I said in the last post we had people to see. The Turner’s had invited us to dinner and to park the van in the driveway for the night. When we were at their house the last time the hummingbirds were buzzing all over the place. In a week they had almost disappeared; gone south for the winter. John met us in the driveway and offered an alternative subject to photograph. He said that a good friend and neighbor of his had a moose cow and two calves resting in his yard; so, we headed over to Nick Rassas’s house. Nick is an extremely interesting man, who like John is a Notre Dame graduate. Nick built a beautiful house that has a stunning view of the Tetons from his family room which you can’t help but notice just about as soon as you enter the front door. Nick knew we were coming and wanted to show me the moose, which he said could be best viewed through his office window. He ushered us in and lying just below the bottom of the window was the large cow, flanked by her two calves. On the way to the window I noticed, like many men, his office was full of memorabilia. His was full of sports photos, including the one you see above. Nick is number 27 in the photo and standing next to him is legendary coach, Ara Parseghian. It turns out, Nick was an all-American on Ara’s first team at Notre Dame that won the 1964 national title. He was also the second person ever selected by the Atlanta Falcons in their inaugural year in the draft of 1965. He had a short career there, but, he likes to say with a smile, his bubble gum card is now up to three bucks. According to Nick, his mother was not very impressed with his football skills and encouraged him to get a real job. He listened; got a master’s in finance and that is where he made his mark.
The most prominent photo in his office was a picture of his son. He also was a Notre Dame graduate and all-American, but in Lacrosse. I have included a photo in the gallery and you can see the family resemblance. More impressive though is that they both are motivated by people who say they can’t do something. I never met Nick’s son, but did find an article he wrote (first published in the September/October 2002 issue of Lacrosse magazine) that was reprinted in the 2009 Notre Dame Lacrosse press guide which is worth reading and can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling to page 22.
On the way back to the Turners’ house, John filled me in on a few other stories and told me about a book which features Nick pretty heavily called, Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame, written by Jim Dent. He let me look at a copy while he tended his garden and harvested some things for dinner. I found a chapter in the book that was about how Nick got his connection to the Jackson Hole area. The Turner family of the mid 1960’s was instrumental in the dialogue of that chapter. You can see why John and Nick became such good friends and it gives you some insight into what western hospitality is all about. I only had time to read one chapter, but it was well written and I didn’t want to put the book down.
Dinner on the back porch was excellent. Nick was there and I was happy to have read the chapter. I probably would have had enough questions to keep the conversation lively, but the information I gleaned certainly helped. Mary Kay and my wife had time to catch up on things they could not cover at the breakfast the week before. I learned that their daughter, Kathy, has opened a fine arts shop in Jackson, on the edge of town. We pledged to stop by on our way south the next morning. When we arrived we were a little early and the shop was not yet open. We peered into the window of the shop and saw some beautiful art. On John’s recommendation we headed off to a different set of mountains, an area of the Wind River range called Green River Lakes. It is an area John says that Kathy looks to for inspiration. Thank you to John and Mary Kay for the hospitality.
For some pictures that go along with the story, click here.