Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Golf Pro Robert Mason, left, and Ron McNutt move an Elvis statue in the new event center at the Silver Oak Golf Course on Thursday afternoon. Coaches, the new restaurant and bar, is being decorated with 50s memorabilia from owner Garth Richards' collection.
The walls are plastered with signs advertising long-forgotten products and the gas stations of old. The King himself stoically stands guard over the polished wooden dance floor and the bar is surrounded by palm trees of neon.
In the corner, a purple 1965 Ford Thunderbird convertible is just waiting for a driver. Not what you'd expect from the clubhouse of a golf course, but that's the decorating scheme for the Event Center at the Silver Oak Golf Course Clubhouse.
The decor is centered around three things: Restaurants, jukeboxes and cars.
The room is adorned with old road signs, gas pumps, soda coolers, memorabilia from several restaurants and statues of Betty Boop and Elvis.
"The clubhouse had been open for 22 months and been pretty busy for the last couple months. We told the owner he needed to share his enormous collection of memorabilia and cars," said Terrie McNutt, special events banquet supervisor.
So he did.
Among the collectibles is the 1947 Wurlitzer jukebox from the Liberty Bell restaurant in Reno. The jukebox was purchased when the restaurant closed.
The centerpiece for the room is owner Garth Richards' collection of historic cars that will change once a month. The T-Bird was selected as the room's first automotive occupant.
"I like all the old cars and the jukeboxes," said Richards, who owns the club with his wife, Joanie. "I've been collecting for over 30 years. I bought a lot of this stuff from swap meets over the years."
To further add to the ambiance, Ron McNutt will be tending bar for the room's events. McNutt recently retired from Carson High School where he was the athletic director and longtime baseball coach.
"Ron is a legend in Nevada baseball and a real asset to us," Richards said. "We want this to be a place where people can come down and shoot the breeze with a legend over a beer."
The center, renamed Coaches, is officially scheduled to reopen Feb. 10 for a Valentine's Day dinner and dance. The room will also be available for wedding receptions, private parties and special events throughout the year.
Coaches will be holding events throughout the year, including celebrations for Mother's Day, Cinco De Mayo and Easter as well as street dances during the summer months.
Even with the more than 100 items already on display, Terrie McNutt said it's not even half of Richards' total collection.
"Every day I come to work and there's something new he has decided would look good," McNutt said. "We can keep rotating the memorabilia for a while."
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.
If you go
What: Valentine's Day Dinner and Dance
When: 6 p.m. Feb. 10.
Where: Coaches, inside the clubhouse of Silver Oak Golf Course
Price: $75 per person, reservations required by Feb. 2.
Call: 841-7000 ext. 1012 to make reservations.