Back then

Despite the lack of adequate and skilled labor, the Money Tree project rushed towards the July 1 opening date; along with all of the other projects in town. I had only been in Reno for a little over a year and had never seen anything like this before. Casino building defied all of the usual rules of construction; rules that I knew well from my years of working in Los Angeles.

One incident from that time: I was talking to Greg McKenzie, the project manager for McKenzie Construction. We were in the kitchen of the new second floor restaurant. We heard a crashing noise and then someone yelled, ‘Call the fire department!’ and a crowd of men rushed over to where someone lay on the floor amidst a broken ladder and a lot of blood.

The man on the floor was shaking violently and someone, luckily, spotted the fact that he was clutching a drill motor in his hands and they yanked on the cord, unplugging it before anyone touched him.

We recognized the worker; Karl, the foreman for the crew that was installing the stainless steel kitchen equipment. He was also one of the most thoroughly disliked men on the job. He was from Oregon and had no intention of making friends in Reno. But, someone in the crowd began CPR and everyone looked on, anxiously. He may not have had friends, but he was one of us.

That was when Charlie Mapes, the owner of the Money Tree, walked in. He spotted Greg and I and after looking at the scene for just a moment, he told Greg, “You better get these men back to work.” and he then turned and walked away.

Yes, Karl survived and returned to Oregon. Charlie never asked about him.