Credit Where it is Due
January 4th, 2009Posted in Skiing in Luxo-land
I’ve been critical of the concept of the Yellowstone Club and other high end real estate developments. I stand by my criticism of their excesses and the ripple effect of escalating nearby property values that prices average income people out of communities at or near ski areas.
Tonight I learned, through a Yellowstone Club member, of something that speaks well of some of the members of the Yellowstone Club. On New year’s Eve, Warren Miller and his wife hosted a party at which a couple of YC members decided to hold a spur of the moment fundraiser for the Montana Community Foundations Big Sky LIFT program which provides one time grants for immediate help with such essentials as medical expenses, food, utility bills and rent to people in the Big Sky area adversely affected by local layoffs and business closures.
Gratified by the generosity and success they found at the Millers, the instigators of this impromptu fund raising moved on to the Yellowstone Club’s official New Year’s Eve Party and sprung their fund raising pitch on the members there. Success and more generosity was again found.
My understanding is that many tens of thousands of dollars were raised at each party. I salute and honor all who gave generously.
Troy commented:
Fred,
Thanks for acknowledging this. Most of the members are good people. As in any cross section, there are differences. But, if I were to generalize, I would say the vast majority of the members are concerened with the same things that everyone else is…
We all want to limit pain and suffering we all want to see prosperity and we all want a safe and secure future for our children. Some of us have different ideas about how to go about it, but, that’s what makes life interesting.
One thing that I value much more than money, is time. My time is valuable. Only so much of it in life and it seems to be gaining speed. It raises my spirit to see people donate their time to help where they can. In the case of LIFT, Loren Bough has given a considerable amount of his time (as well as his money) to get that off the ground. He cares deeply about the community and contributes greatly to its support and viability.
There are many others, club members, and non club members who also donate their time and money to causes like this. I applaud them all.
Rather than whine about what’s wrong, we should all do what we can to fix it. Otherwise, it’s just noise and eventually everyone gets irritated by it.
One of the things that really got me going on these blogs, was all the negative associations and assumptions…
I am not a bad person. I take no joy in anyone getting taken advantage of or hurt. So, why are we being labled by people that don’t know us? We’re all just trying to achieve our dreams and get through this bewildering thing called life.
It hurts and offends me for someone to say “good for him. He got what he deserved!” This is something that has been repeated over and over on a number of blogs lately.
If some have a problem with the Yellowstone Club, fine… We all do. But just as I would NEVER say “I’m glad all of those subprime borrowers are defaulting and losing their homes”, it’s not right to take joy in the members of the club that are being harmed by the bankruptcy.
Let’s all just be human and try to understand each other rather than point fingers, make assumptions, and clap when someone is harmed.
Another point, I applaud people like you that not only say what they’re thinking, but are also willing to listen. It’s by listening that we all learn.