Redstone November / December 2022

Stonebridge Farm Holiday Fair features local artisans

LYONS – You’ll find Christmas gifts and more at the Stonebridge Holiday Fair, Saturday, December 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crafts by Stonebridge farm member artists include Amber Lights 100 percent beeswax candles; Priscilla Cohan pottery; Apple Ridge soaps, salves, wooden spatulas, and bird houses; Good Medicine Sheep Ranch hand-dyed yarns and felted hats; Lucy Designs jewelry; art notecards by Dave Such and bird nest boxes by Joel Such; and Stonebridge Farm’s hand cranked socks, holiday crafts, vintage Christmas treasures, farm honey, and Chickenhouse Red and Cottonwood White wine grown and vinted at Stonebridge Farm Winery. Demonstrations of circular sock knitting and yummy treats too. Stonebridge Farm is lo cated at 5169 Ute Hwy. east of the 36/66 junction. For more informa tion, contact Kayann Short at kshort@greenspeedisp.net.

Local author receives journalism award

LYONS – Kayann Short, Ph.D., has received the 2022 Downing Journalism Award from Women Writing the West. Short’s win ning article, “In the Land of Sky Blue Weather: The Mystery of the Blue Bird Club Photo Album,” appeared in The Colorado Maga zine’s Summer 2021 issue.

The piece also received the best article award from the Col orado Author’s League. Short is the author of A Bushel’s Worth: An Ecobiography, an award-win ning memoir published by Torrey House Press. Her recent publica tions include the novelette “Riverine” in The Write Launch and “The Turkey That Got Away” in Chicken Soup for the Soul’s holiday collection.

Short is a former faculty mem ber at the University of Col orado-Boulder where she taught women’s studies and writing. She was an invited speaker at this year’s Colorado Women’s History Symposium and she facilitates a writing support group on the first Wednesday of every month for the Lyons Regional Library.

Short and her partner John Martin run Stonebridge Farm and Winery, the oldest community supported agricultural (CSA) farm in Boulder County. Links to her writing, including the win ning article, can be found at kayannshort.com.

By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review

LYONS –

At a recent meeting of the Lyons Town Board, the trustees had a discussion on amending the town code to reenact portions of the 2018 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) in a public hearing for the second reading of Ordinance 1133.

The 2018 version of the IBC would update the current building code to include more current energy and safety measures. The town is currently using the 2015 version of the IBC.

Lyons resident and activist Edward Kean spoke out at the public hearing asking the board to skip the 2018 IBC and instead pass the 2021 (newest version) of the IBC, stating that other cities in the county were already using the 2021 IBC and it would be easier if everyone was on the same page. He also stated other rea sons including the fact that the newer IBC would have more current updated building practices and environmental measures in place.

Aaron Caplan, Utilities and Engineering Director, said that the Colorado Energy Office put out a code guide and it would take several

months to go over and review the new changes in the 2021 IBC, so the Utilities and Engineering Board would not be ready to rec ommend approval of the 2021 IBC until about March of 2023. “We have the 2018 code books already ordered and we are ready to move forward on the 2021 code,” said Caplan.

Mayor Hollie Rogin said that the most im portant part of the new building code would be the energy conservation part of the code.

Ordinance 1133 to approve the 2018 Inter national Building Code was approved by all the trustees present and the board instructed staff to start working on the 2021 IBC.

The town board voted to approve on first reading Ordinance 1136, a drive-up window for a business in Zone District B, as a conditional use. Town planner David Kimmett presented the ordinance, 1136, to the board. The town does not usually approve drive-up windows for businesses and the two drive-up windows that are use by the two liquor stores in town are grandfathered in. In the future any further ap plications for drive-up windows will need to be approved conditionally by the board.

The board also approved on first reading

Ordinance 1137, to allow non-conforming lots that do not meet the minimum standard lot size to be considered as meeting the min imum lot area development standards in lowdensity residential zoning district R-1.

Town Planner David Kimmette made the case that the ordinance needs to be in place so that the old platted lots that are not considered meeting the minimum lot required size would become buildable, and could be sold as legalsized lots even though some of the old lots are smaller than the standard-size buildable lot. The board voted to approve Ordinance 1137 with Trustee Jocelyn Farrell abstaining.

Before approving the Consent Agenda, one item, the November Accounts Payable, was pulled from the agenda by Trustee Joce lyn Farrell. The item concerned a payment to Highland Ditch for $7,000. The town staff has met with Highland Ditch a few times to discuss a trail project on a piece of Highland Ditch property.

Trustee Farrell indicated that the fee of $7,000 was excessive and wanted to know what the money was for. Staff member Tracy

Redstone stands with President Zelensky and the people in Ukraine

Turkeys on parade on Red Gulch Road. PHOTO BY SHARON DENTON

BOT approves new building codes, eight foundations in place at Summit, trail talks with Highland are expensive

Updated air packs arrive at Lyons Fire Protection District

By Anne Reid Redstone Review

LYONS – In September, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $1.4 million dollars to the Assis tance to Firefighters grant for five fire dis tricts in Boulder and Larimer counties. Allenspark, Hygiene, Lefthand, Lyons, and Pinewood Springs Fire Protection Dis tricts collaborated on the grant application in order to secure funds to update life-sav ing equipment.

After the grant was awarded the funding agencies then solicit manufacturers for filling an order. This process is called a Re quest for Proposal (RFP). Three companies competed for filling in the request. ROI

Town of Lyons with helicopter and noxious herbicide

On November 1, at 7:40 a.m. Boulder County Parks and Open Space (BCPOS) doused indaziflam (a close cousin to glyphosate) with a helicopter on public open space next to our homes and St. Vrain Creek against the wishes of our town’s people.

This herbicide was forced on us just weeks after BCPOS partnered with Cemex Lyons to extend its min ing permit 15 more years.

One neighbor had heard about this spraying and told others in town; when people were up in arms and inun dating the county with calls so much that Joe Swanson, the Weed Management Director for Boulder County, held an emergency meeting at Lyons Firehouse just one week before spraying.

Nearly 50 people showed up with one day,s notice to this meeting and told BCPOS they did not want chemi cals sprayed in our area, and that the Town of Lyons has adopted a Weed Management Plan without the use of chemicals on our public spaces. They told BCPOS there are many other ways to handle the cheatgrass they want to eradicate including targeted goat grazing, timely mow

ing and controlled burns that have been used successfully all over the country.

BCPOS staff scoffed at all of these alternative methods and said they were moving forward anyway; but upon the request by one neighbor to the open space did make the concession that they would exclude from spraying a few acres near homes and our creek that provides drinking water to our town and a drainage.

Given the short notice, some people had not heard the news and were walking in the area when the aerial spray ing occurred and were directly showered with this chem ical. The townspeople, including Lyons Climate Action, begged the county not to do it, even offering to do the work and take on the cost ourselves, and have gathered 1,354 signatures to date opposing this method. We got sprayed and the town is devastated about it, as we know it will take years to recover and that there will be conse quences for the wildlife, public health and plants nearby.

Thank You, Sheldon and Kathleen Sands with Lyons Climate Action

Thank you Cemex

Thank you to Michael Clausen and Cemex for provid ing us with four lovely trees and shrubs that will beautify our land as well as attract birds, bees and butterflies. Thank you to the Cemex employee volunteers who

By Joe Neguse Redstone Review

LYONS – Last month was historic for our state. President Joe Biden declared the first national monument of his presidency, and it was none other than Colorado’s very own Camp Hale.

Camp Hale, which was once the home of mountain and winter warfare training during World War II, now serves as a center for our state’s outdoor recreation community, attracting countless visitors each year with plentiful opportunities for hiking, fishing, and more. By designating this space as a new national monument, we are ensuring the protection of this landscape for gen erations to come.

Fire and Ballistics Equipment, Inc. out of Lakewood Colorado was chosen to fill the order for the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA).

Now Lyons Fire has received the first partial shipment of the SCBAs. The lifesaving equipment has newer technology and enhancements that allow increased operability between our departments. Once the entire order arrives the products will be distributed to the four additional departments. Collectively, these five agen cies provide emergency services to approx imately 345 square miles. Each of these districts is comprised of dedicated volun teers and paid personnel.

Anne Reid is Lyons Fire Public Information Officer. She can be reached at publicinforma tion@lyonsfire.org.

worked so diligently and caringly to give each planting just the conditions it needed. Thank you to: Scott Har cus, Dave Ramsey, Gary McGuire, Anthony Mercado, Matt Hoffman, and Logan Ream.

It was heartwarming to talk to you all and to witness the consideration with which you handled each plant. I am confident the shrubs and trees all have a perfect start. I look forward to seeing them in bloom next year and I hope you will all come by then to appreciate the beauty you helped create. We had lost so much land and so many trees in the flood which makes this gift of plants and an eager crew to plant them all the more meaningful to us.

Thank you for your generosity. I truly feel we cannot thank you and the volunteers enough. Be well.

Sandy

Spellman

, Lyons, CO

businesses, recreation groups, ranchers, and conservation ists to protect our public lands, honor the legacy of Camp Hale, and secure outdoor recreation opportunities.

I was honored to join President Biden at the ceremony to officially designate Camp Hale as this country’s newest national monument. Camp Hale has always held a special place in our state’s history, from the important role it played globally during World War II, to the way in which it helped grow our ski and outdoor recreation industries. And from this point forward, not only will this landscape and treasured public lands be cemented into the Ameri can story, but so will the storied history and sacrifices of the 10th Mountain Division.

Congressman Joe Neguse was recently re-elected to Colorado,s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to his first term in November 2018, becoming the first African-American member of Congress in Colorado history.

As the House lead for the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act, I’ve spent the past four years in Congress pushing for these protections. We’ve worked tirelessly with our mountain and rural communities, small

Lyons Area & Flood Books For Sale! from the Lyons Redstone Museum

Boulder County Parks and Open Space sprays invasive weeds near homes in the

Left to right: Matt Sobel, ROI Fire and Ballistics; Kellen Frose, Engineer at Lyons Fire

PHOTO BY PETER BUTLER

Election results, energy codes, a parade and more

By Hollie Rogin, Mayor of Lyons Redstone Review

LYONS – Thank you to everyone who voted this month. Though results have not yet been certi fied, our two ballot meas ures appear to have passed by large margins. Ballot measure 2G, which changed the lodging occupancy tax from a flat $2 per

night per room or campsite to a percentage of the cost of a room or campsite (5 percent initially), passed 914 to 258. This goes into effect for reservations made after January 1, 2023, and the Board of Trustees can raise the tax to 8 percent with a resolution.

Ballot measure 2H passed as well. Arts and cultural organizations are now permit ted to use land zoned Parks and Open Space, and nonprofit organizations can do so as well, though they must go through a conditional use review (with Board of

Trustees approval).

In other election news, Lyons has a new State Senator. Janice Marchman, Democ rat, won the election race for Senate Dis trict 15, which Lyons was redistricted into last fall. Marchman won over incumbent Rob Woodward, Republican. SD15 now encompasses much of Larimer County in addition to Lyons, Nederland, Allenspark, Ward and parts of the City of Boulder. We very much look forward to working with Senator Marchman and are extremely grateful to Senator Steve Fenberg for all he did for Lyons over the years.

On November 7, the Board of Trustees passed the adoption of the 2018 Interna tional Building Code (IBC) on second reading. There was robust discussion and valuable input from our Boards and Com missions regarding whether it was optimal to consider adopting the 2021 IBC instead. Ultimately, the Board decided to adopt the 2018 IBC now, and directed staff to begin working the 2021 Energy Effi ciency Codes for the Board of Trustees to consider in the spring of 2023.

Of course, the holidays will be here be fore we know it. The annual Parade of Lights is scheduled for December 5, and

the theme is “Starry, starry night.” You may remember that last year,s parade was in jeopardy due to too few entries, so get your floats, lit-up golf carts, and decorated dogs ready to join us this year.

Have you been thinking about joining a Board or Commission? Now is a great time to apply. Boards and Commissions meet once per month and provide invalu able input to the Board of Trustees. They,re a great way to make a tangible dif ference in our community. There are cur rently openings on:

• Board of Adjustments

• Economic Vitality Commission

• Historic Preservation Commission

• Housing and Human Services Commission

• Planning and Community Development Commission

See you at the parade.

Hollie Rogin was sworn in as Mayor of Lyons on April 18, 2022. Before that she was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees for the term of 2020 to 2022. In 2015 she cre ated the foundation for what is now the City of Boulder,s Commercial Affordability pro gram on a pro bono basis. While serving as a Trustee, she was the Board liaison to the Eco nomic Vitality Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission.

Lyons Leos are young people making the Lyons community stronger

By Jonelle Tucker, Ron Gosnell and Cole Thomas Redstone Review

LYONS – Who would have imagined that a group of young people could create and sustain a community service organization for almost a decade? Sponsored by the Lyons Lions Club, the Lyons Leo Club is living proof of the contribution teen youth make when given the opportunity.

After our devastating flood of 2013, when local teens weren’t allowed to help without being part of an organization, a group of Lyons youth found partnership with the Lyons Lions Club. Chartered No vember 24, 2014 by the International As sociation of Lions Clubs, the Lyons Leos have never looked back, contributing thousands of hours to the community.

Lyons Lions and Leo advisor Ron Gos nell reflects that “since the Lyons Leo Club inception, youth members have ex perienced the many rewards of community service while giving of their time and ex pertise. Perhaps most telling is they like it and have fun in the process.”

What makes the Lyons Lions Leo Club different from so many other youth groups? They are self-managed, meaning these young teens organize and oversee their membership, projects, voting, and budget. Lions Club advisors remain available, but in the background. “Sponsoring the Lyons Leo

Club represents one of the best service decisions that our Lions Club has made. Their energy and enthusiasm add meaning and purpose to our club. We can’t say enough about how capable and productive these young people are and how their service con tributes to the community,” notes Gosnell.

“For Lyons and other communities in the northern Front Range of Colorado, the Lyons Leo Club has gained the reputation as the ‘go to’ group when something needs to be done,” explains past advisor and Lion member Jonelle Tucker. Though the Leo Club is not a school-sponsored activity, each year student members list the Leo Club as a key community service activity when achieving recognition at various school events, and the trophy area at Lyons High proudly displays the Leo Club plaque recognizing each year,s president and the hundreds of service hours contributed. “Our Lyons Leos truly serve,” states a proud Gosnell.

Each May, the Leo Club elects a new slate of officers: a president, two vice-pres idents, two junior VPs, a secretary and treasurer. The added positions help spread the workload and encourage the younger Leos to take on leadership positions. On average the group is involved in ten serv ice activities each year.

Cole Thomas, the 2022-2023 Leo Club president shares that “this year has already been incredible for the Lyons Leo Club. Since June 2022, we have had a minimum of 25 Leos showing up to volunteer. This has resulted in a club total of over 150 hours so far and has included a variety of projects.” Below are just a few of the Leo Club’s activities:

Picture Rock Trail Maintenance and Fire Mitigation: This past summer Leos met with the Boulder County Trail Coordinator on two occasions to assist with trail im

provements and fire mitigation. “We hiked several miles with tools and spent hours re moving undergrowth, digging out rocks, and improving the popular hiking and mountain biking trail,” explains Thomas.

Lion,s Annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser: Each year Leos commit to run ning the Putting Contest as part of the an nual Lions Club Golf Tournament. The tournament helps raise funds for scholar ships and the Leos raise funds for projects within the community. It’s a fun and multigenerational event.

Lyons Community Foundation,s (LCF) Annual Hootenanny: Thomas notes that this year Leos combined efforts with LCF and brought their Duck Race organizing skills to this event. In addition to selling ducks, the Leos managed the actual race and worked the trash/recycling stations.

Annual Highway Cleanup: Working side by side with the Lyons Lions Club, Leos meet each fall picking up trash and helping beautify the roadside.

“As you can see, we keep busy and we

look forward to taking part in several more events in winter and spring,” states Thomas.

“In addition to the activities above, this fall we worked booths at the Lyons Elementary Spooktacular event and helped set up the Veteran,s Memorial at the library.”

For over seven years the Leos have spread holiday cheer at the town sponsored Annual Lyons Holiday Bazaar, and will be there again this year. Beginning on Friday and returning on Sunday afternoon, Leos will provide much needed assistance with setting up and taking down the venue and helping the artisans (many older citizens) with loading and unloading their exhibits.

Other events currently on their radar in clude a spring tree-planting project made possible by a grant awarded to Leo Secre tary Emma Rooney; “Hope for Homeless” bags containing supplies and snacks and given to homeless shelters; and helping people with autism learn to ride bikes.

“As a volunteer organization,” Thomas explains, “we are here to serve our com

The Lyons Lions Club and the Lyons Leos teamed up to clean up some highway trash along Colorado Hwy. 66.Back row, from the left: Four members of the Lyons Lions Club: Randy Pollard, Kris Simms, Mark Browning, Scott Leiding. Standing on Scott Leiding,s left is the first member of the Lyons Leos, Hadley Larson, and next to her is Sage Wynja. Front row from the left: Lions Club member Ron Gosnell, Leos President Cole Thomas, and Leos member Matt Carter.

Rogin

The 4th Avenue pedestrian bridge was dedicated on October 21. PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS

Colorado 2022 Election Results

By Staff Reports Redstone Review

DENVER – Democrats in Colorado had some major wins in the November elec tion. The races for Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and Treasurer all went Democratic along with the ma jorities in the State House and Senate. Most of the ballot issues passed but not all.

Colorado voters voted for the first time for a Representative in the new U.S. Congressional District 8 where Democrat Yadira Caraveo won over Republican Bar bara Kirkmeyer and a state senator was elected in the new district 15.

Many of the races were close and con tentious. One U.S. Congressional race in District 3 was still not declared at press time, between incumbent Republican Lau ren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch. This race was supposed to be a slam dunk for Rep. Boebert but District 3 turned out to be not as red as was earlier thought.

Not all the votes for each of the Colorado races were counted by press time, therefore these elections results will vary over the next month.

Governor: Incumbent Democrat Jared Polis won 57 percent over Republican Heidi Ganahl 40.8 percent.

Secretary of State: Incumbent Democrat Jena Griswold won 53.5 percent over Republican Pam Anderson 43.8 percent.

Attorney General: Incumbent Democrat Phil Weiser won 53.1 percent over Republican John Kellner 44.8 percent.

Treasurer: Incumbent Democrat Dave Young won 52.2 percent over Republican Lang Sias 44.6 percent.

It’s always busy at LEAF

By Lory Barton Redstone Review

LYONS – As we look toward the holi days and the end of 2022, I,m happy to share a wealth of updates from LEAF, Lyons Emergency & Assistance Fund.

U.S. Senate Incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet won 54.3 percent over Republican Joe O,Dea 43 percent.

U.S. House District 2 Incumbent Democrat Joe Neguse won 69 percent over Republican Marshall Dawson 29 percent.

State Senate District 15 Democrat Janice Marchman won 50.3 percent over incumbent Republican Rob Woodward 49.7 percent.

State House District 49 Democrat Judy Amabile won 63.7 per cent over Republican Kathryn Lehr 33.7 percent.

AMENDMENTS

Amendment D Create New Judicial District won 65.9 percent.

Amendment E Extend Homestead Ex emption won 87.9 percent.

Pantry attendance has been higher than even at the height of the Covid pandemic. We are grateful that these people who need food are finding their ways to us.

Amendment F Charitable Gaming Conduct received a no vote 59.9 percent.

PROPOSITIONS

Proposition FF Fund School Meal won 56 percent.

Proposition GG Require Tax Impact table won 71.5 percent.

Proposition 121 Reduce Income Tax Rate won 65.6 percent.

Proposition 122 Regulate Natural Medicine won 52.7 percent.

Proposition 123 Affordable Housing won 51.7 percent.

Proposition 124 Retail Liquor Licenses won 62.4 percent.

Proposition 125 Expand Alcohol Licenses won 50.2 percent.

Proposition 126 Allow Alcohol Delivery received a no vote 51.7 percent.

For the election results for the two Lyons ballot issues, 2G on the lodging occupancy tax and 2H arts and cultural groups using public land, see Mayor Hollie Rogin’s column on Page 3.

and even toilet paper. This kindness is in addition to the weekly Sandwich Mondays meals that St. Vrain Market provides at no cost, every single week for all of our Meals on Wheels clients. It goes without saying that Mondays are our Meals on Wheels folks favorite day As we move into the holidays and the long winter season, we are all so thankful for St. Vrain Market,s partnership. Please thank Sul livan and the St. Vrain Mar ket team when you stop in.

Rave To The Grave, the annual LEAF Halloween party and fundraiser, was a resounding success. Nearly 1000 people gathered at Lavern Johnson Park on Friday, October 28 to cele brate The Upside Down.

As we serve more people, we are still struggling to source sufficient food. As our teams scramble to provide enough protein, bread, produce, and more, I send many thanks to those in our community who remem ber these ongoing needs and donate food or finances. There are so many people who de serve special recognition, and I want to offer a big thank you to a few of them now.

Barton

We raised $39,647.21 before expenses; these funds will help LEAF continue to offer vital human services right here in our community, including the Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery, Basic Needs and Resource Matching, and Lyons Volun teers. We are here for this community, and we look for ward to serving in 2023 and beyond.

Our food pantry teams are preparing to meet food secu rity needs in significant ways this holiday season. For the past couple of months, we have welcomed at least two or three new households to the pantry every single week.

Holiday Artisan Market

LYONS –Amy Lubbs will be selling her hand crafted jewelry at the Lyons Holiday Artisan Market on December 3 and 4.

The Lyons Holiday Artisan Market will be held in the Lyons Elementary School gym on Saturday and Sunday on December 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be jewelry, clothing, pottery, food, woodwork, soaps, and

Ken Singer and Sandy Spellman shop for and deliver much-needed food to the pantry week in and week out. In fact, they seek out sales, clip coupons, and generally go above and beyond to maximize the amount of food they bring to LEAF each week. They donated 2220 pounds of food last year. I can’t wait to see the total of their passionate efforts for this year When you see them, please give them a wave and a high five in thanks for their ef forts to feed our local people.

Neil Sullivan and St. Vrain Market have seen the need and responded with great generosity, too. In fact, Sullivan and his team have started donat ing most-needed pantry supplies each week. So far, St. Vrain Market has provided lots of butter and bread,

home decor items for sale. Lubbs uses beads, leather, stones and bones to create to create unique one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. Stop by her booth at the Holiday Artisan Market.

Seicento Baroque Ensemble explores origins of our Christmas carols

LYONS – Be among the first to greet the hol idays when Seicento Baroque Ensemble pres ents Christmas vocal music from the late 1500s and early 1600s, including timeless favorites by Praetorius, Palestrina and Victoria. Perform ances are December 2 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul

Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant St., Denver; De cember 3 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St. in Boulder, and De cember 4 at 3 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1500 9th Ave., Long mont. Visit seicentobaroque.org for tickets.

Holiday events at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder

BOULDER – The Dairy Arts Center at 2590 Walnut St. in Boulder presents a wide range of holiday shows, concerts and events. On No vember 25 Hazel Miller will perform at the

As we prepare to feed peo ple well for the holidays, we’re grateful for your financial and food donations. You can easily give financially online at our website, leaflyons.org. If you would like to donate food, you can bring it to the pantry on Wednesdays between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Currently, we need tomato sauce and paste, Rotel, Manwich, soup, canned meals (chili, stew, ravioli), pasta, cereal, snacks (chips, fruit snacks, cook ies), feminine hygiene products,

Collective, a holiday concert at 7 p.m. The program will feature seasonal favorites with fla vors of jazz, blues, and R&B. Guaranteed to raise your soul and spirit and move you into the holiday swing.

On December 9 the Boulder Opera Com pany will perform Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck at 7 p.m. On December 17 at 7 p.m. the Frequent Flyers Aerial dancers Inten sive Students perform Errant Moon. For more information call 303-440-7826 or go to info@thedairy.org.

Museum auctions off a handcrafted dollhouse and has acquired two family histories

By Monique Sawyer-Lang Redstone Review

LYONS – The Lyons Historical Society will have a booth at this year,s Holiday Artisan Market, located in the gym of Lyons Elementary School on Stickney Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets on December 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Holiday Artisan Market will be the final opportunity to bid, by silent auction, on a one-of-a-kind handcrafted dollhouse created by former Lyons resident Anne O’Brien. Graciously donated by O’Brien, this highly detailed repre sentation of a circa 1910 Granite, Oklahoma farmhouse will be on display at the Holiday Artisan Market.

If you would like to get your bid in early, follow the Lyons Redstone Museum on Facebook for the link to the online auction form. All proceeds from the auction and sale of the 1910 Granite, Oklahoma farmhouse benefit the Lyons Historical Society and its mission to discover and collect any material which may help to establish or illus trate the history of the Lyons area: its exploration, settle ment, development, and activities.

The museum also will have a variety of local history books available for purchase at the holiday market, perfect gifts for the history buffs on your holiday list. A selection of handcrafted items will be for sale including our signa ture Lyons sandstone magnets.

Even though the museum is closed for the winter, we have not been not idle. We are open by appointment for visitors and those wishing to do genealogical research. Appoint ments can be made by emailing redstonehistory@gmail.com. Throughout the off season, the museum hosts monthly visits by Lyons Elementary school students. Throughout the win ter the museum staff, along with volunteers, work on scan ning documents, transferring paper catalog records to a digital database, and creating or updating exhibits for the upcoming season.

The museum continually adds to its collection through items donated by the public and through staff actively col lecting items pertinent to Lyons’ history. In 2022, 38 indi vidual collections containing a total of 154 individual items were recorded. Some items were large, such as the Lyons Soda Fountain sign donated by Tracy Garcia Roller. Other items were small, such as the two business cards for the Cash Lumber Company started in Lyons in 1945 by Alfred De Sautels which were given to the museum by the Gilpin Historical Society. Each object, photograph, or document that comes into the museum,s collection contributes in

This one-of-a-kind handcrafted dollhouse, created and donated by former Lyons resident Anne O’Brien, will be sold via a silent auction at the Lyons Holiday Artisan Market on December 3 and 4.

some way to the story that is the history of Lyons.

As the steward of Lyons’ history, the museum also actively collects items representative of the present day. One example is the collection of the yearbooks from the ele mentary, middle and senior high schools. With the excep tion of the year 1996 we have a complete collection dating back to 1949. If anyone has a 1996 Lyons yearbook or yearbooks preceding 1949 we would love to add them to our archives.

Additional items of note that became part of the Red stone Museum collection this past year were two family histories, the Colard Family researched by Jerry Tabor, and For the Love of Family, The Story of Angus Alan and Faye Stapley Morris researched by Colleen Morris Divine.

The largest collection donated this year and one which contributes significantly to Lyons, history is the research records of Diane Benedict donated by her son William Benedict. Diane Benedict did in-depth recording and re search on those buried in the Lyons Cemetery. This re search has been of immense help to museum staff and those working on their family genealogy. She also wrote a number of books on local area history including the com munities of Lyons, Hygiene, Pella, and Altona, all of which are available in the museum gift shop.

The Lyons Historical Society and Redstone Museum would like to thank the Lyons Community Foundation for recently awarding us a Community Support Grant. A por tion of the funds granted will go toward the enhancement of the visitor experience. This will include a new exterior entry doormat, new carpet runners in the first and second floor hallways, and the production of several oversized photographs using images from our photograph archive

A self proclaimed nerd confronts heat pump technology

By Edward Kean Redstone Review

I set out to further elec

personal Lyons carbon footprint

was motivated by fear of an uninhabit able plant for our grandchildren. It’s very difficult to sense in advance what is most assuredly going to happen on this planet in the near and distant future if we continue on our current fossil fuel binge.

I believe that what we need to do is simple and obvious and we have all the tools, knowledge, and skills to continue the shift of our energy sources that we’re already doing. But, what could I personally do right now? I started by taking inventory of direct fossil fuel burning in my daily life, fires that I could see and control – natural gas forced

air furnace, water heater and cooktop, gasoline vehicles, lawnmower, weed whipper, chainsaw, and propane gas grill.

It started with fear, then morphed into cost analysis, then tech. It definitely helps to be a nerd. I naively tried to order a heat pump over the phone to replace our 30year-old “80 percent” furnace. After several HVAC in stallers poo-pooed the idea for my 4,000 sq.ft. home, I realized they have decades of successful business craftsman ship deploying updated 1940s technology and it works with few callbacks. What’s the incentive to re-train, ex periment, change practices, logos, advertising, and supplier relationships when what they’ve always done is proven, cost effective, fast, tried, and true, and puts bread on the table and diesel in the truck? Mess with “supply chain”?

I went into nerd mode and gave myself a college level education on HVAC technology and design including

for display.

The Lyons Redstone Museum is funded solely through donations and grants. As you plan your end of the year charitable giving please consider donating to the Lyons Historical Society. Donations may be mailed to Lyons His torical Society, PO Box 9, Lyons, CO, 80540.

Monique Sawyer Lang is the Collections Manager of the Lyons Redstone Museum. She is also a volunteer with the Lyons Food Pantry and a former member/chair of the Lyons Community Foundation Board. She lives in Spring Gulch.

Travels

Tony

Take the Redstone with you on your next trip and send us your photos showing where the Redstone has trav eled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@gmail.com

Kean

Sawyer-Lang

with Redstone

Duerr from Charlevoix, Michigan, is enjoying a cappuccino at Cafe Florian, the world,s oldest coffee house in St. Mark,s Square in Venice Italy on a warm fall day while reading a copy of the Redstone Review.

The world lost its way in 1830: celebrating old-fashioned hand skills

By Peter Butler Redstone Review

LYONS – The belief of many of we hand tool woodworkers is that with the arrival of industrial ized furniture-making, which saw the end of hand-cut dovetails and chisel-formed, wood-pinned mortise and tenon joints –the magical geometric shapes that can hold a table together for centuries – the world had lost its way.

Industrialization is an example of craft turning into engineering. Before the indus trial revolution every artifact in the family home would have been crafted. Crafted by a craftsman. Maybe it should be craftsper son. Jugs made by a potter, baskets by a bas ket maker, spoons by a spoon carver using only an axe and a crooked knife.

But if craft can deteriorate into engi neering it can also elevate into art. A gold smith such as Cellini could create a salt cellar of heavenly beauty, worthy of being called art. But a stuffy old dinosaur like me believes that art is the rare and precious pinnacle of craft.

I am a follower of John Ruskin. His life spanned the Victorian era from 1819 until 1900: painter, polymath and author of 150 books. He could be a prig but his most im portant achievement was the recognition of J.M.W. Turner as a oil painter of genius (against a tirade of disparagers including Queen Victoria). He has also subsequently become Britain’s most cherished artist. Ruskin believed that it was not for the cre ator to proclaim his work as art but that it was the prerogative of the critic only. That idea has been trampled into the dust myr

iad times since then.

One of the benefits of craft in the modern age is to slow the accumulation of stuff. Rather than two clicks and here comes the mail carrier, you must be patient until the maker invokes their skills. A while ago, my ever patient spouse requested a coffee table and – hey presto – ten years later it was ready. The table is guaranteed for 300 years, after that you’re on your own. The way I describe myself is as a wood worker who is, on a good day, a cabinet maker. I hope to create something regarded as art before I die but I’m not relying on it.

Craft should be revered for what it is: the application of hard-won skills to make something of utility. If you can turn twigs from a willow tree into a basket, you have skills that are worthy of praise. If you can

Dippers are sure sign of river health

By Greg Lowell Redstone Review

LYONS – The St. Vrain River – both the North and South branches – are home to America,s only aquatic songbird. The fre netic little gray bird in constant motion often seen on river rocks and in and under the water is the American dipper. The presence of the bird is one sure indicator of the river,s ecological health. In the years following the September 2013 flood the American Dipper (or, water ouzel) was largely absent from the river due to the loss of its food source – insect larvae found clinging to and under rocks in the water. The flood’s scouring effect –and the subsequent manmade remediation – destroyed much of the river’s macroinvertebrate population. These bottomdwelling animals include crustaceans, worms and aquatic insects. They are a key link in the food web between vegetation and fish and birds. But since the bugs re turned, so have the dippers.

University of Saskatchewan biologist Christy Morrissey said the dipper is the “perfect indicator of water quality.”

“Just the presence of dippers will indi cate the suitability of the habitat,” she said in a Durango Herald article.

Pete Marra, head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, said if a dipper’s food source begins to decline, the bird has

been known to decrease in numbers along rivers, and in some cases, completely aban don waterways.

America’s only aquatic songbird

As a transplanted New Englander, my first experience with a dipper was on a cold February day in 2012. A shelf of ice ex tended halfway across the St. Vrain. Yet here was a bird bobbing along the ice edge, then launching itself into the rapids. I watched it “swim” under the water, fight ing the current with its wings, then jump up onto the ice with its meal draped across its bill. I’d seen loons and sea ducks sub merge in icy waters but never in the swift water this bird favors.

The dipper is a resident of cold mountain streams and rivers in the western United States. It’s about the size of a robin, is a muted gray color and has an upturned tail like a wren. Males and females look alike.

The dipper takes its name from its constant bobbing motion where it moves its entire body up and down. It’s thought that this constant motion is a way to commu nicate in an environment marked by the noisy rush of water.

Since the dipper’s food is underwater, the dipper uses its short wings to propel itself to the river bottom where it probes for food, sometimes actually walking on the streambed. Its search is aided by an extra eyelid that is basically the bird’s diving mask. Dippers have been observed as deep as six feet under the surface. They can withstand extremely cold water tempera-

take the fleece straight off a sheep’s back, spin it into yarn and then knit or weave it into a garment, you are a magician who has created something from nothing.

Spinning goes back thousands of years. In Greek mythology Arachne was a spin ner and weaver who challenged the god dess Athena to a competition and won. She spun wool into yarn using a simple de vice called a spindle, which is little more than a stick with a hook on it. Sadly Arachne perished for her hubris and be came a spider.

My friend John Martin, from Stonebridge Farm, has this skill too. He can take a handful of rough wool and spin it into yarn with a spindle. Then he knits the yarn into beautiful and cozy socks using a device that took him years to master. A

person could then put those socks on her feet and pump the treadle of a potter’s wheel to craft a ceramic vessel.

In the early 1800s such a sock-adorned foot might be encased in a sabot, a wooden clog carved out of willow by a craftsman with a long knife anchored at one end. If the sabot wearer lived in Belgium and was aggrieved at the loss of craft work due to the tyranny of machines, she might throw her sabot into a machine and jam it, thus becoming the first saboteur. Today we modern Luddites might throw our Crocs into Twitter.

As far as I know John Martin has never had a negative interaction with a mytho logical goddess.

Each year Stonebridge Farm hosts a cel ebration of handcraft called Stonebridge Holiday Fair. This year it is on Saturday, December 10, at 5169 Ute Hwy., 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. You can mingle with a soap maker, candle maker, potters, see John Martin the sock-maker in action, meet graphic draftsmen and this humble hacker of wood who makes spatulas to stir your cooking and bird feeders colored with an tique recipe milk paint. It’s almost like en tering a time machine but without the molecular disruption.

Perhaps you might procure an artifact that helps to celebrate the birth, in Beth lehem, of a certain carpenter.

Peter Butler was born in India and lived in a house facing a giant kapok tree. Growing up in England there were trees but never quite enough. After qualifying as biochemist there was a gradual evolution into being a graphic designer. He and his wife Deirdre moved to the U.S. in 1997 and to Lyons in 2000. Fi nally there are enough trees.

tures due to their thick feathers and rela tively slow metabolisms.

Dippers, like ducks, geese and other birds that spend time in the water, preen their feathers with special oils to make them waterproof.

For most of the year, the birds are solitary, each inhabiting its own stretch of river, but male and female will pair up dur ing mating season and together construct a nest. One field guide describes the nest as “an extraordinary piece of bird architec ture.” It’s typically large, made of moss and ferns, and usually found under or beneath a waterfall or in a crevice, usually 6 to 20 feet above the flood level of the river or

stream. The moss provides a comfortable place for the bird to nest. Nests are occa sionally found under bridges as well. The female incubates four to five eggs for 13 to 17 days while the male provides food.

The bird’s presence on the St. Vrain River is reassuring. It means the water,s running clear and clean enough to support a healthy macroinvertebrate population, which is good for the birds, good for the trout and, ultimately, good for the humans that recre ate in Lyons, ecological centerpiece.

Lyons, resident Greg Lowell, is a former Lyons Town Board Trustee and serves as a member of the Ecology Advisory Board.

Lowell

Butler

The American Dipper prefers clear, clean Western rivers and streams, like the St. Vrain.

By John Gierach Redstone Review

LYONS – Susan and I drove up to Estes Park – the nearest polling place to where we live in southern Larimer County – to drop off our early ballots and on the way, I wondered briefly if there,d be armed goons in tactical gear staking out the drop box.

There’d been reports on the news about such things happening and if you didn’t parse the cover age critically, you could think it was happening everywhere, when in fact these seemed to be just a few isolated incidents, mostly in Arizona: despica ble, but not widespread.

As it turned out, it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. We drove to Estes, put our ballots in the drop box and went out for a late breakfast. There were no armed people intimidating voters; not many people around at all, actually, since it was a blustery weekday morning after tourist season when citizens of this mountain town get to reclaim their home.

Still, it’s easy to allow yourself to get wound up by the news and I realized that in principle, I ab solutely would fight for my right to vote if it came to that, but in practice I’d just call the cops. That would have been easy, since our drop box is right across the street from the police station – literally within shouting distance.

As I write this, it’s too soon after Election Day to know the full results. The U.S. Senate was recently called in favor of the Democrats with one seat still unde cided in Georgia, which will go to a runoff election be tween incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, Democrat, and Republican football player Herschel Walker. A num ber of U.S. House seats are still up in the air, but the red wave that was predicted by Republicans and some de featist Democrats didn,t materialize. That’s unusual be

cause the party that holds the presidency usually takes a “shellacking” in the mid-terms, as President Obama put it, but this time the majority in both houses – whoever has it – will be as thin after the election as it was before.

The Democrats owe their better-than-expected perform

lot in some states and even when they weren’t, people were mad about the Supreme Court overturning the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade. All three of Trump,s justices said in their confirmation hearings that Roe was establish precedent and at last implied that they’d leave it alone.

Then, as soon as they got in, they overturned it. Obvi ously, they’d all lied to the U. S. Senate. If you or I did that, it would be a crime, but apparently Supreme Court justices get a pass.

Liberal women were mad. So were some conservative and independent women. And men, too, who have their own stake in keeping government out of our private lives.

The political violence around the election that some predicted didn’t materialize, but there’s still time. Some losing Republicans are already whining about nonexistent fraud and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when candidates who said they wouldn’t accept the results of any election that they didn’t win turn out to have lost. What are they gonna do, move into the governor’s mansion while the incumbent is still in residence? Stage their own local insurrection? I wouldn’t put it past them.

According to exit polls, abortion was second only to inflation in voters, minds, but it’s too sim plistic to assume that people vote on a single issue. Pollsters seem to assume that, unlike high-function ing politicians and journalists, simple-minded vot ers can only hold one thought in their minds at a time, but in fact, we have a kaleidoscopic view that includes inflation, abortion, foreign policy, energy policy, gun violence, the environment and so on, as well as the increasingly nasty culture wars that pit the rich against the rest of us, autocracy against democracy and inclusiveness against white su premacy and a kind of Old Testament retribution.

ance to turnout. Voters came out of the woodwork and they were heavy on people under 30 and women. A polling place ran out of paper ballots; another ran out of ink in their printer, but for the most part everything worked. The turnout for this mid-term was record-breaking, and that’s after a new record was set in the last midterm. Some say that’s because abortion rights were on the bal

People talk about the mood of the country, when what we actually have is 330-some million moods that, if they’re like mine, change from hour to hour if not from minute to minute. That’s why politicians are forever trying to offer us simple choices like freedom or subservience; fair wages or poverty. But a wise old friend once taught me a rule: When someone begins a sentence with “I don,t know much, but... “ you can stop listening after the “but.”

Library will hold events on creative problem solving,

By Kara Bauman Redstone Review

LYONS – The Lyons Community Library wishes to express our thanks to our patrons for their patience as we served as a Boulder County Vot ing Center on November 7 and 8. Space was a little more limited than usual while the Community Room was closed to ob serve the required measures to keep the voting equipment secure.

Dan Rather, referencing a public li brary’s role in welcoming anyone who wishes to become a more informed and in dependent citizen, said, “There is no other public resource that so well encapsulates (the) aspirational notion of democracy.” We are proud to serve as a resource to in form our citizenry and to partner with the Board of Elections.

School-age kids are invited to join Han nah Ogden and library volunteers for an all-ages drop-in craft on Thursday, November 17 from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Our monthly crafternoon focuses on creative problem solving and decision-making skills for enriching arts and crafts. No reg istration required.

Adults are invited to tap into their own artistic and creative sides at the next installment of our drawing and sketching se ries, Illustrations in Ink. Join instructor Arianne Thompson at the library on Fri

day, November 18 from 10 a.m. until noon to continue the conversation on perspec tive and to explore new techniques and styles of working with ink. Create mini masterpieces taking inspiration from Japanese-style brush painting as pen and ink celebrate line and value to create depth within a 3D space. Registration required; please bring a sketchbook.

In early December, join us as we spot light a slate of local female creators. On Thursday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m. we welcome life and career coach Amrita Rose, author of No Plaid Suits, who will lead an interactive discussion to help you discover the kind of home and life that makes your heart sing. Her book and work shops encourage you to experience adven ture, laughter, and fun in life while defining and creating true success.

On Thursday, December 8, our own Hannah Ogden will offer an evening of holiday crafting for older teens and adults. She will also introduce attendees to the li brary’s CriCut machine. Registration re quired for this 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. workshop.

On Saturday, December 10 at 1p.m., we welcome Katie Dittmann and Shauna Pick, local small business owners who will share strategies for running your own suc cessful regenerative business. They seek to help any new or transitioning small busi ness owner to empower more people to succeed in a way they can support themselves, their service, and provide value to the community.

Local authors and illustrators Elizabeth Marglin and Niki Dewart will introduce their latest work, The Wild and Sacred Feminine Card Deck, on Tuesday, December 13 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. They will facilitate conversation, writing prompts, deep listen ing exercises, and sharing about the vital nature of the feminine.

We welcome area teens and tweens for an after-hours movie night on Friday, De cember 2. Those in grades 6 through 12 are invited to join us at the library at 6 p.m. for pizza, snacks, and a fun adventurefilled PG-13 movie. The next installment of the Tween Book Club finds them reading and discussing Wonder by R.J. Palacio on Tuesday, December 13 at 3:30 p.m. The Teen Advisory Group is also planning a two-day collaborative Gingerbread Village building extravaganza on Friday, Decem ber 16 and Saturday, December 17.

Drop-in Tech Help is taking a break for the month of November and will return on December 5, now on Monday afternoons, between 2 and 4 p.m. In the meantime, you may reach out to our Technology Coordi nator, Sarah Lawson, to request assistance.

Make sure you are stocked up with all the books and family-favorite movies you might need ahead of the Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day holi day. The library will be closed to the public on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25. The library will reopen for our regular hours at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 26. The Lyons Community Li

brary opens Monday through Saturday at 10 a.m. We close at 5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays; 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays; and 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Our online catalog is available 24/7 at lyons.colibraries.org and we,re always open for digital downloads on both the Libby and CloudLibrary apps. Give us a call at 303823-5165 or email info@lyonslibrary.com with any questions. Please see the calendar on our website for additional program in formation and for registration instructions.

Apparently, no one knew voters could hold more than one thought in their minds at the same time

ink painting, holiday crafts and more

Bauman

Gierach

Inanna, symbol of wholeness, from The Wild and Sacred Feminine Card Deck by Elizabeth Marglin and Niki Dewart.

Gifts, at the library: practice the art of telling tall tales or short stories about giving and receiving

By Janaki Jane Redstone Review

• No caricatures, accents, voices, slurs, etc. Please keep it respectful of everyone.

• No notes, no props. Just you and your story.

It is also important to remember that storytelling is not reciting. The story is not memorized, just the main plot points are. That why the story is a living thing and has ur gency each time you tell it.

Jane

LYONS – A long, long, time ago in a land far, far, away – or maybe it was only last week, and you were snuggled under a blan ket in your favorite chair – or someone told you a story, or read a book to you, or you watched a movie, and it changed you. Maybe in a big way or maybe in a small one, but it changed you, because that is what stories do. A good story well told or read or filmed changes lives. Even a mediocre story, poorly told, can shift us to a new perspec tive. Stories connect us and remind us of what we share.

On Wednesday, December 12 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. join with others in our community to share in listening to and telling our stories. The theme will be Gifts, and each per son selected will have five minutes to tell their story, plus a 60-second grace period to finish up. Anyone who wants to tell a story (PG stories and language only, please, as we are welcoming children to attend who can sit quietly and still to listen) can come, put their name in the hat, and if their name is selected, tell their story.

The storytelling theme of Gifts is from the Moth’s Game of Storytelling, which advises, “Prepare a story about giving or receiving. Finding exactly the right thing or failing miserably. Grace in the wake of an unwanted gift or your joy in receiving the exact thing your heart desired. Or gifts from the gods, like snow days, great aim, your dad’s smile, your mom’s love of strays (and the kitten she let you

keep). If it,s the thought that counts, think hard.”

In November, Wide Spaces Community Initiative in vited Johanna Walker (johannawalker.com) to the Lyons Community Library where she taught a group of about 30 people How to Tell a Great Story. It was a fun night that increased connection among the people there. Now those folks, and anyone else who wants to come, is invited to come, and share their stories.

There will be some basic rules, also taken from the Moth:

• The story must be on theme.

• It should have stakes, or urgency (why/how did it change you?).

• It must be your story to tell.

• It must be on time (five minutes with a one-minute grace period).

• Your story, your struggle; in other words, the punch line is about you, not someone else’s story.

If you have ever listened to The Moth Story Hour Satur days on NPR (and if you have not, go as soon as you can to themoth.org and listen, you will not regret it) you know that the audience is hugely supportive. This should be easy in the Lyons community: we know how to whoop and holler and stamp our feet to support each other. It can be a little vulnerable and scary to sit or stand in front of peo ple and tell your story.

Nerves can get the better of a person, and that is definitely okay. We are coming together to share, to support, to join our hearts through our ears and find more belonging and sharing. Lots of applause and support can only help both the teller and the listeners to relax and have a good time.

Please bring a friend or your neighbor, or bring the whole family. Encourage your friends to come. We will be meeting monthly to tell stories, so come ready to vote what evening works best for you. In the colder months we will be at the Lyons Community Library in the Community Room, and in the warmer months A-Lodge is excited to have us come and use its stage and enjoy its space. See you there.

Janaki Jane writes on issues of society and mental health. She is the Program Director of the Wide Spaces Community Initiative, a program of the Lyons Community Library. The Initiative’s vision is “A Community of Belonging and Personal Safety for Everyone.” She can be reached at wsci@lyonsre gionallibrary.com or widespacescommunity@gmail.com, or leave a message at the library.

Bellwether by HJB: Finding the connection to one’s roots and heritage

By Tamara Haddad Redstone Review

LYONS – Holly Beck first moved her home business, HJB Leather Designs, in June of 2017 to 443 Main St., a small space where making bespoke leather goods like purses, weekender bags, and wallets fit perfectly.

From the moment she opened the doors, Beck had a list of names on her chalkboard representing clients that come in to design their dream leather goods.

That list may have changed names but has never ended. “I am still on a six-month waiting list,” said Beck. “Which is amazing to me. I don’t think artists and artisans be lieve in their art,s success; at least, I didn’t. I knew I loved what I was doing, and that was enough.” Move forward five years to its present location at 402 Main St., add five times the square feet, and you have the HJB evolution, now, Bellwether by HJB Designs.

“It actually wasn’t a move I anticipated. At the time, I did not see past my leather studio,” said Beck. “A Boulder real estate agent, Andy Sepec, bought the old soda fountain building and asked if I would be interested in renting space. To tell you the truth, in the beginning, I was over whelmed with the size and the merging of retail with my custom work.”

What happened next was a bittersweet lesson in business partnerships and growth. A local person convinced Beck that they

should lease the new retail space together. Beck sold her car to finance the renova tion, loaned money to the new shopmate, and they signed a three-year lease to gether. Four months later, the shopmate decided retail was not for her and walked out on Beck and the lease commitment.

“In the beginning, I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do. I envisioned a business

Let’s shop Lyons and shop small

By Kim Mitchell Redstone Review

LYONS – Sandwiched between Black Fri day and Cyber Monday is Small Business Saturday, which this year is November 26. What if we tried as a community to set an intention to try and shop locally, eat lo cally, and support our helpful local busi nesses in Lyons all year long?

You may not realize your individual im pact, but each time one of us chooses to stop and grab a drink or coffee from our fa vorite local café, pick up a part locally to complete a home improvement project or purchase a gift from one of our eclectic local stores and galleries, we are each help ing to make an impact in our community. Maybe you need a new set of winter tires for your vehicle. Or perhaps your car or your bike needs a tune up. Well, you’re in luck, because Lyons has got you covered. As fall quietly fades into winter, our small, locally owned, independent businesses appreciate it when we continue to show up and support them. It’s hard to imagine how

empty or desolate our town would feel if we didn,t have our small, diverse and pas sionate local businesses and services.

The success of our local stores brings added benefits to our community too. You’ll receive personal service with a friendly smile. Plus, our seasoned business owners have unique items that can be seen, touched, sampled or tried on. The owners of our small local ‘brick and mor tar’ restaurants, stores and businesses are also our friends, neighbors, and family.

Supporting our small, local businesses also create a stronger sense of community. We are much more likely to know or get to know the local business owners in Lyons. These connections create waves which ripple outward in positive ways that help to uplift our local community. In gen eral terms, small businesses also give back more to the community. They support local fundraisers, our local non-profits, school programs, and more.

Your local support helps to ensure that our local businesses will be here when you need them to be, to celebrate your an

camaraderie that would expand our busi ness concepts organically and coopera tively. When suddenly left with the lease and a lot of square space, I had to step back and do some soul searching.”

So Beck went back to visit her uncle, a member of the Sioux tribe in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to decompress and reeval uate her art and business,s future. “Growing up, I was never in tune with my Native American heritage because of my mother’s negative experience growing up on the reservation as a ‘half-breed.’”

Like many reservation children, Beck’s mother was sent to Catholic school, strip ping her of any pride and traditional knowledge she had in her lineage. “It was n’t until later in life that I felt a connec tion to my Native American heritage. I spent a lot of time with my uncle and his stories and researched my Sioux bloodline. I started to feel more connected to who I am and realized working with leather and fur is a generational passion; I began to un derstand that my art is an expression of that growth,” said Beck. A clarity of her next move started to open up.

Around the same time, back in Lyons, long-time local Mary Magdalena walked into Beck,s new space with her paintings of Native American life in the days before the massacres and making of reservations.

“It was an instant connection,” said Beck. “Mary helped me bridge my heritage

with my shop’s future. As a result, the shop became Bellwether, a place where I design and create from fully resourced leather, and a showcase for local like-minded artisans.”

Bellwether, which means the leading sheep of a flock, with a bell on its neck, now is host to local artisans such as Left hand Designs Jewelry, Lisa Runninghorse, and One Feather Arts, to name a few. “All the artisans I represent have found me,” said Beck. “I feel blessed with the authen tic work and the diverse clientele base that comes in. I want to encourage people hit with unexpected roadblocks to see them as opportunities. And especially encourage artists and artisans to keep creating and trusting in their path. With fast fashion and a global disconnect, it,s important to celebrate the individual.”

Bellwether by HJB Design is a men’s and women’s leatherwear and accessories, home furnishings, jewelry and gift shop.

Working studio hours are 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Tuesday through Friday. Doors are open to the public 11 a. m. to 7 p.m. Tues day through Sunday and by appointment. For more information go to www.Bell wetherhjbdesigns.com.

Tamara Vega Haddad is an advocate for small businesses and Lyons, economic de velopment. She has an Interior Design Certifi cate, specializing in Biophilic Design, and works with Tucker Real Estate Group as an agent.

niversary, a child’s success or grab some thing in Lyons to thank a neighbor. What if we all made a conscious decision this year to support our local businesses and choose to invest in our local community, especially as we head into the quiet lull of the winter months.

Lyons is lucky to have such unique local offerings. Be sure to pop in, say hello and see what is new. Make a connection. Meet a friend in Lyons for lunch, coffee, dinner or

retail therapy, mid-week too if you can. It,s the need for human connection that draws us into businesses, restaurants, retail shops and more. Let’s continue this connection and momentum beyond small business Sat urday, supporting the Lyons community that we all know and love.

Kim Mitchell is Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Town of Lyons. Kim has called Lyons home since 2009.

Holly Beck is the owner and leather artist at Bellwether by HJB Designs

SOLACE AT 437 MAIN STREET, LYONS

Face of Art in Lyons: Meet Crystal DeCoster

By Sally King Redstone Review

“Have you noticed... something wild is going on in Lyons.”

As Crystal and I sat at a bench at Moxie’s Sharing visions and enthusiasm, “That the jigsaw puzzle is coming together It is a Gestalt thing, our art community We’ve gotten the recipe right. It’s been a collective effort

With a long list of names And the results are exponential.”

Crystal DeCoster is a woman of the arts Both as an artist and an entrepreneur. As owner of the Western Stars Gallery here in town. She also has a lovely hand at making her own art. Upon entering the community space in the library, Where she and Mystie Bracket and John King And many of the LAHC (Lyons Arts & Humanities Council) members new and old.

Share their art forms with us through December. I was especially drawn to Crystal’s wide eyed horse… Epoque Kiss, (this year’s Saddlebred World Champion.)

As a girl of 15, Crystal managed her family’s horse farm in Ohio

Bringing in through her own efforts

The funds to feed and care for all the horses. And now with these same leadership abilities She and other hard-working volunteers have set us up With the requirements We needed to be able to apply in January

To become Lyons Creates, a state recognized Arts District.

Crystal is a force like the gem she is named for. When I asked her about what she values She said, Synergy Being open to listening and working alongside And Reciprocity, The willingness to give back, to say thank you And play in the same sandbox.

Sally King is a local artist who has created whimsi cal bears and delightful wild flower acrylic paint ings to enhance the appearance of Lyons all over the town.

Lyons loves a parade, especially the Parade of Lights on December 3

By Kim Mitchell Redstone Review

LYONS – A decades-long tradition in Lyons returns again this year to Lyons on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, De cember 4, for the Annual Lyons Holiday Artisan Market and the Parade of Lights, with the theme Starry, Starry Night for this year,s parade.

Activities kick off on Saturday, Decem ber 3 at 10 a.m. with the Lyons Holiday Artisan Market returning to the Lyons El ementary School. Nearly 60 local crafters and artisans will be on hand for this indoor market featuring handcrafted items and creations including jewelry, pottery, tea towels, food, local produced goods and many diverse hand-crafted items, plus a hand-crafted dollhouse on auction.

What’s required? A bit of coordination, lots of enthusiasm and festive lights. Dec orate a car, create a float or march with your club or organization.

Will there be awards? Yes. Awards will be given to the floats/displays in the cate gories of Most Spirited, Best Use of Lights and Best Representation of the Theme.

You’ll get exposure to thousands of parade watchers, and a sense of pride for giving back to our community, plus participation is free. You can find the parade application at town hall, the library, Main Stage Brewing or on the town,s website, www. TownofLy ons.com / Parade The submittal deadline is Monday, November 28.

The Parade of Lights along Main Street uniquely reflects the holiday spirit of Lyons and enhances our community, bringing gen erations together to celebrate the season.

PHOTO BY ED BRUDER

The Lyons Holiday Artisan Market will be held on both days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Santa will make an appearance at the Ar tisan Market from 2 to 4 p.m. on both Sat urday and Sunday. Be sure to invite your friends to come and enjoy a day in Lyons. If this is your first year to attend, the en trance is via the back door by the gym entrance for entry into the school and market.

The Starry Starry Night theme will guide the Holiday Parade of Lights, our moving festival of lights and floats trav eling along Main Street through the his toric downtown, beginning on December 3 at 6:30 p.m. Show your spirit and participate in the parade, we can’t have a pa rade without floats and entries. Be sure to enter today.

“We expect this year’s parade to be great with many colorful and lighted floats, fire trucks, dance troupes, the Lyons High School band and everything in be tween,” said Laura Levy, with Laura Levy Group at Coldwell Banker and a big sup porter of the Lyons Parade of Lights. “We’re always stoked to be a part of the parade route. It’s one of my favorite evenings of the year. The restaurants, busi nesses and shops will be decorated for the holidays and it’s a great way to kick off the holiday spirit in Lyons,” she added.

Don’t delay. Enter the parade today.

Kim Mitchell is Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Town of Lyons. Kim has called Lyons home since 2009.

Travels with Redstone

Sarah Catchpole took her Redstone to the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. She is shown here in front of The Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war on Orkney close to the famed Scapa Flow. Sarah is a Lyons senior with family both here and in the UK.

your next trip and send us your photos showing where the Redstone has traveled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@gmail.com

King

INTEREST

LCF grants $50K to local nonprofits

By Tanya Mercer-Daty Redstone Review

LYONS – The Lyons Community Founda tion (LCF) is thrilled to announce the 2022 Community Support Grant Awards. Each fall, Lyons-area nonprofit organizations apply for grants that will support the work they plan to do in the year to come.

As a community foundation, LCF’s work consists of raising money to support a diverse range of projects and populations in the greater Lyons area. Offering a centralized source for fundraising allows nonprofits to focus on their projects. The grant review committee, a nominated group of area citizens, meets to analyze grant applications and award those whose intent aligns with LCF’s mission to improve the quality of life, build a culture of giving and encourage positive change in the greater Lyons area.

Since LCF’s inception in 2008, over half a million dollars has been raised to support local initiatives that either build community connectivity, provide human services, invest in our youth or support local ecology initiatives. This year, the LCF Advisory Board approved more than $50,000 in grants to 17 separate projects representing these four different focus areas, and 52 percent of all grants awarded will help to connect the community while 39 percent of all grants awarded will help to provide human services in Lyons.

The following is a brief description of the projects awarded this year.

The Lyons Community Foundation has invested in human services since 2008. Even before the creation of the Lyons Emergency & Assistance Fund (LEAF) in 2014, LCF supported the food pantry and the Basic Needs and Emergency Fund when they were ministries of the Lyons Community Church.

For the fourth year in a row, LEAF is the biggest recip ient of grant funding with a total of $18,500 awarded for all five of its programs: Lyons Community Food Pantry, Basic Needs and Resource Matching, Meals on Wheels, Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery and Lyons Vol unteers. The Town of Lyons was also awarded $1,100 for Senior Programming.

As a community foundation, LCF has sought to con nect the community in more ways than one. Since 2013, LCF has funded many popular programs that the town of Lyons organizes yearly such as the Parade of Lights and the Sandstone Concert Series.

Next year, the Town of Lyons will be bringing back the Winter Wonderland Series, which takes place in

January/February in Lavern Johnson Park. LCF has awarded over $10,000 for this community programming. In total, the Town of Lyons will receive $17,262 in grant funding from LCF.

The Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission (LAHC) has been a Community Grant recipient since 2009. In all, LCF has awarded close to $48,000 to support public art in the streets of Lyons. The Creative Outlets program began in 2019 when the LAHC launched Lyons, first utility boxpainting program. To date, the LAHC has completed four utility boxes through this program. You might have no ticed the new one in Bohn Park this past summer. For each box, commissioned artists receive a $1,000 stipend for their work and supplies. What a great way to bring beauty to unexpected places, by adding color and inter esting designs to utility boxes throughout town.

The heARTS Outdoor Art program began in 2017. Leased pieces are on a two-year display period schedule and include a $750 honorarium for artists. Residents and tourists can tour 31 works of art, set up around Lyons, by download ing the Clio App at https://theclio.com/tour/1091. The Lyons Community Foundation is excited to support a newly formed non-profit organization in Lyons, called Lyons Cre

ates. By awarding funding for staffing, LCF is supporting the development of a Creative District in Lyons.

As for local ecology efforts, LCF has awarded $1,500 to Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens Books for the publica tion of an educational and informational brochure. Fi nally, LCF continues to invest in our youth, not only through the scholarship program but also through its com munity support grant program.

A $500 grant has been awarded to the Lyons High School After Prom program (for the sixth year in a row) in order to support a safe, sober, supervised activity for high school students. The St. Vrain Valley Schools Edu cation Foundation has also been awarded a grant of $2,350 for local teachers who would like to apply to its Teacher Innovation Grant Program.

Grant applications received totaled $57,838. While LCF would like to provide funding for many more projects and scholarships, increased investment by local individu als is necessary. We are asking all residents to consider LCF in their year-end giving by making an online dona tion to the foundation at www.lyonscf.org. If you prefer to send a check, please watch for our annual appeal holiday card that should arrive in your mailbox anytime.

Mercer-Daty

Recipients of the LCF 2022 Community Support Grant Awards: Left to right, front row: Lory Barton, Executive Direc tor LEAF; Crystal DeCoster and Betsy Burton, Lyons Creates; Monique Sawyer-Lang and Baiba Lennard, Lyons Redstone Museum; Back row: Michelle Phelan, St.Vrain Valley Schools Education Foundation; Audra Felt, Lyons Booster Club; Regan Bullers, SEED Seminar Project; Jessie Berta-Thompson and Garima Fairfax, Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens; Mayor Hollie Rogin, Town of Lyons; Melinda Wunder, LAHC; Janaki Jane, Wide Spaces Community Initiative; Lisa Ramsey, Town of Lyons.

Greenwood helps return tragically threatened birds to the wild

By Kaite Fletcher Redstone Review

LONGMONT – The new State of Birds report, released at the end of Oc tober, raises alarm for birds across virtually every habitat. The U.S. has tragically lost one fourth of its birds over the last 50 years. Many of those birds find a home within Colorado. Greenwood is on the frontlines of this conservation issue. Each year, we return threatened birds back to the wild with more than 50 percent of our patients being feathered.

The state of Colorado birds

For the last five decades, the State of Birds report has presented data on changes in bird populations across habitats in the U.S. as well as conservation opportunities and successes in each biome.

Grassland bird populations declined by 34 percent over the last 50 years with shore birds falling closely behind at a 33 percent loss in their populations. Aridland birds and Western forest birds, too, show a downward trend. Five out of the eight categories in the report are found in Colorado. These are arid land birds, grassland birds, western forest birds, waterfowl and shorebirds.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified 269 species of nongame bird species on the Birds of Conservation Con cern (BCC) list, which represents the birds that need the greatest attention. In 2021, the belted kingfisher, Clark’s nut

cracker, bobolink, among many others that come to Greenwood, were added to that prioritized list. Bobolinks are even ex pected to lose another 50 percent of their remnant populations in the next 50 years.

“This report serves as an early warning indicator for bird species in trouble and will help stimulate the collaborative conserva tion action needed to bring back declining bird species well before they become threatened or endangered,” said Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams in a 2021 press release on the updated BCC list.

Due to restoration and conservation efforts within wetland ecosystems, the comeback of waterfowl populations, such as ducks and geese, provides hope for the future state of birds in the U.S.

By the numbers

With half of Greenwood’s patients feathered, this report hits close to home. Over 2,000 songbirds across 85 species re quired Greenwood’s care by the end of October with more expected to come through its doors. Mallard ducks count for over half of the 475 waterfowl patients followed by the Canada goose and then the colorful wood duck.

The top species that frequent the center are the house finch, house sparrow, Amer ican robin, collared dove and blue jay, re spectively. These are all more common species not found on the conservation list. However, the Western meadowlark, horned lark, common nighthawk, and grasshopper sparrow are a few of the threatened prairie species that come to the center in small quantities due to their lim

Meet Remi This 1-year-old lady is ready to find her new best pal. She is super sweet and full of energy. Remi is seeking a running / hiking partner who can keep up with her. She is very treat motivated and enjoys learning new skills. Remi has a face that just draws you in. She always gives off good vibes and enjoys snuggle time. Could Remi be your new pal? Come in today and set up a visit with her. For more information visit www.longmonthumane.org or give us a call at 303-772-1232. TheLongmont Humane Society is located at 9595 Nelson Road.

ited populations. Others include the broad-tailed hummingbird, cordilleran fly catcher, and the black-capped chickadee.

Conversely, 100 Canada geese waddled through our doors thus far this year. As hardy and resilient birds, flocks of geese re main in Colorado’s wetlands year-around, making them more likely to have conflicts with humans.

Killdeer also call Colorado home perma nently due to the mild, sunny climate. They uniquely occupy drier habitats despite their swimming abilities. This shorebird sports a black double-band around its neck and white underbelly beneath brown top feath ers. Four of these birds graced Greenwood,s doors by the end of October while no other shorebirds have come yet this year.

How to help our feathered friends

The motto of the State of Birds organi zation is “When birds thrive, we all win.” Birds increase biodiversity, serve as a mul tiplier for environmental justice, and improve our climate.

The best way to help birds is to create native habitat for birds without use of pes ticides. Turn that grass lawn into a lush, colorful ecosystem that attracts native and migratory birds.

The report states that “this steep decline in abundance can be reversed with new scales of conservation actions that benefit not only birds but also wildlife and people.”

Urging proactive efforts, the road to recov ery consists of investing in declining populations, utilizing the power of science and technology, and collaborating on solutions.

Right now, through December 7, your contribution to Greenwood,s feathered pa tients can mean even more on Colorado Gives Day – a statewide effort to strengthen the state,s nonprofits. Sponsoring a song bird or waterfowl at the center is another way to help more birds get back to the wild.

Kaitlyn Fletcher is the Communications and Content Associate at Greenwood Wildlife Sanctuary.

Fletcher

This bobolink was a patient at Greenwood. The bobolink is one of 269 species identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a bird in need of the greatest attention because of declining populations. Bobolinks are expected to lose 50 percent of their remaining populations in the next 50 years.

New dispensary Igadi opens

By Jim Ramsay Redstone Review

LYONS – For a small town, Lyons certainly has a lot of marijuana dispensaries. Four at last count. Most are aimed at the tourist traffic along Highway 36 going to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, but the newest pot shop, Igadi, would like to attract local busi ness as well.

Igadi means “garden” in Xhosa, a language spoken in eastern cape provinces of South Africa. The Lyons Igadi dispensary, owned by David Salturelli, is the latest addi tion to the Igadi chain of nine marijuana dispensaries headquartered in Tabernash, Colorado.

The Tabernash Igadi was established soon after the sale of recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado in 2014 and, in an act of what can literally be described as transparency, it became the first facility to show the grow ing and refining process by installing a window in their waiting room so customers could see into the cultivation room and the kitchen. The Lyons Igadi may not provide a window into the growing process, but it is a clean welllighted space with lots to offer on display.

The Lyons store was recently built at 4170 Ute High way next door to the Spirit Hound Distillery, and it

opened in October. It is currently open every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and offers several premium strains of cannabis flowers, oils, concentrates, cartridges and edibles.

They have a variety of topical creams and ointments, containing either CBD (non-intoxicating) or THC, and an assortment of edibles, featuring cookies and gummies made in their kitchen in Tabernash as well as a number of edibles from popular local manufacturers. They also sell vape pens and glassware, t-shirts and hats, and be sure to check the video displays in the store for the latest sales, discounts and offers.

It was news to me that purchases are no longer restricted to cash only. Now you can pay with a debit or credit card thanks to a third party company handling credit card transactions for Igadi. The only restriction is they don’t accept American Express.

So if you’re looking for a local dispensary where you can buy medical or recreational marijuana as well as CBD products, stop in and talk to the friendly folks at Igadi.

Jim Ramsay was raised in Iowa, Iran, Nigeria and Afghanistan. He studied English at CU in Boulder and taught English as a Second Language in Tanzania, Botswana, the University of Illinois and the Economics Institute at CU. An affinity for computers led him to technical writing, and he wrote manuals for tech companies up and down the Front Range. He moved from Boulder to Pinewood Springs in the early 1990s to follow a dream of mountain living, and he’s still up there.

Garden Club celebrates a very successful Chili Cook Off

By Sara Erickson Redstone Review

LYONS – The Lyons Garden Club is once again thrilled with the participation and turnout of its annual Hal loween Chili Cook Off. Long lines of Halloween party goers stood patiently waiting to sample the 28 sumptuous pots of chili that were entered. Local Lyons cooks con cocted their favorite chili recipes and entered in either the red, green, or vegetarian categories. Judges awarded Jay Wratten, Red Chili; Gina Harden, Green Chili; and Jon Corson-Rickert, Vegetarian Chili as the winners of the Chili Cook Off. Congrats to them and a huge thanks to all those who entered.

We also would like to give huge thanks to Eric Kean and Mainstage Brewery for hosting our event and to Aleta Wilson for transforming us into Dead Divas with her artistic face painting. Gautam Bhan photographed our event and thank you to him for capturing the won derful moments of the night.

The profits from the Chili Cook Off will be used to buy plants, mulch, seeds, and other gardening supplies for the gardens we maintain within the town. We are always looking for volunteers to join us and if you are interested, please visit our website at www.lyonsgardenclub.com for information about us and our on-going projects.

Sara Erickson is a member of the Lyons Garden Club.

A Tanzanian reunion

By Jim Ramsay Redstone Review

PINEWOOD SPRINGS – Four unlikely companions gathered at the round wrought iron table on my sandstone patio a couple of weeks ago, exchanging memo ries of Arusha, Tanzania in the crepuscular gold of a Colorado summer evening. Three of us went to school together as children at Arusha School. Nat and his sister Lyn were boarders at the school because their father’s pyrethrum farm was so far up the slopes of Mt. Meru; Melodi carpooled with missionary families from her family farm as a day student. Many years later my family lived across the river from the school in a sprawling home still known as the doctor’s house. In fact, Nat was born in that house, long before he took over his father’s coffee farm overlooking Lake Duluti near the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. In the summer of 1974, my wife and I picked up our diplomas from the University of Colorado and set off for a train tour of Europe. With our two-year-old daughter in tow, we flew student charter flights from Denver to Brus sels and Brussels to Athens, where we met my parents, who were living in Tanzania at the time. We spent a week in Greece together, and they and our daughter flew back to Tanzania with the understanding that we would reunite in Nairobi after our month-long tour of Europe. Our plan was to try and find teaching jobs in Tanzania so we could visit for a year or two. We were lucky to find

Sanders said that Highland Ditch always charged Lyons several thousand dollars for staff time each and every time that they met. Most of the $7000 was for an engi neer hired by Highland Ditch to go out to the proposed trail site and to do a site re view of the trail.

Some town board trustees asked if staff had raised any complaints about the fees previously. Attorney Brandon Dittman said, “There is a precedent that we have dis agreements with the amounts that High

positions at a boarding school outside the town of Arusha, originally established for the children of Greek immigrant farmers, that was in the process of adding an international school for the children of the various aid workers coming to Arusha.

My wife taught third and fourth grade in the international school, and I taught English as a foreign language in the Greek school. We lived in a small house on the school

grounds, and we soon made friends with the aid workers and farmers in the small international community of Arusha.

One friend was a young coffee farmer who,d returned from agricultural college in England to run his father’s cof fee farm on the edge of a volcanic crater lake on the other side of Arusha from the Greek School. We became fast friends and spent a lot of time together, even attending his wedding to the daughter of a tea farmer in Nairobi, Kenya, but we left Tanzania after two years and lost touch.

I’d heard that he moved to Australia and started a coffee farm there, but it wasn’t until I spent last Christmas with my sister in Phoenix that I attempted to contact him. A Google search revealed that there was indeed a Jaques coffee plantation in North Queensland, and when I used the email link on the Jaquescoffee.com web site to send a message, I was soon seeing my old friend Nat Jaques look ing much the same as he did 48 years ago in Tanzania prompting me for a video call. Turns out he was planning a trip to visit his sister in Omaha and wondered if he could drop by and see me.

Nat and his sister Lyn, a retired judge from the Nebraska Supreme Court, piled into her sports car and drove to my house in Pinewood Springs for a ten-day visit. And while they were here, they called a friend they had gone to school with as children in Arusha, and Melodi flew out from Carmel, CA to join us in a convergence of lives and lifestyles on the Lyons sandstone patio in my backyard. I imagined our parents, adventurer farmers and foreign aid idealists, looking down from the deck at their multinational offspring brought together by chance and circum stance. For a moment the world seemed to be a friendlier, happier place.

land Ditch charges us,” he said. “We have had arguments with them before and it never ends well. There is a lot of back and forth and we have had disagreements and it never ends well.” Dittman added that Highland wants some security agreements.

Sanders said, “We have paid them as much as $2,500, but never this much.” Sanders was referring to the charges paid to Highland for previous meetings where they charged for their staff time.

“We only have two alignments (on their property) and we have to meet a July 1 deadline and if we don’t meet that they

may take away our funding,” Sanders said. Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen said that staff met with Highland Ditch and asked them to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work together in good faith for trail alignment on a portion of Highland property. She said they are in support of the trail but need some time to review the MOU and discuss any demands they may have. Highland has submitted a letter of support with some requested de mands for safety and access needs. The staff plans to continue to meet with High land Ditch on the trail issues.

In other news Administrator Simonsen said that eight foundations are now in place at Summit Housing, the affordable housing project in Lyons.

She also said the non-perishable food items can be brought to either the Lyons Emergency & Assistance Fund at the Lyons Community Church on Wednes days or to the Lyons Town Hall, 432 5th Ave. for the food pantry.

In further news Administrator Simon said FEMA still has 25 projects to review and close and make final reimbursements to the town.

Photo, left to right: Garden Club members Sue Wratten, Jeanne Moore, Sara Erickson.

PHOTO BY GAUTAM BHAN

Ramsay

Offering a hearty bean soup for cooler days

By Barbara Shark Redstone Review

translucent, then add a handful of minced cilantro stems (save the leaves for garnish) and four or five slivered cloves of garlic and cook for a minute.

Stir in two to three cups of cooked beans and three cups of the bean cooking liquor, or however much you have. Add water or vegetable broth to make three cups of liquid. Stir in a generous tablespoon of tomato paste and one of chipotle purée.

Shark

LYONS – The weather has begun to change and the golden days of autumn are ending. Time to make soup a hearty, spicy bean soup. I wrote about a favorite from my childhood, Campbell,s Bean with Bacon, in my book. This recipe is a variation with a chili kick.

I start with cooked Rancho Gordo brand dry beans. Use canned and drained beans, or pinto or black beans if that,s what you have. Need I mention how exceptional homecooked beans taste?

Sauté a chopped, medium-sized yellow onion and a large carrot, diced, in a couple tablespoons safflower oil or bacon fat. Cook gently for 10 minutes until onions are

Cook over low heat until veggies are very tender. Cool a bit, then puree half the soup in the blender and add to the unblended half. Thin it with water or stock to desired thickness. Taste for salt and maybe add additional chipotle. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and chopped cilantro leaves.

Barbara Shark is an artist and author of How I Learned to Cook, an Artist,s Life. She lives near Lyons, Colorado. For

more recipes, read her blog at www.howilearnedtocooka nartistslife.blog.

Oranges in Cointreau – keep this on hand for the holidays

By Catherine Metzger Redstone Review

WINTER PARK – Keep oranges in Cointreau on hand during the high-pres sure holidays to help preserve your sanity and reputation for delicious desserts when friends and family casually drop in, with or without notice. Oranges in Cointreau takes only 20 minutes to prepare and can be kept in the fridge through November and December (if it lasts that long).

Spooned over vanilla ice cream, oranges in Cointreau is a delicious Creamsicle-like delight for grown ups. It is quickly assem bled with fresh oranges bathed in a syrup made of sugar, lemon juice and Coin treau. I picked up this wonderful recipe from Scottish Chef Katie Stewart’s The Times Calendar Cookbook published in 1975, which is filled with great recipes for every month of the year.

I have made a couple of minor changes to Katie Stewart,s recipe for oranges in Cointreau to shorten it and to remove not just the outer skin but also the pith of the oranges. I have suggested slicing

the oranges crosswise, instead of preserv ing the fruit whole in the syrup as in her original recipe. I think you might agree that the sliced wheels of sunny oranges look great and are easy to lift onto the spoon with ice cream.

Oranges in Cointreau

• Wash the oranges thoroughly in warm, slightly soapy water, then rinse very thor oughly in cool water. Using a serratededged knife, cut off the top and bottom of each orange. Then remove the skin and all of the white pith by standing each orange up on its end and cutting from top to bottom with a sawing motion, carefully following the curves of the or ange with the knife.

• Slice the oranges in cross sections and place in a glass storage jar. I had two or anges and many mandarin oranges so I used both in this recipe.

• Measure the sugar and water into a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for two to three minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and allow to cool for five minutes. Add the Cointreau and pour the hot syrup over the sliced fruit in the glass jar. Cool then chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

1979.

Dan Siddall broker/owner

Colleen Dickes associate broker Ian Phillips associate broker

Fears associate broker

Catherine Ripley Metzger has been cooking professionally and privately since

She was a French cuisine journeyman at the cele

brated Henri d,Afrique restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Today she is the proprietor of the food blog www.food fortheages.com, and Facebook.com/Food for the Ages. Though she cooks every day in a tiny kitchen with a two-burner stove, her recipes are expansive and she dedicates her craft to liv ing large by cooking well in tiny kitchens.

Healing from the sun – spiritual or artificial intelligence

By Andi Pearson Redstone Review

DENVER – Klara and the Sun, a fictional story on artificial intelligence, where a sick child, receives a robot child, Klara, as a companion, poses questions on the divide between the real and the artificial. The book by Kazuo Ishiguro is told from Klara’s point of view.

“When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store…up front until we were behind the window display….And if we were there at the right time, we would see the Sun on his journey.” And so begins Klara’s story.

Klara is an AF or Artificial Friend and after awhile in the store, next to other AFs, Klara is sought out by a young girl, a teenager named Josie. Didn’t she want a newer model, a B3f? No, Josie had her rea sons and after a few visits to the store, per suaded her father and then her mother, who was not easy to convince, that Klara was the one for her.

Being in a home was new to Klara who was accustomed to repetition and set pat terns. “Navigating the kitchen was espe cially difficult… Melania Housekeeper would constantly move items around.” When Klara looks to Melania for help in figuring out the routines, Melania shouts, “Quit follow me AF get lost!”

But Klara was programmed to be a friend and relying on her own skills, she quickly found her place in the flow of the

household made up of Josie and her mother. Josie would join Mother in the kitchen for her morning coffee and when Mother drove off to work, Josie would re turn to her room where she attended on line classes.

The sun shone into the kitchen and then into other windows of the contempo rary home which Klara called “the Open

Plan” and she felt its healing powers. But all was not peachy because Josie was ill. There were days when Josie attended on line schooling and days when she visited with Rick, the neighbor boy.

One day Josie feels well enough and they invite several young friends over. Klara notices that “the Sun was pouring its nourishment through the wide windows of

lotion, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, nap kins, dish soap, laundry detergent, and household clean ers.

Our pantry team has some “extras” planned for Thanks giving, and we’re already preparing for the Super Duper Holiday Food Pantry on Wednesday, December 21. Thank you in advance, Lyons Elementary, Lyons Middle/Senior High School, and Lyons Valley Preschool for the food drives you have planned leading up to the Super Duper Holiday Food Pantry. We’ll welcome Santa Claus again this year, and the Lyons Middle/Senior choir will lead us in seasonal carols again as well.

Local leaders Jesse Garland and Pam Browning are al

ready hard at work leading LEAF’s Holiday Giving Tree, too. This is the community,s chance to ensure everyone finds a gift under the tree this year. We will place holiday trees in various locations around town, each tree adorned with ornaments containing gift requests from LEAF clients. Shoppers choose an ornament, and then shop for and wrap the requested gifts. LEAF’s holiday elves will de liver all of the gifts shortly before Christmas. Last year, we provided gifts to 120 people, making their holidays a little bit brighter. LEAF’s Holiday Giving Tree is a wonderful tradition that adds just a little more light and joy each year. Be on the lookout for details, including locations of the trees, important dates, and details.

Even as we look expectantly to the holiday season, many in our community are grieving, for 2022 has been marked with tragic losses that have been felt by so many. We are offering a short-term group course for processing emotions and learning how to move through the stages of grief. Cherie Maureaux, our therapist and Mental Well ness and Addiction Recovery program director says, “Grief counseling can be helpful after severely distressing inci dents. When we grieve, feelings are not limited to sadness alone. Guilt, pain, anger, and regret can all exist at the same time, and bouncing between these emotions is diffi cult.” It’s not too late to attend this course. The group is meeting in the lower level of Lyons Community Church on Monday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for a few more weeks. Please confidentially email Maureaux at mentalwellness@leaflyons.org to learn more.

If you can support these truly essential efforts this year, we thank you in advance. Our teams are focused on their mission of providing a human services safety net in our community. The challenges to meeting these needs are greater today, even, than at the height of the pandemic. LEAF is the only agency working exclusively in our com munity, and our teams are working hard. We’re striving to end 2022 strong and ready to start again next year in the face of many challenges. In 2023, we will keep meeting

construction materials, U and R values, heat load calculations, and deep studies and electron counting spreadsheets on various brands, models and sizes of heat pumps. Something fun to do during years of Covid quiet time, right?

The heat pumps quickly divided them selves into regular and “cold-climate” de signs. What climate is my home in? A detailed local microclimate study was next. On the climate maps used by HVAC engineers we’re “Zone 5” and many would stop there. But no, then it got interesting: heating degree days/hours/minutes are <= 5500 hours/year, and my home spends nearly 0 percent of that below 0° F, a few hours from 0° to 32° F and the vast major ity above freezing with an average of 41° F. Based on my analysis of NEEP.org cold climate heat pump data this job would be cake for all the machines they published. Okay, so how many electrons would each model consume and at what rate? How would they behave during the 0.2 percent

of the time it’s less than 0° F outside? How do heat pumps convert “cold” outside air into heat inside my home? How do they do so with an energy conversion rate of 300 to 400 percent vs my old 70-ish percent fur nace? Would I utilize the free AC?

Not enough paper to cover that here, ex cept to point out that to a heat pump, cold air contains heat, enough to easily keep my 42,500 cubic foot monster home at a rock steady quiet and comfortable 69° F without breaking a sweat. Why did our home have

the Open Plan… There were young peo ple everywhere” and Klara sensed the teenagers drew nourishment from the Sun. Other days, Josie was too ill to get out of bed and her mother worried that her ill ness might impact her opportunity to go on in school.

Josie spent time separately with her fa ther and eventually, Father and Mother decide to take Josie and Klara into town where Mr. Capaldi is painting Josie’s por trait. But it wasn’t a portrait, it was a life size replica of the girl.

Mother breaks down and emotionally re veals that Josie’s illness is terminal and Mother believes she cannot face life once Josie is gone. Mother begins to explain Klara’s future, a future where Josie, despite her terminal illness, might live on through technology and Mother might keep a sense of a daughter’s presence, warmth and love.

Does Klara become Josie? Does the Sun somehow provide healing or maybe it shines a bright light on what could be – or not be? And after Josie succumbs to the mysterious illness (caused by genetic mod ification?), what happens to Klara? How much did she understand? What does it mean to love?

Kazuo Ishiguro has written a best seller that is sensitive and strange and an aching take on the characteristics of the postin dustrial world. He has won the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature and is the author of Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day

Andi Pearson lives in Denver and writes book reviews for some newspapers in Denver.

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munity, which means we get numerous requests asking for our labor. When we get a request, we decide whether it is for the benefit of the Lyons community. If so, we partake. If not, we politely decline and provide names (if possible) of people or organizations who may be able to help.

“We look forward to contributing and making the Lyons community stronger than ever. As the president, I couldn’t do this without the help of our officers including Vice Presidents: Sage Wynja and Maya Caplan; Junior Vice Presidents: Lily Hirt and Grace Farrell, Secretary: Emma Rooney, and Treasurer: Emma Johnson and the support of the Lyons Lions Club members. Go Leos.”

Cole Thomas is LEO Club President, Ron Gosnell is the Lions and LEO Club Advisor, and Jonelle Tucker is Lion and Past LEO Club Advisor.

needs and solving problems, we will move to our own space, and we will be ready to welcome 40 new households to town when the Summit community opens. As you con sider your year-end giving and you plan giving for 2023, please remember all of the good people you serve when you support LEAF.

Since local folks started the Food Pantry and Basic Needs and Resource Matching back in 2008, followed by Meals on Wheels, then Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery, and lastly joined by Lyons Volunteers, LEAF has been here for Lyons. We’re here with a little help when you need it. We are here.

Lory Barton is the Executive Director at LEAF, Lyons Emergency & Assistance Fund. Having previously served with local and international non-profit organizations, she’s glad and grateful to partner with so many at LEAF to change our small corner of the world in the greater Lyons area.

a 130k btu furnace baking the place like a giant bonfire, noisy and wheezing day and night with uncomfortable temperatures swings, cracking skin, and bloody noses and it,s now only needs a 36k btu heat pump after only a few minor insulation and air leakage upgrades and a few electrons?

Next layer of unintended surprises – our town,s electrical supplier is offering a $1,000 cash incentive for an air source heat pump and “half of our electrons are fossil fuel free” so far.

uary 22, 2023, with ticketed admission.

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools offers a look into the specific subjects and styles adopted by artists in the Southern Netherlands between the 15th and 17th centuries, provid ing important connections to the society and culture of the time. These works depict a rap idly-changing world through unique styles, subjects, and techniques, offering insight into the past and the chance to create parallels to our world today.

Tickets are required and advance purchase is recommended. Tickets for the Member Pre

Come visit, I’m happy to share my ad ventures in electrification.

Edward Kean has dabbled in many profes sions including a real estate broker, sound mix ing engineer, and professional bicycle mechanic. Living in Lyons for the past 30 years, he has previously served as Lyons 2013 Flood Volun teer Coordinator and Co-creator of Lyons Vol unteers Non-profit. Currently he serves as Lyons Sustainable Future Commissioner (SFC) and Lyons Representative to Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA).

view, Member Mornings, and Member Tours are limited by membership level. Members who’d like a deeper look at the show are in vited to attend exclusive 45-minute tours led by museum docents.

These tours are available on Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 to 11:45 a.m. through December 4. Tickets are required,

The Denver Art Museum is located at 100 W 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver. Contact them at 720-865-5000 or go to info@denverartmu seum.org.

Leos

Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of Klara and the Sun, a fictional story where a sick chil, receives a robot child as a companion.

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools at the DAM DENVER Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks is a unique pres entation of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque paintings, sculptures, and other objects from the Southern Netherlands. This exhibition is on view at the Denver Art Museum through Jan

B • R • I • E • F • S

Travels with Redstone

Marshall and Barb Cook traveled to Copper Harbor, Keweenaw Peninsula, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Take the Redstone with you on your next trip and send us your photos showing where the Redstone has traveled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@gmail.com