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December 4, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 46
LoneTreeVoice.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
SWEET RETURN OF THE HOLIDAYS
Suspect in chase headed for trial Two weeks reserved for Ryan Stone’s April trial in Douglas County By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
LEFT: Alexia Yhl de Morais of Lone Tree peruses the rows of sugar cookies at the Lone Tree Arts Center Guild’s Nov. 30 holiday tree lighting at the Lone Tree Arts Center. RIGHT: Darcy Beck, left, and Stacie Cisco, arts center rental coordinator, prepare for guests. Temperatures in the teens changed the location but didn’t dampen the holiday spirit during the Lone Tree Art Center Guild’s annual tree lighting ceremony. The Nov. 30 event, planned in the Terrace Theater outside the Lone Tree Arts Center, moved inside. Celebrants ate red and green sugar cookies, drank hot chocolate, sang carols and watched the lighting of an 18-foot decorated tree. The tree, which didn’t get to come in from the cold, will shine throughout the holidays on the north side of the center.
PHOTOS BY BRUCE RYMAN Festivities for the annual holiday tree lighting event shifted inside because of the bitterly cold weather.
Ryan Stone pleaded not guilty in a Douglas County courtroom Dec. 1 to all charges filed against him in connection with a multi-county, high-speed March 12 chase. Stone’s case will go to trial, which is expected to last two weeks, starting April 21 at the Douglas County Justice Center. Stone, 29, of Highlands Ranch, faces 26 counts for his suspected role in the rush-hour chase that ended near the Wildlife Experience in northern Douglas Stone County. It started outside a Longmont gas station when he allegedly stole an SUV with a 4-year-old boy inside. Stone later abandoned the car, with the uninjured boy inside, then hijacked another and later in Douglas County, a third vehicle, police say. A news helicopter tracked the chase, while law enforcement officers pursued and repeatedly tried to stop him. During the pursuit, Stone allegedly struck and injured a Colorado State Patrol trooper. Charges against Stone include attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, aggravated motor vehicle theft, robbery, vehicular eluding, criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident. Stone continues on Page 31
Painting with a Twist makes art a party Lone Tree business links creativity, music, wine, beer By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com The stereotypical image of a somber artist painting in quiet isolation is nowhere to be found at Painting with a Twist. At the new Lone Tree business, which opens Dec. 4, art is created in a party atmosphere. The company combines painting with wine or beer, lighthearted art instructors, music and strobe lights for a session that’s as entertaining as it is creative. “It’s the new date night, and it’s very affordable,” said Joe Alviar, who is opening the Park Meadows Drive studio with his wife Marianne. “We’ll have 50 people in here painting. People may start dancing. Karaoke may happen.” The Castle Rock residents said the Lone Tree franchise, the third in Colorado and one of about 200 nationwide, speaks to their love of art and belief in celebrating life. Both are leaving jobs in the corporate world — Joe in network engineering and Marianne in nursing — to pursue their dream and ideally bring some joy to others. “We feel life is too short to live it go-
ing to a job you hate every day,” Marianne said, “and if there’s any way we can help other people, we want to do it.” The parents of two school-aged children had long wanted to own their own business, but none of the options they’d explored seemed to fit. In July, after a trip to a friends’ Painting with a Twist studio in Texas, that changed. “We knew it; we said, `This is for us,’” Joe said. “We love music and art,” Marianna said. “And I think everyone has an inner artist.” Two Louisiana women started the business in 2007 in the wake of tragedy. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, friends Cathy Deano and Renee Maloney wanted to find a way to help their neighbors forget the disaster and relax with painting and wine. Once a month, they donated a day’s worth of sales from their business to charity. The idea was a hit, and the women began franchising in 2009. While the emphasis at Painting with a Twist is big on fun, it’s also designed to ensure even novice artists leave with something they proudly can hang on the wall. Professional artists, whom the Alviars said were selected for their outgoing personalities, direct classes as large as Twist continues on Page 31
Marianne and Joe Alviar open Painting with a Twist, which pairs painting with wine, beer and a party atmosphere, Dec. 4 on Park Meadows Drive. Photo by Jane Reuter