Remembering Sammy... Part 2

So, there I was in charge of a $350,000 budget. My task was to plan an indoor-outdoor Grand Reopening gala for the Sands Las Vegas, a special event that would command huge publicity for the hotel. This was no easy task in Vegas, a town where nothing succeeds like excess!

My Grand Reopening had to be outrageously big, spectacular in fact, and it had to have a master of ceremonies who would help make the event spectacular.

As this was the Sands, the home of the Rat Pack, I wanted one of them to host my event. I went down the list, starting with Sinatra, but he was simply unavailable and had recently suffered very bad press after performing a 10-day gig at Sun City in racially segregated South Africa.

Next on my list was Sammy Davis, Jr.

I called Sammy's agent. "What will it cost to get Sammy for my one-day event?" I asked the agent.

"No can do," said the ten-percenter. He explained that money couldn't buy Sammy, because he had a non-compete clause in his then-current contract with Harrah's casino hotels - Sammy was forbidden from performing anywhere in Nevada, other than at a Harrah's hotel.

I paused for a moment to take that in. Then, a brainstorm hit me... "Would Sammy emcee my event for free? That way, he wouldn't be violating his Harrah's contract," I said to the agent.

"Nah, he wouldn't do that. Foggedaboutit!"

"How would you know that he wouldn't do it? After all," I said, "this is the Sands, and I should think that Sammy has some loyalty to the hotel in Vegas that hosted him when no one else in town would."

An hour later, I had Sammy on the phone, and I posed the question - would he emcee the Sands Grand Reopening for free?

Sammy, bless him, didn't pause a beat. "The Sands? Yeh, I'll do it. I'll do it for old times, for old times!"

That's what he said to me, really. "For old times, for old times."

So, Sammy was scheduled to emcee our Sands Grand Reopening. Now, I had to help create an event worthy of him and a spectacular event that would command world-wide attention. Fortunately for me, I had a secret weapon - "Mr. Spectacular," the one and only Tommy Walker.

From Wikipedia...
Thomas Luttgen Walker was an American producer of live entertainment events who was director of entertainment at Disneyland during its first twelve years of operation, and later produced spectacular events at celebrations including three Olympic Games and the centennial of the Statue of Liberty.

Tommy Walker was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, Vesey Walker, was "a band director who, according to a Disneyland press release from 1967, organized more than 50 college, military, school and youth bands. His local American Legion from Wisconsin won an international competition in 1934, with 11-year-old Tommy as a member."

As "Tommy the Toe", the University of Southern California Trojan marching band's drum major, Walker would tear off his uniform jacket, throw his baton to the ground and rush from the stands onto the field to kick conversions for the cardinal and gold. The fans adored Walker, as did the media. To one sportswriter, Walker was "The Caliph of Conversion."

In 1947, a picture of Walker wearing a tall white shako as he booted a football appeared in LIFE magazine and was widely published elsewhere.

I'll tell you more about Sammy, Tommy, and the Sands Grand Reopening in the next posting to this blog. Stay tuned!