Volume 11 , Issue 9

1st of March 2009

Well! We started this 1st day of March 2009 on a calm Sunday in the San Juan Mountain regions of Southwest Colorado. The snow is melting in temperatures of the mid-50s at the edge of the valley.

The ground is soggy with the meltdown of previous snowfalls. Each step you take sinks in a couple of inches ... or so.

Beautiful weather! BUT ... Does that mean that March will go out like a Lion since it came in as a Lamb?

We were notified by a reader that the Alva Review-Courier had an article towards the end of this week (02/27/2009) about the "McClure Mansion" (a.k.a Nickel mansion, Buena Vista, Elks Lodge).

Seems as though Kay Decker, President of the Board of Directors of Preservation Oklahoma, Inc., has gotten the McClure mansion put on the list of the most endangered places list. Is there someone out there with extra cash, grants to work miracles to preserve this 1904 Nickel mansion to its historical grandeur?

We understand George E. Nickel had the mansion built in 1904 on a hill on the West edge of Alva, Oklahoma Territory so he could enjoy the view.

AND ... Nickel also wanted to outdo the Crowell mansion that was built down on the southwest corner of 8th Street and Flynn Avenue (which is a The Vintage Inn today).

If you could stand outside on the balcony of "Buena Vista" and look towards the North, you would have been able to see all the way to Kansas ... Some say! Hence its name "Buena Vista."

I shall you leave off here with a quote by Mark Twain (1835-1910), "When you cannot get a compliment any other way pay yourself one."
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