Circa Mid-1950’s

Who’s to say for sure if Edward Abbey got the idea from these guys or not!  The parallels seem all too familiar not to, and since The Monkey Wrench Gang* was published in 1975, nearly 20 years later, it could be possible.  In Abbey’s book one of the main characters was a successful doctor who drove big cars and wanted to protect the environment while doing it harm and making money from it.  His friends were a blend of characters just like the local rebels.  I asked one of the members of our gang, Katie Lee, if it was possible they inspired Abbey, but she could not confirm it although she and Abbey were friends and often partners in crime if only on paper.

It would be unfair to call Aspen’s Eco-Warriors a Monkey Wrench Gang, but had Abbey not used the term first and “if the shoe fits,” well; you know where I am going with this.   The ring leader was none other than Dr. Robert “Bugsy” Barnard along with one of the country’s longest surviving environmentalists, Katie Lee.  In addition to being an environmentalist she is also a folk singer, actress, and author.  A local by the name of “Remo” was also a part of the mischievousness. Long time Aspenite, Dean Billings, was the fourth member of the group.

Who knows if the idea was borne out of a strong desire to save the planet any more than from a drunken conversation among friends.  All that is known is one night without warning every billboard between Aspen and Glenwood Springs was either sawed down or burned to the ground.  Nary had a single sign survived the slaughter.  The gang got away with it, never to be arrested or convicted, but everyone knew who had done it.  Secrets in Aspen were rare in the 1950’s especially when they were never intended to be secrets in the first place.  Katie recently told me her thoughts on the subject, “Buggsy, Dean, Remo were among those of us who felt the same about stupid encroachment on our world of beauty.”

Buggsy has a colorful past from his years in Aspen if not before or after.  His antics gained him friends and enemies alike and often contradicted prior or future acts of rebellion.  He loved cars, driving fast, real-estate, politics, money and other men’s wives.  Often those did not align with his daily activities, but Buggsy was after all focused on whatever he set out to do.  You can draw your own conclusions about the man as I already have, and in my situation I choose to keep them to myself.  Suffice to say, years later Bugsy met an untimely death at the hands of another person.  That crime was never solved but that leaves me room for another story or two, stay tuned.

 

*The Monkey Wrench Gang (ISBN: ISBN 0-397-01084-2) is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey (1927–1989), published in 1975.  The novel describes the use of sabotage to protect the environment from damaging activities in the American Southwest.  The term “monkey wrench” has come to mean, besides sabotage and damage to machines, any violence, activism, law-making, or law-breaking to preserve wilderness, wild spaces and ecosystems.  The characters in the book tend to contradict themselves by their very existence.

For another fun “Busgy” story, click here!

1946 – 1968

Although the family grocery store had been in business since the mid-1880’s a time came where an additional service was needed by the local community.  World War II had just ended and the men were coming home. Aspen’s population was also on the rise with an influx of families from all over the world including former enemies who were now friends, from Eastern Europe and beyond.  Aspen was growing and with it new businesses was opening every day.

Aspen’s skiing industry was just taking shape.  Germans, Austrians and Swiss expatriates were moving here for the skiing and due to the welcome reception they were getting in a valley that reminded many of them of the homes they had left behind during the war.  Refrigeration technologies were still in the “ice age” if you will and no one knew more about it than Lawrence Elisha.  Lawrence along with Henry Beck and Albert Bishop, the owners of the “Beck & Bishop” grocery store, formed a partnership and opened “The Frozen Food Locker Plant.”

At the time the grocery store occupied about a third of the ground floor of the Wheeler Opera House building along with some storage space in the basement.  The rest of the main floor sat empty and it was a perfect location for The Frozen Food Locker Plant.  Although there was no storefront for this new venture the three partners knew they could easily run the business from the back of the building and through the butcher’s department in the grocery store.

It was a big undertaking to get the business off the ground.  A large compressor with ammonia as the coolant was installed along with a large loading dock.  Over the loading dock a new crane with rails back into the freezer was also installed. The meat locker had a number of rooms: one was for “fast” freezing the meat, another was for cold storage and another was for aging the meat at a slightly warmer temperature.  Even more space was needed for skinning the animals and processing the meats. 

In a relatively short period of time the business grew to become a very busy place and was supporting just about every restaurant and family in the valley.  Customers could rent drawers that were about 13 cubic feet (3ft x 2.5ft x 18in) to store their meats until they needed them.  They also offered a service of skinning, processing, aging and storing wild game meats; although, all the tools used for those meats had to be thoroughly cleaned before and after use to ensure that no domestic meats could be contaminated.  All meat processing work was done at night after the grocery store had closed for the day.  For special cuts of meat, the customers could put in their orders and pick them up the next day from the butcher’s counter in the grocery store.

The “fast” freezer room was a 10 foot by 10 foot room and it was used to freeze the meats for about 10 to 12 hours at -20 degrees.  From there the meats could be moved in to the regular freezer that was kept at a constant 0 to 10 degrees.  The regular freezer was where the customers’ drawers were located as well as some of the hanging meats that were not in the warmer aging room.  The warmer section was where the half-cows the store purchased were kept hanging as well as the wild game until processed.

Customers could even bring in their game meat to have the pelts removed and discarded or returned to them.  The store charged a flat fee for this service which was usually done by my father except during very busy times.  Once removed, the skins would be coated in salt and rolled up.  The pelts, or skins, would also be available for other business or individuals if the original customer had no use for them.  Processing and storing the pelts was one of the “worst” aspects of the job according to my dad.  On one occasion my father skinned 20 deer in a single night, setting a personal record.

In processing the meat special care was made to ensure that no contamination ever took place.  Not only were the utensils cleaned between processing game meats and domestic beef, but there was a separate set of tools and butcher’s blocks to process the poultry as well.  Back then, hamburger meat came to the store “un-ground” in large boxes.  The meat was ground based on customer requirements and was always the highest quality and free from food borne contaminates commonly found today.

During very busy times the work became a family effort.  Even the kids were asked to help.  My mother had the best handwriting of anyone and was always asked to do the package labeling.  The kids helped keep the place clean while the others did the processing and heavy lifting.

Another service The Frozen Food Locker Plant provided was to the local game warden.  Whenever an animal was confiscated it would be brought to the Meat Locker where the evidence was removed and stored and the meat was processed and given to needy families or to the hospital.

The Frozen Food Locker Plant provided a valuable service to the local restaurants and families alike for nearly 22 years, only closing its doors when the grocery store was sold.  The Wheeler Opera House was long overdue for extensive renovation and the partners knew its time had come.  Aspen’s history is filled with stories of local businesses that have come and gone; sadly, many of them have been long forgotten.

Many of my stories are about singular events or about the people and places we all grew up with.  This story tells of a great business, the people who worked there and the many who benefited from it.  I am proud of my family’s history that dates back to 1883 when we came to town.  This story is one of my favorites.