'Strippermobile' delivers Christmas donations

[December 13, 2010]  LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The "strippermobile" has made another run in Las Vegas, this time with properly dressed Santa's helpers riding for a good cause.

A year after agreeing to stop a promotion that involved hauling bikini-clad exotic dancers in a truck with clear plastic sides, a company that owns several Las Vegas strip clubs used the vehicle to help deliver Christmas donations to a local charity.

Deja Vu's truck was part of a convoy that delivered $19,000 in donated bikes and toys Friday to HELP of Southern Nevada, a nonprofit group that assists the poor, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Inside the large Plexiglas cubicle were a bearded St. Nick and eight female entertainers who wore long red dresses or Santa-style camisole dresses paired with leggings.

There was no gyrating or pole dancing this time.

In November 2009, Deja Vu parked the truck after local officials and residents complained its use of live strippers was unseemly and unsafe. But Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he had no problem with the strippermobile carrying a Santa and appropriately dressed women through the city.

"As far as I'm concerned, we are an adult playground and we're going to be an adult wonderland," he told the Review-Journal.

A HELP executive said her agency was comfortable taking donated toys from a strip club. Deja Vu collected the donations from patrons and employees.

"They are a legal, licensed business in our community," said Fuilala Riley, HELP's chief operations officer. "Their employees are part of our community, and they have children, too."

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said the company's attorney assured him that the strippermobile would be idled for good as a promotional tool. He still thinks it's a traffic hazard.

"If they do the same as they did in the past, I would have the same issues," he said.

Gary Nemeth, general manager of the Deja Vu-owned Little Darlings gentleman's club, said the company hopes for a bigger toy drive next year.

"We want to challenge the other strip clubs," he said. "We're a small club. Think what those megaclubs can do."

___

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.