Pages from Paddlebrook

No. 17: Paddlebrook

Seems like I'm always answering questions about Paddlebrook, so today, I thought I'd tell you a little about our town. (No, I'm not paid by the Chamber of Commerce for this little plug.)

Paddlebrook sits west of Denver in the Rockies. It's basically an old silver mining town that never really died, but it never really caught on either. It just... lingered. Paddlebrook is one of those bumps in the road you drive through, then go, Was that a town back there? Yes, we're small. So small, that Walmart hasn't found us yet. Get the picture?

I wish I could tell you some interesting story about our town founder, or show you a monument that stands in tribute of some historic act that took place here, but I can't. We don't have beautiful gardens, or unique architecture, either. Truth is, there is nothing spectacular about Paddlebrook but its people. They are truly the gems of the Rockies.

Paddlebrook would still be going on in quiet annonymity, if it weren't for the resort. Deer Run Resort, the latest "it" retreat for the fabulously wealthy, is being built a few miles from here, so Paddlebrook is suddenly getting attention. Lots of attention.

People are beginning to move here. They want to work at the resort, or one of the other new businesses that have started to spring up. Growth is good; we're thrilled with it, but to tell you the truth, we're also a little overwhelmed. There has always been a delicate balance in this town - just enough homes to live in, jobs to work at, and schools to go to - just enough for "the locals." But now new people are moving in - people that need housing, need to find work, need to send their kids to school - you see the dilema. Paddlebrook is experiencing a boom.

This is our greatest challenge: How do we grow and remain a community? How do we accomodate all these newcomers and make them feel welcome, without wearing ourselves out? I don't know the answer yet. Hey, if you have experience in a boom town, or have some advice, lmk. I can use all the help I can get.

Some of the old-timers around here don't want any part of the new Paddlebrook. They've pulled up stakes and moved to more isolated areas of the mountain. They come to town once a month or so for supplies, then retreat into the wilderness like hermits.

Not Charlie and me. We're staying put. I am part of Paddlebrook and I will continue to be, even with the growing pains. I was telling Sammy just this morning that I'm always up for an adventure; looks like I won't have to leave home to experience this one!

Until next time -

No. 15: Our Wish for You

May You Have a Joyous and Blessed Easter! 

No. 13: My 800 Pound Gorilla

This is Easter week. I should be blogging about Spring and renewal and hope. But sometimes before you can start something new, you have to find a place to put the old. I think that’s where I am, and I think I’m affecting Sammy. She’s seems agitated. How can I tell? She’s been eating Peeps all morning. 

I had no intention of mentioning this, especially so soon. After all, Sammy and I only started blogging a few days ago. But this is distracting me – like an 800 pound gorilla sitting on the corner of my desk.  So, if you will indulge me, I would like to tell you about our church, or, rather, our old church.

Until a couple of years ago, we belonged to Deer Mountain Fellowship, a wonderful little church about twelve miles up the mountain. Charlie and I were in leadership there. Charlie was an elder and I lead the Tuesday morning Women’s Bible Study. Sammy and Wayne were members, too. Fellowship was a real people church; the focus was not on the facility. Looking back, I can see that was our downfall… but you know what they say about hindsight.

The church building sat on two acres of land – land a sweet elderly couple, John and Iris Wenger, deeded to the church back in 1952 when it began. A tiny cemetery came with the deal  - it only had 27 ancient markers - which the church agreed to maintain. The Wengers owned the 300 acres that surrounded it. The church hummed happily along for more than 4 decades under that arrangement. The Wengers passed away and left their property to their son, Russ, who lived there too, and was a wonderful neighbor.

Then four years ago, something happened… something that changed the dynamics of this mountain forever. A development company bought the top of Deer Mountain and announced plans to build a luxury “destination” – resort, restaurants, shopping, condos – the works. Suddenly, this worthless rock was worth a lot. Overnight, the floodgates opened and speculators invaded Deer Mountain in hordes. And our little church was a casualty of progress.

Good grief, look at the time! Gotta run - dentist appointment. I’ll pick up right there.

Until next time –

No. 11: Happy St. Patrick's Day

Just taking a quick break to wish you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day. I meant to post this morning, but I've been recording commercials all day with Marty Cruz, our morning host, and I'm starting to get hoarse! Seems like everyone wanted to run a last minute ad or PSA today for Easter. They usually let us know ahead of time, but Easter is early this year and it shares the spotlight with St. Paddy's Day and Spring's official arrival, so everyone's running a little behind. That's okay; we'll get it all done with time to spare. I just wanted to send out some good wishes before this day ended. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the studio. We have three more spots to record before I can call it a day.

Just another day at KDPO -

No. 8: Strangest Request This Week

A while ago I was sitting here writing a post, when the door opened and in came Bob Walsh. He's new in town - short, bald, 60ish - it's hard to tell how old he really is because I think he dyes his hair. Anyway Bob just bought the old packaged liquor store on the outskirts of town.

He came in with an advertising idea. He said, "I want to sponsor the daily traffic report."

I just looked at him and said, "The what?"

"The traffic report. You know, rush hour trouble spots. I, or rather, Bare Head Packaged Liquor would like to be the official sponsor. I want them to say something like, Traffic got you steamed? Pull into The Bare Head and chill out with one of our weekly specials."

I glanced at Sammy. She grinned at me and shrunk behind her computer.

So, I offered Bob a cup of coffee, because he is a nice guy, then I said, "Bob, we don't have traffic reports on KDPO."

"You don't?" he said.

"No. We've never needed them. There's no eye-in-the-sky helicopter  hovering over Paddlebrook, no Go-Patrol reporters cruising the streets. See, the way it works here is if there's an accident, the county sherriff calls Charlie to come bring the wrecker, then Charlie calls me, and we interrupt the programming for an announcement. It happens 3 or 4 times a year. That's it."

Bob's face fell.

What I didn't say was that even if we had daily traffic reports, I'd have a hard time allowing a liquor store to sponsor them - even if it is only packaged. I mean, do you think that's appropriate?

Bob finished his coffee and left. Said he'd be back when he had another idea. I can hardly wait.

Just another day at KDPO -

No. 6: A Little About Me

Sammy suggested we write posts about ourselves today. Sorry I didn't write one yesterday, btw. I'm feeling much better today. :) Oh, and thanks for the comments. (Andrea - I ordered chicken salad. It wasn't bad.)

So, I'm supposed to write about Me - that's a tough assignment. I'm much better at writing about other people, but I'll take a stab at it. It must be hard work though. I've been watching Sammy writing her post all morning; she looks like she's taking the SAT.

• I've been married for 22 years to my high school sweetheart, Charlie Best. We have a very good life. Charlie is such a deep subject though, he'll require many many more posts dedicated solely to him. lol

• Charlie and I have one son - a teenager - he's the spitting image of his dad.  His name is Joey.

• I love Bible Studies. In fact I have taught several of them over the past few years. I am very involved in our new church, too. More about that later.

• The difference between Sammy and I is this: I have interests. My sister, Sammy collects. Everything.

• Let's see, what am I interested in... well, music to start with. That one's pretty obvious or I wouldn't be in radio. I also love history  (especially women in the Old West) geneology and gardening. On the topic of gardening, I'm particularly fond of heirloom seeds.

• If I had to choose just one interest though it would be dogs. Gotta be dogs. I love dogs! (Note I used an exclamation mark there; I don't do that often.) I am involved in the Paddlebrook Dog Rescue. There are a number of us scattered around Deer Mountain. We take in strays, rehab them and find them forever homes. You've probably noticed that all my posts feature pictures of dogs. That's how I decided to distinguish mine from Sammy's; you'll always see a dog on mine.

Sammy says I need to tell you ten things. That's nine. I need one more. Here it is:

• My middle name is Diane.

Sort of an eclectic post, but it's done. I hope tomorrow's assigment is easier.

Until Next Time -

 

No. 3: Forgot To Mention...

Sammy said this in her post, but I forgot to mention it -I welcome your comments, too! I don't want anyone to think I'm anti-social or something. Oh, and if you'd like to help us get the word out about our new blog, we've made a few badges you can grab to put on your blog. Go ahead, help yourself. Invite your friends and neighbors, too. You'll find several badges on the dedicated Badge Page in the left sidebar.

I think that about covers it!

 

No.1: Welcome to Our Blog

My sister, Sammy, has been hounding me to start blogging for weeks now, and she's finally convinced me to take the plunge. Sammy's really into the whole blogging thing - reads them all the time. Me? I'm embarrassed to admit it, but until a few days ago, I'd never actually read a blog. Makes me sound old school, doesn't it? And I'm really not. I'm just busy. Now that I've read a few blogs, I'm hooked. There are so many of them - and they're so interesting.

So this is it - our blog. I'm sure it's not the prettiest blog out there or the most significant, but it's ours. It's good to start something new. I do have a couple of reservations though, like... Will anybody actually read this? Paddlebrook isn't L.A. and I'm no Jackie Collins. I'm not convinced that enough interesting stuff goes on in our little community to blog about. Sammy says "we're surrounded by bloggy fodder" (her words, not mine) so we'll see.

I'm also not sure I can commit to posting regularly. As usual, Sammy had an answer for that one, too. She says we'll blog while we're at the station. We're here all the time anyway; we'll just jump online and write our posts. I couldn't argue with her logic. We do spend most of our days at KDPO - that's the radio station we own - KDPO-FM. Oh, you should probably know that; Sammy and I are in radio.

My name is Sheila, by the way, Sheila Watson-Best. Good to meet you. I hope you will drop by often and get to know us better. I guess that concludes my first post. I can't believe I worked on this all morning, but at least I finished mine first.  Sammy's sitting across from me; she's still working on hers.

Until next time,