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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #43
January 19, 2001
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Dear Subscriber:

Thanks for all the emails of support and prayers I received
during my "week from Hell" last week.

I'm happy to report that I am fine, the other driver involved
in the accident is going to be fine (I do hope he has developed
a more healthy respect for stop signs) and the "complications"
I alluded to in my brief newsletter last week turned out to be
a simple X-ray snafu and no big deal.

There is a silver lining to last week's otherwise dark cloud.
I've come to appreciate with even more vigor my life here in
the Sacramentos. The bumps, bruises, scares and abuses seemed
to melt away when we pulled back into Cloudcroft. This place is
one big sedative to the soul. The late John Denver was right on
when he coined the phrase "Rocky Mountain High". I know from
your emails that you agree.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. VILLAGE NEWS
3. INSIDE THE SHOP -- THE ESTATE
4. CLOUDCROFT ON LINE SPOTLIGHT -- A CLOUDCROFT STORY
5. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
6. COMING EVENTS
7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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Two snow-falls this week. Each about 2-3 inches. It has been
quite cold the past week and while the sun has been shining for
the most part, there has been little melting. High temps have
been in the lower 40s. Lows have been in the low teens.

We called the snow play area and their recording indicated they
would be open this weekend if they received "significant snow".

You might want to call them before making your plans. 1-(505)-
682-2205.

Ski Cloudcroft will be 100 percent open (both tubing and skiing)
this weekend according the a spokesman at the ski area.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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With an eye toward the architectural theme of the village, the
roofing project for the high school building has been completed.

As we reported earlier, the school bond passed with voters last
month so solid construction plans for the school should be
announced shortly.

There is a school board election scheduled for early next month.
More information on that in next week's newsletter.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- THE ESTATE
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The Estate is an upscale resale shop featuring high quality
vintage and estate clothing and accessories for men and women.

The Estate specializes in unique vests and sweaters, evening
and cocktail dresses, Hawaiian shirts and vintage hats.

Open Saturdays and Sundays on Little Glorietta, just off Burro
Street in downtown Cloudcroft. You can email us at:

Ragdealer@AOL.com.

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- A CLOUDCROFT STORY
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Two of the pioneering families of Cloudcroft were Rice and Ida
Turner Tipton and William and Mary Sellars Turner, and their
children. When we learned that Helen Sills, the Granddaughter
of Rice and Ida Tipton, was researching her family history, we
asked if she would be willing to share some of what she has
learned with our readers. She graciously agreed. As she
explained:

"Cloudcroft is a very special place to me because my grand-
parents spent quite a few years there in the early 1900's.
Rice and Ida Turner Tipton, and Ida's brother and his wife,
William and Mary Sellars Turner, owned acreage east of
Cloudcroft in James Canyon. The little cemetery there is
where my grandmother's mother and grandmother's infant son
are buried, as well as William and Mary Turner's infant
daughter."

"Later, after moving to Alamogordo, my grandfather served as
Superintendent of Schools for Otero County. Eventually, my
grandparents lived in Soledad, California where he continued
to serve as a Superintendent of the school district and member
of the Monterey County school board."

"My father, Everett Tipton, grew up in Cloudcroft. He was in
the Navy during World War I, and then went to El Paso to work
for the newspaper there. He was a newspaperman all his life,
having worked for the Associated Press and the Los Angeles
Herald Express. He would have liked to have returned to
Cloudcroft and ranching, but had to settle for raising avocados
and lemons in San Diego County, California."

"I am attaching some photos and quotes from various sources
which you may find interesting. I hope to be able to visit
Cloudcroft some day, but in the meantime I am enjoying reading
the weekly newsletter."

"Sincerely yours,
Helen Sills
Eugene, Oregon"

Her article and photos are available here:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/history/index.htm

NOTE: If you have some early Cloudcroft photos, or are
interested in writing about early Cloudcroft history, we would
be very happy to share this information with our readers.

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - When is the rainy season in the Sacramento Mountains?

A - In the months of July and August, the Cloudcroft area
typically receives daily showers, usually in the afternoons.
Wintertime precipitation can come any time between mid October
and late March. In the past three years most of our snowfall
has occurred in December.
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COMING EVENTS
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January 25 -- Sacramento Mountains Sports Association meeting.
6pm. Middle School

February 10 -- Full Moon skating party. Skating pond. Hwy 82.
6-10pm.

If you would like to report a public event for the upcoming 30
days, please contact us by email.

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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 Don:

I don't know you personally but as a "reader" I wanted to say
I'm sorry to hear of your car accident. I hope all works out
with investigating the results of a prior surgery.

I was hit by a "hit and run" driver in 2000, and have recovered
pretty well, but the x-rays showed that I have arthritis at 32.
So, in a way, the accident was a good thing so that I can take
better care of my body and keep the arthritis in my spine in
check.

My husband and I will be enroute to El Paso, Tx this May (from
Colorado) where he'll head the CID office at Bliss. I'm a
freelance writer so can work from anywhere. On a recent visit,
we went through Cloudcroft and I thought it was a pretty
special place, where I will probably visit often--when I feel
the need to be "in trees". I ran across your newsletter on the
internet and really enjoy your opinions and reading Cloudcroft
info.

Just wanted to say thanks for the great newsletter and I wish
you the best with the accident and medical issues. Get well
soon!

Best Regards,
Jeanette LeBlanc

[To the HUGE number of readers who wrote to me with their best
wishes and prayers, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!]
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Dear Don:

I am glad nothing bad happened to you from the accident coming
back from Lubbock. And of course, I know you will be back and I
take this opportunity to thank you for the newsletters. My wife
and I started going to Cloudcroft for picnics when we were
dating. We will celebrate this year 47 years of marriage.

We are still going to Cloudcroft every chance we get. Gloria &
Gary Wood, Michael and Peaches Nivisson, Sandy & Phil Monfette,
Joe & Cherry Mancillas (the Wrecker Man) and so many other
people in Cloudcroft that we have had the opportunity to meet,
we feel very fortunate and bless to be able to do that.

Keep up the good work, you are doing fine and hope to meet you
one day personally.

Just a subscriber and a Cloudcroft (part time) resident.
Ignacio Cisneros

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Dear Don:

You don't know me, but I have been in love with the Cloudcroft
area since the first time I visited about five years ago as a
side trip while on business. I taught my daughter and a niece
to skate there on the rink, and finally subscribed to your
newsletter a few months back. I just wanted to let you know how
much I appreciate the effort you put into writing the newsletter
and hope you're feeling well after your accident.

Thanks,
Bob Keto
Phoenix, Az

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Hello Cloudcroft:

Well... first of all my family and I visited you during the
Christmas holidays and we enjoyed every day there, even though
our van broke down on us, but I thank the Lord for letting it
happen while we were there. But my greatest thanks go to Ricks
Auto Service for fixing our van. Thank you, Ricks.

We had a lot of fun being there and especially my family loved
playing in the snow. We went sledding down the hill by where we
were staying at. We couldn't go to the ski mountain because we
didn't have a vehicle, but all that snow that came down the day
after Christmas was awesome, especially for my children. They
have never seen that much snow.

Again thank you Cloudcroft and we will be visiting you again
soon.

Thanks,
Chico Mojica

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Dear Newsletter:

Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy your newsletter.
We have been receiving it for about a year now, and especially
enjoyed the fire stories and pictures last year.

We have been enjoying your beautiful country for many, many
years now. I moved to New Mexico in about 1933. We lived in Lea
county until 1945, and later moved back (from Texas) to
Albuquerque, then to Hobbs, Roswell, and then back to Texas.

Seems like we have made at least two mistakes, both times we
left beautiful New Mexico and moved to Texas. We now live on
the Lake in Graham, Texas, and we enjoy life here, but still
miss New Mexico. We have been fortunate enough to have been able
to return to the Cloudcroft area for the past several summers
and spend at least two months there. We now enjoy many friends
that we have made there and are looking forward to returning
this summer.

Lloyd and Yvonne Pharis
Graham, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

Don, I hope everything turns out good for you! You have become a
friend to me by way of your newsletters. I really enjoy them and
I usually print them out to read to my wife. I feel connected
to you guys and your world. 

I have been thinking about something though, maybe it's just a
product of my "too busy" life, but it seems that I'm getting
your letters every other day. I know that they are not really
coming that fast, it just seems that way. Don't get me wrong!
I love them and they are NOT lacking in content, wit or
entertainment.

Having done something similar in the past and being a business
consultant I know how difficult it could become to keep up a
weekly pace, so my comment is this.... If you are not finding
the weekly letter difficult to keep up with, then by all means
keep it coming!! But if you are, biweekly reports might ease
the load without compromising the much appreciated service.
Missing this weeks publication could provide the perfect
timing for this if that was the direction you were wanting to
go. 

Sincerely,
Mark Dillon.

[Mark, thanks for the kind words. We intend to continue to
write this newsletter weekly.]

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