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Blood donor hits 70-gallon mark Highlands Ranch man honored by Bonfils center By Taryn Walker
twalker@colorado communitymedia.com Larry Cloos, 52, is addicted to saving lives. On the morning of July 14, the Highlands Ranch resident lounged back as Bonfils Blood Center technicians checked his vitals, with his 6-year-old son, Roman, clinging to his leg. Cloos squeezed a mini football with his fist and stared at hot coffee and a cup of nuts on the table beside him. This wasn’t any ordinary donation. By the end of the three-hour session, he had reached a milestone on the platelets machine, becoming the youngest donor to give 70 gallons of blood. “For every pint I give, that’s three lives I helped save,” Cloos said. “Not one drop of
this blood goes to waste.” The 235-pound man has saved 5,040 lives with his donations and gives platelets up to 24 times a year, which is the maximum. With his A-positive blood type, he can match with up to 90 percent of the world’s population and, as a result, he’s donated blood to Bonfils in Highlands Ranch 560 times. Bonfils CEO Bryan Krueger honored Cloos with a pin and a short speech, highlighting different parts of Cloos’ career of saving lives, starting with some history. “Larry signed up for his first donation in 1981 when he was 18 and today he’s giving his 70th gallon,” Kreuger said. “You know how many gallons a fire truck holds? Seventy. He’s never missed a donation in his adult life.” Although it’s said one unit of blood can help as many as three patients, it’s not exact because every patient’s need is different, Donor continues on Page 6
Highlands Ranch resident Larry Cloos is pinned by Bonfils Blood Center donor technician Melissa Myatt on July 14 as he reaches his 70th gallon of blood donated. His son Roman, 6, stayed close by during the three-hour platelet extraction. Bonfils awarded Cloos with a pin, because at 52 he is the youngest donor to give 70 gallons. Photo by Taryn Walker
STEM kids launch into rocketry Highlands Ranch students travel to Pueblo for project By Taryn Walker
twalker@colorado communitymedia.com
Eighteen-month-old Jackson Libby gets another taste of strawberry ice cream at the Highlands Ranch Metro District Ice Cream Social at Civic Green Park on July 15. Photos by Taryn Walker
Ice cream social benefits Crisis Center Highlands Ranch event gets big help from Safeway
Six students from STEM School and Academy in Highlands Ranch built a payload and flew it aboard a 25-foot rocket in Pueblo on July 18. The payload is a 2-meter, 2-pound Automatic Packet Reporting System beacon that transmits radio frequencies to determine GPS data, elevation, speed and altitude while in flight at 10,000 feet. Besides providing information, the payload will help students locate where it will land by giving the GPS longitude and latitude, said Bryon Paul Veal of APRL Rocky Mountain Division. On July 13, the STEM kids, who are interns with United Launch Alliance and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., as well as other numerous interns from kindergarten Rocket continues on Page 6
By Taryn Walker
twalker@colorado communitymedia.com
Girl Scout Abrianna Desmond paints 6-year-old Keira Anderson’s face at the HRMD Ice Cream Social.
The Highlands Ranch Metro District ice cream social on July 15 was more than just sundaes and sprinkles. For only $2 apiece, people ate ice cream and snow cones and helped raise $2,828 for The Crisis Center, whose goal is to end domestic violence through advocacy, education, and prevention. HRMD Community Relations Manager Sherry Eppers said this year’s event at Civic Green Park saw about 1,400 people. Safeway Inc. donated items including the ice cream, toppings, paper products, ice and other supplies, she said. The social began 18 years ago as a way to celebrate the opening of Littleton Fire Rescue Station 18, located at Lucent Boulevard and Timbervale Trail. This year, Littleton Fire Rescue put together a demonstration using a damaged car, hydraulic tool (the Jaws of Life) and lucky volunteer. Firemen cut glass from the windshield and took off a door to “save” the volunteer in a mock car accident scene. Ice cream continues on Page 6
The 25-foot tall Future rocket, the largest rocket to launch from Colorado, blasts off just outside Pueblo on July 18 as part of the 2015 United Launch Alliance and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Student Rocket Launch. The Student Rocket Launch offers hands-on opportunities for students from kindergarten through graduate school to learn and apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. Courtesy photo