September 11, 2015 VO LUM E 1 4 | IS S U E 42 | FREE
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Founding fathers talk Centennial history Five men met over pancakes in gathering that led to new city
By Taryn Walker twalker@coloradocommunitymedia.com As the five founding fathers sat down 17 years ago to talk about the future of what was then unincorporated Arapahoe County, they ordered pancakes. They discussed what the next step would be, which ultimately led to 21,912 people voting to incorporate the city of Centennial in the 2000 election. The five men who helped get things started at The Original Pancake House in Greenwood Village in 2008 were John Brackney, Brian Vogt, Randy Pye, Ed Bosier and the late Pete Ross. What most don’t know is that, in addition to those five, 3,000-plus volunteers put in a large amount of time and effort to get things rolling on what was then the largest incorporation of a city in U.S. history. The city’s first mayor, Pye, calls Cen-
tennial the “city of miracles” and said the last thing he and thousands of others wanted to do then was become a city — but that it was the next step, regardless. “We got to talk to so many citizens and make so many friendships, it was absolutely amazing — there were thousands of volunteers,” Pye said. “It still baffles my imagination sometimes that we started from five and grew to what we ended up with and the amount of support we ended up with. People always showed up at the right time, unbelievably so, and said, ‘I’m here and I can do this,’ and that’s exactly what we were looking for.” Flash back to the late 1990s and into 2000. In short, Greenwood Village was thinking about how to best serve its citizens, former Arapahoe County Commissioner Brackney said. One opportunity was to do a massive commercial annexation that would have included parts of modernday Centennial. Brackney was concerned about the implications for the area, and History continues on Page 4
Brian Vogt, left, and John Brackney, two of the five founding fathers of Centennial, shed some light on what it took to incorporate the city. Centennial will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the vote to incorporate on Sept. 12. Photo by Taryn Walker
School board honors six Arapahoe fundraisers ‘Herculean’ effort rebuilt library after 2013 tragedy By Jennifer Smith jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Cherry Creek’s Katie Plomondon, center, Rock Canyon’s MacKenna Balman and Heritage’s Peg Smith all push the pace as they head for the finish line during the Sept. 4 Warrior Invitational cross-country meet. The three runners finished 28th, 30th and 32nd respectively in a field of 183 competitors. Photos by Tom Munds
Teams shine at Warrior race Cherry Creek girls and Arapahoe boys take first at cross-country meet
By Tom Munds tmunds@coloradocommunitymedia.com The Sept. 4 Warrior Invitational cross-country meet proved to be a good outing for local teams as Cherry Creek was first in the girls division and host Arapahoe was first in the boys division. “We are very happy with the way our girls ran, and I think the girls were happy too. The girls had pretty good times and the grouping of our runners was good too,” said Holly Lane, Bruins girls cross-country coach. “We are strong team with four seniors running for us. Of course, this is an early season meet and I think some of the teams didn’t run their entire varsity.” The Warrior Invitational at deKoevend Park in Centennial is a popular early season meet. This year there were 26 teams and a total of 183 runners competing in the girls varsity division. There were 30 teams and 210 runners entered in the boys varsity division. In the girls varsity race, Devon Peterson set the pace for the Warrior continues on Page 9
Steve Goldy pushes toward the finish line during the Sept. 4 Warrior Invitational cross-country meet. Goldy finished third with a time of 16:25 to help the Warriors take first place in the boys varsity division team standings.
When bad things happen, good people often come together to make things even better than they were before. On Aug. 27, the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education’s first meeting of the new school year, the board took a moment to honor a few of those people: Ian Barber, Meredith Corder, Jacquie Schultz, Nancy Seavall, Jim Stephens and Anne Waugh, who have raised more than $259,000 for the Arapahoe High School Moving Forward Fund. After the December 2013 tragedy at AHS, it was necessary to remodel the library where Karl Pierson killed himself moments after fatally wounding his classmate Claire Davis. “After the events of the 13th went down, we knew we wanted to get the library open again, but we knew we needed a new image for it,” said Addison Callahan, who was a senior that day and a member of the committee that redesigned the space. So they set out to create a place where the Arapahoe community could gather to connect, learn, laugh, comfort and unite. But the plan needed money, because nobody could have foreseen the need when the board approved the district’s budget for the 2014-15 school year. The district managed to find some money to help cover what insurance would not, and donations of time and materials from local businesses helped, as well. But there was still a long way to go. That’s where Barber, Corder, Schultz, Seavall, Stephens and Waugh entered the picture, spearheading the Moving Forward Fund.
Board continues on Page 19