An evening of talent

Conifer’s Got Talent provides entertainment, 2 winners to perform at summer concerts

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Conifer’s Got Talent is a tting name for the show on March 31 that showcased the talents of 15 youth acts.

ey danced, sang and played instruments in front of an appreciative audience and three judges, who selected singer/pianist Bryce Merrill and dancer Ikki Shimada to perform as the opening acts at two Evergreen Concert Series concerts this summer. e concerts are sponsored by the Evergreen Park & Recreation District.

Merrill, a Conifer High School senior, won Conifer’s Got Talent last year. Shimada is a foreign exchange student from Japan, and he plans to return to the area this summer to perform at a concert.

In addition, Alaithia Rooke, who sang an original song called “Cages,” was awarded a scholarship to the University of Denver’s Newman Center’s Music Creators camp this summer.

e judges were Jax Jordening, who won the sister talent show, Evergreen’s Got Talent, last year, Betsy Hays from the Evergreen Park & Recreation District board, and Lance Swearengin, pastor at Conifer Community Church and member of the band Blood Brothers.

Before the show began, Jordening said he expected the competition to be erce and the young performers to bring something special to the table.

Hays said she was looking for an act that would entertain and highlight the skills of the foothills’ high school students, noting she was looking forward to judging the performances.

Swearengin knew exactly what he was looking for: originality, technical skill and enthusiasm.

is is the ninth year for the talent shows, which were started by Schaunon Winter Gilman. Evergreen’s Got Talent, whose judges will also select

WANT TO GO?

The Evergreen’s Got Talent show will be from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Center for the Arts Evergreen. The show is free, and the two winners will perform this summer at the Evergreen Summer Concerts.

two winners to perform at concerts this summer, will be on April 29.

Performing at Conifer’s Got Talent e performers had a variety of backgrounds, some veterans to being on stage while others were novices.

Fiona Matschullat, a Conifer High School sophomore, decided to perform at Conifer’s Got Talent because she likes to sing, and at the talent show, she sang “Light of Love” originally performed by Florence + the Machine.

“I like performing and I gure I would have fun more than anything,” she said.

Dylan Panarello, a Conifer High School sophomore, performed as part of the band Slanted with bandmates Alex Tijerina, Evan Haynes and Brayden Josephs. e band formed two months ago, and Conifer’s Got Talent was its rst time performing in public.

“We’re really excited,” Dylan said before the show.

Rooke, a Conifer High School sophomore, said this was the rst time she has sung on stage, though she has been dancing for years and accompanying others on the piano. She’s been writing music for less than two years.

“I wasn’t going to (perform), but I decided to do it anyway,” she said. “No regrets.”

Rotary club helps finance new school program e Rotary Club of Conifer supported the educational needs at Deer Creek Elementary School in Bailey by donating $1,400 to help nance its new spelling program. is program is based on a wordstudy approach designed to build word knowledge that is applicable to reading and writing. e objective is to develop stronger phonetic skills, word recognition and vocabulary while incorporating the reading and writing process. e club provided $500 for the West Je erson Middle School

PTA Educator Grant program that provides funding for teachers to o er enriching and dynamic opportunities for students and their classrooms. e intent of this grant is to support teachers by providing supplies, equipment and projects that are not typically supported by the school’s budget. e club provided $1,220 to Elk Creek Elementary School to purchase robots for its kindergarten through second grade students. e BeeBot robots will allow classes to have a set of robots to use to supplement their curriculum especially in the STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — areas.

Elk Run Assisted Living receives award

Elk Run Assisted Living has received the 2023 Pinnacle Customer Experience Award in the communication category.

Elk Run scored in the top 15 percent of the nation across a 12-month average. roughout 2022, Elk Run residents and their families participated in monthly telephone interviews where they answered open-ended questions and rated Elk Run in multiple categories.

Elk Run’s Housing Director Kristen Fite said Elk Run sta prioritizes building relationships with residents and their families.

“We are so proud to have received the customer experience award,” Fite said. “We have heart at Elk Run, and we focus on relationshipbased care with residents, families and sta . Communication is key in everything we do every single day. Residents feel informed, included and a part of the journey as Elk Run grows. Going the extra mile is important to the culture of Elk Run. We love our residents, and it shows.”

Educational Achievements

Vivian Levine from Evergreen was named to the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s dean’s list for the 2023 winter quarter. Levine is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering. Students who have a 3.20 or higher GPA are named to the dean’s list.

Kia Clark of Evergreen was named to the university honor roll for the fall 2022 semester at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. To qualify for the honor roll, students must have a 3.8 GPA.

Sloan Phillips of Evergreen was named to the dean’s list at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, for the fall 2022 semester. is is a distinction earned by students whose GPA is 3.92 or higher. Sloan, the daughter of Frank S. Phillips and Meghan H. Phillips, is a sophomore majoring in biological chemistry. She is a graduate of Evergreen High School.

Foothills Fire Protection

District Board Candidate Forum

Come

Co-sponsored and moderated by the Canyon Courier and the Golden Transcript

When: 6:30 p.m. April 20

Where: Aspen Room at Mount Vernon Canyon Club in Genesee

Foothills Fire also has a Zoom link for the candidate forum at foothills re.colorado.gov/ news-article/notice-of-community-forum.

If you have a question or topic you’d like the editors to consider, send it along with your name and address for veri cation purposes only to West Metro Editor Kristen Fiore at k ore@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Include “Foothills Fire candidate forum” in the subject line. We will accept questions until April 19.

Election is May 2