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Steve Kieper: Why I’m thankful to live in the ‘Boat

A friend asked me to list what I was thankful for during this season. I wrote them and hopefully you can include it in your letters to the editor. I am trying to illustrate what a great town Steamboat is.

• I am thankful to have you as a Facebook friend.

• I am thankful that my wife, and I had seven winters to spend in your town



• I am thankful that I was able to serve kiddos in the kids ski school café in Thunderhead.

• I am thankful for my life partner and wife.



• I am thankful for the friends I made in the ‘Boat.

• I am thankful for the health I had to be able to go to the ‘Boat.

• I am thankful for the “bosses” I had in while working for Steamboat. They were great, the best ever.

• I am thankful that I was able to make the kiddos in the ski school laugh even though many of the ski school supervisors did not like me because I was “too slow.”

• I am thankful that I was able to make the children happy even though I have Parkinson’s.

• I am thankful for being a lodge host at Thunderhead. One of my most memorable experiences was when an Australian woman came in with very cold feet. I warmed her boots with the hand drier, and she gave me a hug. A little later a Florida couple came in, and the wife was in tears from cold feet. She had two pair of cotton socks on. I explained why that was not a good idea, warmed her boots with the hand drier and recommended some moisture wicking socks from the store. Her husband gave me a hug. What more could I ask in a day?

• I am thankful for the wonderful people I met while in the ‘Boat, including Magic Man and his wife, Bev, Christina, Sheri, Chuck and his wife, Griz and many others.

• I am thankful for some of the kids in ski school that used to laugh at my jokes. Sometimes, I would tell them that I picked the hot dogs underneath the lift in the morning. That got lots of strange looks obviously. I enjoyed their responses.

• I am thankful that I was able to make a video of the first annual Ski for Parkinson’s event.

• I am thankful for meeting Bill Root, a ski instructor and fellow Parkinsonian now deceased.

• I am thankful for my wife and my trips home visiting Moab, Dinosaur Monument, the Great Dunes, Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs, Poudre Canyon, Fort Collins, Garden of the Gods, Laramie and so many others.

• I am very thankful for the Parkinson’s support group in Steamboat which remains unparalleled.

Steve Keiper

Steamboat Springs


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