Some LEARNINGS from Laughlin

QUOTE from Ben Franklin: "Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one."

LEARNINGS from Laughlin. Ruth Ann and I spent five days in Laughlin, Nevada last week. I've been trying to identify some things I learned during those five days. Here are a few things I learned:

1. I learned we can take a five day vacation for very little money. An Anamosa friend told us about the great deals offered by the Riverside Hotel-Casino in Laughlin. Se we called the number he gave us to find out the details. We could go from Dubuque to Laughlin for $299.00 each. We would get the flight out and back and four free nights at the Riverside. It was hard to turn down a deal like that so we took it.

2. We learned that the Riverside Hotel-Casino was founded by a man named Don Laughlin. Don was born and raised on a farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. When going to high school in Owatonna in the early 1950s he earned money by trapping mink and muskrat. Then he bought slot machines (they were legal then) from a mail-order catalog and installed them in local taverns. The profits he earned were shared with the tavern owners.
He was making $500.00 a week when his school principal gave him an ultimatum: get out of the slot business or get out of school. Don told the principal he was making three times more than he was so my choice is to drop out of school.
About the time he dropped out of school Congress the Johnson Act which abolished slot machines and interstate shipment nationwide.
So Don moved to Las Vegas because Nevada was the only state that allowed gambling and he wanted to stay in the gaming business. There he worked as a bartender and attended card and dice dealers school at night. In 1954 he saved enough money to buy his own business, the 101 Club in North Las Vegas. Ten years later he sold the place for $165,000. Ready for new challenges, Don embarked on what would become an incredible journey.
In 1964 Don began scouting the rugged desert in his private plane. A Colorado River stretch of land called the Tri State caught his attention. The area was vacant except for a boarded-up eight-room motel. Two years later, he paid $235,000 ($35,000 down) for the motel and six acres of Colorado River front property.
In 1966, the Riverside Resort opened and offered all-you-can-eat chicken dinners for 98 cents, play on 12 slot machines and two gaming tables, and accommodations that included a stay in one of the four of eight rooms - the Lauglin family occupied in the other rooms.
Tri State eventually became the town of Laughlin, named after Don. Don became quite wealthy and started expanding: He added 48 rooms in 1972; 52 rooms in 1975; 253 rooms in 1983; 307 rooms in 1986; 792 rooms in 1994; for a total of 1,405 rooms and suites, most with breathtaking river views.
So I'd say Don has done all right since dropping out of Owaronna High School in the early 1950s.

Tomorrow I'll tell some more things I learned.