Two foothills fire departments to have elections in May

Other special districts canceling elections

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Two re departments in the foothills will have elections on May 2. e rest do not have enough candidates to require elections, so the elections are being canceled.

Six people self-nominated to ll three seats on the Elk Creek Fire Protection District. e candidates are incumbents Chuck Newby and Sharon Woods, and newcomers Dominique Devaney, Shannon Peterson, Todd Wagner and Debra MacPhee. Incumbent board member Kent Wagner is not seeking re-election. e election will be in-person at Elk Creek Fire Station 1, and the polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Board members serve four-year terms. e re district is along U.S. 285 and incorporates the areas from Aspen Park and into Park County.

Foothills Fire also will have an election on May 2 with the possibility of electing an entirely new ve-member board to oversee the district.

One incumbent and two people appointed in January to the board

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

CLUB begins raising funds for press box e Conifer Lobos Uni ed Boosters is embarking on a campaign to raise $110,000 by this summer to purchase and install a prefabricated press box at the main athletic eld at Conifer High School.

e press box is the last piece of the main athletic eld improvements that started in 2012. e school district put arti cial turf on the eld thanks to the 2018 bond, plus the boosters raised money to buy and install stadium lights, a concession stand and team rooms.

e most recent project was raising about $400,000 to purchase and install bleachers, which was completed in 2021.

CLUB is beginning an Orange Bucket Drive, where students carry orange buckets during student pickup and at other times to collect to ll open positions are running for election and facing challengers.

Running for three four-year positions are incumbent Steven A. Beck, newly appointed board member Stephanie Graf and newcomers David R. Stajcar, Seth Miller and Dan Hartman. e three candidates running for two two-year positions are Lee S. Chaisson, Stephanie Troyer and newly appointed board member Norman Kirsch.

Current board members TJ Carney and Scott Ferguson are not running for the board.

Foothills Fire’s boundaries start in El Rancho and includes Lookout Mountain, Mount Vernon and Idledale. e election will be from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. in the district’s administrative o ce in El Rancho.

Canceled elections

Among the special districts that are canceling their elections and appointing the self-nominees to their boards are:

Evergreen Park & Recreation District: Incumbent Don Rosenthal and newcomer Nina Armah will serve four-year terms on the board. A third candidate who led nomination papers decided to withdraw to save the district election costs.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue: Evan Jef- fries, who recently was appointed to the board, and newcomer Suzanne Campagna will serve four-year terms. e Conifer show is from 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 31, at Conifer High School, and the Evergreen show is from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Center for the Arts Evergreen. Admission is free, and food will be available. donations.

Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District: Incumbents Bob Scott and Mike Swenson will remain on the board for four-year terms.

Evergreen Metro District: Incumbents Mark Davidson and Jack Wolfe will serve four-year terms on the board.

West Je erson County Metro District: Incumbent Pat Temple will serve a four-year term on the board.

Two additional board members will need to be appointed since no one self-nominated to ll them.

Kittredge Sanitation and Water District: Incumbents Bob Kellogg Jr., Janet Reichart and Kyle Brytowski will serve four-year terms.

Indian Hills Water: Incumbent Tony Pesce and newcomer Mike Cunningham will serve four-year terms on the board.

Indian Hills Fire: Incumbents Scott Ryplewski and Scott Kellar will serve four-year terms on the board.

Park summer concerts, which are scheduled for June 28, July 12, July 26 and Aug. 9.

For more information and to donate, visit www.clubchs.org.

Evergreen, Conifer’s Got Talent e annual Evergreen’s Got Talent and Conifer’s Got Talent shows are coming up soon, and four acts who win the contests will perform at two of Evergreen’s four summer concerts.

Two winners will be selected from each show, and they will perform as the warmup acts for two of the Evergreen Park & Recreation District’s Evergreen Lake/Buchanan

A panel of judges will select winners at both talent shows. e judges for Conifer’s Got Talent are Betsy Hays, an EPRD board member, Lance Swearingen, a local pastor and lead singer for Blood Brothers, and Jax Jordening, who won Evergreen’s Got Talent last year. Judges for the Evergreen show have not been nalized.

In addition, acts are welcome to raise money, which will go to the Conifer High School theater and choral programs, Resilience1220 and Center for the Arts Evergreen.

Barre McKee, director of therapeutic activities, tried to nd other ways to transport residents, though much of public transportation is not equipped to handle those using walkers and wheelchairs. Residents’ families helped out, too. “Our residents live with so many limitations as it is,” McKee said. “Getting on a bus should not be one.” e 20 people who donated money to purchase the bus have been lifesavers for the facility, Fite said.

Residents and sta had a party on March 3 to celebrate the vehicle’s arrival with residents taking turns checking out the bus and taking rides to Elk Meadow.

“Perseverance has been our motto,” Fite told residents, noting that in addition to needing a bus, the facility also experienced a ood that did extensive damage to the dining room in December 2021.

Melony Smith of Evergreen was a major donor to the bus-procurement e ort. She donated in memory of her mom, Sylvia Sholes, who lived at Elk Run for two years before passing away. Smith cut the ribbon to celebrate the bus, noting that March 3 would have been her dad Bud Sholes’ 100th birthday.

“I know they are both celebrating this bus,” she said. “My mom never stopped looking for adventure.”

A kind, generous person, Sylvia Sholes never knew a stranger, and at Elk Run, she greeted anyone who walked through the door, Smith said.

Elk Run resident Walt Nees was the rst to use the lift to get into the bus. Nees uses a walker, so he isn’t able to get up the steps to get into the vehicle.

His daughter Ginny Zachman of Evergreen said she was thrilled that Elk Run now has the handicapped-accessible bus, nothing that whenever her dad wanted to go on an outing, she needed to be available to take him.

Now he can go whenever he wants, she said, adding: “ is bus will help keep him busy, occupied and happy.”

Educational Achievements

Jackie Donoho has been named to the dean’s list at Johns Hopkins University with a 4.0 GPA for the fall 2022 semester. Jackie also continues her athletic career on the schools indoor and outdoor track teams in the pentathlon and high jump. She is an EHS graduate and daughter of Dan and Jill Donoho.

Grady Behrhorst, of Evergreen, earned dean’s list honors for the fall 2022 semester at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Students on the dean’s list have a 3.7 or higher GPA. Grady is majoring in business creative enterprises and is a member of the class of 2026.

Jacob Hartmere and Lucy Schneider, both of Evergreen, earned spots on the president’s list for the fall 2022 semester at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Students who made the president’s list have achieved a 4.0 GPA.

Jack Mitchell, of Evergreen, was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Students on the dean’s list have a 3.5 or higher GPA.

Jaden Phillips, from Evergreen, has been named to St. Lawrence University’s dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester. Jaden, an Evergreen High School graduate, is a member of the class of 2023 and is majoring in government and international economics-French. To be eligible for the dean’s list, a student must have a 3.6 or higher GPA.

Lute Douglas, of Conifer, was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Lute is in the biotechnology and molecular bioscience program. e dean’s list honors those with a 3.4 or better GPA.

Ginger Schi mayer, of Evergreen, has been named to the dean’s list with high distinction for the fall 2022 semester at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Ginger is a history major and is the daughter of David and Julie Schi mayer. Students eligible for the dean’s list have a GPA of 3.85 to 4.0. e following students were named to the president’s honor roll for having a 4.0 GPA for the fall 2022 semester at the University of Wyoming. ey are Kaelin Goss, of Bailey, Matilda Emilie Schiewe, of Evergreen, Hannah Danielle Hladik, of Kittredge, and Aurora Christine Gearhart and Sadie McMullen, both of Morrison.

Isabella Keenan, of Morrison, quali ed for the president’s list for the fall 2022 semester at Chadron State college in Chadron, Nebraska. Students on the president’s list have a 4.0 GPA.

Kyler Yarnell, of Morrison, and a Central College student in the class of 2025, is completing an internship with Clifton Larson Allen in W. Des Moines, Iowa.

Brady Carroll, of Evergreen, was named to Tallahassee Community College fall 2022 dean’s list. Students on the dean’s list have a 3.50 or better GPA.

Karina Opalski, of Conifer, was named to the fall 2022 president’s list at Tallahassee Community College. Students on the president’s list have a 4.0 GPA.

Henry Anders Wellensiek, of Evergreen, has been named to the dean’s list at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the fall 2022 semester. Henry is a freshman majoring in political science. Students named to the College of Arts and Sciences have a 3.7 or better GPA.

Taylor Kenyon, of Conifer was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester at the University of Maryland Global Campus. To be eligible, students must have a 3.5 or better GPA.

Good for You

On Feb. 10, Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen competed against eight other middle schools from Je erson County in a math competition at Front Range Community College. e competition, organized by MathCounts, brings together the best math students from the county to compete for a day in four di erent math contests. e winning school teams and individuals move on to a state competition, followed by a national competition for the best from each state.

Coaches Walter Short and Katrina Glaser say this year RMAE’s 12 participating students were the most ever from RMAE in the four years RMAE has competed in MathCounts, and were the only competitors from the Evergreen/Conifer/ Idaho Springs community. is year was also RMAE’s most successful effort with the RMAE team coming in fourth behind larger middle schools. Of the 80 Je erson County competitors, RMAE students Avery Schroeder (8th grade), Bella Outland (7th grade) and Riley Martin (7th grade) scored in the top 20, while Echo Robbins (8th grade) and Caden Wagner (7th grade) were in the top 30.

e RMAE Math Team, which meets during school elective hours, also participates in one or two other math competitions each year, including the one conducted by the University of Northern Colorado each fall.