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| | Las Vegas Invitational
9/12/09 at Boulder City NV
Donna on the Side
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Part 1 - Scene and Workerbees
Part 2 - The Girls
Part 3 - The Boys
Part 4 - The Wave
The Scene and Workerbees
While named the Las Vegas Invitational, the meet acutally takes place about 25 miles from Las Vegas at the Veterans Memoraial Park in Boulder City, Nevada. Actually, it's a world away in tone and feel. It is smaller, with a population slightly more than 15,000, quieter, quaint in a rustic sort of way, without the glitter and glamour of Las Vegas and, no gambling. Boulder city says its known as "a clean, green oasis in the desert." It dates back to 1932 when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built it as housing for workers who were building the Hoover Dam, about seven miles from Boulder City. Wanting the workers to be fit and able to work on the dam, city officials prohibited alcohol sales and all forms of gambling. Today, Boulder City is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibits gambling. The other city is Panaca.
In the 1930s, before Las Vegas was Las Vegas, the Boulder Dam Hotel was a getaway for Hollywood stars. Howard Hughes spent several weeks there convalescing after one of his airplane crashes at Lake Mead.
Boulder City is known for its recreational activities including boating and fishing on Lake Mead, Bootleg Canyon, one of the world's Epic Trails, Boulder City Golf Course, Boulder Creek Golf Club, the year-round swimming pool and racquetball complex, tennis courts and hiking trails.
One of the by products of the Hoover Dam is the creation of Lake Mead. It is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. The water in Lake Mead comes from the daming of the Colorado River and is released primarily to communities in Southern California and Nevada. Lake Mead provides numerous recreational activities for the area. Because of drought in the past several years, the water level of Lake Mead has dropped significantly. This drop can be seen in the white "bath tub" ring created by minerals left on surfaces which had been previously submerged.
Lake Mead as seen from
Boulder City |  |
Now on to the meet.
The Workerbees
Putting on a meet takes considerable effort, time and a host of volunteers. Working to keep all things in order are the meet director, timer, shoot tenders and course monitors. Here are a few of those busy people otherwise known as workerbees.
John Dixon, Co-Meet Director
John is coach at Del Sol High School
| Phil Lawton
Coach, CC and track and field commentator and member of Las Vegas Track Club
| Announcer, Mike O'Dea
Mike is a retired educator, coach and cross country, track and field enthusiast who does a fantastic job with the microphone.
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| Timers Randy Heimark and Patty Jensen | Carrie O'Dea Line Timer
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Finish Line Volunteers
Giner Salera and Ashley Smith
| Keepers of the trophies (from left) Anna Taufa, Lindsay Taylor, Shannon Tuiloemotu
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| | Will Wells, Co-Meet Director with volunteers from the Basic High School Key Club
Will is coach at Basic High School
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Part 1 - Scene and Workerbees
Part 2 - The Girls
Part 3 - The Boys
Part 4 - The Wave |
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