THE ARROWHEAD CLUB

From: Gene Trimble on Chips, 1999
The Arrowhead Club was outside of Milford.
This story comes from a five part series by Mr. Trimble in Chequers Magazine. Thanks to the
Milford Historical Society. They have the complete series of articles, if interested.)

The Arrowhead Club became possible in the early 1930's through a unique arrangement. No one in authority in Clermont County, Ohio wanted to talk to Joe Bauer about a fix. Somehow he found his way to the local Baptist minister. A deal was worked out whereas; Joe would give the monthly payment to the minister. The minister would distribute the funds to the proper authorities. Joe was never to know where the money went or how the funds were dispersed. To further complicate things, Sam and Harold Nason were never to know who received the payment. In effect, the Baptist minister became the bag man and the only person in the world that could put the operation in jeopardy. I wonder what the good padre would have told the law if ever a push came to a shove. My guess is "Religious Confidentiality.: Fortunately for everyone concerned, push never came to shove.

I need to make it perfectly clear that although the Cleveland Syndicate owned a piece of the Arrowhead, they were not involved in the running of it. Cleveland was known for putting up the money for their enterprises and letting the locals run them. Make no mistake, Bauer and the Nasons operated the club.

The Arrowhead Club was the Cleveland Syndicate's first casino in the area. They used the club as a stepping stone into the wide-open gambling of Northern Kentucky, but first there was the small matter of the Coney Island Race Track. I feel this is important as it happened while the Arrowhead was still open. Dutch Schultz owned the race track. In October of 1935 the Dutchman sort of wandered in front of a hail of gunfire. In early 1936 Moe Dalitz, who later would be credited with building a very large part of Las Vegas, summoned Harold Nason to Cleveland. Harold brought back the bankroll to take over the Coney Island track. Harold was only a few miles out of town when he noticed he was being followed. Fearing a robbery attempt, he did some fancy driving and pulled into a firehouse, to lose the tail.. As it turned out, Harold had ditched the bodyguards that Moe had given him for protection.

In 1933 the Nasons opened their first gambling enterprise in Hamilton County. It was in Elmwood, a suburb of Cincinnati. The suburbs of Cincinnati would be good to them for the next 26 years. The Walk-A-Show at 5600 Vine St. was a huge building that held marathon dances, a fad of the times. The Nasons purchased it and changed the name to The Walk-A-Show – Valley Restaurant. The Walk-A-show had BJ and Hazzard plus a 300 seat race and sports book. Across the street was another casino called the Blade, not owned by the Nasons.

Back at the Arrowhead, business was booming. Clermont County Prosecutor Frank Roberts openly tolerated the club, because, in his words, it catered to the wealthy of Indian Hills and employed the poor of Branch Hill. I suspect there was at least one more reason each month for his tolerance. In late 1936 the Arrowhead started to experience some minor discomfort. Roberts began to make statements about "those greedy slot machine people." My personal opinion is, the good prosecutor was getting cold feet. The cops would show up and be a nuisance at times. Cleveland took the problems as an omen and decided to make the move into friendly Northern Kentucky. The Nasons were dispatched to Dayton, KY where they built a dog racing track at Tacoma Park. The track turned out pretty good, but only operated for about two weeks. A local do-gooder found and obscure Kentucky law that stated there could not be betting on any beast after sundown. I remember when this law was repealed so that Turfway Park could have night harness racing. In later years the Tacoma Park track was used for midget car races and a community swimming pool was built there.

I have not been able to pin down the date but I have reason to believe it was in August 1937 when the straw broke the camel's back at the Arrowhead. Joe Bauer died suddenly and from all I have learned, it was of natural causes. It was now up to the Nasons to keep the Arrowhead going. There was one little problem. They had no idea who, how, what, or where to pay the payoff. The bag man never came forward for his monthly stipend. Pure speculation on my part, but I believe Prosecutor Roberts gave the minister orders to back off. The Nasons continued the operation through September, October, and part of November 1937. Roberts himself led the raid that closed the Arrowhead for good. Roberts made the statement "the slot situation became so bad, it could not be tolerated." The equipment was confiscated. The new county court house at Batavia was the recipient of the Arrowhead furniture. The grand jury room got a new table. It was a craps table from the Arrowhead with the felt removed and the legs shortened. I wonder if it is still there.

After the Arrowhead was closed in 1937, the Nasons held to the old traditions. Joe Bauer's widow received a payment from the Walk-A-Show every month. Sam and Harold Nason felt the family of a friend and partner had to be taken care of. The widow's death or the closing of the Walk-A-Show in 1952, by Estes Kefauver would have been the only two things that could have stopped the payments.