Residents remember Reno's glory days
by Jennifer Sweeney, Outpost contributor
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Evans has lived in town ever since and remembers Reno's glory days with astounding clarity.
Evans remembers a Fourth of July celebration in the early 1950s when the unionized bartenders and cocktail waitresses went on strike. The locals came in and worked the Skyroom bar to make sure the holiday would not be a bust.
"You saw all the local judges and lawyers up there tending bar," Evans said. "That's how much people loved that place."
Honor Jones, a graduate of the Universityof Nevada, Reno class of 1959 and a Nevada native, was present at the Mapes' grand opening in 1948 when she was 11. She and her mother came to town for an orthodontist visit when they walked into the brand new lobby.
"I was young," Jones said, "but old enough to be awed. I was the farm girl going to the big city."
While a student at UNR, Jones' future husband escorted her to a fraternity dance in the Mapes' Skyroom. Another time she attended a function for all the cheerleaders in the state.
"The Skyroom had an amazing view of the city lights," she said. "Not much could be more beautiful."
Jones, too, is pleased that the Mapes will not be seeing the wrecking ball. She said we must preserve our past like they have done in Europe for centuries.
Posted Oct. 29, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Oupost