Columnist Joe Delaney: Lauding local Variety Club for years of service

Joe Delaney

Thursday, July 15, 1999 | 9:53 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@vegas.com.

Variety Club of Southern Nevada, Tent 39, "The Children's Charity," serving more than 17,500 special-needs children with 33 nonprofit agencies locally, will be the beneficiary of the third annual Magoo's Gaming Group golf tournament Saturday at the Angel Park Golf Course, starting at 7 a.m. with a four-man scramble format.

With Variety, all of the funds raised in Nevada stay in Nevada to support local charities and children with special needs. ... Variety Club just received $53,000 from the Stacy Darling sixth annual Tennis Classic.

At the same ceremony, Variety Club presented checks for $10,000 each to Ronald McDonald House, Candlelighters for Children's Cancer and St. Jude's Ranch for Children. ... Additionally, Sunshine Coach minivans (approximately $25,000 each) were donated to New Vista Ranch, Nevada Children's Center and Catholic Charity's Regina Hall.

How it began

Variety Club was started in 1927 in Pittsburgh, when a theater owner discovered a baby girl abandoned in the balcony. ... He called the other theater owners together. ... After a thorough search for the mother or any relative the owners formed a club and raised the child. ... Variety has always been show business oriented. ... Variety Club, Tent 39, in Las Vegas was founded in October 1950.

Tent 39 maintains Variety Day Home, operated by the Sisters of the Holy Family, Variety School for Special Education and the John F. Miller School for special cases. ... Funds are raised through various local events.

Magician Lance Burton, his personal manager, Peter Reveen, and publicist, Wayne Bernath, are active Variety Board members. ... Burton just donated additional funds to make the Sunshine Coaches for New Vista Ranch and Nevada Children's Center wheelchair accessible.

Check it out

Through the years top stars have participated in Variety's fund-raisers. ... This column is written with the wish that you might join Variety Club and become an active participant in Bikes for Kids, the annual KFMS 102-FM Radiothon and the Gold Heart Campaign. ... Call Rose Marie George at 383-8466. ... As Variety Board emeritus, it would be my pleasure to show you what we do at various locations.

Star-policy rundown

It's David Copperfield (Caesars Palace); Olivia Newton-John, through Sunday (Desert Inn); Patsy Cline Tribute (Gold Coast); Clint Holmes (Golden Nugget); Bill Acosta (Luxor); Wayne Newton, plus Tommy Tune in "EFX" (MGM Grand); Siegfried & Roy (Mirage); Lance Burton (Monte Carlo); Roy Clark, too long away (Orleans); and Danny Gans (Rio).

More stars: Marilu Henner, Ben Vereen, Stephanie Pope and Marcia Lewis plus Ernie Sabella in "Chicago" (Mandalay Bay). ... Don't miss Loretta Holloway, nightly except Monday (LV Hilton Nightclub).

Rat Pack back?

"The Rat Pack Is Back," a David Cassidy and Don Reo production, is new in the Desert Inn's Starlight Lounge. ... It's billed as "a big band musical nostalgia tribute to the days when Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop as the Rat Pack helped make Las Vegas the entertainment capital of the world." ... Show times vary Tuesday through Sunday.

The Quorum Club was the political center of Clark County, located on Convention Center Drive in what is now a parking lot, part of what was once the Debbie Reynolds Hotel. ... Comedian Slappy White came to town there in the late 1970s with a young man who wrote with Slappy and played straight man. ... He went on to television success as a writer and producer. ... His name, Don Reo.

It is the Cassidy-Reo combination that sets this attempt to recapture the onstage magic of Sinatra & Co. apart from other less-than-successful endeavors elsewhere. ... We'll report on the show next Thursday.

Thursday addenda

Buddy Greco will perform with Lezlie Anders and her orchestra, 8-11 p.m. Friday in the Flamingo Hilton showroom. ... Friday is the off-night for "The Great Radio City Spectacular." ... Greco was responsible for the renaissance of lounge action, compounded by Keely Smith and Sam Butera, in the Desert Inn Starlight Lounge a few years back.

Whoever compared the U.S. women's soccer team's triumph over China last Saturday with the U.S. hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union in the Olympics a few years back was right on the mark. ... It was a great day for women in sports and for soccer as well. ... Credit the marvelous China team for an outstanding effort. ... See you Friday.

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