Shel Lindsey was running around as "gopher" for a water well drilling business 30 years ago when another worker hit him with the nickname.
"For the life of me, I can't tell you why he started calling me 'Bodine,' but it was one of those things," Lindsey said. "'Hey, Bo, get me this,' or 'Hey, Bodine, do this.' It was one of those things that just stuck."
Lindsey, 62, was one of the founding partners of Bodine's restaurant that opened in 1985 and ran for 20 years. The name has recently been questioned in a letter from CBS Corp. to the new owners of the name and property in South Carson, which will open as Bodine's casino early next year.
CBS has asked owners Mike Pegram and the Carano family to change the casino name because the corporation claims Bodine's is its property. Bodine was the last name of characters in the 1960s CBS television show "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Pegram, however, has said the business doesn't have "any reason in the world" to change the name. He has pointed to the history of the Bodine name in Carson City and to Lindsey's account of the name.
According to Lindsey, it was what restaurant founders decided on because it was something they thought would be a "cool name for a restaurant."
"They said, 'Hey, that's good,' and that's where it all came in. It was just one of those things like, 'OK, let's name it that.' I don't even think we discussed any more names."
"As God as my witness," he said, "it had nothing to do with 'The Beverly Hillbillies.' It really didn't."
Representatives for Bodine's casino have sent a letter to CBS saying they won't change the name, Pegram has said.
Jim Alderson, former president of the corporation that ran Bodine's restaurant, said former owners and partners are not involved in the dispute between CBS and Bodine's right now, but "all evidence" is on the side of current Bodine's owners. He said accusations from CBS and Max Baer Jr., who is planning to open a Beverly Hillbillies-themed casino and resort just south of Bodine's, are wrong.
Baer has said he believes Bodine's casino is trying to profit off of him. He played Jethro Bodine in the 1960s CBS sitcom.
"In my opinion," Baer said recently, "Bodine's casino is attempting to take advantage of the popularity and fame of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and of the 10 years plus that I have been developing Jethro Bodine's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino in Northern Nevada."
But David Cinciala, a former partner with Bodine's restaurant, also said the business name was taken from Lindsey's nickname.
"What's he (Baer) going to do next," he said, "go after the (British rock) band The Bodines?"
Alderson also seemed annoyed.
"I don't know what the hell he's trying to do," he said.
CBS has confirmed that it sent the letter to current Bodine's owners, but declined to comment further.
Bodine's casino, a $20 million slot casino with restaurant, bar and sports book, is scheduled to open in late February.
