The
December 2009 • Vol. 6, No. 06 A Shoreline Community, Pine Knoll Shores, N.C. Town Hall 247-4353
Outrageous
Customer
Service Award
By Dennis Tomaso
Our own Soruxy Cunningham was
presented with an award from the
Carteret County Chamber of Commerce.
It is the "Outrageous Customer Service"
Award. Mr. Brian Kramer did the honors
at the November 10 Pine Knoll Shores'
Board of Commissioners' meeting.
This honor recognizes individuals
who go well beyond what is expected
of them in service. It is given to those
who have demonstrated a high level of
integrity, professionalism and quality
workmanship in their public service.
Awardees have a commitment to their
community and their customers. It
is not hard to believe that Sonny was
chosen, rather why it took so long.
We can all be proud of Sormy and his
accomplishments.
If you see him during the course of the
day, please make sure to congratulate
him and tharJc him for his dedication and
caring for the town and its residents.
Travels to the Old West
It was the adventure that I had hoped
for since I was 21 years old—a cross
country trip through the Old West. We
had bought a motor home just a few
weeks before and were now ready to put
it and ourselves to the test. Leaving early
one Saturday morning, we drove long
and hard for three days, with our first
meaningful stop in Fort Worth, Texas.
Being partially raised by Gene Autry, the
Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid, I had
always wanted to be a cowboy, but that
changed when we got to Fort Worth. I'd
still like to be a cowboy, but after seeing
the cost of boots, hats, belt buckles and
saddles, I have resigned to being a beach
bum. I can afford the t-shirt, shorts and
sandals necessary to walk the beach.
From Fort Worth, we headed north,
visiting my sister in the Lawton,
Oklahoma, area and then westward
again, with a stop in Amarillo before
entering New Mexico. We spent a lot
of time in Santa Fe and the surrounding
areas. It's a very artsy commimity built
around a lot of history. Old adobe
buildings are everywhere, with one
claiming to be the oldest church while
another claimed to be the oldest house
in the country. Built around 1610,
surprisingly both are fully functional
today. The Loretta Chapel, known for
its spiral staircase, is also there in the
center of town. Plenty of cowboy history
here, and many western movies were
filmed in this area. Just north of
Santa Fe is Taos, which was home
to Kit Carson.
The next destination was
Durango, Colorado. Steeped
in old west history, the town is
thoroughly modernized and a
lot of fun. If you're the outdoorsy
By Tom Powers
type, you will love it—there's hiking,
skiing, mountain biking, zip-lines,
glider airplanes and white-water rafting.
Besides exploring the town, we took
the Durango-Silver ton railroad to the
mining town of Silverton (elevation9300
ft.) and spent another full day touring
the ruins in Mesa Verde.
Still traveling westward, we spent
the next week and a half in southern
Utah. Western movie sites and national
parks were everywhere. We stayed in
Monument Valley, Lake Powell and
Kanab and toured all of southern Utah
from these locations. We saw so much
that it would take pages to tell, but I
will tell you that the highlight of this
area for us was when we met a yoimg
Navajo guide who went by the name of
Blaine. The three of us drove for a half
hour through the desert at dusk and
then got out and walked for another
half hour following coyote tracks into
a canyon, where Blaine built a bonfire
and told us about Navajo life. Included
were a number of childhood stories told
to him by his grandparents about the
rabbits, coyotes and the stars. The earth
in southern Utah is primarily red dirt ^
that finds it's way into everything you
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