AROUND TOWN: Granddaddy of garage doors lands in outhouse

Jim Maguire did a mighty fine job keeping himself out of “The Doghouse,” but ended up in the outhouse instead.

The beloved prankster, longtime Range Rider, mayor of his own little cowboy town of Maguireville and retired head of Overhead Door Co. of Colorado Springs, was royally roasted Feb. 16 at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. It was all for Cheyenne Village, a nonprofit founded locally to help those with developmental disabilities live independently. Almost $163,000 was raised.

Outside the resort’s front door in a prime parking slot sat “The Doghouse,” the Overhead Door Co.’s traveling garage. Inside the resort’s ballroom, Maguire was ensconced in a specially built Overhead Door Co. outhouse in front of 410 guests, as friends and family had their fun at his expense.

Dennis Stone, president/CEO of Overhead Door Corp. in Dallas, told Maguire, “I’ll bet the people in Colorado Springs think you invented the garage door.” For years the roastee and his son, Kevin, have churned out laugh-out-loud and/or groaner garage door commercials.

Stone also kidded that the first time he met Maguire and his childhood sweetheart wife, he wondered how old Kevin and his sister Melissa were before they learned their mother’s name wasn’t “Damn it, Donna.” Jim and “Damn it, Donna” came to Colorado Springs when he was in basic training at then-Camp Carson and later moved here permanently. They created Maguireville in an indoor arena at their Tri-Lakes home for a place to display all the Western memorabilia they had collected. It evolved into an ideal party site complete with a Maguireville Overhead Door room with one of the earliest garage doors.
It also has a weathered wildebeest head Maguire inherited from someone somewhere ... "God only knows."

First up to level the jokes at the man in the outhouse were Art and Joan Klein, who have worked in the construction field with Maguire for over 50 years. Art teased that they’ve known each other so long that “as we get older, everything either dries up or leaks.”

Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Gould has known the Maguires since he was a cadet in 1976 and was one of the “zoomies” who found a days-off home away from the AFA at Maguireville. He knows about the time the garage door on “The Doghouse” was going up and down, up and down at an AFA football game thanks to a not-very-innocent Maguire who was sitting in Falcon Stadium with his finger on the door remote.

Then there were the stories about Maguire and Fred Veitch doing their philanthropic duties as Salvation Army bell ringers — outside Hooters. Or the one about Kevin and Melissa giving their Dad a casket for Christmas. Jim couldn’t stop laughing but “Mom was NOT amused,” said Kevin, who heads Overhead Door Co. since his father retired.

And then there were the more than 40 years of cough-cough better-left-untold stories from the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and the Range Riders.

Buddies from Maguire’s morning get-togethers and “bs” sessions at Serrano’s Coffee Co. were there via video.

When he finally got the microphone, Maguire told the audience, “The reason we’re here tonight is that all year long Chuck Murphy has been bragging about how much he raised last year when he was roasted. We have to out do you, Chuck.” And the good-natured Maguire-Murphy roast war was on.

Members of the Roast Event Committee were chairs Mary Ellen McNally and Mary Lou Murphy, Lori Dewhirst, Joan Klein and Cheryl Tolley.

Cheyenne Village Board members include Ralph Routon, president; Spencer Gresham, vice president; Patty Gravette; Lea Geiser Hayler; Robert Wrubel; Mark Benes; Judy Cara; Carl Cruz; Dr. Tom Davis; Tam Doane; Laura Douglas; Cindy Koons; Rusty Longaker; Cheryl Morford; Joseph Salute; Steve Scott; Dave Sered; Michel Tomsic; Lee Vogel; Doug Weaver; Ellen York; and honorary members George Fellows and Mary Ellen McNally.