There's something about Stagecoach

If this were the Old West, I fear the townsfolk of Stagecoach would have found this offense suitable enough to string up the newspaper editor. But I'm fortunate we live in more civilized times and my penalty was a stern talking-to at the hands of Gene Ray and Candy Yanke.

They drove in to Carson City after reading one of the numerous stories we ran last week about the visit of the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The show picked Steve and Mary Boettcher, founders of the Christian youth group Soul'd Out Ministries, as the recipient of the new house they and many local volunteers put up in a week's time.

In the story that upset so many Stagecoachians, the reporter described the scene the Hollywood production was driving into by mentioning a chorus of stray dogs, potholes and single-wide homes. It began with the now infamous words "Apache Drive ain't much to look at."

Fighting words.

They didn't sit well with Stagecoach residents. Candy sent a prompt letter that summarizes their objections: "He made Stagecoach look like some awful place to be. This community has wonderful people who work hard and care about others."

Other letters soon followed.

From Ron Hargett: "His condescending attitude towards this small community of hard working people who choose to escape the closeness of Carson City reveals his ignorance. We are not a collection of dilapidated single-wide mobile homes. Whether single or double-wide, the majority of us are proud of our homes. We all live on 1 acre or more. How close is your neighbor? The next door apartment?"

He also suggested our reporter steer clear of Apache Drive. "We have enough stray dogs and Jackasses already!"

There were other letters, too, but I think you get the point.

The reaction caught us by surprise. While the scene the reporter described couldn't be described as positive, it hadn't occurred to us that it was that different than many other scenes from Carson City eastward. It seemed like the Nevada we know and love, with one difference: This scene would be brought alive in the following days, and following stories, by the outpouring of community spirit brought on by the visit of Extreme Makeover.

Few things catch me off guard after so many years in journalism, but the reaction from Stagecoach was one of them. When I thought about why, it occurred to me that it's because you just don't meet many people who still have that kind of pride in their community. People move often these days and the community events that cemented ties between neighbors are less common, the victims of busy families and, unfortunately, inane TV shows that keep people inside.

So what I wanted to know is, what is it about Stagecoach that inspires the kind of pride that makes two busy people take the time to drive all the way to the newspaper office in Carson City to give the editor a piece of their mind? And, for the record, the two were representing several other people who had the urge to drive here themselves ("we told them we'd go talk to them," said Candy).

I'm not naive enough to tell you I have an answer to that question ... you'd have to live there to be qualified for that task and even then I suspect this is one of those things that words can't fully express. Nevertheless, some days after they'd visited me at the Appeal, I called both back and put the question to the experts.

Gene, who moved to Stagecoach about three years ago from Lake Tahoe, put it simply: "This is a small town where people care about their neighbors."

Very small, he added: "This is not just a wide spot in the road, it's a semi-wide spot."

Those neighbors include judges, doctors, lawyers, state workers and blue-collar workers, all of whom deem the commute to their jobs a worthy sacrifice for the privilege of living in Stagecoach.

Gene buys his groceries in Dayton, and goes to church there, too. It's a 30-mile round trip, but he doesn't mind.

"I don't think I'd trade off having commercial whatever for the quiet we have now."

He's met all his neighbors, usually as they walk by his house. Sometimes as they ride horses by his house. Sometimes wild horses eat the grass in his front yard (and he's happy to have them).

"It's just a beautiful small town that gives you a good feeling every time you walk out that door," he said. "We're all proud of the fact that we live there."

For Yanke, Stagecoach is "kind of how Carson used to be."

"We take it easy out here ... we enjoy every minute of the day out here."

"It's like a big family," said Candy, who's lived there 22 years and works at Slidin' Clyde's Bar. "Everyone is willing to help people when something goes wrong."

"We get a bad rap and that (the newspaper story) just kind of set us off a little."

So, officially, I'd like to set the record straight on Stagecoach, but that's best done by a resident of Stagecoach.

You don't hear stray dogs barking when you come home from work, Candy said. "You hear the birds in the summertime ... you're comfortable out here."

And, she noted, they may not have lots of paved roads, but the ones they do have aren't full of potholes.

I don't think the Appeal will make that mistake again soon.

• Barry Ginter is editor of the Appeal. You can reach him at 881-1221, or via e-mail at bginter@nevadaappeal.com