Thanksgiving 1963 brought joy during time of sorrow

My dear friend Janice sings alto in the Mesquite Club choir with me. She just handed me a folder with all my stories from Prime View that she has collected over the years. I know I have them all somewhere, but what a wonderful thing to have a handy folder full of them. Thank you, Jan.

The story from Nov, 1, 2006, is terrific for the great memories it tells of Thanksgiving over the years. I wrote that "Outstanding for me is the Thanksgiving after President Kennedy was killed on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963. I was dancing at the Riviera Hotel and invited the entire cast to my apartment for a huge Thanksgiving spread with champagne. We were 12 Dick Humphries Dancers and our husbands and dates, Edie Adams from the show in rehearsal and Dick Martin of Rowan and Martin from the current show plus assorted comedians, stagehands, etc. It was 1963, and all of America was united in grief.

I went to work that Friday at
6:30 p.m. as usual. Walking in the front door of the Riviera was a surprise/shock. The casino was dead empty. The craps tables were all covered, two or three floormen in suits huddled in a corner and the slot machines were silent. Another dancer, Gayle Ravese, joined me in heading for the dressing room. We were close friends and couldn't look at each other without tearing up. Backstage were several more dancers talking with Milt, our stage manager. He didn't know if we were doing the show or not. We moped around backstage, all of us quiet or sniffling, hugging each other. About 7:15 p.m., the word came that the show was canceled. We were told to go home. The casino was closing out of respect for President Kennedy. Ha. The casino closed because no one was there and dealers and cocktail servers cost money.

"We found out later that scene was repeated up and down the Strip. The town virtually closed down. Milt called the next day to say we would be off that night and Thanksgiving, too. So I called everybody and invited them over for Thanksgiving dinner. I had a large apartment just southeast of Paradise and Sahara. Next, I raided Vegas Village, the big grocery store on Karen Avenue and Maryland Parkway. I had four bottles of champagne stashed in the fridge already, gifts from an admirer. (In those days I always had champagne and roses in the fridge.)

"It was a wonderful party, half of us sitting on the floor. Edie Adams reclined in a doorway, back against the door frame, Corbett Monica next to her. Joey Villa insisted on helping me make the gravy. I'd made a huge pan of Mrs. Culberson's cornbread dressing -- no Stove Top back then. (My children loved Stove Top, so that's what I made for years.) I know we were all comforted by the camaraderie."

Another extra memorable Thanksgiving was with "Bottoms Up," in which I performed on and off for six years. Breck Wall, owner and creator of the show, hadn't yet signed with the Thunderbird, where we eventually stayed for over a year, almost always at standing-room-only capacity.

Anyway, I think it was 1965 when I got back from Japan. The company was unemployed and pinching pennies, doubling up in apartments. I called a dear friend, the hilarious Nancy Austin, to ask what she and Breck and their roommates were doing for Thanksgiving. She said, "Nothing. We're all broke."

I picked her up and financed a long grocery list. I was very thrifty and always had a stash and a job. Nancy was a great cook. While she cooked, she and Breck made up funny descriptions of our cast, written in crayon on paper plates. We all had to guess the identity of each plate. They were very clever, often vulgar and very funny. It was always that way with "Bottoms Up." We were constantly laughing, playing games, having a ball.

What grand days they were. I'm so thankful to live in Las Vegas and to have been given such a rewarding life.

Things I'm thankful for:

n Tap dancing with Donald O'Conn or and Sammy Davis Jr.

n Standing in the wings listening to Louie Armstrong singing "What a Wonderful World."

n Listening to Barbra Streisand sing on a Las Vegas stage for the first time.

n Having dessert in the Hickory Room with George Burns.

n Discussing integration with Harry Belafonte .

n Teaching Redd Foxx how to play charades.

n Introducing my mother to Liberace.

n Chatting with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

n Having Frank Sinatra kiss my hand.

n Having all my childhood dreams come true.