SPARKS — While the staff of John Ascuaga's Nugget marked its 55th year of business by dishing out cake and other treats Wednesday afternoon, it also asked for a little something in return: memories.

As part of the annual birthday celebration, hotel spokesman Mike Traum introduced a project called "Nugget Tales" to a crowd of about 100 casino patrons and community members. The goal of the project, Traum said, is to compile stories from locals that involve the hotel/casino that started as a small coffee shop on what was then called B Street — now Victorian Avenue.

As an example, Traum read a story submitted by Tony Fiannaca, owner of Sparks Florist, which marked its 50th year of operations in January. Fiannaca recalled walking along B Street to meet other business people just after opening his shop. His first stop was to meet John Ascuaga. He recalled that Ascuaga took the time to meet him, despite being told by a Nugget employee that the owner was very busy.

Stories of no more than 250 words can be submitted online at http://nugget55.blogspot.com/. Memories can be old or recent and may be later published in a book.