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Senior Spotlight: Memories of my hometown

Mary Jo Brown
Mary Jo Brown
Mary_Jo_Brown

As I sat in my recliner watching the Weather Channel, I thought about the nice weather we are having and how different it was from the storms in the eastern United States. States like New York are going through a rough time causing a real hardship for those living there. I can relate to those storms, remembering how it was back in the good old days when Colorado lived up to its reputation for cold and snow.

For much of my life, I lived in a sawmill camp called Tiger, Colorado. Located about

7 miles off the main road between Breckenridge and old Dillon (now beneath Dillon reservoir) it was not a road that was plowed often, so breaking through to the main road took some doing. When the school bus couldn’t make it down the road they started to maintain it to where the road forked but we still had to walk a good part of the way past there. Thanks to the lumber trucks using the road, we had ruts to walk in avoiding the 2 or 3 feet of snow that usually was on the ground that time of year. Eventually the road was plowed all the way through town but by then it was my kids who were walking to get the bus.



Those were the days my friends, the beauty of snow glistening on fields, trees looking like Christmas with branches shining in the sun, proudly showing off their beauty surrounded by sparkling snow and blue skies. The snow usually lasted into May and sometimes June depending on how badly it drifted. The road was kept open once the main road was plowed out and as it snowed frequently it was pretty much an ongoing job. My family stayed year round along with maybe one other family and a few bachelors; otherwise the town was deserted once the snow came. We would go into Breckenridge or Dillon to stock up on food at least twice a month, dig holes in the ice on the creek that branched off the Blue River for drinking water, chopped wood for heat, and my mom kept a wash tub on the back of our wood cook stove melting snow as needed for washing clothes, cleaning and baths. Although the weather could be harsh and living wasn’t full of conveniences, the one thing I remember is we didn’t get sick. I credit that to the pure air and water we had.

Tiger is no more, my favorite spot by the creek surrounded by willows is gone. I think to myself what a shame that people move in and change a place with stuff destroying the beauty that brought them there in the first place; I fear we are going to run out of places where you can get a breath of fresh air and enjoy the beauty of open spaces. Take the time to smell the roses because the wild ones are getting harder to find.




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