Name: Norm Fedel
Age: 93
Lives in: Ouray
So, I hear you’ve lived here your whole life.
Yeah, the only time I was away was four years in the service during the Korean War. That was in ‘51, way back. I graduated from high school here in ‘50.
What do you love most about living in Ouray?
I don’t see how anybody couldn’t like living here. When I used to be able to get around real good, we used to go mushroom hunting, elk hunting, fishing, we used to hike a lot.
What else did you do in your free time?
At one time they had a dance hall down in Cow Creek. And every Saturday night through the summer months, they’d have a dance out there. Yeah, we never missed one of them either, because myself and my wife, boy, we’d go dance and start at nine and wouldn’t quit till two.
It was kind of wild out there.
You’ve probably heard of Baby Bathtubs. Well, I lived close to there. So, summertime when I was young, about fourth, fifth grade, we used to go up there and skinny dip in there. Oh yeah, because, boy, that old rock was just so slick.
What do you think is the thing that’s changed the most about Ouray in your lifetime?
In those days, transportation wasn’t like now. If you had a car, you was lucky. And of course, almost everybody had something to do with mining, yeah, either working inside or outside. And that road of gold to Silverton was a dandy. Back in those days, they used to run the Idarado up there ’round the clock, and they did.
Until I got into high school I made one trip to Montrose, I think, in all that time. My dad had an old car and one year we decided to go to Montrose and he used to take about eight hours to go down and come back because of that old road.
It took you a long time to get to Montrose because very seldom anybody would go down.
What did you do for work?
One year, when I was in high school, they used to hire us, anybody who was 16, they’d hire us up to go out, do work outside. They’d hire six from Silverton, because they was there, and six from Ouray, and I was lucky to get one of the spots. Oh boy, everybody wanted that job because they were paying $1 an hour. That was at the mine. Boy, you make $6 a day. I worked in the mines, but four different years, I worked at Idarado. I worked underground there for a while. I did some mining.
What is something you wish to tell the younger generation in Ouray?
Well, you know the way things are today is, you know, make sure that you stay out of that junk. You know what I mean.
And if they decide to go to college, do what you’re supposed to do over there. Because, you know, nowadays, boy, a lot of people, they just go for fun.
But, yeah, it was really a fine time to go through life. I grew up at just the right time.
Lifelong Ouray resident Norm Fedel poses for a photo with two of his great-grandchildren, Eliana and Atticus, who also live in Ouray. Photo courtesy Alyssa Fedel
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Editor’s note: During focus group discussions we held earlier this year, to gather feedback for our upcoming redesign of the newspaper, we heard from some Plaindealer readers that they wanted to see more “regular people” in the newspaper. They want to know more about who else lives here in the community. So, in response, we have started an occasional feature called “meet your neighbor.” If you would like to be featured or you know a Ouray County resident who would make a good candidate, please email erin@ouraynews. com.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
