“We're a band of locals” Justin Pisteoff shouted out to a packed in crowd at Grumpy's last night at the launch of his new initiative Local Band.
Pisteof a local disgruntled Ketchum resident is at it again. He launched his Stay Surly initiative in 2022 parodying Visit Sun Valley's Stay Sunny campaign. Last year he published the Worst Of The Valley Awards and this year Ketchum's favorite curmudgeon is introducing Local Band aimed at recognizing Wood River Valley residents according to how long they have lived here.
The Local Band is a “badge of honor” Pisteoff said as I caught up with him after the press conference at Grumpys. “The Local Band (of which there are eight different levels) demonstrates and recognizes the type of grit and determination it sometimes takes to live here”
“I'm proud to be able to call this beautiful Valley my home for 32 years and as any one that's lived here a long time knows, it's not easy.
The Eras
Gone are the ski-bum era days when you could take a year off after college, pick up a restaurant job, buy a seasons pass and live in Ketchum. I managed to survive that period but many of my friends financially perished, losing their battle to a safer and more secure city existence.
Then the 2008 era came along. That crises almost wiped out many of us Ski Bum era survivors that had managed to scrape enough money together to buy an apartment of our own.
By this time the Online Shopping era was in full swing causing tremendous hardships for local retail businesses and their employees.
Then along came the AirBnB era, soaring rents and waves of remote office workers, further squeezing what was left of the ski bum era not fortunate enough to be able to buy a place of their own
And finally the COVID era. Some of us thought this might offer a respite. A chance to hit the pause button from the untenable affordable housing crises. How wrong we were!
Anyone that has survived all this needs a medal or at the very least a Local Band, something that can be worn with pride as a symbol of an unwavering determination to live the magical dream that is to call Sun Valley home”.
Birds of a Feather
“On a lighter note” Pisteoff said as he peered along the bar at Grumpy’s. See that fella over there, I’ve never seen him before but he looks like the kinda fella I’d get on with. Now if I were to look down at his wrist and I saw a gold/yellow or red Local Band, I’d know he was an someone that was either born here or moved here during the 60’s or 70’s. If I saw that Local Band I’d definitely go over and say hi. These folks are true legends, they have great stories. Revere them and if you get a chance to talk to them, do! You’ll definitely learn something.
How does it work?
Pisteoff has devised a nifty 8 level coding system for the Local Bands (think Baldy) each with its own name and color, both of which denote when someone moved to the Valley (or for those lucky enough, were born here.)
How do I get my Local Band?
Local Bands are available at the following retailers for $2 each. The Local Band works on the honor system. Request the band that corresponds with your Wood River Valley origin story. The authorized seller may ask you a validation quiz question. If you see fruad let us know.
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