Sandi Sullivan bought Windy Moon Quilts, then located in Tahoe City, in the 1980s, and moved the business to Reno—first to Kuenzli Street and then to a former bank building at 440 Spokane Street. She and her husband, Mike, were involved in the creation of the Reno-Sparks Business Corridor Association (RSCBA). Sullivan, whose family has lived in the Reno-Sparks area for several generations, also speaks about growing up in the community and the urban renewal project that targeted the neighborhood north of East 4th Street in the 1960s. Photo by Patrick Cummings
Full Oral History TranscriptWindy Moon Quilts owner Sandi Sullivan remembers when her grandparents’ well-kept brick house on Sage Street, just north of East 4th Street, was targeted for demolition as part of a 1960s urban renewal project in Reno. Recorded by Alicia Barber.
Sandi Sullivan, owner of Windy Moon Quilts on Spokane Street, recalls purchasing her building, a former Wells Fargo bank, at a time when East 4th Street was not the most inviting location. Recorded by Alicia Barber.
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.
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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.
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John Feroah grew up in Reno, where his father worked for the Reno Police Department. After high school, John joined the Air Guard and worked briefly for the City of Reno. In 1969, he joined the Reno Police Department, part-time, while working security for the Cal-Neva. In 1971, he began to work for the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, retiring in 2003. He has since worked for the Reno Police Department Reserve and the University of Nevada Police Department.
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