This past week Steve and I had a trip down memory lane as we spent four days living in Sarah and Rick Tidwell’s amazing home just north of Emporia.
Unfortunately, Rick passed away three years ago.
We were there because of repairs being made to our home.
After a couple of nights sleeping in the Tidwells’ bedroom, Steve shared with me some of his thoughts.
He suggested that being in Rick’s home and seeing all the family pictures and being around things like Rick’s impressive buildings he used to play in and repair his toys most of which had wheels under them sent him into a nostalgic place he’d not experienced before. He shared that his love for Rick was at a new level.
So, today sort of a timeline of Steve and Rick’s associations.
Steve can’t remember exactly when he first met Rick but does remember first meeting Sarah on a ski trip to Colorado because he told Sarah fictitiously “she could do better.”
According to Steve that sarcasm defined his and Rick’s friendship forever.
Next, Steve remembered selling the Tidwell’s a very inexpensive house on South Merchant in Emporia. It had some great stories one involving a former owner’s association with illegal drugs and a night-time caller to the unknowing Tidwell’s!!
Next in the early eighties with Rick working at the fire department and selling telephone equipment on the side he set up a meeting with Steve who had founded Valu-Line Long Distance in 1981. Rick – as became normal – had an idea. His telecom sales company was not interested in selling small business telephone systems, so Rick wanted Valu-Line to start selling phone systems.
The decision to start Valu-Fone turned out to be a great one. After just a few months Rick was persuaded to leave the fire department and became full-time with the Valu-Line Companies.
Rick became a key contributor to Valu-Line actually becoming its president as it grew to over 100 employees with customers in every county in Kansas. When Valu-Line merged with Birch Telecom in 2000 it had revenue of over a million dollars a month.
After the merger Rick and most Valu-Line employees worked for Birch which eventually failed due to some crazy regulation changes and mismanagement. Many said if Rick and Stormy Supiran and Bob Agler had been listened to by Birch….well…..
Rick bounced around for a while after he left Birch but he and Steve never forgot their dream of bringing first-rate broadband service to Emporia.
Rick’s perseverance resulted in Steve and Rick along with Stormy and Bob and forty-plus exceptional team members and over 50 Emporia-based investors founding and building Valu-Net Fiber which today makes available world-class internet service to every business or residence in Emporia.
I can honestly say during our stay at Tidwell’s I saw more smiles on Steve’s face than in a long time. He later shared being there and seeing the Tidwell family pictures gave him closure and appreciation for his great love for Rick.
And, we agree Sarah could not have done better!!
And there you have it – Something to Think About – with Bobbi and Steve Sauder.
NOW – hold on to your memories and cherish them!!