There are certain traditions around 50th wedding anniversaries – the whole family gathers, there’s a lot of white and gold in the decorations and maybe those little pastel nonpareil mints.
When Dick and Sandy Gibbs saw the big day approaching, they decided to honor the best of the traditions – the whole family gathering part – and turn everything else on its ear.
The festivities were held in Las Vegas, where the gang, including daughters Bonnie Goodman, and her husband, Parke; Nancy Wente and her husband, Don; and Sara Gibbs and her husband, Nathan Cook; along with the Gibbses’ grandchildren Julia and Mitchell Wente and Evynn Gibbs-Cook; took in the “Big Elvis” tribute show at Harrah’s.
It set the scene perfectly for the Gibbs family’s next stop, A Little White Wedding Chapel, where Big Elvis himself performed the ceremony for the renewal of their vows.
Sandy Gibbs tracked down a veil at the La Plata County Humane Society Thrift Store – it will soon be back there and available for the next blushing “bride.” The veil was draped over a hat the couple got in Thailand last year at the Rotary International Convention. (He was sporting a Thai hat, too, as were the aforementioned grandchildren.)
If you’re thinking you missed wishing the Gibbses all the best for their big day, you still have time, because the actual anniversary isn’t until Tuesday. Gathering a busy, spread-out family takes serious organizing in this day and age, and Labor Day weekend worked best for all.
But you’d better hurry, because this story has a bit of a melancholy ending. After 42 years in Durango, and 40 in the same house, the couple is moving.
They have been wintering in Cave Creek, Ariz., for the last several years. That happens to be near their middle daughter, Nancy.
Of course, the other two daughters, who both live in the Bozeman, Mont., area, have been campaigning for the Gibbses to spend summers near them. As Dick Gibbs puts it, “One thing kind of led to another,” and now they own a home down the block from oldest daughter Bonnie in Livingston, Mont.
It’s more of an “hasta la vista” than “adiós,” lucky for us, because they plan to be back for favorite events such as the Ragtime Festival at the Strater Hotel in March.
In the meantime, “The adventure continues,” as the Gibbses are both wont to say.
Here’s wishing you the best on your golden day, and “Happy Trails” as you move. Don’t be strangers.
HHH
Enjoying birthday cake with family and friends are Bruce Harris, A.J. Sidener, Ryan Meer, Emma Wales, Mary Butler, Sharon Kuhn, Jackie Honold, Ben Meyer, Karen Boots, Marie Maple, Jessica Widder, Mark Fleming, Robin Southworth, Sue Mages, Alexa Fleming, Kobe Szura, Billy Downey, Rose Hilgedick, Amy Raulston, Dee Booton, Curt Johnson, Kerri Joseph, Jaden Rambo, Molly Bertrand, Daren Caldwell, Max Harrison, Eric Meyer, Eric Pierson, John Ter Maat, Margaret Wilhite, Jennifer Daigle, Kelsey Esgar, Eli Parker, Christie Salter, Cindi Clay, Ginny Dignum, Brynn Nelson and Anika Nelson.
Very happy returns of the day for one of my favorite people, Cindy Cortese.
HHH
Since the Rolling Thunder Lanes opened at the Sky Ute Casino Resort, local bowling leagues have been back in action. On Aug. 18, the La Plata County Association of the U.S. Bowling Congress held its inaugural inductions into the local Hall of Fame.
I don’t “speak” league bowling lingo, so my descriptions will be short and sweet. But there are a lot of high numbers for series, lifetime averages, etc., among these inductees.
Ronald J. Johnson III had the distinction of winning the first-ever Youth Excellence on the Lanes. A recent graduate of Durango High School, he has been active on multiple association and league committees, including serving as president of his youth league. But Johnson was recognized for his bowling prowess. His high score in a sanctioned game is 279 – 300 is a perfect game – and last year he came in second at the state level for the Star of the Tomorrow Award.
Greg Allen and Dean Hudson have bragging rights as the honorees for Men’s Excellence on the Lanes.
Allen has been a sanctioned bowler on the lanes for 41 years as a member of other bowling leagues in cities across the country. He has scored a 300 game in his life not once, not twice, not three times, but a whopping 10 times.
Hudson has been a sanctioned bowler since 1964. Rolling Thunder Lanes have been a good home for him because he has achieved his lifetime highest game (290), lifetime highest series (773 in three games) and lifetime highest average (218 in 52 games) there.
Janey Silver and Jan Wesley were named the Women: Excellence on the Lanes Hall of Famers.
Silver has been bowling for more than 50 years and has served in every position in the association, some of them for decades. Her love of bowling began in fifth grade as an American Junior Bowling Congress league member at Basin Bowl. (Hey, that’s where I learned to bowl, too!) Her highest game is 257, and she has won too many tournaments to count. Silver also has the distinction of competing on Fort Lewis College’s one and only bowling team, which competed for one year before being cut because the Rodeo Club needed more funding.
Wesley has been bowling since she was 13, and coincidentally or not, that was her score in the first game she bowled. Her highest game is 299, a current high for all women at Rolling Thunder Lanes. She, too, has held numerous leadership positions and won numerous tournaments.
Jim Akin was the Men: Dedicated to Service honoree. He is the go-to guy for advice and knowledge on the rules of bowling. That may be because he has bowled around the world, or, at least in the United Kingdom and Germany, in addition to other leagues around the country. Almost everywhere he has bowled, Akin has served in leadership positions.
Louise White and Jennifer Robinson-Perry were the honorees as Women: Dedicated to Service.
Robinson-Perry’s induction was bittersweet, as she died the next day at the far-too-young age of 51. But since she started bowling in 1997, she had consistently volunteered to serve on boards as well as being a constant supporter of youth bowlers. An advocate for Bowlers to Veterans Link and Bowl for the Cure, she made bowling ball and shoe bags, key chains and other bowling-themed paraphernalia to help raise money.
White, an octogenarian, has achieved so much in bowling it’s impossible to know where to start.
In the spring, she will compete in her 50th Women’s Colorado State Tournament; she has been named to the Colorado Women’s Bowling Association’s Hall of Fame and led the BVL fundraising to a national per capita record three years in a row. And at least some of that time, there wasn’t a bowling alley to be seen in the county, but the fundraising continued.
Congratulations to all of you.
The league season started again this past week. The Women’s Bowling League needs bowlers, either teams of four or singles, who would like to bowl at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays in Ignacio. (And hey, it’s really not that far, folks.) Call 259-4697 to learn more.
HHH
Nothing says happy anniversary like a stroll along the Animas River hand-in-hand for Nick and Sandy Blaisdell, Butch and Karen Keller, Steve and Andrea Owen, David and Nancy Shipps, Kevin and Tabitha Heckman, Duane and Judy Danielson, Mac and Diane Curtis, Jake and Carrie Forsythe, Damen and Nancy McCaddon, Tom and Linda West, Ron and Julie Atkinson, Pete and Mindi Kondrat, Will and Millie Lacey, and Gary and Cathy Jones.
HHH
Here’s how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com; phone 375-4584; mail items to the Herald; or drop them off at the front desk. Please include contact numbers.
