Ponderosa family going home

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33487, 19 March 1974, Page 6

Ponderosa family going home

(By

ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE)

The “Ponderosa people”, ,i Taupo’s summer-time resi- |i dents, are returning to Ne- h vada soon, with mixed j feelings. 1 \ Mr and Mrs W. Anderson | !are wondering whether the 'petrol restrictions in the . United States will affect the ‘ flood of tourists to their Ponderosa Ranch, a sl-mil- , lion, family orientated ; recreation centre. The Andersons guide the ; 'fortunes of the Cartwright . ranch in the Sierras. Some- t ! thing like 400,000 visitors a t (year flock to the site, where ( 'the television series, “Bo- j 'nanza,” was filmed for 14 j ! years. c Although the series was no longer being produced, after t the death of the t actor, Dan Blocker, who { played Hoss, “Bonanza” was t being re-run in the United s States and audience were “as ; keen as ever” to see Ponde- j rosa themselves, said Mrs < : Anderson. u : Since filming began in j 11959, “Bonanza” has beenl screened in 86 countries andi seen by about 400 million I lt has been trans-j dated into a dozen languages.; During the ranch’s six- i month off-season Mr and Mrs Anderson, with their itwo children, Royce, aged!; 12, and Jillaine, nine, come!, to their Taupo home.

“HERE TO PLAY” “We are working all the time at home so we come here to play,” Mrs Anderson said. Both she and her husband are keen sportsmen and they enjoy the fishing, hunting, water ski-ing, boating and swimming within easy access of their Taupo house.

“But it is always a challenge to open up the ranch again. You never know what sort of season you are going to have,” she said. NIXON SUPPORTER As the past president of the Nevada Federation of Republican Women, Mrs Anderson is naturally con-

.cerned about the Watergate | affair. Her federation has icome out strongly in supiport of President Nixon. . “The press has blown the Watergate thing way out of proportion. They have picked on Nixon for years, and I feel very strongly that, had it been a Democrat in the same position, there would not have been nearly so much publicity.” she said. “It is going to be very interesting to see what happens. I would hate to see the country going through the impeachment of a President, but it migh‘ be the best thing for Mr Nixon, too, if everything is cleared up once and for all.” When the Andersons return to Taupo next summer, they will stake a further claim to New Zealand being their “other home.” Their son, Royce, will be enrolled at a boarding school inj Hamilton and will not be; “commuting” between Ne-1 vada and Taupo.