Berthoud Weekly Surveyor December 19, 2013 Page A5 The historical society and Mark French are interested in obtaining and copying old photos from Berthoud’s past. Please contact Mark at 532-2147 if you have any photos you would like to share.
A LOOK AT BERTHOUD
Berthoud Hose Cart spent decades in Bailey
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n March of 1889, six months after Berthoud formed its town government, a hose cart equipped with 600 feet of first-class hose was purchased for the town’s volunteer firemen. A few months later, in August 1889, the firemen organized themselves into “Berthoud Hose No. 1” even though they continued their duties as volunteers. The fire fighters made their Surveyor headquarters Columnist in a “hose house” on Fourth Street that they built at a cost of $250. The hose cart was stored on the main floor of the twostory frame building that Mark also served French as Berthoud’s town hall until 1929. When Berthoud’s firefighters entered the modern age a few decades later, a fire truck and electric siren replaced the original hose cart and fire bell that hung in the hose house. In 1939 The Berthoud Bulletin made
Public Star Night Special to the Surveyor Public Star Night at the Little Thompson Observatory will be Friday Dec. 20, 2013, from 7-11 p.m. at 850 Spartan Ave. at Berthoud High School (park east of the high school; directions are posted on our website, www.starkids.org). The guest speaker for this public star night will be our own volunteer John Ensworth, and the title of his talk will be “The Star of Wonder.” The nature of the star of Bethlehem has been lost in history and confused by the passage of time. For millennia, believers, scoffers and the curious have wondered at the Biblical account of the Star. The Bible recounts unusual, or even impossible, astronomical events at Christ’s birth. For many doubters, the account of the Star is easily dismissed as myth. For many believers, it’s a mystery accepted on faith. And yet, the question of the nature of the Star of Bethlehem is of such interest to religion, to history, to science and philosophy, that we really can’t dismiss the mystery. Indeed, we can turn to each of these disciplines for
an appeal to save the hose company’s original fire bell that was rusting away in the alley behind A.I. Todd’s barber shop. There’s no record of any action being taken to save the historic artifact at that time, in spite of the newspaper’s plea. In November 1950 the brick building at 330 Massachusetts Ave. was purchased by the Berthoud Fire District for use as their fire station. In 1951 or ‘52 the old hose cart that was stored in the open behind the jam-packed building became the property of a man by the name of Ralph Craner, who had inquired about the availability of the antiquated piece of fire-fighting equipment. Craner’s brother-in-law, Pete Hahn, made arrangements for the transfer of the hose cart and moved it to his farm southwest of Berthoud before hauling it to Craner’s property near Bailey, Colo. It remained at that location far away from Berthoud from the early 1950s to the late 1980s when it found its way back to Berthoud. At Craner’s place in Bailey the old hose cart did double duty. During the winter it was tucked away safely in a garage, while in the summer it was moved out to be displayed in Craner’s front yard. Craner’s daughter Beth
recently recalled that during her childhood the hose cart made an annual appearance in Bailey’s Fourth of July parade. She also noted that when the hose cart arrived in Bailey it was already missing the canvas hose, brass nozzle and fireman’s axe that it was equipped to carry. In the late 1980s, when Berthoud was preparing to celebrate its centennial, the town’s firefighters set out on a quest to locate the old hose cart. One of the town’s old timers pointed them to Hahn who in turn asked his niece and her husband if they would consider returning the cart to its original home. By that time Ralph Craner had passed on and the decision rested with his widow, Helen Hahn-Craner, his daughter Beth Peterson and her husband Bill. Since Bill, Craner’s son-in-law, was one of Bailey’s firefighters, he was well aware of the hose cart’s significance to the Berthoud community. The Petersons eventually agreed to return the old artifact to its original ome. After a stay of more than 35 years in Bailey the hose cart that had found shelter from the winter in Craner’s garage was retrieved by Berthoud’s firefighters and entered in the 1988 Berthoud centennial parade. Berthoud’s old hose cart has lived
assistance in our search for the nature of the star. Ensworth will show us the possible origin of this phenomenon using various historical timelines and current modern-day techniques to attempt to solve the mystery. He is the senior science education specialist at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, working with NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. He conducts independent reviews of all Earth and Space Science education products produced by or for NASA. (www. strategies. org), Ensworth conducts workshops and professional development opportunities year around and at national science education meetings like the NSTA and the AGU. He has a master’s degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma and has undergraduate degrees in physics and astronomy, geography and meteorology, with minors in math and computer science. Ensworth became interested in astronomy in the second grade and began to teach astronomy to Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts by the fifth grade. He worked for the Arizona State University planetarium when Halley’s Comet paid the inner solar system a visit in 1985-1986 and was a planetarium lecturer at the Oklahoma City Omniplex Planetarium for almost 10 years. He has worked at Steward Observatory, the University of Arizona, Tucson, and conducted site testing for the placement of the Mt. Graham observatory complex. He has also observed
at the 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, a 36” telescope at Kitt Peak, and at the Multi-Mirror Telescope at Mt. Whipple. More recently he has conducted over 50 astronomy nights for Oklahoma, Virginia and Maryland audiences, has taught collegelevel astronomy for almost 25 years including at the University of Phoenix, and is a volunteer for the Little Thompson Observatory in Berthoud, Colo. The observatory doors will open at 7 p.m. and the talk will start at 7:30 p.m. Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through our large telescopes at various celestial objects. Public star nights are held the third Friday of each month (except July, when we are closed for annual maintenance). No reservations are necessary for these nights. Just come and join us for the talk and some observing afterwards. If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO website at www.starkids.org. Public Star Nights at the Pioneer Museum, 224 Mountain Ave. in Berthoud, home of the historical 6” Brashear Refractor from John Bunyan, are held on the first Friday of each month. If you have any questions, please call the Bunyan observatory information line at 970-532-2147 or check the website at www.berthoudhistoricalsociety.org/bunyan.htm .
Photo by Beth Peterson
In the early 1950s Berthoud’s original hose cart was obtained by Ralph Craner of Bailey. For many years the Craners pulled it in Fourth of July parades held in that mountain community. Craner’s family returned the hose cart to the Berthoud Fire Department before the town’s centennial parade in 1988.
a blessed life. Cast off in an alley as a useless piece of equipment, it was retrieved by Ralph Craner, whose family stored it out of the weather for more than three decades and graciously agreed to return it to its home even though it had become a center-
User-friendly e-resources online Special to the Surveyor Ever dreamed of driving a Porsche on the autobahn at 120 mph but never mastered how to sprechen sie Deutsch? Or to sip a chilled Chablis in a café along the Seine, but don’t parlez-vous Francais? Not to worry! If you don’t speak German or French (or Latin American Spanish, Italian, Japanese or even Pirate), just visit www.berthoudcommunitylibrary.org and begin your language lessons right away. The Berthoud Community Library District now subscribes to Mango Languages, and any patron can click the logo found on the library
piece of their Bailey home. Those of us who appreciate Berthoud’s heritage are indebted to Ralph Craner, and especially his daughter and son-in-law Beth and Bill Peterson of Bailey, who repatriated the unique artifact to its first home in Berthoud. website’s home page and begin tutorials. There’s an audio component, so you’ll be able to pronounce monsieur et madame, bonjour et bonsoir like a native. If the kids are bored, or simply looking for something fun to do, TumbleBook Library (TLB) is another great library e-resource that features puzzles and games, story and chapter books, books in Spanish, and a whole lot more. Books in the TBL collection are narrated and, with a click of the mouse, children can “surf” through hours of entertainment and education. Looking for a new job? Or want to dust off your resume and give it some added polish and flair? The library now offers the e-tool Cypress Resume. In minutes, job seekers will have a completed, professional-grade resume to take to that oh-so-important interview. Impress your next boss to be for free!
a corporate jet. Tim bought a farm in Loveland and lived there for 17 years before Timothy Gibson he moved to his ranch, called TGS, March 27, 1957 — Dec. 11, 2013 in Berthoud six years ago. He had a love for basketball; he played during Timothy Ray Gibson, 56, of high school and college Berthoud, formerly of and continued to play for Loveland, died suddenly several years on various of a brain aneurysm on leagues. Tim loved the Dec. 11, 2013, at Medical outdoors and climbed Center of the Rockies. the Grand Slam of Tim was an organ donor, Mountain Climbing, havsomething he was very ing climbed all 54 14ers. proud to be a part of. He also loved animals, Tim was born March especially his dogs. Cirko 27, 1957, in Loveland, and Reo were his last Colo., to Robert and two dogs. Wauneta (Baird) Gibson. Tim is survived by his He spent most of his life wife Stephanie Gibson in Loveland and was the Tim Gibson of Berthoud, who he Loveland Cupid Boy in has been with for 33 1961 for the Loveland years; his mother Wauneta Gibson Valentine Program, graduated from of Berthoud; Stephanie’s son David Loveland High School in 1975, and Schultz (Erica) of Berthoud; brother graduated from Iowa Western College Tom Gibson (Vicki) of Highlands in 1977. He owned Tim’s Body Shop Ranch, Colo., sister-in-law Ellen for many years, as well as Ace Golf Gibson of Brighton, Colo.; nieces/ Carts. Eventually he obtained his nephews Jaime Zilverberg (Brian), pilot’s license and most recently had Will Gibson and Kati Gibson; and been working for D&H Airways flying great niece and nephew Abby and Cooper. He was preceded in death by his father Robert “Bob” Gibson and brother Robbie Gibson. Memorial services were held Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, 1 p.m. at Viegut Funeral Home. A reception followed services at the Viegut Reception Center. Memorials may be made to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in care of Viegut Funeral Home. Go to www.viegutfuneralhome.com for condolences.
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