The Las Vegas Walk of Stars, a non-profit organization, is now placing stars on the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. Similar to the "Hollywood Walk of Fame," the Las Vegas project honors people of prominence in a variety of fields including entertainment, sports, literary, humanitarian, civic, military, and pioneers. Each star is a three-foot-square slab of polished granite weighing 180 lbs. and inlaid with the recipient's name and specialty. Clark County has sanctioned four miles of sidewalk to the East and West of Las Vegas Boulevard South between Sahara and Russell. Honorees must have worked or lived in the Greater County of Clark for periods of considerable regularity.

Show business persons who have distinguished themselves as actors, producers, directors, playwrights, cinematographers, musicians, as well as persons who have otherwise become prominent in the field of Entertainment and have greatly contributed to the worldwide prominence of Las Vegas.

Literary: Authors, playwrights, screenwriters. Persons who penned literary works of considerable distinction and have achieved national and international recognition in the field of entertainment.

Pioneers and Civic: A Meritorious Star may be awarded to local persons prominently and historically linked to the development of Las Vegas, Clark County, i.e., early settlers, civic personalities with significant historical achievement who have distinguished themselves in the service to the community.

Humanitarians: A Meritorious Star may be awarded to persons who have greatly distinguished themselves in the service to their fellow man by enduring and selfless contributions to charitable causes and by their altruistic deeds have achieved exulted recognition within the community.

Sports: Athletes and coaches who have excelled in their respective field of sports and have greatly contributed to the worldwide prominence of Greater Las Vegas.

Military: Congressional Medal awardees only.

The inscriptions on the stars are relevant to the honoree's field of achievement:

On May 14, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. Bobby Darin became the 19th recipient to be honored with a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. It was placed on the grounds of the Flamingo Hilton where Bobby would frequently perform. The Fans of the legendary entertainer gathered to honor the singer.

I was honored to have been asked by Sir Edward Swindle, director of the Walk of Stars, to open the ceremony and sing Bobby Darin's Grammy Award-winning song, “Mack the Knife.” A number of invited guests including friends of Bobby's were on hand to share some incredible stories about Bobby's life, both personnel and professional. Wayne Newton tells us that Bobby was responsible for giving him his hit song Danke Schoen that launched his career. Wayne Newton was the first to receive a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars

Born Robert Walden Cassotto on May 14, 1936, in the Bronx, Darin, the epitome of the American dream, was a sickly child, contracting rheumatic fever at the age of 8, which left him with a weakened heart. Bobby was an accomplished musician by the age of 15 and following his high school graduation attended Hunter College on a scholarship.

His aspirations were as an actor and musician; however, he first became a success as a musician, changing his name from Cassotto to Darin—a name he selected from the phone book. Darin's combo played in small clubs, and eventually he was under contract to Atlantic Records, recording with their subsidiary, Atco. Bobby wrote and arranged songs that were performed by other entertainers, however, it was his rendition of Splish Splash that launched him to stardom. His appearances on The Dick Clark Show and The Perry Como Show boosted his popularity. His Grammy winning recording of Mack the Knife sold two million copies and topped the charts for months. His talent, not only as a singer, but as a songwriter and later as an actor, catapulted him to the top. He was a top selling recording artist of the '50s and '60s with such hits as You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, You're the Reason I'm Living, Beyond the Sea, and If I Were a Carpenter, to name a few.

He would later marry Sandra Dee, his co-star in Come September—they had one son, Dodd. Darin was a top entertainer at the Sands, the Flamingo, the Sahara, the Desert Inn, the Hilton and many other Las Vegas hotels and at one time was the highest paid entertainer on the Strip.

The following recipients and locations are as follows:

Wayne Newton—Frontier Hotel; Liberace—Riviera Hotel; Frank Marino—Riviera Hotel; Rich Little—New York, New York; Line Renaud—Paris Hotel; Dick Jensen—Frontier Hotel; Mel Larson—Circus Circus; Toni Hart—MGM Hotel; Chester Simms—Flamingo Hotel; John Stuart—New York, New York; Richard MacDonald—New York, New York; Wayne Allyn Root—New York, New York; Siegfried & Roy—Mirage Hotel; Sam Schmidt—Frontier Hotel; Vicente Fernandez—MGM Hotel; Society of Seven—Flamingo Hotel; Sammy Davis Jr.—Riviera Hotel; Jack Weinstein—TBD MGM Hotel; Bobby Darin—Flamingo Hotel.

For more information on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, visit their Web site at www.lasvegaswalkofstars.com.