Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 27 April 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Elaine Sohrweid

1942 -

Elaine was born and raised in northeast Texas, the youngest of seven children.

Music played a huge role in her life from a very early age when she can remember being hoisted up on a piano bench at church so others could see her sing.

Throughout school and college, she often held leadership roles, from drum major of the marching band to student director of the concert band. During her school years was part of a trio called "The TruTones" that performed at numerous events as well as on radio and television.

She credits an English teacher from high school for helping her focus on diction and getting rid of her Texas accent, although she points out that she has no difficulty slipping back into the Texas drawl in the right environment.

With teaching credentials, she had several opportunities but chose Jefferson County, Colorado where she taught for 23 years, first at Wilmot and later at West Jeff Elementary School in Conifer, focusing on art, music and physical education, retiring in 1997. While at West Jeff Elementary, she formed The Broadway Bobcats, a performance organization for elementary students that exposed them to choreography, writing of scripts, lighting, sound, creation of sets; the students also learned to be stage managers and assistant directors, working with mentoring adults.

The first week after her arrival in Evergreen in 1964, she met another teacher – Larry Sohrweid – who would become her husband and the father of their two children, Heidi and Lara.

She began singing in the choir at Evergreen Lutheran Church in 1965, being named director in 1969, a position she held for 29 years.

Her mark on Evergreen has been her influence on children in the area of music, directing the Evergreen Children's Chorale from 1994 to the present and founding the Prelude to the Children's Chorale in 1996. The Children's Chorale gives children in grades 4-8 the opportunity to gain experience in musical productions and to perform with others; about 60 children are accepted each year. Approximately 40 younger children are accepted each year into Prelude, a stepping stone for gaining experience with singing, narration, character development, stage presence, accompaniment and movement to better equip them to compete for a spot in the Children's Chorale.

Amongst her favorite shows while directing the Evergreen Children's Chorale are: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Wizard of Oz," and "Godspell." Some of the children who trained under her direction and have gone on to pursue careers in music include: Matt Adrian, Amy Lovin, Amy Grass, Justin Bergevin, Garrett Chado, Steve Milligan, and Alex Bauer.

Elaine has been the musical director and vocal coach for more than 45 musicals for young people and adults.  She describes her style as a combination of discipline and leadership, using different dialects to get attention and inject humor.

Working with Director Mike Weiker, she was the Assistant Director of the Evergreen Chorale for 20 years, from 1987 – 2007. "Mike brought a joy of performing and a very welcoming attitude of families," she noted. "We made a great team for 25+ years."

In addition, she was active with the Evergreen Players. She was known and appreciated for her performing, singing, directing, costuming, running lights and sound with both organizations.

She was active in Pizazz, an offshoot of The Evergreen Chorale, a small group of 14 which traveled through Colorado to perform, raising money for the Chorale. She was also a soloist with The Jefferson Symphony.

During her career, she sang the leads and performed in more than 60 musicals and operas; her favorites included The Mother Abbess in "The Sound of Music" Mame in "Mame," Sister Robert Anne in "nonsense," and Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls."

In 1964 Elaine was recognized in Who's Who in America's Colleges and Universities. She was among those recognized in the Colorado Awards for Exellence in Teaching and Community Sevrice in 1964, and twice she was the recipient of the Award for Community Service presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), first in high school and in 1998, from the Mountain Rendezvous Chapter in Evergreen. In 2002 she was designated One of Colorado's Outstanding Women by the Colorado Opera Troupe.

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 02 April 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

John Evans

(1814 - 1897)

John Evans was born into a Quaker family in Waynesville, Ohio and pursued a degree as a medical doctor at Lynn Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He was instrumental in the creation of Indiana's first insane asylum and school for the deaf, helped found Mercy Hospital in Chicago, served as a professor at Rush Medical College in Chicago and founded the Illinois Medical Society.

His research of the cholera epidemic of 1848-9 played an important role in developing congressional quarantine laws to prevent the spread of the disease.

His wealth came from investing in real estate and railroads – the Chicago & Fort Wayne and the Chicago & Evanston – and enabled him to have influence with politics.

He served on the Chicago City Council and was involved with the Republican Party in Illinois where he ran for Congress and became a friend of Abraham Lincoln's.

He was one of the founders of Northwestern University where he chaired the Board of Trustees until he died.  Evanston, Illinois, was named to honor him.

His first wife (Hannah Canby – 1813–1850) died, and he remarried in 1853, Margaret P. Gray (1830–1906).  With a 5-year-old daughter (Josephine) from his first marriage, he and his second wife added three more children to the family – Willie, Evan and Anne.

President Lincoln named him the second governor of the Colorado Territory, a position which he held from 1862 to 1965.  In spite of the discovery of gold in 1858 and an estimated 100,000 prospectors who arrived in the area, at the time of his governorship, the population of Colorado was less than 35,000.

In 1864 he was a founder of the Colorado Seminary, a Methodist institution, with the intention of civilizing Denver, which was just a mining camp at the time, only having officially become a city in 1858. The seminary evolved into the University of Denver in 1880.  Evans chaired the Colorado Seminary Board of Trustees until his death.

Two years into his administration (1864), Evans and the Legislature received word that Congress had passed an act providing for a Colorado State Government.   The Sand Creek Massacre caused Evans to lose his appointment as the governor and Evans' association with that contributed to the delay of Colorado's acceptance as a state until 1876.  Shortly after Lincoln's assassination, the Secretary of War asked for his resignation.

With his political career ended, Evans concentrated his energy on developing Colorado's railroads, becoming the main financier of Denver's railroad empire for the next 30 years.  He secured federal land grants and county bonds to create a Union Pacific line between Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  This link to the first transcontinental railroad added 100 new residents to the City of Denver on a daily basis and more than 1,000 visitors to the area during the first month after its first run in June of 1870.

Other railroads attributed to his vision and financial backing include:  the Denver & South Park, the Denver & New Orleans, the Denver Texas & Gulf, the Kansas Pacific, and the Boulder Valley.  His influence helped to make Denver the commercial center of the Rocky Mountain Empire.

Soon after his governorship ended, Evans – along with Samuel Elbert – acquired 320 acres of land at the upper end of Bear Creek, property known as the Kuhlborne Ranch.  Acquisitions increased his holdings to 800 acres in the late 1800s; after his death the ranch expanded to about 6,000 acres by the 1920s.  It would be known locally as the Evans Ranch.

The ranch was used for cutting timber for railroad ties.  Hay, barley and oats were harvested as well until 1917 when elk were reintroduced into the area; crops and timber were hauled over Squaw Pass by wagon and a team of four horses.

Evans had organized the first wagon road down Bear Creek to Morrison, initially for transporting lumber. The canyon boasted as many as 50 bridges crossing the creek at one time.

The original log home on the Evans Ranch, built in 1869, was destroyed by fire in 1910.

He reportedly spent little time at the ranch, but the Evans family spent their summers there.  Getting to the far end of Upper Bear Creek from Denver was an all-day trip: first a 2-hour train ride from Denver to Morrison, then a stagecoach ride from Morrison to Evergreen.  Disembarking the stage, passengers would then board a buckboard for the last 10+ miles to the ranch. Family members spent long summers at the ranch, and guests generally stayed weeks at a time when they visited.

Initially the peaks west of Idaho Springs were called Chicago Peaks, but the Evans family referred to the tallest peak as Mt. Evans.  A note in a can buried on the summit read "Saturday, Septembr 14, 1872, summit of Mt. Evans by barometer 14,525 feet above sea level.  Seven (7) guns fired at 10:00 a.m. as a salute to Governor Evans of Denver and his mountain.  Signed H. G. Lunt and C. Moody"  The naming of the mountain was officially recognized by the Colorado Legislature on March 15, 1895.

To raise capital in the early 1890s, Evans mortgaged his half of the ranch to his son-in-law, Samuel Elbert, who owned the other half.  After Evans' death in 1897 the Evans Realty Company was created to sort out his holdings.  And upon the death of Elbert two years later, a "summer colony" grew, as plots of land were deeded to children and other relatives.

In the early 1980s, when one of the descendants of Gov. Evans wanted to realize income from the sale of land, Colorado Open Lands was contracted to subdivide the ranch, protecting the bulk of it from development through conservation easements.  It was divided into five smaller ranches ranging in size from 530 to 580 acres.  Each had a 40-acre homesite reserved for structures.  The "association" maintains another 129-acre parcel that includes the ranch headquarters, and Colorado Open Lands maintains 267 acres for a cultural / environmental / educational program with restricted access.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS John Evans was named in honor of the former governor.

Sources:  Colorado State Archives; Barbara Sternberg; Evergreen, Our Mountain Community by the Sternbergs; Wikipedia: University of Denver

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 11 March 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Sheriff Ted Mink

1949 -

After spending his first six years in Texas, Ted Mink’s family relocated to Westminster, Colorado. Upon graduating from high school, Mink earned a degree in Social Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado in 1972 where he was a member of the defensive line on the football team.  It was at the university in Greeley that he met Carla, his wife-to-be, during his freshman year; they were married two years later in 1971.

Mink is also a graduate of the Northwestern University Senior Police Management Institute in 1992.

He began his career in law enforcement in 1973 with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, moving on to the Arvada Police Department where he spent nearly 30 years as an officer, investigator, sergeant, lieutenant, commander and deputy chief. In 1995 he was instrumental in forming the West Metro Drug Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional team built to combat drug-related crime in and around Jefferson County. Mink was well known for his role on “cop Talk,” the department’s monthly television program, where his “Punk of the Month” segment resulted in the arrest of nearly 70 percent of suspects featured.

Mink served for six months as undersheriff of Jefferson County before his appointment to sheriff in July of 2003, filling the vacancy created by Sheriff Russ Cook’s resignation for medical issues. In November of 2004 he was elected to fill the position for a four-year term. He was re-elected two times. Term limits will require his retirement in 2016.

Mink has focused on community partnerships, implementing a wide variety of community-oriented policing programs such as SMART Jeffco, a proactive approach to solving crime and quality-of-life problems.

Other major initiatives under Mink’s direction include:

• Opening a precinct office in 2005 for south Jeffco, the county’s most populous area.
• Bolstering the department’s crime prevention team.
• Targeting high-accident areas and school zones for traffic education and enforcement, resulting in a 44 percent reduction in accidents county-wide from 2005-2009.
• Creating a cold-case unit in 2005 that started with 50 unsolved murders. 13 of those cases have now been closed with the killers either behind bars, or had passed away before they were identified.
• Overhauling suicide-prevention procedures in the Jefferson County Jail, resulting in a drop in deaths of inmates in custody.
• Bringing a DNA expert to the department’s crime lab, speeding up the investigative process and ensuring more thorough analysis of evidence in a wider variety of cases.
• Establishing an online sex-offender map and crime map, ensuring that any county resident can stay informed about crime and potentially dangerous person in his/her neighborhood.
• Introducing the community-oriented government model to Jefferson County government agencies – a push for better communication and enhanced services for citizens.
• Receiving six accreditations for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

As sheriff, Mink is responsible for operating the largest sheriff’s department in the state. He oversees 820 full-time employees representing 28.5 percent of all county employees and a budget of $90.6 million, 19.4 percent of the county budget.

He has 36 full-time investigators and three precincts: South Jeffco, the Mountain Precinct located in Evergreen, and headquarters at the County Jail. The sheriff is also in charge of wildfire management and prevention.

At a cost of $35 million annually, the jail houses an average of 1,300 inmates on a daily basis, a small community in itself requiring three meals/day, seven days/week (1.5 million meals each year); laundry services; and medical care. The jail, designed by Evergreen architect Michael Jacoby and built in 1987, was “cutting edge” at the time it was constructed. The Direct-supervision design of the jail allows staff members to supervise large numbers of inmates effectively.

New funding in 2013 will allow replacement of certain infrastructure, the implementation of video visitations and video arraignment, expansion of the evidence vault and creation of a regional forensic lab.

“He’s a deputy’s sheriff – like a player’s coach,” says public information officer Mark Techmeyer , “who has great respect from the ranks. He has high standards, but not ones that can’t be met.” Techmeyer explained that deputies feel they don’t want to disappoint the boss. “He’s walked the walk, done every kind of policing to include undercover work. He understands. He knows, listens.”

Although deputies are expected to follow the chain of command, any deputy can walk into Mink’s office to see him, according to Techmeyer.

Mink is described as being on the job by 5:30 each morning, in time for 6:15 and 6:30 video briefings with the staff at the outlying precincts, projecting his light-hearted personality. He’s often still on the job well into the evening responding to requests for speaking engagements.

During his first term he made a huge impact by changing the color of patrol cars from all white to black and white, increasing visibility and reducing crime. It proved to be a strategically smart move; other cities in Jefferson County have followed suit.

Acquisition of a 33-foot-long mobile Command Center in 2011, used on big-scale events, was the result of allocation of 911 funds as well as some county dollars – “not a huge taxpayer expense,” according to Mink. The state-of-the-art vehicle was put into service at the Lower North Fork Fire in 2012 and is often on display at public events for tours when not in use.

Of all the cases the department is constantly investigating, a few during Mink’s tenure stand out as notable and recognizable from a citizen’s standpoint.

1. The shooting at Deer Creek Middle School (April 7, 2010)

2. The shooting at Platte Canyon School (September 27, 2006) when the SWAT team was used to rescue the hostages.

3. The bomb scare at Southwest Plaza, which occurred on the 12th anniversary (April 20, 2011) of the Columbine shooting, generating a nationwide manhunt.

Mink and his wife live in South Evergreen.

Written by Staff Editor | 27 February 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Harry Sidles

(1873 - 1934)

Harry was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska and showed a tendency to be an entrepreneur at an early age, operating a bicycle shop at age 17.

In 1909 he acquired a car dealership – the Nebraska Buick Auto Company in Lincoln – and was the principal behind The Sidles Company (later named the Sidles-Duda-Myers company), the distributor of auto parts throughout Nebraska as well as portions of North Dakota and Iowa.

His business interests evolved into the Union Holding Corp, which expanded to include development of the Lincoln Airplane & Flying School and later the Union Airport northwest of Lincoln.

In 1924 the holding company formed radio station KFAB in Lincoln.

But Sidles was best known for his business venture that tied him to Evergreen – building the Troutdale Hotel – sometimes referred to by family members as a hobby, pet project or a rich man's plaything.

The Sidles family summers in Evergreen

Harry and his wife, Dorothy, traveled to Evergreen for summer vacations, building a home on Upper Bear Creek Road in 1914 – Rippling Waters – directly across from a summer resort named Troutdale Resort.  It was one of several resorts along Upper Bear Creek (Singin' River Ranch, Bendemeer, Greystone, T-Bar-S, to name a few) that catered to high society from Denver as well as extended-stay summer vacationers from nearby states.

Troutdale Resort was owned by J. D. Babcock until 1916 when it was sold for $100,000 to the Denver Mountain Parks Securities Co., which platted the land into 500 home sites.  The resort had one large building and 35 rustic cabins when Sidles purchased it in 1919 under the name of the Troutdale Hotel and Realty Co and renamed the resort Troutdale-in-the-Pines.

The effects of Denver Mountain Parks

Evergreen had become the hub of the 40-mile Lariat Loop that connected Denver Mountain Parks from Golden to Lookout Mountain to Evergreen and down Bear Creek Canyon to Morrison; it was during the advent of tourism by the automobile, and improved roads made Evergreen much more accessible.  Sidles could see a future for the area.

Although widely regarded as the finest hotel in the West and frequently compared to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the famed Troutdale-in-the-Pines began as a four-story stone structure with 100 guest rooms and 35 rustic cabins.  It was built with 6,000 wagonloads of local rock, hand-picked from within a five-mile radius of the construction site.  Historical writings say construction started in early November of 1919 with a grand opening held on June 20, 1920 [difficult to comprehend that it could have been constructed in such a short amount of time and during the winter months].

Sidles reportedly spent $500,000 in initial improvements and renovations, including the addition of a swimming pool and landscaping.  In 1921 rooms at the luxury hotel started at $4.50/day, including meals, lodging, dances, and all hotel privileges.

By 1927 it had grown to a a structure with 300 guest rooms and 45 rustic cabins in the surrounding wooded area.  It boasted a large lounge, dining room enough for 250 people plus a 40' x 80' screened-in/glassed-in dancing pavilion that extended 75' over a 2 1/2-acre lake.

Two hundred building sites nearby were platted for summer homes, known as Troutdale Estates; buyers were promised rights to use the facilities of the hotel.

The City and County of Denver had begun acquiring numerous parcels of land in the mountains west of the city to create a playground for the people of Denver.  In 1916 they'd acquired the deDisse ranch through eminent domain, creating a lake with the construction of the dam; a 9-hole golf course was also designed and built.  In 1926 Sidles conveyed 17 acres of land to the City of Denver to expand the golf course with the stipulation that it always be maintained as a golf course; it was intended to be an amenity for the high-class guests who frequented his hotel less than a mile away.

Troutdale catered to the rich and famous

The hotel operated just 2 1/2 months each year – generally from mid-June to September 1st.  It offered big-name orchestras and bands such as Tommy Dorsey and Ted Weems and attracted numerous Hollywood celebrities.  Names such as the Marx Brothers, Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.), Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Jack Benny, Greta Garbo, Liberace, Ethel Merman, and Ernest Borgnine frequently spent weeks there, enjoying the moonlight dancing and elegant dining as well as the pure mountain air.  Political figures such as Teddy Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson also visited.  It was known world-wide, and well-to-do guests came from great distances.

The hotel was largely staffed by college students from Lincoln, Nebraska, who were encouraged to save their earnings for tuition.  Mrs. Sidles reportedly encouraged them by matching their college savings at the end of the summer.

The demise of Troutdale

Harry's son, Fred, took over when Harry died in 1935 at age 61.  It took three years after Sidles' death for management to conclude that the hotel would need to be sold to settle the estate, but a sale would not take place until 1944.  It had never been a money-maker.  Because of World War II, gas rationing, and diverted attentions, the hotel did not open for two consecutive summers in 1943 and 44.  The Texas businessmen who purchased it in 1944 quickly resold to a group of investors from Chicago, but it never regained its reputation as a First Class hotel.

The vacationing habits of people changed, and the hotel declined steadily over the years.  Numerous efforts to revive it for different purposes all failed, and the hotel was razed in 1994, making way for 18 luxury homes.

Sources:  Evergreen, Our Mountain Community (Sternberg); Jefferson County Historical Society; genealogy records available online

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 17 February 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Cheri Gerou

(1956 – )

Cheri grew up in a ranching family, attending school in Casper and spending weekends and part of every summer at the ranch south of Douglas, Wyoming.

Her first job was at an architectural office at age 16. After earning a degree from the University of Colorado (in Art History), she continued working with architectural firms, taking and passing the licensing exam to become an architect in the state of Colorado without the traditional degree in architecture.  She also holds a certificate from the National Council for Interior Design Qualification.

She and her husband, Phil, co-founded the architectural firm Gerou and Associates in Evergreen in 1986.

She was elected by her peers to serve as the president of the Denver Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and later the Colorado Chapter of AIA.  In 2006 former Governor Bill Owens appointed her to the State Licensing Board for Architects, a post she held for two years. In all three positions, she found herself at the State Capital supporting the field of architecture in numerous ways and becoming acquainted with legislators.

Pursuing politics

At the suggestion of former Representative Rob Witwer, she ran for his seat representing House District 25, winning that election as a Republican in 2008, being reelected in 2010 and again in 2012.

In 2009 and 2010 she served on the Finance Committee, which is involved in any bill saving or spending money. For her first two years she served on the Health and Human Services Committee where she learned about Medicaid, human services, entitlement spending in Colorado “at about the same time the healthcare reform conversation began nationally,” she explained. “With [education] expenses on K-12 just under 40 percent and 38 percent on Medicare and entitlements, I was challenged with how to make entitlement spending do what it was intended to do,” she said.

In 2010 she was appointed by the minority leader to serve on the Joint Budget Committee. In 2010 when Republicans were in the majority, she served as the Vice Chair of that committee, rising to Chair the following year. The Joint Budget Committee is considered one of the most powerful position in the State because of having access to all departments and a need to understand all spending that goes on.

She also chaired the Appropriations Committee.

A record for getting bills passed

Unlike most states (except Arizona and Texas), Colordo's legislature has the responsibility to write the budget; in the other 47 states, it is the governor's responsibility, Cheri explained.  Thus, as a legislator she has built relationships with the governor and with members of both parties, finding points on which they agree and working together running bills through the House.

As Chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, she could exceed the 5-bill limit imposed on representatives and was able to run as many as she wanted, sponsoring 50 bills during her one-year term.  In 2013, while serving as a "minority" member of the committee, she will exceed the 5-bill limit again because the majority (Democratic Party) has asked her to do so, demonstrating her ability to work "across the aisle" and earn the respect of both major parties.

"I am a tool," she says, defining her role in government.  "My job is a servant – to serve the district and serve the state."

She attributes her successes to following Rob Witwer's advice to 'Vote your conscience, vote your district and vote your party.' "Doing the first two makes the third one easy," she added. Additionally, she never voted as though she were needing to be re-elected.

"Tony [Grampsas], John [Witwer], and Rob [Witwer] understood the people they served and that it was not just one party," she said with pride.  She holds them all in high esteem and feels her greatest accomplishments are to have taken charge of the Joint Budget Committee the way Tony Grampsas did, serving on the Joint Budget Committee the way John Witwer did, and to have been able to work with Rob Witwer. Grampsas and the two Witwers all represented District 25 and lived in the Evergreen area.

"Jefferson County is one of the last true Republican districts," she related.  "It's fiscally conservative and environmentally sensitive," likening it to the Teddy Roosevelt standard for the national park system.  "We value what we have."

Lower North Fork Fire

During the aftermath of the Lower North Fork fire (LNFF) of March 26, 2012, Cheri worked 24/7 for her constituents in the Conifer/Littleton area devastated by the prescribed burn.  The State verbally accepted responsibility for the fire being conducted on state land when winds rekindled embers left unattended, destroying 23 homes and killing 3 people.

She sponsored two pieces of legislation intended to ease the pain and suffering of those affected.  HB #1352 was designed to give the survivors a public hearing on what happened, as well as to give them the ability to ask questions.  In addition to formally acknowledging that the State caused the fire, HB #1361 was to lift the liability caps associated with State immunity and fast-track the process for the homeowners of the 23 structures to get some type of compensation for loss of lives and property.

Unfortunately, neither piece of legislation was executed as envisioned.  The Commission for the Lower North Fork Fire did not permit homeowners to ask questions, nor did they provide answers.  Having been given no budget with which to investigate the fire, the Commission stated that it could not conduct a true investigation.  And with regard to the second piece of legislation, the Attorney General lumped the claims of homeowners in with those of the insurance companies and utility companies.  The intended three-month fast-track turned into a multi-year process.

Two much larger fires in Colorado Springs (Waldo Canyon) and Ft. Collins (High Park) within a few months of the Lower North Fork fire eclipsed the LNFF, dwarfing it and diverting public attention.  While the other two fires received state, local, and federal aid, survivors of the LNFF received none whatsoever, with the exception of donations from their local communities.    According to Gerou, the State cannot receive any federal aid because they'd refused to act, missing the filing deadlines for FEMA funds.  "They were frozen in fear of what they'd done," she stated.

Any compensation for those affected may take years.

"It breaks my heart," she says of the process that had the best of intentions.  "I will not stop bringing it up."  She describes it as her biggest disappointment in life and politics.

Community involvement

Cheri is routinely very visible within the communities she serves, particularly in Evergreen.  As a member of Evergreen Kiwanis, she can be seen wearing an apron at the annual Pancake Breakfast.  And she's generally at the Friday morning meetings of Evergreen Rotary.

She has chaired the Community Caring Project, chaired the Board of Deacons at Rockland Community Church, and served on the board of the C. Henry Kempe Center.

Phil and Cheri are parents of two grown children, Greg and Sara.

Source:  Interview with Cheri Gerou

Written by Staff Editor | 14 January 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Ruth Crosson

(1918 – )

Ruth was born in Arriba, Colorado and lived in a Christian orphanage in Denver after the age of one when her father abandoned the family, although her mother paid for room and board for Ruth and her brother and often visited them. Her grandmother would put her in a buckboard and take her to Kittredge for extended stays.

During her visits with her grandmother, who worked downstairs at the Evergreen Hotel, she would briefly experience a side of Evergreen few would ever know about years later. The rooms above, she learned on one occasion when she was six, were occupied by women of ill repute with their names on the doors. “One had a satin garter hanging on the knob,” Ruth wrote one time in a creative writing class. “It welcomed me inside with a scent of perfume, talcum powder and flowers.” The lady who occupied that room invited her in, curled her hair and put makeup on her cheeks and lips before Ruth’s grandmother awakened from her nap and screamed for Ruth to get down the stairs immediately.

When her mother remarried, the family reunited and moved to Kittredge when Ruth was about 12, living in a small house adjacent to what is now Kittredge Park, land once owned by the family (Kissner). She would walk from Kittredge to Evergreen to skate on the 65-acre lake created by construction of the dam, which commenced in 1926. A 1928 photo showed thousands of skaters and onlookers lining the lake, mostly people from Denver.

Ice skating during the winter months became Ruth's passion. “We would skate from Thanksgiving to the end of February, on the average,” she recalled. The young wannabe was inspired by skating shows put on by the Denver Figure Skating Club. It was George Cranmer – manager of the Denver parks system responsible for many notable accomplishments under Mayor Ben Stapleton and also an accomplished figure skater who gave skating lessons on Evergreen Lake. – who taught Ruth the art of dancing on skates. (Ruth and George Cranmer pictured right.)

In 1940 she married Melvin “Swede” Crosson. The couple had four children: David, Carrol, Bonnie and Ann. In 1944, after their first child had been born and while Ruth was pregnant with their second, Melvin was drafted into the Marines, spending two years away from the family fighting in World War II, including time on Iwo Jima. “I skated my tears away,” she said of that period.

Ruth made “teaching every child in Evergreen how to skate” her life’s mission, although never charging for her services. With parking at the lake $1 per car, she would either walk to the lake from her home along Hwy 73 near Brook Forest Road or load up as many kids as she could pack into the car and drive there for the day. She took along first-aid kits and changes of clothing for the children, as the only restroom facilities were outhouses 30 steps up on the hill on the opposite side of the lake, mission impossible for kids on skates.  She'd prop the tiniest ones up in "pumpkin seats" on the side of the lake and turn up the car radio for music.

The earliest warming hut was on the north side of the lake in the basement of Eddie Ott’s, built in 1938 where Lakepoint Center is now. In those days skaters cleared the snow off the lake themselves, pushing chairs with boards attached to the front.

When the Evergreen Kiwanis Club held its Ice Karnivals, Ruth was one of the judges and the one who gave out the ribbons. They were big occasions, significant enough for kids to be out of school for the day; and accounts of the Karnivals made write-ups in the Denver papers.

Supporting her fledgling family on the $100/month she received from the Marines proved difficult, so she catered parties for the wealthy who owned homes along Upper Bear Creek Road. She also cleaned those houses, opening them up in the spring and closing them up in the fall. She often had a first meal ready with ice boxes chilled and filled with groceries. Among the many well-to-do she worked for was Baronness von Poushenthal. Cleaning and catering provided a second income for the family for 20 years, enabling her kids to take lessons in piano and ballet.

Daughter Carrol See remembers that her mother did the baking at El Rancho in the late 50s, producing spritz cookies, meringue pies with nut crusts and the tiny cinnamon rolls, for which the restaurant was known. In the 1970s she also worked in the lab at Denver Biomaterials, walking to work from their home in Marshdale. At one time they owned the land now known as Evergreen Memorial Park along North Turkey Creek Road near Highway 73.

When the Evergreen Kiwanis Club held a pancake-flipping contest in 1957 – up and down Main Street, no less – and offered a new clothes dryer as a prize, Ruth was up for the competition recalls Dwight Souder, a relative who grew up along Blue Creek Road. She needed a dryer, so she practiced flipping pancakes while running, he recalled, referring to her competitiveness and determination.  (She did win the race.)  “She even wrote a cookbook of wild game recipes because that’s all they ate,” Dwight added.

She participated in numerous sports activities from bowling to racewalking, roller skating to bowling, shooting hoops to tossing softballs.  She also loved bingo, making it into an active sport by doing a 5K walk both before and after visiting the bingo hall.  In the 1970s she participated in the Senior Olympics held in Greeley, qualifying to the International Senior Olmypics in St. George, Utah, where she competed against men in some sports because no other women were registered for a particular competition.  She won five medals.  Over the years her homes and apartments were adorned with numerous medals and mementoes of competitions large and small.

One year she roller skated for 12 hours straight from noon to midnight to participate in the Jerry Lewis Marathon at Roller City on Alameda in Lakewood.  But ice skating was always her passion, and many of the old-timers will remember her as Queen of the Ice, the lady who skated Evergreen Lake for 57 consecutive years.

Source:  Daughter Carrol See, Ruth Crosson scrapbooks

Written by Staff Editor | 07 January 2013
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Judi Quackenboss

(1947 - )

Judi grew up in Michigan, moving to Denver in 1980 as a single mom with a young son, looking for a fresh start.  With degrees in English and architecture, she worked in commercial construction and was transferred to California.  In 1994 she returned to Colorado, making a home in Evergreen.

In 2000 her only child – 27-year-old John Michael Quackenboss (pictured below) – was killed in an airplaine crash in the Callifornia desert while riding in a small experimental aircraft.  Part of their final time together before his death, Judi and John had taken his dog to a dog park along the coast of California where she had fond memories of his dog running in and out of the waves with the freedom of being off-leash.

in John's memory, Judi worked to create the Bark Park on the south side of Stagecoach Blvd, part of the larger Elk Meadow Open Space Park.  At that time, it was the first of its kind in the area, opening in September of 2001, the Sunday before 9/11.

The initial fenced area was one acre in size with land provided by Jefferson County Open Space and with fencing and labor provided by Judi and Foothills Fence.  In 2004 the fenced area has expanded to six acres, part of a larger 100 acres considered an off-leash area that is part of Elk Meadow Open Space Park south of Stagecoach Blvd.  The area – owned and operated by Jefferson County Open Space – is maintained by park rangers.  Due to its popularity, the parking lot was expanded in 2008.

"Weekends are always busy," says Judi of the place for dogs to frolick.  "Winters with snow, it's a ball; summers there's lots of shade."  She even spoke of birthday parties for dogs.  She often stops by the park, hangs out just to watch owners with their dogs enjoying the space.  Sometimes she strikes up a conversation with strangers, reinforcing the feeling that John's memory lives on in a positive way.  The plaques on the entry gates are a reminder to those who use the park that it is in memory of John Michael Quackenboss.

Judi has been a member of the Mountain Foothills Rotary since its first year of being created, serving as president for a year – the year the club sponsored its only exchange student.  For two years she chaired the Rotary Youth Leadership group (RYLA) for the club and worked with students from Clear Creek, Platte Canyon, D'Evelyn and Lakewood high schools.  For years she was a foster mom for senior dogs, working with the Evergreen Animal Protective League.  She also served on the administrative team overseeing the building of Church of the Hills.

Judi is the owner of Cabinets of Denver, which is part of the Rooney Ranch Design Center in Lakewood.

Source:  Interview with Judi Quackenboss

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 02 December 2012
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Judy O'Brien

(1946 - )

This native of Newport, Rhode Island – "where no one lives more than five minutes from the ocean but seldom sees the sunlight between November and March" – relocated to Colorado in the late 1970s.

Her first career was in human resources and higher education, serving as the Human Resources Director for the Colorado State Correctional System and later for the Colorado School of Mines.

After living for several years in Pine Junction, she bought a small house in Evergreen built in 1918 for people working on the construction of the dam.  She was successful in remodeling the small home to be quite comfortable – the home where she lives with her husband, Jerry Agee.

Looking to make a career change, she thought seriously about a quotation of Ram Dass, who said, "Smart people get paid for playing."  She thought about her hobbies and briefly considered her love for photography but decided she couldn't make a living at it.   She pursued architecture instead, focusing on creating and remodeling small spaces – little houses – and making them work. She earned her degree from the University of Colorado at Denver and started Alliance Architecture, located in Evergreen, in the late 1990s.

She recognized her affinity for working on a project basis and wanted to see how her work might impact people or a community.  One of her early projects was the recreation center in Idaho Springs.  About 70 percent of her work is residential – remodeling "ugly homes that don't work very well ... turning them into places people love."

An article in the Canyon Courier about the lack of affordable housing in Evergreen led to her becoming a founding board member (vice president) of Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity in 1989-90.  The Habitat-for-Humanity concept is to partner with communities and families in need of housing to build decent, affordable homes.  Judy served as president for awhile and remained active on the board for about 10 years.  To date (12/12) the local chapter has completed 27 homes in the area with several more under construction.  Judy designed several of the houses that have been built.

Judy became involved in Habitat Colorado, the statewide organization focusing on fundraising to help the 30 or so affiliates throughout Colorado. "Habitat is one of the top 10 homebuilders nationally," Judy points out.

She's also donated time to help with space planning for the Mountain Peace Shelter, which provides emergency shelter for women and children (and their pets), and the Peace Boutique, a resale shop to help fund shelter goals.

Judy serves on the board of Into Your Hands Africa, an Evergreen-based organization that focuses on building sustainability in rural Uganda to enhance the economy.  By training kids how to raise and breed a goat or piglet, the sale of the resulting animals provide the funds necessary for children to go to school.  "The needs there are very basic – a concrete floor, mattresses to go on the floor."

Judy has long enjoyed learning from different cultures and hopes to someday make the trip to Uganda.  "I like seeing groups interact and work with one another," she says.

She's also part of the Community Garden group in Evergreen.

Judy generally limits her professional volunteer efforts to one design project at a time.  Her experience over the years has made her a seasoned resource for knowing what can be accomplished by volunteers if a project is kept simple as well as knowing what can be expected to be donated in the way of labor and materials.

She describes herself as a serious student of Buddhism.  "Kindness is my religion," she says.

As she enters the latter half of her seventh decade, Judy explains that she's entering the stage of being the older woman – "the dangerous old woman who does what she wants to do because she knows the right thing to do."

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 06 November 2012
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Ted Ning

1944 -

The oldest son of an immigrant Chinese family, Ted learned by the time he turned nine that he would either be the owner of a restaurant or go to medical school. “You will be happy after you succeed in doing what we tell you to do,” is typical of what Asian families instill in their children, he disclosed.

He spent his first 8 years in New York’s Chinatown before the family moved to Dayton, Ohio where his father worked as an aeronautical engineer. In Chinatown he had been one of a majority, but in Dayton he became one of a minority, having no peers of his ethnicity and having to travel 80-100 miles just to find a Chinese restaurant. During the 1950s, there were few other Chinese families in Southern Ohio

While his parents were not familiar with American culture, they trusted in certain institutions such as the YMCA, Boy Scouts, and the American Red Cross, all of which contributed to Ted’s moral development and ability to be a leader. He was surrounded by mentors and grew up aware of the need to serve others. He was an Eagle Scout and a trainer of trainers for the Red Cross.

Becoming a doctor

At age 20 he entered Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago where he met Connie, who would first become the change agent in his life and then his partner for life. She would introduce him to thinking beyond the field of medicine, beyond the idea of fame associated with making the big medical discovery. He found it exhilarating to be exposed to liberal arts classes and the creativity associated with the arts, a variance from the discipline of his medical goals.

Early aptitude tests had indicated a predisposition to social sciences and much less of an inclination toward the classes necessary for the pursuit of medicine. “I was driven by something other than aptitude,” he said.

Serving in Vietnam

He and Connie dreamed of working in South America taking care of children as a team – she as a physical therapist and he as an orthopedic surgeon. Newly married and with their first child (and another on the way), Ted was drafted into the armed services and sent to Vietnam. In Vietnam, Ted was assigned as an engineer (not a physician!) and served as Captain of the 101st Airborne Division.

“It was an opportunity to learn international development wartime style,” he said. He met with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Vietnam, most of which had started relief and development operations during the Korean War. It gave him an understanding of poverty and how to identify with civil society. Ted became the acting pediatrician in orphanages that had no medical coverage and worked on projects funded by the US government, learning about a variety of different environments. Unlike most memories of having served during wartime in Vietnam, “It was an exceedingly positive experience” and stimulated his interests in sociology even more.

Upon returning to the States, he finished his residency in urology at the University of Colorado.

Friends of Children of Vietnam

He and Connie adopted their third child and helped to start an adoption agency in Denver – Friends of Children of Vietnam (FCVN) – where Connie served as a social worker and he as medical director and eventually president of the board of directors. FCVN was one of seven agencies that participated in the evacuation of more than 2,500 Vietnamese orphans during Operation Babylift. After the war ended in 1975, the agency expanded to accommodate adoptions of children from other countries and continued to operate for about four decades.

Friendship Bridge

In 1988 he and Connie traveled to Vietnam, thinking of it as “just a trip,” but would return motivated to start a new organization called Friendship Bridge – and the parents of two more adopted children.

Friendship Bridge started in 1989 as an umbrella organization involved in 15 different projects in Vietnam including medical relief, nursing, dentistry, and the shipping of medical supplies. Friendship Bridge was the first to ship supplies through the embargo, something Friendship Bridge later turned over to Project C.U.R.E.

For a time Ted “commuted” to Vietnam twice a year while working as a urologist at Lutheran Medical Center. He would take groups of 20 Evergreen people with him for a two-week stay during the 1990s, hauling in medical supplies and interacting with the local clinics and orphanages.

More than 400 American volunteers traveled to Vietnam under the umbrella of this organization; five programs continue today.

With the advent of the concept of micro-credit, Friendship Bridge began extending $100 loans to Vietnamese women.

The relationships Ted had built with NGOs during the war and the proven ability to work as a secular agency in a Communist country proved invaluable as the Nings developed new ideas to aid third-world countries. Their reputation of success caused the larger NGOs to refer Nike to Friendship Bridge when the footwear company began opening factories in Vietnam during the 1990s. Nike was looking for innovative ways to impact society in a positive way. With $300,000 in funding from Nike, Friendship Bridge set up what would become a nationwide banking system for women. The Vietnamese culture of high literacy and entrepreneurial spirit provided fertile ground for cultivating such a venture.

The women used their earnings to feed children, education, needs in the home, building self-sufficiency. As a planned side effect, the peer pressure associated with managing loans amongst themselves was utilized to instill acceptance of preventive health measures such as immunizations, treatment for malnutrition, diarrhea treatment, respirator infections, water treatment, et al. According to UNICEF, between 1995 and 2005, the microcredit model linked with preventive health provided a dramatic reversal of the high rates of malnutrition and death amongst rural children.

Friendship Bridge turned to addressing rural development and malnutrition in Guatemala in 1998 and shut down its operations in Vietnam in 2000. The Nings were leaders of Friendship Bridge until 2006.

Starfish One-by-One

While Friendship Bridge continued to work with adult Guatemalan women, in 2007 the Nings turned to starting another organization of their own: Starfish One-by-One, which focuses on effecting social change through education of Mayan girls 12 years old and up.

Guatemala, a country where there are 26 languages, presented a different set of social norms, including the fact that few indigenous girls are educated through grade 8. After cherry-picking small groups of girls, Starfish pledges to invest in their education over a six-year period beyond primary school, providing them with mentors from the same demographic background, working to effect social change “one by one.”

By the end of the first 5 years, the organization has 210 young women in its program, using the same concept of peer pressure to encourage breaking from tradition to be mothers by the age of 15. Mentors meet weekly with the students in groups of 15. They have created an environment where learning about birth control and health issues is equally as important as building self-esteem and leadership skills amongst their small rural communities.

With a recent $60,000 grant from Rotary International, Starfish is working to engage the local community by creating a Rotary Club of 25 members in the rural area they serve. The money will be used to develop internships so that the teenage girls will have opportunities to be introduced to a variety of professions while working with mentors. The young university women continue to live at home while attending college classes one day per week, allowing them to influence family change.

EAS+Y Evergreen Alliance for Sustainability (plus You)

As an outgrowth of an eco-circle that began meeting in the Evergreen community, the Nings formed Evergreen Alliance for Sustainability (plus You) – better known as EAS+Y – as an umbrella for ideas for sustainability. The group has worked to encourage recycling at public and private events, utilization of reusable grocery bags, and the recycling of Christmas trees. Based on their past success of working with young people to effect change, they count on students to influence behaviors at home.

As a project of EAS+Y, a community garden located at Buchanan Park is underway in cooperation with the Evergreen Park and Recreation District.

The Sociologist

Although Ted continues to teach urology part-time at Denver Health Hospital, he is a self-described amateur sociologist. “I love to see things come together – I love to see people come together,” he says. He’s a master at looking for the right pieces and then putting those pieces into place.

Ted grew up with Midwestern values, gaining moral guidance and learning leadership skills through his involvement with scouting and other trusted organizations. Medicine taught him a discipline, and certain skills like his ability to read quickly and absorb a lot of information enabled him to distill what he researched, summarizing and organizing concepts for a number of extensive undertakings. He’s made use of his experience and talent to give back to humanity over a lifetime.

In 2007 Ted was awarded a Honorary Doctorate from the University of Colorado for being a clinical professor of urology in The Medical School who went off and did something different for a doctor in social development.

He was also the recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award (2002) and the Jefferson Medal that same year.

Source: Interview with Ted Ning

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 15 October 2012
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Phil Shanley

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Phil Shanley started collecting art when he was a little kid. His grandfather had been an engraver in San Francisco and was always sketching or drawing or fabricating things, Phil recalled. With that exposure, he inherited a strong interest in and appreciation for art, dabbling in glass blowing along the way.

Phil and his young family relocated to Evergreen from Chicago in 1972 where he’d been a manufacturer’s representative in the high-end furniture business. They’d been vacationing along Upper Bear Creek for several years in a cabin that would later be immediately next door to the home where he would live much of his life.

Real Estate

Phil started a 23-year career in the real estate industry at a time when the summer community of Evergreen was evolving to a year-round community, adding about 1,000 new residents annually. He found other professionals in Evergreen to be very accepting and enjoyed the opportunity to interact with people of all backgrounds.

“People here have a special connection,” he says, referring to the tendency for everyone to get to know a wide spectrum of folks like the trash truck drivers, grocers, CPAs and attorneys. “No one ever transferred to Evergreen, Colorado,” he pointed out. “Everyone who’s here wants to be here.”

By 1976 – with two partners – he’d opened Colorado Real Estate Brokers, a company that he operated for 20 years with his second wife, Barb Hadley. “Back in those days Realtors wore coats and ties daily in Evergreen,” he said with a I-know-that’s-hard-to-believe look on his face.

From 1974 to 1991 he chaired the Evergreen Board of Realtors Building Trades Program, which was formed as a way to keep students from dropping out of Evergreen High School by exposing them to a variety of construction skills. Students in the Industrial Arts program built and sold a home each year, the proceeds from which would provide financing for the building of the next home. (Read the story of the Building Trades Program by clicking here.) The program ceased in 1991, but Phil is hopeful he and other trustees of the remaining funds can start a similar program in one of the local schools to offer alternatives to students wishing to pursue a trade instead of college.

In 1976 he was named Realtor of the Year by the Evergreen Board of Realtors.

The Fire Department

Phil served as a director of the five-person board governing the Evergreen Fire Protection District for 34 years, from 1974-2008, serving as board president for some of that time. During that period, the district experienced significant expansion, adding stations in Bergen Park, Marshdale, on Floyd Hill and Brook Forest, as well as in Kittredge.

“The firefighters were always strongly supported by taxpayers,” said Shanley with pride. “They enjoyed state-of-the-art equipment and life-safety gear as well as state-of-the art training.” The addition of substations in outlying areas created quicker response times, thus lowering ISO ratings. In the mid-1980s the district took on providing Emergency Medical Services by absorbing the all-volunteer Evergreen Ambulance Service, offering a higher level of service to the community.

For years Public Service employees had comprised the nucleus of the fire fighting force; and when the branch manager of Public Service Company in Evergreen announced the company would no longer allow its employees to take time off the job to respond to fires, there was a serious concern that the volunteer fire department might be forced to change over to a paid department. However, because so many residents are now professionals working from home, the volunteer force has been able to continue, Phil explained. “The district can’t afford both paid firefighters and state-of-the-art equipment.”

In connection with his service on the fire district board, Phil served as a member of the Non-rated Public Security Standards Committee through the State of Colorado in 1991. In 1993 he was a member of the Colorado Municipal Bond Supervision Advisory Board.

Other community service

In the 1970s he was a member of the board of directors of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, serving as its president in 1975. There was no paid staff, and expenses were minor. If the monthly balance sheet showed a shortage of $7.83, for instance, board members would dig into their pockets and come up with the funds to make up the difference.

He was a charter member of the Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited in 1979 and became a member of the board of directors of Mt. Evans Hospice and Home Health Care in 1982, soon after the organization was founded. As of 2012, he continues to serve on the Advisory Board for Mt. Evans.

Through the Episcopal Church Phil served as a volunteer with the St. Francis Center in Denver, a homeless shelter, from 1984-1987. He was a member of the Jefferson County Open Space Advisory Board between 1984 and 1988.

Phil was a founding board member of Art for the Mountain Community in 1994 and is a past-president. He chaired the selection committee for the first public sculpture purchased – “Spirit of the Land” by sculptor Madeline Wiener – and continues on the advisory board as of this writing. The organization works to put high-quality art in public places in the mountain area.

He served on the board of directors for Bootstraps for about 4 years but was deeply involved for a much longer period because of Barb’s presence on the board. His efforts were geared toward fundraising, and he was a member of the committee that started the Bootstraps Western Winefest in 2009. Although no longer on the board, he continues to be involved in both fundraising and the Winefest.

In the late 1990s Phil worked with inner-city youth and served as a mentor for Manual High School seniors applying for a Daniels Fund Scholarship. He was paired with a young man with the capacity to earn a full-ride scholarship to any university in the country, but the graduate was reluctant to leave his East Side neighborhood. Phil escorted him to Colorado College for a weekend, making key introductions that ultimately changed the young man’s mind. The student eventually spent a semester in Europe and, after graduating from CC, worked for the Denver Foundation.

The gallery business

In 1993 he and his wife began development of the Evergreen office complex known as La Plaza, a grouping of four adobe buildings along the frontage road between El Pinal and Stagecoach Boulevard. In 2008 Barb and Phil purchased Evergreen Fine Art (EFA) from Virginia Haley, one of the prime tenants of La Plaza. The gallery had opened in 1991 with high standards and achieved a reputation for excellence nationwide. It continues to be nationally known and recognized for displaying the work of accomplished regional artists throughout the West. EFA represents approximately 60 artists who work full time to make a living at selling art.

Phil and Barb added their own special touch by initiating “Weekend in the West” art show and sale in 2010, which benefits arts-in-education programs overseen by Center for the Arts Evergreen. Sixty accomplished artists participate with a weekend of events. One event is a quick draw, in which artists produce a finished piece in a 90-minute period; works are then auctioned off. By working with the arts teachers in area elementary schools, approximately 200 fifth-grade students create works of art on paper reminiscent of Colorado, 60 of which are juried and reproduced on china plates, then sold through a silent auction. “We want children to understand what it takes to create a piece of original art and to develop a better appreciation for art,” Phil says of the program that is meant to create an introduction to original art for youngsters.

Carrying on the tradition started by Virginia Haley in 1991, EFA continues to produce the Evergreen Angel. Until 2010 the EFA staff designed the annual sterling silver angel for pieces of jewelry, turning over drawings for a jeweler to fine tune the design and make a prototype. In 2010 EFA put out a call for designers to submit entries for a national competition. Proceeds from the sale benefit Mt. Evans Home Health and Hospice. In its first 21 years, the angel program has produced more than $100,000 in donations to the agency.

In 2012 EFA hosted the prestigious national juried show for the Oil Painters of America, an organization of approximately 4,000 of the best traditional oil painters in the country. It was the first time the national show had been held in the state of Colorado where the best 200 pieces of artwork were accepted for display. Attendance for the month-long exhibit included art aficionados from as far away as South Africa, Canada and Mexico City.

In 2012, Phil was recognized as “Arts Person of the Year” by Center for the Arts Evergreen for his numerous and varied contributions to the arts over the years.

Phil delights in being an involved part of the Evergreen community. Early on he recognized an opportunity to be connected, not in a forced way. “It just seemed natural, the right thing to do,” he reflected. “It is important to be a part of your community.

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick | 08 October 2012
Posted in NAMES AND FACES - NAMES & FACES OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Ann Voshall

(1936 - )

Born and raised in the Midwest, Ann spent her youth in Waterloo, Iowa, and Wisconsin before moving to Denver to teach elementary school in 1957.  She and her husband relocated to Evergreen in 1963 where they raised two children.

As an only child whose parents were killed in an auto accident her first year of college, Ann spent a lifetime "collecting kids," as she puts it.  At a minimum, she's centered much of her life around working with young people in one fashion or another.

When the Blue Jeans Symphony relocated to Evergreen from Estes Park in 1966 and changed its name to the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, Ann started the women's auxiliary to support the group of young musicians who came from all over the country to gain experience playing in a professional orchestra.  The orchestra, now known as the National Repertory Orchestra, moved from Evergreen in late 1986.  Among her memories of helping the orchestra is the time one of the students poured hot chili powder into the spaghetti sauce at a spaghetti dinner fundraising event at Cavalieri's.

She was an active member of the Children's Hospital Auxiliary, which was big in Evergreen for many years, according to Ann.  In that capacity, she helped with making stuffed animals for the children.  Rummage sales were a big part of their fundraising, and Ann was in charge of jewelry sales.  She recalls the time she sold a string of pearls at $4 and later learned from the lady who purchased them that they'd been appraised as real pearls and diamonds!

In the late 1960s she and her family hosted four 17- and 18-year-old golfers who participated in the National Junior Golf Tour at Hiwan Golf Club.  They had such fun that they started coming at Christmastime and 45 years later still keep in touch, even though they have progressed from "junior golf" status to seniors in the PGA.  She got acquainted with all their families and occasionally got to see one of them play in a national tournament.  She plans a reunion with three of the four in Oklahoma in October of 2012.

Before the Hiwan Homestead was acquired by Jefferson County Open Space and made into a museum, she and her friend, Joan Landy, who lived at the homestead, turned the 17-room house into a haunted house for Halloween to raise money for the senior class at Evergreen High School.  Ann dressed as a ghost and positioned herself in the bathtub, rising up to scare the youngsters as they passed through.  "We borrowed gym mats from the high school and put them on the stairs for kids to slide down," she explained.  "It was the perfect haunted house."

She and other parents organized the first after-prom party for Evergreen High School, holding it at the largest campsite at deDisse Park.  She remembered "slopping food" from midnight to 3 a.m.

In the 1970s she worked with two foreign exchange student programs and was State Chairman of placements and interviewing prospective host families, traveling the state of Colorado.  It was not uncommon for her to meet students arriving at 2 a.m. on red-eye flights and changing planes at Stapleton to get to their final destinations elsewhere.  Occasionally, if there were a problem elsewhere, she'd bring the student to Evergreen to complete the year.

She made a habit of communicating with each student weekly, and they all got to know and trust her.  She organized monthly get-togethers and worked in conjunction with the counseling office to put on international days at Evergreen High School.  She, herself, hosted three students in the '70s – one girl from Belgium, another from Panama, and a boy from Sweden. Forty years later, she and the girls are still in touch, visiting frequently and communicating regularly.  They call her "mom," and the foreign grandchildren have visited as well.

In the early 1980s she became the first board member of Forest Heights Lodge, a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed boys.  Later in the 1980s she served on the board (and as president) of Bootstraps, which at that time mentored Evergreen High School grads and provided them with interest-free student loans.

She was a charter member of the Mountain Rendezvous Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a charger member of PEO Chapter FR.  She served as president of the Denver-area Cottey Club, which supported Cottey College in Missouri.

She started Evergreen Employment Service in the 1980s and operated it for 17 years before selling the business.  It was a time of growth, expansion and prosperity in Evergreen, with numerous job openings posted weekly.  She took a personal interest in her candidates, often giving them tips on how to dress and how to act, more than once giving young men money to get haircuts before going for an interview.

On one of her leaf-peeping trips to New England in the 1980s, she spotted some raffia doll figures in athletic poses and outfitted with hand-kint sweaters and caps.  She worked with the Vermont craftswoman who started the business and made and distributed what she called her "little people" in Coiorado, employing five knitters in the community.  She proud to say that Barbara Bush and Maria Shriver purchased some of her "little people" at Colorado resorts.

Since being a kid, she'd been entranced by live auctions in the Midwest and fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an auctioneer by attending and graduating from the Missouri School of Auctioneering, being certified as a "Colonel" in her fifties.  Most of her auctioneering was done for nonprofit organizations such as Bootstraps, Ducks Unlimited, the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, and PEO.

On another leaf-peeping trip in New England, she and her husband discovered colorful flags of original designs lining the streets of small towns.  They returned and started a business of their own, using Ann's grammar school designs to create a new cottage industry they called Evergreen Flags.  They employed five sewers in Evergreen who fabricated the designs in their homes.  Her husband, Bob, who'd retired as a manufacturer's rep, took up selling flag poles and US flags to municipalities.  She and Bob traveled the state selling flags at arts and crafts shows, and they conducted a contest to come up with an official flag for Evergreen.

When the US Postal Service came out with a new stamp with a Christmas tree on it, Ann created a flag to match the stamp, and the stamp was unveiled at Heritage Grove in Evergreen, Colorado, as a result.  She had a brief appearance on "Good Morning America," in connection with the launch.

Evergreen Flags was the first flag company on the Internet.  They sold their company to relocate to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada in August of 2001, a month before 9/11.

Using her cooking and catering skills, she put together an 18-month cooking class for elderly men on Vancouver Island, referring to them as her "Apron Boys."  Seven men aged 68-86 met twice a month in Ann's home to learn the basics of cooking, including how to identify the smell of spices and how to set a table.  The final exam was putting together a five-course meal for their wives.

While in Canada Ann was a tour guide at the Wildlife Recovery Center and a volunteer with Restorative Justice, which works with young people who have been offenders with the justice system.  By taking referrals for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, pairs of volunteers would meet with the offenders and their parents or guardians in the homes of the offenders to agree on restitution and punishment, thus keeping them out of the court system and avoiding a criminal record.

Ann returned to Evergreen in 2012 and would like to see a program such as Restorative Justice started here.