Myers, Orville

If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to   Orville Myers was born on October 6, 1927 in Olney, Illinois. Orville looked around the Canon City area in the 1940's, thought there was some pretty country, and moved to Pueblo. He first saw Beulah in 1951 when he passed through on a fishing trip. "I liked what I saw!"  Orville has been here ever since. Orville was married to Helen Joyce Fritchley from 1950 to 1955. Orville's son, Ronald Joseph Myers went to school in Beulah, has been with the Forest Service for 25 years, now lives in Santa Fe, and Orville gets to see him every few weeks. "I don't know how he gets so much time off work," Orville explained, "but I like seeing him, and now he's bought a house near the Catholic Church in Beulah." Orville has a grandson, William, who works at a radio station in Seattle, Washington.       

Orville remembers back to dances at the Gay Way that he watched, "because I lived close by at the time." Orville explained, "but I didn't actually go". He laughed and shared what was going on outside the dances. "There was always a Sheriff present at the dances. There was this real old one. The boys would jack up his Sheriff's car so that the tires were just a little bit off the ground. When the Sheriff tried to chase them, he would just spin out and couldn't chase after the boys. I don't know how many times I saw that happen. It must have been the favorite pastime around here!"     Orville embraces history. He studies it, does historical research on Colorado (especially around Beulah), graciously shares his knowledge with others, and enthusiastically enjoys doing research on his family. "I was in school as a boy," Orville remembers, "and saw this picture right at the front of my history book. It was a picture of a dog and it said, 'Beware the dog'. I always remembered that picture and you know, I saw it again. It was in old Pompeii when I was in the service. I saw the actual plaque. So I volunteered to study history while stationed there, and that got me out of KP duty." Orville also shared a story about Mary Hughlitt, who while making a trip to Colorado from Kansas in 1872 in a covered wagon, was almost ambushed by Indians. She was part of a 40-wagon caravan near Rocky Point, a spot on the trail, when word was received by the leader of the caravan that the wagon train a day ahead had been ambushed by Indians and the people massacred. mary Hughlitt hid her baby in a feather bed when a band of warriors appeared. They ended up bargaining for tobacco and nobody was hurt. The baby hidden in the feather bed was Francis L. Hughlitt, an early pioneer of Beulah who served on the Beulah Water Board in 1939.       

Orville enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1945. He reached Europe in 1946 after the shooting ended, but remembers the terrible destruction that had taken place. "On the island of Capri I met the son and daughter of Mussolini. The son was playing the piano at a restaurant and the daughter was charging twenty-five cents to tour their home." Orville went on to spend a year in Tripoli, North Africa, then was discharged in 1948. From  1960 to 1973 Orville was a Cub Master, Scout Master, and Commissioner in Boy Scouts. In 1964 he organized a Rifle Club associated with the NRA.       

Orville was in his first stage play, "The Whole Town Laughing" a farce,  not realizing that the theatre would turn into a lifetime hobby. Orville played Pong Ping, a Chinese character in the Beulah Melodrama, "Deadwood Dick" in 1962. He can still recite his lines. Orville then worked twenty-nine shows with fifteen as a director. In 1969 he was asked by the University of Southern Colorado to be the technical director for a show and Orville spent the next twenty-nine years working on shows, mainly for the Impossible Players. Orville was presented the Impy Award, which is the highest award that can be received by the Impossible Players. The award is for Continuing Enthusiasm for the Theatre. "When you work in the theatre, you meet people that you'd just never meet," he stated emphatically. Orville retired from the theatre in 1998.       

Orville worked at Crews-Beggs (now Joslins) from 1955-1992. His hobbies are reading, fishing, and doing historical research. There is a spirit of happiness within Orville Myers. It shines out brilliantly and touches our community.  

This article was reprinted from The Beulah Banner,  August, 2002 issue.