Barbara Lawlor, Gold Hill.   On the top of a ridge looking over Boulder on one side and cresting the town of Gold Hill on the other, sits a small cabin with a porch running around the outside. On the porch sits a grill that sends out scents of seared meat: ribs, chicken, hamburgers and brats. Yellow, sweet ears of fresh corn are piled next to the butter dish where one can roll the corn, slathering it down between every kernel.

Last Sunday was a typical late summer/early fall day with balmy breezes and hazy mists layering cooler air, dust and the heat from the day with tinges of mauve and grey. Bluegrass music flowed from a small tent set up east of the cabin.

Puddles of people sat in the now brown grass as they enjoyed their pot luck lunches. It was Max Yeager’s annual day-before-Labor-Day party, a celebration of his excavating company and the people that have hired him in the past year and for the past 37 years.

Owning a small business in a small mountain town takes fortitude, patience and a willingness to share the poor times with the rich times and know-how to manage the in between times.

One of the services that will always be in demand in a mountain town is the capability to dig holes; small holes, large holes, enormous holes and holes in the right place. Septic systems, foundations, wells, graves for beloved pets and landscaping projects.

Max came to Boulder in 1974 after a stint in the Army, in the ski corps in Germany.

“Nothing cost much then and we didn’t care much. We had time to hang out and have fun. But I needed something to do, so I bought my first backhoe. I wasn’t very good at it, but I learned.”

Gretchen Diefenderfer and Mike Alba, long-time residents of Gold Hill, remember when they moved into their house on the ridge and became Max’s neighbor. When you live on a ridge that overlooks your world, a guy with a backhoe is probably the best neighbor you can have.

Gretchen remembers Max as being a handsome young man, the bachelor that the girls sought after, but then he became the mountain man that homeowners needed to survive well on the mountain. “He was a nice guy, and all liked him. He was a great softball player and a great neighbor, and we all took care of each other. He was also the only excavator in town for many years.”

Max was never short of work. He never needed to advertise; the locals knew where to find him and he knew who needed work done.

During the Four Mile Fire, while the town was under siege, while residents were evacuated, and sparse information was forthcoming from within the fire area, Max was instrumental in coordinating the needs of the firefighters and those who had not left town. At one time, Max was the fire chief and he chose to stay in town, doing what needed to be done: digging lines and letting firefighters know what the fire was doing.

Attending the party was an old friend of Max’s, Greg, the Chinker. Greg also attended CU and he and Max rented the Red Store at the intersection of the Gold Hill Road and Lickskillet.

In 1974, Max was 22 years old and fixed up the Red Hill Store in exchange for living there. He had on the job training with heavy equipment and soon was digging into the properties that were once gold and silver mine sites.

“My goal was to get to where I wanted to be and finding something that allowed me to stay there. I completed the honey-do tasks of the residents.”
When it looked like the plan would work, Max invested in a John Deere tractor and in March, 25 years ago, he decided to hold his first appreciation party. It was such a success that he and his customers pledged to do it once a year and he plans to hold the event for as long as he can turn a barbecue sauce basted rib on a grill.

“I can’t retire, but my goal is to slow down a bit.”

A one-man business has to be a combination of humility and confidence, he says. Knowing what he can do alone and when he needs to hire help. He never liked working on commercial projects and he knew he didn’t want to work with the Boulder County red tape anymore.

“I have had partners…no one ever really worked for me; I ended up working for them, making the payroll before I made a profit.”

Among his endgame goals is getting the local septic systems into compliance and on record.

When it is time for Max to have some fun, he flies airplanes and travels with his dog and cat.

“I love my work and I love Gold Hill. It is a special place, like what Ward and Nederland still are.”