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Donna at Las Vegas
Las Vegas Invitational September 13, 2008 at Boulder City NV
By Donna Dye
Part 1 - The Scene
Part 2 - Waves
Part 3 - On the Side
Part 4 - Winners
Part 5 - Workerbees
The Scene
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. Boulder city says its known as "a clean, green oasis in the desert." Actually it is at lot farther from Las Vegas than 25 miles. 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. 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.
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 that provide residents and visitors a wide range of experiences.
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A drive around the city quickly confirms different kind of place from Las Vegas that fits the green oasis description, particularly when you get to the Veterans Memorial Park which is loaded with green grass and surrounded by desert sand and mountains in the distance.
One of Boulder City's prize buildings is the Boulder Dam Hotel, a building of historic significance that is included on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was built in 1933 to accommodate visiting government and corporate project managers supervising the building of Hoover Dam.
The hotel quickly earned a world wide reputation and housed a steady flow of dignitaries, movie stars, politicians and other famous people who came to see the new Hoover Dam.
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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
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Now, on to the Meet
The Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City provides a scenic spot for a cross country meet complete with a mixed running surface of grass, sand and ashphalt, mountains, airplanes and wind surfers to watch between races.
Vegas Here We Come
The Happening at Veteran's Memorial Park
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