Start Right. Challenger School offers uniquely fun and academic classes for preschool to eighth grade students. Our students learn to think for themselves and to value independence. The results are unmatched at any price! Come see for yourself! Observe our classrooms any time—no appointment needed.

FELIPITOS (3) Street Foodie visits this grande dame of greasy taco stands for one thing and one thing only, the chile relleno burrito — a wondrous mixture of lettuce, cheese, fried chile, and guac. (No beans or rice; this is so crucial to the flavor it cannot be overstated.) 1325 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-739-8585

INDIA CAFE (4) Ohhh, boy, is this place good! A newcomer to the University District, it combines traditional and contemporary dishes under the Indian flavor profile. There’s much to recommend here, but start with the curry of the day, always a classic set of layered flavors combining the old and the new. Or the Hara Bara burger, which brings many of this culture’s beautiful flavors into a new and exciting expression. 1435 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-786-0171

ALOHA KITCHEN (5)

An independent private school offering preschool through eighth grade

Desert Hills 410-7225 8175 West Badura Avenue

Los Prados 839-1900 5150 North Jones Boulevard

Green Valley 990-7300 1725 East Serene Avenue

Summerlin 878-6418 9900 Isaac Newton Way

Some things never change — thankfully. The quality of the food and the affordable prices at Aloha Kitchen fall into that category. Don’t doubt Street Foodie on this: Try the Local Plate, a mix of seared chicken and grilled beef smothered in teriyaki sauce, with two spam musubi on the side. 4745 Maryland Parkway, 702-895-9444

STEPHANOS (6) Long-timers remember when this place had a big sign reading “Your daily chicken.” Even then, Street Foodie loved the delicate Mediterranean flavors — especially the bright pink pickled turnips smashed into a pita loaded with lamb shawarma, which you can still get today. So much good Greekness! 4632 S. Maryland Parkway #14, stephanoslv.com O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 35

Quench Time! DRINK

Tap Dance

HOT SPOTS FOR COLD BREWS For selection and neighborhood character: Aces & Ales (2801 N. Tenaya Way, 3740 S. Nellis Boulevard, 702-436-7600. acesandales.com) For a loud and lively scene: Beerhaus at the Park (theparkvegas.com) For sports-watching on the Strip: Beer Park at Paris Las Vegas (beerpark.com) For downtown drinking amid beards: Atomic Liquors (917 Fremont St., atomic. vegas), Cornish Pasty Co. (10 E. Charleston Blvd., cornishpastyco.com) For tasty suds at a 25-year brewing icon: Big Dog’s Brewing Company (4543 N. Rancho Drive, bigdogsbrews.com) For craft brews on East Fremont: Eureka! (520 E. Fremont Street, 702-570-3660, eurekarestaurantgroup.com) For pup-friendly patio drinking: Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar (Downtown Summerlin and Town Square, lazydogrestaurants.com) For rotating craft taps: Pub 365 in the

36 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

Tuscany Suites (255 E. Flamingo Road, tuscanylv.com) For a sip of every Silver State brew: Nevada Taste Site (1221 South Main Street, nevadatastesite.com) For gastropubbing on the Strip: Public House in the Venetian (venetian. com) For gastropubbing in the ‘burbs: Public School 702 (Downtown Summerlin, psontap.com)

Whether it comes from taps, bottles, or cans, here’s a pitcher of the current Vegas beerscape BY

Greg Thilmont

BEER TREND: SAISONS

A tough sell at first, rustic saisons — with their sharp tangs and farmhouse wafts — have taken hold in Southern Nevada, still led by CraftHaus Brewery with its marquee Evocation, a lemony big seller. The brewery’s P Is Silent (Pfunky) American wild ale introduces Brettanomyces yeast for lactic dryness. Triple 7, the venerable Downtown brewery in Main Street Station, joins in the extravaganza with its Saison Du Trip featuring five beefy hops — Motueka, Rakau, Simcoe, Chinook, and Citra.

For upscale local bar hanging: PKWY Tavern (9820 W. Flamingo Road, pkwytavern.com) For solid brews at a locals’ watering hole: Rebel Republic (3540 W. Sahara Ave., rebelrepublic702.com) For rotating beers and a killer bar menu: Slater’s 50/50 (467 E. Silverado Ranch Blvd., slaters5050. com) For krieks, lambics, tripels and other exotic pours: World of Beer (1300 W. Sunset Road, worldofbeer.com) For reliable and convenient access to life-sustaining craft beer: Yard House (Town Square, The LINQ, Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa, yardhouse.com) For a surprising selection of bottles and drafts: 90 NINETY Bar + Grill (Suncoast, suncoastcasino. com)

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

BEER FESTS

All October: It’s oom-pah band and lederhosen time at the Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas (hofbrauhauslasvegas. com), including celebrity keg tappings on weekends with entertainers like Murray Sawchuck, Zowie Bowie and the Australian Bee Gees. Prost! October 4-7: Sip on a classic Guinness Irish Stout at the Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival in Tivoli Village (vegasfoodandwine.com).

October 20: Sample away at the seventh annual Las Vegas Downtown Brew Festival along with fellow beer fans and breweries galore. (Clark County Amphitheater, downtownbrewfestival.com). October 25: Drink some beevos for a good cause at the Stoked for Charity! fundraiser on Big Dog’s Brewing Company’s Front Porch stage. (bigdogsbrews.com) October 28: Celebrate Nevada Day with a chili cook-off and cold quaffs of Silver State blonde ale at CraftHaus Brewery (crafthausbrewery.com).

3 GAMES BEST PLAYED DRUNK Corhhole (702 Public School, Gold Spike, PKWY Tavern, ameriCAN at the LINQ Promenade) • giant Jenga (Public School 702, Beer Yard, Beerhaus, PKWY Tavern) • Connect Four (Beer Yard, Big Dog’s Brewing Company, Shady Grove Lounge at the Silverton Casino Hotel, Beerhaus)

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Head Games

FLAVORS THAT MAKE YOU GO OMG! At 595 Craft and Kitchen (4950 S. Rainbow Blvd., 702-596-1050, 595craftandkitchen.com), enjoy the floral aroma and glowing pink hue of a Rosée d’Hibiscus by Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! of Quebec. It’s a citrusy wheat beer infused with tart hibiscus flowers.

the-kitchen). It’s an unfiltered sour that’s secondarily fermented in the bottle with Brettanomyces yeast and a kick-starter of sweet pear juice. Settle in at the tasting room at Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits (9915 S. Eastern Ave., 702-4359463, khourysfinewine.com) for a dazzlingly dark pour of velvety Blackcurrant Nitro from Left Hand Brewing

Pop the beeswax-sealed top off a bottle of Seizoen Bretta from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales of Hood River, Oregon at the Kitchen at Atomic (atomic.vegas/

Company of Longmont, Colorado. Effervescent with nitrogen gas, it’s a cream ale cascade filled with a rumble of tart berry flavor. Before you mangia on pasta at Esther’s Kitchen (1130 S. Casino Center Blvd., 702-570-7864, estherslv.com), start the evening at the bar with a potent pour of Petrus Aged Red from Belgium’s Brouwerij De Brabandere. A complex blend, it starts with pale ale that’s aged in gigantic, 5,811-gallon foeders — or barrels — made of French oak. This is later combined with double brown beer flavored with sour cherries. Lip-smacking, indeed.

DRUNKALINI YOGA? Stretch your boundaries one sip at a time with a namaste-riffic session of beer yoga at Lovelady Brewing. Every third Sunday morning of the month, get refreshed with a cold pint and a downward-facing dog pose in the company of fellow hoppy yogini and yogi. (20 South Water Street, 702-857-8469, loveladybrewing.com) ROAD TRIIIP! Along the highways around

Las Vegas, you’ll find brewpubs waiting to pour you a pint in the picturesque landscapes of the American Southwest. On the long, parched road to Reno, stop by Tonopah Brewing for a Yankee Girl Pomegranate Hefeweizen (tonopahbrewing.com). On the way to Sedona? Take a Route 66 breather with a mellow Sunset Amber Ale at Grand Canyon Brewery (grandcanyonbrewery.com). Tip back a pint of nutty Burnt Mountain Brown at Zion Brewery (zionbrewery.com) at the entrance of majestic Zion National Park. On the way to Death Valley National Park, cool your heels at Death Valley Brewing for a limited-run witbier brewed with wild hops and blackberries (deathvalleybrewing.com).

BEER TREND: FRESH FRUIT

Burgers and Brews

Sippers for Your Stackers Bar Code Burger Bar (1590 E. Flamingo Road, barcodeburgerbar.com) With the house burger’s blend of short rib, brisket, and chuck adorned with onion jam, blue cheese-bacon aoli, go for the smooth taste of Hawaii’s Kona Big Wave Golden Ale. The meadowy flavors of the New Zealand lamb burger with goat and feta cheeses with spicy harissa call for the hoppiness of an Elysian Space Dust IPA from Seattle. Slater’s 50/50 (467 E. Silverado

Ranch Blvd. #100, slaters5050. com) This new spot is all about the bacon, like its signature halfbeef and half-bacon patty. For the Original 50/50 with avocado, Pepper Jack cheese, and a sunny-side-up egg, the Breakfast Stout from Founders Brewing Company is a natural. Piled with rosemary-parmesan bacon, smoked Gouda, and veggies, the Rosemary Turkey burger calls for a juicy 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon wheat beer. 595 Craft & Kitchen (4950

S. Rainbow Blvd. #100, 595craftandkitchen.com) Meld the Tuna Furikake burger with shitake mushrooms and arugula with Tenaya Creek’s El Charro Shandy. The Pork Belly Burger with cabbage slaw and gochujang aïoli goes well with the lemongrass-enhanced Passion Grass Pale Ale.

Brews featuring fresh fruit as ingredients continue to draw drinker enthusiasm, like Abel Baker Brewing’s bombastic Cherry Cherry BANG! BANG! Ale with namesake Oregon fruit and a bump of raspberries and lemon. Joseph James has a line of lactic Berliner Weisses with plucked combos like passion fruit-guava and blood orange-cranberry. O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 37

An Exhibition of Japanese Contemporary Art Noe Aoki |

K ji Enokura

Yukio Nakagawa |

| Noriyuki Haraguchi

Fujiko Nakaya

Yasuaki Onishi |

Yayoi Kusama

Ukichiro Nakaya

Motonao Takasaki

Rei Naito

Sh ji Ueda

Sadamasa Motonaga |

Machiko Ogawa

Nao Yoshigai

June 29 – October 21, 2018 TICKETS & INFORMATION 702.693.7871 OR BELLAGIO.COM/BGFA

PROFILE

RUNNING MAN Danny Tarkanian keeps running — even though he keeps losing. Why? On the occasion of his fifth time on the ballot, notes on a perennial candidate saddled with a dynasty to live up to BY

Steve Friess

40 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

or the seventh or so time in the first hour that I watch Danny Tarkanian campaign at the Fourth of July parade in Boulder City, he is forced to answer The Question. “Hey Danny,” says gruff-voiced George Cox. The 82-year-old’s “Make Boulder City Great Again” cap falls askew as he practically leaps out of his lawn chair to clasp Tarkanian’s hand. “You gonna finally win this time?” Nobody wants to know the answer more than the candidate himself. This is Tarkanian’s fifth general-election run in 14 years, and the third time this decade running as the Republican nominee for a seat in the U.S. House. Including his particularly brutal 2010 loss in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, he talks about his would-be political career as having an 0-5 record — one never endured by his father, the late, legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose fame gave his son a political head start; or his mother, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, who has lost just one election in nearly 30 years of running. Danny Tarkanian has several versions of an answer to The Question. He has a long one and a short one, a peppy one and a wonky one. In Cox’s case, perhaps because he’s racing to get to his place in the parade, Tarkanian is brief: “I feel like we got a good shot, but I need your help. Can I count on your help?” Cox nods as Tarkanian loosens his grip and moves up the sidewalk. “Of course, I’ll vote for him,” Cox tells me moments later. “He’s a good man, and I only vote Republican. I would never vote for that, uh, Susie Whatsit?” He means Tarkanian’s Democratic opponent, Susie Lee, herself on her second run for Congress. PHOTOGRAPHY

Aaron Mayes

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Nevada politics is replete with longshot perennial candidates who become more obscure and irrelevant the more races they lose, but Tarkanian is unique in that he’s suffered so many high-profile losses while, intriguingly, coming closer and closer to a victory. His most recent defeat, in 2016 to Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen in the same suburban and rural Clark County district he’s vying for this fall, was by all accounts the most agonizing. Rosen, who’s vacating the seat for a Senate run against Republican Dean Heller, won by just 1.3 points, or fewer than 4,000 votes out of almost 311,000 cast. “I was so close in that last election,” Tarkanian tells me a few days later at his Las Vegas home. “How do you try so hard and get so close and then say, ‘Look, I’m going to walk away from it’?” If you’re the wouldbe scion of a much-mythologized Las Vegas family name, you can’t.

THE BEVERLY ROGERS, CAROL C. HARTER

BLACK MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE PRESENTS

T H E CO M E B AC K K I D TO UNDERSTAND HOW Tarkanian can keep coming back for more after such humiliating beatings, it’s instructive to rewind to a different November contest nearly 40 years ago, one that taught him the glory awaiting those who never give up. As some 7,000 people jammed into the Silver Bowl that Friday night in 1979 to watch the Bishop Gorman Gaels take on the Reno High School Huskies in the high school football championship, the Tarkanian they were eager to see triumph, for once, was not the famed UNLV basketball coach, but his 17-year-old quarterback son. The Huskies had a 19-0 lead before Tarkanian threw three touchdown passes to end the first half ahead, 21-19. When the second half started, the Huskies amped up the ferocity — “They hit me harder than anybody ever has,” Danny told the Reno Gazette-Journal later — and forced him out of the game in the third quarter with a groin injury. With three minutes left in the game, after the Huskies hit a field goal to move ahead 28-27, a limping Tarkanian insisted on returning to the field. Vegas fans were riveted as they watched Tarkanian methodically move the ball from the 10-yard line straight up the field. He completed four of five passes — “Each one of them is caught with feet off the ground,” recalls journalist Ray Hagar, then a reporter covering high school sports for the Reno Evening Gazette — to move his team 83 yards against the Huskies. That assured Huskies victory then

TRUE STORIES TOLD LIVE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018 ARTEMUS W. HAM CONCERT HALL 4505 S. MARYLAND PARKWAY DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM TICKETS: $10 STUDENTS, $15 GENERAL ADMISSION

BLACKMOUNTAININSTITUTE.ORG/MOTH O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 41

vanished into the arc of a Gael field goal with 13 seconds on the clock that also minted a Tarkanian legend. The legend grew through countless media reports about him in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when his athletic prowess drew coverage from the likes of the L.A. Times and Sports Illustrated. He confirmed that persistence and grit when he later played basketball at UNLV for three years under his father. Recognizing that an NBA career was unlikely, Tarkanian went to law school at the University of San Diego, where he finished third in his class. But a career as an attorney, he says, was merely intended as a stepping stone to his true interest: elected office. “I always wanted to get into politics from a very young age,” he says. “The problem was, when I got out of law school, I didn’t want to talk in front of anybody, so I didn’t want to run for office anymore. I was too scared.” The myth-making high school quarterback, star college basketBEFORE THE FIREWORKS ball player, and ace law student, Danny Tarkanian, far left, and Susie Lee, in white pants, campaign at the Boulder City Fourth of July Parade. terrified of public speaking? This is how his first court appearance statue on the UNLV campus. litical rise in Las Vegas. Her three elections went: “I had to go in and say, ‘My name is Likewise, by the time Lois Tarkanian to the Clark County School Board were Danny Tarkanian, and I’m appearing on completed her third term on the school breezy; the Tarkanian name certainly helped behalf of the debtor.’ I’m sweating. I said it board in 2000, most of her CCSD detractors but, also, her career as a speech pathologist as fast as I could and sat down. And it was had departed or lost their sway. The first compelled her to call out the school district the most terrifying thing I had done at that board vote after she left, she relishes in on how it treated children with point in my life. And that was telling me, was to name an elementary disabilities. Her populist rhetjust that one line. Because of school in her honor. And, after a narrow oric made her popular with that, I did transactional work “I always loss in a 2000 race for Clark County Comvoters, but made her 12-year instead of doing courtroom wanted to get mission, she unseated Las Vegas City Countenure on the board nearly as work.” into politics from cilwoman Janet Moncrief in a 2005 special tumultuous as her husband’s His legal career lasted just a very young age. recall election, and won full terms in 2007, coaching career. eight years. But he did use his The problem 2011 and 2015. But here’s the part that helps credentials and his family ties was, when I got “Because of all that, we, all of us kids, have explain why Danny Tarkanian to vociferously defend his father out of law school, I didn’t want to got a little bit of a thicker skin,” says Tardoesn’t give up: Both of his as the NCAA investigated Jerry talk in front of kanian’s sister, Jodie Tarkanian Diamant. parents were vindicated. In Tarkanian for recruiting violaanybody. ... I was “We all realize what’s true and what’s fac1998, after one of many court tions at UNLV and then, in 1992, too scared.” tual, and you can’t change people’s minds battles with the NCAA, Jerry when the university pushed him if they want to believe something negative Tarkanian received $2.5 million out. “If anybody still thinks about you.” in a settlement that concluded there isn’t a vendetta against In Danny Tarkanian’s mind, his setbacks a lawsuit the coach filed against my father after this thing, then and defeats aren’t an exception to the famthe league alleging a two-decade harassment they are just not thinking straight,” he told ily lore — they’re signs he’s ultimately campaign against him. By the time he died the Reno Gazette-Journal in July 1990 after destined for triumph, too. in 2015, he had been inducted into the Nathe NCAA sanctioned the Runnin’ Rebels “My family taught me not to quit, to keep ismith Basketball Hall of Fame, his name — fresh off its NCAA national championship fighting if I believe in myself,” he says. “We graced the basketball court at the Thomas — for a year’s probation. don’t give up.” & Mack Center, and he got a street and a The 1990s also saw Lois Tarkanian’s po-

42 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

TA R K A N I A N / L E E P H OT O : S T E V E F R I E S S

PROFILE

PROFILE T R U M P I S T H E I R COAC H N OW ALL OF THAT helps explain why, when Pres-

Financial options for every phase of your life

Whether you want to save for the future, secure a personal loan, utilize exclusive online and telephone banking services, or enjoy the convenience of our ATMs and many locations, we are here for you. Call, click, or stop by and talk with a banker. wellsfargo.com

44 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

ident Donald Trump tweeted at him on March 16, it set up what Tarkanian says was “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life.” Trump wrote: “It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it’s (sic) unity if good guy Danny Tarkanian would run for Congress and Dean Heller, who is doing a really good job, could run for Senate unopposed!” Tarkanian had jumped into the Republican primary in the summer of 2017 seeking to exact political revenge on Heller. Heller’s crime? Disloyalty. Heller had disavowed Trump in the waning days of the 2016 campaign, after Trump’s infamous “grab them by the p---y” audio surfaced from a 2005 Access Hollywood taping. Then, in June, Heller and Gov. Brian Sandoval announced their opposition to a Trump-led effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act percolating in the U.S. Senate. It offended Tarkanian, the athlete and team player. Trump is their coach now. How dare anyone question the play? With the backing of like-minded Nevada conservatives, Tarkanian appeared on Fox & Friends in August 2017 to announce his candidacy for the primary. But national party insiders thought Heller had a better chance than an orthodox Trumpist to hold his seat in an increasingly left-leaning state. It was conveyed to Tarkanian that the president wanted him to step aside and make another run, perhaps, for Congress. After some soul-searching, he ultimately followed orders. Tarkanian could see Trump’s logic. “This is what he’s looking at: Heller’s never lost a race, Tarkanian’s never won a race. Why would Tarkanian win? He can’t win. But what they didn’t look at is — Heller’s run in safe seats; when he had a tough race, he won by 1 percent. If I had a chance to talk with the president, because he’s a sports guy, I would try to explain that I was playing Duke in North Carolina on the road with their officials; Dean was playing Cal State Fullerton at Irvine at home. There’s a big difference with the races you’re in.” What made the decision tougher was that entering the 3rd congressional district race meant challenging a longtime friend, Victoria Seaman, who had filed to run at Tarkanian’s encouragement. “I was very upset, I’m not going to lie. But I came to realize Danny didn’t have a lot of choice,” she says. “He was asked by the president of the United States. He had a lot of money from his Senate campaign, so I (dropped out and)

decided to help him get elected. I have jumped on and have been helping Danny ever since.” In June, Danny Tarkanian had something he hadn’t enjoyed since the very first of his political runs: An easy Republican primary victory and the full-throated backing of “the establishment.” The National Republican Congressional Committee, for instance, anointed him one of its 23 “Young Guns” — candidates to receive the highest level of financial and organizational support from the GOP. And he got what has become the most important gift in Republican politics, a presidential endorsement via Twitter: “Congratulations to Danny Tarkanian on his big GOP primary win in Nevada. Danny worked hard and got a great result. Looking good in November!” ‘WHY DOES HE DO THIS TO HIMSELF ?’ “I’VE SAID IT myself many times, ‘Why? Why

does he do this to himself ?’” Lois says. “Because I know how hurt he feels. I can feel it with him. And he said, ‘Mom, I’ve never given up on anything. You know that.’ He says, ‘Is it embarrassing? Yes. When I call people and I ask them to donate, people will donate two, three times. I feel so embarrassed doing that. But I believe in it. I’m going to keep trying.’” There’s another reason why he keeps going. Because, like his parents before him, he has enjoyed vindication in a way few politicians ever do. After a coaching stint in Fresno with his father, Tarkanian returned to Las Vegas with his wife and their first child, ready to pursue his political dreams by running for a Nevada Senate seat in 2004. He lost by seven points to incumbent Democratic Sen. Mike Schneider, a result Tarkanian blamed on an attack ad that accused him of setting up telemarketing companies later found to be running scams. Tarkanian sued Schneider for defamation — and won. Five years after the race, a Clark County jury ruled in his favor. Within days, Schneider agreed to pay $150,000 in damages to settle the matter. “Do you realize what it was for him to win?” Lois says. “He was the first person ever in the state of Nevada that has ever won that type of lawsuit. Because there was always no proof, no anything. … Has he ever been arrested? Any of the things that they’re telling you about, has he ever even been interrogated? No! Nothing! They

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Rosen resurrected the telemarketing-scam print this stuff, and it goes and it goes and allegations that cost Schneider so dearly. it goes.” (Tarkanian has filed a defamation suit Such a victory put an asterisk beside against Rosen. His latest opponent, Susie that first loss. And the Tarkanians offer Lee, has also dredged up the telemarketing lots of asterisks to explain other losses, scam allegations — and has too. In his 2006 race for Nevareceived a cease-and-desist da secretary of state, his wife order from Tarkanian’s attorAmy Tarkanian says, eventual “Do you allow neys.) By Tarkanian’s math, winner Ross Miller rode the people to say he’s had more than $14 million coattails of his own famous what they’ve said in “negative character assasparents and benefited from the about me and sination spent against me. endorsement of America’s then walk away There hasn’t been anyone who Most Wanted’s John Walsh. In from it when you hasn’t run for senator or gov2010, Tarkanian split the vote can still win and turn the negative ernor who’s taken that kind of with Sue Lowden, and both into a positive? beating. So people say, ‘Why were sunk by a surge of spendWhy wouldn’t would you want to go through ing by the out-of-state Tea you want to try that again?’” Party Express that helped to turn this thing He kicks off a soliloquy to catapult Republican Sharron around?” answer the question. Angle to the Senate candidacy. “First and foremost, I was In 2012, Obama’s re-election so close last election. How do year, he ran against Democrat you try so hard and get so close and then Steven Horsford for Congress, and still say, ‘Look, I’m going to walk away from it’? lost by only 8 points, despite the fact that … And the second thing is, I was so close the district had 10 percent more registered and she had to lie about me with that same Democrats. And in 2016, when he lost by exact defamation. So she had to do that fewer than 4,000 votes, now-Rep. Jacky

just to win by 1 point, and I should then walk away? “Third thing is this: My dad never talked about winning and losing. He always said, ‘You need to go out on the floor, give everything you got. You got to be mentally, emotionally, physically ready to play and give every ounce of effort on the floor. And if you lose, you could be proud of yourself.’ … I’ve beaten very, very tough primary opponents, getting to the general in bad districts, and I made those races very, very close. “And the final factor is this: Do you allow people to say what they’ve said about me and then walk away from it when you can still win and turn the negative into a positive? If I didn’t have a chance to win, I certainly wouldn’t be running. Why wouldn’t you want to try to turn this thing around? It’s like a big bully comes up to you, slaps you around, throws mud in your face, but every time he does it, you’re getting closer to getting up and punching them back, and you’re on the verge maybe being tough enough to get it done — do you walk away after all that?”

Hospice is not a place. It’s a journey of care. When medical science can no longer add more days to your life, it is the goal of Nathan Adelson Hospice to add more life to your days.

TA R K A N I A N / L E E P H OT O : S T E V E F R I E S S

www.nah.org 702.733.0230

Celebrating 40 Years of Caring for Southern Nevada

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 45

PROFILE ‘HE’LL BE SOMEONE T O R E C KO N W I T H ’

is that there have been other allegations of questionable business dealings, most notably his 2013 bankruptcy brought on by a $17 million judgment against him related to a failed California land deal. This time around, there are new allegations outlined in a June memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee titled “The Case Against Danny Tarkanian,” including a charge that he paid himself handsomely as founder of the charitable Tarkanian Basketball Academy in Las Vegas, even as the organization lost money. Tarkanian, taking a page from Trump, has dismissed this as “fake news.” The memo also referenced a Nevada Independent report that he took $200,000 out of his parents’ life insurance policy without their knowledge in 2012 to pay off his mortgage. His mother says the family is not bothered by the latter claim, so why should anyone else care? And then there are the cold facts of this race, which don’t paint an encouraging

WHAT THIS OVERLOOKS

picture for Tarkanian’s underdog comeback story: In Congressional District 3, Democrats have a 5,700-voter edge in registration over Republicans, and at press time, Susie Lee’s campaign fund of $2.1 million dwarfs Tarkanian’s $1.2 million. But Ray Hagar, who later served as political reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal and has since retired, suggests another reason Tarkanian keeps losing. “He’s always had a problem with the mainstream because his political leanings are just too far to the right for many people.” Tarkanian disagrees. He believes in Trump’s “America First” policies, and views the never-ending scandals swirling around Trump as the work of antagonists gunning for him — similar to the story arcs of Jerry and Lois. And Tarkanian moderated some positions, shifting from opposing almost all abortions to supporting it prior to the fetus’s viability because, he says, “I should not be able to impose my faith on other people.” The October 1 massacre in Las Vegas prompted him to rethink gun rights. Now, he says, he supports background checks for all purchases, including gun

shows, a view that puts him in conflict with the National Rifle Association. Sue Lowden, the former state senator and longtime ally, believes this is Tarkanian’s year. And if he does win, she says, he’ll have an outsized impact for a freshman. “He’ll be a celebrity because of his last name and because he’s met so many other top Republicans over the years. He’ll be someone people listen to. He’ll be someone to reckon with.” Tarkanian doesn’t let himself think that far ahead anymore. If he wins, to be sure, it will make all the losses worth it. If he loses? Tarkanian worries about the impact on his family, which fell into a huge funk after the 2016 failure. “I certainly wouldn’t want them to go through this again and, if I am not successful, they won’t have to go through it again,” he says. So this is it? Tarkanian won’t run again if his record goes to 0-6? “No, I don’t believe I will,” he says. Then he grins. “I said that once before, and I got myself in trouble.” Another pause. “But no, I don’t believe so. That would be it. I think.” ✦

Let us put you back together. Get FYZICAL ®

Aquatic Therapy

Audiology Services

Outpatient Physical Therapy

Balance/Vestibular Therapy

5 Las Vegas locations dedicated to help you Love Your Life ! ™

(702) 818 - 5000 www.FYZICALVegas.com/locations 46 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

SAV E 3

wa ys

in October NO PRESSURE. During your Free Window Inspection, we’ll give you an exact, down-tothe-penny price that’s good for an entire year.

115 YEARS OF WINDOW EXPERTISE. We’re the full-service replacement window division of Andersen, the window and door brand that your dad told you to trust.

NO MIDDLEMAN TO DEAL WITH. There’s no runaround between the installer and the manufacturer because we handle it all, from custom-building to installing to warranting all our products.

WE WON’T SELL YOU VINYL. We’ve replaced thousands of poor-quality vinyl window and patio doors. Our patented Fibrex® composite material is two times more durable than vinyl and won’t warp, crack or peel.

CALL FOR YOUR FREE WINDOW & PATIO DOOR INSPECTION

(702)444-4925

1 2 3

325 OFF

EACH WINDOW

625

OFF

EACH DOOR

NO NO MONEY DOWN INTEREST

FOR 3 YEARS

RenewalbyAndersen.com

Not Valid with other Offers. Minimum purchase of 3 or more windows or doors required. Offer subject to change without notice. Financing available O.A.C. Offer not available on previous purchases. Ask a sales associate for details. Renewal by Andersen of Las Vegas License #0082260 & 0056906. Appointment must occur prior to October 31, 2018. This offer expires October 31, 2018.

48 TAKING THE LEAD SOCIETY

Women are building careers in the traditionally male business of architecture — but many challenges remain By T.R. Witcher

“

Men rule, and their power is made real through architecture.” So wrote architect and writer Aaron Betsky 20 years ago in a book called Building Sex. Last October, Betsky was in town giving the keynote at the regional conference of the American Institute of Architects. At the end of his talk, a UNLV architecture student, Jenn Wong, stood up to ask him a question. Though his talk was not about gender, gender issues were on Wong’s mind — they were on everyone’s mind. That same week The New York Times had broken the Harvey Weinstein story. “When that happens, you think of your own industry and career path,” Wong says now. So she stood up at the symposium and asked Betsky a question about that line in his book. “I asked him, does he still think that today, 20 years later? And if so, what does that mean for me as a woman designing in Las Vegas, a city arguably built on two very powerful constructs: sex and money? Where do I fit in if that’s still the case today?” Wong had come to architecture through a circuitous route. She studied psychology at

48 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

STRUCTURING CHANGE Jenn Wong helped launch a symposium focused on women architects.

the University of Hawaii but burned out as a substance-abuse counselor. She moved to San Francisco for a year and fell in love with design. Moving to Las Vegas and the master’s program at UNLV, Wong began in interior design but was drawn to the technical side of architecture. “I want to do the whole thing.” So there she was, at a symposium filled, not surprisingly, with mostly white middle-aged men. As soon as she asked her question, the atmosphere in the room became charged. Wong could feel the stares. “It was probably just me being nervous,” she says. Betsky had no answer. He told her if she wanted to effect change, she had to be a role model for other women. That did not satisfy her. “It doesn’t help me. It doesn’t leave me anywhere. If I had to be a role model to

others, who’s going to be my role model?” But the symposium sent Wong on a path that culminated in her helping to launch a new design symposium — and showing Las Vegas just how many talented women architects and designers are shaping our increasingly urban community. Less than a week later she was having dinner with one of her professors at UNLV, architect Eric Strain. The symposium was still fresh in her mind. A UNLV architecture graduate, Amanda Telleria, who works at the firm BWA, was also at dinner that night. The group talked about the lack of female role models. Architects as famous as Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, and Le Corbusier all had important female colleagues and collaborators who shaped their work but PHOTOGRAPHY

Joe Buglewicz

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

received very little recognition, Telleria says. There may be no more glaring example than the architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown, co-author of Learning from Las Vegas, the seminal book that helped usher in a generation of irreverent, playful postmodern design. But it was her husband and partner, Robert Venturi, who won architecture’s highest prize, the Pritzker, in 1991; Brown’s name was left off, even though some of the work judges cited were a collaboration between the two. Strain, not wanting to waste the moment, pushed the pair. “If we do a symposium,” he asked, “are you guys participating?” Strain did his part: The founder of assemblageSTUDIO put in money to support the event, and reached out to other city firms to do the same, including Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto, SimpsonCoulter Studio, LGA, and BWA. A few others came on to help organize the event, including Jaclyn Roth, another UNLV architecture student who works for assemblageSTUDIO, and UNLV architecture professor Maria Del C. Vera. The event came together in just a few months. “They’re dreamers,” Vera says of the organizers. “They are warriors for what they believe.” Students found an eclectic mix of speakers for the event, held at UNLV in February: Curator and writer Mimi Ziegler; L.A.based designers Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph, who run a firm called Design, Bitches; and Meredith Bostwick, a project manager at the New York office of blue-chip firm SOM. The idea was to give a platform to women who had forged successful design careers. Figuring out what to call the symposium was another, perhaps deeper, challenge. “Naturally we were calling it the women’s symposium,” Telleria says, but some worried that the title would not celebrate the work and achievement of women in design so much as pigeonhole them as “women architects.” After all, as many of the professionals Desert Companion spoke to pointed out, no one ever talks about “men architects.” They finally settled on a name: See Me. I’m Here. “It’s not just (that) they’re female,” Telleria says. “They have really cool work. They have an impact in their communities and our professional environment. Check them out. See me for my talent, not because I’m a woman.” hit Las Vegas hard — and few industries in Las Vegas felt the blow more than architects and designers. Firms downsized or moved away or went out of business. But now that Las Vegas is

THE GREAT RECESSION

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 49

SOCIETY building again, designers are in high demand. There’s a heady energy in the city, but especially Downtown, where rents are still cheap, and young firms can plant their flag on their dream of a brighter future. Women who are architects and designers in Las Vegas are not simply a feel-good story about increasing diversity in the profession. Just as women across the nation and world are putting their stamp on significant institutional projects — Sharon Johnston in L.A. and Houston, Jeanne Gang and Carole Ross Barney in Chicago, Billie Tsien and Elizabeth Diller in New York — women here have established themselves, quite simply, as among the best practitioners of shaping the built environment. They’re actively rethinking, reimagining, and building a cooler, more sustainable, more urban city — a better city. “There are plenty of opportunities right now for men and women,” Wong says. “The city as a whole is booming.” 2018 is a moment in which women are asserting their talent in a field long associated with men. “There’s an old-boy attitude here,” says Anne Johnson, founder of Sparkflight Studios, “but this is a city of reinvention where people come to be who they want to be. … That spirit overrides male bias.” Still, there are plenty of challenges. Architecture programs are slowly approaching parity between female and male students, but numbers in the industry have yet to catch up. “As you progress in the indus-

try that number shrinks drastically,” Wong says. “By the time you get to principals or managers, that number is insignificant.” Landscape architect Anna Peltier, principal of Aria Landscape Architecture, which has completed work ranging from the Neon Museum to the Southwest Career and Technical Academy, described the atmosphere at a prominent firm where she’d once worked as “pretty male-centric.” “It felt like a culture that considered women as being drama queens, they weren’t respected as much as the male professionals.” That firm asked her to complete a 12-month training program for a managerial position, but after 10 months a man was hired for the slot. “Two years later I was running my own firm.” Carly Mossman, who spent years in the Las Vegas office of international powerhouse firm Gensler, almost quit the business during her first job at a local firm. There were no other women in leadership positions. She remembers seeing a male colleague receive a promotion and raise for equal work. “That was so frustrating for me,” she says. “I kind of turned inward and did a lot of research on women in business, how to survive in a man’s world.” But, she realized, “I don’t want to fit another mold. I want to be me.” She eventually spent years working in resort and hotel design at Gensler before starting her own firm, Kora Architecture (the Greek word kora translates as “authenticity of place”). Mossman and her business partner,

CORE VALUES Tina Wichmann, co-founder of Bunnyfish Studio, has been a notable figure in rebuilding Downtown.

50 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Alexis Bailey, are working on a mixed-use project called the Monarch Castle, featuring wedding and event spaces, gardens, hotels, and restaurants. If male-dominated architecture firms represent one level of challenge, the tougher hurdle is dealing with construction trades in the field. “There is, especially in the trades, a sense of machismo that can be hard to ... be taken seriously in that type of situation,” Roth says. “You feel like you have to come in overprepared and all guns blazing just to balance that.” “Construction is a man’s world,” says Tina Wichmann, co-founder of Bunnyfish Studio, which has played a leading role in Downtown’s rebirth, designing spaces as varied as the interiors of the Gold Spike and Carson Kitchen. “A lot of the guys have the advantage of having done construction as summer jobs. Usually when you see a woman, she’s holding that sign that says, SLOW.” Guys in the field can be gruff and can whistle — “that has happened,” she says. “Automatically, they just assume you don’t know how to build things.” “It is intimidating,” says Yanina Allord, a UNLV graduate who spent years working for Bunnyfish. “I definitely feel the intimidation factor being on site with people who have been building buildings all their life. “I have to work twice as hard, stay up most of the night, and research things to make sure I have a good grasp on the week ahead to make sure I don’t look like an idiot in front of someone else,” Allord says. “The men can roll their way through it, even if they don’t know it, either.” Even the simple act of wearing heels — and women’s professional attire in general — becomes (intentionally or not) a political act. “If you wear heels to a job site, why are you wearing heels?” Allord says. “Tina would show up in her big stilettos for a site walk, and she’d own it. If you’re confident in yourself, your attire should be the last thing you’re worried about.” Women architects were leery about defining their design acumen solely in terms of gender — women tend to design one kind of project, men another. But some were keen to point out the advantages of being a woman in the design fields. “I don’t know if our view affects design so much, but it does effect relationships a little bit. Client relationships. Women tend to soften things a little bit,” Wichmann says. Roth is practical: “Women bring into the discussion and the career the points of view of the other 50 percent of the world. Both genders are very capable of doing the

New Flavors. New Eats.

THE ORIGINAL FAVORITE IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER! ENDLESS FRESH OPTIONS

WOK THIS WAY | HEALTHY FAVORITE | THE CARVERY BLAZING GRILL | THE HEARTH | JUST DESSERTS AND MORE

and

INNOVATIVE SAN FRANCISCO INSPIRED CUISINE. CLASSIC CHINESE, VIETNAMESE AND SUSHI BAR

All The Classics You Love! EXPERIENCE A NEW ORIGINAL.

PARKING IS ALWAYS FREE

PALACESTATION.SCLV.COM

Since 1976 Palace has been setting the standard for fun, friendly service and incredible value. The tradition continues with all new experiences, just for you.

•

2411 W. SAHARA AVE. LAS VEGAS, NV

SOCIETY same work, but when you just have one gender, you’re missing a huge population of the world.” Amy Finchem, a residential designer with custom homebuilder Blue Heron, staged her own symposium in 2012 championing women designers through her innovative Downtown gallery/studio COLAB. She found herself walking the same tightrope the See Me organizers experienced — the desire to celebrate women in design without losing sight of the high quality work they produce. Today, Finchem wants to see more focus on celebrating the differences between women and men in design. “How do we co-exist in the work place? Thrive? Let’s celebrate these differences so we’re more powerful and successful.” BECOMING A LICENSED architect is a rigorous affair — years of internships and a series of exams. The process can take years, and often just as women are approaching the moment to seek licensure, they may also be trying to start a family. When students graduate with their master’s degree, they may be in their mid- to late 20s. Add three years of internship and a year of prep and test-taking. “Where the process puts you, you’re right in the sweet spot,” Wichmann says. It’s hard to be testing and working … and thinking about starting a family. “As driven as some of these women are, and I’ve hired some myself, once that baby’s in your arms, it’s over,” Peltier says. “Once that connection happens, your priority changes. They scale back, they take off time …” But doing so can cost women their careers, especially in a field that is slow to help them do both. Roth suggests firms just listen to the “issues we’re facing as a gender and see if they’re surmountable.” The firm of an acquaintance of Roth set up a nursery after she had a child. Having several people working on a project part-time can also allow women to navigate family and career. “Let people share one position,” Mossman echoes, so that it’s no longer a “death sentence to go on maternity. I think our industry will continue to suffer until there’s more focus on family development.” Finchem recalls a male colleague and mentor noting that when an important meeting ran late, the women in the meeting had to leave to get children. Finchem was a single mom for many years and says it impacted her ability to get licensed. “There are folks who have been in the industry 20 years, raising kids, still trying to work on registration,” she says.

52 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY Yanina Allord of RAD Studio seeks to challenge gender stereotypes in the architecture field.

Increasingly, more and more women in Las Vegas are simply starting their own firms. Anne Johnson began her own architecture and graphics firm, Sparkflight Studio, in part to have flexibility in raising her 9-yearold son. She also worked with one of her employees who was starting a family, to offer a part-time schedule. “It was recognizing she was an amazing employee and had the right to start a family. Now I have a really loyal employee because we worked together to make it happen.” But obstacles remain. Allord recently left Bunnyfish to join RAD Studio, with her husband, Ryan. “What I see the most in my interactions with clients and construction and (general contractors),” she says, “is the architect is always seen as the male, and I feel like the women — we’re seen as the decorator or the secretary. It doesn’t seem to change.” Allord says that even when her husband

introduces her as an equal, it doesn’t always register in the minds of clients. Many are more apt to tell her she’ll get along with the client’s wife and have fun picking the finishes. “I haven’t been in a meeting yet where the same questions being asked to Ryan are being asked to myself. The architecture questions are directed to him, and the finishes and interior decor are more my role, and that’s not how we operate. We do everything together.” Cecilia Schafler, who runs Lage Design Inc., a landscape architecture firm whose projects include CSN and the Historic Westside School, says a manufacturer of products the firm uses has sales reps — all men — who never market to any of the women in her firm, only the men. The men get invited to dinner or tours of the factory. The women do not. “As the owner of the firm, it’s a little annoying, and also from the perspective of,

Blue Heron is a locally owned Design/Build firm, founded with a commitment to exceptional architecture and outstanding quality of construction. Owner and founder, Tyler Jones has created an innovative architectural style called Vegas Modern™ in response to the climate, culture and lifestyle of his esteemed hometown. Many have imitated but there is only one original… Visit our stunning show homes, open daily, to learn about new homes available in your neighborhood. Also view the latest Vegas Modern™ designs from our Virtual Reality library. Marquis Seven Hills | 1320 Villa Barolo Avenue, Henderson, Nevada 89052 | 702.531.3000 The Bluffs | 11172 San Terrazo Place, Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 | 702.970.6000 Ask about our upcoming communities – Obsidian in Henderson and Vantage in Lake Las Vegas. 702.531.3000

BLUEHERON.COM

ARCHITECTURE

INTERIOR DESIGN

CONSTRUCTION

FURNISHINGS

SOCIETY

It’s Just Like the Feeling You Get When You Reach the Summit.

Get home delivery of Desert Companion for just $1.00 an issue. DESERTCOMPANION.COM

54 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

everything is ultimately on me,” she says. “If they don’t spend the time to educate and engage all of us, then I’m not comfortable with their company and products, and we’re not going to use it.” ALL THE WOMEN we spoke to talk about the need to mentor younger professionals on the ins and outs. “It was huge, so big, so important, for me seeing Tina in that leadership role, and seeing how she held her own and dealt with clients and kept her composure … and seeing how strong you have to be to do what they do on an everyday basis,” Allord says. “For me it can be very emotionally draining and feel like a hurdle — not just career-wise, but for being a woman in general. We have such a great community. It’s important to keep and have those relationships.” (The AIA offers a mentorship program for young women and men graduating from UNLV.) “Right now, we have a great pool of women graduates from UNLV, a talented group,” Allord says. “I think we’re seeing more of that group deciding to stay and build their careers here, which I think is exciting and the most important thing. More and more women are getting licensed. I think we’re building a bigger, better community pool.” UNLV is planning a follow-up See Me symposium on November 2. The list of confirmed speakers includes Susan Sellers, founding partner and creative director of 2x4 in New York; Julia Koerner, assistant adjunct professor at UCLA, who teaches courses in Architecture and 3-D Printed Fashion; and Katherine Darnstadt, principal of Latent Design, Architecture + Urbanism, in Chicago. As with the February event, one of the keys is to highlight the range of careers possible with an architecture degree. “I don’t think every student in our school (of architecture) wants to be an architect or have their own firm,” Telleria says. “You can be a set designer, architectural photographer. There’s more out there, and it’s okay if you take that path.” Wong landed a job with Caesars — and is now working on the company’s bid to win one of three gaming licenses in Japan. Months after we first spoke, Wong says she was still considering what Las Vegas would look like if it had been designed principally by women. “I think Las Vegas wouldn’t revolve around sex and money,” she says. “I think the arts would play a lot larger role in Las Vegas. We still don’t have a world-class art museum. We have a ton of strip clubs.”✦

VEGAS 56

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

t’s fitting that the 2017-2018 season of the Vegas Golden Knights was the stuff of fairy tales: A first-year expansion team of “Golden Misfits,” widely dissed and dismissed, shatters expectations with win after thrilling win. Unreality, after all, is our city’s most abundant natural resource. And just as happily unreal was the team spirit that seemed to take hold overnight and keep us rapt in our seats — whether in the arena, the living room, or the neighborhood bar. In the blur of a slapshot, our reputation for being a town of rootless transients with no claim to any unifying civic ethos was suddenly outdated. The Vegas Golden Knights play some pretty incredible hockey. But maybe there’s something more going on here. The Vegas Golden Knights align with our city’s moment and mood in a way that makes a strange sense. That’s also a way of saying you don’t have to be a hardcore hockey fan to enjoy the team or their story — or the feature in the following pages. In it, we profile defenseman Deryk Engelland, a Knight and transplant who’s truly made Las Vegas home; we supply you with all the crib notes you need to better enjoy this season; and we marvel at how hockey fandom can strike the most unlikely people — for instance, the person writing this introduction. Andrew Kiraly

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL RYDING

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

LONG SKATE TO HOME ICE

H O W A K N O C K A B O U T H O C K E Y P L AY E R F R O M C A N A D A F O U N D LOV E , L I F E , A N D A F O R E V E R H O M E I N L A S V E G A S — J U ST WHEN THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS AND THE CITY NEEDED HIM

BY MATT JACOB L PORTRAIT BY SABIN ORR

early 500 National Hockey League games, regular season and playoffs included. Hundreds of minor-league hockey games. Thousands of amateur hockey games. Years of struggle, of crisscrossing two countries, of clinging to the dream that one day, someday, the big break would come, and then when it finally does, taking full advantage of it, and being forever grateful for it. All of this — every last bit of it — brought Deryk Engelland to this moment in time: his first NHL game in his adopted hometown, wearing the sweater of that adopted hometown’s very first major professional sports team. To call it a dream come true would be disingenuous, because nobody is foolish enough to really dream this sort of thing. Yet there he was, the Canadian from rural Edmonton — who some 17 years earlier met an American woman from rural Wisconsin at an Irish pub in Las Vegas after one of those minor-league hockey games — now standing center ice at T-Mobile Arena as a starting defenseman for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. Goose bumps, sweaty palms, nerves — check, check, and check. But for all the wrong reasons. Because this moment in time, long expected to be drenched in jubilant celebration, was instead awash in sorrow. It was October 10, 2017, just nine days after a madman gunned down 58 people and wounded 869 at a country music festival on the Strip. And here stood Engelland, surrounded by dozens of first responders, with a hockey stick in his left hand and a microphone in his right. A man who says, “I don’t really speak well in front of people” was aglow in the only light shining in an otherwise dark arena — an arena that greeted Engelland with a warm round of applause before quickly falling silent. All eyes and ears were on No. 5, especially those of that woman from rural Wisconsin. “I was so nervous for him,” says Melissa Engelland, who helped her husband craft a speech that was all of 74 words, beginning with these: Like all of you, I’m proud to call Las Vegas home.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

WHEN

Deryk Engelland was born on April 3, 1982, his hometown of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, was on the verge of becoming the hockey capital of the world. Led by a young phenom named Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton Oilers would win four Stanley Cup titles between 1984-88. It was right around the time of those first Oilers championships that Engelland first found himself on a sheet of ice, learning to get his bearings on a makeshift rink his dad made in the backyard. “As far back as I can remember,” Engelland says, “all I wanted to do was play hockey.” His father’s job as a welder took the family — which included middle-child Deryk and his two sisters — from one small town to the next in northern British Columbia, before eventually settling in Chetwynd, on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. By then, Engelland was playing organized hockey in youth leagues and club tournaments, with his parents transporting him from town to town during the harsh Canadian winters. By his admission, Engelland was a solid but not exceptional player. But he made up for his shortcomings with the kind of physical toughness that defines the sport — and opens the eyes of scouts. He wasn’t much of a fighter, though, off or on the ice. The latter changed during the 1999-2000 season, his second with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League, a junior club based in Saskatchewan. Engelland estimates he fought 10 times in the final 15 games. “From there,” he says, “it just occurred to me that that’s what I would need to do to get where I wanted to go.” Shortly after Engelland’s 18th birthday, the New Jersey Devils selected him with the 194th overall pick of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than turn pro, though, he chose to remain with Moose Jaw, piling up ice time — and penalty minutes — as a regular defenseman over the next three seasons. At that point, he was 21 years old and an elder statesman by Canadian junior hockey standards. Realizing that his hopes of making it to the NHL were fading with each turn of the calendar page, Engelland returned to Chetwynd following the 2002-03 season at a crossroads. “I went home and tried to figure out what I was going to do.”

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

The Calgary Flames solved that problem when they called in June 2003 and invited Engelland to their summer camp. He played well enough that the Flames let him train at their facility for the entire summer, showing enough potential that the team signed the rugged defenseman to a contract. Engelland did not, however, head to Calgary with the big club. Instead, the Flames assigned him to their minor-league affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League — a brand-new franchise called the Las Vegas Wranglers. So, in late September, Engelland headed south to a city he’d never been to, arriving just a few weeks before the Wranglers’ inaugural season began. “Our assistant coach picked me up from the airport,” Engelland recalls. “I was expecting him to drive us down the Strip, but instead he took the airport bypass and went around. At that time, the 215 was pretty much the end of the city — it didn’t go much further west. Our whole team basically lived in the same apartment complex at Flamingo and the 215.

I THOUGHT HE WA S R E A L LY N I C E — V E RY P U T TO G E T H E R , AT T R AC T I V E , SW E E T, A N D F R I E N D LY. T H E N I A S K E D H I M H OW O L D H E WA S , AND HE SAID 21. A N D I WA S L I K E , ‘UGH. I DON’T K N OW.’

“To come to Las Vegas as a 21-year-old, it was pretty exciting.” Not so exciting? Pulling in $500 a week. With money tight, Engelland and his teammates ripped a page right out of the Vegas 101 handbook: They looked for comps, scoring one at McMullan’s Irish Pub on Tropicana Avenue, a few hundred yards from the Orleans Arena, where the Wranglers played their home games. McMullan’s and the Wranglers struck up a deal: After games, the players could

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

eat for free; all they had to do was pay their bar tab and kick a few bucks to the servers. “Most games, three-quarters of the team would go eat there,” Engelland says. “The deal was tip $5 and buy all your beers. You couldn’t beat it.” After one particular Wranglers game — the day after Thanksgiving in 2003 — Engelland got his free meal … and a life-changing encounter. I met my wife here, my kids were born here, and I know how special this city is.

MELISSA

wasbornandraised in a small Wisconsin suburb north of Milwaukee, surrounded by dairy farms. Her mother was a secretary, her father a firefighter, and she and her brother enjoyed a typical Midwestern upbringing. But after earning her degree in communications and public relations from Concordia University Wisconsin, a private liberal-arts Lutheran college in the small town of Mequon, Melissa was ready to spread her wings. She zeroed in on UNLV. “I came out here with my girlfriend for a weekend trip, and I thought, ‘Oh, that would be a good place to move to. It would be fun and so different from where I grew up.’” Too different — much too different — as far as her parents were concerned. “They basically said, ‘You’re on your own — figure it out. We’re not helping you with this move at all,’” she says. “So I was like, ‘All right. I’m going to show you!’” She spent the next year working and saving, and in June 2003, she moved to the desert. Two months later, at 24, she began studying for her master’s in communications at UNLV. “I knew I liked public relations,” she recalls, “having previously worked for a radio station where I did a lot of promotions, and Vegas is such a good spot for that type of career. So I was hoping something would work out. But then all my plans changed.” Specifically, they changed the night after Thanksgiving, when Melissa and her friend Andrea went to McMullan’s and posted up at the bar. Engelland was in the back room scarfing down another free postgame dinner when she caught his eye.

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

G R O U P P H OT O C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M O O S E J AW WA R R I O R S ; F I G H T: S T E V E S PATA F O R E

We’ll let them take it from here: Deryk: “I’m pretty shy, and I was probably only about three or four beers deep at that point. So I grabbed a couple of guys and went up to the bar and tried to be smooth.” Melissa: “I thought he was really nice — very put together, attractive, sweet, and friendly. Then I asked him how old he was, and he said 21. And I was like, ‘Ugh. I don’t know.’ Because in America, you can’t start drinking till you’re 21, so I wasn’t sure about his (maturity).” Deryk: “I said, ‘Here, take my number.” Melissa: “I said, ‘Sure, I’ll take your number.’ We didn’t have cellphones, so he had to write it down on a piece of paper. I told him I’d call him, but as I walked out of the bar, he stopped me.” Deryk: “I said, ‘You’re not going to call me, are you? How about you give me your number?’” Melissa: “So I did, thinking I wasn’t going to hear from him. But he called.” And she answered, accepting his invitation to attend a Wranglers game the next week, followed by a meet-up back at McMullan’s. At one point during the game, Deryk and an opponent dropped the gloves and began flinging fists, with Deryk getting the better of the exchange: “I busted up the guy’s nose pretty good.” “It was a really long fight, time-wise,” Melissa recalls. “I was like, ‘Man, this guy is still going. He’s a little crazy. And

Before the Knights: The young Engelland, above left, with teammates from the Canadian junior club the Moose Jaw Warriors, honed his enforcement skills with the Las Vegas Wranglers, right.

I don’t need any crazy in my life.” The brutal fisticuffs were enough to keep Melissa from showing at the bar, forcing Deryk to do some serious damage control, eventually convincing her to meet him at McMullan’s. From there the two went to a nightclub, and the rest … “We knew there was chemistry pretty much right away,” Melissa says. Unfortunately, professional hockey organizations couldn’t give two pucks about chemistry. So it wasn’t but a couple of days later that Deryk was reassigned to Calgary’s American Hockey League affiliate. Location: Lowell, Massachusetts. “I thought, ‘Oh, well, I’m never going to see this guy again,’” Melissa says. “But we just started talking on the phone — some nights, we’d be on the phone for hours. We became what I would say is good friends first.” They reconnected in person in the spring of 2004, when Deryk returned to Las Vegas to join the Wranglers during a playoff run that, after he arrived, lasted all of one game. With the hockey season over, Deryk moved into Melissa’s

apartment for a few weeks, and the relationship blossomed. All of a sudden, Melissa was facing an important life decision: Continue with her studies at UNLV, where she was one year into her master’s program, or commit to the vagabond existence that is minor-league hockey, with no guarantees about much of anything. “At first, I was worried about leaving school and my job if things weren’t going to work out,” she says. “But at that point, you just kind of take a leap of faith and go for it. From then on, it was moving from city to city to city.” Among the cities they traveled to during the next six years: Chetwynd; Calgary; Lowell; Las Vegas; North Charleston, South Carolina; Hershey, Pennsylvania; Redding, Pennsylvania; and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania. All in Melissa’s SUV, and all on a bare-bones budget. Melissa: “Financially, it was hard.” Deryk: “When I got to Hershey (in 2006), things got a little better — I think I started at $35,000 a year.” Melissa: “Yeah, we were still broke.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

OCTOBER 4 vs. Philadelphia Flyers The season opener is special for every team, but it’s extra special for the Golden Knights, who’ll be waving a Western Conference Championship banner. The game itself is important for Vegas as well, as it’s the Knights’ only home game in the first six games of the season. A loss to the Flyers could send VGK into an early tailspin (remember, the Golden Knights were 8-10 to start 2017-18); but a win, and they’re once again flying high. OCTOBER 10 at Washington Capitals It doesn’t get much better than an early rematch of the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights won Game 1 of the final, but then dropped four straight — their only fourgame losing streak of the season. Vegas will clearly be out for revenge with a Stanley Cup Champs banner taunting them from the rafters — and expect to see that thirst for revenge in energetic, aggressive play. Winning this one would be sweet revenge. NOVEMBER 23 vs. Calgary Flames It's James Neal's return to T-Mobile Arena; after helping the Knights snag the Western Conference title and make it to the Stanley Cup final in their first season, Neal signed a five-year deal with the Calgary Flames. He and

THRILLERS, NAIL-BITERS, AND SCORES TO SETTLE 7 Must-Watch VGK Games This Season BY KEN BOEHLKE

David Perron are really the only two significant Knights departures, so there won’t be many opportunities to welcome back — and attempt to destroy — old friends. Plus, the Flames have a chance to be much improved, and could certainly challenge the Golden Knights for a Pacific Division crown. JANUARY 1 vs. L.A. Kings There’s no better way to start the new year than with a grueling matchup against the hated L.A. Kings, who will be looking for some payback after Vegas obliterated them in four games in the playoffs a year ago. These games are usually brute physical wars, and that’s probably not going to change despite the holiday date. You never know, though, as both teams will be spending New Year’s Eve in Vegas. Hangover Part IV? FEBRUARY 22 vs. Winnipeg Jets The Jets and Golden Knights play nothing but thrilling, up-tempo, high-scoring hockey games. With a majority of both rosters returning,

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

plus Paul Stastny switching sides (the former Jet signed a three-year deal with the Knights), you can expect the same this match. Winnipeg won’t soon forget the way their season came to a close in 2018, either, so expect a vigorous game.

MARCH 17 vs. Edmonton Oilers One of the very few teams the Golden Knights couldn’t solve a year ago was the Oilers. Oilers center Connor McDavid’s dazzling speed was consistently a problem and, despite Edmonton’s struggles, they had Vegas’ number. The Oilers were one of just three teams to defeat the Golden Knights twice. This late-season affair could have major playoff implications … or the Oilers will suck again and it’ll be a nice easy two points for the Golden Knights. APRIL 6 at L.A. Kings The final game of the regular season is either the most important — or the most meaningless. If this game has playoff meaning for either team, this game will be a treat. Imagine if it’s a winner-take-all-scenario between two rivals on the final day of the year. That’s the kind of stuff hockey dreams are made of. Ken Boehlke is the founder of sinbin.vegas, a website that covers the Vegas Golden Knights.

We shared a car. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment. We didn’t go out to dinner. But it was the way things should be when you’re a young couple — struggling, working hard, trying to make it all work.” All the while, the couple spent each off-season back in Las Vegas (where Deryk ended up playing for the Wranglers for the entire 2004-05 season before his career took him East). It’s where they got engaged in summer 2005 — he popped the question during a gondola ride at the Venetian, which cost $200 they didn’t necessarily have — and where they settled after marrying in Wisconsin a year later. Why make Las Vegas home? “It was a little bit of everything,” Deryk says. “We had mutual friends here, we had separate friends here, the weather, the training, the cost of living. My hometown is much too small. We did spend some time in Wisconsin in the summers, but I just don’t do humidity very well.” Two words, otherwise buried in the above paragraph, would change the Engellands’ lives: the training. After the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Deryk to a contract following the 200607 season, he languished in the minors for three more seasons with Hershey, Redding, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. On November 10, 2009 — a little more than a month after he was the last player the Penguins cut in training camp — Deryk’s dream of playing in the NHL was finally realized when Pittsburgh called him up to replace an injured player. But after playing in nine games, Deryk was shipped back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the remainder of the 2009-10 season. That summer, back in Las Vegas, Melissa body-checked her husband with some tough love. “Basically, I gave him an ultimatum,” she says. “I said, ‘You need to quit drinking, take your training seriously, and go for it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work financially.’” She connected Deryk with Mark Philippi, who spent 15 years as the strength and conditioning coach for UNLV athletics, and was a former World’s Strongest Man competitor. Deryk went to work with Philippi, and Melissa went to work wherever she could. “I took every crappy job I could find just to pay

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

the bills,” she says. “We moved into the cheapest one-bedroom apartment we could find here. We were still sharing a car. All he did was train and skate, and all I did was work.” The sacrifice paid dividends the following season, when Deryk — now 28 and in the best shape of his life — made the Penguins’ roster out of training camp. He played in 63 games and remained with the club for the entire

W E M OV E D I N TO THE CHEAPEST ONE-BEDROOM A PA R T M E N T W E COULD FIND HERE. WE WERE STILL SHARING A CAR. ALL HE DID WA S T R A I N A N D S K AT E , A N D A L L I D I D WA S WO R K .

Three productive seasons in Pittsburgh set Deryk up for free agency in summer 2014. As fate would have it, the Calgary Flames — the first NHL organization that gave him a look, the one that signed him more than a decade earlier and sent him to Las Vegas — made the Engellands and offer they couldn’t refuse: three years, $8.7 million. “I wasn’t expecting the deal that I got from Calgary, that’s for sure,” Deryk says. “It was tough to leave Pittsburgh, but you’re grateful and excited for a new chapter in your life, and Calgary was not far from back home. So it was exciting to go up there and be part of that organization for three years.” In 226 games with Calgary, Deryk tallied just nine goals and 30 assists, but he wasn’t signed for his offensive acumen; he was signed to do what he does best, and that’s be an enforcer. For that, he earned his keep, racking up a combined 163 penalty minutes.

season with the Flames, rumors began to bubble that the NHL was considering adding a 31st team. Their No. 1 target city: Las Vegas. Within three months — in November 2014 — the league tapped Bill Foley as a potential owner of a Las Vegas franchise. By February 2015, with the NHL’s permission, Foley launched a season-ticket drive to gauge local interest. The goal: 10,000 deposits. Within two days, Foley was halfway there; within six weeks, the goal was fully met. Some 1,800 miles north, Melissa Engelland tracked the ticket drive with excitement and hope. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh — they’ve got this many ticket commitments already. This is going to happen!’ We just didn’t know at the time what year the team would start. I was hoping that every star would align perfectly. Then, when we found out that the expansion draft was going to happen the year his contract was up in Calgary, we really got excited about the possibility.” a year after Deryk reOn June 26, 2016, it became ceived his official: In exchange for $500 first contract extension with The puck drops: Hockey fever million, Foley was awarded Pittsburgh, the Engellands overflows at an an NHL expansion franchise solidified their roots in Las event unveilthat would be placed in Las Vegas when they purchased ing the team's name at the Vegas and begin play in Octoand renovated a foreclosed T-Mobile Arena ber 2017, the first time the city home, moving into it in 2012. (below left). On expansion-draft would be home to a team in A month later, they welcomed day, new Knights one of America’s four major their first son, Cash. Marc-Andre Flprofessional sports. Two summers later, just as eury, Engelland, and Brayden The Vegas Golden Knights the family was about to head McNabb take the were formally christened in to Calgary for Deryk’s first stage in LV.

J O H N L O C H E R /A P P H O T O S

ABOUT 2010-11 season, during which Pittsburgh signed him to a three-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season. Average annual salary: $566,700. “It was huge,” Deryk says. “To finally make it and get that three-year extension was a dream come true. But I don’t think either of us were satisfied. We both looked at it like, the day that I’m satisfied is probably the day I’d start being on my way out.”

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

November 2016, and by this time team officials, led by general manager George McPhee, were traversing the NHL to scout talent for an expansion draft to be held on June 20, 2017. Three days prior, the league’s 30 existing teams submitted names of “protected” players — those players the Knights were not permitted to select with one of their 30 expansion-draft picks. To nobody’s surprise, Deryk Engelland’s name was not on Calgary’s protected list; he was, after all, a free agent. But that didn’t mean he was a lock to become a Golden Knight. “I never thought I’d get taken in the expansion draft,” Deryk says. “We figured with free agency starting a week later, that would be our only chance. Then they called (two days) before the draft and said they were interested.” Allowed to select only one player from each team, McPhee made it official by swiping Engelland from Calgary. “He really stood out as a guy who would be a good fit here,” McPhee says. “When we looked at Calgary’s team, there really wasn’t a close second. Of all the decisions we made in the expansion draft, taking Deryk was a fairly easy one.” Made easier by the fact that Engelland was already entrenched in the Las Vegas community. “It certainly helped having someone here who knew his way around and could really help the other players when they got to town with whatever they needed — school needs, housing needs, those sorts of things,” McPhee says. “He be-

NATE SCHMIDT SUSPENSION Losing Nate Schmidt, arguably the Knights' best defenseman, for a quarter of the regular season (due to testing positive for a banned substance) is not an ideal way to open the year. However, unlike in other sports where a direct replacement is necessary when a player drops out, in hockey, it causes a more subtle shift in the depth chart. Rather than a player like

Family and philanthropy: Deryk and Melissa Engelland (with sons Cash, left, and Talon), formed the Vegas Born Heroes Foundation to honor locals who go above and beyond.

came the person who all the other players would seek out when they needed answers to things. And we liked that we had someone here who was part of this community. “In terms of how much it factored into the decision, it was probably 10 percent. The other 90 percent was because we really liked the way he played.” For the Engellands, getting to stay home to play for the NHL’s newest team was an incredible relief, especially con-

Jon Merrill or Brad Hunt filling the skates left by Schmidt, instead it’ll be Deryk Engelland, Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, and Nick Holden to pick up the slack. Schmidt logged the most minutes of any Golden Knight last year, but also missed a four-game stretch in early March, so the Golden Knights at least have some experience playing without him. There are four probable additions to the lineup with

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

THE X FACTORS

Four Thoughts Heading Into the Season Schmidt out: Hunt, Merrill, and youngsters Zach Whitecloud and Erik Brannstrom. Anticipating Schmidt’s absence gives the coaching staff plenty

sidering the family had expanded in May 2016 after the arrival of son Talon. It would be up to Cash, though, to share the good news with his mom. “I was at work, and I called Deryk, and Cash got on the phone and said, ‘Guess what, Mommy? We’re not moving this year! Daddy’s going to be a Golden Knight!’ I just started crying.” Four months later, Melissa would be brought to tears again. This time for an entirely different reason.

of time through training camp to figure out which of those four deserves the job. The biggest challenge this presents the Golden Knights is that it takes away one of the few places on the roster they have some depth. They should be able to withstand the loss of a player like Schmidt for 20 games. But if they lose another body due to injury, things could get dicey in a hurry.

MAX PACIORETTY TRADE The Golden Knights acquired a bonafide star in the NHL when they traded for former Montreal Canadiens Captain Max Pacioretty. Vegas did have to give up Tomas Tatar, star prospect and former 1st round pick Nick Suzuki, and a future 2nd round pick. The price was high, but the juice will be worth the squeeze. Pacioretty is a terrific scorer and

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

To all the brave first responders that have worked (tirelessly) and courageously throughout this whole tragedy, we thank you.

SABIN ORR

IT’S

August 10, 2018, and Cash and Talon Engelland are filled with boundless energy as guests infiltrate what Melissa calls the family’s “forever house” in the southwest part of the valley. When the boys aren’t spiritedly mimicking their father by playing hockey on the wood floor — rubber puck, of course — they’re coercing their parents

defender. He's played previously with Paul Stastny, so there should be instant chemistry on the 2nd line. Adding Pacioretty does cause a bit of a logjam of forwards. Erik Haula and Alex Tuch are both considered topsix forwards, but only one spot remains open in the Golden Knights lineup. Haula, who played center last season, may be forced to move to right wing, or he'll be demoted to the 3rd line.

into giving them M&Ms, which Mom and Dad use as currency to get them to participate in a photo shoot. On this hot summer afternoon, the house is filled with laughter and joy — a stark contrast to the atmosphere late on October 1, 2017, after the Golden Knights’ final preseason game against the San Jose Sharks. Everyone was sound asleep when Melissa’s phone rang shortly after 11 p.m. She couldn’t answer the call in time, but when she noticed it was her friend Chelsi, she immediately sensed something was wrong and called back.

CAN WILLIAM KARLSSON CONTINUE TO DOMINATE? William Karlsson, aka Wild Bill, had a season for the ages in 2017-18, scoring 43 goals, racking up a plus-49 rating, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (on-ice sportsmanship award), and finishing in the top 10 for the Hart Memorial (MVP) and the Frank J. Selke (top defensive forward) trophies. He’s not going to have the same numbers

statistically, but he can still have a massive impact on his team. Karlsson is the engine of a Golden Knights top line that went from unknowns to one of the league’s best in about two months’ time. He’s going to be excellent defensively, he’s going to score some goals, but will he and linemates Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault be able to keep dominating games? They better continue scoring, keeping possession

“I’m half asleep,” Deryk says, “and Melissa just says to me, ‘Turn the TV on. Now!’” It’s one of those Where were you when? moments that will live within all of us who called Las Vegas home that night. For Melissa, the initial shock of the mass shooting was immediately followed by sheer panic: She knew one of her friends was at the concert — Andrea, the friend who was with her at McMullan’s the night she and Deryk first met. After several frantic hours and countless texts and calls, Melissa finally got the word: “She texted back and said, ‘I can’t talk, but I’m OK.’” The next several days were a blur for the Engellands, with one emotion intersecting with the next. “So much was going on,” Melissa recalls. “Deryk and I personally knew so many people who attended the concert that night that we were just trying to figure it all out.” For their part, Deryk’s new teammates quickly came together and volunteered to assist in any way needed. “The next morning, guys were already texting me to see where stuff was, what they could do,” Deryk says. Melissa says the players’ wives and girlfriends reached out to her with similar overtures. In fact, in the days following the tragedy, the entire Golden Knights’ organization thrust itself into the community, offering to give blood, donate food and water, or simply lend emotional support. The latter would come in a hurricane-like wave on the night of October 6, when the Knights played their inaugural game in Dallas and rallied for a

of the puck, and stifling opponents’ best players, or the Golden Knights could be in trouble. THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF EXPECTATIONS

One of the main reasons many attributed to the Golden Knights’ success was a lack of expectations. Everyone was free to play without a fear of repercussions if they made a mistake, or lost a few games in a row.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Things are different now. As the defending Pacific Division and Western Conference Champions, the Knights essentially have to make it to the playoffs. A tough start or a rough patch of games could send panic through the new fan base — which could, in turn, impact the Knights’ collective psyche in a vicious circle, something they didn’t even come close to experiencing a year ago. KB

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

TOMAS NOSEK #92 Nosek was a stalwart on the Golden Knights’ excellent fourth line last year — that’s the tough group of “pests” and enforcers whose tussling, physical play gives offensive teammates a chance to rest. This year, he has a chance to take a huge step up in responsibility. If he performs well in training camp, he might find himself playing as high as the offensive, goal-focused second line. Nosek was one of Vegas’ best players in the Stanley Cup final, and has shown an ability to score as well as play sound defense. Last year was full of “Golden Misfits.” This year, they need to find misfits among the misfits, and Nosek might be that guy. DANIEL CARR #43 Carr has a similar story as many Golden Knights, except he’s coming to the team one year later than everyone else. A free-agent acquisition from the Montreal Canadiens, Carr has shown an excellent scoring instinct when given a chance. In every league leading up to the NHL, he’s scored nearly a point (goal or assist) per game. In the NHL he started out hot, but cooled off as he settled in with the Canadiens. He has high-end offensive upside, and it may have just never shown due to his lineup placement in Montreal.

GRACE (AND GRIT) UNDER PRESSURE

The Knights to Watch This Season

There’s a spot open on the defensive third line for the Golden Knights, and Carr could fill it in a big way. ERIK BRANNSTROM #26 The diminutive defenseman whom the Golden Knights selected in the first round of the 2017 draft is one of the few Vegas draft picks with a legitimate shot of playing in the NHL this season. He’s unlikely to make it on the big club out of training camp, but if he can prove himself enough to head to the AHL, he’ll likely make an appearance in the NHL soon after. Brannstrom is a joy to watch, and keeps fans on the edge of their seats. He might make an incredible pass to set up an amazing goal — or he might turn the puck over in his own end. Don’t expect to see #26 on the ice in Vegas early on, but he could be a late-season addition who could change the makeup of an already good team. WILLIAM CARRIER (#28) VS. RYAN REAVES (#75) There probably isn’t room on the roster for both of these bruisers in 2018-19. They’ll battle it

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

out in training camp to see who’ll make the team — and who will head either to the AHL, or out of town completely. Reaves is the much more experienced player and just signed a pretty strong contract, but Carrier has a bit more speed and possibly more upside. Odds are that Reaves wins the job, but if Carrier has a great camp season, there could be a very tough decision for Knights GM George McPhee. BACKUP GOALIE SPOT The Golden Knights' starter is about as locked in as can be with Marc-Andre Fleury, but the backup goalie position is wide open. Malcolm Subban held the spot for the majority of last season, but multiple injuries leave some room for worry. It should be a two-horse race with Oscar Dansk and Subban, but Max Lagace took strides a year ago, and got the call as the backup in the Stanley Cup final. Subban remains the most athletic of the three; Dansk has all the tools but has never really gotten an opportunity; and Lagace leads the bunch in experience. The craziest part of this battle: The two who don’t make the team will both be subject to waivers — which means they could be stolen from VGK for absolutely nothing in return. KB

2-1 victory that raised the spirit of an entire community. “I think everyone in that locker room knew we had to come out and try to win that game for Las Vegas,” Engelland says. “But I don’t think we knew to the extent it would help.” Another 2-1 road victory — this one in overtime against the Arizona Coyotes — followed the next night, setting the stage for a Knights-Coyotes rematch at T-Mobile Arena three nights later. To the families and friends of the victims, know that we’ll do everything we can to help you and our city heal. Golden Knights’ game-day operations staff spent months planning a raucous celebration for the October 10 home opener. But after the shooting, those plans, at least for opening night, were scrapped. Rather than pomp and circumstance, pregame festivities would include honoring the 58 victims who lost their lives and recognizing survivors and first responders. As the plan evolved, Eric Tosi, the team’s vice president of communications and content, approached the only player on the roster with ties to Las Vegas and asked him to close the ceremony by addressing the crowd. Engelland was reticent. Then he asked his wife. Her response: “You should probably do that.” Deryk and Melissa worked with Tosi’s staff on the wording, and once they got that down, they practiced it. Over and over. “I told him, ‘You need to memorize this speech. It also needs to be something that’s poignant and straight to the point and that can hold the attention of 18,000 people,’” Melissa says. “Sometimes when I fell asleep, I would dream it, because we went over it so many times.” At least she slept. “It’s the only thing that was going through my mind for three or four days,” Deryk says. “I’d lie in bed and couldn’t fall asleep.” The practice paid off. Deryk delivered the 74-word speech smoothly and sincerely, and everyone was impressed. That includes the crowd, which offered a rousing ovation; the opponent (“Every Arizona player tapped me on the shin pads and said, ‘Unbelievable job!’”); his

THE

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

general manager (“It could not have been done better”); and his wife (“I was very proud—it was amazing”). The responsibilities didn’t end with that speech, of course. There was still a game to play — make that a game to win. “Once the ceremony was done,” Deryk says, “everyone knew we had a job to do.” And, boy, did they do it: In the first 10 minutes, 42 seconds, the Knights tallied four goals en route to a 5-2 blowout victory. The second goal? It came off the stick of the guy not paid to put the puck in the net. “That was probably the most excited I’ve ever been for a goal,” Deryk says. “Everyone in our locker room knew we were winning that game. And it wasn’t about getting two points (in the standings) like it normally would be, or beating a desert rival. It was all about winning for the city.” It was a win that gave the NHL’s newest team a 3-0 record. A win that will be remembered as the launching point for

COURTESY OF THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

YOU NEED TO MEMORIZE THIS SPEECH. IT ALSO NEEDS TO BE SOMETHING THAT’S POIGNANT AND STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND THAT CAN HOLD THE ATTENTION OF 18,000 PEOPLE

what turned out to be a magical season. “Not only did we come out and score four goals right away and give people something to cheer about, but it set the tone for the rest of the year,” Engelland says. “That building was amazing that night and for every game after it.” “The game and the days leading up to the game didn’t matter,” McPhee says. “The ceremony mattered. And it went so well and so right that, when it was over, you could really feel all of the emotion building. And for the first time, I said to myself, ‘We’ve got to win this game. And we have to keep on winning to help this community.’”

know the rest of the story: The 2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights set dozens of records on their way to the greatest season by an expansion franchise in the history of professional sports — one that fell three victories short of the Stanley Cup. Along the way, the team unified the community to the point that you can’t turn two corners in this valley without seeing a Golden Knights sticker, cap, shirt, or license-plate frame. Deryk and Melissa Engelland’s adopted hometown has turned into a hockey town — one the Canadian player walked through anonymously for 14 years. No longer. “Before I started playing for the Knights, if I went to the hockey rink, the kids would know who you were,” Deryk says. “But that was it.” Counters Melissa: “I don’t ever once remember anyone recognizing us in Las Vegas before this year!” As the Golden Knights embark on their second season this month, they do so with some new faces and without some old ones. Such is how the cogs in the professional sports machine turn these days. But Engelland says his and his teammates’ expectations remain the same: Pick up those three additional wins and hoist the Stanley Cup. “Is there an unfinished-business element to this season? For sure, 100 percent,” he says. “We want to win it all, and so do 30 other teams. We got a taste

YOU

Strong words: Shortly after October 1, an emotional Engelland addresses fans at the Knights' first-ever home game.

last year. And I’m pretty sure I can speak for every guy in that locker room that we want to finish it this year.” Now 36, Engelland says he wants to play “as long as I can.” McPhee sounds optimistic: “He’s a tremendously fit athlete and a very good player. We may get many more years out of him than we anticipated.” Eventually, though, the end will come. And while he says he hasn’t given his post-playing career much thought, Engelland is certain of two things: He wants to somehow remain involved with the Knights’ organization, and absolutely will remain part of the Las Vegas community. “Once hockey’s done, I’m sure we’ll go elsewhere in July and August,” he says with a laugh. “But, no, this will be home, for sure.” The gal he met at an Irish pub 17 years ago wholly concurs. “Vegas has probably been who we are for a long time,” Melissa says. “We couldn’t be happier.” Oh, one last thing about that speech — the one Deryk had to be coaxed into giving, the one that will forever live in Golden Knights lore, the one that has more than a quarter-million YouTube views. He ended it with these four words: We are … Vegas strong. And he ended it in precisely … 58 seconds.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

GETTING MEDIEVAL

How I became a Vegas Golden Knights fan, one ecstatic tribal cheer at a time BY ANDREW KIRALY ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS

the Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets — tonight’s winner would advance one step closer to the Stanley Cup. I was perched in the press box at T-Mobile Arena, trying mightily to maintain some semblance of journalistic composure as my limbic system started losing its shit. The game hadn’t even started yet. It was the intro part where there’s lots of amplified bluster and blinding, sweeping lights, and blazing celebrity heads on the video cube. The Jets were already swirling around the rink. Then the emcee thundered the name of the Vegas Golden Knights — and this gigantic uterine medieval helmet disgorged the team onto the ice. The arena roared. The clamor was choral, seismic. It was living myth. It was rousing spectacle. It was one of the most transcendently dumb things I ever saw, and I nearly wept with joy and gratitude. On May 18, I became a hockey fan. I always had a unilateral grudge against sports. I grew up in an obscure and puritanical religious cult called punk rock. I considered organized religion, organized sports, or organized anything to be forms of a dangerous tribalism that was an atavistic regression from my noble utopian project of, I can’t even remember, worldwide vegan socialism or something. (The only true sport was skateboarding, because it wasn’t a sport. It was the anti-matter of sports.) And, I mean, plus, look around! Tribalism is winning everywhere: in presidential elections, on rage-pundit political programs, on nutty conspiracy subreddits and 4chan boards. The internet was supposed to be a crystal palace of informed dialogue and indulgent weltgeist; instead, it’s become a giant panoptical fly eyeball through which we magnify and multiply our grievances. No tribalism for me, kthanksbye! But there was something about the fabulous and harmless silliness of grown men dressed in Transformers drag wielding improbably dainty sticks in pursuit of a spastic chiclet of rubber that reminded me there can be such a thing as a benign, and even positive, tribalism. It reminded me that fandom, while always arbitrary at its source, can be fundamentally affirmative. One day

IT WAS

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

in traffic I saw a Knights bumper sticker, and I reflexively smiled. Bumper stickers typically foist a binary on you: You either agree with my views or you’re wrong. You’re either in my tribe or you’re the enemy. Traffic jams — all those stickers — can turn into a freaky tensor field of cognitive nausea. But you can’t intellectually disagree with a Knights sticker, or a Jets sticker, or even a Raiders sticker. (Okay, maybe a Raiders sticker.) It wasn’t long before I was watching the Stanley Cup Finals at my neighborhood bar — and the I melted into a hooting, shouting we. Inevitably, the beauty of the game came into focus. What at first looked like men covered in diapers swashbuckling with toothpicks resolved itself into a visceral ballet: the offensive line’s tactical bursts into liquid speed, the surgical slams, the graceful snipes and wraparounds, the amoebal passing frenzy toward a score — yes, that quantum cat’s-cradle puck-shuffling at the opponent’s goal, and oh wow how you feel your brain pushing against your skull as you find yourself telekinetically willing the puck into the net— As a lifelong Las Vegan, I thought myself immune to team spirit. Our city’s transience and perpetual nowness suggested the immunity was constitutional or chromosomal, and therefore proper. Weirdly, though, the Vegas Golden Knights’ instaneity and artificiality — a construction as arbitrary and sudden as a Strip casino — make them a quintessentially Las Vegas team. So: See you at the barn, hosers! I think that’s one of the phrases. I’m still learning.

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

SUSHI COMES TO SILVERTON!

OPENING IN NOVEMBER

SHARE &

SHARE A

I-15 & BLUE DIAMOND • 702.263.7777 • SILVERTONCASINO.COM

Rescue Reu + 70 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

nion

Many kinds of heroes emerged on the night of October 1. A year later, victims and rescuers find themselves redefining heroism in post-tragedy Las Vegas. by Heidi Kyser

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 71

‘I WISH I COULD’VE SAVED MORE’ On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock used an arsenal he’d assembled in a 32nd-floor suite of Mandalay Bay casino to fire on a crowd of 22,000 people who were enjoying the festival’s final act on the concert grounds below his window. He killed 58 of them and injured 869, creating a horrifically chaotic scene that has since been replayed in myriad interviews and videos. By the following day, a narrative of heroism amid the chaos had emerged. In the news media, witnesses described how first responders, security guards, event staff, and laypeople carried victims to safety, drove them to hospitals, used articles of clothing to bandage their wounds and stanch their bleeding, performed CPR, and even stayed with them while they died — accounts similar to those summarized in FEMA’s After-Action Report, issued two months ago: Civilians were heavily involved in providing first aid to victims — making makeshift tourniquets out of belts and transporting patients to local hospitals in privately owned vehicles. They provided festival attendees with food, blankets, and offers to house people. … The high numbers of wounded, as well as the volume of fleeing concertgoers, created challenges for first responders trying to quickly access the scene. Without emergency medical care, the first aid provided by concertgoers served an essential life-saving function for some victims.

72 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

During press conferences following the shooting, Metro Police Chief Joe Lombardo also mentioned civilians’ considerable contribution to the rescue effort; officers’ body-camera footage, released during the eight months after the shooting, confirmed it. In a video titled “The Ordinary Heroes of the Oct. 1 Las Vegas Shooting,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal compiled a selection of moments from that footage showing non-uniformed individuals approaching officers and asking how they could help. One such person was Devin Gray, who was at Route 91 with his mom, brother, and a close friend. A well-trained gun owner, Gray recognized more quickly than many others that they were being shot at and what to do. Keeping everybody’s head down, he shepherded his family out of the venue and into the parking lot where his truck was parked. Along the way, Gray and his family encountered a young woman, Taylor Barr, and her parents. Barr was shot in the arm and bleeding badly. (The father was also shot in the foot, although they didn’t notice it until later.) After getting his own family to his truck, Gray drove back around to where Barr and her parents were. Gray’s family helped them into the back of the pickup, drove through snarled traffic on Interstate 15, and — with the help of a State Police escort — to UMC. Although they waited at the hospital for some time, Gray and his family had to leave before learning Barr and her parents’ fate. In the wake of the shooting, private social media groups for Route 91 survivors sprang up. During the week following October 1st, Gray started getting an unusually high number of friend requests and messages on Facebook. In a survivor group, someone tagged him #LVHero. A mother had created a “Wanted” poster looking for the person who’d saved her stepdaughter’s life. The poster found its way to Gray, who recognized

B O D Y C A M E R A I M A G E S : A P ; O C T O B E R 1 A F T E R M A T H : A P /J O H N L O C H E R

Clinical counselor Dan Ficalora somehow manages to both lean in, perched urgently on the edge of his desk chair, and yet convey a bottomless well of patience: “There’s nothing positive about this,” he says. “Even the person who maybe saved 15 lives — he’s happy he did it, but he’s not happy that he had to do it. To find a silver lining is very difficult, because it’s overall a very negative situation.” The remark snaps me out of a soothing stupor induced by the soft light and overstuffed couch of Ficalora’s standard talk therapy space. I’ve come to his office at Bridge Counseling Associates, next door to Metro’s sprawling police headquarters on Alta Boulevard, to get a psychotherapist’s perspective on rescue and reunion, a prevalent phenomenon resulting from the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting a year ago. Like many journalists covering the massacre, I’ve heard countless stories of victims reconnecting with the people who saved them that night, sometimes forging strong bonds. I’m curious about the role that those connections have played in both individual and communal recovery. Ficalora reminds me that, no matter how you frame it — and despite the alluring impulse to just move on — this is not a feel-good story. So, let’s start there.

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

It was easy for the two families to mesh, and Gray feels bound to Barr for life — as if she’s the sister he never had.

himself in the description: This was the family he drove to UMC that night. Soon his and Barr’s families were talking on the phone. “That was a huge relief,” Gray says. “I was having serious emotional problems until then. After I got the news from them, it was like a huge weight had been lifted.” The two families now check in with each other regularly. They had their first in-person reunion at Barr’s home in Southern California in February, and they’ve gotten together a couple other times since then. They’re planning to meet up in Las Vegas for the events marking one year since the shooting. Gray says it was easy for the two families to mesh, and he feels bound to Barr for life, as if she’s the sister he never had before. According to Ficalora, who specializes in treating trauma, uplifting stories like these can help to disrupt PTSD’s painful memory loop. People can’t delete memories of their trauma, but they can teach themselves to invoke positive memories related to the trauma and substitute them for the bad ones. In Gray’s case, for example, having saved Barr helps diminish the guilt he feels for not saving more people — a form of survivor’s guilt that Ficalora says is widely shared among his October 1 patients. Here’s how that thought process plays out: Gray: I know I could have helped other people if I’d taken my time, but bullets were flying. If I could go back, I’d help other people, but until I made it to the truck, I couldn’t risk my family getting hurt. … I feel like I was being selfish. I could’ve done more, I should’ve done more. Me: But you saved seven people, including yourself.

Gray: I guess. But there were other people who could’ve used a ride to the hospital. There were people who bled to death. … But for Taylor’s sake, we had to get out. She could’ve been No. 59.

The connection between Gray ’s and Barr’s families continues this process: Those who survived horror and death together reunite to remember those who weren’t so lucky and to remind one another that they’re okay. In doing so, they reaffirm life. ‘I FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME’ Gray insists that he’s not a hero. The rest of society insists that he is. By October 2, one day after the shooting, cable and TV news networks were already airing tearful

Left, body camera images released by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department show concertgoers attending to the fallen. Above, a scene from the aftermath of October 1.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 73

encounters between the rescued and their rescuers. Many used words like “guardian the time. William told me, ‘Babe, give that angel” and “savior.” In one such segment, on The Today Show, anchor Savannah Guthrie first-aid kit to her. We can’t use it.’ I did it says, “A story like this makes us remember who we really are.” because my husband is such a good-hearted Is that who we really are? I asked cultural critic and University of Massachusetts person, but to me, it was her taking something professor Kirby Farrell, who recently wrote the article “A Psychology of Rescue,” away from my husband. There were so many excerpted from his latest book, A Swim in Denial, for Psychology Today. people stopping to help other people, and all “Humans are the only creatures who, as far as we know, are aware of the limitations that I was thinking about was helping my of life,” Farrell says. “We’re all, as it were, destined to die. One way we cope with this husband. I don’t hold it against anyone who is to devise cultures that seem to protect or shelter us. So, for example, everywhere didn’t help me, because I don’t know what you look you see monuments to special or larger-than-life meaning. You can see it in they were going through. You never know.” politics, in religion, in law, and so on.” Was someone running for his life because In other words, rescue is mutual. The person who is saved slips the bonds of morwithout him a child would be parentless? tality, and the one who does the saving is immortalized with a statue — or, according Was he running to a car so he could come to current custom, in the media. back for a loved one? Was he simply in shock? But, Farrell adds, there’s a dark side to heroism, too. For instance, in Munchausen As Kimberly points out, no one truly knows Syndrome by Proxy, a caregiver attributes an imaginary sickness to his charge in order how he would respond in a crisis until he’s to justify administering care. In the case of October 1, it’s subtler. The emphasis on there; nor does he know what’s in the hearts heroism can inadvertently suggest a contrasting class of villains. Think of it this way: If and minds of others as they respond. This heroes restore our faith in humanity, then do those who run for their lives diminish it? insight into the subtleties of human nature “I saw a different type of humanity that night,” says Route 91 survivor Kimberly can get lost in conversations about heroics. King. “I saw guys climbing over their wives to escape, and I saw other guys taking Asked what determines who stops to help bullets for their wives. People react differently, you know.” and who saves himself, Ficalora says both Like everyone who was there, Kimberly King has complicated feelings about what are natural reactions. “The more unnatural happened that night. She and her husband, William King, were about 100 feet from the thing would be to run toward danger,” he main stage when the shooting began. During the sixth volley, a bullet struck William in says. “Those who did that or stopped to the back and exited his chest below the collarbone. The couple fled the concert grounds help others, that would be less natural than and made it to the Tropicana Hotel, taking refuge in an open back-of-house department those who ran for their lives.” along with many others. A stranger named Joey Nolan, an ex-Marine, came to their Ficalora adds that the impulse to stop and aid, plugging the hole in William’s chest with his thumb. Nolan’s wife, Paola, calmed help may come from past training — as with Kimberly as she frantically looked for help. This came in the form of a Lyft, driven by the many October 1st rescuers who were Paloma Solamente, who got the group of four to Sunrise Hospital. A client of Kimberly’s also helped carry William to safety. The Kings have kept in touch with their rescuers and gone to great lengths to thank them for helping to save William’s life. They flew the Nolans from Southern California to Las Vegas and spent a weekend together celebrating their new lease on life. They arranged to have Solamente, who suffers severe PTSD, treated to a restorative trip overseas by her employer. But there’s more than just heroics to this story. “In the beginning, no one helped us,” Kimberly remembers. “When I was finally able to speak — because I wasn’t able to speak until William was shot and he needed help — I started grabbing people and asking for help. When they saw the blood, they would run because they saw it was real.” She’s not proud of her own behavior at times that night, either. After a Tropicana worker brought the Kings a first-aid kit, Nurse Sydney Patton, facing camera, hugs an October 1 William suggested that Kimberly give it to survivor at a gathering at Spring Valley Hospital on Decema nearby young woman with an injured leg. ber 8. Right, memorial objects after the shooting; far right, “I threw that first-aid kit at her,” Kimberly people pray as workers remove a memorial on November 12. says, through tears. “I feel bad about that all

74 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

P A T T O N : A P / R E G I N A G A R C I A C A N O ; M E M O R I A L : A P / G R E G O R Y B U L L ; W O R K E R S : A P /J O H N L O C H E R

ex-military, off-duty law enforcement, and first responders — or from a sense of duty, as with the security guards and event staff. But not everyone has that experience to draw from. This, he stresses, is the critical thing to remember: “There’s one person who’s responsible for what happened that night. Everyone else was a victim or tried to make the situation better however they could.”

“There is one person who’s responsible for what happened that night. Everyone else was a victim or tried to make the situation better however they could.”

‘I CAN TELL YOU WHAT EACH PERSON WAS WEARING’ Not everyone who rejects the hero label does so out of humility. For others, such as Jason Price, the specter of loss looms so large that it overwhelms everything else. Price is a Gulf War veteran and former police officer. Because he and his girlfriend work in the entertainment business, they were backstage when the shooting began. Price rushed his girlfriend and a couple acquaintances they were with into one of the production trailers parked behind the stage. As the group huddled under tables inside the truck, Price connected to a police scanner app and learned that towels and tape were needed under the stage, where victims were being treated. He grabbed an armful of concert T-shirts and a couple rolls of industrial tape from the trailer and ran out, through gunfire, to deliver the makeshift bandage equipment. In less than a quarter-hour, he’d make another trip back to the bus for more T-shirts and tape, and end up, with his girlfriend, in an impromptu triage set up on Giles Street. EMTs divided the more than 30 wounded people who were being lined up on the street among the volunteers who’d stepped up to help with triage, including Price. He assisted four people, none of whom survived. “It’s something that I’ll never forget,” he says. “I can tell you what each person was wearing. I can tell you what the ones who were still alive were saying to me. You can never take that away. … Nobody lived, but later on — it sounds crazy — but if you were the last voice that they heard and they had somebody there who was talking to them, there’s some comfort in that. I was holding hands, trying CPR, but also talking to them and looking in their eyes. I don’t know if I’ve come to terms with everything personally ... I wish I had a good feel-good story for you, but I don’t.” Price says October 1 shook him much more than anything he encountered in the military or law enforcement, where he was prepared for and expected danger. Seeing revelry suddenly turn to carnage has robbed him, like countless others, of his sense of security. In December, a therapist told him he was showing 11 of the 12 signs of PTSD. Slowly, though, he’s recovering. He says the faces of those he tried to help haunt him less. He sleeps better. Counseling has helped, but the best support comes from his girlfriend, because she lived through the ordeal with him and can truly understand what he’s going through. The couple joined a local hiking group, resisting the urge to isolate themselves and, instead, finding refuge in nature and the company of others. Price says he never joined one of the Route 91 survivor groups, however. He felt the less he heard or talked about the situation, the better. I ask, “What if a loved one of someone whose hand you held while they were dying is looking for you to say thank you?” He says he honestly hadn’t thought of that. What he did, in his mind, is not heroic. “You talk to people and, of course, they have your best interests in mind, but they’d be like, ‘Oh my god, you’re a hero!’” he says. “And I’d tell them I appreciate them saying that, but please don’t say it again. Initially, that was my mindset: A hero saves somebody.” WE CAN BE HEROES In a way, it’s not too late for Price — or anyone else — to rescue someone or be rescued from the nightmare of October 1. There

are people in need of help everywhere you look in Las Vegas. They may not be bleeding, but they’re suffering in other ways, unable to work, get counseling, or pay the rent; paralyzed by fear, grief, and guilt.

“It’s sad that there’s so much going on right now, so much negativity,” says William King. “I don’t know if the world is smaller because of communication, but it seems like there’s always a shooting. Every day is a roller coaster. There are a lot of triggers. … But so many people have done great things for us and our family. When I get down I think about that.” The Kings point to survivor Shawna Bartlett as an example of someone who’s shown her heroism in the aftermath of October 1. Bartlett is vice president of the Love Wins nonprofit that helps families affected by the shooting. She’s also an administrator of the Route 91 survivor social-media groups and has organized several IRL reunions. There was a big one planned for September 29, marking one year since the shooting. “When I looked around (at the first reunion) and saw everybody laughing and enjoying each other’s company, I realized that at that moment, we weren’t thinking about what he did to us that night,” Bartlett says. She chokes up, continuing: “When people ask why we want it to be just us, it’s because others don’t realize what we’re going through, that we’re jittery and looking for a way out wherever we go. … Other friends and family who knew us before that night don’t understand. It’s easy to be with people who get it. When it’s just us you can say, ‘If you need a hug, I’m here for you.’ Our family and friendships have grown so much. It was a night that strangers became friends, and heroes became family.” Given the one-year reminder, mental health professionals are urging the community to be extra aware of and sensitive to the strong feelings that may come up. “As the date comes back, we want to encourage people to prepare,” Ficalora says. “Recognize that it’s coming, prepare for the stress and the memories, and find a way that you can commemorate it, whether that’s lighting a candle or going to a rally or being on the news. Do what it takes to make you feel like you’re making a difference.” ✦

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 75

MARKETPLACE SHOPS • DINING • GOODS

Jaguar Land Rover Las Vegas WE’RE MOVING 6425 Roy Horn Way, Las Vegas, NV 89118 To our valued clients, we are pleased to announce that we are going to be in our brand-new, state-of-the-art facility in early October. The address will be 6425 Roy Horn Way, Las Vegas NV 89118. Our phone numbers will remain the same. 702.579.0400 jlrlv.com

Opera Las Vegas ¡Latin Fiesta! A salute to Latin composers and singers to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month – with tributes to superstars like Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Montserrat Caballe – and an exhilarating dose of Zarzuela (Spanish opereretta) that will set your foot tapping, your heart racing and your nostrils flaring! Ole! Bravo! Opera Las Vegas Performance Sunday, October 14 at 3 pm Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center 702-749-2000 operalasvegas.com

(702) 361-8885

“We re ally are more than just gre at cookies!”

The Cookie Zoo Fresh bakes treats trays Custom orders Local delivery Cookiezoo.com 702-361-8885 1525 East Sunset Rd Suite 10 Las Vegas NV 89119

Advertisment

Logo/Photo Cookie s Fre sh (702) Baked 361-8885 Tre ats Trays Fruit/Veggie & Appe tizer Trays Monthly Specials Part y Favors Custom Orders “We re ally are more than just gre at cookies!” Local Deli ver y

Logo/Photo Cookie s Visit cookiezoo.com Fre sh Baked Tre ats Trays 1525 E.Fruit/Veggie Sunset Rd. #10 / Las Vegas, NV 89119 & Appe tizer Trays Monthly Specials Part y Favors Custom Orders Local Deli ver y

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

band. They’ll start this season with a look back at 25 years of musical magic. 2P, free.

The Guide ▼

ART THROUGH DEC. 16

VESSEL: Ceramics of Ancient West Mexico

Belly Bliss Providing nurturing mind and body care for women and their families before, during and after pregnancy. Belly Bliss offers the best prenatal treatments in Las Vegas! Our spa technicians are specially trained and licensed in prenatal care. In addition, we proudly carry pregnancy safe and doctor approved skin care and body products. Looking for classes? We offer a variety to suit your needs. Education is key and the best way to build confidence and ensure healthy living and positivity during and after your pregnancy. Gift certificates are available for any service or denomination, and are a perfect gift for the holidays! 5761 South Fort Apache, 2nd Floor Las Vegas NV 89148 702.597.5158 Desertperinatalspa.com

The exhibition is organized by shape; visitors are invited to contemplate how the form of each vessel informs both practical use and communicates ideas of power, identity, and belief. Free.

Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV, unlv.edu

THROUGH DEC. 31

Nevada Reflections: The Silver State in Black and White Photographer Cody Brothers presents a photo essay of many of the water resources within the state of Nevada. Free

for members or with paid general admission. Springs Preserve, springspreserve. org

▼

MUSIC OCT. 5

¡Viva el Mariachi!

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with an evening of popular mariachi music performed by the talented young mariachi musicians from Clark County School District.

7P, free. Main

Main Theater at Clark County Library, lvccld.org

OCT. 10

Jazz Ensemble II and the Contemporary Jazz Ensemble

Theater at Clark County Library, lvccld.org

Part of the UNLV Jazz Concert Series, this internationally recognized group will perform several pieces.

OCT. 5–6

Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. Salutes Sinatra and the Magic of Motown

7P, free. Main Theater at Clark County Library, lvccld.org

The sixth-season America’s Got Talent winner performs standards and soul classics.

7P, $37–$45. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 6

OCT. 10

The Composers Showcase of Las Vegas

Local musicians and performers present new songs by up-and-coming and established songwriters.

10:30P, $20–$25. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

Rachel Tyler — Broads from Broadway

A musical celebration exploring Broadway’s greatest divas and their iconic performances. 2P,

OCT. 12

Bassett Brothers Guitar Concert The Bassetts are identical twins whose guitar performances showcase a wide range of music from medieval to Metallica. 6P,

free. Performing Arts Center at Windmill Library, lvccld.org

OCT. 6

Psycho

The classic Hitchcock film will be presented with the Las Vegas Philharmonic performing Bernard Hermann’s score. 7P, Pre-

free. Jewel Box Theater at Clark County Library, lvccld.org

show discussion at 6:30P, $30– $109. Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

The deaf singer-songwriter was a finalist on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. 7P, $35–$45.

Mandy Harvey

Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 7

Las Vegas Brass Band’s 25th Anniversary Concert

OCT. 13

An Evening with J.D. Souther

Professional and amateur musicians from all walks of life form this British-style brass O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

OCT. 12

The legendary singer-songwriter has penned hits for the Eagles and Linda

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 77

The Guide

2018-2019 SEASON GABRIEL ROYAL

Friday, October 12, 2018 • 7:30 p.m.

Ronstadt as well as himself, including “You’re Only Lonely.”

7P, $39–$59. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 14

$50 · $40 · $30 · $20

¡Latin Fiesta! — Opera Las Vegas

Singer-songwriter and cellist, Gabriel Royal, plays his “grown-up lullabies” in New York’s subways, where he connects to his inspiration: New York’s commuters. But, you can hear his jazzy, poppy brand of crossover right here in Las Vegas.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, this presentation is a tribute to opera superstars Placido Domingo, José Carreras, and others.

3P, $35–$50. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 16

Journey Through Jazz — Hispanic Heritage Month

Hosted by saxophonist and UNLV assistant professor Adam Schroeder, it’s an all-ages, community-based concert series engaging, encouraging, and showcasing jazz in an interactive and educational setting.

GRISHA GORYACHEV

7P, free. Auditorium at Windmill Library, lvccld.org

Friday, October 5, 2018 • 7:30 p.m. • $45 Sponsored by the Lawrence Livingston Downs Trust

OCT. 18

“Homeland” From America to Austria

Reviving the tradition of solo, concert, flamenco guitar, prize-winner Goryachev is renowned for his musical sensitivity and virtuosity.

HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO Tuesday, October 23, 2018 • 7:30 p.m. • $30 A UNLV Chamber Music Society Concert

Violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov, and pianist Ilya Kazantsev perform works from Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich.

The Brothers Brown

Although unanticipated, artists, dates, and times are subject to change without notice.

78 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter. com

OCT. 19–20

pac.unlv.edu

702-895-2787

The Las Vegas Academy band, choir, and orchestra perform the music of Austrian and American composers. 7P, $15–$100.

This American roots band is led by two men: one a keyboardist, the other a guitarist and singer, both named Paul Brown. 7P,

$39–$55. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter. com

OCT. 21

Pasquale Esposito Celebrates Italian Piazzas The tenor dedicates songs to the most beautiful piazzas (public squares) in Italy. 7P, $65–$85.

Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 26

Sade vs. Badu A Night of Bulletproof Soul

This popular party includes flips, remixes, and original tracks by Sade and Erykah Badu with selectors Mr. E, Cutso, and special guest The Whooligan. 18+

only. 11P, $10–$15. Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq, brooklyn bowl.com

OCT. 26–27

Bob James

The respected contemporary jazz keyboardist performs his originals spanning decades.

Fri 7P; Sat 6P and 8:30P, $39–$64. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 30

Night of The Living Dead with original live score by Morricone Youth

Formed in NYC in 1999, the band still follows its mission to compose, re-interpret, perform, and record music written for the moving image. 21+ only.

6P, $10. Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq, brooklynbowl.com

NOV. 4

Las Vegas Brass Band: A Salute to Veterans

The talented, British-style brass band celebrates veterans with special music.

2P, free. Main Theater at Clark County Library, lvccld.org

▼

THEATER & COMEDY OCT. 9–14

Waitress

A new Broadway musical hit brought to life by an all-female creative team, telling the story of a waitress who dreams her way out of a loveless marriage and small town. Tue–Sun

7:30P; Sat–Sun 2P, $36–$127. Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

OCT. 20

The Spooktacular Special with LVIP

Spooky, scary, and funny, the Las Vegas Improvisational Players make up their fun, kid-friendly show on the spot, based on the audience’s suggestions. 7P, $10; $5

kids, seniors, and military. Show Creators Studio, 4455 W. Sunset Road, lvimprov.com

NOV. 2–4

Eclipsed

Their lives set on a nightmarish detour by civil war, the captive wives of a Liberian rebel officer form a hardscrabble sisterhood. Fri –Sat

7P; Sat 2P; Sun 3P, $39. Troesh Studio Theater at The Smith Center, the smithcenter.com

Channel 10

D E S E R T C O M P A N I O N .V E G A S

Indian classical musician has performed at the most prestigious concert halls, music festivals, and universities worldwide. 7P, $35–$55.

Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmith center.com

NOV. 3

Glass, Mozart, & Bach

The Las Vegas Philharmonic presents Mozart’s Overture To Cosi Van Tutte and Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, Glass’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and Bach’s Concerto for Keyboard No. 7 in G Minor.

7:30P, $30–$109. Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter. com

Poldark, Season 4 on Masterpiece Sundays at 9 p.m., beginning September 30

▼

FAMILY & FESTIVALS OCT. 12–28

Haunted Harvest

The family-friendly event features trickor-treat stations, carnival games, a maze and petting zoo, monster training, craft activities, live entertainment, food vendors, and much more. Fri–Sun

5P–9P, $8; children 2 and younger free. Springs Preserve, springs preserve.org

NOVA: Volatile Earth

Native America

Wednesday, October 10 at 9 p.m.

Tuesdays at 9 p.m., beginning October 23

Nature: Super Cats

FRONTLINE: The Facebook Dilemma

▼

DANCE OCT. 7, 13–14

A Choreographers’ Showcase

The showcase debuts dozens of bold new works filled with athleticism, grace, and kinetic movement. 1P, $25–$45.

Mystère Theatre at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino, nevadaballet.org

NOV. 2

Ustad Shafaat Khan — East Meets West

▼

FUNDRAISERS OCT. 21

Mimosas & Mozart

Notes with a Purpose hosts this benefit brunch-concert that includes classical and jazz musicians, five chefs, and four cocktail bars. 10:30A,

$50–$125. Domsky Glass, 2758 S. Highland Drive, noteswith apurpose.org

Wednesdays at 8 p.m., beginning October 24

Part 1: Monday, October 29 at 10 p.m. Part 2: Tuesday, October 30 at 10 p.m.

VegasPBS.org • 3050 E Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89121 • 702.799.1010

The world-renowned O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

D E S E R T C O M PA N I O N

| 79

END NOTE

LIQUID COURAGE A marijuana novice tries the latest pot product: cannabeer. Its measured mellowness signals an industry moving beyond its stoner roots BY

he guy at the counter says I look like an expert. I am definitely not an expert. I’m a weed-shy lightweight who gets anxiety at the idea of getting high. It was fun when I was younger, back in the days of impotent dirt weed, but now it’s all hyper-crystallized, lab-perfected stuff that glows in the dark and makes you levitate. Smoking pot now forces every life choice I’ve ever made under a microscope of self-loathing that takes a 10-hour nap and a sluggish half-day to recover from. I’d choose a drink any day of the week. Turns out, they have that now — weed beer, or “cannabeer” as it’s called. It’s a low-THC, nearly non-alcoholic beverage that comes in familiar flavors like lager, stout and IPA. It made its Nevada debut in September, and it’s supposed to convert non-believers like me. I reluctantly agree to try it. Aside from entering a nondescript building and being detained in a small room while a man behind bulletproof glass checks my ID, the dispensary experience is surprisingly normal. Inside, it’s bright, clean and the employees are supernaturally friendly. I choose the Two Roots brand IPA at the budtender’s suggestion, and drive to meet some friends. “No way,” Tony says when I offer him one. “Last time I had an edible I was stoned for two days.” It’s not an edible, it’s a drinkable, I assure him, and it’ll be nice, I say as if I know what I’m talking about. He declines. So I push it on another friend, one who’s already been drinking and is an admitted fan of the “crossfade,” a term for being drunk and high simultaneously. He downs one, and five minutes

80 | D E S E R T

C O M PA N I O N

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 8

Kristy Totten

later he’s clearly feeling it. Redness creeps into his eyes and his smile droops a little. He says it tastes good but he doubts the THC is brewed into the beer. It’s more likely, he insists, that a liquid psychoactive is added later. He repeats this hypothesis a couple of times and I ask why it matters. He shrugs. Weed beer isn’t new necessarily, but it’s new to the state and it’s expected to grow in popularity. Cannabeer represents a tiny share of the legal pot sales so far, but old boys like Coors, Heineken and Corona are banking on it as beer sales decline across the nation, and craft breweries

have embraced it as well. Two Roots from San Diego is the first cannabeer to be sold locally, and its website makes it sound like a panacea. “Non-alcoholic beer is good for you,” marketing materials say. “Filled with electrolytes and carbohydrates, in some senses it’s more closely related to a sports drink. Unlike alcohol, no damaged brain cells and no hangovers!” I take two sips, and go for a walk. It takes 5 to 7 minutes to kick in, and as I’m rounding the corner, crickets begin to chirp and the streetlights grow a little brighter. The music playing in my living room floats from the speakers, crisp and catchier than I remember. I’m tempted to ask my dog if it’s just me, but I’m afraid he’ll answer. I take two more sips and sink into a comfortable head change. I’m buzzed, but not incapacitated or anxious. I pick up a book and find myself completely absorbed. Maybe this is good for me? It’s impressive that the industry has evolved so much that we now have edible weed, drinkable weed and even weed for people who don’t even like weed. That modes of getting high are as varied as alcohol choices, and probably say as much about you: Purple Urkle? Expert. Watermelon gummy? Newbie with a sweet tooth. Low-dose, non-alcoholic beer in a slender can? Kush-curious. I suspect cannabeer is more than a novelty or fad. It’s fast-acting and low-dose, and it fills a distinct niche for the emerging, broader market of recreational users: People who want to chill out, but don’t necessarily want to levitate. ✦ ILLUSTRATION

Brent Holmes

ONE-NIGHT-ONLY

C H E F S C OT T CO N A N T W E LCO M E S C H E F M A R C V E T R I TO L A S V E G A S with A PREVIEW OF VETRI CUCINA C O M I N G TO PA L M S C A S I N O R E S O R T IN DECEMBER

10.10.18 5PM TO 10PM JOIN US AT MASSO OSTERIA RED ROCK RESORTS FOUR-COURSE PRIX FIXE MENU $125 PER PERSON* FEATURED WINE PAIRINGS *EXCLUDES TAX & GRATUITY

RESERVATIONS PLEASE CALL (702) 797-7097 OR EMAIL VETRI@MASSOOSTERIA.COM

Choosing a Medicare Advantage plan? Choose wisely. Make sure your plan gives you Comprehensive Comprehensive Cancer Centers is the leading cancer treatment provider in Southern Nevada. Doctors and patients who have a choice choose Comprehensive. Comprehensive Cancer Centers participates in a variety of Medicare Advantage plans. • Aetna Medicare (HMO & PPO) • Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Advantage (PPO) • Humana Medicare (PFFS & PPO)

• United Health Care Medicare Solutions (PPO) • Hometown Health Senior Care Plus • Select Health Advantage (HMO)

(As of January 1, 2019. Plans are subject to change)

Not sure? Call us or visit our website and we’ll let you know if we’re included in your plan.

cccnevada.com/open-enrollment

702.952.3350

#choosewisely