Cruising for Cookies

Each year during December our Chamber of Commerce sponsors a Cookie Cruise. People sample cookies and hot drinks at each participating store and vote for their favorite cookie. The idea is not only holiday fun for the family, but also to have the cookie travellers see what each store has to offer.

This event coincides with our annual Parade of Lights and other seasonal activities. Bob has not opened up the Wild West Wheels shop yet, but he has opened the back of the store to do repairs on bikes and other small engines. We thought that he would open for the Cookie Cruise last night to let others know what services he offered at this time.

"I'm not in this to make money. I will be happy to break even, but what I want is to provide a service to our locals so that they don't have to travel to Rapid City."

Bob was tired of seeing the empty storefronts in town and decided to invest in a building and do what he does best: service for motorcycles, bicycles and other small engines. His interest has always been in making things better and in the process to help the environment which lately has become a "throw-away society. He believes in using and reusing. Not much has ever landed in the land fill from our home. 

We had many folks stop by with a high interest into what Bob is doing, with requests such as "Do you fix rotor tillers? What about vacumn cleaners?" Today's world is filled with consume, buy and dump. It was heartening to meet folks who want to repair and keep what they have invested in over the years.

Maybe it is our small, rural town with a different mind set than in the urban areas, but whatever the reason, Bob has the opportunity to offer his skills in restoration to our locals, saving them both time and money to travel 60 miles to the nearst large community.

Thanks to the local Chamber of Commerce, many residents had the opportunity to talk with Bob and to discover what his shop has to offer. He is truly the Fix-it-Man for Hot Springs.

Am I proud of my husband? You bet. He is not fighting the battles that surround us. Instead he works quietly to provide a sense of pride to those who choose to repair. He will be teaching the children from the Boys and Girls Club to repair their bicycles that he is storing in his buiiding. He was asked to repair them. "No, bring the kids down here and I will teach them to repair their own bikes."

What is the old saying that goes something like this? "Give a man a fish and he will eat once.. Teach him to fish and that will last him a lifetime."