His grandmother Fannie Welch was given a 160 acre land grant up on Two Bar Road and That is where Jim was raised. The ranch grew produce and chickens, beef and turkeys for the hotel. Jim would bring milk down to the hotel on his way to school every day by tying bottles to his saddle. He would leave his horse at the Hotel and walk to school. Jim also tells stories about the swimming in the river after dark, several of the other townspeople and local liquor regulations and how Mrs. Welch got fined for someone taking wine out of the hotel.