By Don
We knew a few things about Breck from summer trips there camping and staying at a motel and later at our trailer-like house at #17 Vacation Village. There were still three old ramshackled buildings on Main Street that were from the 1800s and some roads had yet to be paved, such as in Warriors’ Mark where we bought our duplex.
The town hall was in an old brick building not too far from the Summit County Seat offices. The county was run by a manager and elected county commissioners and the town had a mayor and a town council. There was an old post office, the Breckenridge Inn motel, two gas stations, a small grocery store, and a drug store. There were about ten bars or bar-pub combinations, some of which served sit down food. There was a newspaper which served the town and Summit County. Breck had an elementary school but the rest of the schooling was done nine miles north in Frisco. The mayor of Breck was the owner of the “midtown" gas station and the fire chief was a paid position for a large group of volunteers.
About 85% of the town economy was derived from the Breckenridge Ski Corporation which was not affiliated with any other company. There was no snow making anywhere in Colorado at this time so the ski season varied with the amount of November and December snowfall and the spring thaw. This meant that most businesses had to make their money in about four to five months to survive. There was a new set of businesses and a hotel that got its start from money put up by some airline pilots and rumor had it that Breck was close to being profitable year round. It was safe to say that the 1976 ski area was on a very tight budget for operations and development compared to a few years later when it was bought by 20th Century Fox.
We were continually introduced to old time Beckenridge people by our realtor and his partner, the county treasurer and his wife, the town clerk, and the mayor, who was elected by seven votes and was known in some circles as landslide Peterson. At this point we were ensconced in the duplex. An attic room was created for Kent’s bedroom, Jennifer had her own room, as did we. In front of the duplex was a giant old rusted eight foot wide boiler that once powered a sawmill in the 1800s. We thought it rather unique as did visitors passing by. I even made up stories to tell them that the Reverend Father Dyer, a famous local historical figure known to many, once lived nearby and operated the sawmill. Some homes featured a small rusty old push rail car in their front yards from the old days, we had our boiler.
I began making the rounds looking for a business. My retirement papers said I was suited to be in the airline industry but there was no airport. We looked at a waffle shop in the new hotel area but could not fathom how to make money after breakfast when everyone went skiing. We talked seriously with a couple of airline pilots that were going to have a startup. They needed a manager. It was to be a management company for people to rent various rooms during ski season. But I envisioned them at 30,000 feet and Doris and I answering angry questions from renters wanting fresh towels. We looked at the Phillips 66 gas station and even met with the company's regional director in our duplex living room. I told him the station was an eyesore, needed paint, paving and other things or my name would not go over the door. He left in a huff. The station property was later sold and a ski town business appeared. I went to the president of the bank of Breckenridge to ask him what he knew of business opportunities. He said he would put the word out about me.
Then Jim Landslide Peterson, the mayor, knocked on our door and made us a proposition. Doris and I bought his condominium supply business, called J-J Supply which had followed his midtown gas station sale and we were in business with a mom and pop shop. He taught us what was what, I became a delivery boy, and Doris ran the office in an old ramshackle warehouse. Jim became a fast and great friend and became the first and newly paid supervisor of the Summit County EMT volunteers.
A few months into the business, disaster struck. The ski area remained closed due to no snow. J-J Supply business fell way off and then the VW bus blew its engine. The town and its business was devastated. No ski area, no income for many. But as some said...people will always need toilet paper. It is recession proof.
I dutifully made deliveries in Rudy’s old 1950 Chevrolet panel truck which I had earlier driven from New Jersey. Denver VW put in a new engine and the snow finally came around Christmas and we lived happily ever after. I became well known as a toilet paper delivery boy and Doris was a whiz in the office. We took orders by phone and via a phone message recorder. We eventually delivered over a thousand cases of toilet paper a year. At 46 pounds a case, plus hundreds of other supplies like Scotties, paper towels, light bulbs, and 50 pound kegs of rock salt, there was no chance for me to get fat. And this was done on and through snow packed roads and drifts.
We had improvised, adapted, and endured. We were on our way in our new town. Before this we had never had any tap roots while the Navy moved us around. Neither had the kids. Rudy thought what I did in buying the business was less than good. My mother wondered why we came to such a town and put Jennifer into high school and Kent into another elementary school. We were convinced that both Jennifer and Kent would enjoy and grow intellectually as big fish in a small pond. Meanwhile, my dad said I paid too much for the duplex, thought poorly of my suggestion that he should invest in town real estate, and went back to their new house in Colorado Springs.
Within two years, we were on our feet making a good profit. The ski area got snow making and the town was booming. The town which had about 3,000 people in 1976, grew so that during ski season, there was lodging for 35,000. We bought a new condominium type warehouse, J-J Supply moved into the new building, we vacationed in May in Cancun, and the business put Jennifer and Kent through college.
There is more to come about Breck, some of it very funny. I wanted to set up the town for you and what we did as military retirees.