Local Color
Photography and Concept: Dan Campbell
Cowboy Charley
Why do people call him “Cowboy Charley?”
“It’s the hat, I guess.”
This 11-year Park City resident is an icon in the Silver Creek neighborhood, known for greeting passersby with a wave from the front porch of his log cabin. The good Samaritan of the neighborhood, Cowboy Charley will pull you out of a snow drift, give you a ride home, or serve up a cocktail at a moment’s notice. “My house is where everyone congregates, I guess `cause there’s no tavern here. It makes it nice cause people have a place to go. It’s kind of a deal for us local guys who want to shoot the breeze. And I don’t have a wife so I can’t piss her off.”
The South Dakota native is an avid hunter and fisherman; served in the Navy; lived in Colorado and California; loves attending sporting events and has been to --- Super Bowls in his day. The excavator thinks Park City is a good place to make a living. “I’m not retired like everybody else.”
His “farm,” with goats, chickens and horses, serves as a sort of petting zoo for neighborhood children, and Charley’s annual summer pig roast is a not-to-be-missed event for neighbors, replete with live music, kids’ sand pile, visiting friends from many states and of course, the pig on a rotisserie. “It’s dead when I get it. I don’t kill it myself.”
His favorite animal, though, is his beloved Australian cattle dog, “Wasatch.” (Charley told our magazine photographer, “The only thing I’d marry at this point in my life is that dog.”)
“Silver Creek is a great place. Everyone’s so easy going and nice. I think everyone wants some space and that’s why people are happy here. I don’t have neighbors right on top of me. I can pee off my front porch if I want to.”
Charley’s life motto? “Every day is the best day ever.”
Kay Moffet
“After my breast cancer, I found out what my mission was,” says our effervescent teacher Kay Moffett. “To spread peace through children, with language, music, art and friendship.”
Born and raised in Tokyo, the indefatigable “Miss Kay” moved to the U.S. in 1986 with her husband, Howard. Halfway through her two-year cancer treatment, the family moved to Park City in 2000, where Kay says, “My second life started. I feel like I’ve found home here.”
Trained in ESL, JSL and Spanish, Kay teaches Spanish at Park City elementary schools, teaches English to the Hispanic community and also offers private lessons and tutoring in Spanish and Japanese. She also works with special needs kids.
“My pleasure is in seeing kids become confident. You can’t waste an opportunity with a child. The best teacher is the best con man. If you can con a kid into feeling he can do it – then your job is done. If you can give confidence to a child, they can take off.”
Kay’s also a music lover. “My father was a musician. The music gene skipped me, but went to both of my kids [Emmett, 18 and Penelope, 15, both in varsity jazz band at the high school].” As her contribution to PCHS’s music department, Kay helps to organize the Big Band Sweetheart Dance each year.
In February 2005, Kay and Howard opened “Good Karma” restaurant on Park Avenue. “We wanted something accessible to locals with good music and good company. We serve Indian/Pakistani curries and oriental noodles.” The restaurant has only two dining tables. Cards on the tables encourage patrons to share. “At first people were awkward, but now they like it.”
In her “spare” time, Kay also runs a camp called Global Foundations Education Programs. Working with international schools in Japan, she brings bilingual kids to Park City every summer for a complete immersion experience. “They add so much to our community.”
Kay’s Guiding Principle? “Gut feeling. Intuition. I think my international upbringing guides me. I was raised to be a bridge. I feel fortunate that I enjoy what I do. The work I do recharges me.
At the end of the day, I’m happy if I find a spark in a child.”
Sally Roberts
Sally Roberts is a true renaissance woman. She has taught children’s literature, day camp, skiing, fly-fishing and swimming (she was assistant ski school director at Okemo, Vermont; a 15-year ski instructor at Deer Valley, and is owner of Local Waters Fly-Fishing).
Sally also has an undergraduate degree in graphics and print making; a masters degree in library and information science (“I was ‘Marian the Librarian!’”) and worked as a consultant for Vermont Public Libraries.
She has sold personal vending machines, advertising space, and now Park City real estate. “Until I became a real estate agent, I had five jobs! I sat down and figured out that between teaching full time at Deer Valley, running the fly-fishing company, doing lodging bookings at night, working for Eddie Bauer and being a hostess at the brew pub, I was making a whopping $23,000 a year!”
An old boyfriend got Sally hooked on fly-fishing. “There’s something zen about it. You don’t have to be strong or fast. You can’t think about anything else. It’s a wonderful way to focus on just the task at hand. It works really well if you’re in the dumps, to just go fishing.”
The East Coast native lives in Midway now, because “it reminds me of Vermont. I have a big barn and trees. I still have my Park City post office box, though. One of the greatest things about a small town is all the people you see at the post office.”
Sally has served on Chamber/Bureau marketing and communications committees and on the library board when members decided to move the town library from the Old Miner’s Hospital to its current location in the Carl Winters building. “I remember we stood in the gymnasium. There was nothing but fallen plaster and rodent droppings. It was freezing cold. And we said, ‘God – this will be cool!’”
Sally’s guiding principle? “A straight forward and honest approach to things. And throwing in a good portion of cutting people some slack. I’m a straight shooter. I tell the truth as it is – give people the good and the bad. That works for me.”
Dr. Robert Winn, M.D.
“Everything I’ve done in this town has come back ten-fold,” says our town doctor (affectionately known as “Winnie.”) If you’ve been around any time at all, Winnie has probably set your broken arm, soothed your child’s sore throat, or simply comforted you with his sincere blue eyes and reassuring manner. He’s on staff at the Park City Family Health and Emergency Center, and serves as medical director for Deer Valley and The Canyons.
In town since 1974, the native Pennsylvanian worked winters at Park City Ski Area and summers in Yellowstone Park (where he met Nancy, his wife of 28 years). “We spent 12 days together and were married six months later.” Their children, Jayna (22) and Jaret (25) were raised in Park City.
Winn started full time practice here in 1978. “I started seeing patients at a trailer in the Mt Air Market parking lot. We see more patients now in a day than I saw in a month then.”
Winn says that in 30 years, “This has become a vibrant town. Anyone can come here and make an impact. I still find Park City to be small and friendly. I can’t believe how much support I’ve gotten over the years … [both in a lawsuit with the University of Utah several years back and now with Nancy’s battle against leukemia]. “So many people have stepped forward to help,” says Winn, beginning to show the tears of emotion he’s known to shed easily. “I just want people to know how much I appreciate them.”
“I love what I do. Being a ‘small town’ doc gives me the opportunity to have an impact on families in the community. I have patients I took care of when they were kids. Now I’m seeing their children. I’ve been fortunate to be involved with so many things - venue medical director during the 2002 Games, working the Special Olympics, school programs, the People’s Health Center …”
Winnie’s guiding principles? “That you always approach people the way you’d want to be approached. If you do the right thing – it will eventually come back to you, or at least you’ll feel good about your part of things. You should celebrate the nuances of everything around you – most importantly people. The more you tell and show people how you feel – the more enriched your life will be.”
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