According to the Estes Park History Rescue Project, and contrary to widespread opinion, this well-loved photograph was taken nowhere near 1922. Courtesy photo

By: John Meissner

In 1992, as Estes Park prepared for its 75th birthday, a large number of commemorative plaques and monuments were placed in downtown open spaces and on historic buildings. While most of the information incorporated on the markers was accurate, some of the dates and locations were grossly inaccurate. With the advent of easily searchable electronic databases, it is clear that, in some cases, where information was ambiguous (sometime in the 1930s, around this neighborhood, etc.) it can now be made precise, and where information was precise, it was often wrong. Indeed, some of the dates assigned to “classic” and frequently reproduced Estes Park images are off by as much as a decade.

Join the Estes Park History Rescue Project this Saturday, August 28, in the George Hix Room of the US Bank building at 363 East Elkhorn Avenue, for a 45-minute look at the current state of our past. “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” will examine information assigned to 10 crucial photographs or buildings that Estes Park has yet to get right, and absolutely must correct and reach community consensus on before Estes approaches its 2017 centennial. The first presentation scheduled for 1:30 p.m. is a workshop for project members and invited guests only, but the 2:30 p.m. presentation is free and open to the public. Free catered appetizers and refreshments will be provided at both programs.

Courtesy Photo

Miss Chelsi Rose, age 16 daughter of Eric and Lori Rose of Estes Park has been selected to represent Colorado at the 2010 Miss American Junior Teen Pageant.

As the Colorado Junior Teen, Chelsi will be attending the National Pageant for her age group in Florida and Disney World during the week of Thanksgiving 2010. She will compete for the National Pageant title of Miss American Junior Teen and thousands of dollars in cash awards, prizes and scholarships.

Chelsi is seeking support to earn her trip to the National Pageant in Florida from sponsorships through advertising in the National program book, direct sponsorships for photogenic, casual wear, speech and talent or cash donations in any amount for trip expenses. All donations are tax deductible as this is a scholarship program. Please contact Lori Rose at 970-586-9110 for more information. During the state competition, Chelsi won the overall queen’s title, the photogenic competition and the speech competition, she also placed top five in talent and casual wear competitions.

Chelsi is a junior at Estes Park High School and is the fitness leader on the leadership team for the Estes Park Varsity Cheerleaders, a member of the Ladycat golf team, Rotary Interact Club and Major 13 jazz vocal group while also maintaining honor roll status. She has also been active in many community service activities throughout Estes Park with Rotary, Interact, Builder’s Club, Compassion International and her own charity, Chelsi’s Choice.

Nationwide, State Winners and State Pageant Finalists will compete in the twenty-seventh annual national scholarship competition organized by American Coed Pageants, Inc. National Talent, Speech, Academic Achievement, Community Service, Photogenic, Personality, Most Promising Model, Best Actress and National Cover Girl and Hostess Contests will be held in addition to the National Pageant Winner’s Contest. Since 1983, millions of dollars in cash awards and prizes have been presented to outstanding girls at state and national competitions.

American Coed Pageants, Inc., annually holds state pageants for the purpose of recognizing and rewarding outstanding young women between the ages of three and twenty-two for their past and present accomplishments and to encourage them to set and achieve high goals for the future. In states where pageants are not held, selection of state representatives is made through written applications and photos.

Playing the game are Paula Edwards, Darren Edwards and Connie Dedon. Courtesy photos

Two retired school teachers have a company called “Tricky Trails Travel Games.” The games are sold in and around National Parks. They are multi-generational games and great for playing on picnics. The revised Rocky National Park Game was completed last summer and now they just completed a game for The Yellowstone National Park.

Connie Dedon, a local resident and Jean Krause, a resident of Greeley and Gould, Colorado will be at Macdonald Book Shop, 152 Elkhorn Ave., from two to four p.m. on July 27 to talk to people wanting more information about the games. You might even find them on the floor of the children’s area playing a game with a kid who happened to drop by.

It all started in 2000 with Connie, a Rocky Mountain Nature Association employee, and a Park Interpretive Ranger working together at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center on a slow winter day coming up with the idea. The Park Ranger realized early on how labor intensive it was to collate cards, fold the hiking scarves (game board), and put everything into pouches. Consequently, Connie bought the rights to continue on her own. Soon Connie twisted the arm of a fellow, retired teacher friend to come into the business with her. In total their small company has done four games: the original RMNP Game, the revised Rocky Game completed last summer, a game for the Saguaro National Park area in Arizona, and now The Yellowstone National Park Game in Wyoming.

The “game boards” are silk-screened, cotton bandannas with graphics that correspond to the National Parks’ roads and trails. The trivia cards feature topics about the local areas. The questions are rated like trails: easy, moderate, and strenuous. A player could pick which one he/she would like depending on how familiar that person is with the topic. Wild cards allow players to move ahead or lose ground. Printing, silk-screening, and assembly are all done here in Colorado. The graphics on the “game boards” are done by Connie with a local artist, Joan Borel, helping her with the animal graphics. Local photographers have done the pictures seen on the front of the games, Dick Coe and Mary Kiesling.

The cards and “game boards” are developed after a long visit to the areas and after extensive reading and research. Their editors insure accuracy in content. “Because we are retired schoolteachers, the games do not contain typographical or grammatical errors, and there are NO misplaced apostrophes!” says Jean.

Connie taught mostly fourth and fifth grades in the Greeley School system. She raised two boys who loved to play games and now she is playing with her grandchildren. Connie also did puppet shows for Park visitors for several years at the Fall River Visitor Center. Jean taught school in the Greeley School system as well. Her science background makes writing games about nature a “natural.” Plus, she loves traveling to new areas for ideas.

The games are being sold at the Macdonald Book Shop, all the RMNP Visitor Centers, YMCA Gift Shop, True Value, several of the local sporting good stores, Estes Park Museum, and Hallmark. Two of the four games can be checked-out at the public library as well. Please stop by Macdonald Book Shop on July 27th to say hello and become familiar with these wonderful games.

For 39 years, Harvest House for Women in Estes Park has been providing help for women who have fought drug, alcohol, and other addictions and are ready to begin life anew. Now it’s Harvest House’s turn to ask for help.

The nonprofit, 501(c)(3) ministry has found itself short on the donations that provide food, a home, and life-altering love and support for women and their children. The economy has redirected funds that normally come from churches, religious organizations, and private citizens across the country, leaving Harvest House without enough money in their monthly budget to pay staff and support their current household. They only have 20 residents right now because that’s all they can financially support – they would love to be able to be home to twice that number.

Bob and Sharon Vigil, who started Harvest House in 1971, would like to continue their ministry, although their plan to do so may take them away from the Estes Park community that has treated them so well. Their ranch on Highway 36 east of Estes is currently for sale; they have found property near Frederick, north of Denver, that they will be able to purchase using cash from the proceeds of their current property. That will leave them without a mortgage and will greatly reduce their monthly expenses.

The goal of the Vigils and the two of their four children, Linda and Bobby, who help them run the ministry, is to duplicate in Frederick the warm, comfortable atmosphere they have created in Estes Park that has helped hundreds of families – women and their children — over the years.

Many times these families come to Harvest House with nothing but the clothes they’re wearing. The women have reached the very bottom because of substance abuse, domestic violence, or other circumstances. Often they have lost custody of their children or had to give them to friends or family to raise because they were no longer capable of doing so.

Through an abundance of faith, hope, love, and support, Harvest House helps these women get back on their feet. They get away from the drugs and alcohol. They leave behind their abusers. Then they get their children back. They get an education. They find employment. They once again become contributing members of society. And they all love Harvest House for making it possible.

Women come to Harvest House from around the country and beyond, referred by detox centers, law enforcement agencies, churches, and acquaintances. JuJu and her four children – her fifth was born two months ago during her stay at Harvest House – is the third woman to come from the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where drug abuse among the native people is commonplace. She was referred by a friend, who had also been referred by a friend, and all three have overcome their addictions at Harvest House.

JuJu is halfway through her minimum eight-month stay at Harvest House, and she can remain there for up to two years. She is learning to be a good parent to her children, which her drug habit previously left her unable to be. Her four older children, the oldest of which is 10, lived with different family members and friends when she was in Hawaii because she couldn’t care for them. Now they are all part of a loving, blended family with the other women and children, plus “Grandma” Sharon and “Grandpa” Bob, at Harvest House.

The stories of most of the women who come to Harvest House are similar to JuJu’s. Many are suicidal when they arrive because they just can’t handle the downward spiral of their lives any longer. And the love and care provided by the Vigils and their staff members, several of whom are former residents who want to help others the way they were helped, bring these women back to life.

The Vigils remain optimistic about their ability to continue their ministry. They would love to stay in Estes Park but feel their location is less important than their need to continue to provide help for women and their children. Monetary assistance is greatly appreciated – and tax deductible – and they also welcome food donations. To make a donation or learn more about their ministry, visit their website at www.HarvestHouseForWomen.org or call them at 970.586.1745.

“You have stage 4 non-Hodgkinʼs Lymphoma. It has spread from your lymph nodes to your lungs, liver, spleen, stomach and intestines.” With those words from the doctors at EPMC in 2007, my life and my family changed forever. My name is Gary Cahill and along with my daughter, Katrina, we are the Event Chairs for the Estes Park Relay for Life. Thanks to faith, family, friends, the medical community and my wife Fiona, my cancer is in remission.

One of the changes in my life became my involvement with the American Cancer Society and specifically, Relay for Life. The Relay is a life- changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked, although not required, to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

After dark during the Luminaria Ceremony, we honor people who have been touched by cancer and remember loved ones lost to the disease. Candles are lit inside bags filled with sand, each one bearing the name of a person touched by cancer, and participants often walk a lap in silence. This year we will have a piper opening the ceremony with “Amazing Grace” and concluding with “Going Home.”

No matter where you are, thereʼs a place for you at Relay and you can make a difference today by signing up online (www.estesparkrelay.org) to start your own team or by simply making a donation to Team Estes Park. Survivors can sign up for free. Survivors also provide an example to others of the progress that is being made in the fight against cancer. Equally important in the fight against cancer is the role of the caregivers. They provide the love, support and encouragement when needed the most.

Please join us at the Estes Park High School on July 23-24 for our local Relay. The festivities start at 6:00 p.m. on Friday July 23rd. Thanks to Relay participants, we are creating a world with more birthdays and a world where cancer canʼt claim another year of anyoneʼs life. We need you; the world needs you. Please come and celebrate the event with us; youʼll be glad you did.

“Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from Coast to Coast without seeing anything.”  - Charles Kuralt

Imagine a family of nine, taking to the road for a year in a 45’ bus. Check out their real-life adventure story at their blogsite at ourBigtrip.us. In between business ownership, the family has decided to leave their Colorado Mountain home and travel the byways of our great United States beginning in just a month to learn about the country and each other. Opportunities for local community service and education are high on the family’s priority list at each stop.

The family has homeschooled each of their seven children in between public school years, and have been small business owners for the last 18 years. This lifestyle, and the recent sale of one of the businesses will allow the family to become a Family on the Road, alongside other families that have taken to living on the move. While there are similarities among all of the families, this family is offering up a chance for a suitable partner to ‘get on the bus’ and go with them!

The size of the bus creates some opportunity for the right sponsor to help share fuel expenses while taking advantage of the bus’s planned route- exposing a sponsor message to hundreds of thousands of potential clients or customers. Like a rolling billboard, the bus will be seen by many as this local family takes off on their coast to coast  year-long journey at the end of July.

An important caveat for a potential sponsor is worth mention: the family must like you. Since they’ll be sleeping and living under the sponsors image, it’ll have to be a family friendly message or sponsor that the kids from 5-14, and the parents, can intelligently discuss with curious acquaintances along the way. A creative sponsor might even task the family with an objective for their trip like visiting related businesses or offering samples of a new product under one of the 54 sq. foot billboards.

Take a look at this family’s plan, and a tour of the bus, or follow along on the adventure by visiting the website at www.ourBigtrip.us.

The Big Thompson River continues to overflow its banks in some areas in Estes Park due to heavy spring runoff. There is high water along Fall River as well.

The Town of Estes Park, with assistance from the Estes Valley Fire Protection District and Larimer County, have been prepared for the rising water with several thousand sand bags and a multitude of available staff. Sand bags have been placed in several locations along the river to protect Estes Park’s public areas in Estes Park.

The Town has been closely monitoring the water levels and has been responding with sand bagging in public areas as necessary.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to stay safely away from the swift water and use caution in high water areas.

There are no road closures at this time.  The downtown Riverwalk remains open, although some areas are marked with yellow tape to keep pedestrians a safe distance from the rivers. A portion of the post office parking lot is closed due to encroaching water.

EP News Photos

One of the girls news story.

By: Michelle Hurni
Story 1 in a 4 part series

MacGregor Ranch is a historic 2,000 acre working cattle ranch nestled on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. Held in a charitable trust, the Ranch welcomes kids each summer to experience the past, at the Heritage Camp.

The last MacGregor to physically work the Ranch, Muriel, passed away in 1970, but left two missions for the Ranch when she died: to educate children “of all ages” and to continue to operate as a cattle ranch. Her first mission is carried out in part at the Heritage Camp, where kids learn how to live like some of the first Estes Park settlers.

The ranch dates back to 1873, when Alexander and Clara MacGregor homesteaded the well-watered meadowlands at the mouth of the heavily forested Black Canyon, below Lumpy Ridge. Copies of the original homestead documents, signed by Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, hang in the museum, which is open for tours during the summer.

Alexander and Clara built and settled into the homestead cabin, now part of the A.Q. House, where some of the activities of the Heritage Camp take place. Life was challenging in the late 1800s, and kids at the camp learn how to pump water using an old fashioned hand pump, wash clothing, and pick vegetables from the garden, just like Clara had to do.

Three generations of women played a big roll in what the Ranch is today. Alexander died in 1896 of a lightening strike, and Clara continued to run the ranch, but even before he passed away, she considered the cattle to be hers. The cattle carry the “XIX” brand (pronounced “x, i, x,” not 19 as many believe). While at the camp, kids make a leather “poke” pouch, and then brand it with the XIX brand.

Only one of their three children, Donald, stayed on at the Ranch. He married Maude and they moved permanently to the Ranch in 1910, enlarging it and making it prosper. Maude was an excellent seamstress and cook, and her skills are a big inspiration for Heritage Camp. Kids learn to cook a meal on a wood burning stove, bake a pie from scratch, churn butter and make homemade ice cream.

Donald and Maude’s daughter, Muriel, never married, and the Ranch was an integral part of Muriel’s life. She was highly educated, with three college degrees, including a law degree from the University of Denver. One of the first women to earn a law degree (1936), her specialty was water rights, which was an issue over the years at the Ranch.

Muriel’s saddle.

As a single woman, she continued to operate the Ranch and did everything in her power to make sure it carried on. When her cows got into the neighbors properties, she would get them herself, often putting calves into the backseat of her car and leading the herd back to the Ranch.

During Heritage Camp, kids take a wagon ride, learn to lasso, make jerky, gather eggs, make homemade jam, and milk a “cow.” Just like Muriel used to do.

Muriel wanted the place shared, but preserved, and the camp is a living legacy to the MacGregors. Four Heritage Camp sessions are available for kids who just completed 3rd or 4th grade. Call MacGregor Ranch at 586-3749, or visit www.macgregorranch.com to sign up for Heritage Camp.

For more MacGregor history, pick up James Pickerings, “The MacGregors of Black Canyon: An American Story” or “Facing the Frontier: The Story of MacGregor Ranch” by Betty Freudenberg. Both are available at MacGregor Ranch.