Joe Delaney remembers 1954: Ronald Reagan in Ramona Room

Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 8:49 a.m.

Ronald Reagan fared much better as president of the United States in the 1980s than he did as an entertainer in Las Vegas in the 1950s at what was then called the Hotel Last Frontier, when Reagan performed a one-time only engagement. Reagan hosted, told stories, performed with a singing group called the Continentals and even performed with trained chimpanzees. The Blackburn Twins and Evelyn Ward and the Honey Brothers completed the bill. The Ramona Room Orchestra was led by the late Garwood Van who had Las Vegas' best record store before he retired in the 1980s. The Last Frontier was the first of three Frontiers at that site.

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