Doug Quilici is owner of the Copenhagen Bar at 2140 Prater Way in Sparks. The bar was previously located several blocks to the west, and run by Doug’s father, Gino “Bear” Quilici. That location was demolished in 1966 to make way for Interstate 80. Doug became his father’s business partner even before Bear passed away in 1997. Longtime customer and bartender Ray Maldonado also chimes in with his memories of Bear and the popular bar. Photo by Patrick Cummings
Full Oral History TranscriptIn a 2013 interview, Copenhagen Bar owner Doug Quilici explains his family's geneology, leading to his father's purchase of the bar in 1949. Recorded by Alicia Barber.
Interviewed in 2013, Copenhagen Bar owner Doug Quilici describes his father, Gino "Bear" Quilici, who bought the establishment at its previous location in 1949 and moved the business to its current site in 1966. Recorded by Alicia Barber.
A Reno native, Sally Loux has worked for twenty years at the Coney Island Bar, located at the Reno-Sparks border where 4th Street becomes Prater Way. She describes the longstanding establishment’s welcoming environment and some of its regular customers, and explains what has made it such a popular gathering place for the entire community for so many decades.
View All
Born and raised in Ely, Nevada, Gaye Canepa moved to Reno after completing high school. At the time of her interview, she and her husband, Fred Canepa, owned and operated Fred’s Auto Repair and Supply at 500 East Sixth Street. She was the longtime president of the Reno-Sparks Business Corridor Association (RSCBA), spearheading community efforts to promote redevelopment and resist efforts by the City of Reno to locate a new homeless shelter along East 4th Street.
View All
Lilli Moffit was born in Germany and raised in Iowa. In the 1990s, she and her husband, Bill, moved to Reno, where he worked for Sierra Pacific (now Nevada Energy). In 1998, the Moffits bought and renovated a former Chinese restaurant at 1229 East 4th Street and opened Reno Rails, a model train store. Lilli continued to operate the business after her husband passed away in 2010.
View All
