Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 65

A r4lb Have PEOPLE brought to your home every Saturday. For convenient horn ddmry of the Reno Gaxtfrjounol 78(1744. EAJr. JLJC SECTION SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2001 Person of the Week: Curtis Adams RENO A Once his hobby, magic is now his passion Us TV TIME: Magician Curtis Adams, left, with Master Magician Lance Burton Young Magicians Showcase," which premiers March 17 at 6 p.m. Adams taped the show in December and described the filming as, "an experience of a life time." He has taken his magic from a hobby to a full-time career.

He and fellow magician Eli V. Kerr IV started a full theatrical rental company called Meca Productions in Carson City. "When I was 13, 1 wanted to get into bigger stage production illusions, like Copperfield, and that's when I met Eli," Magician Curtis Adams of Carson City has been trying to make things disappear since he was a little boy. "My father took my sister and me to a David Copperfield Show when I was about 6 12 and that inspired me. I've been doing magic ever since." His sister, Julie, was also inspired and is now a magician's assistant who performs in her brother's shows.

Curtis will get national TV exposure a week from today when he appears on the Fox Family Channel special, "Lance Burton, Master Magician: The Adams said. The two teenagers teamed up and have been working on their magic ever since. They also have a touring magic show titled, "Magic, Mystery and the Art of Illusion," which will open in Corvalis, March 30-31. "We have a unique show. People can see two types of magicians and two styles in one show.

Eli's more into Gothic magic and dark illusion, and I do more modern day magic. I'm a modern, 2001 guy." Jean Dixon, Reno Gazette-Journal Profile: Marilee Swirczek Bringing poetry to work V1 Sports Recreation JIM KRAJEWSKI Springtime competitors on the move After a short break following the state basketball tournament, high school sports teams are back in action as the spring seasons are underway. Baseball got going on Thursday with the CarsonDouglas baseball tournament as 14 northern Nevada schools, from the 4A level and smaller, got a first look at their teams in game conditions. "It gives them a chance to come in here and play in Carson City," Carson coach Ron McNutt said of inviting schools from all levels. "They get an overnight trip and they get to play five or six in the tournament.

"It gets the kids a lot of playing time." Games will last five innings or 1:15, whichever comes first. Douglas is co-hosting the round-robin-style tournament. There is no championship game. Games today are scheduled for both schools at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

McNutt picked his team last week. He has six seniors on the 24-member squad including a few returning starters from last season's state tournament-qualifying team. Among the returners are Chandler Allen who moves from third base to first, shortstop Carl Winter, junior outfielder Ben Moore, in his third season on the varsity, and second-team all-conference selection, Nick Gitthens, at designated hitter Carson's pitchers are young but McNutt almost always seems to find an ace. "It's a young staff. We'll have to see how well they come along," McNutt said.

"Some of my better teams have been untested early, then they've come on and done a real good job for us." Douglas is also young this season with 1 1 returners from last season's 16-13 team. Second-year head coach Fred Bendure is counting on sophomore Austin Graham, a starter last season, to contribute mightily at pitcher, first base and in the outfield. Bendure also expects good seasons from junior Shane Cauley at shortstop and pitcher. He's in his third See KRAJEWSKI on 6E risitle upcoming events Check out what's fun to do and to learn at Western Nevada Community College 2E around the region Youth group leader in Reno brings UNR students together for fun and for support 3E celebrations Weddings, engagements, anniversaries and milestones in people's lives. 4E happening Schedule of upcoming events, including music, the arts and recreation.

5E visit us on the web GUY ROCHA The first electric elevator west ofthe Mississippi An Associated Press story ran in Nevada newspapers late in 1995 that claimed, among other things, that the Goldfield Hotel "boasts the first electric elevator built west ofthe Mississippi." The aging Goldfield Hotel was again for sale and an article first appearing in the Lahontan Valley News Fallon Eagle Standard clearly mistook myth for reality. Folklore was again promoted as fact with the tired claims that Wyatt Earp worked at the hotel and President Teddy Roosevelt stayed there after its completion in 1908. However, now the story's writer went so far as to repeat the fallacious assertion that somehow the Goldfield Hotel was equipped with an electric elevator before hotels in St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, and San Francisco, to name but a few cities much larger than Goldfield's 25,000 peak population. What makes the claim all the more preposterous was that the electric elevator was first used commercially in 1889 in New York City.

Goldfield was not established as a mining camp until 1902 and the Goldfield Hotel would not come along for another six years. Why wouldn't cities west of the Mississippi have electric elevators installed in their buildings long before 1908? I called the Otis Elevator Company Historic Archives in Farmington, Conn, as the Otis firm pioneered the new technology. The corporate archivist told me that the first electric elevator west of the Mississippi was sold to a party in Spokane, Washington on September 12, 1890. Continuing his review of their sales records, the archivist noted that Los Angeles and Oakland got their first elevators in 1892, and the first one in San Francisco was at the Alcazar Hotel in 1893. Goldfield may have had the first electric elevator in Nevada, although the Otis Company records are incomplete in that time period, and there was some type of elevator operating at the Casey Hotel in Goldfield in 1907.

The bottom line is that any good reporter or writer needs to approach his or her story with some rigor and check the facts whenever possible. These myths have been making the rounds for years and are kept alive in newspaper morgue files, chamber of commerce materials, amateur "history" publications, and so on. Making matters worse, these stories find their way into the schoolroom and are unknowingly passed off as history rather than folklore or legend. Beware the claim that something or somebody was first, last, youngest, or oldest. More often than not, it isn't true.

Guy Rocha is Nevada State Archivist in Carson City. (Original version in Sierra Sage, Carson CityCarson Valley, Nevada, November 1 996 edition) Lisa J. ToldaReno Gazette-Journal POETIC LICENSE: Marilee Swirczek teaches her class at Western Nevada Community College. By Sandi Wright RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL In 1986, a single mother of three working two jobs to support her family won the Ward 3 seat on the Carson City Board of Supervisors. Marilee Chirila, now Marilee Swirczek, is a strong advocate of open government.

She was just what many Carson City residents were looking for that year. Although she left the board in 1989 before her term was up to accept a teaching position at Western Nevada Community College, she left her mark on the capital city. To some, her name is almost synonymous with neighborhood parks. Swirczek, as well known for being outspoken as she was for being articulate, did her homework and stood her ground against all comers, from utility company's big guns to a host of land developers. "I ran for office because of the chasm between the board and the public at that time," Swirczek said.

"I felt it was the only way to breach that." Her commitment to serve comes from something less obvious. "I'm a mother. When people ask me what I do, I think of that first. My perspective in life comes from my motherhood," she said. "Mothers are the guardians of the earth, and I believe mothers have this tremendous energy when it comes to benefiting their children." In retrospect, Swirczek is most proud of the rapport she had with the people in the community.

"I really felt that they wanted the same things and saw the same vision as I did, and it was my time to serve," she said. "There was such a feeling Catching a with Ursula Carlson. "Forty students signed up for the first class, from she said, "and each one of them had a story to tell. The stories were incredible stories of fighting in Vietnam and the Korean War, stories of hardships and survival and stories of ordinary life around the world, stories about the last century. "I cried in that class and I laughed in that class," she said.

"We were just honored to read their stories. "When people write from the heart, they write beautiful things," Swirczek said. "Most of them (class members) began writing their memoirs for their children, then they realized that maybe there was a bigger audience for it than they had thought." "My grandparents were Italian immigrants, and because of that, they taught me to have a healthy respect for government and a healthy cynicism for government," she said. These days, with her children raised and a successful career in full bloom, Swirczek said she is just as busy as she was when she was city supervisor. She has been chairman of WNCC's English department for five years and is a full-time professor, teaching writing and literature courses.

Her pet project is the Lone Mountain Writers, a group whose numbers fluctuate from year to year. It has about 1 6 members at the moment, although more than 400 writers have passed through since the group Profile: Lynn Kelly wind after w4yiit first met nine years ago. There is an equal mix of beginning and professional writers, she said, representing various genres screenwriters, romance writers, literature writers, journalists and more. "Writers have to hang out with other writers because they have a genetic defect always wanting to be alone," she said. "We all have a passion for the written word, but we tend to fall in love with our own writing.

Writers write, and others encourage us to write more." New members are welcome at any time and can reach Swirczek for meeting times and places by calling 445-4284. Swirczek makes all her friends in her classes. A favorite project at the moment is a "Memoir" class she team-teaches of camaraderie, support and enthusiasm when asked to go into homes for neighborhood meetings. "We'd be sitting there discussing water, financial issues or quality of life, and I'd be holding a baby that belonged to someone else," she said. "And all these years later, people still recognize that we had a vision we wanted to enact." Swirczek was raised in a family where political issues were discussed openly and frequently, but she believes her grandfather helped instill the values that ultimately led her to government service.

"Until I was old enough to know better, I thought that the two parties in this country were the Democrats and the Damned Republicans," she said with a laugh. her second only 77 years of life By Merrie Leininger SPECIAL TOTHE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL What began with a paint-byr -numbers kit turned into a lifelong love for Gardnerville resident Lynn Kelly. Now, after three children, two husbands and a stroke in 1992, the 77-year-old Kelly continues to paint her distinctive, airy landscapes. That's not all she does. Kelly is driven not to spend her life on a couch.

"One thing that really matters to me is I want my life to be productive," she said. "It matters to me to grow flowers and paint. I just can't waste time. I want to do things that have meaning." Kelly keeps busy with the East Fork Gallery, a cooperative of which she is a founding member. She remembers transforming an old building on Highway 395 into the first gallery in 1978.

"We cleaned and painted. It was a big, wonderful family." The cooperative was located at the Carson Valley Museum until the decision was made last year not to renew the lease. Now, the gallery can be found in the Gardnerville Record-Courier building on U.S. Highway 395. "We're so glad to be where we are now," Kelly said.

"It's so light and airy, and it's bigger. We have more members and more consignors now. There is a good representation of See KELLY on 4E WUJTJ Lisa J. ToldaReno Gazette-Journal 'COOKING' IN THE KITCHEN: When painting with acrylics, artist Lynn Kelly works in the kitchen of her home in Gardnerville. Mi i.