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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #125
August 30, 2002
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Dear Subscriber:

It was a weekend worthy of future recurring memories.

My daughter Amy (in her early 30s) and some of her friends came
to visit us in Cloudcroft from Lubbock.

Amy recently graduated from a grueling two years of x-ray tech
school. She now makes more money than I do and drives a nicer
car than mine.

It's the same girl I was worried about 15 years ago.

I spent two days in wide-eyed amazement this weekend that this
girl and her friends had become adults, with jobs and families
and the same worries and problems Peg and I had when we were
that age. (And still have, for that matter. It comes with the
adult territory.)

Peg and I were tempted on many occasions during the weekend to
offer grown-up advice and bless this group with the wisdom
bequeathed us by our age, but the fact is they had all, as an
aggregate, been there and had done that. We soon realized we
were no longer valued as sages, so we tried to mix in as fellow
adults with adult problems and appreciations in common.

It was hard for Peggy.

On more than one occasion this weekend, Peggy could be heard to
say things like, "Smile more...you have pretty teeth" and "Don't
use that word...it's tacky."
On the other hand, I was saying equally ridiculous things like,
"I remember the good old days when the Cowboys had a good
football team" and "I remember the days when gas was a quarter
a gallon and a car cost less than my house."

How many times did I broadcast my age this weekend by opening
declarations with "I remember the days when...?"

I used to roll my eyes when my grandpa used that same phrase.
Now here I was being my grandpa.

These "kids" are juggling mortgages, careers, businesses,
marriages and children. They are worried about the stock
market and the troubles in the Middle East and the on-going
war against terrorism, and I was talking about twenty five cent
a gallon gas.

They left Sunday afternoon. I told them all, "don't drive too
fast." Old habits die hard.

As they drove away, I had mixed feelings. I felt a mixture of
pride and relief that my daughter had so many quality friends.

I felt a mixture of love and abandonment that Amy was her own
person and needed me and Peg for moral support only and not
advice on how to grow up.

I have no hesitation in turning this world over to those people.

They'll likely do a heckuva lot better job with it than we did,

...but if they ever need a quick over-view of the cost of living
in 1965, they have my phone number.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. SPECIAL -- NEWS RIDDLE, THE ANSWER
3. VILLAGE NEWS
4. INSIDE THE SHOP -- CLOUDCROFT HOTEL AND MALL
5. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- SANDIA PEAK TRAMWAY
6. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
7. COMING EVENTS
8. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
9. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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Still frequent afternoon showers, but not as frequent as this
time last month.

A warm spell this past week, with highs bouncing into the 80s
and lows around 45.

Weather note: Cloudcroft rainfall in September is usually half
of what it is in August.
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SPECIAL -- NEWS RIDDLE, THE ANSWER
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Here's the news riddle that was posed in the last newsletter:

"In 2001, I committed parricide, matricide, fratricide,
homicide, regicide, double deicide, and suicide. Who was I?"

The best, and near perfect, response was:

Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal murdered his father, King
Birendra (parricide, regicide, deicide), his mother, Queen
Aiswarya (parricide, matricide, deicide), his brother, Prince
Niraja (fratricide, parricide), his sister, Princess Shruti
(fratricide, parricide), and five other people (homicide),
and then shot himself in the head (suicide) on 1 June, 2001.

Arnold Tucker
Austin, TX

The one detail that is incorrect regards the two deicides. In
Nepalese tradition, the king is considered a god, but not the
queen.

Thus, when Dipendra killed his father, he committed one deicide.
After shooting everyone listed above, he shot himself, but he
lived for two days before dying. During that time, he was
crowned king. His own death from his self-inflicted wound was
the second deicide.

With his killings and suicide, Dipendra also wiped out all
living members of the dynasty which had ruled Nepal since 1743,
so perhaps that could also be called dynacide.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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The slash pit is open for homeowners that have tree limbs and
brush they need to get rid of. The pit is on NM-244 and is open
August 30 and 31, September 7, 13, 21 and 27, from 9am to 3pm.

The pit cannot accept discarded building materials.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- CLOUDCROFT HOTEL AND GIFT SHOP MALL
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For all your shopping needs, visit the Cloudcroft Hotel & Gift
Shop Mall. The Mall offers many different shops. For more
information, call (505) 682-3414 or email
cloudcrofthotel@zianet.com.

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- SANDIA PEAK TRAMWAY
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The world's longest aerial tram.

http://www.sandiapeak.com/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - What is the population of Cloudcroft?

A - It varies. There are substantially more persons living in
Cloudcroft in the summer than in the winter. The actual year-
round population of those living within the village limits is
between 650 and 700.
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COMING EVENTS
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August 31-September 2 -- Labor Day Fiesta. Burro Avenue.
Sidewalk sales, street dance, entertainment, games.

August 31 -- Street Dance. Burro Avenue. 7pm.

August 31 -- James Canyon Volunteer Fire Department Labor Day
BBQ, Auction, and Dance. Dinner 5pm. Auction 7pm.
Dance (live band) 9pm. Call (505) 687-3960 for more details.

September 7 -- 	CANCELLED -- Methodist Men's Auction. This 
decision was regrettably made due to the lack of items donated
for the sale. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have
caused. 

September 14 -- Dinner with Governor Johnson, 6pm.
Tickets $30.00 per person available at Copper Butterfly.

September 15 -- Governor’s 10K Run/Walk. For more info, call
(505) 682-2733.

September 16 -- Meet the Candidates Night. Otero County
Fairground, 6:30pm. Hosted by Otero County Association for
Family and Community Education, (505) 687-2133.

September 20-22 -- Gathering of Circles Healing Hearts event.
Call 1-915-550-3302 for details.

September 21 -- Lumberjack Days. Chainsaw and ax competitions.
Zenith Park. For more information, call (505) 682-2733.

September 28 -- Mountain Garden Club Fiesta of Fashion style
show. Middle School Cafeteria. Mexican buffet. Tickets
12.50. Proceeds go to local student scholarship.

September 28-29 -- Aspencade tours (fall foliage at its best).
For more information, call (505) 682-2733.

October 4-5 -- Melodrama. Open Air Pavilion. 7:30pm.

October 5, 6 -- Oktoberfest. Juried art show. Zenith Park

October 5, 6 -- Aspencade tours

October 19, 20 -- High Rolls Apple Festival. High Rolls, NM.
For more information, call (505) 682-1151.

October 26 -- Harvestfest. Pumpkin carving, hay rides.

October 31 -- Trick or Treat. Costume contest. Burro Avenue.
5-7pm.

November 23 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park. 5pm-7pm.

December 7 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 14 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 21 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 31 -- New Year's Eve torch light parade at Ski
Cloudcroft.

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Sunday of each month,
2-4pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. Call (505) 682-2494
for more information.

Mountain Garden Club meets every third Monday of each month.
Call (505) 682-2910 for more information.

Senior Van from Timberon to Alamogordo leaves the Timberon
Lodge promptly at 8:30am every Tuesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Third Tuesday of each month starting at 6pm
and last Thursday of each month starting at 12 noon. James
Canyon Fire Department, 2346 Highway 82.

If you have news of public events in the Cloudcroft area, email
us.

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For an online calendar of area events, click the Events Calendar
link in the left column of our home page:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/index.html

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Dear Newsletter:

Enjoyed reading your comments on those pesky little thoughts. 
As I was reading them, it sounded just like Andy Rooney from
60 minutes was telling the stories.

Love Cloudcroft and we visit every chance we get. Unfortunately
it has only been once this year. Got to work to save for the
retirement, so we can visit Cloudcroft more often.

We usually camp in Silver Campground and we love every minute
of it. Couldn't have the campfire this year due to the drought.
The rains started after we left. Oh well, maybe next year we can
enjoy the campfire.

Keep up the good work on your newsletters; reading then brings
Cloudcroft a little closer to Lubbock.

Pauline Williams
Lubbock, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

"Do you realize most college freshmen have never played a 45?"

Don, you had better back up a little bit! My grandson is a
college freshman! My youngest son is 32 years old. He doesn't
even know what a 45 rpm record looks or sounds like!

I can remember listening to the disc jockeys broadcasting out
of Lubbock back in the fifties: "Now this is a 45 rpm recording.
It's not the big one (78 rpm) with the little hole, it's the 
little one with the big hole!"

Thought that might wake up some of your senior readers, such as
I. Our (better half and I) intentions are to attend the apple
festival in your area later this summer/fall. I hope all is well
at the hardware store and that big equipment is off the football
field in time for the Bears first game.

Don Ammons
Post, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

We spent several weeks in the wonderful high country camping at
Silver Campground. Our campground host Bob & Jo Grandle were
the greatest. Had to cut it short when my wife became ill.

The bread at Mountain Top was again a big treat, plus the
cinnamon rolls. Then there was the treat of ice cream at the 
mini-mall. I'll have to concede it was good as Blue Bell
(almost). I haven't found any other place that gave you such
large dip(s) in a waffle cone. Thanks to those wonderful people.

Also enjoyed just looking at some wonderful people along the
boardwalk.

How about the book sale at the library and the wonderful people
that work there?

Our international traveling cat (traveled to Nova Scotia last
year) enjoyed her two weeks in the cool air. She tried to catch
one of those little critters. She got half way up the tree and
wasn't sure how to get down. Her trees at home are only a few
feet tall and only 4 inches in diameter.

Allen Johannes

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Dear Newsletter:

Doggonit, I've got a dog story that is really true!

My lady friend who lives in the lowlands (Carrizozo,
specifically) takes her two dogs for their daily run in the
desert near her home. (Desert is all there is surrounding
Carrizozo.) Like most dogs that live in the lowlands (desert),
hers like to jump into the bushes in hopes of trouncing a
lizard or something that doesn't bite back.

This time it bit back. A rattler. Luckily for my lady friend,
there is an excellent veterinarian in Ruidoso who managed to
not only save her dog's life, but its leg too. Only cost her
a little over $300 for the salvation - but what the heck - it's
a pet after all.

Now I don't know about others, but I've never heard of a dog
being actually bitten by a rattler. Don't know what the point
of this story is except that one should never say "never."

Jack Schuller
Ruidoso

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Dear Newsletter:

About Dr. Tripp

Isn't it possible that a lot of assuming was going on concerning
the vacuum tube factory being built in Cloudcroft?

It kinda reminds me of the time I was finishing up an assignment
in Texas, and my next long-term assignment was to be a 2-month
proposal at the Four Wheel Drive Corp located in Clintonville,
Wisconsin.

While we were there, we visited a lot of small surrounding towns
taking in some of the country/western entertainment
establishments. Having left Texas with license plates from that
state and driving a Lincoln Continental Mark 4 raised a lot of
questions from some of the locals. Clintonville is certainly
not on any tour guide, and they are not accustomed to having
a lot of tourists from Texas, therefore they were very curious
as to our being there.

Somewhere along the way, I may have mentioned that maybe I was
a talent scout from Houston looking for the next star of country
music. At that particular club, we were always welcomed with
open arms and many free drinks.

Toward the end, I think they were becoming suspicious that we
were not talent scouts and we were very glad that the assignment
was ending and we could ride out of town before the sheriff
arrived. We were amazed that such a casual statement made was
taken so seriously, but I must admit that it was fun in the
beginning of the masquerade.

Perhaps Dr. Tripp also made a casual statement that was taken
too seriously.

Joe Hart
High Rolls, New Mexico

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Dear Newsletter:

After reading your great newsletter for about a year, we made
our first trip Cloudcroft and it lived up to our expectations.

We visited Jerry and Nancy at the Hardware Store and were
surprised to see an Oklahoma Sooner football schedule. Made us
feel right at home. We also met Gloria at the Buckhorn Lodge.

We were there for a week and did all the touristy things. I
wouldn't let my husband bring any black socks for fear he'd wear
them with his shorts and we would be identified. We thought the
Lodge Golf Course was beautiful and the folks at the Methodist
Church very friendly.

Keep your letters coming so we can stay in touch. You are great
folks out there.

Connie Dailey
Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Dear Newsletter:

I am a native New Mexican, serving in my 29th year in the USAF,
which unfortunately keeps us away from year-round life in our
wonderful Land of Enchantment. I still have family in New Mexico
and visit at least once each year. We normally spend a week or
so in Cloudcroft, as we now own property "at the end of the
road" outside of town; we will build one of these days, after
I retire from the Air Force.

Cloudcroft is a special place, as indicated by a short story
I'll relate from our visit this summer.

While getting gas in the middle of Cloudcroft, I accidentally
locked my keys in our rental truck, a Ford F-150 crew cab. We
were "only" 500 miles or so from the rental agency in the
flatlands.

I called our dear friend Carrie Green and asked for advice; I
knew her son Gene, the Police Chief, was out of town for the
afternoon. Of course, she was ready to saddle up her Subaru and
come to our rescue, but we decided maybe someone else could help
who was already in town.

Carrie said she would contact Officer Richard Mills of the
Cloudcroft Police Department, who she knew was on duty and see
if he could help. In the meantime, she said I might find him
if I just walked around town.

Sure enough, I found Richard on Burro Street and he said if I
could find Joe Manseis, he could get me in my vehicle in no time
at all. He said Joe drives the red towing vehicle...I looked
across the street and saw Joe's vehicle, so I went in and found
him in the business near his vehicle. I walked up and explained
my situation to Mr Manseis and he said he would be happy to
help.

I walked back over to the gas station and Joe was there in "two
shakes" and in another minute or so, I had my keys in my hand.
Richard was also there to make sure all was well.

I don't know too many places that we could have solved our
little "situation" in 10 minutes when we're 500 miles from the
rental car agency! My compliments and admiration go out to
Carrie Green, Richard Mills, and Joe Manseis for being such
great people.

Tom Owen
Currently stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

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