Steamboat Pilot & Today

Locals 2007

Locals 2007 - a celebration of our favorite personalities.

Steamboat Springs — Kathy and Terry Stokes have a classic Steamboat love story.

In 1981, Kathy was on a road trip with friends and stopped in Steamboat. Instead of continuing on the trip, Kathy decided to invest her last $450 on a ski pass. The investment paid off.

She got a job in a restaurant at the base area and stayed in housing for employees at the Iron Horse Inn.

"It was 18 rooms of guys," Kathy said. "I was the only girl in that hotel for the season."

She was raised in Massachusetts, and before going on her road trip, she vowed not to fall in love with a man from halfway across the country. Instead, she met Terry - who was from all the way across the country.

Terry was from California, had just returned from a trip to Europe and was living at the same hotel as Kathy in Steamboat. Terry also worked with her during the same breakfast and lunch shift at the restaurant.

"You learn a lot about someone buttering toast with them at six in the morning," Terry said.

Sharing the same shift also meant they could play together.

"We rode a lot of chairlifts together," Terry said.

The fell in love, got married and moved to Terry's hometown, where they owned and operated a 7-11 store.

Then two kids were born. Kevin is now 16, and Katelyn is 18 and works as a snowboard instructor at Steamboat Ski Area. The couple did not want to raise their kids in California and returned to Steamboat.

They opened an independently owned and operated PostNet franchise in 1997 and for nearly 10 years have been keeping up with the needs of the business community. Of the nearly 1,000 PostNet franchises, the Stokes' store has generated the most revenue every year since 2002.

In 2004, The Stokes' PostNet franchise was named Steamboat's Business of the Year.