Family reunites at Presley’s tribute

Daughter Lisa Marie flew in from England with her husband, American guitarist Michael Lockwood, joining Priscilla’s mother, Ann, Priscilla’s son Navarone Garibaldi and other relatives and friends.

Even Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis’ Memphis Mafia, made it. He was in the wedding party when Priscilla and Elvis where married on May 1, 1967, at the Aladdin.

A program surprise came when Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil was among those speaking on Presley’s behalf.

At a pre-event reception at Cartier in Crystals, Presley and Neil cleared up the mystery of why he was there.

Neil, who was scheduled to be at the podium for about a minute, stayed in the chauffeur’s quarters at her Beverly Hills residence about a decade ago.

He was a friend of her former longtime companion Marco Garibaldi , who was doing business deals with Neil at the time.

Neil’s appearance came less than a week after the rocker received a two-week jail sentence and two weeks of house arrest for a misdemeanor charge of driving while under the influence back in June. Neil, who turns 50 on Feb. 8, begins the jail sentence Feb. 15.

GOWN TOWN

First lady Kathleen Sandoval’s Victorian style gown was a perfect fit for Nevada’s austere times.

Created by University of Nevada, Reno professor/designer Virginia Vogel and her students, the cost of the chartreuse gown was well under $1,000.

I caught up to the first lady while she and her daughters, Maddie, 14, and Marissa, 6, were visiting the table of Bridge Counseling Associates, one of the three selected charities designated for the ball.

Why the Victorian look?

"I’ve always liked that period. It represents me," the first lady said.

Former first lady Dawn Gibbons will have to wait to wear the gown she bought for the ball.

"I should have waited for the State of the State," she said by telephone Friday afternoon.

Her bosses, Jim Rogers and Ralph Toddre, decided Intermountain West Communication would boycott the ball by not purchasing a table for 10 to protest proposed cuts to autistic programs.

Gibbons, director of communications for Intermountain West Communications and a longtime advocate for autistic children, said she’ll be adding a new title to her duties during the upcoming session.

She’s going to become a lobbyist for Rogers, whose dozen-plus Intermountain West stations include KSNV-TV, Channel 3, and KRNV-TV in Reno. Toddre is president and chief operating officer of KRNV.

Richard "Dick" Bryan, who was governor from 1983 to 1989 and later served two terms as a U.S. senator, looked around the opulent ballroom at Wynn Las Vegas Friday and recalled the spartan setting of the first governor’s inaugural ball he attended.

He was 21 years old and student body president at UNR when he attended Grant Sawyer’s first inaugural ball.

"It was held in a Carson City high school gym. It didn’t have the same ambience as tonight," Bryan said.

"Our prom at Las Vegas High School had a more elegant setting," he said.

SIGHTINGS

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, on the red carpet. … At The Cosmopolitan on Friday, shooting segments at Marquee nightclub and STK restaurant for the NHL All-Star Game coverage: Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Paul Bisonnette, Sami Lepisto, Lauri Korpikoski, and Taylor Pyatt of the Phoenix Coyotes.

THE PUNCH LINE

"You owe Pete Rose money." — From David Letterman’s Top 10 Signs You’ve Got Gambling Fever

Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.