Dixie discovered the perfect hideout to spend a cold winter's day and is ready to share it with you.  Here she is with this week's edition of Boomers & Beyond!

After her travel agency career, Margie Wilson along with her husband Frank turned the page to start a new chapter using Margie’s lifelong passion for books.  Once I walked in their Twice Upon a Time Book Store, I felt at home as I discovered a never ending source of great reading.

"It’s an exciting business," Margie said.  "It’s really fun.  It’s very gratifying to put the right book in the hands of the person that will appreciate it the most.”

Although challenging in today’s world, there’s a place and desire for her type of store as evidenced by the early morning customers we met.

“We find that the e-readers have been quite a challenge for us.  A lot of people prefer to read from an e-reader and it’s a piece of technology that has a good place in our culture, but it’s not the same as having the feel of the book in your hand and the smell of the book and the weight of the book and being able to read it in the bathtub and not worry about dropping it in or read it on the beach and not worry about getting sand in it.  So, the book store business for us is going well.”

The quality, huge selection of fiction and non fiction authors and topics and even a large print selection, plus affordability and customer service brings new and return customers from all over as friendships build and cookies are baked!

“We call her the Cookie Lady," explained Margie.  "She’s a dear, dear customer who we met from the get-go, five years ago and we’re her guinea pigs when she comes up with a new cookie recipe.”

Purchasing and returning books make their policy a win-win for all.

“A system by which people who have finished reading books and don’t plan to read them again can bring their books to us and based on their condition and our need for them in the store, we give them trade credit points which count as a discount on purchase that they make in the store and other used books.”

We found Grandma Cindy Loeb sharing the wonderment of books with her grandchildren in their favorite secluded spot.

"Well, all grannies know how expensive children’s books are and so it’s so wonderful to come and be able to buy books for them,” attested Loeb.  "They have shelves and shelves of them at less than half the price.  So, it’s just terrific.”

Cold, snowy winter weather and approaching storms means stocking up on more than food!

“It’s like going to the grocery store and getting bread and milk," said Wilson.  "Books are as much of a necessity for most of us as anything else and you don’t want to be in a snow storm without a book.”

As she follows her passion, hmm, what’s in her future?

“More books!”

Thanks to Margie and Frank, once upon a time for these books has turned into twice upon a time and we all lived happily every after.

Twice Upon A Time is located at 2885 North Avenue in Grand Junction (242-3911).

They have a second location called Grand Valley Books at 350 Main Street in Grand Junction (424-5437)