Anonymous donation gives the  annual bell-ringing program an unexpected boost

Last week an amazing discovery was found in one of the Salvation Army Red Kettles in Estes Park boosting spirits during during this holiday season.

Julie Phares, Rotarian on the Salvation Army Bell Ringing Committee was emptying the kettle and counting the funds from that day. She found at the bottom of the kettle a dollar bill, tightly folded around an object. When she unfolded the bill, she discovered an old gold coin in the center of the folds.

Julie looked at the date on the face of the Lady Liberty coin and was excited to discover it read 1851. The back of the coin showed an eagle with arrows in his talons. Julie’s adrenaline began to rush as she knew this was a rare and valuable coin. She quickly learned the piece is a ten dollar gold Liberty/Eagle coin which has now been initially appraised at approximately $560.

When asked to see it, Julie was all smiles as she held the shiny gold coin. “These kinds of things happen in the Denver area kettles but this has never happened here in Estes Park!” exclaimed Julie.

“This is such a wonderful thing to see in a time like this,” said Ray Leaycraft, publicity chairman for the Salvation Army.”And it really does my heart good to see somebody do something as generous as this. Thank you to this wonderful anonymous donor.”

The coin will help families that turn to The Salvation Army for help this Christmas season and throughout the year. What a nice way to wrap up the bell ringing season here in Estes Park.

The drivers and reserve drivers of the 2009/2010 Town of Estes Park snow removal team (back row, from left) Dave Mahany, Bruce Walters, Bruce Kane, Scott Zurn, Mike Hulbert, Tamara Monroe, Tonya Ziegler and Matt O'Reilly (front row) Mark Pallissard, Carl Matzdorff, Marco Carani, Joe Lockhart, Russ Franklin, Dave Oldewage, Daryl McCown and Steve Barlow. Courtesy photo

With twice the area to cover and fewer employees than in 1990, the Town’s Public Works Department has refined its snow removal program to efficiently serve the entire community. All 55.5 miles of streets, 12.5 miles of sidewalks, 12 miles of trails and 15 parking lots across Town are cleared by the snow removal team of just 14 employees. Another eight people serve as reserve drivers. Overall, the team consists of employees from Streets, Parks, Water, Special Events, Light and Power, I.T., Police and Fleet.

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Franklin (Frank) Forrest Short was born June 12, 1921 to Eliza (McGonagle) and Frank Short on a farm outside Rolfe, Iowa. Frank graduated from Rolfe High School in 1938 and was discharged from the Army Air Corps January 1946. During his service, he was a flight simulator instructor and landed a plane the first time he ever flew. He met Janet Mary Hill at Iowa State Teachers College and they married July 24, 1944. They made their home in Des Moines, Iowa where Frank was an executive in the insurance industry. Frank earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Drake University and taught evening law classes there for several years. He was a member of the Scottish Freemasonry for over 50 years (32nd degree) and the Des Moines Central Presbyterian Church. Frank and Janet enjoyed socializing with neighbors, playing golf and bridge, waterskiing and snow skiing. He enjoyed participating in Indian Guides and attended little league games, wrestling matches, and dance and piano recitals of his children. After retirement, Frank and Janet built their dream house with family in his beloved Rocky Mountains and were members of the Allenspark Community Church. Frank enjoyed hiking, volunteering at the Hilltop Guild, and being the “Road Maintenance Supervisor” in Tahosa Park West. Winters were spent in Mesa, Arizona at Good Life RV Park where Frank was active hiking, bike riding, playing pool, ballroom dancing, volunteering  and golfing.

Janet died in 1995 and Frank married Merlyn Jane Valiquet in December, 1996. They enjoyed trips to Hawaii, watching sports on TV, and golf outings to San Diego. They moved to Mesa year round in 2007. Merlyn died August, 2008 and shortly after, Frank moved to the Portland, Oregon area where he died in Lake Oswego, December 16, 2009.

Frank is survived by his children, Margaret Daggett, John (Cindy) Short, and Nancy (Robert) Blazer. Also surviving are four grandchildren, Jessica (Matt) Kraybill, Michael Short, Ryan Short, and Axel Short; niece and nephew, Fran Hazen, and Charles Christensen; sisters-in-law Margaret (Ogilvy) Rhodes, Dorothy Eggemeyer, and Audrey Jackson.

YMCA of the Rockies announced today that it has been awarded LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.

Completed in June, 2009, Longs Peak Lodge is a 100-room lodge built to enhance YMCA of the Rockies, an 860-acre family vacation destination in Estes Park, Colorado. The lodge was designed by Neenan Archistruction to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. LEED verifies environmental performance, occupant health and financial return;

“YMCA of the Rockies’ LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and YMCA of the Rockies serves as a prime example with just how much we can accomplish,” Fedrizzi said.

Mark Holdt, Vice President of Planning and Project Development for YMCA of the Rockies, managed the construction project. “We are thrilled to receive this recognition for our environmental stewardship on the new Longs Peak Lodge,” Holdt said. “It is an honor to have the first LEED Gold certified building in the Estes Valley as a demonstration of our commitment to the environment. Our appreciation goes to Farnsworth Group, Neenan Archistruction and RLH Engineering for playing a vital role in making this achievement possible.”

LEED certification of Longs Peaks Lodge was based on a number of green designs and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. These features include:

• Achieving significant energy savings through the installation of a new, high-efficiency central boiler which produces hot water and heat for Longs Peak Lodge and two additional new lodges scheduled to open in January.

• Installing carpet in the new lodges and Assembly Hall that is made with recycled products and is engineered in a process that uses 25 percent less yarn than the industry average. This translates into the saving of thousands of pounds of virgin yarn.

• Placing recycling dumpsters on site so scrap building materials were recycled rather than dumped. The Y was able to recycle 75 percent of the project’s construction waste.

• Using low emitting construction materials as much as possible (adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets, wood and agrifiber products).

• Ordering new furniture made from fast-growing hickory wood, a renewable resource.

• Using Thinveneer for exterior walls. This rock is thinner than it appears as a finished product which means it is lighter to ship. This saved fuel, and the impact on the earth was less because quarry areas for Thinveneer are smaller.

• Recycling five building by moving them rather than bulldozing them.

• Building on already developed land in order to preserve undisturbed land.

• Connecting the lodges and other buildings with a walkway system so guests don’t need their motor vehicles to get around.

• Providing designated hybrid vehicle parking spaces near the lodges.

• Providing a bicycle rack near the lodge.

• Building retention ponds to provide storm water quantity and quality control, which prevents erosion and filters sediment from the water.

• Installing water efficient landscaping, thus reducing water use by 50 percent.

• Choosing low flow fixtures and toilets in the lodge rooms, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in water use.

• Reducing the building’s potential energy consumption by 25 percent by considering site orientation, using florescent lighting, using high rated insulation, and having 90 percent of the rooms be “daylight infused” (relying on windows to provide some light).

• Thirty percent of the construction materials used was of recycled content.

• Twenty percent of the construction materials used was locally manufactured.

YMCA of the Rockies will be offering public tours of the LEED Gold certified Longs Peak Lodge, plus Emerald Lodge and Rams Horn Lodge, as well as its new conference center, the Assembly Hall, on Wednesday, January 20 at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 23 at 10:00 a.m. Tours will begin from the Administration Building. Visit the YMCA of the Rockies booth at the Estes Earth Fest at the Stanley Hotel on Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16 for more information, or call 586-4444.

Dear Editor:

I am a 30-year resident (realtor, teacher, small business owner, volunteer) of Estes Park and have been studying the EPURA controversy for months. EPURA has benefitted our mountain town in a very positive way over the past 26 years and needs your NO vote for its retention.

Your property taxes have not been and will not be used to fund EPURA. The school, hospital, fire and recreation districts are not negatively impacted and indeed benefit from EPURA projects. I believe that most opponents have personal issues and/or agendas and are putting these ahead of what is best for our community.

Karen Page Crislip

Estes Park

To The Editor:

A recent letter stated that EPURA had a long list of projects for the future. If this new list is anything like the list that was provided to support the EPURA renewal, it is a simple bait and switch list.  Prior to EPURA being reapproved by the town, a study was performed to identify areas of downtown that were deficient and needed work. This resulted in a list of potential projects that were touted by EPURA at the time as to what they would be doing if reapproved.  Public meetings were held primarily to solicit support by the other Taxing Authorities (Library, Hospital, et. al) but those authorities opposed the renewal of EPURA. Of course the town fathers did not listen to those inputs because EPURA represents a large source of funds that they can use without restrictions.

Immediately after EPURA was reapproved, that list disappeared from EPURA discussions (as demonstrated by the minutes of EPURA meetings) and was replaced by the fairground grandstand project which had not been mentioned previously. If this is not the classic bait and switch technique, please explain what it is.

I submitted a list of questions shortly after the public hearings were held last year since EPURA did not have the time to answer questions during the public meeting. None of those questions were answered until very recently and the answers were simply “we do whatever the town tells us to do.” I have attended several EPURA meetings and was surprised that instead of discussing the projects that were on the table at the time, they deferred that discussion until they received “instruction” from the town as to which ones were to be implemented.

I cannot and will not support an organization which I believe used questionable tactics in its reauthorization efforts and did not respond to questions that were submitted as requested by EPURA at the public meeting. I will be voting YES to eliminate EPURA on January 12.

Raymond Nieder

From free snowshoeing, family games and activities, to chili cookoffs and a wine and beer tasting; there will be plenty of activities for all during Estes Park’s 1st Annual Winter Festival, Jan. 15 through 18.

Many of the activities take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Bond Park in the center of downtown Estes Park at the intersection of Elkhorn and MacGregor Avenues. The chili cook-offs and wine/beer tasting will be held in a heated tent with live entertainment.

Other activities for the weekend include horse & carriage rides, observatory tours, cowboy poetry & ghost stories, an art gallery walk, private photo tours and live entertainment. Throughout the festival, individuals can participate in a scavenger hunt leading them to the prize elk with over $1,000 in prizes. Scavenger hunt instructions can be picked up at Bond Park. Clues will lead them to various stops along downtown Estes.

The festival officially kicks off beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15 with free family fun at the Historic Crags Lodge, 500 Riverside Dr. with cowboy poetry & ghost stories complemented by s’mores and refreshments. Also on Friday, the Estes Park Aquatic Center is hosting special Winter Festival hours on Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Want to gaze at the stars and the planets? Check out the Estes Park Observatory on Friday or Saturday evening.  Round out your evening by enjoying top notch entertainment with live music both Friday and Saturday night at the Rock Inn, Mary’s Lake Lodge and the Stanley Hotel.

Saturday’s chili cookoff is open to any individual; Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI- www.chili.org) rules must be followed. A Sunday cookoff is set aside for local restaurants who will be competing for bragging rights to the moniker “Best Chili in Town.”  Sanction rules do not apply for the Sunday event.

During the cookoffs, wine and beer tastings will be ongoing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with music by the eclectic acoustic foursome Peregrin Road. ( www.peregrinroad.com) All-you-can-taste chili tickets are $5 for the day and all-you-can-taste wine & beer is $20 per day which includes a commemorative Winter Festival glass.

One of the big draws on Saturday is the 15th Annual Winter Trails Day in Rocky Mountain National Park sponsored by the national Winter Trails organization. Snowshoe manufacturers (Tubbs, Atlas, Red Feather and more) will be on hand to offer the opportunity to try out their snowshoes. Information about snowshoe excursions will be provided while equipment trials give participants the opportunity to check out the winter sport for free. Other activities during the day will include winter safety presentations, outdoor product demonstrations, igloo making and expert advice on the fitting and selection of snowshoes. The event is free to attend, however normal Rocky Mountain National Park fees apply at the entrance gate.

Log your activities during Winter Trails, and receive a President’s Challenge certificate of participation from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Participants will visit educational stations for information on snowshoe basics, how to dress for winter activities, nutrition and hydration tips, basic conditioning exercise and essentials for winter hiking and camping.

After spending the day out in the sun and snow, take advantage of a free hot stone upgrade at nine participating spas in town.

Also planned for the weekend are special photo tours from one of five local professionals. Pre-register at aywguiding.com/winterfest.html

For more details about the Winter Festival, call the Estes Park Convention & Visitors Bureau at 970-577-9900 or 800-443-7837 or visit www.EstesParkCVB.com.