In a message dated 6/16/2006 10:00:30 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
lainiewolf702@yahoo.com writes:
GREAT story. It really put a smile on my face; thanks for sharing. Lainie
Another remembrance of the Klondike, this one not so funny . In the mid 90's
I had a part time paper route for the Sun and once a month the Klondike
would put free food coupons for breakfast lunch and dinner in the paper. Needless
to say a few extra coupons accidentally fell out of the papers so I had as
many free meals as somebody in the Inner Circle level at Ellis Island, just
not as tasty. I noticed the Klondike owner, John Woodrum, staring at me a few
times as I would eat and leave, never gambling. One day I was leaving out the
then open back ramp door and felt a huge hand clamp on my shoulder. As I
stopped I heard a baritone voice crackle, "I've been watching you. I figure
you're costing me about $40 a week. You use the coupons but don't play. You know
what the deal is. I don't want you using the coupons anymore." It was Woodrum
and what I actually heard him say was, "The mafia is alive and well in Vegas
so don't ever come back here." I suspected him talking to mobsters once a week
in the back of the coffee shop. It was always two old guys, maybe silent
partners. When they would talk, John would lean forward and listen very
intently.
After that incident it took me about 4 years to get up enough courage to
return and that was at the urging of a friend who said there was nothing to
worry about. She had some coupons this time and we ate but when leaving out the
front way, Woodrum was near the isle and entered it, blocking our way by
walking very slowly to make sure that we knew that he knew that we were using the
coupons and then leaving without playing.
A year or so later I ran into a nephew of Woodrum at a meeting of a mutual
hobby we had. He said nobody in the family liked John.
JT
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]