UPDATE: It's not just the RV industry . . .

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

UPDATE: The Dillon newspaper, a once-a-week publication, just arrived with more information on the Ford dealerships. The general manager of what used to be the Dillon Ford dealership has announced that he's hoping to find investors that will purchase the store and keep the Ford/Dodge/Crysler dealership alive in town. There's a 30-day clock ticking, and unless investors are found, that's the end of any hopes for resurrecting the business. The update also says that the Salmon dealership is still open and has received the remaining inventory of the cars from the Dillon store. The Salmon dealership and other dealership are still in business at this time. However, "money is an issue."

Dillon, Montana, no longer has a Ford dealership. One of the owners, who also was a partner in dealerships in Salmon, Idaho, and one other place (can't remember where), took his own life Labor Day weekend. We have another auto dealership in town, but the nearest Ford dealer is now 90 miles away in Butte, Montana.

People who know the family said business debt and the steady drop in auto and truck sales probably just got the best of the owner, who no doubt saw no way out in the near future. Our sympathy goes out to his extended family, some of whom worked in those dealerships.

Carolyn