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Dancing on air Aerial dance team brings Cirque du Soleil styles to Golden By Amy Woodward
awoodward@colorado communitymedia.com
The Genesee bison herd had a record breaking year with 20 calves being born instead of the average of 16 to 18. Photo by Hannah Burlingame
Banner year for bison Genesee herd enjoys record number of calves
By Hannah Burlingame hannah.burlingame@ wartburg.edu Roughly 100 years ago, two
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bison bulls from Yellowstone Park and a few bison cows owned by the City and County of Denver were brought to Genesee Park. Today, the descendants of this original herd of bison still reside at Genesee Park and had a record number of calves born this season. Each year the average number of bison calves at Genesee Park is 16 to 18. This year there are 20 calves and Marty Homola, Genesee bison herd caretaker, said it is most likely due to a new bull that was brought in a few years ago. “He must have been a good bull,” Homola, said. The first calf of the season was born in December 2013,
which is a rare. Calves are usually not born that early, according to Homola. Roughly a month ago is when the last calf was born. Able to be seen from Interstate 70, the herd of 26 adults and 20 calves is not always visible because they roam freely on 750 acres in the park. Buffalo Herd Overlook gives visitors another opportunity to see the bison, and Homola said there might be a couple more overlooks in the works to make it easier for people to see the bison. Even though it is called Buffalo Herd Overlook, there is no difference between bison and buffalo. Bison is the scientific name while buffalo is
the nickname the English gave the animal in the 1600s when they first saw them. “I still call them buffalo. It just doesn’t sound right out here in the west to call them bison,” Homola said. The bison herd, which is owned by the city and county of Denver, were brought to the park to educate people as well as to allow visitors to see the bison in their natural habitat. “They are a pretty popular attraction within our mountain parks along I-70 here. We have skiers and tourists and visitors that are coming down I-70, and the first thing they see are the bison,” Homola said.
Public feedback shapes downtown Golden plan GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Suite 210 Golden, CO 80403
DDA holds community meeting, explains funding
PHONE: 303-566-4100
By Amy Woodward
(ISSN 0746-6382)
A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Golden Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by Mile High Newspapers, 722 Washington Ave, Suite 210, Golden, CO 80403. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 722 Washington Ave, Suite 210 Golden, CO 80403 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. Legal: Fri. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 5 p.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US
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awoodward@colorado communitymedia.com The newly formed Downtown Development Authority held its first community meeting seeking feedback on four focus areas that will help strategize its existing policy for downtown from the Golden Vision 2030 comprehensive plan. City Council appointed citizens, business owners and Mayor Pro Tem Joe Behm to the seven-member board in March. Since then, the DDA has met three times to work on a required state statute for a development plan. In order to collect on incremental property tax generated within the DDA boundary, the board must adopt a Downtown Development Plan, said Steve Glueck, community and economic development direc-
DDA DETAILS Highest Rated Challenges DDA Will Face in Seeking to Achieve Downtown Goals, according to public feedback: Limited resources, especially in early years Limited actual parking supply Addressing Colorado School of Mines parking impacts Perception that downtown is only Washington Ave. between 11th and 14th Street Ability to muster support of the public that is within the DDA boundary but outside the core downtown area — Source handout from DDA Stakeholder tor. He added it is the board’s goal to have a plan in place by mid-Fall. City Council must approve the plan but although the task may be significant, it won’t be a daunting one thanks to Golden Vision 2030. “We don’t face a situation of desperation,” Glueck said. “We have a lot of documents in Golden that tell us what downtown should be and what
Golden should be,” he said. “I think Golden Vision doesn’t try to be a strategic plan or a policy plan but tries to define the community values.” Held at the Golden Community Center, residents gathered during the meeting to look over challenges that face downtown and rated these challenges by level of priority from highest to lowest. Very few challenges received low ratings with most of the challenges receiving high to medium ratings. “I would like to see Miners Alley certainly improved,” said Clarissa Williams, optician at Avenue Vision. Part of this improvement includes a pedestrian walkway and more parking spaces. Downtown focuses were organized into four parts with underlying challenges listed underneath each focus area. These four areas were; Encourage and Support Business Vitality for Both Individual Businesses and the DDA Area Feedback continues on Page 21
This year’s First Friday street fairs have become more entertaining with the addition of a nimble group of young ladies who are taking modern dance moves to new heights. It’s called aerial dance, an ancient form of the aerial arts that first made its appearance in the U.S. during the 1970s. The public is more familiar with this form of circus arts through the popular Cirque du Soleil touring shows. Focusing on aerial silks in which the performer uses fabric and movement to express poses while being suspended from a specially designed rig, a team of five girls aged 12 to 17 have taken this high-flying dance form to the First Friday Street Fair. “We have a huge crowd at the street fair,” said group director, Tessa Vallin, 17, of Evergreen. Vallin, along with her teammates, make up a new company started by Golden resident, Jennifer Shelton, called Altitude Aerial Performers, Inc. Since its start in May, the youth aerial dance group has performed at the Golden Community Center as well as at Golden High School for a showcase hosted by Virtuosity Dance, a local dance studio located on N. Rubey Dr. in Golden. The group also performs at birthday parties and weddings. All of the performers have a background in gymnastics and dance. They continue their aerial training which can average 40 hours a week during the summer. This training includes strength conditioning and working on flexibility. Part of the learning experience in the aerial arts is the understanding of the pulley system on a rig. “Most aerial accidents are due to rigging,” Shelton said. “Safety is an important thing; they learn it the proper way.” Experience and friendship makes for a well-choreographed show with every teammate possessing a special talent. “We’re sort of equal at everything but we all have our strengths,” said Arija Williams, 12, of Evergreen. Dancing continues on Page 21
From top to bottom; Kristina Shelton, 12, Golden; Cassidy Vallin, 12, Evergreen and Arija Williams, 12 Evergreen perform at the Virtuosity Dance Showcase at Golden High School. Courtesy photo