Bootstraps and Beto

Back in the 90's sometime I can't pinpoint, a little decrepit hot dog cart showed up one day on a dusty corner of Camp Verde. A smiling Hispanic guy stood beside it waiting for somebody to buy something--anything. He had nothing except the hot dog cart and a smile. And an attitude. A VERY positive attitude born from a life of danger and adversity.

Somehow, against all odds, the people of Camp Verde began pulling their pickups onto the weed-choked lot to buy something from Beto. Maybe they spent a buck or more--nothing he sold was expensive. But they spent and they spent and then they spent even more. Maybe it was the food. But most likely it was just Beto's smile and banter and "can do" attitude." Who else could stand in the scorching sun, the dust devil winds or the humid cold of a Camp Verde riverside winter? Only Beto and his loyal family, that's for sure.

I watched this bootstrap saga unfold for several years as I drove back and forth to my day job beside the Verde River. Little by little Beto pulled and tugged on those bootstraps until he had a small shack from which to serve food. You couldn't really call it a building--it was pretty much just a lean to. Only in Camp Verde and Yavapai County could someone get away with this type of plywood contraption and call it a restaurant. But to Beto, it was a Palace and it was ALL his and his family's!

Little by little, that shack grew and grew until it stands proud today as a real restaurant with real restaurant fixtures just like real restaurants do. Watching Beto pull off that modern miracle was a real inspiration to me. It's something I will never forget. It was vivid, living proof before my very eyes that a a big smile, a positive attitude and total Faith could overcome any obstacle and reach that elusive light at the end of the tunnel.

I never knew Beto's own personal story. Little did I know what a rough life this guy had before he washed ashore in a dusty Camp Verde eddy. Now that Ace Reporter Steve Ayers has brought this man's life to press, the story burns even brighter in my mind's eye.

Thanks, Steve, "Ya dun good" once again! Keep up your great work!

Click here to read Beto's story as told by Steve.