The Rat Pack

RENO, Nevada (AP) — A Lake Tahoe resort once owned by Frank Sinatra and frequented by his Rat Pack buddies is about to undergo a major makeover.

The Cal Neva hotel-casino that straddles the California-Nevada line will close for
more than a year beginning Monday to allow for the multimillion-dollar project.

The 219-room, 10-story hotel and 6,000-square-foot casino will be upgraded in
an effort to revive the struggling property, said Robert Radovan, co-owner of
Criswell-Radovan. His Napa Valley, Calif.-based development company acquired
the Cal Neva in April.

"Our goal is to bring it back to its former glory and to make it what it was like in
Sinatra’s day," Radovan told The Associated Press. "It has such great soul and character, and it’s needed this redo for many decades."

The Cal Neva is one of Nevada’s first legal casinos. The present resort was built
in 1937, when a fire destroyed the original lodge that had opened in 1926.

                  Colonel Harland David Sanders 

         (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980)

Since his death, Sanders has been portrayed by voice actors in
Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials in radio and an animated
version of him has been used for television commercials.

 
The first restaurant at 4301 Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, CA.

IHOP, formerly known as The International House of Pancakes, is a U.S. based restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. Founders Al and Jerry Lapin,
along with early investors Al and Trudy Kallis (below),open the first International
House of Pancakes (above) in the Los Angeles suburb of Toluca Lake, California 
on Monday, July 7, 1958. Today, the company has 1,500 locations across America.

 
Al Lapin                                      Al and Trudy Kallis

(AP) Dallas – The president and chief executive of Kentucky Fried Chicken
Japan purchased the trademark white suit worn by company founder "Colonel"
Harland Sanders at auction Saturday for $21,510 — then promptly tried it on.

Masao "Charlie" Watanabe grinned while putting on the suit jacket and black
string tie at the Heritage Auctions event, standing beneath a photograph of
Sanders. He had already planned to attend a company marketing meeting in
Dallas, but arrived early after he found out about the auction, he said.

Watanabe was one of hundreds of in-person, telephone and online bidders
vying for various items, including a gun belt owned by legendary outlaw Jesse
James and leg irons that restrained abolitionist John Brown.

Watanabe also bought a mini-collection of Sanders’ memorabilia — including
his 1973 Kentucky driver’s license — for $1,912.

Sanders is a popular figure in Japan, and most KFC restaurants there have
statues of him in front, Watanabe said. He plans to display the suit at a
restaurant in Tokyo.

A KFC restaurant in Japan