BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO Pirate Laureate of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream

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If you've ever wondered why you ended up here in the High Desert Outback of the American Dream, Shirl Elliker's life will prove instructive.

We need all the help we can get.

In 1974, Shirl and his wife, Gay, operated Jewelart in Moana West Shopping Center.

I owned an advertising agency and heard that the merchants association account was up for grabs.

I also learned that the fight was fixed for the son of one of the board members.

Not an unusual occurrence in Reno then, or now.

Before agency presentations, several new members were elected, including one Shirl Elliker.

So I rolled the dice, even flying to Seattle to record custom musical images at actor Danny Kaye's production studio.

My producer was Greg Thompson, who later developed killer shows for Harrah's and a slew of Gomorrah South properties. (Harrah's once used a quote from my review of a Thompson extravaganza on a radio spot voiced by God hisself masquerading as Wolfman Jack.)

I won, dealing the good ole boys' network a rare defeat.

Shirl's leadership paid big dividends for the Moana merchants.

Twice, I engineered visits from Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, Snow White, Peter Pan, Wendy and Captain Hook, direct from Disneyland.

The management of Park Lane, then the only major mall in the region, turned green with envy.

Disney did four stage shows a day at Moana.

You had to walk six blocks to get near the place.

"There is no sight more fearsome than a determined mother with an armful of kids," observed Pauline's Sportswear owner John Hanks who operated shops at both Moana and Greenbrae Center in Sparks.

One shoe store proprietor actually complained about the Disney crowds, grousing that his key parking spaces were clogged by all those people.

Half the mothers in Reno and Sparks came to his doorstep and still he crabbed.

Go figger.

Our "Laurel & Hardy Go Shopping" TV campaign won multiple advertising awards. The longrunning silent movies featured local radio personality Doug Davies and Reno High grad/Hollywood screen actor Herman "Jack" Marston. The multi-talented Hanks shot all the film.

Merchants associations are testy beasts, which is why Shirl was the right leader.

Gay & Shirl Elliker

  Park Lane is now a long-vacant lot. Moana West still prospers.

  Shirl and Gay went on to acquire Tanner's merchandise shows and additionally operated a shop in Reno's Antique  Mall.

  Shirl was also a photographer for the Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors.

  In his spare time, he restored a '59 Ford pick'emup.

  I hope I learned a little from that good man's calm, gentle and productive manner of handling people.

  True Nevadans like Shirl Elliker are sorely needed in state and local government but rarely run.

  He died on Feb. 16 at age 78, survived by his wife of almost 50 years, children, grandchildren and many whose lives  he enriched.

Count me among them.

WEB EXTRAS—>

RENDER UNTO CESAR: Northern Nevada César Chávez Celebration XII happens on the great labor leader's birthday, Monday, March 31, 2014.

Commit for tickets and tables now at CesarChavezNevada.com.

I'm planning a TV special about César Chávez's days in Nevada and more surprises.

Stay tuned.

ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is.

PayPal monthly subscription software is now operational at the website.

A thousand thanks to those who already responded.

Keep sending show suggestions.

Current frontrunners include (pardon the pun) wild mustangs as canned goods, education,  i-Guns and gay Olympics with César Chávez in Nevada recently surging.

Now come queries about ballot questions. After the Jan. 30 column came a surge of questions about the Nevada State Education Association corporate tax petition on this November's ballot.

Stay tuned.

  Please forward additional ideas or vote on the above.

  I encourage you to donate to the cause at Barbwire.TV/

The medium that shapes public opinion needs at least one refuge where it is not filtered through the distorted green eye shades of prissy corporate accountants for whom profit is the only priority; where self-censorship is the journalist's normal work environment and where all sins of omission are tacitly encouraged and forgiven with the wave of a balance sheet.

This is important.

We've got work to do.

HONOR YOUR DON. Keep sending comments supporting legendary Nevada photographer Don Dondero (1920-2003) for the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame.

His life's work appeared worldwide, including the Tribune and most probably every newspaper in Nevada.

Enlist in the campaign to install Big Don.

Please send me your memories and endorsements via e-mail or to P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510.

The Barbwire got the late Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Guy Richardson elected in 2012.

Let's double down.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

____________
Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, chair of the Nevada César Chávez Committee, producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration, first vice-president and political action chair of the Reno-Sparks NAACP, labor/consumer/civil rights advocate, member of Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO and editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org and DoctorLawyerWatch.com/ As always, his opinions are strictly his own. Check local listings for other Nevada cable systems. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988.

Smoking Guns... We Don't Need No Education The continuing Barbwire series ...and more ammo.. Nevada Day Required Reading The Lady in the Red Dress The Barbwire's classic Nevada Day column written in 1983 The compleat history of the Silver State in 500 words SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Sparks Tribune 10-31-2013 and previously Barbano on the Barbwire plots new TV season Barbwire Special Web Edition / 10-21-2013 Barbwire: Nevada not really a state No, we were not Battle Born in Kenya Top 10 reasons Nevada lives in the 19th Century Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-17-2013 Sparks Tribune Low-income penalty: Nevada socks it to the working poor BARBANO: Nevada is one big company town Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 State of Health National health care comes up against a very sick state. WHAT'S IN IT FOR US? Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 USA at crossroads: New Deal or new Confederacy? Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-10-2013 Sparks Tribune UPDATE—>Bill Moyers: Shutdown is simply secession by other means ...and more ammo yet The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Post-dated Recession By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011 Union decline and rising inequality in two charts by Colin Gordon Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012 Used in journalist Mark Robison's extensive Hard Labor: Nevada unions tout role in helping workers, firms, economy (Sunday 2 Sept. 2012 Reno Gazette-Journal, page one, Reno Rebirth section of the print edition). Union men Jim Burrell, Paul McKenzie and Guy Louis Rocha did the movement proud. Not included in the RGJ online edition. WOMEN AND UNIONS — ORPHAN MAJORITIES The Barbwire Labor Day column Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012 Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest HAT TRICK: Barbwire takes first place three years in a row. The winning entries Suing for Schools: The 20-year shuck Expanded from the 2-21-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune Click here to view the show on your desktop RED flags flying low over Sparks Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune The wrath of self-righteous racism Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Government contacts Nev. congressional delegation Nevada Legislature State of Nevada Secretary of State Carson City Clark County City of Las Vegas Douglas County Reno City Council Sparks City Council Washoe County Commission Washoe Registrar of Voters The campaign against forcibly-paid newspaper obituaries And they wonder why the newspaper business is dying?   The Dean's List    The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites. RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006 The 2009 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners Tony the Tiger & the flaky NFL Barbwire / 11-30-2008 Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry Barbwire / 8-3-2008 Nevada: A good place to visit, but do you want to live here? Barbwire / 6-15-2008 The 2008 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners The price of a piece / 6-17-2007 Boxing Pandora /9-23-2007 The Lady in the Red Dress 10-28-2007 1997 Pulitzer Prize entries The life and times of Travus T. Hipp The best who ever was

The Barbwire's Silver Anniversary
Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

SITE NAVIGATION TIPS: As John Hanks says, when all else fails, read the instructions.

NevadaLabor.com | U-News | Bulletins + Almanac Casinos Out of Politics (COP) | Sen. Joe Neal Guinn Watch | Deciding Factors | BallotBoxing.US DoctorLawyerWatch.com | Barbwire Oilogopoly Archive Barbwire Nevada Corporate Welfare Archive Annual César Chávez Celebration War Rooms: Banks, Cabbies, Cabela's/cabellyup, Cable TV, Cancer Kids/Mining, Energy, Food, Health Care, Resurge.TV/consumers, Starbucks, Wal-Mart We Don't Need No Education Search this site | In Search Of...

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Copyright © 1982-2014 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee, He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.

Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

Site composed and maintained by Deciding Factors, CWA 9413 signatory

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