Mountain Schools

I jumped at the chance when I was asked to perform for a group of second and third graders from the local mountain schools of Stove Prairie, Livermore, and Red Feather Lakes during a recent historic tour the school district hosted for these students.   The students gathered for lunch at a local establishment, Western Ridge Resort (www.westernridgeresort.com) which occupies what was the Clarence Curry ranch (brand LOX) when I was growing up in the same neck of the woods.  Yesterday it was my privilege to meet some more new friends from these schools and entertain them while they ate lunch.

The one-room school house is a wonderful carryover from the past.  Lot's of good Americans received excellent elementary educations, often taught by only one teacher who taught all subject matter for grades 1 through 8.  Fortunately they are still common in the more sparsely populated regions of the mountains and plains of the western United States, but there are fewer than there were in past generations.  I never attended one because we lived at the end of the bus route, just a mile or two too close to the larger school down the road.  However, the school I did attend received all of the 8th grade graduates from the surrounding mountain schools when those kids were old enough to start attending high-school.  Many of my life-long friends were transfers from mountain schools that I met when our trails first crossed as we entered high school.  The mother of one of those dear friends taught at one of the mountain schools that took part in the recent tour.  A true Colorado native, she was born in a bedroom on the upper floor of what is now the main lodge at Cherokee Park Guest Ranch (www.cherokeeparkranch.com/); the first ranch that hired me to perform when I started doing performances at guest ranches.  That ranch will always hold a special place in my heart, as will Bessie and kids from mountain schools.