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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #145
January 17, 2003
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Dear Subscriber:

First, some unfinished business.

I paraphrased my conversation with Judy McFarland when we were
discussing the Dallas Cowboys (last newsletter). It wasn't her,
but me, that said the Dallas Texans moved to Washington to
become The Redskins.

As it was pointed out by several readers, the Texans moved to
Kansas City to become the Chiefs. As one reader pointed out,
"Right ethnic group, wrong team."

I've said it before. It's nice to have over 3000 editors for
this newsletter.

Let's move on.

Computer software seems to be a good way to get rich nowadays.

Come up with a good software program and you can move from the
outhouse to the penthouse.

I have all the money I need. I am now working on my second
million dollars (I gave up on my first million). Therefore I'm
giving the readers the benefit of my vast knowledge so they can
become rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Besides, I don't know the first thing about writing a software
program.

Here are my ideas for software programs that will make you
rich and sassy (and have your kids fighting over your estate).

THE ANTI-TATOO PROGRAM

Software that, when programmed into your television, will
eliminate all the tattoos on all the athletes on the screen.

Your kids can watch the football and basketball games and
it will negate them wanting a tattoo for their 10th
birthday.

THE ANTI-FAT DIGITAL CAMERA SOFTWARE

Software for your digital camera that will make your image
appear 50 pounds lighter that it actually is.

I'm not sure, but I think Oprah Winfrey already has this
software.

THE ANTI-SURVIVOR SOFTWARE

Another television aid. Plug this software into your TV
and it will warn you 30 minutes ahead of time that there is
another Survivor show coming on.

THE TALKING HEAD SOFTWARE

Television software that will display printed sub-titles on the
screen that will conjugate the words of the news reporter into
understandable and intelligent language.

THE LIE-DETECTOR SOFTWARE

Another TV feature. Used for when politicians are on the
screen. Plug it in and a graphic will appear on your TV set.
It will say "LIE" or "TRUTH" or "THIS PERSON DOESN'T HAVE A
CLUE".

A special feature of this software would be a point-and-click
to "WHO CARES? GO TO THE NASCAR RACES".

THE ANTI DON'S BS SOFTWARE

Installed on your computer, it would do away with the Cloudcroft
Online Newsletter on weeks when Don doesn't have much to say.

Like this week.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. SPECIAL -- HOVER DRUG
3. VILLAGE NEWS
4. INSIDE THE SHOP -- THE BAMPTONS -- RIORUIDOSOREALTORS.COM
5. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NEW MEXICO TOURISM
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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No new snow. A small precip Saturday.

Warm this week. Highs around 50. Lows in the mid-20s.

Snow play areas are still open.
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SPECIAL -- HOVER DRUG
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Dear Newsletter:

My Dad, David Hover, was born and raised in Cloudcroft. As a
matter of fact, the corner rock building downtown used to be
"Hover Drug," which was my Grandfather's Drug Store. He was
the pharmacist.

I can remember many a day sitting in that store watching all of
the locals and some tourists come in and out. There was a soda
fountain along the east side of the building, that my
grandmother oversaw, so my brother and I always got free ice
cream.

In one of the shops downtown on Burro Street, there is an
assortment of old black and white pictures and you can see
"Hover Drug" painted on the outside of the building on those
pictures. It makes me feel special.

My two daughters, their children, and I live in Albuquerque
now, however, we try to get to Cloudcroft at least every 3-4
weeks to see Dad. Since July of this year, we have been unable
to make the trip. My daughter had a beautiful set of twin girls
on November 20, 2001 and in July 2002, one of the twins was
diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer that has kept us in
Albuquerque, so we have been unable to make the trip and I
cannot leave Albuquerque to come up there to visit my Dad in
fear of something happening to my precious granddaughter and me
not being there. 

I am longing to be in the mountains. It is my retirement
destination when that time arrives, or when my Dad needs me to
be there for him. The old homestead looks downtown from the
back deck and is in close walking distance to Burro Street. He
lives on Mescalero Road. The original A-frame room is visible
from the outside, however some of the land that I remember being
around the house has been sold off. The house is now 2 stories
and I can hardly wait until I can retire and move in.

Reading your newsletter has kept me in touch with the Village
happenings. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting
me know what is going on in the Village. My Dad is not always
the fountain of knowledge. He works as a part time pharmacist
in Alamo; says it keeps him young.

He was born in 1921, so he has been there to see all of the
changes over the years. He still loves it there. I remember the
stories about the old railroad and the dirt road leading from
Alamo to Cloudcroft. The stories are wonderful. 

I would love to see more pictures. The one that you guys took
outside of your house on Christmas Eve was beautiful. Keep um
coming....

Terri L. Hover
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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VILLAGE NEWS
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The Cloudcroft Senior Center is looking for volunteers to help
deliver meals to home-bound individuals. Meals are delivered
Monday through Friday.

If you can help, call Kathy at (505) 682-3022.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- BARRY AND ANN BAMPTON, RIORUIDOSOREALTORS.COM
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Looking for property in Ruidoso or Cloudcroft? Call us at
(505) 258-3888 or (800) 780-0062 (toll free) or email us at 
barrys@zianet.com. After moving from San Angelo, Tx, we have
lived in Ruidoso and Cloudcroft for a total of 8 years and are
familiar with all mountain property.

If you are coming to Ruidoso, come by our office next to
Farleys. For more information, see the link to our web site on
the Real Estate page of Cloudcroft.com:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/real.htm

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NEW MEXICO TOURISM
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http://www.newmexico.org/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - Are Cloudcroft golf courses open in the winter?

A - No. Snow cover and frigid winter temperatures make it
impractical for Cloudcroft's golf courses to open in the winter.
They usually close in late October (or after the first
substantial snow) and re-open after the thaw (usually in early
April).

The Alamogordo golf course is open year round and most Ruidoso
courses stay open during the winter, unless snow closes them.
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COMING EVENTS
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January 16-18 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball. Cliff Tournament.

January 16-18 -- Cloudcroft boys basketball. Dexter Tournament.

January 23 -- Cloudcroft boys basketball at NMMI.

January 25 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball at Hatch.

January 31 -- Cloudcroft girls and boys basketball vs. Tularosa
at home.

February 1 -- Cloudcroft girls and boys basketball vs.
Lordsburg at home.

February 3 -- Cloudcroft girls and boys basketball vs.
Tularosa at home.

February 6 -- Cloudcroft girls and boys basketball vs.
Capitan at home.

February 8 -- Cloudcroft girls and boys basketball vs.
Hatch at home.

February 14 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball vs. Tularosa. away.

February 14 -- Cloudcroft boys basketball vs. Tularosa at home.

February 15 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball at Lordsburg.

February 21 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball at Capitan.

February 28 -- Mardi Gras in Cloudcroft. 5 days of festivities.
Call (505) 682-2733 for more info.

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.

Would you like to help deliver meals to the homebound around
Cloudcroft? Monday through Friday deliveries. Call the
Cloudcroft Senior Center at (505)-682-3022.

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 8:30 every Tuesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Cloudcroft Senior Citizens Center, every
Wednesday. High Rolls Senior Citizens Center, first Thursday
of each month.

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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:

We spent a magical Christmas in your lovely village last year,
and had planned to return a couple of days after Christmas this
year, but had to cancel. We wanted to see the torch parade down
the mountain. I'd love to see some more Cloudcroft snow
pictures, but would be thrilled if you or anyone else might
have one of the torch parade to put in the newsletter.

Speaking of the newsletter, thanks for making not just my day,
but my week. I look forward to finding it in my inbox every
Thursday, so I can "visit" one of my favorite places, that is,
until I can get back there in person.

Mary Beth Skarke
Seabrook, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

A friend, a beautiful girl, now a lovely Grandmother, that I
went to East Junior High and Roswell High in Roswell with sent
me your newsletter some time ago. 

I have fallen in love with the newsletters and Cloudcroft. I
kick myself every time I read one. Growing up in Roswell, we
went to Ruidoso. We seldom went to Cloudcroft. Don't know why,
but that was how it was. 

We were young and among other things lacked vision, what can I
say. We made a mistake by not enjoying the beauty of our
backyard, so to speak.

Cloudcroft has to be one of the best kept secrets in the state. 

Years ago I did an art show there and still I was not smart
enough to see the beauty for the past. And me being a
photographer you would think, I of all people, would see what
others don't see. 

I must have been out of focus or using the wrong lens. My depth
of field was definitely off. 

I read the stories, check out the photos and say to myself, 
"You should have opened your eyes and bought property there
when you could. Just look at what you've missed."

I'm also an Air Force Brat and extremely proud of it. I grew up
breathing to planes taking off and landing. To this day, if I
hear a Air Force jet, I stop, scan the sky, wait and smile. It
was a great way to grow up!

Now, I'm trying to figure out how to come back for a visit. My
wife and I ride Harley's and I use to ride to the Aspencade,
when I lived in Denver City, Texas. 

What a great trip that would be. We could ride our bikes to
Cloudcroft in the spring and summer and drive up there in the
pickup during the winter. 

Okay, I talked myself into it.

Thanks Elaine for sending me the newsletter.

John Madden
Class of 62 RHS
US Army Proud
Weatherford, TX 

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Dear Newsletter:

A good friend passed on your poignant piece about seeing a
stealth. Our son flies a stealth fighter and is stationed at
Holloman. He has a wife, a toddler, and another on the way. 

He is as normal as anyone you'd meet on the street. While he is
not especially shy, he is soft spoken and gentle. You'd never
guess that he lives his life right on the edge of nerve and
resolve. Your screwdriver salute was an Emily Dickinson poem,
where we find ourselves face to face with primal issues,
wondering what we might do if an ultimatum butted us in the
forehead. 

Long ago I asked him if he thought he was emotionally and
spiritually prepared to do what he most certainly would be
required to do. He hesitated, and then said, "Dad, the question
doesn't really apply, since I see myself as a peacemaker. That
changes everything." 

He's right. That does change everything.

Thanks for the wonderful glimpse into those recesses we so
rarely get to visit. I have sent the article on to my son.

Dan Phillips
Huntsville, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

Have thought often about writing you and telling you a little
about my parents. There were never bigger fans of Cloudcroft
than my folks. When they were fifty they fulfilled a long-time
dream and purchased a lil' lot up on Big Tree Lane just off of 
16 Springs Canyon Road.

They built that lil' cabin with their own hands, from the
ground up, and over the next ten years it evolved to a three
bedroom, two story and a great big front porch that most of the
meals were eaten on.

The pine needles were constantly falling in the food and my Mom
would say "just fiber, just fiber". My kids and my brother's
kids all grew up around that cabin. I can remember sitting on
that big ol' porch and watching it rain, watching it snow and
watching those stars...they seemed so close.

The folks are 85 now. The cabin was sold some years back and
they moved to our town, but they have never quite talking about
Cloudcroft, the people and how much all those years meant to
them.

They enjoy reading your newsletter (provided thru a friend) and
look forward to it.

Thanks,
Allen Whitley
Levelland, Texas

PS: They became the Kansas City Chiefs, not the Redskins.

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Dear Newsletter:

I lived in Otero County until I was an adult. As a kid, all I
ever heard, all I ever saw, was Dallas Cowboys this, Dallas
Cowboys that. Guess that's one of the reasons I never liked
them. Saturation. I admired some of the players: Landry,
Stahbach, Ed Jones, but never the team. You would hear local
folks all week long cussing those @#%& Texans, but then on
Sunday they were watching Dallas Cowboy football. What was
up with that? When my family was finally able to watch
Albuquerque TV, I became an instant Denver Bronco fan.

Anyway, to the point, I become irritated when people root for
a sports team only because they win games, or the Super Bowl,
or because some sports commentator calls them "America's
Team" or for no good reason at all. I'm that way about people
who root for the Cowboys or Oakland Raiders and they have
never even been to Texas or California, much less lived there.
I can respect someone for calling a team their own if they
have a good reason. Don, you and Judy are the kind of Cowboy
fans that I can respect, that is, Texans. You have a reason to
root for them. They belong to you. Loyalty still means
something.

In the National Hockey League, the San Jose Sharks sell the
most apparel. Why? They are not a good team. When the team was
founded, the owner did market research and discovered that the
colors black and teal would sell the best so that became the
team colors. What loyalty.

Since I moved to Kansas City, I became a big time Chiefs fan.
That is were I am, guess I'm a Kansan now. I am still a Broncos
fan. That is where I am from, sort of. Kind of weird being a
fan of two arch rivals. Makes me twice the Raider Hater. But,
these are the teams that belong to me. I'm a NMSU Aggie
graduate. Funny thing though, when I moved to Kansas City, I
started rooting for the Miners and Lobos too. That's home.

By the way, it was the Kansas City Chiefs that spent two years
as the Texans, not the Redskins. Wrong tribe.

I like to raze folks about this but it is all in fun. I take
what I deliver. Keep it up Don, root for your team, even if I
think it's the wrong one. We can both be Bears fans... 
Cloudcroft that is.

Ed Buckner
Kansas City
Alamogordo Senior High School '80
New Mexico State University '86
School of Hard Knocks over and over again

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Dear Newsletter:

I also was a Dallas Texan fan and moved my loyalty with the
team to Kansas City. I am still a Chiefs fan. Love your
newsletter!

Garry Horn

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Dear Newsletter:

You and I have parallel feelings about Landry's Cowboys versus
Jones's Cowboys. Your story brought back memories of my days of
travel overseas in areas of the world where I felt better
telling new acquaintances I was from Texas rather than saying
I was from the USA.

That never failed to get attention, since 'back then' the TV
show Dallas was a world-wide phenomenon, along with that
White-on-Blue star symbolizing the Cowboys. I saw Cowboy tee
shirts in such disparate locales as Lagos, Nigeria and Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia. And it was quite common for those who heard me
say, "I'm a Texan" to ask, "Do you know J. R.?"

And of course, I always had a ready reply and a story to tell
about, "The last time I saw J. R.... etc."

Jack Schuller
Ruidoso

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Dear Newsletter:

I enjoyed reading about Harry's return. Many years ago we had
a little calico kitten. When we went on vacation, probably to
Cloudcroft, the kitten was gone when we returned. The neighbor
taking care of it said it had disappeared that day. We looked
everywhere, but it was lost for good.

We have a 12 yr. old calico inside-outside cat that rules the
roost here (or, did, until recently). In November we got new
next door neighbors, very nice people. Soon after they moved
in, we saw two strange cats in the yard, actually looking in
our back door. Since my husband chases strange cats out of the
yard, we decided to check their tags, & they were both from the
town our new neighbors moved from.

We picked them up & took them next door, met the new lady, &
returned her straying cats. She thanked us for bringing Smokey
& Precious home. Fifteen minutes later they were back (we have
an 8 ft. concrete fence!).

Over the next few days, we would see other strange cats in our
yard, some wearing tags. So my husband & I went next door to
meet the new doctor (his car wasn't home very often). They were
wonderful friendly people. We asked, "how many cats do you
have?" & he said, "SEVEN". Now what! They had moved from a large
acreage where they had many and varied animals, most of which
they found homes for, but couldn't part with the cats!

As you know, cats that go outside - go anywhere they want!
Precious & Smokey & twins, Ollie & Molly, spend most nights
sleeping in OUR porch! Their little calico does on occasion, &
Frisky (a beautiful tabby with a golden hue in the sun) comes
around often, and a small black one is here less often. A big
white long hair with tags is a visitor off & on. For a
cat-loving family, what can we do? My husband asked our neighbor
the other day, "are you going to keep all the cats?" and he
said, "oh yes!" 

They run in our house if a door is left ajar, or in the garage
if we open the door. Sometimes, one sleeps in the pick-up bed &
they leave tracks across the windshield. I am sure our yard is
their rest-stop always. If we set one foot outside, day or
night, we are surrounded with several friendly cats. Most have
been de-clawed so I am sure they were once indoor cats, very
much loved.

I never wanted but ONE cat - what can we do about SEVEN MORE
that have moved in with us! 

M. Sykes,
Odessa

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