Meet John Erlandson

“Creating community is a major passion in my life at this time,” explained John Erlandson as he described the fund-raising concert for Habitat for Humanity he helped produce and also performed in recently at the Ice House in Evergreen. Although the final profit hasn’t been tallied just yet, John reports that the event raised close to $5,000 for the nonprofit organization.

He went on to explain that this benefit is only one of several he has spearheaded in the last couple of years. He uses a similar format in each concert. He is always one of the musicians and will choose three other acts so that the full program always consists of four sets.

John is an extremely well known song writer and musician in our mountain community who describes his genre as “Contemporary Folk/Rock with a little Celtic edge.” John is planning one more indoor event on April 23rd at the Ice House with the Special Needs Program at EPRD being the fortunate beneficiary. He has partnered with the Mt. Foothills Rotary Club on these endeavors and a portion of the proceeds from the concerts goes to Crutches for Africa, a Rotary project. There are many other volunteers in the area who devote their time to these happenings.

He also has three benefit concerts planned at the Lake House for this coming summer. John’s enthusiasm for these projects lights up his face as he describes the anticipated music events. John delights in describing the win-win nature of the programs for everyone involved: he loves the fact that he can help those in our community who are in need; he relishes the opportunity to sing songs he has composed himself; his musical colleagues gather around him for a good cause; and the people of Evergreen are informed about the important role that our nonprofit organizations play in many peoples lives.

His life partner is Pandora Regan, Development Director for Habitat for Humanity; and she shares his interest in building community involvement so he feels doubly blessed that they get to work on these activities together.

John and Pandora have also recently become the caretakers for the Alderfer homestead (yellow house) at Alderfer Open Space Park and plan to gradually introduce some community-based activities there that encourage people to enjoy the park, experience the outdoors, or to work together for a good cause. Recently they held an open house at the homestead with over 200 attendees.

John has owned a house (interior) painting business in Evergreen for over 15 years. He also worked in this same occupation in Minnesota for 20 years before moving to Evergreen. John estimates that he has painted over 600 homes in Evergreen! This fall his company was chosen by Serenity magazine as Business of the Month. Much of his business is promoted through word of mouth by his many satisfied customers who appreciate his exceptionally high standards for performance and exacting attention to detail that he holds for himself and his workers.

John is another one of those wonderful souls who make it so rewarding to live in Evergreen.