John Katsilometes spends some time with Jim Dunbar, who was a member of the Caesars team before the hotel opened 40 years ago
Friday, Aug. 4, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.
In the long history of Caesars Palace, Jim Dunbar has always been ahead of his time.
One day ahead.
The resort celebrates its 40th anniversary on Saturday. But Dunbar celebrates his 40th anniversary at Caesars today.
"I was actually hired on Aug. 4, 1966, a day before we opened," said Dunbar, who was brought aboard as a parking attendant on that date by Caesars Palace (and Circus Circus) mastermind Jay Sarno. Dunbar had spent the nine previous years at the Flamingo and parked Sarno's Cadillac many times at that hotel.
Today, at age 68, Dunbar still pulls full-time shifts as a valet attendant at the hotel.
"It's hard to believe, but I've spent 50 years parking cars," said Dunbar, whose family moved to Las Vegas in 1943. He graduated from Las Vegas High School and remembers Caesars Palace's splashy opening night. When asked how it compared with the opening nights of today's megaresorts - Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas among them - he said, "I'd say it was bigger than that. Anyone who was anyone - even kings, queens, princesses - were here that night, not just movie stars."
The reason, Dunbar said, was that, "In those days nothing compared to what we had at Caesars. We had the biggest shows, the biggest stars, the best restaurants. I remember when I walked across the street from the Flamingo, it was like another world to me - just across the street. The architecture, the statues we had from Italy, that type of art was a new thing for a casino."
Dunbar encountered all the stars who performed at the old Circus Maximus showroom. His favorite story is the night in the mid-'70s when Frank Sinatra celebrated his 40th anniversary in show business at the hotel.
"They brought in a huge cake with whipped cream and chocolate, and this huge food fight broke out," Dunbar said. "I stopped by the restroom and there was Frank Sinatra, covered in chocolate and whipped cream, trying to get the cake out of his hair."
Dunbar says the employee benefits are better today than when he first started. But memories of cake in the Chairman of the Board's hair are, as they say, priceless.
"Whenever I say I work at Caesars there is a positive response," he said. "People always want to talk to me about it, to know what it's like. It's great."
NoteMart
Not exactly the pits: Champ Car World Series driver (and after last weekend's race in San Jose, an able fighter) Paul Tracy has purchased a 5,454-square-foot home in Red Rock Country Club for $3 million ...
What do University Regent Thalia Dondero and hoops legend Magic Johnson have in common? Before you say, "Other than being members of the human race, not much," know that they are both to be honored by the Public Education Foundation on Sept. 16 at the organization's 10th annual Education Hero Award Dinner at Four Seasons. Dondero has been a Las Vegas resident since 1945, has served on the Board of Regents for 10 years and spent 20 years on the Clark County Commission. She is to receive the Education Hero Award and joins some famous company. Former award winners include Larry Ruvo, Siegfried and Roy, Tony Alamo, Harry Reid, Jim Rogers, Barbara Greenspun and the Greenspun family, Billy Vassiliadis and R&R Partners, and John L. Goolsby. Johnson will receive its Lifetime Education Achievement award "in recognition of his lifetime commitment to the educational health and social needs of children in inner-city communities throughout the nation," according to the Foundation ...
Andre Agassi is infusing some "American Idol" flavor into this year's "Grand Slam for Children." His Charitable Foundation is inviting Clark County residents ages 14 to 18 to compete in the "Grand Slam for Stardom," with the winner being awarded a spot to sing onstage during the Oct. 7 concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Contestants are invited to sing a song of their choosing, a capella, at an open audition on Aug. 26 at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino. Twelve will perform in the semifinals, at a site to be determined by a set of local celebrities (also to be determined), and three finalists will sing for producer/composer David Foster in his Malibu, Calif., recording studio. Foster, wielding impressive power, will select the champion ...
AAA, which trumpets itself as North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization (not, as Rita Rudner once joked, Alcoholics Anonymous for really drunk people), has released its list of "America's Most Walkable Cities." Old Town Alexandria, Va., tops the list, followed by Boston and New Orleans ("Hurricane Katrina did not destroy the beautiful architecture and great dining," says the organization.). Let's see, we find Las Vegas ... nowhere on this list ...
A couple of stocking-stuffers for the Elvis fan in your family: Available on eBay through 11:45 a.m. Monday are versions of two books Elvis was reportedly reading when he died in his Graceland bathroom on Aug. 16, 1977. One is the rare "A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus," an examination of the Shroud of Turin, a book that was published just once, in 1972. The other tome, written in a wholly different tenor, is "Sex and Psychic Energy." Those who discovered Presley's body that day differ on what he was reading when he perished, so both are being offered on eBay ...
A-li! A-li! Film star and animal rights activist Ali MacGraw is appearing in a new set of public service announcements reminding pet owners to take their animals with them if they are forced to evacuate wildfires (or any other fire, for that matter). The spots are airing throughout Southern Nevada and are produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ...
On the stump, kissing hands and shaking babies: Spotted slaloming through traffic on Interstate 215, heading west, a gold Jaguar XJ-6 with the plate POLOTIX.
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