Within these pages rests a lively and compelling coloring book that features images of 12 classic old Reno and Sparks motels-most of which have literally been deteriorating before the eyes of the mystified or sometimes uncaring public in recent decades. Images of these so-called holdover structures, most which reached their peak in popularity during the mid-1900s, have been captured for time immemorial within this publication. Artist, graphic designer and author Patty Atcheson Melton issued her latest book here fresh on the heels of her 2012 memoir- Where Are All the Magpies, which chronicles her continual travels with her immediate family along back-roads of the American West during the 1940s and 1950s. Every now and then someone tells me of how intrigued they are by these old motels, Patty said. So, naturally, the idea struck me that I should create a fun coloring book. This way I hope to enable today’s children and adults to have a blast coloring images of a fading part of our past. Hopefully, these images will endure for many generations to come, so that people can always be able to use their imaginations to remember ‘the romantic, peaceful, small-town old Reno that 'once was but no longer is.’ Solidifying this endeavor, neon-collector Will Durham-who champions efforts to save classic Nevada neon signs before wrecking balls obliterate such iconic structures, and award-winning Reno-area historian Cindy Ainsworth have each separately contributed to the text and photos. Durham’s passion for neon is revealed through his text and photos, and Ainsworth’s recounting of the history of motels across the USA-and particularly in the Reno-Sparks area, help complete what Melton calls thorough compilation, putting the past, present and likely future of these iconic motels into clear perspective. As a whole, this coloring book is intended to emphasize what Patty describes as a burning and continual need to save or to chronicle artifacts and buildings. Hopefully in doing so, we can-collectively and individually-hang on to our past in a positive way, made possible only if we m, neake a concerted effort to try … So, let’s all have fun and enjoy coloring these pages to our heart’s delight, whether we’re children or adults. After all, everyone should remain young at heart for as long as they live.
