Get set for a summer of adventure
Recreation district
o ers daily trips, hikes or learning
BY CHRIS KOEBERL CKOEBERL@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Adventure awaits Clear Creek County kids this summer with more than two months of events, hikes and rafting ve days a week from June 2 to Aug 1.
Colorado Creek Metropolitan Recreation District has plans for each day for each of three groups: beginner, intermediate and advanced.
According to Interim Director of Child Care Alaina Long, the summer camps are CCMRD’s version of day care for county residents.
“Our goal is to spread the love for the outdoors because we have so much to o er here,” Long said.
Parents can sign up their kids for the day, week or month, however it comes at a cost of $70 a day, no matter the number of days kids attend, according to Long.
e classes start each day at 7:30 a.m. and go until 5:30 p.m.
e advanced and some intermediate hikes will be led by well-known outdoor adventure guide Roray Archibald.
“ ey’re doing wild teamaking, map-making,
Adventure awaits Clear Creek County kids this summer with more than two months of events, hikes and rafting June 2 to Aug 1.
Commissioners take government on the road
Six communities will be visited this summer to provide, receive input
CHRIS KOEBERL
Clear Creek County Commissioners agree there are challenges now and in the future for county employees and residents, especially in the area ofnance.
In an e ort to explain where the county is nancially and hear input from residents on what they believe should be priorities to spend limited dollars, commissioners announced they will be visiting six communities between May 12 and Aug. 11. Commissioners plan to hold town hall events to provide and accept input on the budget shortfalls.
“ e goal is to uplift the citizens, so we want to let them get to know us and us get to know them, so it’s going to be where we talk and where we listen,” Clear Creek County Commissioner Jodie Hartman-Ball said.
An example of a tight economy is the county’s recent decision to go to a four-day work week.
“Instead of giving them the raise they deserve, we’re putting them at 32 hours, so we’re giving them some time back. at’s basically to defer giving them raises,” Commissioner George Marlin told the Courant in December.
“If we really want our sta to be paid what they should be paid, to provide services to the community, we
State preschool enrollment high but quality guardrails lag
BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADO
Colorado’s popular universal preschool program has dramatically increased the number of 4-year-olds who get statefunded preschool, but it’s unfolded largely without guardrails to ensure quality.
A report released by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University highlights these twin realities and provides a more detailed look at where Colorado stands compared to other states.
Overall, the report suggests Colorado has prioritized quantity over quality as it moved from a small tuition-free preschool program for children with certain risk factors to one that’s open to all 4-year-olds. e state’s universal preschool enrollment numbers are impressive, with 70% of eligible children enrolled last year. at number helped Colorado leapfrog from its previous ranking of 27 to third in this year’s “State of Preschool” report. Only Washington, D.C. and Vermont had a larger share of 4-year-olds enrolled in public preschool programs last year.
Leaders at the research institute noted that California added more 4-year-olds to state-funded preschool than Colorado last year — 35,000 compared with 30,000 — but Colorado made far bigger gains than California when it comes to the percentage of children served.
“ e progress Colorado made in terms of enrollment and expanding access was pretty remarkable,” said Allison Friedman-Krauss, an associate research professor at the institute.
But Colorado’s showing deteriorated in the quality standards department. In the latest report, it meets only two of 10 benchmarks, down from four in the previous preschool program. e benchmarks, which describe state policies that promote high-quality classrooms, touch on factors such as teacher training, curriculum, and class size.
Colorado o cials plan to put new rules governing universal preschool quality in place, but plan to postpone the start date by a year to July 2026. It’s the third time the rules have been delayed.
“ ey kicked the can down the road one more time,” said W. Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the institute.
Dawn Odean, the state’s universal preschool program director, acknowledged that the state has delayed the rules, but said Barnett’s statement is misleading because Colorado has been working on efforts related to quality for a long time and continues to do so.
She described the state’s approach as
“going slow to go fast.”
Colorado leaders repeatedly pledged that universal preschool would provide high-quality classes, starting when they pitched the program to voters, who approved a nicotine tax in 2020 to help fund it.
But currently, the “universal preschool” label doesn’t indicate anything about the caliber of classroom a child will join. Rather, it simply indicates the state is paying for 10 to 30 hours of class time. Of about 2,000 preschools participating in the program, some are excellent and have high state ratings, some are weak and meet only basic health and safety standards, and some are in between.
Experts say high-quality preschool can produce short- and long-term bene ts for kids.
In the report, Colorado got credit for meeting two quality benchmarks: having a set of early learning and development standards and providing guidance to preschools on curriculum. While the state has not yet released a list of curriculum approved for use in universal preschool classrooms, that is slated to happen
sometime this year.
Texas, Wisconsin, and Indiana are the only other states to hit only two of the institute’s preschool quality benchmarks. More than a dozen states and Washington D.C. meet 9 or 10 of the benchmarks. ey include two of Colorado’s neighbors: New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Colorado didn’t meet benchmarks requiring class size caps of 20 and stastudent ratios of 1 to 10. Both limits have prompted heated debate over the last two years. Some private providers have argued they’ll lose money if they have to reduce class sizes below the state’s current cap of 24 and ratios below the current limit of one sta member for every 12 4-year-olds.
By the 2027-28 school year, state ocials do plan to require the class size and ratio caps recommended by the research institute for universal preschool. ere’s one big exception though: Preschools that have one of the top two state ratings will be allowed to stick with the current caps.
Colorado also didn’t meet benchmarks related to the types of credentials teach-
ers or assistant teachers should have or annual training and coaching for sta . Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which administers the universal preschool program, said when Colorado’s rules on preschool quality are fully implemented over the next few years, she anticipates the state will meet at least half of the institute’s benchmarks.
Odean noted that the institute’s 10 benchmarks look at “outputs,” but that Colorado is focused on child outcomes.
“What families tell us consistently, and educators too, is that those outcomes are what’s a priority, and that’s not contemplated in the NIEER ratings,” she said, referring to the institute’s acronym. e institute’s report describes its benchmarks as “a set of minimum criteria, established by state policy, needed to ensure e ectiveness of preschool education programs.”
Barnett said Colorado parents should think carefully before moving their children away from a high-quality program that’s not part of the state’s universal program to a lower-quality provider that is.
“When people did that in Quebec in response to [$10-a-day] child care … kids’ development su ered for a decade,” he said.
Barnett was referring to an e ort begun in the 1990s that o ered highly discounted child care to Quebec families. While the e ort allowed more women to join the workforce, many children were put in low-quality centers. Subsequent studies found negative impacts on children, including increased anxiety and aggression.
A 2019 study that revealed additional negative outcomes as the children became teens and young adults, concluded, “Our ndings provide strong support for the argument that the early childhood development environment is a crucial determinant of the long-term success of children.”
Reprinted with permission from Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.
A new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University ranks Colorado high for preschool access, but not for quality standards.
PHOTO BY JIMENA PECK / CHALKBEAT
Home values dip, signaling relief for homeowners
BY BRIAN EASON
THE COLORADO SUN
Home values across the Denver metro area largely held steady or declined in the latest tax assessment period, county assessors announced April 30, in the latest sign that Colorado’s housing market has cooled o from its pandemic fever.
County tax o cials said it will be several months before they can de nitively say whether most residential tax bills will go up or down next year. at’ll depend on whether local governments raise mill levies when they set their budgets later this year and how the state’s new property tax laws play out in di erent communities.
But at least one thing’s assured: e typical homeowner won’t experience major spikes in their 2026 tax bills like they did after the last re-assessment two years ago, which led to several rounds of property tax cuts at the state level.
“If there’s a headline for us in Douglas County this year, it’s breathing a sigh of relief,” Toby Damisch, the county tax assessor, said at a news conference in Denver.
In Douglas County, the median residential value dropped 3.5% in the preliminary assessments, which re ect market values as of June 2024. at’s a night-and-day di erence from this time two years ago, when residential values were up nearly 50% in Douglas County, and more than 30% in Denver.
Damisch said it was the rst time since the Great Recession he’s seen residential values fall in his county. And they could fall further in the coming months, when property owners have the chance to appeal their values.
Tax o cials pointed to a few factors to explain the dip. High interest rates and economic uncertainty have depressed home sales in recent years. And in retrospect, the June 2022 valuation came at the worst possible time for homeowners struggling with the cost of living. Home prices peaked across much of Colorado that summer, meaning tax assessors took their biannual snapshot used to determine tax bills at the absolute height of the market.
Je erson County Assessor Scot Kersgaard said his area was the only one to see an increase in residential values — and even there it was a minor 2% bump. Across the rest of the Front Range, home values held steady or dropped a few percentage points. Nonetheless, housing a ordability remains a major challenge across the metro
Parcel maps on display at the Denver City-County Building, where county assessors announced the results of the 2024 valuation on April 30, 2025.
orado Sun that median home values are up 8% in Eagle County, where he serves as the tax assessor. In Gar eld County, home to Glenwood Springs, residential values are up 14%, he said.
Along the Front Range, local governments should see tax revenue stay relatively at, assessors said. Commercial values were up across the metro area, largely o setting the declines in home values. Keith Er meyer, the Denver assessor, said growth in warehouses and other commercial properties more than made up for a downturn in the o ce sector, where vacancies are up as more people work from home.
Absent future tax hikes, at tax revenue could lead to budget cuts for many local agencies, as they grapple with in ation and declines in state and federal funding.
area. Damisch said the cost of homeownership remains “the highest it’s ever been” in Colorado, thanks to high interest rates and insurance costs. In Boulder County, where median home values are down about 1%, prices actually went up for condos and townhomes, making it harder for entry-level buyers to purchase their rst home.
JoAnn Gro , the state property tax administrator, said she won’t have numbers from all 64 counties until August, but in preliminary surveys from earlier this year, the rest of Colorado looked similar to metro Denver, with residential values mostly at or slightly down.
But that isn’t the case everywhere. In mountain communities, where housing costs are the highest, prices are still going up. Mark Chapin, president of the Colorado Assessors Association, told e Col-
But county tax o cials insisted it was too soon to say what the valuation would mean for homeowners and local governments. In a change from previous years, homeowners won’t get an estimated tax bill with their valuation notice, due to a change in state law.
at will give counties time to determine if revenue is expected to grow faster than the state’s new property tax cap, requiring cuts to the assessment rate. And it will prevent homeowners from being given an estimate that turns out to be wrong when local government o cials set their mill levy rates later in the year.
“ e taxes are going to get gured out later — that’s just how it works now,” Damisch said. is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.
PHOTO BY BRIAN EASON / THE COLORADO SUN
A nice surprise encounter with an Army veteran
One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, after running some errands, I was picking up brunch for our family. I walked into Doug’s Diner, ready to grab our to-go order. I was wearing a blue T-shirt with white letters that said “History Teacher. Just like a regular teacher only cooler.”
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
As I was talking with the person at the counter, an older gentleman walked up. ere was an air of con dence in his cane-supported walk and his smile suggested that as soon as you knew this man, you felt you had made a friend. He wore a black jacket with various U.S. Army insignia on the back and sleeves and on his head, a hat with the purple heart insignia.
After I nished talking with the woman behind the counter, the man asked if I was a history teacher. I responded with a smile, “Yes, I was before I retired.” en I asked him about his hat. He told me that he was “old,” 82 years old, and that he had been wounded in Vietnam. I said, “ ank you for what you did.” He smiled and nodded.
He then turned and glanced behind the counter, reading aloud a sign propped up on a ledge that said, “Happiness is Homemade.” He asked, “Do you believe that?” I replied, “I do. How about you?”
He looked at me with wisdom- lled eyes and said, “Every day I get up, I have a choice to make. Am I going to be happy with all that is around me or not? at is homemade happiness. Yes, I absolutely believe what that sign says.”
Our conversation ended as quickly as it started, as he walked away, he said, “Have a good day and Go Army, beat Navy!” at encounter will replay in my memory for a long time. e fact that this 82-year-old was a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient tells you everything you need to know about him and the struggles he faced. Not only is he an American hero but he understands hard times, injury, mobility issues, age and who knows what else and chooses to explain to a total stranger the recipe for his clearly happy life … Homemade happiness, you make it yourself. I hope this secondhand recipe reminds you this week that happiness is a dish we all can make.
I hope my words encourage you and that you will share them with those who need support. ank you to everyone who has shared their stories with me so far; I truly appreciate hearing about the valuable ideas you nd in these columns and how you use them to uplift those around you. You can reach me at jim.roome@gmail.com.
Jim Roome lives in Arvada with his wife, Beth. He spent 34 years in public education. Lessons learned from the one two punch of being diagnosed with MS shortly before his best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer led him into a new pursuit as a freelance writer and speaker. He uses his life experiences and love of stories to inspire, educate and encourage local, national and international audiences. Contact him at jim.roome@gmail.com.
VOICES
Colorado, where have all the jobs gone?
In February, Colorado Public Radio reported that “the unemployment rate, which has been climbing for more than a year, held steady at 4.7% in February, according to Colorado’s labor department.” To put this into perspective the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks Colorado 42nd out of the 50 states. Colorado is tied for the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country.
What is going on? Why does Colorado lag the rest of the country? Colorado enjoys a very high percentage of highly educated people. We live in an extraordinarily beautiful state and enjoy an exceptionally high quality of life. Yet, businesses are relocating out of Colorado at an alarming rate. Service businesses are closing and, for the rst time in many years, people are moving to other states.
e simple answer is that Colorado is not friendly for creating and maintaining primary jobs. Primary jobs are in agriculture (farming and ranching), extraction (mining, oil, and gas) and manufacturing — the conversion of natural resources to useful purposes. Primary jobs are critical for the health of Colorado’s economy because each job creates as many as two to ten4 additional jobs to support them.
Colorado features a wonderful variety of professional, white-color, jobs. In May 2024, e Denver Post published a list of Colorado’s best large companies to work for. e list includes real estate, insurance, nancial services, municipalities, technology, health care and tourism. ese industries create indirect jobs — jobs that are dependent on other industries and individuals being able to purchase their services.
But what about primary jobs?
Colorado is losing small businesses. Companies like BCA, QuietKat, Niner and Guerilla Gravity, all manufacturers of
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
SPEED for BEAD bill is bad for local internet service
GUEST COLUMN
outdoor recreation equipment or bikes, are no longer in Colorado. Chris Romer of the Vail Valley Partnership observed “ … the ght to keep businesses local is a perpetual challenge as housing prices soar and rural supply chain issues spike costs.”
From 1976 to 2023, Boulder County maintained a 1% growth cap to limit the construction of new homes. About 20 years ago, the state legislature passed construction liability laws that caused builders to curtail construction of multi-family units. ese types of policies make it harder to build homes and increase the price for homebuyers. With too few units available and a growing population, prices rose sharply. Add zoning restrictions imposed by municipalities and business growth becomes restricted or is precluded from locating into some cities.
Controversial regulations, like restricted gun magazine sizes, drove Magpul, a formerly proud Colorado manufacturer of rearms accessories, to relocate over 200 jobs to Wyoming and Texas. It’s notable that the Colorado Legislature just doubled down on this issue by seeking to completely outlaw rearms with detachable magazines.
Colorado has a wealth of natural resources, but restrictive environmental regulations often prevent their extraction. For example, the Piceance Basin in northwest Colorado and Utah holds massive reserves of natural gas but extraction has been severely restricted. Could we have more, betterpaying jobs and lower energy prices if we were allowed to develop our natural resources?
What about the ranchers?
e State of Colorado is receiving nearly $1 billion in federal funding from former President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill to build out reliable high-speed internet service in Colorado’s unserved and underserved locations. ose funds are now at risk of being diverted to satellite companies under proposed legislation from Republican Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina. Hudson, a Republican from North Caro-
State regulation to reintroduce wolves on the western slope has resulted in wolves killing livestock. is is not just a loss to ranchers. It hurts everyone in the state because the state is liable to pay the ranchers for the dead cattle out of our taxes.
Government’s heavy-handed management of the pandemic caused many restaurant closures but it’s the State’s imposition of mandatory minimum wages that has made running many of these businesses una ordable. In addition, “ ... (t)he Colorado Restaurant Association also cites Denver’s lengthy and costly licensing process as a reason for restaurants eeing out of the city. More than 90% of businesses that have applied for a retail food license have an active or pending application, according to Denver7. What do soaring housing prices, mandated wages, and controversial laws have in common? ey are all caused by excessive government regulations brought about by Colorado Democrats, who have total control of Colorado State Government. Colorado has been under predominantly Democrat control for the last 50 years. Colorado is among the small group of states that is still supporting a restrictive, progressive agenda, and it is past time to push back. What would less government interference do? It would create lower unemployment, higher wages, reduced housing and energy prices, and a more secure and robust future. Isn’t that just common sense?
Don Ytterberg is a former four-time chair of the Je co Republicans and former twotime vice chair of the Colorado Republican Party. He has been a candidate for the Colorado Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. He and his wife Kim have been residents of Je erson County since 1987 where he has been a business owner since 1990.
lina’s 9th district, has recently introduced legislation that could limit families and businesses in rural areas of Colorado to satellite internet service, which is much less reliable than ber internet. e SPEED for BEAD bill would make it easier for internet companies to use cut-rate contractors when building broadband service and cause delays in broadband builds by forcing states to revisit their plans.
Jim Roome
Don Ytterberg
Take a deep dive with Jurassic Oceans
During the age of the dinosaurs, some of the most impressive animals the planet has ever seen walked the earth. But the oceans were equally full of breathtaking creatures, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s newest exhibit brings them to vibrant life with Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep “ e exhibit starts in the Jurassic era and brings visitors to the present,” said DMNS educator Jenna Chervin. “It showcases the biggest, baddest things in the ocean at any given point and really lets people get to know them.”
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Developed and produced by London’s Natural History Museum, Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep runs at DMNS, 2001 Colorado Blvd., through Sept. 7. A special ticket is required for the bilingual exhibition.
One of the important things for visitors to remember is that the animals on display aren’t dinosaurs — they’re marine reptiles, sh, invertebrates and eventually mammals that called prehistoric oceans home.
“We still have some of these creatures living today, though they look di erent,” Chervin said. “Animals like the horseshoe crab and sharks are just a few examples that we have on display that survived the test of time.”
Visitors can examine fossil specimens that paint a picture of evolution and adaptation, including Jurassic sharks and the dangerous mosasaurs of the Cretaceous. ere are beautiful artistic recre-
LETTERS
As a telecommunications worker, I know what reliable, long-lasting internet service looks like and it isn’t satellite. Fiber optics is a one-time infrastructure investment with decades of lifespan, but the low-earth-orbit satellites that are used for internet service have a lifespan of approximately ve years. ese satellites require signi cant long-term spending on launches, maintenance and user equipment upgrades just to keep the current service running. Internet speeds drop as more users connect to the satellite network, making large-scale adoption impractical. Even worse, satellites face disruptions due to weather, while ber is largely immune to this.
anks to the historic infrastructure bill under former President Biden, millions of
ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules:
• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.
• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.
• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.
• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.
ations of many of the animals, so guests can get a real sense of how they lived and moved.
Clarke Reader
“ e visual components are a wonderful use of technology to show what these animals were like when they were alive,” Chevrin said. “It also teaches about jobs like paleoartists, that people don’t often think about.”
DMNS works hard to ensure there are local touches on all touring exhibits and Jurassic Oceans features plenty of handson activities and touchable items, including a mosasaur jaw with teeth and a plesiosaur vertebra fossil. ey can also meet some of the scientists behind critical discoveries, like Mary Anning, a paleontologist whose discoveries helped shape the modern understanding of prehistoric marine life.
e aim is that people come away from the exhibit with a new appreciation for the animals that lived in the ocean and how they changed over time.
“I’m really excited for people to learn about how diverse the oceans were and how life evolved,” Chevrin said. “ is is a great summer exhibit for both kids and adults.”
For more information and tickets, visit www.dmns.org/exhibi-
SEE READER, P22
dollars in federal funding is coming into our state to build broadband infrastructure. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make sure every home and business has access to true high-speed ber internet service. But, Hudson and the Trump administration now want to divert those funds to satellite companies. One can’t help but think Elon Musk and his Starlink satellite company have something to do with this. It would be a shame to see these funds lining the pockets of the richest man in the world when hardworking Coloradans are ready to build out a ber optic infrastructure. Gov. Jared Polis and our state’s broadband o ce need to stand by their plan for a statewide ber buildout and push back on e orts to change the program to lower standards.
Anthony Scorzo, President, Communications Workers of America Local 7777, Lakewood
• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.
• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.
• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.
• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.
and marches through downtown Evergreen as a forerunner to Saturday evening and Sunday a ernoon rodeo performances. Larry Olde of Olde’s Garage (3639 Hwy. 74, Evergreen) is the rodeo’s 2025 Grand Marshal. Herman Olde opened Olde’s Garage as a lling station/automotive repair shop in downtown Evergreen in 1921. Its original location is now occupied by Creekside Cellars, Evergreen’s local winery. e 2025 Evergreen Rodeo introduces and showcases national top rodeo professionals who will demonstrate their skills at riding broncos, barrel racing, roping calves, wrestling steers, and more. A Break Away Roping event on Saturday and Sunday will spotlight women’s calf roping. e event features quality-bred livestock from the Cervi Ranch in Eastern Colorado. On a sad note, 89-year-old Mike Cervi, a long-time rodeo supporter, passed
away about a month ago. e Ranch operation continues to be steered by his sons Chase and Binion.
Since the Covid Pandemic, based on both ticket sales and sponsorships (its primary sources of revenue), 2024 was another record-breaking year. Evergreen Rodeo experienced exponential attendance growth over the last few years with ever-increasing attendance records exceeding over 6,000 people.
Evergreen Rodeo sponsorships surpassed $100,000 in 2022; $140,000 in 2023 and $199,000 in 2024. At the same time rodeo production costs have increased signi cantly. In 2019 the total cost was $135,000 and from 2023 forward production costs are now in excess of $280,000. However, even with these cost increases the rodeo is su ciently pro table continuing to address deferred maintenance items on the grounds with ongoing capital projects, while also focusing on improving
Whatever Your Home Financing Needs… Mortgage Loan O
By Jo Ann M. Colton Special to Lifestyles
Whether you are contemplating a new home loan or want to explore second mortgage, home equity, or loan re nancing possibilities, don’t waste your precious time and e ort undertaking the laborious process of searching loan options and contacting lenders on your own…
With thirty-plus years of proven experience in the industry, mortgage broker Grant Brewster with Edge Home Finance Corporation can do the legwork for you in researching and identifying available loan options. He works as an intermediary who strives to match YOU, his client, with the best mortgage lender for your speci c needs. Likewise, because he is not a bank employee/a liate he o en has access to a wider range of lenders and loan products than might otherwise be available to individual borrowers through banks.
Colorado Foothills native Grant Brewster is a knowledgeable,
pro-active mortgage market professional who can o en leverage his longstanding business relationships with multiple lenders to secure optimum rates potentially leading to better deals and less stress for his clients.
Let Grant Brewster’s industry expertise help you navigate the home nancing process with greater ease. Conveniently located at Flow eory Coworks, 3540 Evergreen Parkway, contact Grant Brewster for all your home nancing needs by phone (720-668-4183) or online (grant.brewster@edgehome nance.com/www.grantbrewster. com).
9 Reasons You Need a Fire Pit
ere are wants, and there are needs. Sometimes the lines are blurred, so to light the spark of imagination, pun intended, here are 9 reasons you *need* a gas- red re pit.
Spend quality time with family and friends. Nothing is more important than spending time with people you love. With a re pit, there’s no reason to always get together indoors or go out on the town to have fun. A er all, food tastes better and laughter comes easier under the open sky!
Get your money’s worth from your outdoor living space. You pay for your outdoor living space whether you use it or not, so why limit your enjoyment of your deck or patio to a few months of the year? Fire pits are available in a wide range of heat output. Whether your outdoor space is intimate or expansive, you can choose a re pit that will keep you toasty on a frosty starlit evening. Many homes in the foothills communities enjoy spectacular
views. A cozy re entices people to linger outdoors to catch the mountain sunset!
More entertaining options. If you’re short on space, a re table does double duty as a re feature and an outdoor dining spot.
Add value to your home. Curb appeal isn’t limited to the front yard! Entice buyers with an outdoor living space complete with a welcoming gas re pit as the centerpiece. A re pit adds ambience to any outdoor space, from a private backyard retreat or a gourmet outdoor kitchen area designed for lavish entertaining. Ambience and safety. Gas re pits are allowed during Je erson and Park Counties’ Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. Colorado summers are synonymous with re danger, so homeowners are choosing gas or propane-fueled re pits which don’t produce dangerous sparks and can be turned o instantly. Never worry about ying sparks or embers even on windy evenings! Some gas re pits have add-on safety
features like electronic ignition systems, or ame detection systems that shut o the gas if the ame goes out.
Location and landscaping options. A gas re pit under a pergola creates a gathering spot that’s impossible with a wood-burning re pit. Gas re pits can be installed much closer to combustible surfaces to open up more design options. Our experts will recommend the best location for your re pit for convenience, ambience, and safety.
Many design choices. Fire pits are available in many styles to complement your aesthetic. Choose from a rustic stone to sleek contemporary metal or concrete re bowl. Complete the look with your choice of burner sizes and shapes, di erent log sets, and media options including glass, lava rock, or tumbled river rock.
Ease and convenience. Gas re pits can be turned on and o with the push of a button.
No carrying rewood, no messy ashes, no playing smoke-in-my-eyes musical chairs as the wind shi s, and no drowning your re to put it out. You can even have the ultimate convenience of a plumbed-in gas re pit - no more changing propane tanks!
More value from quality products and service. Our high quality re pits use materials designed to resist the challenges of Colorado weather. And, you will bene t from our expert installation and maintenance services!
Get ready for an epic summer (and beyond) by adding a re pit to your outdoor living space!
Visit the Mountain Hearth & Patio showroom at 7001 Hwy 73 in Evergreen to get a taste of what’s available in re pits, visit our website at www.mtnhp.com or give us a call at (303) 679-1601
From Page 12
the all-encompassing rodeo experience and capacity for all its guests.
Evergreen Rodeo is delighted to announce that 2025’s overall rodeo experience will be better than ever because it was able to purchase Grandstand seating from Larry Crispte (son-in-law of John Bandimere Jr.). Bandimere ( under Mountain) Speedway closed in Morrison (2024) a er a 67-year racing speedway history. e deal is yet an additional cause for celebrating this year as two iconic organizations together create another long-lasting connection within our community.
“ ese ‘Bandimere Grandstands,’ replace our 1955-circa/Clear Creek High School wooden bleachers and o er 52% more general seating and 82% more VIP seating,” said Bryan McFarland, Evergreen Rodeo Association Chairman. “ e red/white/blue steel, ADAcompliant grandstands have ramps/elevated walkways and designated aisles, which are more accessible for everyone. John Bandimere, Jr. is a 2025 Evergreen Rodeo sponsor and he, Larry and the entire family will be recognized at the rodeo.”
On Saturday/June 14, gates open at 2:00pm and the PRCA Pro Rodeo performance starts at 5:00pm. On Sunday/June 15, gates open at 11:00am and the PRCA Pro Rodeo performance starts at 2:00pm. It is suggested that attendees arrive well in advance of the rodeo to allow ample time to nd parking, enjoy mechanical bull rides, pony rides for the kids, Please see RODEO, Page 17
by
Photo
Michael Pintar
