Greetings,
I am new to the forum, know a few of you, and would be happy to meet others.
My name is Larrey Riddle and I am the economic development director for Wolfe County. While I am an outsider (and probably always will be) I have moved my family here and have grown to love and respect the people of the region.
I am trying to take a very different approach to community and economic development. Rather than chasing large corporations (along with 10,000 other communities in the U.S.) I am working with entrepreneurs and small businesses to create sustainable local economies. If such ideas interest you, I would reccommend "Going Local:Creating self-reliant communities in a global age, " by Michael H. Shuman (ISBN 0-415-92768-4)
Since many of those businesses cater to, or have been started by climbers, I thought I would visit your site.
If you love the area as much as I do, and have toyed with an idea of starting or moving a business here, please stop by and visit. My office is in Campton and the phone there is 606.668.8010
It's fun to come to the gorge to visit. It's even more fun to live here.
Kind Regards,
Larrey Riddle
Introductions
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Larrey Riddle
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:11 pm
Introductions
If enough of us create our own corporations based on a new vision of social responsibility, and if we choose to buy and invest in these firms, other corporations will either adapt or die.
Several people on the site operate or are in the process of starting up a small business outside of the red.
RRO is operating http://www.redriveroutdoors.com/
RRO is operating http://www.redriveroutdoors.com/
"there's a line between self improvement and self involvement"
"Dogs are nature's pooper scoopers ."
"Dogs are nature's pooper scoopers ."
Welcome to Red River Climbing! I hope to someday buy some land and build a cabin in beautiful Wolfe County! Currently Wolfe County is my weekend home (away from the flat cornfields of Indiana).
"Those iron spikes you use have shortened the life expectancy of the Totem Pole by 50,000 years."
--A Navaho elder
--A Navaho elder
Hi Larry,
Rick here. Welcome to the RRC website. As you recall, a few weeks back you and I discussed new potential "visitor" income for Wolfe County. The climbing venues in Wolfe County include Roadside, Torrent Falls, Muir Valley, and a few other smaller locations. With the growing interest in Muir Valley, Wolfe County small businesses should see an increase in income from climbers who lodge and purchase food and supplies here. In its first year we've registered over 400 new visitors to the Valley. Many of these climbers came from other venues in Powel, Lee, and Breathitt counties, as well as from areas outside Kentucky. Many have returned several times to this area.
Although Wolfe County has only 6500 residents and sits near the bottom of Kentucky's economic ladder, visitors quickly discover that it is, as sign reads, "the friendliest county in the mountains."
My wife and I have fallen in love with this little piece of Kentucky and with the local residents. Wolfe County offers visitors a refuge of spectacular natural beauty -- gorges, waterfalls, caves, creeks, wildflowers, wildlife, and of course, some of the best rock climbing crags in the country.
Several new lodges and bed-and-breakfasts are being built here and will be opening soon. Climbers -- stay tuned.
Larry, one little tip about rock climbers posting on this website. Especially to us older folks, some of them may seem a bit irreverent at times with their postings, but most are really decent young people when you meet them face to face. It's just a sign of the times. You and I grew up with "Leave it to Beaver". For the new generation, it was "Bevis and Butthead."
Rick
Rick here. Welcome to the RRC website. As you recall, a few weeks back you and I discussed new potential "visitor" income for Wolfe County. The climbing venues in Wolfe County include Roadside, Torrent Falls, Muir Valley, and a few other smaller locations. With the growing interest in Muir Valley, Wolfe County small businesses should see an increase in income from climbers who lodge and purchase food and supplies here. In its first year we've registered over 400 new visitors to the Valley. Many of these climbers came from other venues in Powel, Lee, and Breathitt counties, as well as from areas outside Kentucky. Many have returned several times to this area.
Although Wolfe County has only 6500 residents and sits near the bottom of Kentucky's economic ladder, visitors quickly discover that it is, as sign reads, "the friendliest county in the mountains."
My wife and I have fallen in love with this little piece of Kentucky and with the local residents. Wolfe County offers visitors a refuge of spectacular natural beauty -- gorges, waterfalls, caves, creeks, wildflowers, wildlife, and of course, some of the best rock climbing crags in the country.
Several new lodges and bed-and-breakfasts are being built here and will be opening soon. Climbers -- stay tuned.
Larry, one little tip about rock climbers posting on this website. Especially to us older folks, some of them may seem a bit irreverent at times with their postings, but most are really decent young people when you meet them face to face. It's just a sign of the times. You and I grew up with "Leave it to Beaver". For the new generation, it was "Bevis and Butthead."
Rick
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. - Randy Pausch
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. - Henry David Thoreau
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. - Henry David Thoreau
It's too bad that many of the residents of Wolfe County don't realize the treasure that they have in their own back yard. I've observed that many would rather dump their garbage over the sides of the cliffs and trash the beautiful scenery with junk. Maybe something could be done about this? Some kind of enforcement or fine? Evidentally this practice is common and tolerated. 
"Those iron spikes you use have shortened the life expectancy of the Totem Pole by 50,000 years."
--A Navaho elder
--A Navaho elder
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Larrey Riddle
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:11 pm
Rick writes:
"My wife and I have fallen in love with this little piece of Kentucky and with the local residents. Wolfe County offers visitors a refuge of spectacular natural beauty -- gorges, waterfalls, caves, creeks, wildflowers, wildlife, and of course, some of the best rock climbing crags in the country."
Rick, I'm going to annoint you and your wife as the poster children of people moving to wolfe county.
And then Rick wrote:
Larry, one little tip about rock climbers posting on this website. Especially to us older folks, some of them may seem a bit irreverent at times with their postings, but most are really decent young people when you meet them face to face. It's just a sign of the times. You and I grew up with "Leave it to Beaver". For the new generation, it was "Bevis and Butthead."
I may have grown up watching the Beav, but these days I definately prefer "South Park." Besides no one age group has the market cornered on "irreverent."
Irreverently yours,
Larrey
"My wife and I have fallen in love with this little piece of Kentucky and with the local residents. Wolfe County offers visitors a refuge of spectacular natural beauty -- gorges, waterfalls, caves, creeks, wildflowers, wildlife, and of course, some of the best rock climbing crags in the country."
Rick, I'm going to annoint you and your wife as the poster children of people moving to wolfe county.
And then Rick wrote:
Larry, one little tip about rock climbers posting on this website. Especially to us older folks, some of them may seem a bit irreverent at times with their postings, but most are really decent young people when you meet them face to face. It's just a sign of the times. You and I grew up with "Leave it to Beaver". For the new generation, it was "Bevis and Butthead."
I may have grown up watching the Beav, but these days I definately prefer "South Park." Besides no one age group has the market cornered on "irreverent."
Irreverently yours,
Larrey
If enough of us create our own corporations based on a new vision of social responsibility, and if we choose to buy and invest in these firms, other corporations will either adapt or die.
-
Larrey Riddle
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:11 pm
J Rock,
Last year I did a survey of over three hundred wolfe county residents. One of the qquestions I asked them was "What do you cherish most about Wolfe County?" The overwhelming majority of them (90%) said it was the natural beauty of the county that they cherished most.
The judge executive of wolfe county, Raymond Hurst, has been aggresively prosecuting people for illegal dumping. Until the county get their collective heads around mandatory garbage collection, it is going to continue to be a problem. MGC is coming, though.
Larrey
Last year I did a survey of over three hundred wolfe county residents. One of the qquestions I asked them was "What do you cherish most about Wolfe County?" The overwhelming majority of them (90%) said it was the natural beauty of the county that they cherished most.
The judge executive of wolfe county, Raymond Hurst, has been aggresively prosecuting people for illegal dumping. Until the county get their collective heads around mandatory garbage collection, it is going to continue to be a problem. MGC is coming, though.
Larrey
If enough of us create our own corporations based on a new vision of social responsibility, and if we choose to buy and invest in these firms, other corporations will either adapt or die.
Larrey, thank you for the response. There truly is a great abundance of natural beauty in Wolfe County and it would be a terrible shame to trash it because of problems with garbage collection.
"Those iron spikes you use have shortened the life expectancy of the Totem Pole by 50,000 years."
--A Navaho elder
--A Navaho elder