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Rangeley and Saddleback

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Rangeley and Saddleback

Main St Rangeley

The Little town of Rangeley may not be familiar to you but if you ski you most certainly have heard of Saddleback Mountain. It was while I was chatting with the waitress at the Red Onion that the importance of Saddleback became clear.

Saddleback Ski Resort

In the 1950’s ski fever hit the Rangeley area. Saddleback Mountain was developed into a world class ski resort. The influx of winter ski enthusiasts gave life to the little town if Rangeley. Saddleback actually opened for the 1960 ski season. The lower T-Bar opened on December 31, 1960, serving the Wheeler Slope. The upper T-Bar, serving Grey Ghost and Hudson Highway, opened in late January.

No gas sign from 1970s

No Snow, No Gas, Oh No!

Saddleback Resort continued expanding and upgrading, adding chairlifts and snow making machines. Then in 1973-74 poor weather combined with gas shortages resulted in a disastrous season for New England’s ski resorts. While 1974-75 was a better season, it was not enough to rescue Big Rangeley Corporation. In 1975, Casco Bank and Trust Co. foreclosed on the ski area and sold it to a company called Saddleback Kingdom.

The Appalachian TrailAppalachia Trail sign

In 1978, Massachusetts businessman Donald Breen purchased Saddleback and immediately began investing in it. Also that year, President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 8803, which started a land acquisition plan for the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail Corridor runs through Saddleback and the proposed expansion area for the resort. Confronted with endless red tape and potential eminent domain losses, Breen held off on his investment as negotiations dragged on for over a decade.

Closure

In 2012 the Breen family announced the resort was for sale. In 2015 they announced that there would be new owners to open the resort in 2016.  The promised re-opening never came.

A New Hope

While I was in Rangeley the news hit the airwaves.  An Australian Company was buying  Saddleback. They would invest millions and open back up doing it right. The reopening date is contingent upon how quickly Majella Group can install a modern quad chairlift to replace an aging double chairlift, a light at the end of the economic tunnel.

 

Good Morning World! I’m Baaaack!

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Good Morning World!

What a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, temps are moderate, the air is fresh. It’s just a perfect spring morning and it’s Sunday. No work! (maybe) I’ve got some updates and housekeeping items to share today. There is more change on the breeze than the scent of flowers and grass.

What Is Going on with aroundustyroads?

Aroundustyroads.com is my baby blog. I wrote my first post on September 8, 2010. I was based on Blogspot at that time. A couple of years later I migrated to WordPress. That was a pretty smooth transition but I was still new and didn’t have a lot of content. What I had can be found by clicking on the archive link in the side panel.

7 Years Later

Its been 7 years and I hope my blogging skills have grown with experience. What hasn’t changed is the look and feel of aroundustyroads.com. Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about successful bloggers, even meeting one, and I realized that I, we, needed to make some changes if I want to move to the next level. These successful bloggers have been at it 2-5 years. I’ve been doing this for 7 years and being left in the dust! What’s up with that!?

 

The  Changes in the Works

The first thing I did was move again. Like moving from Blogspot to WordPress, I moved to Bluehost to give me more adaptability. For non geeks, that’s like moving your cell service from Verizon to Sprint or from a 2 bedroom ranch to a 6 bedroom colonial. It was more painful this time so I need your help. If you are not getting email alerts, please let me know. If anything else is not working for you like it did before. Let me know that too. Enter it in the comments so we can work on getting it fixed.

New Look

While the dust settles on the move, I’m looking into upgrading our look. Take a look at one blog I found and like: http://brittanyfromboston.com/. Or this very successful blog http://joshuaberman.net/ . I just have to learn how to make these changes.

Drum roll Please….

INTRODUCING

A new companion blog. downdustylanes.com  No it is not replacing aroundustyroads. I can’t give up my baby but in trying to find out how to change our look, I got a new website built for me. It’s gorgeous. I haven’t started using it yet but will make my first post there in May. It will help me learn my way around a more advanced website.

One Last Change

Because of the current work load at my job. I am going to reduce my posting schedule for a couple of months. I am going to try to post 3 times per week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When things slow down at work  I’ll kick it back up.

Tell me what you think of all this. as the saying goes, inquiring minds what to know.

 

 

 

 

Fifteen Years Later

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It’s been 15 years since the planes hit the World Trade Center, 15 years since the plane slammed into the Pentagon, 15 years since flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

Are we any safer today that on 9/11? That is a question for another day. Today we remember.

I still remember the images as if I am just seeing them. I remember the feelings. It was surreal. It can’t be happening. This is America, my home. Wars don’t come to our shores and yet there was the black smoke billowing from the tower, there was the plane, seeming to be in slow motion, crashing into the 2nd tower.  For me it is like yesterday. I will never forget.

So it came as another shock to realize that there are children that have no memory of the events that day. Children that were born after that tragic event. Of course when I stop and think about it logically, there will be young people that read about 911 as history like I studied Pearl Harbor.

And as we remember Pearl Harbor we must remember 911. Never Forget!

NEVER FORGET!

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New Posts are Coming!

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Sorry I’ve been so lazy. The busier it gets at work the less time I want to spend on the computer during my “off hours”. Not only that but I’m finding that instead of rush , rush, rush to do things and find things to write about, there is something to be said for enjoying the slow lane.

It’s amazing how tired I get this time of year. The mental work is as exhausting as running a mile! Last Saturday I had all these big plans and instead slept all day! Oops!

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Well enough said. I’m feeling  more energized today so I’m going to work on catching up on some posts for you. You still need to see the Puffins!

 

The Soft Kitty Conundrum

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soft-kitty-warm-kitty-little-ball-of-fur-t-shirt_design

Anyone familiar with the “Big Bang Theory”  has heard Sheldon’s whine “Sing Soft Kitty for me”.

It’s the lullaby that provides comfort when sickness strikes the sitcom.

sick sheldon

The little song may give Sheldon comfort but it is turning into a headache for Warner Bros.

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The song was written in the 1930’s  by Edith Newlin who passed away in 2004. A recent lawsuit by the daughters of the author/composer claims copy-write infringement. The suit maintains that Warner Bros. sought permission in 2007 from Willis Music Co., a company that previously published the lyrics in a book titled “Songs for the Nursery School.” According to Newlin’s daughters, Willis Music Co. authorized the use of lyrics without consultation or permission.

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What I find most interesting is that these heirs didn’t know anything about the song’s use until they ran across a blog entry about the show  while researching their mother’s life.

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How long does a copy-write last  before it becomes public domain anyway??Until 1977 I think these time frames applied:

  • All works published in the U.S. before 1923
  • All works published with a copyright notice from 1923 through 1963 without copyright renewal
  • All works published without a copyright notice from 1923 through 1977
  • All works published without a copyright notice from 1978 through March 1, 1989, and without subsequent registration within 5 years

A whole new set of expiration dates were set by congress in 1977 so who knows if they have a case or not. Can even the collective big brains of the geniuses on BBT figure it out? I’m sure lots of high priced lawyers are racking up the billable hours on this right now.

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In the meantime, I love my Soft Kitty T-shirt. And so do all the folks that stop me on the street to tell me they like it too!

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