Terry Sharpton is a grateful man. He loves the beauty visible from Manitou Springs and the Westside of Colorado Springs, communities he loves.
“There’s still a hometown feel to me that will never go away. Familiar sights, sounds and those views! I’m glad to know so many local folks and to have been able to share so much of my life with them,” he said.
Although this area’s population is growing rapidly, he still feels the pace is just right.
Sharpton went through Manitou schools and looks back with appreciation for his teachers, such as Jack Willie, Al Porter, Bill Phelps, Lance Huffman and Gary Miller.
He’s also grateful to his wife, Patte Birtz, who runs their businesses, Santa Fe Springs at 948 Manitou Ave. and at 2422 W. Colorado Ave. The OCC location has been there more than 25 years, and Birtz bought the old Manitou Moccasin shop in 2003 for a second store.
“She is a mainstay for all her repeat customers,” Sharpton said. “I’m still impressed that she has been able to keep shops going in this business for so long. It’s hard work.”
Since COVID-19 and its economic fallout slammed the brakes on his decades-long video production business, he’s been able to pitch in more with the shops.
That’s given Sharpton yet another reason for gratitude.
“The support of the community and visitors for small business has been amazing. We had strong support after COVID-19, and still continue to have busy seasons every year,” he said.
Sharpton talked about a shopper who was so happy to find what he was looking for in the OCC store, he announced he’d go back to the national chain store to return what he’d bought there earlier.
“The gratitude and appreciation you see from folks shopping in your stores and finding their treasures is pretty great. It’s no easy task to get merchandise on the shelves and I appreciate the fact that Patte can do all that.”
He and Birtz applied for every pandemic-related grant and other funding they could find to recover from the coronavirus lockdown. And they received everything they applied for.
“We opened up on May 1, 2020, as they were allowing businesses to open again, and the support of folks was phenomenal. We turned out to have a really good summer in spite of it all.”
Still, he mourns the favorite small businesses that couldn’t survive.
This summer is looking good, Sharpton said, even though travelers are facing higher fuel costs and plane tickets. The influx of customers is steady, but he thinks they’re being more conservative in their spending.
Perhaps most of all, he appreciates the role models he had in his great-uncle and great-aunt, Homer and Edith, and his parents, Robert and Clara.
The first Sharptons came here from Oklahoma in the 1920s and persuaded Robert and Clara to follow them in 1946.
Homer Sharpton bought the land for the Masonic Lodge on El Paso Boulevard and worked with construction crews to build what is now New Life Church. He was a “jack of all trades” and held various jobs.
His true passion, though, was for the Masonic Lodge and the Kiwanis Club, and he was the first president of the Colorado Springs Shrine Club, his proud great-nephew said.
Edith Sharpton was involved with those organizations, too, and was active in her church and the Manitou Springs Women’s Club. She loved nature and often hiked local trails.
The Sharptons were instrumental in developing Miramont Castle as we know it today, and spent a lot of time there.
Robert and Clara Sharpton were active in the community, too. Both were involved in the Community Congregational Church, and Clara was president of the women’s club.
Robert worked for the Manitou Springs Post Office for more than 30 years, mostly as a window clerk.
The desire for public service is expressed in Terry’s interest in Manitou’s mineral springs for more than three decades.
“I guess mineral water is in my blood,” he said.
His cousin Bettie Marie Daniels was an early advocate for the mineral springs and co-wrote a book, “The Springs of Manitou,” in the 1960s.
As a boy, Sharpton often drank from Wheeler Spring on Park Avenue.
“I’d go to the Post Office after school to ride home with my dad, and drink the fizzy water while there. We used to take the water home and add those root beer fizzy tablets or lemonade to it.”
That love for “fizzy water” led to his involvement with the Mineral Springs Foundation.
“The mineral springs are why there’s a town here. I think in that respect, at the very least, that resource is important to preserve, but we have done so much more over the years to keep the springs flowing,” he said.
Sharpton has been the MSF president many times and is grateful — there’s that word again — for the many hours of work from board members, volunteers, businesses and individuals, collaborating with city government, the Chamber of Commerce and third-party contractors.
Along the way, they’ve all learned about restoring and preserving the sites, partnering with local artists to create new fonts and researching the aquifer that supplies the water.
He’s proudest of the foundation’s work to create 7 Minute Spring Park just north of Memorial Park. The MSF bought the property, developed it and donated it to the city.
“Each spring site is special, but 7 Minute became the showcase,” Sharpton said.
The foundation is planning a fall fundraising campaign to keep Manitou’s mineral springs “flowing and beautiful” in honor of the city’s 150th anniversary. Details are in progress.
Sharpton modestly said that he tries to pitch in wherever he can, but his busy schedule keeps him from being as involved as he’d like.
He is a grateful man, and Manitou should be grateful for him.