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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #44
January 26, 2001
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Dear Subscriber:

I mentioned after my highway accident a couple of weeks ago
that I was doing fine. I also mentioned my border collie,
Tipper, was with me at the time of the accident.

I received several emails since then saying I didn't supply
enough information about Tipper. Was she hurt? Did she require
treatment? The answer to both of those questions is no and I
accordingly apologize for trying to steal Tipper's thunder.
Tipper was napping in the club-cab area of the truck (behind
the driver's seat) when it, as they say, "hit the fan".

My first recollection after the tremendous jolt of impact was
the truck sliding along its side on the pavement. I remember
thinking of the two full tanks of gas I had just bought in
Brownfield and, as soon as the mad ride was over, I would need
to round up Tipper and get the heck out of there. Tipper must
have been thinking the same thing.

When the truck hit the shoulder on the side of the road (after
what seemed like two or three days but was in reality a matter
of a few seconds) it came back up on its wheels and stopped in
a swirl of dirt. I flipped off the seat belt and reached for
the door handle...it wasn't there. The door was already wide
open. I jumped out and turned to go back in for Tipper but she
jumped out right behind me with her tail wagging!

I stood holding Tipper in my arms in a bit of a daze, looking
in disbelief at my crumpled truck, until another motorist
walked over and asked if I would like him to hold Tipper while
I checked things out. I went back to the wreck and found
Tipper's leash, put it on her and handed her over to the Good
Samaritan. That's when I noticed the "boo-boo" over her left
eye...a skinned spot that probably happened when she slammed
into the back of my seat.

I watched her closely for any signs of head injury but she
showed none. She has shown no signs of after-effects since,
except for one; she can't wait to jump in the car and go for a
ride!

In her mind, I guess, the whole thing was a big E-ticket Disney
ride. I hope she's not too disappointed when I take her in the
car that I don't intend to provide her with a similar experience.

 -o-

Did you watch any of the inaugural ceremonies? I suppose
everyone not invited to one of the inaugural balls suffers, to
varying degrees, from envy for those that are there for the Big
Party. Not me.

I equate it to my dream trip to the Kentucky Derby several years
ago. I fully expected an experience I could tell my grandkids
about. The whole thing turned out to be a basic bust.

Our Derby Tickets were for the paddock area...behind the main
grandstands. They were standing room tickets. We knew that in
advance, but nobody mentioned they would also be shoulder-to-
shoulder-sardines tickets with no view of the track except for
the Jumbo-Tron.

We realized after a short time that we had invested hundreds of
dollars in airline and hotel reservations, traveled hundreds of
miles to the world-famous Kentucky Derby and we would never
actually see the race track! We found out later that half the
tickets sold for the Derby are out of sight of the track.

Peg and I finally got tired of fighting the crowd (and the over-
all sense of snobbery even with regard to the sardine crowd) and
hailed a cab to return to the hotel. There we sat in the bar
and watched the race on TV like millions of others around the
world.

Those big events aren't all they're cracked up to be. I wanted
to attend the Indianapolis 500 some day. Since the Derby
debacle I've decided to pass on the Indy 500, unless I'm strapped
in to one of those lean machines with my helmet on sitting on the
pole position.

Would I like to go to the Super-Bowl? Naaah. Give me a big
screen digital TV, surround-sound and a bowl of popcorn. Let
someone else have my seat in the stadium with no instant replay
and no computer-generated first-down line and the guy next to me
spilling beer in my lap.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. VILLAGE NEWS
3. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- UPPER KARR CANYON
4. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
5. COMING EVENTS
6. HELP NEEDED WITH STORY RESEARCH
7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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It has been a while since a substantial snowfall but the cold
temperatures are keeping much of the white stuff in place. We
received a powdering on Monday. Maybe two inches.

There are several locations around Cloudcroft that still provide
good sledding or tubing or snowball fighting.

Highs are climbing back into the low 40s (as compared to last
week's colder daytime temps). Our over-night lows are still
often in the teens.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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There are two school board members up for re-election in the
Cloudcroft School District February 6th, but both are running
unopposed.

They are Ramona Elrod and Tom McLaughlin.

A board spokesman told the Newsletter that there would be only
one box open for voting in that election on February 6th and
that box would be at the Otero County Court House in Alamogordo.

Not having boxes throughout the school district for that
uncontested election should save the school district around
4000 dollars in election expenses, according to the spokesman.
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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- UPPER KARR CANYON REC. AREA
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Upper Karr Canyon is located about 5 miles from the intersection
of New Mexico Highway 130 on the Sunspot Highway and is
maintained by the Forest Service.

Upper Karr Canyon is popular with autumn visitors because the
area is the scene of magnificent foliage vistas during that time.

It is also a good place to go for snow play since it retains its
snow cover longer than other Sacramento Mountain areas.

We visited the area today and there is still ample amounts of
snow for tubing and sledding.
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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - Does Cloudcroft have any problems with crime?

A - It is probably a bi-product of being such a small community,
but the village crime rate is almost non existent. Most of our
lawbreakers are those that abuse traffic laws. Felonious
activities are pretty much unheard of (knock on aspen).
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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January 25 -- Sacramento Mountains Sports Association meeting.
6 pm. Middle School.

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

March 10 -- 2nd Annual Cloudcroft Dance Theatre Dinner & Ball.
6pm.

If you would like to report a public event scheduled for the
Cloudcroft area in the next 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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HELP NEEDED WITH STORY RESEARCH
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Aloha!

My name is Lori Grant, and I have been fascinated by Cloudcroft
(and the Southwest in general) for years. Finding your website
and this newsletter was a great joy for me. I am glad to hear
you are well after your ordeal!

Much as I have always dreamed of visiting Cloudcroft, I have
been unable to do so. Your Chamber of Commerce was generous in
sending me various things, even a map of the area, for which I
will always be grateful. My husband and I often check on the
real estate listings (here in Hawaii, one of the full-out 
vacation cabins is less to rent per month than a small one
bedroom apartment) and dream our little dreams. One of these
days!

The other reason why I am writing is also because I am working
on an 'on spec' comic book project, where one of the settings
is in the mountainous area of New Mexico. The place that
immediately came to mind was Cloudcroft. At this point, in the
draft, the 'mountain village' is called Cox Canyon (to absolve
inaccuracies and author's license by hiding behind the 
'fictitious places' clause), but this may change. I don't know
if anyone out there could give me a hand with at least some 
mundane, every day detail (where one would buy staples, can one
get to most places on foot, is there a local police department?,
who do you call for emergencies, etc.), but anything would be 
appreciated. If anyone is interested, the aspects of the story
that would involve Cloudcroft lie in these areas:

1) The main character grew up in and around the area (1944-1952)
2) His parents were Hollywood folks who regularly vacationed at
the Lodge (from 1936 onwards)
3) The main character moved back to Cloudcroft in the early
1980's, where he opened a smithy (general blacksmith whose
specialty is in period reproductions of knives, swords, etc.)

The story is fantasy-science fiction (set slightly in the
future), does not involve property damage or destruction of
landmarks (not in the Cloudcroft segments, at least; those
honors go to Los Angeles and New York). My intent is to portray
a pleasant, positive image of the town, inserting scenic 
pictures of landmarks and bits of local color. Cloudcroft is a
haven, a place where he has fond childhood memories, where the
main character seeks out to hide from his overwhelming crush of
obligations back in Los Angeles. 

In general, the project material does not contain profanity or
blatant sexual content (if it were rated, it would be a PG),
aimed at a late teen/college age audience. There are some 
fighting scenes (what comic doesn't have these nowadays?) but 
no gore.

I can't pay much (if anything), this being an on spec project,
but I am willing to reimburse (within reason) for film and
developing for anyone who is willing to take pictures of
Cloudcroft and the area around it. I will also reimburse postage
for any items sent via the mail. If the project sees press, 
contributors will be credited (their names will be printed with
the segment their stuff appears in). I will also send them a
copy of that issue. 

One of the publishers to whom I have pitched the project has
offered to give the Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce a free banner
ad in the issues Cloudcroft turns up.

I appreciate you hearing me out; in any case, I will stay tuned
to your newsletter, keep on saving up for that dream trip (I've
never seen snow in person in my whole life, the farthest I've 
gone from Hawaii is California, and only so far north as 
Pasadena, and south to San Diego), and I will, even in Hawaii,
pray hard for a good snow for you folks.

Mahalo nui loa,
Lori Grant,
Kokoro Grafix
toothycat@hotmail.com

(mahalo nui loa means 'thank you very much!')
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Dear Newsletter:

We were pleasantly surprised when Cloudcroft appeared on our
screen...happy that you are on the mend with no apparent 
complications.

Enjoyed this issue as your distribution covers a widespread area,
and the letters from your patrons are always on the favorable
side. No one would dare to make negative comments on Cloudcroft.
This has been a wet month so far for Scenic Hills (north of San
Antonio). The aquifer is well above normal. But by morning we
may have a flurry or two. It is snowing in Kerrville and San
Angelo now.

Good news that Ski Cloudcroft will be active once more. Keep us
posted on the progress of the school plans.

Also keep on mending....internally and externally. We thank
God for your recovery.

Best regards,
Dayton and Ann
In Scenic Hills, Cibolo, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

We just appreciate getting pulled out of the ditch at Genell's
Place. New Years is great in Cloudcroft! 

Bonnie Miller 
Abilene, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

I will always remember Cloudcroft. 

I lived there for 4 years starting in 1980 when I was 11 years
old. I still remember my first outing. Ice skating--I have an
oil painting that Betty Rogers painted of the skating rink
hanging in my bedroom. It is almost 22 years old now.

Discovering all the different things in the woods. Someone
once told me a story about the little cemetery. It had to do with
a 7-foot spirit!! I was afraid to go there ever again.

Skiing with the school on Wednesdays. I also remember when
the new school was built, which I didn't get to go to because I
started the jr high that year! I was involved with sports. I
remember track meets. I was on jr varsity and they put me on
varsity and we went to state that year. I still have all my
ribbons, pin and picture.

My fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Lloyd and I believe my sixth 
grade teacher was Mrs. Miller.

The arcade in town (it was the hangout at that time). I used to
help out at a little store and the name Peaches comes to mind.

The Western Bar and Cafe. I remember Jesse and Terry Sewell. I
spent a lot of time on their farm. I also attended Jesse Sewell's
funeral.

I went to the train trestle about 15 times and finally got the 
nerve to cross it! I lived in a big 3 story house up by The
Lodge. There was an aluminum house nearby where a family named
Del Palacio lived. I remember the story of Rebecca because I
used to help clean rooms there.

There are so many things.... I wanted to see Cloudcroft again,
that is why I came to your website. It brought back so many 
memories for me. I just remember it being the best time of my
life.

I hope to one day take my family there so they can see how
beautiful it is. It is a wonderful place to raise children. 
I will visit this site often.

Alicia Hunt,
New York 

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