Althea,

If you want to find a small town role model for Middletown, you don't have to look to a small Polynesian island in the South Pacific. All you have to do is travel south about 15 minutes to Calistoga from Middletown's main street (Hwy. 29). Calistoga is a small town that really has its act together. It works. People stop and support the local storefront merchants. When people come into Middletown they typically do not stop. They just drive through the town. What is Calistoga doing that Middletown is not? While I do not want Middletown to turn into a clone of Calistoga, I think Middletown can learn from the successes of others in grooming its own success.

Now, I will let you in on a little secret. Walt Disney was not the business man that made Walt Disney World happen. It was his brother, Roy. I met Roy Disney at the grand opening of Walt Disney World back in 1971 as a student photojournalist on assignment for my school, what was then Why Florida Technological University (now University of Central Florida). Walt Disney was the dreamer. He was the one with the amazing imagination. But, merge the dreamer and the business man together and amazing things (I call it "magic") can happen.

Some people see possibilities where others do not. How many people would look at swamp land in Central Florida back in the 1960's and think to themselves, "Some day there is going to be an amusement park here that is bigger in area than the island of Manhattan?" Not many I assure you.

I lived in Atlanta for more than 20 years. I can recall folks saying how crazy Ted Turner must be for thinking he could build a successful 24-hour cable news network and base it in Atlanta. Most people did not even have cable back then. And, here's a guy who wants to build an exclusive network that carries nothing but news. How crazy is that? Why everybody knows Americans don't watch TV just for the news. They need to be entertained. Plus, everyone knows a television network has to be based out of New York City.

Back in the late 1970's people said Ted Turner was just trying to be different. And because he was trying to be different, he would fail. Since when is being different and going against conventional wisdom better? Well,l did Ted Turner fail? No. On the contrary, he succeeded far beyond just CNN. He even purchased the MGM film library, colored much of it and converted all of it to video.

I do not subscribe to the idea that a small town cannot service the needs of major corporations. There is already evidence that a small town can be a tremendous benefit to a major corporation. Look no farther than Medford, Oregon - the home base of WorldNetDaily. Most of the news you read on WorldNetDaily.com comes out of Washington, DC. But, when you want to write to the company, the address is that small Oregon town, not our nation's capital.

I am not suggesting that Fox News suddenly make the Calpine Visitor Center its corporate headquarters or even a major office. What I am saying is that they might be interested in buying into it in some fashion to create a tourist attraction or something else for Fox itself. Universal Pictures has the Universal Studios Tour. You will find this tour in both California and Florida. What does Fox have in comparison? Have you ever heard of a Fox Studios tour? Well, the closure of the Calpine Visitor Center could be Fox's opportunity to do something special both for themselves and in the process add to the revenue coffers of this unincorporated area.

I do not mean to imply that Fox should be the only major company to take over the Calpine Visitor Center. I like Lynne's idea of a telecomuter's business center with office suites. And, if you are going to have a major corporation like Fox and a business center with office suites, you might as well have a cafeteria to go with it. I think all three could work very nicely in a single complex. However, the complex would need to be a lot bigger than it is now. There would need to be additional construction. Fortunately, there is room on the property for expansion.

Please understand, this is not simply a matter of a building that is closed and needs a buyer and occupants. This situation has the making of an amazing news story for the world. Headline: "Fox Comes to the Rescue of Small Town USA." Fox News breathes new life into small town by purchasing the Calpine Visitor Center from bankrupt Calpine, Inc, operator of the world's largest geothermal region.

Lamar Morgan
Network Moderator

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