Mail & Coors

 It's nice to get mail, 

even when you have to go to the post office and pay the postage due, 😉.

My friend Al came to work at Coors in the '90s. He had worked at Gatorade before coming to Coors and we became instant pals. I was assigned to help orient him on his first day and we hit it off. It wasn't long before I got to know his wife Beth and his daughters Antonia and Kayla. 

While we were still working, Al was very vocal about being a Democrat and I was just the opposite. The environment at Coors was primarily Republican as the Coors family was very conservative and evangelical. I never felt pressured to vote one way, or the other, while working at Coors. We were encouraged to give to a PAC fund, but I never did.  The Coors family took politics seriously, and for a number of years Joe Coors sat in Reagan's kitchen cabinet.  The year that Pete Coors ran for Senator was the hardest for me because most of my colleagues were excited to vote for Pete but I knew that I would not.  I had huge respect for Pete Coors and thought he was a very nice person but I didn't agree with his conservative viewpoints. 

Pete Coors came to my retirement party. 2008

I had always heard that the Coors family is one of the big financial supporters of the Heritage Foundation. This is not a fact that makes me particularly proud but my work at Coors was pretty apolitical. I tried to consider that how the Coors family spent their personal money was their business.  There was never any hate or animosity and there were some good discussions. I never saw the hate that I see now in the voices of the supporters of Miracle Ear.  Back then, I never felt threatened just because I believe in Choice. 

Wanda working the kettles. ~1986

In today's heated political climate, I find it a little harder to look past the role of the Heritage Foundation in the project 2025. It makes me sad to think that the Coors family is pushing that agenda. I have seen social media postings urging for the boycotting of Coors products because of this linkage. I have to separate myself from that message because I am living on a pension that comes from the Coors Brewing Company; boycotting their products does not make sense for me personally. I am, of course, very disappointed in Coors for any role that they are playing in the Project 2025 implementation and the re-election of Miracle-Ear.

I have become more involved in politics living here in Rice Lake. Our local Democratic party is working very hard to elect good people up and down the ballot. My roll is to post information to the social media accounts on both Facebook & Threads.  It has proven to be a fun gig, especially during the Democratic National Convention & the more recent, Presidential Debate.  I also encourage the local county party to use my property for signage.  My land borders a very busy county highway and has good visibility.  

I've had conversations with Al about how he inspired me to get involved. Today, I got this card from Al and I'm not sure you can tell from the photo, but it is a quilled card. It's very artistic and 3D. In Al's note to me, he called it the White House, but I'm pretty sure it's the US capital. Either way, he and I have agreed, that today is a good day to be a Democrat.

Retirement golf outing.
John Mueller, Rick Paine, Wanda, Mark Dujardin, Al Ramirez, & Peter Coors jr
Applewood Golf Course, Colorado 
2008

Hopefully, I will be calling Al on the evening of November 5th to celebrate that it is another good day to be a Democrat.