Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Just having a good old time

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003 | 8:19 a.m.

Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Guy Clifton seems to have started something when he wrote a column outlining some criteria for having the privilege of calling oneself a Nevadan.

Reader response was so great that Clifton, sponsored by the newspaper and the Nevada Humanities Committee, published a booklet, "You Know You're a Nevadan, If ... "

Since publication Clifton has received good reviews from several of his peers. His original idea has become something of a party game.

One local Sun reader suggested, "You Know You're a Las Vegas Old-Timer, If ... "

Sun columnist Susan Snyder wrote an entertaining spoof on the idea with a column noting the ways one could be dubbed a newcomer.

As a native Nevadan and a very longtime resident of Las Vegas, here's my contribution:

You've been around a good many years if you remember Sahara Avenue as being San Francisco Street.

You bowled at Vegas Lanes on Second Street or played pinochle at the Elks Lodge on Third.

You cheered for the Las Vegas Wranglers baseball team at the old Cashman Field, and took part in the annual Helldorado parade and celebration.

You took your kids swimming at Lorenzi Park.

The town's teenagers hung out at Sills Drive In or the Round-up. The best ice cream was found at the White Bunny.

If you were lucky you were invited to dine with politicians in West Las Vegas, with Zee Louis as your host.

You might have been on hand when the first jet squadron flew into Nellis.

You went to the late shows on the Strip for the price of a drink, and for fine dining it was the Green Shack or the Old Ranch.

You might have had a good vantage point to view the first atom bomb exploded at the Nevada Test Site.

If you can answer "yes" to the above, call yourself a Las Vegas old-timer.

Doctors and social workers are concerned about the percentage of overweight children in the United States. Statistics show the number has more than tripled in the past 35 years.

If you don't believe the stats, I suggest you go to a shopping mall, find a comfortable seat and observe.

I did that recently and was shocked at the number of not just fat, but obese, men, women and children walking by.

A recent issue of Ladies Home Journal states it like this:

"It isn't drugs. It isn't drunk driving. The most serious health threat facing American children today is obesity."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report alarming numbers -- 9 million U.S. kids are overweight and facing health hazards.

How ironic it is to compare that with documentaries of children in Third World countries with bellies swollen from starvation.

We are hearing the word "deficit" a lot these days.

A good definition: "Deficit is what you've got when you haven't got as much as you had when you had nothing."

Oops! In a recent column referring to the late Henderson publisher, Morry Zenoff, the gremlins took over and it came out "Sorry" Zenoff.

So sorry, Morry.