FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
BURN BAN
READY TO SOAR
LOCAL | PG 2
LOCAL | PG 3
FLAIR! | PG 16
Eatin’ and drinkin’ at the Turkey Leg & Wine Hoedown
S O U T H
Sheriff bans fires in Arapahoe County
M E T R O
Sky Ridge Medical Center unveils new statue
VOLUME 35 • NUMBER 34 • JULY 13, 2017
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TheVillagerNewspaper
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A case of the Harmonica player Al Chesis of the Delta Sonics cuts loose with guitarist Bob Pelligrino. The award-winning Colorado blues band played Englewood’s Sounds of Summer concert series on June 29 outside the Englewood Civic Center. Upcoming concerts in the free series include the Champions (July 13), the Jim Hyatt Band (July 20) and the John Philip Sousa Band of Colorado (July 27). Concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. Photo by Peter Jones
Break-in at GWV office building During the early morning of July 3 two businesses were broken into at the Union Exchange Building 8933 E. Union Ave. in Greenwood Village. Juan Vargas, owner of J.V.&V Gold Masters reported that his security alarm sounded at approximately 3 a.m. He arrived shortly afterwards, and found the door frame had been pried open and a display case was broken into. According to the GWV police report, there was approximately $1,500 in jewelry samples stolen and an additional $1,500 in damage during the incident. During the investigation, a second business, Saccomano Academics door frame appeared to be kicked open, but nothing was taken. Entry to the building was made through a rear door which appeared to be pried as well. There were no suspects at press time.
Not ready for a landing yet World War II flying ace marks 100
At 100, Gerhardt Clementson is still living by his own rules—with an emphasis on living. With parents who both died in middle age, the retired Air Force colonel defies the odds, much as he flouted convention while rising the ranks of the military and life in general. “I like change,” he said from his wheelchair in Lakewood’s Mapleton Care Center. “Everything I got involved with—I like to see it change.” A case of teenage boredom is what prompted Clementson to lie about his age to join the Army at 17. That was before he brazenly flew a military plane under the Golden Gate Bridge to impress his stowaway girlfriend and later married her in defiance of Army regulation. “I’m sure I’ve changed, but it’s a subtle change,” the former Littleton resident said. Clem, as his Army buddies called him, was born in 1917 in Black Earth, Wisc. He was
Col. Gerhardt Clementson, 100, graduated top of his class at West Point before flying missions during World War II and helping to found the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Photo by Peter Jones raised in Lake of the Woods County, Minn., near the Canadian border. The unincorporated community of Clementson was named for his family, who had built the township’s grocery Continued on Page 11