Las Vegas Weekly

December 9, 2009 · 10:26 AM

Photo Gallery: XS, Tryst, Drai’s toy shopping spree is $64,000 record

By Robin Leach

XS, Tryst and Drai's After Hours take part in the 2009 KLUC 98.5 FM Toy Drive at Wal-Mart and Nevada Power on Dec. 9, 2009.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Owners, managers and staff of Tryst, XS and Drai’s After Hours at the Wynn, the Encore and Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, respectively, today hope to break last year’s record $32,000 of toy donations for the annual KLUC 98.5-FM toy drive. This morning in one of the wildest shopping sprees, everybody from bartenders to cocktail servers will hit Wal-Mart at Rainbow and Spring Mountain in Chinatown.

They hope to spend more than $64,000, double last year’s amazing figure, on toys and other gifts in a two- to three-hour shopping spree to beat anything ever seen. I’m told that some 200 staffers will fill 80 cars with the goodies that will include clothes and bicycles.

Then they get a Las Vegas Police Department escort to caravan over to the Nevada Power parking area on West Sahara to make the donation to KLUC 98.5-FM DJ Chet Buchanan, who leads the fundraiser each year. Last year, the monstrous donation was the single largest in the history of the drive.

Jesse Waits, managing partner of the nightclubs, said: “All we want to do is make a difference in the lives of the children at this time of the year. Giving back to the community is something we take seriously, and our XS/Tryst family will continue to support the KLUC toy drive and other philanthropic organizations for years to come.”

Updated @4:04 p.m.: Our contributing photographer Erik Kabik reported this afternoon: “I arrived at the Nevada Power parking lot for the KLUC 98.5 FM Toy Drive today and was overwhelmed when I saw an 18-wheeler pull up, escorted by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, and it was packed full of toys that XS, Tryst and Drai’s was donating to the toy drive. A helicopter full of toys circled overhead with a Santa waving out to the crowd below.

“The team from XS, Tryst and Drai’s had visited the Wal-Mart this morning and purchased more than $68,000 in toys. The partners and XS, Tryst and Drai’s staff all lined up to unload the trucks at the toy drive, with some helping hands from L.V. Metro, too. It was a very emotional event, as so many people pulled together to give back to our community, and it’s not something you see every day.”

Also part of the toy drive today: KLUC 98.5 FM staff, including DJ Chet Buchanan; Jesse Waits, managing partner of XS, Tryst and Drai’s After Hours; John Wood, director of customer development for XS and Tryst; and Ronn Nicolli, director of marking for Tryst and Drai’s. More than 100 staff members from XS, Tryst and Drai’s participated in today’s effort.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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