Columnist Joe Delaney: Old-timers, Irish music fans will be busy this weekend

Joe Delaney

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 9:47 a.m.

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

Starting at 6 p.m. Sunday the Stardust hotel ballroom will be the setting for the fourth annual Oldtimer's Reunion, also called the 30-30 Dinner and Entertainment -- bringing together Las Vegans who have lived here 30 years or more -- for drinks, mingling, dancing, dinner and a show. ... The cost this year is $35; the residence requirement remains the same.

Peter Anthony, the DeCastro Sisters, Sonny King, Sasha Semenoff and Sweet Louie will perform; Lou Pearl emcees. ... Anthony has been featured on all three previous reunions, a hit with his comedic chronicles.

Two of the original founders are gone, Paul Endy and Jack Kogan; their passing should be noted. ... Davey and Lou Pearl, Abe Fox, Ken Johann, Ron Lurie, the Sun's Ruthe Deskin, Thalia Dondero and Claudine Williams are the still-active cadre originals. ... The reunions have exceeded everyone's expectations; this should be the best one yet.

Also on Sunday

Frank Patterson is best known as the Golden Irish Tenor and a goodly crowd is expected in Arizona Charlie's Grand Palace Theatre Sunday at 7 p.m. for the Patterson concert plus an appearance by Sharon Lynn's Celtic Storm Irish Dance Company. ... The ticket price is a reasonable $20; there will be beverage service, ducats available at the door.

Patterson is an international star who has enjoyed sold-out performances in London's Royal Albert Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. ... He has performed on three occasions for Pope John Paul II and, with his wife, concert pianist Eily O'Grady, has twice performed at the White House. ... His CD releases have achieved platinum sales status.

The Three Irish Tenors Concert, scheduled for Sept. 21 in the Thomas & Mack Center, was canceled on short notice. ... Their concerts back East were huge successes, not so here in the West.

Random ramblings

Our August copy of the Friends of Rhyolite review contained the good news that the Rhyolite Festival will be resumed next spring. ... It was our pleasure to serve as the honorary mayor of Nevada's nicest ghost town, four miles from Beatty, for a number of years. ... Volunteers are needed; please contact Andy Gudas, P.O. Box 243, Amargosa Valley, NV 89020.

Speaking of ghosts, the very best of the so-called ghost bands, the Count Basie Orchestra, will perform at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Riviera's La Cage Theater. ... Admission is $20 plus tax; there also is VIP seating available. ... For tickets, call 794-9433.

Oldtimers may also remember when Bill and Chow McGarry, both no longer with us, had the Quorum Club in a shopping center that became the site of the Landmark hotel, now a parking lot for the ever-expanding Convention Center. ... The year was 1962.

More Quorum Club

A year or so later the McGarrys moved the Quorum Club over to the Mansion Manor, now a parking lot at the east end of the property that was the Debbie Reynolds hotel. ... There the Quorum Club became the best Irish pub west of New York City, and a political gathering place. ... It was a show-business hangout as well; there is no place like it in Las Vegas today.

Bill McGarry's son, Marty, was a fixture at The Tillerman restaurant for many years. ... Marty and a few of his fellow Tillerman alumni have opened Shuck's, a gaming and oyster bar at Eastern and Serene avenues, just off Interstate 215. ... My food spy recommended their poor boy sandwich.

Proud father Wayne Newton told us his daughter, Erin, an interior designer, is now with Oceanview Interiors, locally. ... Newton's recent fortnight at the MGM Grand was an exceptional outing, even for someone who has been Mr. Las Vegas for the better part of four decades.

Friday addenda

For this nostalgic weekend it is fitting that the star policy rundown includes George Carlin (Bally's); Steve & Eydie (Caesars Palace); Paul Anka (Mirage) and Ray Charles (Orleans); all of whom have been starring in Las Vegas for 30 years or more and are still headlining. ... Siegfried & Roy (Mirage) would also qualify, but they are off promoting their new IMAX film, a reported hit in key cities around the country.

The Tom Ferguson Sextet plays Monday Night Jazz at the Riviera on Monday; it's Conte Candoli Oct. 11; Don Menza and his Big Band returns Oct. 18. ... See you next Thursday.