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Stories of our times with Pete 

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Jake Gasau

Jake Gasau

Too many! This one took me a while to live down so I’ll share it. 

My wife and I moved back to Durango from Vail about 10 years ago. She had a conference in Denver one weekend and I stayed home. Friday night I get a phone call. “Dude, it is puking snow in Silverton! We have to go there tomorrow!  I said “I’m broke, I can’t afford the lift ticket! Plus, if I go to Silverton without Kelly, she’s going to be pissed!”  All I hear is “Dude, it’s 18” of fresh! We have to go!” In Pete language, there is no justifiable argument against that logic. So we loaded up Saturday morning and got there late enough we had our own group!  After our second run, I see Pete talking to the owner and he comes back over and says “We’re doing a Heli drop!”  I said “I can’t afford it!”  He says “Well, I didn’t get you a wedding present so I will cover it!”  It was an awesome lap and my first heli drop! Fast forward to Sunday and I am picking up my wife at the airport. She sees me and asks “What did you do this weekend?”  I told her I went to Silverton with Pete. Crickets all the way home. A few weeks later we go over to Pete’s house and he says “What did Kelly think about the heli drop?”  She looks at me with the evil eye and says “What!?!” She was still so mad about the Silverton day I hadn’t told her about the heli trip! She eventually forgave me and eventually learned that if Pete called with a crazy idea or trip planned, just let me go! Thanks for the memories Pete! - Jake Gasau

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  Peter Fucito

As we were hiking up Mount Washington (highest peak in New England) with our scout troop Pete had a minor breathing issue.

We sat down for a few minutes after ascending Tuckerman's bowl.  While struggling to catch his breathe, I suggested he had a choice to make. We could stop and return down the mountain or we could continue to the summit. Without any pressure from me he chose to continue to the summit as he did not want his breathing issue define his life, so we continued to the summit.  That single event, on that summers day 30 years ago became the foundation of the man he had become.  He became a doer, not an observer. 

The bond that was made that day was forged by mutual respect and admiration of a simple accomplishment. Over the years i have been called many things, Chief, Dad, to name a few but mostly i will miss :Pop"" as he would say. Pete had a phrase that i still use today... ""Build a bridge and get over it."" Here in New England i have modified it slightly to reflect our region of the country... ""Build a bridge, pay the toll, and get over it"".   

-Peter Fucito 

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