A&E

By Sally King Redstone Review

A light-hearted look at humanity seen through the eyes of the SPO They’re saying it’s going to be alright With a Little Help from our Friends Cosmic guidance received –just the nick of time! Daniel Strawn – Drawn the current art show at the library Can be seen through September! Meet the alien in yourself As Daniel first did In a Gary Larsen cartoon in his youth... Mo, Flow, Joe and Spo SPO was all eyeballs and tentacles Home sweet home for some of us! Daniel’s been through a rough patch with his health And the practice of making art – this art Has been the way back. The soul body, not fettered by the personality With all its small demands Is the way Forward. So go meet the SPO

King Sally King is a local artist who has created whimsical bears and delightful wild flower acrylic paintings to enhance the appearance of Lyons all over the town. She lives with her husband John King, a kinetic sculptor artist, near Lyons.

Three generations of women from one family at the Women’s March in Boulder on July 9. Sally King, her daughter Willow King, and grandniece Callen Small at the Boulder courthouse. Long time Lyons resident and artist, Daniel Strawn, was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2019. A collection of his older drawings and new paintings, inspired by his months of dialysis and eventual kidney transplant, will be on display at the library until October.

By Brianna Hoyt Redstone Review

LYONS – After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, Lyons’ annual summer art show is back. Everyone is invited to join the Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission (LAHC) and the Boulder County Arts Alliance (BCAA) at River Bend on Sunday, July 17 from noon to 7 p.m. for our famed local art show.

Nearly 30 artists from the Boulder County area will display their talents and artwork. Enjoy an afternoon along the picturesque St. Vrain Creek at River Bend, interacting with artists of all media, live demos, along with local food trucks and libations. While admission is free, parking is limited and $5 per vehicle for on-site parking. Visitors and locals are encouraged to walk, ride or stroll.

The art show benefits both Boulder County Arts Alliance and the Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission. BCAA is a non-profit organization that was created to act as a catalyst to incubate, stimulate and sustain a thriving arts community in Boulder County.

BCAA is committed to “championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a just, inclusive and equitable Boulder County for all.” To achieve its mission, the organization promotes diverse arts opportunities, nurtures arts through collaborating with various art disciplines, and offers professional development to arts businesses and artists. BCAA supports artists through workshops, development opportunities and fiscal sponsorships. The funds collected from vendor fees at Art @ River Bend are shared equally between the BCAA and LAHC to support the arts communities in Lyons and the broader Boulder County area. Invite some friends and join your neighbors to visit Art @ River Bend to see the local artists creations while simultaneously supporting our vibrant arts community.

Afterwards, the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC) will be performing Dorothy’s Dictionary in Bohn Park beginning at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 17. High school student Zan is putting in his community service hours when he meets Dorothy, a book-lover who’s losing her eye-

sight. Each of them might just have what the other needs, if they can only find the words. Powerful, heartwarming, and timely, this new play by award-winning playwright E.M. Lewis is perfect for older and younger adults. This event was previously scheduled in late June but has been rescheduled due to weather. Walk, bike or stride over to Bohn Park (the fields to the east of the baseball Hoyt fields) to enjoy this free, live performance from a theater company based out of Boulder. A unique presentation of mobile theater with its own traveling stage, the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado also performs at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder and takes its company on the road during the summer in its handcrafted theater trailer. The Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado supports playwrights and incubates theater talent in Boulder County. During the traveling months they visit communities throughout Colorado to bring professional theater to communities for free. This performance will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to the public; guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets. For more Information on the tour, visit betc.org/truck.

ART @ RIVER BEND 2019

Brianna Hoyt earned degrees in anthropology and history from the University of Denver and worked as a freelance writer for five years. Hoyt started working for the Town of Lyons in February 2020 as Lyons’ Main Street Manager.

By Jessie Berta-Thompson Redstone Review

LYONS – In the heat of summer, two milkweeds are blooming at the Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens, showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Wildly different at first glance, showy milkweed grows up to 5 feet tall with big, pale leaves and orbs of dusty pink flowers. Butterfly weed is less than 2 feet tall, with clusters of bright orange flowers and bright green leaves. Up close, these plants share the distinctive milkweed flower structure, a crown-like feat of origami. Milkweeds also share complicated chemistry, and, famously, a critical role in supporting pollinators.

Milkweeds are named for their milky sap. This fluid is latex, a sticky emulsion of polymers that coagulates when it hits air, sometimes laced with toxins. Latex is often, but not always, opaque and white (a few milkweeds actually don’t have milky-looking sap). An estimated 10% of plant species make latex. It’s a trait that has evolved independently many times, convergent evolution. Latex is thought to provide protection from herbivores by trapping insects in its glue or sticking their mouths shut.

Milkweed sap is toxic when ingested by humans, wildlife, or livestock, to varying extents for different species. The chemical cocktail in milkweeds’ latex includes cardiac glycosides, which affect heart function. The sap can also cause skin irritation, so take care when tearing a leaf to check its ooziness and color. Despite these risks, indigenous peoples found myriad uses for milkweeds, as food (prepared carefully), fiber and medicine, harnessing its powerful molecules.

The milkweeds (genus Asclepias) are made up of around 130 species native to North and South America. There are more relatives in Africa, which molecular studies suggest is the ancient origin of their diversity, before migration to the Americas and subsequent rampant speciation. In Colorado, there are 19 milkweed species, with flowers in orange, white, green, and pink. Around Lyons, the most common species is the showy milkweed.

Milkweeds are in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae). This family includes local spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium), the traditional European ground cover vinca or periwinkle (Vinca minor), and tropical favorites like oleander, plumeria, and mandevilla. Many of these plants also produce toxic latex, the bane of any nibbling animal.

An oft-told but important bit of ecology, milkweeds are the required host plant for monarch caterpillars. Throughout their epic multi-generational annual migration, monarch butterflies must find milkweeds to lay their eggs

Berta-Thompson on. The eggs hatch, and the caterpillars eat milkweed leaves voraciously until they are ready for their transformation. Monarchs have not only evolved tolerance of the plant’s toxins, but they also absorb them to make their bodies poisonous to predators. To avoid the unpleasant physical properties of too much sticky latex, monarch caterpillars cut a leaf vein to let it spill out upstream of where they are snacking.

Lyons is slightly outside the main flow of monarch mi-

ASCLEPIAS SPECIOSA, SHOWY MILKWEED