Before and during the past weekend, I put a lot of miles on the old Pathfinder (nicknamed the “Factfinder” years ago) delivering bundles of our Methow Home and Methow Valley Summer 2021 magazines from one end of the valley to the other. Despite our best efforts, COVID considerations and unforeseen logistical obstacles made it difficult to get the magazines out sooner. Is it just me, or do many formerly routine things seem just a little harder these days?
My goal, not entirely achieved, was to have widespread distribution of the magazines by Memorial Day weekend. There are about 90 stops on our delivery lists for the magazines, so if I didn’t get to you, my apologies and please let me know. We will try to respond promptly.
If I had just been quickly dumping bundles like a newspaper delivery boy in a hurry, the effort would have seemed more like a dreary but necessary chore: Stop the truck, get bundles out of the truck, drop them off, get back in the truck and keep driving to the next place.
Instead, I ended up in spontaneous conversations at many of the places I stopped. Some were with people I’ve known for years but haven’t seen face-to-face for months, others were less known but nonetheless friendly and thankful for my efforts. So the task took longer than expected, but it was worth it. It was good to chat with people, ask how things were going and glean a few morsels of what might turn out to be useful information. I was grateful that they took the time for a conversation.
After a day or so of schlepping bundles, it occurred to me that many of the people I talked to were the owners of the valley’s mostly-small businesses — the bosses, as it were. And I noticed something that won’t surprise many Methow residents: the boss can and likely will end up doing anything that needs to be done.
That’s a fact of life for the valley’s independent business owners, and I’m one of them. I believe no job at the newspaper that needs doing is beneath my dignity, and I don’t ask employees to do something I wouldn’t do (although I do ask them to do things I can’t do, like bookkeeping and newspaper design).
Hence, I’m the delivery guy when delivery is called for. That doesn’t make me special. I’ve always admired Hank Konrad for his consistent presence in and attention to his grocery store. Hank stocks shelves, helps customers, bags groceries — whatever needs to be done, he does it.
On my rounds last week, I stopped at Bart Bradshaw’s accounting office in Winthrop to drop off some magazines, and there was Bart in the parking lot with a leaf blower, cleaning things up. He told me he also helps out at Pardner’s Mini Mart, which he owns, when the crush of business makes it necessary (which often involves wrangling all the vehicles that are lined up for gasoline on a busy day).
At the AbbyCreek Inn, owner Josh Buehler was in the front office when I stopped by. Have you even been in the Mazama Store when there wasn’t at least one of the LeDuc clan working the counters? At North Cascades Lumber, owner Nick Allgood and his one employee, Jon Nelson, were handling the business. The Wine Shed’s Dave Swenson greeted me from behind the counter, as he always does. Those are just a few examples. Full involvement is the norm for the typical Methow Valley business owner. Just ask any of them.
Because I inquired, several owners also confirmed how difficult it has been to find enough employees this year, even more so than in the past. With what looks like another booming tourism season upon us, the prolonged lack of enough help will undoubtedly take a toll on business owners who are scrambling to keep up.
That said, I heard a consistent sense of commitment to keeping the valley vibrant and welcoming. It’s a challenge we all took on, knowing what it might demand of us.
If Memorial Day weekend was an indicator, we are in for another deluge of visitors. I tried a couple of times to make deliveries in downtown Winthrop but had trouble finding anyplace to park. The eastbound and westbound queues from the four-way stop were monumental (someone posted on Facebook that the Memorial Day westbound backup on Highway 20 went all the way to the post office). It looks like nomadic camping will be a thing again. And the next “shoulder season” is months away. But hard work is better than no work. Every business owner in the valley understands that.
