The Christmas in Berthoud Parade of Lights will be held on Saturday, Dec. 7. Parade entry forms can be found on the Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce website, www.berthoudcolorado.com on the Events tab. Drop sites for food and clothing for the selected Christmas in Berthoud families will be at Main Street Car Care and the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor.
Christmas in Berthoud For a list of all the events and how you can help Berthoud families in need this Christmas please go to the website, www.ChristmasinBerthoud.org
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The Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for three annual awards to be presented at the Chamber Annual Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 11: Citizen of the Year — Doc Fickel Award — Business of the Year If you would like to nominate someone you feel is deserving, forms are available on the website, www.berthoudcolorado.com. Nomination letters can be sent via e-mail to bcc@berthoudcolorado.com by scanning your signed letter or by regular mail to: Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 1709, Berthoud, CO 80513. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013
ANNUAL AWARDS
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Volume 10, Number 48
Thankful for Angelina
A Christmas story that is sure to touch your heart The Old Russian Shoemaker Performance dates and locations • Sun., Dec. 1: 6 p.m. – City on the Hill Church, Boulder • Fri., Dec. 6: 5 and 7 p.m. – Grace Place, Berthoud • Sun., Dec. 8: 6 p.m. – Grace Community Church, Johnstown • Sun., Dec 15: 6 p.m. – Timberline Church, Windsor
By John Gardner The Surveyor
Photo courtesy David and Stephanie Gregg
Angelina Isabella Gregg, 16, stands on the front porch of her Berthoud home as she departs for her first day of school at Loveland High School. Angelina was adopted by Berthoud Mayor, David Gregg and his wife Stephanie Gregg in September and has given them another reason to be thankful this year.
Berthoud’s first family thankful for one girl’s smile
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By John Gardner • The Surveyor
avid and Stephanie Gregg have a lot to be thankful for. But, it’s one 16-year-old Ukrainian girl that makes them especially thankful this Thanksgiving. In the fall of 2012, David and Stephanie Gregg’s life was rolling along. They lived east of Berthoud in a lovely home, David’s career was doing well, and the couple was building a new home on Berthoud’s west side. Their only son, David Gregg, named after his father, was finishing up his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Life was good as empty-nesters. That’s when they met a 15-year-old Ukrainian girl with deep-brown eyes, named Angelina Demchuk, who would change their life, but for the better. In their early 30s, when their son was still a young child, the Greggs first spoke about adoption. They even attended classes to learn about the adoption process and seriously considered having another child in their life, but ultimately never went through with it. “Here we were in our mid 40s and never thought about [adoption] again because our son was almost through with college,” Stephanie said. The two were fulfilled with their life as “empty nesters.” They enjoyed their time together, even traveling to exotic places like Iceland for Thanksgiving in 2012. “One weekend we were in Iceland for Thanksgiving, the next weekend we meet [Angelina]; that’s how fast our lives changed,” Stephanie said: Her vibrant smile punctuating her emotion. Last December 15 Ukrainians visited Berthoud as part of Christmas in Berthoud, performing the Christmas musical “The Old Russian Shoemaker.” Angelina was one of the orphans performing in the play. The Greggs heard, through their church, that the travelers needed host homes during their trip to Colorado. Having international guests isn’t a new concept for the Greggs; they’ve hosted exchange students three times prior, according to Stephanie. So, when this request came, the Greggs opened their doors to three guests. Angelina was one of them. “We went into that week with no thoughts of adoption,” David said. But seven days can change perspective. That adoption conversation held years prior resurfaced as the Greggs sat outside one night shortly after Angelina had left a lasting impression upon them. “It was kind of one of those things that neither one of us wanted to bring up,” David admitted. “We were both kind of like, ‘are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ “Turns out that we were both thinking and praying about it, wondering if the other one was too,” David said. One week with Angelina in their home changed their hearts. Another week without her changed their minds.
Look who’s in the news! Connie Murray Janna Schinke Berthoud Living Center
Josh Carty Emma Degnan Josie Baskall
Classified .................................B7 Crossword .................................. 7 Legal notices ............................B7 Opinion ...................................... 4 Play ........................................... 7 Sports ......................................B1 Then & Now ............................... 5 Weather ..................................... 2
Life in the rearview Angelina hesitated to discuss her former life in the Ukraine with a reporter whom she’d just met. “It’s complicated for me,” Angelina said, the words drenched in her naturally-thick, but delicately-petite Ukrainian accent. Complicated because she’s still learning English and her vocabulary is limited. It’s obvious by how she interacts with the Greggs that she’s comfortable in her new home. Despite Angelina growing up in orphanages, she had a good life, Stephanie said. Since about the age of 11, Angelina lived at and attended a boarding school about four hours west of Kiev, in the town of Mizoch. “We didn’t save her from anything really horrible at the time,” Stephanie said. But, she added, the uncertainty of Angelina’s future in the Ukraine was one of the contributing factors when deciding to adopt. When the Greggs met Angelina, she was 15 years old. In the Ukraine, children are no longer adoptable after they turn 16, Stephanie said. Between the age of 16 and 17, orphans typically graduate from the state-run orphanages. Most of the young adults at that point are supported by the government. Less than 30 percent of orphans go on to further education, or to find a job. According to statistics from the Ukrainian Orphan Outreach located here in Berthoud, Ukraine’s standard of living has decreased 80 percent over the past 18 years, leaving many children abandoned or orphaned by their parents. It’s estimated that as many as 100,000 orphans live in orphanages in the country, and 100,000 more live on the streets. “It’s a rampant cycle,” Stephanie said. For the girls, it’s estimated that upward of 60 percent turn to prostitution after graduation, while upward of 70 percent of boys will turn to a life of crime. Even sadder, a large number of orphans commit suicide after graduation. “We don’t know what would have happened to her when she turned 17,” Stephanie said. But they didn’t want her to be on her own. They wanted Angelina here with them. “She had so much to give and to gain, that’s what we wanted for her,” Stephanie said. “She had many people who loved her. She was getting a good education and had many friends. She’s a beautiful, loving person and she’s coming here, really, very emotionally healthy.”
It’s a girl The conversation took place outside, underneath the stars, on a cool but mild December night during the Christmas holiday. Despite a house filled with family, David and Stephanie felt incomplete. “It’s been a fun week,” Stephanie told her husband. “What do you think about Angelina?” she asked next. “Isn’t she an awesome girl?” David simply replied, as almost any father would, “Yes she is.” After a few silent moments, the two almost simultaneously responded that they were thinking about adopting Angelina. The relief set in motion months of paperwork and bureaucracy. But Angelina kept them going. “It’s an involved and expensive process,” David said. It wasn’t until mid-January when they finally contacted an agency to see if Angelina would be interested in the Greggs adopting her. The Greggs and Angelina were able to stay in touch with one another via Facebook. “Google translate is a savior,” David said. Stephanie used the social networking site to ask Angelina if she would like to become
GREGG cont. on page 3
When Angelina Isabella Gregg first arrived at the home of David and Stephanie Gregg in December 2012 she was simply excited to travel to America. It was the first time she’d traveled outside of Europe. She was unable to speak much English, mostly just her native Ukrainian. Angelina, 16, traveled to a few different states, including Colorado and Nebraska, as part of a program through her orphanage, the Ukraine Orphan Outreach and Christian Broadcasting Network’s Orphan’s Promise, where she performed in a show called “The Old Russian Shoemaker” which travels around to churches through the holiday season educating people about the orphans’ situation in Ukraine. It’s a powerful show that can literally change lives, according to Ukraine Orphan Outreach co-founder, Kris Stoesz, who first saw the show, along with her husband Clarke, in 2006. “It was really an eye opener,” Kris Stoesz said of the performance. “We were like, ‘how can we bridge the gap of awareness from the Ukraine and Colorado, to educate the community?’” It had such an impact on the Stoeszes that they started the Ukraine Orphan Outreach, Kris said. Since then, they’ve partnered with a Ukrainian orphanage and Orphan’s Promise to bring the show to Colorado each year. The show will be in Colorado for three weeks starting the week of Dec. 1. Kris Stoesz warned the Greggs that the performance would change their lives. “Once you meet an orphan and learn their name, that’s all it takes,” Stoesz said. And, she was right. The Greggs adopted Angelina eight months after she stayed at their home. The show itself is an adaptation from the short story “The Old Shoemaker” by Leo Tolstoy, and depicts events that happen to a shoemaker who’s alone on Christmas Eve and expects a visit by Jesus on Christmas day. The shoemaker helps out local orphans by giving them gifts during the night. On Christmas day, the shoemaker delivers shoes to orphans who live in an orphanage across the street. The shoemaker realizes the power of helping those in need. This year is the tenth year that the show has come to Colorado and will include performances from seven Ukrainian orphans. “The goal of the show is to create awareness of the situation of orphans worldwide, and especially in the Ukriane,” Stoesz said. The group requests host families to provide accommodations during the travelers’ stay. “We are all so isolated, but to actually see a child on stage who’s an orphan, it changes your life,” Kris Stoesz said. Performances will be at Grace Place Church in Berthoud on Dec. 5. There will be two shows that evening starting at 5 p.m. The performance is open to the public and has no cover charge, but donations are accepted. Stoesz encourages people, and families, to come and watch the show, meet the orphans and experience the play. “Our goal is to spread the awareness and education,” Stoesz said.