In the summer of 1980 my parents and I drove up from Fort Worth, Texas, to Craig so that we could participate in a week long ministry outreach called “Builders for Christ”. Here we all worked diligently to lay the foundation for the new building at Calvary Baptist Church. As the week came to a close, my dad said in a gathering “We love it here so much that if I had a job offer, I’d be tempted to stay”. He had three of them by the night’s end! After praying about it and talking it over with us, he decided one year prior to full retirement to quit his 19 year job at Texas International Airlines and move us to Craig. We arrived with the moving truck at 211 Field Street in the late autumn/early winter of that same year.

My mom, who had been a school bus driver for the H-E-B (Hurst-Euless-Bedford) School District in Texas, had no problem coming on board to drive a school bus for Moffat County. Driving on snow covered dirt roads that winter, for her, was pure magic. She really loved it!

I also rode the bus to school, and my first day leaving the house to walk to the bus stop found my dad ordering me back into the house to put my coat on. “Why”, I asked? There was snow on the ground that sparkled like diamonds in the sun, and to me it was a beautiful day. “Because it is 12 degrees below zero, that’s why”! Ouch. Well. Lesson #1 – sunny winter days with no wind can be deceiving.

My first day of school in found me trying to figure out how to navigate over to the Yampa building, since I had no clue. One of the first people I met was Tommy Cramer, who, when hearing where I was from then promptly informed me that if God had intended Texan’s to ski, he would have made “BS” white… Yes indeed, lesson #2!

The end of my sophomore year I was encouraged to run for Student Body Treasurer for the following school year (81-82). I ran against Mary Young. Mary would have made a much better officer than me. She would have taken the job seriously. I saw it as a popularity contest and I won – woo hoo!

Let this be a lesson for all of us when it comes to any election process – know your candidates and don’t hesitate to ask them hard questions! You never know when they may be in it for the popularity vote, and have no clue how to do the elected job well! After I was elected to the student body during my junior year, the first time someone came up to me to ask me to tend money during an event, I looked at him like he was crazy. Why would I want to do that? I really had no clue, which was pretty sad.

As one of the student body officers, I was bound to provide morning announcements over the PA speaker once a week, and I ALWAYS stuttered and stammered my way through them. It was rough! Mr. Nagoda would invariably ask me “Hey – was that you I heard on the PA this morning?” to which I seriously would look at him and say “nope, wasn’t me”!

And then there was my car… you may remember it better than me, as it was the yellow 1972 Mazda that I had painted black stripes onto to make it look like a bumble bee, and called it “The Sting”? I loved that “A-OOO-GA” horn! That car got me into more trouble and got blamed for many things I didn’t do, but also some I certainly did… (I will leave the mystery up to you to determine what school kid mischief of which I may have taken part).

Friday and Saturday nights most times found me at the skating rink, unless I was busy working at Hatch’s book store in the mall or there was something more exciting in town, like the night there was a fire at one of the gas stations and the whole town practically turned out to watch!

There was so much I could have learned during my time in Craig and at MoCoHi. I sadly chose other things instead. But there are some very important lessons that I did happen to learn during my time there. Life lessons I picked up not only from my fellow classmates but from the good people in Craig and near-by Hayden as well.

I learned that, through all the travels I have done over the last 30+ years, the most beautiful girls in the world can be found in Craig. And for a short while, I got to be one of them. When I first moved into town, I wore so much make-up I looked like a raccoon! Girls in Craig taught me what beauty really was, and it had nothing to do with what I put on my face. This was the kind of beauty that was not only in body, but also in spirit. They were real, down-to-earth, fresh air loving, good ol’ American girls – and there is nothing like us in the entire world!

I learned that the folks from Craig really love Craig and were, despite the oil industry crash that happened during the time I was there, determined to stick together and bring the town through successfully. For the most part, they all cared for one another and for what happened to the town, and they were proud to be part of the community. Those reading this part may seem a little surprised, but for someone who came from what was called a “Metroplex” because it was a conglomerate of one small town after another that was so overgrown in population that they all just melted right into each other to become one giant-sized city spanning the 30+ miles in between Dallas and Fort Worth, this was unusual, as there was really no sense of small town pride or ownership. People moved about so quickly, not really staying in one place for long. If a town wasn’t doing well, they just all picked up and moved to a newer part of town that was. So seeing the comradery in Craig was something new to me. It is special, and I hope it is still there.

I also learned that even though you may find yourself caught up in following a not-so-desirable path in life sometimes, there are always those out there, like David Filkoski, who will challenge you when you least expect it, and catch you off guard. Pay attention to how you react in those moments, because they are tell-tale signs you may need to (as my husband now so eloquently puts it) “make that popping noise” – meaning you need to get your head out of your… uh… well, you know.

Though I would have liked to, I moved back to Texas during the first semester of my senior year, so did not have the distinct pleasure of graduating with the 1983 class a couple of years later. But I do still consider MoCoHi my alma mater, and although I believe that period of my life was a time when I had all my priorities wrong, would not trade my time there for anything!

That whole experience in those years of my life had a direct impact on who I am now. I like who I am today, in spite of the short-sighted choices I made back then. So to all of you who got to share in that time together with me, including so many of our wonderful teachers, I want to say thank you! I love you all, and wish you many more years of happiness!