Every weekday morning, as surely as the sun rises, Bud Cole, 84, goes to work at Slavens True Value Hardware Store on Main Street in Cortez.
On a cold day in November, the inclement weather has Cole nestled in his workshop behind Slavens’ retail center. He wears a ball cap, lime-green safety vest, plaid shirt and denim work pants while he screws a brass striker into the door he’s just built. The room smells like freshly cut tile and is brimming with bags of grouting mix, tile and wood scraps. A wet saw and wood saw rest on either side of the room. Cole is working contentedly, just as he did on his first day at Slavens 35 years ago. “I happened in one day and got acquainted with Dale Slavens,” Cole says of how he got the job. “He was telling someone else he needed some help. And I said, ‘I’d like a job.’ And he signed me up in 1976.” Over the years, Cole has seen the hardware store through many changes while working in every aspect of the business, including the former boat repair shop, sales, landscaping — whatever the store needs, he does it. “There’s no job too little or too big for Bud,” Jim Olson, Slavens yard manager, says. After working at Slavens for 18 years, Olson is one of Cole’s biggest fans. “He’s willing to do anything to benefit the store, and its customers,” “You gotta be ready to make way for anything in here,” Cole says from his workshop while clearing tile from his counter space. “People bring in projects all the time to fix, like chairs, doors and things like that,”
More recently, Cole has gained recognition for the custom, handcrafted hearths he builds for Slavens. Customers can choose every aspect of each hearth he builds, such as the style of oak for the frame and the color tile and grout. Building the stove boards is one of his favorite parts of the job.
“I enjoy making the stove boards,” Cole says. “And people really enjoy them, too. So it’s fun, it’s a pleasure to build something that someone needs.”
And although extremely humble, he seems to enjoy the recognition. “People come up to me, and the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, we love our stove board,’ ” Cole says with a smile.
Cole has been working with his hands his whole life. After serving in the Navy, he earned a degree in horticulture and landscaping. Later, while traveling between Colorado and California, Cole and Carol, his wife of 47 years, discovered and fell in love with the people of Hunter’s Point at Window Rock, New Mexico.
During the eight years they lived at Hunter’s Point, while helping with a local Christian missionary program, Cole took part in their local crafts program. This helped him to hone his current talents as a builder, especially of Native American things like cradle boards and weaving looms.
Besides his craftsmanship, Cole is also known for his sunny disposition. “In my 18 years of being here, I’ve never met anybody who has not had a bad day, except for Bud Cole,” Olson says.
Cole, a beloved employee of Slavens, says he’ll keep working at the hardware store as long as he can. “I enjoy it, and I’m thankful for it,” he says.
“Considering how many years he’s been working at Slavens, it’s amazing,” says Carol Cole. “He’s always helpful, and I’m sure they’d say that at Slavens — he’s always doing the extra little bit of help for somebody. That’s just his personality, it’s the way he’s always been.”
His humble nature, pleasant personality and fine craftsmanship has won him many fans.
“He’s a great guy,” Carol says, and many locals agree.