During my absence, Jim Gellette passed away, and I must add my voice to those who will miss him.

I've read a number of obituary notes here on Greg's board, and I agree with all of them. But none of the ones I read mentioned Jim's contribution to the Club, which I think deserves mention. When Jim began publishing his great little Strip Hotel history pamphlets, he made sure that he donated 50 copies of each to the Club to be sold at whatever price the Club thought fair. We always sold out.

Jim and his wife Kelly were dance instructors years ago, and Kelly's now a professional ballroom dancing judge. At one time (and I'm trying to remember whether I ever really got the straight skinny on this one!) Jim and/or Kelly was/were entertainment directors at Diamond Jim's Nevada Club. I'll be darned if I ever got Jim to tell me whether they were a team in that effort or if one of them held the position.

Jim loved travelling around the Las Vegas area picking up history. And that's what he did. It wasn't the chips so much, or the napkins, or any of the other oddities Jim managed to unearth, it was the history they represented. Jim was the source of the burned El Rancho Vegas chips, some of which I'm very glad I have in my collection. At one time I was having dinner with him before a convention, and he asked if I'd be interested in one of the bronze plaques that had been imbedded in the stone gate, and which read "Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn." That's the kind of thing Jim picked up and saved, without knowing whether anyone would want it or whether he'd have to store it somewhere himself.
But it was Las Vegas history, and Jim was one of the prime students.

Those of us who knew Jim will miss him, and my best wishes go to Kelly.

Michael