News Releases
March 30, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lori Nelson, R&R Partners 318-4209 or 349-0625 (cell)
Erica D. Johnson, R&R Partners 318-4269
Time honored Helldorado Days tradition to be resurrected in celebration of the Centennial
Mayor Oscar Goodman to kick off Whiskerino Contest with clean shave
WHAT: Mayor Oscar Goodman and other local dignitaries will enjoy a time-honored tradition with a "clean shave" to kick off the Whiskerino Contest, a competition to grow the best beards in advance of one of the Centennial's most nostalgic events, a Salute to Helldorado Days.
The Whiskerino contest will be judged on Thursday, May 12 at 6 p.m. during the four-day Salute to Helldorado Days event at the Fremont Street Experience. Those interested in signing up for the Whiskerino Contest can enter a variety of categories including most unique beard, most lovable beard or colored beards including whitest, grayest, blackest, reddest or multicolor. Registration forms can be downloaded off the Centennial website at lasvegas2005.org and need to be mailed or dropped off to Las Vegas Helldorado Days/Whiskerino office at 420 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, Nev. 89107.
WHO: Mayor Oscar Goodman and other Las Vegas dignitaries
Councilman Gary Reese, Centennial Vice Chairman
WHEN: Wednesday, March 30 from 1 p.m.- 1:20 p.m.
WHERE: Gary and Derrill's Plaza Barbershop (Councilman Reese's barbershop which opened in 1959 and is the oldest barbershop in Las Vegas), 2341 E. Bonanza Rd., just west of Eastern
About Helldorado Days
Helldorado Days, the oldest and most celebrated annual event in Southern Nevada, began in 1934 as a tool by Clyde Zerby, a member of the Elks Lodge, to bring tourists to town following the completion of the Hoover Dam as well as to commemorate Las Vegas' Western roots. The multi-day festival was centered on Western themed events such as the Kangaroo Court, a western village, parade, rodeo, Whiskerino beard growing contest and a beauty pageant. The first festival included a Whiskerino contest, a publicity stunt in which local newspapers encouraged men to put down their razors for weeks in an attempt to grow the longest beard.
