Saguache County Stories, a podcast of the Northern Saguache County Library District, where we explore the evolution and history of the land and people of the Northern San Luis Valley.
Season 1: Finding Home
Finding Home are stories, collected through personal recorded interviews, highlighting how Saguache County residents have creatively built small / simple / off-grid / alternative construction / natural material homes, in an effort to keep the costs manageable and/or to inspire future home builders. Also included are stories about the history and care of unique historic homes and places.
Goldie Mariola
Earthship Building: A New Model For Retirement
In this podcast interview Goldie Mariola shares her years-long journey to build an Earthship home in the Baca Grande subdivision outside of Crestone, CO. The process she endeavored to do with her partner involved building each summer for a number of years and paying for the building as it progressed. Now completed and fully paid for, Goldie’s home is regularly featured in the home tours for the Crestone Energy Fair, an event that highlights alternative building practices. This is the link to a slide presentation expanding on Goldie’s story with images highlighting her building process. Listen to her 9-minute podcast interview. For those who would like subtitles follow this YouTube link to see a captioned version of the podcast. Also keep up with the latest podcast episodes on Facebook. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Richard Trotter
A Dream Home With A History
In this podcast interview Richard Trotter shares his journey to Saguache and his desire to buy a house that became his forever home. Richard shares the history about the house reading from The Saguache County Museum publication Images Of The Past Volume IV —People, Places, Events, available from the museum during the summer season. All seven volumes of Images Of The Past are available for loan at the Saguache Library branch. This is the link to a few images highlighting Richard’s historic home. Listen to his 14-minute podcast interview. For those who would like subtitles follow this YouTube link to see a captioned version of the podcast. Also keep up with the latest podcast episodes on Facebook. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Wade Lockhart
A Strawbale Home: An Owner’s Journey
In this podcast interview Wade Lockhart shares his journey to the San Luis Valley and his process for completing his straw bale home. Wade— who first lived in a camper, then the garage he built—paid for his home as he built it. The process was at times stressful for the compounding fees imposed by the POA for building extensions, but in the end Wade finished his home build debt-free. This is the link to a slide presentation with images highlighting Wade’s home. Listen to his 15-minute podcast interview. For those who would like subtitles follow this YouTube link to see a captioned version of the podcast. Also keep up with the latest podcast episodes on Facebook. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Suzanne Rougé
From Home Depot to Alternative Earthship Home Builder
In this podcast interview Suzanne Rougé describes her vision for an Earthship in the San Luis Valley that she plans to build and why she believes this type of house is important for the future of sustainability. Her journey of becoming a self-taught builder began in her 40’s when she took classes at Home Depot and volunteered on numerous building projects in Colorado and abroad. Her goal of retiring with a smaller footprint is one that she hopes will inspire others to follow in her footsteps. Enjoy Suzanne’s 19-minute podcast interview. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Mae Folsom
A Dream of Affordable Housing
In this podcast interview Mae Folsom describes how she came to live in the KV Estates back in 2000. She shares some of the issues that the KV HOA has faced through the years from the cannabis boom to water installation. Mae also shares the ways that she has contributed to creating affordable housing in the KV. As the KV HOA Board President, Mae’s dream is to create a real sense of community in the KV Estates and develop even more affordable housing opportunities for Saguache County residents. Listen to her 16-minute podcast interview. For those who would like subtitles follow this YouTube link to see a captioned version of the podcast. Also keep up with the latest podcast episodes on Facebook. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Christine Gingrich DeMendez
Creating a Zero Waste Lifestyle
In this podcast interview Christine Gingrich de Mendez shares the process she went through to create her life here in the San Luis Valley. With the goal of zero waste and no bills, she and her husband built a tiny straw bale house utilizing conventional insulation and solar power to create an off-grid, no-mortgage home in the community that is Crestone, Colorado. Enjoy Christine’s 19-minute podcast interview. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Jae Sanders
Searching for Sovereignty and Security
In Episode 7 of our Finding Home Series, local resident Jae Sanders discusses how displacement and codes affect many in the United States and how her personal journey led her to call Saguache County home. Jae currently owns property in KV Estates and plans on building a custom made home using locally sourced, natural materials. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Deb Skadberg
Four Horses, Four Kids and Forty Dollars
Deb Skadberg brings us along on her journey from North Dakota to Colorado in a handbuilt stagecoach with her husband and four children in the 1980s, as she describes their once in a lifetime adventures that led them to Saguache County. This podcast is made possible in part through a generous Saguache County Sales Tax Grant. Music created by Lydia Schultz Sprouts & Rob Treaphort with Golden Turtle Sound. Concept development by Maureen Eich VanWalleghan with Dusty Dog Films along with the staff of the Northern Saguache County Library District. If you would like to share your story, have questions, or would like to reserve your spot at an interview event—email Eden at edenelderberry@nsclibrarydistrict.org or call the Saguache Public Library at 719.655.2551.
Delores Worley
Origin Stories
In this episode we get to hear Delores Worley tell her story about how she ended up in Saguache, Colorado. She has lived such a rich and full life and this episode will try to highlight a brief snapshot of her life. She’s been a resident of Saguache for 50 years and is still going strong at 96. You can often see her out and about in Saguache with her patented walking stick.
Peggy Godfrey
Creating Culture: A Colorful Pair of Suspenders w/ Peggy Godfrey
This interview is featured in our new journal Rough Around the Edges. For a condensed paper copy of this, more poetry, art and stories from Saguache County residents visit either branch of the Northern Saguache County Library District.
Peggy Godfrey grew up in Homer, Louisiana, and bought her first horse, a Welsh pony named Mike, when she was in sixth grade. She raised the money picking and selling dewberries for 25 cents a quart. But it wasn’t until after she moved to Taos, New Mexico with her first husband and recognized the smell of sweet clover from her childhood that Peggy knew the West was home. She bought her first milk cow, a cow named April, in 1974. Her father-in-law became her mentor, because she wanted to learn everything she could from him about equipment maintenance and operation. By the late ’80s, after her first divorce Taos began to feel a little too crowded. She remarried and moved to Moffat, where she continued raising cattle and baling hay.
Once she’d settled in Moffat, she joined a writing group in Alamosa. But it wasn’t until somebody saw one of her poems in the Saguache Crescent, and said, “Oh you’re a cowboy poet,” that Peggy even knew that was a thing. Then a librarian in Alamosa asked her to help out at a cowboy poetry gathering in Alamosa, and Peggy began to understand it was a big thing. Since then she’s written five books of poetry, recorded a cd, and a dvd, and performed her work at ranching celebrations and gatherings all over the southwest.
But ranching is a very hard life. By the time I’d met her and invited her to read her work at the library for our patrons, I was a bit shocked at the toll that age and lifting so many bales of hay had taken on her body. When I reached out to Peggy to ask if she had any new work to share with this magazine, I learned she’d moved into assisted living. “Writing is off the table for now,” Peggy told me.
I couldn’t quite believe her. So I arranged to record a conversation. When I arrived and set up a microphone, she began by reading a poem from her last book Stretch Marks.
Everett Wilson
Branch Manager
Baca Grande Library