By ROB SPAHR Staff Writer, 609-272-7283 | Posted: Saturday, October 3, 2009 |

Liz Cheshul, left, of Galloway Township, arranges the bunny ears worn by Manyee Tsang, of Voorhees, Camden County, on Saturday during a reunion party in Avalon for former employees of the long-defunct Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

AVALON - Donna Botto first donned her Playboy bunny outfit as an adventurous 22-year-old.

She wore the uniform as a dealer at the Playboy Hotel and Casino for the next three years before leaving to give birth to her first child in 1984. The casino changed hands - and names - that same year, three years after it opened.

"I've only tried it on three or four times since then," the Galloway Township resident said.

But the 51-year-old mother of four had an opportunity to slip into the tight-fitting red and black outfit again Saturday night, as more than 100 former employees of the Playboy Casino reunited at a $12 million mansion on Fifth Avenue.

Click here to see a photo gallery from the reunion

"It's exciting," Botto said. "I feel like I'm 22 again."

The reunion was a four-day-long event, culminating with a brunch today, but the main event was Saturday night's extravaganza that began with a sunset cocktail reception and was scheduled to include music and dancing through the early morning.

The party remained true to Playboy's reputation of combining glitz and "a good time."

"One of the reasons why we chose this mansion, instead of having something at one of the casinos, was because we wanted to match the glamour of a Playboy/Hugh Hefner party," said Lois Sablich, 52, of Philadelphia, a former cocktail bunny who helped plan the event. "It's not as big as the Playboy mansion, but you get the idea."

Upon arriving at the mansion, guests were greeted by a group of valets standing next to a red carpet lined with velvet ropes.

Many of the women inside wore short dresses and low-cut tops with bunny ears on their heads and drinks in their hands.

"I wasn't going to come because I don't like reunions. But my girlfriend told me 'It's not a reunion, it's an event.'" said Colleen Speer, 48, of Margate, who worked as a cocktail bunny at the casino. "It's going to get crazy tonight."

Donna Lahron managed to save her original bunny ears and tail, along with her Playboy jacket, for more than 25 years.

It only took a half-hour at the reunion for her bunny ears to end up in the water of Bluefish Harbor, although they were eventually saved.

"My other friends' bunny ears are fake, but these are my original ones. I would've been disgusted if I had lost them," said Lahron, 46, a flight attendant from Stuebenville, Ohio.

It was not only a party for former Bunnies, however.

"Guys worked there too, you know," joked Patsy Marino, 60, of Upper Deerfield Township, who worked as a box person at the casino's craps tables. "There are definitely more women here then men, but I do recognize a few guys I worked with."

Marino, a school teacher, said he was repeatedly asked the same question after telling friends he was coming to the reunion.

"They wanted to know if they could come, too," he said.

Botto said her children did not mind that she would be wearing her bunny outfit at a Playboy Casino reunion. But when asked what her children would think about her photo being posted on The Press of Atlantic City's Web site, she said, "Uh oh, I'm going to hear about that."

Tickets for the event were $150 at the door, but it did not take long for the former bunnies to start flagging down passing boaters to invite them to join the party.

"We're Playboy bunnies," some yelled. "Come party with us."

"My heart couldn't take it," one boater replied.

Sablich said the reunion was a success.

"It's been fabulous," she said. "I can't wait to do it again."

Although some were more hesitant.

"When you tell someone you were a Playboy bunny, you don't want them to look back at you like, 'Yeah right.' At least now we still all look good," Lahron said. "Next time, we'll probably all be coming in wheelchairs."

E-mail Robert Spahr:

RSpahr@pressofac.com

Here is the link to see all 37 pictures http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/cape_may/article_da77bb20-b091-11de-90ea-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=print