Holden O'Dell's love for Big Sandy is palpable. It's not just a place he lives, it's a community he's deeply connected to.
When Holden O'Dell first came to Big Sandy, he liked it right away. "I felt very welcomed in the town. I came to visit for Christmas five years ago, I think, and on my way back, I decided to move here because I felt welcomed in just the two weeks I spent here. I've been able to integrate myself with the town a little better since then." Holden works at The Grocery Store. "I love my job. I get to do what I enjoy. I see people every day." Holden enjoys that part of his job. He is also learning more about the business side of things. "It's very interesting and fun to do.'
"I grew up with my dad having a bar in Nebraska, so I've grown up around business." His dad owns The Club, so Holden gets to work for that business, too.
"I love working. I like staying busy, and I hate having a day off because I like staying busy at all times." Right now, Holden rents a room from my dad. "I'm trying to find a house to buy, but there's just not much right now."
He would like to see more or easier access to housing in Big Sandy. "We'd be able to bring in more people to fill jobs like at the hospital and store and easier-to-get teachers. Housing is a big issue. I know from experience, just from trying to buy a house at this point or rent a house or anything." I've been looking for a house for almost a year now."
Before he moved to Big Sandy, Holden did a variety of things. "When I lived in New York, I built houses. I was a stone mason out there, and then I helped with everything else for my company. I moved to New York to be a chef. But once there, I decided I didn't want to do that, and I went to a masonry company and started laying bricks for them.
But he still loves to cook. "Mexican food is my all-time favorite. I cook almost every day. I try to if I'm home. His favorite thing to do all the time is to make Enchiladas. They are easy to make, and I always change it up. I love them. I keep the taco business in this town afloat too.
During our conversation, someone came into the store, and Holden told him it was him riding his motorcycle at 1:30 a.m. He said he was giving someone a ride home, and Holden had heard that his motorcycle had woken people, and Holden was saying it was his fault.
Holden is part of the pool league, which I knew nothing about. "There are four teams, so we play at all three bars. We have one at The Club, two at Peps, and one at The Mint. It helps get people out on Tuesday night when it's normally slow.
What's your favorite food besides Mexican? "I like sushi, like a wide variety of foods. I haven't had good Korean or Japanese food like in New York, and I really miss that sometimes."
"My first job when I was 12 years old was at a restaurant. I worked at restaurants until I graduated high school. My uncle went to culinary school, and I had always dreamed of becoming a chef when I grew up, but he told me, if you think about it, there's only one head chef per kitchen. There are only so many kitchens. It's not worth it. If you can do something else, you'll enjoy it better. So I moved out to New York, and I was gonna work at my buddy's dad's restaurant. I didn't make the money I needed, so I started to work in construction. And then I moved here, and I didn't want to do construction because I didn't want to deal with the cold weather anymore. Deb needed help on a truck one day, so I came in with Stephanie and helped her do the truck. Then I got stuck working here, and I love it. It's great. I've grown really close to Deb and the whole family."
