The Eagle editorial board wasn’t alone in writing a satirical song about failed Wild West World promoter Thomas Etheredge. Here is a video of cowboy poet Ed Parrish performing at the Orpheum Theatre.
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12 Comments
The name, Thomas Etheredge, should join those other western heroes, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy … who visited Wichita either in person or on the movie screen.
In the style of the Old West, Etheredge tried mightly to personally build his dream. No matter the circumstances, the weather, lack of time to increase attendance, perhaps negativity of those in Wichita who believe only government can do the right thing … Etheredge’s dream crashed and faded away.
So, Thomas Etheredge, wherever you are, what ever your current project, like the cowboys of the Old West, keep on trying and best wishes next time.
Oh JWink, whatever. The man got what he deserved. The LAST place he deserves to be is with the group of western heroes.
I thought that whole parody was great.
A good parody and song.
Sure, there were lots of things wrong with WWW, from the concept, to the biz plan, to the execution.
But it sure is easy for those who will never achieve squat themselves to ridicule those who try.
The “Kick the guy while he’s down” line forms on the right. (no pun intended)
The last I heard Etheridge is not hurting in his new home in Texas, his kids have a tidy college fund too!
But you should take into account that information is coming from one of those that had some close contact with him and has lost money he thought was safe with him. Not exactly the most favorable objective source.
Lets just say it is my understanding that old dog was still up to his old tricks that got him a visit to the Cross bars hotel once before.
Writerdog: Once again, I will tell my story of Ewing Kaufman, now deceased, former owner of the Kansas City Royals baseball team and the giant Marion Laboratories, now I believe, Marion Merrill Dow Pharmaceutical Laboratories.
In the late 1950’s, Ewing and his then wife, Marion, would drive to the Texas coast to collect sea shells to bring back to their modest home in Kansas City. In their basement, they would spend the winter grinding these shells to produce calcium pills. To obtain money to grow his business, Ewing asked his friends to invest $1,000 in his home-based business in return for his promise to repay with a fair amount of interest.
In private business, entrepreneurs take chances to build a business without the insurance of taxes to provide a safety net.
On the other end of the spectrum are the government bureaucrats who draw a salary to gamble the money of the taxpayers on their visions and dreams, most of which would fail without the insurance of tax support.
In the case of Mr. Kaufman and his friends, all could have lost their investments.
But in this case, Mr. Kaufman eventually re-paid his friends their initial $1,000 investment plus more … enough to make them all members of Ewing Kaufman’s millionaires club.
Bottom-line, some entrepreneurial attempts work … some don’t. Obviously, Wild West World didn’t work in Wichita.
Well
Having the high church of hee haw pastored by Terry Fox an the premises didn’t help with the rain did it?
I never went to the place and I never would have.
Oh and Jwink?
The internet, NASA, the National parks, etc.
The government is ALWAYS superior to private interests. What is worthy is not always profitable and very little of what is profitable is worthy.
JWink,
The main reason for WWW failure was lack of capital. He needed 3x as much money as he had for it initially. The IRS expects a business to be three years in the red, as a rule. Reallife experiences validates this rule. A company may go black before three years, or take six plus years, but overall, three years is a good rule of thumb. A company needs to have three years of backup money to cover this shortfall. Ideally, the 3 years of backup money includes the total expected expenses for those years.
Mistake 2 was no roller coaster or similar attraction. Mistake 3 was lack of a unique theme, or combination of themes.
These three mistakes doomed WWW from the getgo. Other things compounded the failure, but these were the biggest three.
outlander, I hoped it would succeed, but based on the small amount of capital felt it would fail.
I am all for people trying if they are following a sound, or at least a practical business plan. I was surprised people were willing to accept his business plan because it was so flawed.
XXX. I apologize if it sounds like I am kicking him while he is down. I didnt mean to. He tried to do more than most people around here. He was willing to take a chance, and most people only want to complain about what is wrong, not how to fix it. Coming here and explaining how to fix something doesnt change it in the real world.
I have taken a number of risks, some small and others large, some failed and some succeeded.
I believe in Wichita and we need more people willing to take risks on bringing stuff here, but they need to have a sound business plan. I understand even sound business plans can fail, but unsound ones almost always do fail.
J R, like or not, controversy sells (call it the curiousity factor) and Fox had higher potential to draw more visitors than would be lost because he was there. I had no plans to visit since I have seen plenty of Wild West themed parks and there was no attraction to see this one.
In addition to my earlier mistake list, lack of local and regional advertising did not help.
On a side note, if you have money to invest, invest wisely. Investigate the investment and investment leadership, spend some money to check out the background of those involved. Look at similar investments and see their success/failure rates. Take calculated risks based on as much knowledge as you can get. You wont always succeed, but you should succeed more than you fail.
If your gut says no, think long and hard before you say yes. One major caveat is there is no such thing as high rate of return and low risk. Anyone who tries selling you this is either stupid, scamming, or clueless. The higher the potential rate of return, the higher the risk.
As I was out walking the streets of Park City
I spied an old codger in a ten-gallon hat.
His boot were all muddy, his vest was all dirty
Down in the gutter he drunkenly sat.
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
You can see by my outfit that I was one too.
I once owned a theme park of western exploit
But I’m shot in the wallet and I know that I’m through.
I opened in April and May it was raining
I paid my fine preacher to send it away,
But June it still rained with my tourists wailing,
I rolled up the carpets and I’m bankrupt today.
Oh beat the drum slowly and auction it lowly
I won’t get a cent of the proceeds today
The lawyers have come and judges said coldly
Come all ye creditors truck it away.