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Show for all their needs. Olive Garden, Sizzler, McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Denny’s for food. Blockbuster for entertainment. Time-Warner for news. Home Depot for building needs and hardware, Exxon for fuel, Super WalMart for groceries and everything else. THESE MAY BE YOUR ONLY CHOICES SOMEDAY. And it’s not just in the large cities. Even towns like Moab are feeling the pressure. Except for Pizza Hut, Moab was franchise-free until 1990 when McDonald's broke ground and opened a floodgate of copycat fast food restaurants. : The Big Mac genre destroyed many of the small mom & pop cafes in town, like the Westerner Grill and the Canyonland Café. And many indie cafes have come and gone since then as well; they simply could not compete with the corporate big boys. And what will happen to great restaurants like Buck’s and the Center Café and the Sunset Grill if, someday, national chains like Olive Garden or Sizzler or Red Lobster choose to invade the Moab eatery market? 4SA se Se ea wee Os Volume 15 Number 5 December 2003/January 2004 4... DOLORES: A River Narrative By Damon Falke SE UTAH ina NUTSHELL The Photographic Evidence "The Horror... The HORROR...” A Bird's-eye-View of the ‘24 HOURS of MOAB" bike race. Many small businesses are going the way of family farm and ranches. Soon no one but already very wealthy peoplé or corporations will be able to afford to start their own business. For example, in the early 70s, a ranch near Moab sold for $60,000. A man of modest means could afford that price and become a working rancher. By 1990, that same ranch sold for close to a million dollars. Today, with some fairly dramatic ‘improvements,’ that ranch would go for five to seven million dollars. So much for the middle-class cowboy with a dream of owning his own spread. Until recently, it was still possible in many small towns like Moab, to own a small business and start from scratch and be successful at it. Even that dream is becoming elusive. With skyrocketing rents, and increased labor costs, and the need to create enormous inventories that still sit idle in the winter, only the most resilient (the wealthiest) can survive the inevitable ups and downs of the tourist industry. And that change has a direct effect on many-it puts people out of business, plain and simple. For others the effect is more subtle, but it’s a trickle down effect we all feel. Here at the Zephyr, we recently lost an ad that Jim Sarten and North American Rivers had run for almost 14 years. Jim liked the Z and always wanted to bea part of it. And it was only an eighth page ad. But he finally retired and sold the business to OARS, the largest river company in the West. I suppose the phone call that came last spring was inevitable. Somebody from corporate headquarters in California called me and wanted to see a copy of the ad. So] emailed him the latest cartoon ad and the next day, I got this: CANCEL all future ads. For once, I decided to inquire about their reasons; after all, the river company had been in the Zephyr for 14 years. I received a very terse reply. They explained that, “there isn’t enough ROI.” ROI? Thad to think a moment. What in the hell is ROI? And then it hit me—RETURN ON INVESTMENT. Their bi-monthly $95 ad wasn’t creating enough ROI. It was enough to make a publisher cry. 8... LOSING SOLITUDE By Martin Murie 12 ... SILVER BULLETS An ALERT on Fee Demo By Scott Silver 14 ...CASAS del NOCHE: A Truthful Tale By Katie Lee 16..CAROL CONTEMPLATES COWS: Bovine Interpretations from a Utah Artist By Carol Van Steeter “ONLY SCHAFER CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT" Monticello’s One-AND-Only Gene Schafer By Jim Stiles 20... MY CANYONLANDS' An Excerpt from a Desert Classic By Kent Frost So this seems to be the way things are going and I’m not sure there is anything we can do to change it. But it does seem to me that we should try. How many of us complain about Wal-Mart but still go there? How many still pass the mom & pop burger place and opt for a Whopper? And maybe it’s unrealistic to expect a chain store-addicted public to go cold turkey. I’ll even confess here and admit that there are times when I just can’t find what I’m looking for anywhere else BUT at a big ticket store. What I try to do is avoid the temptation to buy an item thatI know I can find at the local store-whether it’s groceries or film processing, or garden hose. It takes a little extra effort, but your friends will appreciate your support because, in a small town, your friends ARE the small business owners that are struggling to survive. 22..AROUND THE BEND AGAIN: By Ken Sleight Ken remembers his dear friend Harry Aleson anda Glen Canyon wedding 2 .. HARRY 6 DOTTIE’S WEDDING ALBUM photos by Edna Fridley of the last wedding in Glen Canyon 29 besa THE ZEPHYR BACKBONE REPERTORY CO. 30 es FEEDBACK: THE READERS RESPOND On 2039 AD...the future is here already...on reptiles... IRAQ FACTS...#1 I recently heard (yet again) that the regime of Saddam Hussein murdered 300,000 innocent civilians during his 20 year Reign of Terror. That is an average of 15,000 per year. Since the US-led Coalition forces invaded Iraq, a bit more than six months ago, it’s believed that more than 7,000 innocent civilians have died, and that is a low estimate. That would mean that the US presence in Iraq is causing the death of civilians at a rate that matches or exceeds Saddam. But according to the Administration, it’s not the same because we’re trying to liberate them. Am I missing something? And then there is this: Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, exasperated by yet another question about the death and destruction and violence in “post-war” Iraq, threw up his arms in frustration recently and said, “Look...it’s their country!” So let me get this straight: We invade Iraq, bomb their infrastructure to rubble, kill thousands of their citizens, propose to use their oil to rebuild all the damage we've done. We encourage a “free and democratic” government for them, as long as it is exactly the way we want it established. A riotous and infuriated Iraqi public openly vents its frustration, the U.S. Military starts to shut down dissent, just like Saddam. And now... And now...it’s their country? Is it just me? Or is this insane? SUBSCRIBE TO THE ZEPHYR SIX ISSUES (ONE YEAR): $15.. TWELVE ISSUES (TWO YEARS): $28 EIGHTEEN ISSUES (THREE YEARS): $40 NAME ADDRESS CIT ny STATE 6 9-DIGIT ZIP _ PLEASEREAD THIS! The Post Office will NOT forward 3rd Class mail. If you do not send us a change of address, we cannot be responsible for issues you did not receive. Subscriptions must begin with the next issue. Back issues are available at ridiculous prices. Call for a price list. Those readers who choose to take advantage of the multi-year discounts do so at their own risk. There is no guarantee that the world wil] be here in three years, let alone this publication. ANOTHER UTNE NOMINATION : I don’t know how this happened but The Zephyr received another Utne Independent Press Association nomination for best “Local/Regional Coverage.” Those Utne people may be completely out of their minds but I’m grateful just the same. Win or lose, we are honored. CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS ONLY TO: P.O. BOX 327, MOAB, UT 84532 = PAGE3 , | |