Audrey Knutson of Loveland, formerly of Estes Park died Tuesday, December 30, 2008. She is survived by her husband, Jerry Knutson of Loveland; daughters Deborah Watson of Estes Park, Peggy Knutson of Estes Park, Shelley Doggett of Estes Park, Jackie Lawrence of Estes Park and Jennifer Heisler of Phoenix, AZ. Arrangements are pending. A complete obituary will be printed at a later date.

See www.allnutt.com to see Audrey’s on-line obituary and send a message to the family.

Fern Redabaugh Lohry died December 14, 2008 at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, CO. She was 96 years old.

Fern was born July 26, 1912 near Loveland. She was the eldest daughter of Guy Redabaugh and Estella Nordholm. Fern attended schools in Johnstown where she met and married the school bus driver, Elmer Lohry in 1930. They resided in Greeley and had two children, Nancy and Richard. They moved in 1941 to Inglewood, CA where they stayed for 30 years.  They returned to Colorado when Elmer retired and lived in Berthoud for 10 years before moving to Estes Park, where Fern lived for 25 years.

Fern enjoyed sewing, baking, traveling, and spending time with family.

She was preceded in death by her husband, sisters, Wilma Beeten and Eva Osborn, and brothers, Norman Redabaugh and Howard Redabaugh.

She is survived by her sister Mae Keating of North Bend, WA; daughter, Nancy Brandt of La Verne, CA; son, Richard Lohry of Loveland; six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

Cremation has been conducted. No further services are scheduled at this time.

To the Editor of the Estes Park News:

On November 22nd, our son was involved in a very serious snowboarding accident at Eldora ski resort. He was wearing his helmet, he was boarding in control, and he was with good friends. Unfortunately, no matter what precautions you take, accidents can and do happen. Our family spent the last month in Denver at St. Anthony’s Hospital and then Justin received subsequent treatment at Craig’s hospital. He has received excellent care and we are happy to report that he is on the road to recovery!    We are now happily back at home in Estes Park taking advantage of our own, great local resources for outpatient therapy.

During this very difficult time, we have been absolutely overwhelmed at the support provided by this community! We sat down and attempted to list all of the wonderful people that provided support for us at the hospital and in our transition home.  In the end, we found this to be a much too daunting task and we feared that we would leave someone out. This letter is an attempt to thank this community for your support!

We wish to thank you for the phone calls, for running our errands, for the cards and flowers and stuffed animals, thank you for the meals—I could go on and on. Our most valuable gift during this ordeal, however, seems to be the prayers that we now know played a major role in Justin’s recovery. With head injuries, the doctors are limited in the way of medical interventions. They would tell us “you are just going to have to give this time.” We wound up relying totally on prayers and well-wishes because we knew that the doctors had done all that they could.

As you can imagine, we are going to use this opportunity to remind parents and kids to wear your helmets! The doctors told us that there would be no possible way that Justin would have recovered-perhaps wouldn’t have even made it off the slopes-if it weren’t for his helmet. Parents, this is a battle that you just have to win!

Thank you Estes Park! We hope that some day, in some way, we are able to pay back the generosity that you have shown to us.

We are very proud and grateful Estes Park residents!

Sincerely,
John, Lisa, Jenna and Justin Wahler

Saturday, January 3, 7:00 p.m.-Extreme Alaska: Denali National Park. This Alaskan park is home to the tallest mountain in North America and over two million acres of wilderness. Altitude defines which wild conditions and creatures dominate. Join a National Geographic crew during this 50 minute film, as they trek low and high to experience big game deep in the taiga forest, beautiful subarctic vistas of the tundra, and the challenge of ascending to the top of North America.

Saturday, January 10, 7:00 p.m. – Reintroduction of Boreal Toads in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Boreal toad, Bufo boreas, population in the park is “at risk” because of a precipitous population decline since 1996.  Although unlikely, extirpation of the boreal toad from Rocky Mountain National Park is possible. The boreal toad has been on Colorado’s endangered species list since November 1993, and on the federal government’s “warranted but precluded” list since March 1995. Currently the park, in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the USGS Biological Resources Division, is actively involved in a recovery program for the Boreal Toad and a population study of all other amphibians. Join Dr. Erin Muths, Zoologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, for a look at the sensitive Boreal Toad. Dr. Muths initiated a radio telemetry study of boreal toads and wood frogs in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Her research has provided new insight into the struggling Boreal Toad populations in the park.

Dr. Muths is responsible for the southern Rocky Mountain Region for Department of the Interior Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative. This work includes collection of capture-recapture data, habitat assessments, auditory and automated surveys for several species of amphibians, data analyses and oversight of seasonal technicians. Also management of laboratory experiments including capture, primary data collection and maintenance of experimental boreal toad tadpoles and metamorphs. Erin Muths  received her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology-Natural Sciences from the University of Wisconsin, Master of Science in Biology-Systematics and Ecology from Kansas State University and her PHD from the University of Queensland, Australia. Dr. Muths has been active in several organizations including Earthwatch Australia, Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, and Assembly Committee on Environmental Resources.

All evening programs are on Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park.  They are free and open to the public. For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park, please call the park’s information office at (970) 586-1206.

In keeping with its commitment to hold inaugural events that celebrate our common values and reflect our nation’s history of community service, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s Inaugural Committee officially extended an offer to the Peace Corps Community and AmeriCorps Alums to march in the 56th Inaugural Parade.

Members of these service organizations will join representatives from across the country and our Armed Forces in the historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue following President-elect Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol.

Dan Condon, Associate Director of Professional Development at Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center will march with the AmeriCorps Alumni group. Condon was a member of the first AmeriCorps class in 1994 where he served with Public Allies, Inc.

Condon was the founding Executive Director of the Public Allies Teaching Fellowship Program at Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center where 84 AmeriCorps members have served Eagle Rock and the Estes Valley since 2001.

President Elect Obama was a member of the founding board of Public Allies, Inc. Michelle Obama was the founding Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago from Spring, 1993 until Fall,1996, and served on the national board of directors from 1997 until 2001.

“These organizations embody the best of our nation’s history, diversity and commitment to service,” said President-elect Obama. “Vice President-elect Biden and I are proud to have them join us in the parade.”

On Monday, January 19th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the President-elect and Vice President- elect and their families will join Americans across the nation as they participate in activities dedicated to serving others in their communities. In 1994, Congress passed legislation designating the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday as a national day of community service, and the Presidential Inaugural Committee will be working to encourage participation in service projects nationwide to honor the legacy of Dr. King.

Organizations wishing to participate in the parade submitted an application to the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. All tolled, 1,382 organizations applied to participate, setting a new standard for interest in marching in the parade.

The Peace Corps Community will include members who served with the corps in the 1960s to the present. Marchers will carry the flags of the countries that Peace Corps have served over the years. AmeriCorps Alums will include some of the millions of alumni of national service in this country since John F. Kennedy’s call to service and the conception of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in 1961.

In addition to these groups, a number of other parade participants also participate in active community service programs. For instance, the Boy Scouts of America Troop 358 from Philadelphia has been serving members of their community for over 55 years, the Jesse White Tumbling Team from Illinois was founded in 1959 to create “hope” for troubled youth, and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office Prevention Partnership from Kentucky raises and distributes money to community groups and programs that help kids stay away from drugs and violence.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee was assisted in its selection process by a group of experienced military musicians, who utilized their expertise to help assess the presentation skills of marching bands, musical acts and drill teams.

All participants in the Inaugural Parade are responsible for paying for their own lodging and transportation to and from Washington, D.C. The Committee has been working closely with area governments and civic organizations to facilitate access to affordable accommodations and would like to encourage citizens from across the country to reach out and help the Peace Corps Community and AmeriCorps Alums raise the necessary resources to participate in this historic event.

By: Wayne Groome

It sounds like a new soap or detergent, or maybe a disease from the lack of soap. Just kidding of course. SOPA stands for “Supporters of the Performing Arts.” They are the group behind the almost forgotten effort to build a state-of-the-art facility for the entertainment part of our community. I have heard it said that it is a group of misguided sophisticates trying to push a $3,500,000 building down the tax payers’ throats.

Wrong! SOPA is a group of intelligent, creative folks representing the various musical and theatrical groups who entertain our residents and visitors with numerous venues throughout the year.
The problem they all face is lack of a building adequate to showcase their talents. Some groups display their genius using the YMCA auditoriums, church sanctuaries, the playhouse room under the Other Side restaurant, the high school auditorium and outdoor locations when the weather permits. Estes Park, the “gem of the Rockies,” is without a community theatre to house all the talented groups that entertain here.
For the record, the SOPA group now realizes that their organization has flubbed the effort to raise private funds for their project.

They realize that their message has not gotten out to the community over the last few years, so they are now re-grouping, re-organizing and re-committing to the project.

In the upcoming weeks and months you, the proud residents of our valley, will be educated to the rejuvenated plans for our community theatre building. The theatre will be available for all groups’ activities: plays, musical performances, lectures, school graduations and professional touring companies from outside our valley. This building will be available to any local group needing a first-class, 433-seat theatre at a nominal charge.

The Performing Arts Center, or whatever it gets called, will be funded by grants and private donations, and donated to the town upon its completion. The town’s up-front contribution is the real estate on which the building is built, utilities connections and parking lot for 600 vehicles.

The now-proposed $5,000,000 building will be of great benefit to the community in terms of its usage as well as its economic pluses. More people in town to be entertained means more money spend and more tax revenues received. I, for one, cannot see a down side to this project, provided it is managed well upon its completion. Estes Park, the “gem of the Rockies,” deserves a gem of a cultural center. All we need is money.

Stay tuned for the real scoop on the Performing Arts Center and how you can be part of its construction and success!

The staff at Estes Park Museum would like to recognize its dedicated volunteers for service in excess of 5500 total hours during 2008. Volunteers ensure the success of a multitude of Museum operations.  They contribute their time and expertise greeting and orienting visitors at the front desk, in collections management, exhibits production, Hydroplant visitor services, conducting gallery tours, providing programs assistance and supporting special events offered by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation, Inc. such as the Annual Historic Tour on June 28 and the Friends Membership Party on August 30.

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The Town of Estes Park’s Holiday Tree Drop-Off site will be open now through January 19, 2009. This service is for real trees only and is free of charge to Estes Park residents.

The site is located south of the Senior Center on Fourth Street (follow the signs) and will only take trees that have been stripped of all ornaments, tinsel, and/or other decorations. No wreaths, tree stands, or garland will be accepted through this program.

For more information, please contact the Town of Estes Park Parks Department at 577-3785.