Book documents 75 years of Evergreen Fire/Rescue
BY JANE REUTER
When several Evergreen residents decided in 1948 to launch a volunteer re department, they shared the idea with their fellow residents on foot.
“Evergreen was so small that we could pass the word of an organizational meeting by walking up and down Main Street,” founding member A.R. Clark said. “To give you an idea of the community’s size, the area had only 177 phones then.
continued. “We started out with a pump and a hose and a Dodge power wagon.”
Clark’s quotes come from the recently released book “Evergreen Fire/Rescue Burning Bright: 75 Years of Valor and Service.” Two years in the making, the book was co-written by longtime EFR volunteer Pete Anderson and EFR auxiliary member Kim Marklund.
credit to the people who were instrumental in creating EFR and takes a look back at the development of the area before the agency was founded — growth that triggered the need for a community re department.
Je erson County will hear appeal to Elk Creek Fire’s unification e orts
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Je erson County Commissioners will consider an appeal aimed at stopping Elk Creek Fire’s merger with two other Conifer re districts, a county attorney wrote Dec. 20.
Under the appeal process outlined by the attorney — which allows time for both parties to submit documentation and briefs, and for the county to review the material — commissioners aren’t likely to hold a public hearing on the issue for several weeks.
Meanwhile, North Fork and InterCanyon Fire have already merged as the Conifer Fire Protection District. Chiefs of the three agencies — Elk Creek, North Fork and Inter-Canyon — announced this fall they would pursue uni cation, a process outlined under state statute, after a November 2023 consolidation e ort failed. Uni cation does not include a mill levy increase or require an election.
All three boards recently passed motions in favor of uni cation, but in Elk Creek, board member Chuck Newby voted against the proposal. Newby and district resident Neil Whitehead III led an appeal in early December, saying the uni cation process Elk Creek used violates state statute, subverts the voters’ wishes, and could result in higher taxes without voter approval.
“We met at the schoolhouse and we all chipped in to buy some equipment,” Clark
e 350-page paperback includes stories of the department’s emergency medical services history, the rst woman reghter, the progression of dispatch and 911 services, details about historical res and personal narratives. e book gives
It is also a visual history of EFR, packed with historic black-and-white photos, newspaper clippings, maps and photos of apparatus, wild res and rescues.
For Anderson, a fourth-generation Evergreen resident who grew up in a re ghting family, co-authoring the book was al-
Attorney Kimberly Sorrells wrote in a Dec. 20 letter that the board will consider one of the three issues Newby and Whitehead raised in their appeal of Elk Creek’s uni cation e ort — whether Elk Creek’s exclusion order violates state statutes.
For the three agencies to merge, Elk Creek and Inter-Canyon had to vote to
Evergreen volunteer firefighters at the town’s original station 1 on Main Street in about 1950.
COURTESY PHOTO
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HISTORY, P2
most like writing his life story. A career re ghter, he retired from working at West Metro in 2007 and now works for EFR as a retiree volunteer helping with special projects.
“Most of my life is in that book; it’s kind of an autobiography,” he said. “My dad was a charter member Evergreen reghter, and my mom was an auxiliary member. So I grew up on the re department. It was almost our social club.”
Marklund, who also volunteers with Genessee Fire, got the idea for the book after Genesee published one for its 50th anniversary.
“I approached Chief (Mike) Weege and asked if he’d be interested and he said absolutely,” she said. “He arranged our rst meeting with some retiree re ghters.”
“Kim and Mike roped me into it,” Anderson said with a laugh. “We each picked areas we were interested in and o we went. I started writing, she started editing.”
e retirees helped Anderson and Marklund pour over old EFR meeting minutes, Canyon Courier and other newspaper articles, EFR master plans and reams of other historical documentation. It was a heavy lift, Anderson said, but also a fun one.
“ e best part was the research and writing,” Anderson said. “I’d call Kim and say, ‘ ere’s another item we have to put in this.’ We could have gone another 200 pages easily. Evergreen has such a wealth of research material, and we had a lot of community support. But we nally got to the point where we had to say stop.”
Marklund agreed, saying EFR’s history and the history of the area is richer than she had even imagined.
“I’m sure we didn’t even scratch the surface,” she said. “You can’t talk about the inception of the re department without going into how did we get there. People were moving from down the hill up to the foothills. And the more people that came in, the more need there was for a re department.
“Just some regular folks from the community got together and formed. I think that’s a neat story for a small town.” e small town came together repeatedly to protect its structures and citizens. One of Anderson’s strongest memories is of the January 1997 Evergreen Hotel Fire, documented in the book. Downtown Evergreen had lost 11 buildings in a devastating 1926 re, including part of the hotel. Anticipating the old building could someday burn again, EFR re ghters had planned a response for just such an eventuality, including testing the wa-
ter system.
“A quarter of it burned in 1926 so it was always on our minds,” he said. “We had preplanned for it. And the night it happened, everything fell together perfectly. Everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do.”
Not every response in EFR’s history has been so successful, however.
“ ere have been other ( res) where we couldn’t ght it, and that was very depressing,” Anderson said. “Calls with children, medical problems — every call can be completely di erent. It’s an emotional up and down.”
EFR has come a long way in 75 years. Today, it has 44 full-time employees, 82 volunteers, eight stations, and seasonal and part-time employees that include a wildland re ghting crew. Fifteen of those employees are dedicated to emergency medical response and two to the agency’s growing ECARES program for in-home senior care. In 2024, EFR also recently added six paid re ghters, the rst in its history.
Chief Weege said he’s grateful to Marklund, Anderson and others who helped bring the book to life.
“We are very proud of the 75 years of the Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department and Evergreen Fire/Rescue captured in this book,” Chief Weege said. “ e growth of the community of Evergreen is re ected in the growth of the re department and emergency medical services. ose who came before us recognized the need to form a re department, and adapt to the growth of Evergreen. Our mission is to continue that legacy. We honor our past and those who have served, and this book will now share
that story with others.”
Putting the book together reinforced the pride both Marklund and Anderson also feel in EFR.
“(Chief) Mike’s done a great job of transitioning the department into the combination department we have now,” Anderson said.
“ e book has been a lot of work,” said Marklund, who logged more than 700 hours on her portion of it. “But I just love the re ghters, EMS, the wildland folks, the maintenance guys, the administrative support. It’s all just one huge family, and we’re all there for each other and the community.”
The book written by Pete Anderson and Kim Marklund is available on Amazon. COURTESY PHOTOS
Charter members of Evergreen Fire in 1948, the year the agency got its start.
EFR Ice Rescue Team helps rescue an elk.
NAR’s 2024 Survey of Buyers and Sellers Provides Some Interesting Insights on the Market
Every year the National Association of Realtors (NAR) publishes a “Profile of Buyers and Sellers” which contains some useful data and insights on the real estate market.
The 2024 survey was just released and contains some interesting trends which I’ll summarize here.
The image at right is an example. In the posting of this week’s ad at http://RealEstateToday.substack.com you’ll find the full highlights of the report on the following topics:
Characteristics of home buyers
Breakdown of homes purchased
Use of real estate professionals
The home search process
How homes are being financed
The experience of home sellers
Use of listing agents by sellers
For Sale by Owner statistics and trends
Here’s just one of those highlight pages, to give you an idea the detail provided. This is the one about FSBOs (for sale by owner):
Here are some of the key take-aways from the other chapters;
Characteristics of Home Buyers: The median age of home buyers surged in 2024 over the prior year — 56 vs. 49. The median age for first-time buyers jumped from 35 to 38, and for repeat buyers jumped from 58 to 61. 73% of buyers had no children under 18 in the home, and 17% bought a multi-generational home. First-time home buyers constituted 24% of home sales, down from 32% in 2023. This was the lowest percentage since NAR started doing these surveys in 1981.
Characteristics of Homes Purchased: 15% of buyers purchased new homes from a builder. Among those who purchased existing
homes, the typical home was built in 1994, compared to homes built in the 1980s in two prior surveys. The typical home was 1,900 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The median distance of the new home from the previous home was 20 miles, compared to 50 miles in 2022. (That was the height of Covid, spurred by remote work.) PreCovid, the median distance was typically 15 miles. 16% of 2024 buyers purchased in an urban area or central city, the highest such percentage since 2014, spurred perhaps by the end of some work-at-home arrangements. Proximity to the home buyer’s job was important to 34% of buyers, down from 52% in 2014. The top consideration this year was the quality of the neighborhood (59%), followed by proximity to friends and family (45%).
Home Buyers & Real Estate Professionals:
88% of home buyers used the services of a real estate agent. Looking at buyers of existing homes, that percentage rose to 92%. Only 63% of new home buyers were represented by an agent. 80% of first-time buyers said that their agent’s assistance in understanding the home buying process was “invaluable.”
40% of all buyers and 51% of first-time buyers found their agent through a referral from their friends, family or personal network. Most buyers only interviewed one agent — it was 71% for repeat buyers.
Although 88% of buyers said they would use their agent again or recommend him/her to others, only 21% of buyers actually used the same agent they had used before. Of those who purchased in 2024, 61% have already recommended their agent to others.
The Home Search Process: 43% of buyers said they started the process by looking at homes on the internet, with 21% first contacting an agent. 69% of buyers searched for homes on their mobile or tablet devices.
Open houses were deemed “very useful” by 23% of buyers. About 40% said they valued photos and detailed listing information, while 31% appreciated floor plans. The typical buyer spent 10 weeks house hunting and saw a median of 7 homes, 2 of them online only. 51% found the home they bought through their own online searching. 55% said that finding the right home was the most difficult part of the process.
59% of buyers said they were “very satisfied” with their home buying experience, and another 33% were “somewhat satisfied.”
Financing the Home Purchase: 91% of first-time buyers and 69% of repeat buyers financed their home purchase with a loan. These percentages were down from 92% and 81% respectively from last year. The overall percentage was 74%, meaning that 26% of all home buyers paid cash — an all-time high.
The median down payment was 9% for first-time buyers and 23% for repeat buyers, That’s the highest down payment percentage for first-time buyers since 1997 and the highest for repeat buyers since 2003. 25% of the first-time buyers used a gift or loan from a
relative to finance their down payment, but savings was the biggest source at 69%.
In 2009, 55% of first-time buyers used an FHA loan, but that has dropped to 29% now that there are many conventional loan offerings requiring minimal down payments and no mortgage insurance premium. In 2024, 52% of first-time buyers took out a conventional loan.
Home Sellers and Their Selling Experience:
The median age of home sellers in 2024 was 63 — the highest ever recorded. 69% of the sellers were married couples, the first increase in this statistic in four years. Of all the homes sold in 2024, 77% did not have any children
under 18 living in the house -- empty nesters! 66% moved within the same state, 16% within the same region. (Note: These are national statistics.) Roughly one-third bought a bigger house, one-third bought the same size house and one-third bought a smaller house. 52% bought a newer home, with the rest split equally between the same age or older home.
The single most common reason for moving (23%) was to be closer to friends and family. The median number of years that a seller owned their home was 10 years, a big drop from 6 years in 2000 to 2008.
Median time on market in 2024 was three weeks, up from two weeks in 2023.
68% of sellers were “very satisfied” with the selling process. 22% were “somewhat satisfied.”
Home Selling & Real Estate Professionals: 90% of sellers hired a listing agent, up from 89% in 2023. Only 6% were FSBO (for sale by owner), a record low percentage. Of those sellers who did not know the buyer, 95% used a real estate agent. Two-thirds of sellers used an agent who was referred to them or that they had used before. 81% interviewed only the one agent they hired. 71% of sellers who bought within 10 miles of their home used the same agent for both transactions. The most important criteria in selecting the listing agent were the agent’s reputation (35%) and the agent’s honesty (21%). 58% of sellers offered open houses.
Again, the full reports of each of the above sections can be found on our blog, http:// RealEstateToday.substack.com
Is a Reverse Mortgage the Best Option for You?
If the idea of not paying principal and interest for the rest of your life and possibly drawing a lump sum from your home’s equity to help you with taxes and insurance, sounds like something you’d like to explore, let me tell you about “reverse mortgages.” They are officially known as Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM). They can be used to purchase a home or to refinance your current home.
Many seniors are in a situation where they have substantial equity in their home but don’t have quite the amount of income they need to live on day-to-day or month-tomonth. If you are still paying on your mortgage, a HECM allows you to reduce that monthly expense by the amount of your principal and interest payment. That alone may be enough to improve your monthly cash flow, but you can also draw on your surplus equity to have additional money for living expenses or discretionary expenditures such as travel.
If downsizing is in your plans, the HECM can also be used to purchase a home that better fits your senior lifestyle.
Here’s the nitty gritty. You have to be 62 or older to qualify for a HECM. The amount of down payment or equity you need to have is based on your age and life expectancy, because the lender wants to know that you’ll outlive the equity which is going to be used up by not paying principal and interest until you die.
That down payment requirement (or equity requirement if you are refinancing into a HECM) ranges from 45% to 70%. A HECM
loan is FHA insured, which covers the possibility that you live longer than expected and drain all your equity by not paying those monthly principal and interest payments. When you die or move out, the home can be sold, and the FHA insurance means that the proceeds of the sale don’t need to cover the mortgage payoff.
If you’re married, only one of you needs to be over 62, and if the qualifying senior dies, the surviving spouse can remain in the house until he or she dies, even if that means the equity is exhausted.
You retain title to the house, just like with a conventional mortgage. You can sell at any time and pay off the loan balance with your proceeds at closing.
Because it’s an FHA loan, the closing costs of the HECM loan are greater than for a conventional loan, but, depending on your cash flow situation, it may be worth it.
Eligible property types include 1-4 unit properties, so long as you live in one of the units. It can include FHA-approved condos and townhomes, and properties that are titled in a living trust.
If you’re purchasing a home with a HECM, the seller can provide a concession for up to 6% of the purchase price to cover those higher closing costs.
If you’re not a senior but have parents who own their own home but are struggling with monthly expenses, you might want to explore with them the benefits of a reverse mortgage.
Our in-house lender, Wendy Renee, is an expert on this product. Give her a call at 303868-1903 to get your questions answered.
Development decision pits beloved El Rancho vs. QuikTrip
Evergreen neighbors want to save closed restaurant
BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN
Jean Shindel braves a biting December wind to pay homage to the weathered yellow-orange logs of the shuttered El Rancho restaurant near Evergreen, and warms her ears with daydreams of wedding receptions, $10 burgers and basement board meetings fueled by cinnamon rolls.
What Jack Buchanan sees is a money pit that lost deep into the six gures each year it was open — a sprawling, aging, code-challenged mess that his partners would have leveled long ago.
And that’s only half of the El Rancho exit dilemma playing out just up a hill from the thousands of cars and trucks blowing by every day on Interstate 70.
Jack and Sherry Buchanan and their partners want to sell the property the restaurant sits on to QuikTrip, which plans a mammoth convenience store and gas station. e Buchanans are o ering to work with QuikTrip to move the El Rancho with cranes and trucks across U.S. 40 to another property they own, to redevelop as part of a hotel, restaurant and shopping area. No QuikTrip, no El Rancho rescue, they say.
e polite version of the neighbors’ reaction? “No, thanks.” Nearly 1,700 people have signed a petition against the development, and 40 neighbors will brave gusty winds on short notice to talk to any reporter who asks.
“It’s been here since 1948,” said Bob Randall, who worked at El Rancho in the 1970s and ran e Observatory bar across U.S. 40 in the ’80s and ’90s. “To tear it down I think would be terrible for Colorado and certainly for Evergreen. is is the gateway to Evergreen. Do we need a truck stop here?”
Neighbor Annie Sill knows more change is coming — over the group’s shoulders,
across Evergreen Parkway, are a Home Depot, a Walmart, a McDonald’s, a gas station and other paved-paradise amenities. She’s trying not to cling to nostalgia for an Evergreen that maybe never actually was “the way it was.”
“You’re never going back to that,” Sill said. “It is changing everywhere, you know, but you just have to make sure that people aren’t getting stomped on.”
A cause without a law to back it e vocal opposing neighbors have been remarkably successful at publicizing their cause. ey’ve had multiple TV stories, with the telegenic, interstatebeckoning neon El Rancho sign in the background and doomed pine trees in the foreground. Writers remember a friendly drink at the bar and lament Colorado’s decades of change.
e opponents have printed protest placards and designed a detailed campaign website, Save El Rancho. ey buttonhole members of the metro district and county commission, from the skating pond on Evergreen Lake to the parking lots of Elk Meadow open space, a dogwalking haven.
What they haven’t done, Jack Buchanan says, is mention anyone who wants to buy the restaurant and run it again onsite, or suggest any nonlaughable development idea for either side of U.S. 40. e tangle of roads at the site is a challenge to drivers and developers — the “El Rancho” exit from eastbound I-70 quickly joins U.S. 40, runs past a Comfort Inn and the idle restaurant and a bank, then runs into Highway 74/Evergreen Parkway. Neighbors muse aloud of a dog park, an urgent care, a welcome center.
“It’s not reality,” said Buchanan, who is the local partner on the El Rancho site and has lived with his wife in Evergreen for 11 years. e Buchanans have partners on the restaurant site, and are developing the former Observatory bar site across U.S. 40 with other partners. “It just simply isn’t reality.”
QuikTrip did not respond to messages seeking comments about its plans. Buchanan says that if the development opponents succeed in making the deal look too messy for QuikTrip’s interests, a di erent gas station is still the realistic outcome. e restaurant grounds, which
include the shuttered bank, are zoned for commercial use and no rezoning is necessary for any of the proposals.
“Let’s say someone was looking for a rezoning over by Elk Meadow,” Buchanan said, mentioning the popular open space a couple of hills southward, at the turno from Evergreen Parkway to Mount Blue Sky. “My wife and I would be ipping out over that, too.”
A relocated El Rancho would be part of a hotel and small shopping area with appealing Rocky Mountain design elements, Buchanan said. But theirs are valuable commercial pieces of property inside a heavily commercialized zone of north Evergreen at Swede Gulch, where Highway 74/Evergreen Parkway meets I-70 and U.S. 40.
“We’re planning to develop it for the appropriate uses that are there,” he said. “It is on the interstate. Period.”
e neighbors are still searching for wrenches to throw in the works. Je erson County is not o ering them any at the moment.
“ e El Rancho restaurant is not a designated historic structure, and under current zoning a gas station would be permitted. With the current zoning no approvals are needed by either the Je erson County Board of Commissioners or the Je erson County Historical Commission,” county community relations manager Jeremy Fleming said in an email.
Je co, unlike some Front Range communities, does not allow third parties, like the neighbors group, to seek historic designation for buildings like the restaurant that would slow demolition or redevelopment.
How many gas stations are enough? Both of the proposed development areas must go through the county’s site development process and approvals, Fleming added. “ ese regulations cover ingress and egress, parking, lighting, landscaping, architecture, runo , and so on. After completing the site development process, the developer would then need to pull permits for building the project.”
e soonest thing to happen will be a ll permit for the former Observatory bar property, wedged between the interstate and U.S. 40. e sloped property needs
Residents and community members protest QuikTrip Corporation on Dec. 17 in Evergreen.
PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT / SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN
UNIFICATION
exclude their property from their own district and include them in North Fork’s. Once uni ed, plans called for the three to rebrand as the Conifer Fire Protection District, and adopt North Fork’s mill rate of 12.
e county doesn’t have the authority to consider the other two issues, Sorrells wrote in the letter.
Newby and Whitehead are for now staying silent on the attorney’s correspondence.
“We are in the process of analyzing this letter, so do not have any comment at this time,” Newby wrote in a Dec. 21 email. Because she will be among three commissioners hearing the issue, County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper also declined to comment.
Elk Creek Chief Jacob Ware said he was unsurprised by the attorney’s decision and is con dent uni cation will ultimately occur.
“ ese individuals were very open that they were going to do this ( le an appeal)”,” he said. “It’s a bump in the road but we’ll move forward.”
Ware said Elk Creek worked closely with its legal counsel, and with Inter-Canyon and North Fork to ensure it followed the state statute’s process for uni cation.
“We believe we did it correctly,” he said. “Inter-Canyon has already completed theirs and they followed the same process we did.”
A Je erson County district judge signed an order Dec. 9 approving the addition of the Inter-Canyon Fire District to the North Fork Fire District.
“Based on that, I would feel a judge already felt they met the legal require-
ments,” Ware said. “We did the same one. I think that might be telling.
“It’s also the same process South Metro (Fire) has used a number of times and a number of other re protection districts.”
Newby and Whitehead were also among a group of Elk Creek residents who opposed the consolidation e ort, which failed narrowly in Elk Creek’s district and passed among Inter-Canyon and North Fork voters. Newby has repeatedly expressed his opposition to and concerns
about uni cation during recent board meetings.
“I wish he could see the same things the re department and most of the residents see,” Ware said, adding Newby is following the appeals process outlined under the same statute that allows uni cation. “ at’s his right; that’s his prerogative as a resident.”
Meanwhile, Ware said residents within the Elk Creek district will see no change in service.
“ is will not impact residents of the district whatsoever,” he said. “ is process will serve to create a better service for the residents of the district. Delaying means it’s just going to take longer to provide that better service.”
Inter-Canyon and North Fork re recently announced on their Facebook pages that they are hiring three re ghters/ paramedics as part of the uni cation process. Plans called for hiring six re ghters once all three agencies merged.
Police chief investigation continuing as Morrison’s department dissolves
Town attorney says results will be private unless board decides otherwise
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Morrison o cials say the investigation surrounding Police Chief Bill Vinelli will continue despite the upcoming disbanding of the town’s police department, but did not say when it will conclude or if the results will be made public.
“It’s private unless the board wants to make it public,” town attorney Austin Flanagan said during the board’s Dec. 17 meeting. “We will discuss it in executive session when we get to that point.”
Vinelli, the town’s chief since February 2022, was placed on involuntary, paid administrative leave in early November. He remains on paid leave, town manager Mallory Nassau said. Vinelli’s abrupt departure came a month after the arrest of Morrison Police Sgt. Richard Norton in Longmont on charges of domestic violence.
Town leaders had originally said Vinelli’s leave was not linked to the decision to disband the department, but Mayor Chris Wolfe said during a recent press conference the two actions may be linked. e department, which board
members said was nancially unsustainable, will be dissolved by year’s end. Morrison will begin contracting for law enforcement services with the Je erson County Sheri ’s O ce in 2025.
One resident came to the Dec. 17 meeting to decry the decision on the police department and ask for more information.
“ ere hasn’t been a lot of community involvement,” said Reza Ardehali, who owns Tony Rigatoni’s and the Rooftop Tavern. “We deserve transparency. You can tell me it’s a legal matter. But you can’t just say I can’t talk about it.”
Ardehali suggested the force could have been reduced instead of disbanded.
“Maybe we went too far,” he said. “It feels more extreme than it needs to be by just saying we’re going to get rid of everything all at once. You could have gone through some e ciency programming. ere will be consequences for these actions. We are now an outpost of Je erson County. I hope you someday soon explain to us why it is you threw the baby out with the bath water.”
Nassau also said the town’s police K9 Nico, who joined the police force in July and was working with Norton, will be returned to the Rangely police department. Rangely police donated the Belgian Malinois to Morrison with an agreement that if he were not working with an o cer, he would be returned to them.
Former Morrison Police Chief Bill Vinelli
FILE PHOTO
EL RANCHO
land ll to create a development pad, Buchanan said. Many of the site approvals and permits the developers need could be done within 10 to 12 weeks, he said.
As the opponents group points to the wooded hills above and below the El Rancho restaurant site, they note that site maps led by the developers show the pavement area doubled for the QuikTrip service lanes, and most of the trees ripped out. ey say they will emphasize to county planning reviewers and the Colorado Department of Transportation how much new car and semitrailer tra c the gas station will bring, clogging exits and key arteries already threatened with jams during wildre evacuations.
Organizer Kathryn Mauz also wants county and state o cials to think about bigger-picture development in Colorado, pitting the convenience factor for tourists against the desires of longtime residents in everything from
ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
a ordable housing to pricing. Residents are still steaming about prices at El Rancho when the owners brought in noted Denver restaurateur Frank Bonanno to reopen the place: $18 burgers and a mandatory 20%-plus service fee on every check.
Mauz created a map showing 32 other gas stations in the Je co foothills. Lakewood will vote in January to slow growth of its gas stations, of which there are already 56. Louisville just voted to cap its stations at the current total of six. Denver’s City Council is considering rules to push any new gas stations at least a quarter-mile from existing stations, in an effort to focus development on new a ordable housing ideas instead of new convenience and retail.
“If you look at our map of all the other gas stations, keep in mind too that the average size of those stations is 0.8 to 2 acres,” Mauz said. “ is one would be 4 acres.”
Buchanan emphasizes that every potential buyer or developer who has looked at the El Rancho property has assumed the circa 1948 restaurant is torn down, as a start. Attacking the overall proposal and scaring away the co-
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operative QuikTrip developers just jeopardizes the opponents’ goal of preserving a building full of their memories, he said.
“We really want to save the El Rancho, and we’re doing everything we can to do it,” Buchanan said. “And candidly, they’re making it really hard for us to do it.”
Annie Sill thinks one of the challenges for development opponents like her is overcoming outside perceptions of Evergreen as a bedroom community full of expensive mountain retreats for Front Range commuters.
e neighbors’ group is peppered with waitresses and bar managers and part-time retail clerks who spend time and paychecks at their favorite businesses. ey don’t want their money or their memories dismissed. To them, facial recognition means other cafes in the area that retain a free co ee policy for residents.
“You’ve got to take care of your locals,” Sill said.
is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.
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Canyon Courier (USPS 88940)
A legal newspaper of general circulation in Evergreen, Colorado, Canyon Courier is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 3540 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen, CO 80439.
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Email linda@cotln.org if you notice a possible error you would like us to take a look at.
Evergreen’s El Rancho restaurant opened in 1948.
HAPPENINGS
We’d like to know about events or activities of interest to the community. Visit www.canyoncourier.com/calendar/ and post your event online for free. Email jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com to get items in the newspaper. Items will appear in print on a space-available basis.
UPCOMING
Conifer Community Church nightly Christmas light show: rough Jan. 6, 9998 S. Havekost Road, Conifer. 5-10 p.m. Sunday- ursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday & Saturday, 7-11 p.m. Dec. 24. Show is approximately 35 mins. long and runs on a continual loop.
Cocktails & Curling: 5 p.m. Jan 10, Evergreen Lake House, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road, Evergreen. $5 chamber members, $10 nonmembers. evergreenchamber.org.
Connections & Cocktails: 4:30 p.m. Jan. 14, Lariat Lodge, 27618 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen. evergreenchamber. org.
Wild Aware’s Bear Club quarterly meeting: 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14. Address will be provided when you register. Social, potluck and speaker Brenda Lee, founder of the Colorado Bear Coalition. Email info@wildaware.org, go to https://bearbook-club.cheddarup.com, or call 303670-7171.
ONGOING
Evergreen Ice Melt tickets available through March 17: $3 each with discounts for multiple purchases. Purchase tickets or nd local businesses selling tickets at evergreenicemelt.com. Proceeds bene t local organizations and nonpro ts.
Wild Aware is actively recruiting volunteers for their Last Friday Co ee. e monthly event is at 9 a.m., the last Friday morning of every month through fall. Evergreen Bread and Cocktail Lounge, 1260 Bergen Pkwy, Evergreen, CO 80439.
Soldier Bags Project 2024: Tallgrass Spa accepting travel-sized toiletries and other donations at e Wild Game, 1204 Bergen Pkwy, Evergreen, for annual veterans backpack project. Information at tallgrassspa.com
Seniors4Wellness computer/tech help: Noon, Jan. 15, Evergreen Library, meeting room B, 5000 County Highway 73, Evergreen. 720-835-8776
Wild Aware’s Open Aware Meet & Greet: 6 p.m. Jan. 16, Evergreen Brewery, 2962 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen. Celebrating Wild Aware’s 5th birthday.
Seniors4Wellness Friday Cafe: 11:30 a.m. Jan. 17, Christ the King Church, 4291 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen. seniors4wellness.org
2025 Evergreen Pond Hockey Championship: 7 a.m. playtime, Jan. 25 and 26, Evergreen Lake, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Rd. evergreenrecreation.com
Conifer Chamber of Commerce member meeting: 7:30 a.m. on second ursdays, Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church, 9444 Eagle Cli Road, Conifer. Free for members, $10 for nonmembers.
Evergreen Nature Center Weekly Preschool Adventures Program: 9 a.m. every ursday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Free & no registration required. Programs designed for children ages 2-5 years old. All children must have an adult in attendance. Dress to explore the outdoors. evergreenaudubon.org
Mt Evans Home Health Care & Hospice’s Winter WonderGala: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 28, Mount Vernon Canyon Club, 24933 Club House Circle, Golden. Dinner, live and silent auction, live music and dancing. events@mtevans.org
Administration Building, 1802 Bergen Parkway. Information at evergreenarearepublicanclub.org
Mountain Area Democrats: Mountain Area Democrats meet at 9 a.m. the fourth Saturday of the month January through April at the United Methodist Church of Evergreen, 3757 Ponderosa Drive, Evergreen. For more information, e-mail MountainAreaDems@gmail. com.
Evergreen Sustainability Alliance and Lam Tree services are collecting holiday trees and block styrofoam from noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 3 at the vacant lot across from the Evergreen King Soopers, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 4 and 11 at both Evergreen Lutheran church and the vacant lot across from Evergreen King Soopers. Information at www. sustainevergreen.org or 720-536-0069.
Evergreen Nature Center Monthly Family Program: 11 a.m. every last Saturday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. December’s program is Hibernation Station. evergreenaudubon.org
e American Legion Evergreen Post 2001: Meets every fourth Tuesday at 7 p.m., Evergreen Church of the Trans guration, 27640 Highway 74, Evergreen. Serving all military veterans in the foothills communities. Email evergreenpost2001@gmail.com
Evergreen Camera Club: Meets every second Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Evergreen Fire/Rescue auditorium, 1802 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. Club is for people who share a passion for all photography, from beginners to professionals. Attend in person or via ZOOM.
Evergreen Nature Center: Evergreen Nature Center is open from 10 a.m.4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays next to Church of the Trans guration. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.EvergreenAudubon.org.
e Bear Creek Cemetery Association board of directors volunteers needed: Members needed to help with operations of the local cemetery on Highway 74, Evergreen. Contact board president, evergreenbearcreekcemetery@gmail.com
Evergreen Area Republican Club: e Evergreen Area Republican Club meets at 6 p.m. the rst Wednesday of the month at the Evergreen Fire/Rescue
Blue Spruce Habitat volunteers needed: Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers. A variety of opportunities and exible schedules are available on new construction sites as well as for exterior minor home repairs. No previous construction experience needed. Contact volunteer@ bluesprucehabitat.org for information.
EChO needs volunteers: e Evergreen Christian Outreach ReSale Store and food pantry need volunteers. Proceeds from the EChO ReSale Store support the food pantry and programs and services provided by EChO. Many volunteer options available. For more information, call Mary at 720-673-4369 or email mary@evergreenchristianoutreach.org.
ation Center. For more information and to register, visit R1220.org.
ESA EverGREEN Re ll Station: EverGREEN Re ll Station (re ll your laundry detergent, lotions, soaps and more. We have many sustainable products available). e Re ll Station is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and the second Saturday of each month from 1-4 p.m. in the Habitat Restore, 1232 Bergen Parkway.
Support After Suicide Loss: A safe place to share and learn after losing a loved one to suicide. is group meets every fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. via Zoom or in person at the Resilience1220 o ce. For ages 14 and up. Suggested donation for this group is $15. Register at resilience1220. org/groups.
Sensitive Collection: Resilience1220 strives to inform and support highly sensitive people to live healthy and empowered lives. It meets the third Wednesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. via Zoom. Register at resilience1220.org/groups.
Caregiver support group: Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice o ers a monthly group to provide emotional support services for caregivers helping ill, disabled or elderly loved ones. An inperson support group meets Wednesdays from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen. For more information, visit mtevans.org/services/emotional-support/.
Parkinson’s disease support group: A Parkinson’s disease support group meets the rst Friday of the month from 1-3 p.m. at Evergreen Christian Church, 27772 Iris Drive, Evergreen. For more information, email esears@parkinsonrockies.org.
Mountain Foothills Rotary meetings: Mountain Foothills Rotary meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdays both in person at Mount Vernon Canyon Club, 24933 Club House Circle, Genesee, and via Zoom. Information at 346-248-7799.
LGBTQ+ teen book club: Resilience1220 is o ering an LGBTQ+ teen book club that meets from 4-6 p.m. the fourth Monday at the Resilience1220 o ce next to the Buchanan Park Recre-
Beyond the Rainbow: Resilience1220 o ers Beyond the Rainbow, which is two support groups that meet the second Tuesday of the month. One is a safe group for those 12-20 and the other is a group for parents and caregivers wanting support for raising an LGBTQ+ child. For group location and to RSVP, email heather@resilience1220.org.
My father had a story for almost every occasion. His stories were like a magical chapter book that would open and share insights from his life. A wonderful thing about the stories he shared was that they would span from the time of his childhood clear through that of my sister and me, the main character constantly changing.
One of the stories that he would share came from the Depression era. It started with him explaining that at that time, a dime’s worth of potatoes and a quarter’s worth of ground beef would feed their family of nine kids and two adults. en he would go on to explain that when he was about ten years old his mother entrusted him with a ve-dollar bill and told him to go to the corner grocery store and purchase potatoes and ground beef for dinner.
In his telling of the story, he left the house with the ve-dollar bill rmly in his hand. After walking a block, about half the distance to the store, he stopped; and with panicked energy began to look around for the money. He described the incredible depth of his despair as he retraced his steps, looked under every leaf,
To say 2024 was a year with a lot of ups and downs would be an understatement. A constant slew of unprecedented events kept everyone feeling on edge and I have a feeling that this unsettled sense is going to continue for a while.
It was di cult to keep up with the music world while so much was going on (unless you’re one of the pop stars who ruled the year). To help with that, I gathered ve of my favorite releases that may have slipped by you. I hope you nd something to excite you and comfort you as we head into a new year.
Blackstarkids — ‘Saturn Dayz/Heaven on Urf’
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
VOICES
Slow down and don’t panic
through every drain, desperately trying to nd the currency. Finally, after what to a ten-year-old, seemed like forever, he realized he needed to go home and tell his mom about the lost money. With tears in his eyes, he walked up the stairs of the house and into the kitchen. He looked his mom squarely inthe face and gravely said that he had lost the ve dollars. He explained to her how he had looked everywhere, retraced his steps multiple times, and could not nd the money.
His mom watched him as he told his story, nished drying her hands, put down the rag she was using, hugged him, took his left hand, and pried it open, revealing the ve-dollar bill.
Being so completely my father’s son, I understand the incredible panic that the little boy in the story was experiencing. Although Dad never said this specically, I know he was running through a
list of things that were going to happen because he lost the money, that he was berating himself for not being a better steward of the money given him, and that he was absolutely panicked to share about the loss.
Actually, I think we all understand his panic and thought process. When we face struggles, we all tend to miss what is literally within our grasp.
As I write about this story, I am struck by the number of times I have both guratively and actually panicked over losing things that are right in my grasp. It is easy to do — you get di cult news, or you struggle through your day and you convince yourself that you have lost something. For me, that panic shows up most often around physical abilities I think MS is taking. For you, it will be something di erent.
No matter the cause, that panicked response does not serve anyone.
My grandmother’s response, wiping her hands, giving dad a hug, revealing for him the truth of what was in his hand is a helpful reminder of a better way to respond.
When things seem truly awful, if we
slow down (Grandma drying her hands), remember the love that surrounds us (her hug) and look at our situation without panic (opening his hand), we will be able to deal with things more e ectively. We cannot control the fact that di cult things are going to happen in our lives; we can control how we respond in those moments.
You have got this.
I hope that you will nd inspiration in my words and share those words of encouragement with those who need it. ank you to all who have shared stories with me so far, I love hearing from you as you nd helpful morsels in these columns and nd ways to encourage those around you. I can be contacted at jim. roome@gmail.com
Jim Roome lives in Arvada with his wife Beth. He spent 34 years in public education. Lessons learned from the one two punch of being diagnosed with MS shortly before his best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer led him into a new pursuit as a freelance writer and speaker. He uses his life experiences and love of stories to inspire, educate and encourage local, national and international audiences.
Music in 2024 reflected a challenging year COMING ATTRACTIONS
and subjects modern folk can encapsulate.
Genesee Park bison
Describing a group like Blackstarkids is a tricky proposition. eir list of in uences is so wide-ranging that naming everything doesn’t do the project justice, but su ce to say they take elements of soul, funk and hip-hop and mash it together with synth pop, indie rock and pop-punk. It’s a heady brew, but the group make music that is often so beautiful, it takes your breath away.
For their last release as a band, Blackstarkids created a two-part concept album about a young woman making her way through the afterlife. Whether or not you want to invest in that side of the storytelling is up to you, but the songs they make are undeniable. Utterly gorgeous, infectious and full of the kind of pure joy we could use more of. It’s a shame it’s their nal release, but the group goes out on the highest of notes.
Bonny Light Horseman — ‘Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free’
Bonny Light Horseman is a collaboration between Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson and Josh Kaufman, all three of whom have deep experience blending folk sensibilities with pop, rock and any other number of genres. eir third album might be their strongest yet, a sprawling sonic exploration of the many directions
e album’s 20-track total may seem excessive, but the cumulative e ect is one of pure pleasure, as the trio of Mitchell, Johnson and Kaufman discover new and catchy ways to tell their stories. ere’s something for almost everyone to dig into — more traditional numbers and others that get under your skin and stay there. “Keep Me…” is an album to immersive yourself in — you won’t regret it.
Liana Flores — ‘Flower of the soul’
“Flower of the soul,’ the debut fulllength from British-Brazilian singer/ songwriter Liana Flores, may well be the prettiest album of the year. It brings to mind the work of legendary jazz vocalist Astrud Gilberto, but while there certainly is a jazz element to the music, Flores leans more on the acoustic side of things, creating a sound that is both lush and slightly minimalist.
Flores’ music is so lovely you’d be forgiven for slotting it in as background music, but that would do a disservice to her songwriting ability. Songs like “I Wish for the Rain” sound like they were transported out of the 1960’s, but still manage to feel fresh, instead of just a rip-o . e resulting album transports the listener to warmer climes and times — it’s a free plane ticket to a place where you can just relax and vibe.
Japandroids – ‘Fate & Alcohol’ Sometimes, a band just knows when it’s time to go. As a fan, I’d rather see a group go out on their own terms than dissolve into ghting and bitterness. So even though I’ll miss them, “Fate & Alcohol” is a tting send o to Japandroids, the Vancouver duo of Brian King and David
Prowse.
e band’s fourth and nal album is particularly special because it completes the arc the group have been on since their debut. Japandroids has always tra cked in anthemic, sing-along style guitar rock (hitting the zenith on their immortal second album, “Celebration Rock”), and that remains present here. But the lyrics are no longer driven by an unquenchable urge to spend the whole night drinking with friends. It’s more about nding peace and moving forward into whatever comes next. Heading into a new year, that’s a lesson we could all do well to learn.
Soccer Mommy — ‘Evergreen’
Over the course of her career, Sophie Allison (who records under the name Soccer Mommy) has perfected a blend of 90s grunge and indie rock with an apprecia-
A Genesee Park bison stands along the fence and basks in the mid-afternoon sun Dec. 20 near the Patrick House Trailhead. Starting in 2021, Denver Parks and Recreation has been donating surplus bison to Native American nonprofits and tribal governments to enhance conservation herds on tribal lands.
tion of generational pop gures, like Avril Lavigne and Taylor Swift. On her fourth album, “Evergreen,” she digs even deeper, coming up with an album that is stunning in its beauty and lyricism.
Written after what Allison said was a period of “profound and personal loss,” the album feels richer and more sonically exploratory than anything she’s done before. “Evergreen’s” musical palatte features more acoustic and string elements, which she uses to paint pictures of vulnerability and hope. Songs like “Some Sunny Day” and “Dreaming of Falling” just wrap you up and stick with you longer after they’re done. e whole album is a testament to the challenges we all face and inner strength to move forward. Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.
Jim Roome
Clarke Reader
PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN
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TikTok and timeouts:
How I took my life back from social media
“ Hold up! You’ve been scrolling for way too long now. Maybe get some food, get some water, and then come back later.”
Annoyed, I rolled my eyes at the TikTok Man and kept scrolling. TikTok’s algorithm will occasionally interject one of these “time to take a break” videos into your feed, supposedly when you’ve been on the app for over an hour. But I thought the algorithm to be a bunch of baloney. I hadn’t even been scrolling for that long!
Or… had I? I closed the app to check my “screen time,” a feature on the iPhone that monitors your usage of di erent kinds of apps. e apps are grouped into categories such as “social media,” “productivity” and “navigation.” Feeling smug, I was certain the majority of my screen time that week was spent on something worthwhile. Something in the “productivity” category, surely.
“TikTok: 3 hours 53 minutes,” my phone read. I had been scrolling on that darn app for almost four hours. Four hours!
My most used category? Social media. e Information and Reading category came next. Navigation was third. (I am 100% dependent on Google Maps so this came as no surprise.) e Productivity category didn’t even make my top ve. My average daily screen time was 8 hours, 27 minutes, over an hour longer than the average Gen Z-er, and I already knew my generation spends an absurd amount of time on screens. We’re not quite iPad kids (that’s Gen Alpha) but we are absolutely “chronically online.” I was stunned. Was it true? Was I doomscrolling my life away?
Desperate, I quickly devised a plan. In my Notes app. Hopefully doing so would raise my daily average in the “productivity” category. at felt important. To be frank, the amount of time I was still spending on X (formerly Twitter) despite it being a terrible app ever since Elon Musk bought it, was downright embarrassing.
I decided to name my plan “No More Brain Rot”. “Brain rot,” ironically, is a term I learned on Xitter. Urban Dictionary de nes brain rot content as “the various ‘short’ type-videos (typically a YouTube short, a TikTok, an Instagram reel etc.) that swarm social media feeds. It’s very easy to get sucked in and watch one short after another without even noticing. is lack of stimulation (or more correctly, empty stimulation) ‘rots’ the brain because of its self-repetition and low quality.”
As I began to draft my plan, I was reminded of something my dad used to tell my brother and me when we were kids. He told us that watching too much TV can turn your brain into soup. I fear he was on to something.
While Urban Dictionary and dad jokes are great in their own right, they’re not exactly reputable sources. So I did a little bit more research. I could spend hours on TikTok or Instagram without even noticing, let alone remembering any of the content I took in. When I watched a movie, however, or read a long-form article, I retained virtually all of it. Why is that? I wondered.
It turns out that short-form content
GUEST COLUMN
London Lyle
like TikToks or reels on Instagram and Facebook give us an instant dopamine release in the brain’s reward pathways. Scientists say this makes dopamine levels spike to way above baseline. When you watch a movie or read a book, the dopamine release is a slow burn. You have to practice delayed grati cation to get the most out of the experience. We live in an attention economy, meaning human attention has been commodi ed. Modern marketing tactics aim to “buy” your attention. Social media companies know this, and have designed their algorithms in a way that keeps you scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling.
As a result, young Americans’ attention spans have gotten shorter over time. ere is a growing amount of popular books, documentaries and TedX Talks on the subject, such as Atomic Habits, Scroll Zombies, e Social Dilemma, Dopamine Nation and more.
Not to be dramatic, but my reliance on those little dopamine hits throughout the day felt a little bit like an addiction in its own right. I was worried about what my “withdrawals” might look like. So as I put together my plan, I knew I needed to nd other things to do when I craved these digital drugs.
I thought back to what I used to do before social media. Tapped into my inner child. I used to spend more time outside. I used to read more books. I used to call my grandparents more often.
Suddenly, the prospect of a digital detox seemed a little less scary.
No More Brain Rot was a minimalistic program. It only had three steps.
Step one: Delete, Delete, Delete e rst step was deleting all of my social media apps. Not my accounts, just deleting the apps o of my phone. While I had worries about missing the next “demure” joke, “Moo Deng” video, and other viral moments, I put my pride aside. What’s more important, being upto-date on all the latest lingo and online trends, or improving my mental health and quality of life? If I had to be out of the loop for a beat, so be it.
Step two: Timeout Timeline
e next step was to come up with a timeline. I had no idea how long a digital detox should last. I decided to shoot for 70 days because that’s how long Amy Winehouse said rehab takes, and this is basically the same thing. (Also, fortunately, I do have 70 days to work on this!) I also decided to make a goal of cutting my screen time in half. at meant I would allow myself 4½ hours of screen time a day. is step was important because without setting goals related to my screen time, I risked replacing my social media usage with Reddit or Candy Crush. Sticking to it for 70 days ensured I had enough time to form new,
Experts give insight on how to stick to your New Year’s resolutions
BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Afew years ago, Randi Smith received an Italian accordion as a gift from her husband.
For years, it had been her goal to learn how to play the instrument. She planned to start learning once she retired, but her husband encouraged her to start before that.
But, despite resolving each new year to become an accordion player, Smith still hasn’t learned to play.
“I set myself up, because my goal to learn to play the accordion — it wasn’t speci c enough, and it certainly wasn’t attainable enough,” she said. “Whatever I did have in my mind was a fantasy rather than an achievable, measurable, stepwise map towards progress. It was just like, ‘I’m gonna learn how to play the accordion this year!’”
Smith, a professor of psychological sciences at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, said her story is a common one. Research shows that people tend not to stick to
their New Year’s resolutions beyond a few weeks, with some articles stating the failure rate is as high as 80% by February. rough her research and her work as a licensed psychologist and a licensed clinical social worker, Smith has seen that many people do not achieve their goals for a variety of common reasons. Whether people are making New Year’s resolutions or setting goals at another time of year, there are tips everyone can keep in mind when aiming to build new habits.
One strategy, Smith said, is to set realistic and measurable goals. Unlike her goal to learn to play the accordion, she said good goals should be speci c, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Many experts refer to these goals by the acronym “SMART.”
For learning to play the accordion, a smart goal could be to play 20 minutes per day, ve days per week and master the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” by February, Smith said.
A man scrolls on his phone in his bed at night. SHUTTERSTOCK
BOTTOM LEFT: Exercise groups can be one way to find social support to help you to-
TOP LEFT: An accordion, gifted to Randi Smith by her husband. COURTESY OF RANDI SMITH
RESOLUTIONS
“It’s speci c,” she said. “I think it’s achievable. It’s time-bound because it just gives me one month to get that far. And, I can certainly measure it and see whether I’ve been able to do that.”
Smith said it can also be helpful to write goals down. Putting goals on paper encourages the goal-setter to think about how to make the objective more structured, and also helps a person track their progress. It’s critical, however, to make sure that you aren’t too hard on yourself if you falter, Smith said. She said one roadblock to reaching a goal is “developing this all-ornothing thinking around it.”
“As soon as there’s something that is not counted as success toward the goal, the person feels like, ‘I’m a failure, I blew it — better try again next year,’” she said. “Obviously, that’s not good, and that’s why so many resolutions fail within the rst couple weeks or couple months.”
Smith said many people think they need to be hard on themselves in order to keep themselves accountable, but that strategy can actually back re.
“Sadly, the inner-drill-sergeant approach doesn’t really work, because then failure seems so total,” she said. “ e truth of the matter is — and it’s born out in the research, and I certainly see it in my own psychotherapy practice — that you’re actually creating more space for success if (you choose) to be more exible and kind to yourself.”
Cindy Morris, a clinical psychologist, said there are also things to keep in mind when deciding which habits to build for yourself. She is the clinical director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus’ Behavioral Health and Wellness Program, where her team trains organizations around the country to help them help patients and clients change their behaviors.
Speci cally, her program trains healthcare organizations, mental health organizations and community and public health groups to help their clients live nicotine-free, practice self-care and improve sleep habits, nutrition, physical activity and more.
Morris said self-awareness is the most important step to changing behavior. First, she said it’s important to re ect on your emotions, especially when you feel guilty or bad about something you have done or continue to do.
“It’s important to listen to it and see what the emotion is telling you,” she said. “Is it,‘I feel bad because I have a rule in my mind, a thought, a belief that tells me this is bad to do?’ or is it that it actually isn’t right for me? Once you get a sense of what’s going on — what is it that you want or don’t want — then you can focus more on the behavior.”
When a person decides they want to change a behavior or build a healthy habit, Morris said, it’s helpful to re ect on the triggers or cues that lead to the behavior they’re trying to change, what their current routine is and what the reward is.
“As people are aware of this kind of habit loop, then they can choose a new, di erent behavior, or di erent habit that they want to practice, and then they can replace the routine,” she said.
For example, if a person nds themself going to sleep late because they always stay up scrolling on their phone, they might recognize that this happens in the lull in the evening after they nish cleaning up from dinner, Morris said. ey might try to replace their mindless phone use at that time of night with reading a novel or taking a relaxing bath — something that can still let them get the reward of turning their brain o for a little bit before they go to sleep, without keeping them awake all night.
Morris said practice is an important part of habitbuilding.
“It’s not like anyone does anything like, say, plays a sport or something (and) the rst time you do it, you’re
“It just feels good to not only be thinking about yourself but to have other people in mind and wonder how they’re doing on what they wanted to be accountable towards.”
incredible and you’re going to the Olympics,” she said. “It’s incremental. And so, we want to be gentle with ourselves.”
Morris and Smith both said having social support is a helpful environment when you are practicing new habits.
“( ere’s) good empirical support for having social support when we’re working on a new goal,” Smith said. “If my goal is to lose 30 pounds in 2025, having a partner who is engaging with me — maybe somebody I meet with to have some regular exercise, or joining a support group to improve my nutrition and master my overeating... We know those things are helpful.”
For Lakewood resident Ty Preizler, having social support is helpful when working towards goals. at’s why he started the Denver Healthy Habits Accountability Group, a community for people to come together to support each other in building new habits.
“I nd that I’m I’m way more motivated when I know that there’s going to be a group of people in a few weeks that I’m going to sit there and talk with about this,” he said. “Just having that companionship makes it a lot easier to stick to to the habits that we want.”
His group, which he launched in October, generally meets once a month. ey discuss their goals and sometimes do guided meditations or journaling sessions to re ect. With a variety of ages and backgrounds, the group members are working towards goals related to tness, nutrition and nding purpose in life.
Learn more about the group at https://www.meetup. com/denver-healthy-habits-accountability-group/.
So far, Preizler said his favorite part of the group has been getting the chance to help people, hearing their challenges and nding a community of people who understand and encourage self-improvement.
“It just feels good to not only be thinking about yourself but to have other people in mind and wonder how they’re doing on what they wanted to be accountable towards,” he said. “It just feels good.”
Psychology professor Randi Smith says it can be helpful to write down your goals. SHUTTERSTOCK
Ty Preizler, Lakewood resident
The mouth that roared SOUTH JEFFCO – Customer was under the impression that he’d traded in four cell phones, and he waited not-very-patiently for word he’d received a large credit. Eventually deciding he’d waited long enough, he dropped by the store to find out who was dropping the ball. The store manager said he could find no record of the transaction and asked to see Customer’s receipt for the exchange. Having no receipt to show him, Customer sought to win the manager’s support with cool reason. “You gotta’ be (flipping) kidding me!” screamed Customer. “This is (flipping) ridiculous!” As Customer’s well-organized arguments were perhaps too insightful for the perfect comfort of the numerous mothers and small children within the store, the manager suggested they continue the debate somewhere less public. “(Flip) you!” Customer parried. “(Flip) you (flipping) (cork-soakers)!” Knowing himself bested by a master rhetorician, the manager turned to JCSO deputies, who questioned Customer’s aggressive dialectical style. “I had some bad language,” Customer admitted. “I used the ‘f-word’ a few times.” The manager said he wouldn’t bring up
the “c-word” (charges) if deputies would “t-word” (trespass) Customer from the premises and he never had to “e-word” (endure) him again.
Walkin’ the dogs
CONIFER – Nobody knew Sheba when she and her three dogs blew into town on the morning of Nov. 11, but they’ll remember her for a long time to come. The first thing Sheba & Co. did was jump Resident’s fence and loiter in his yard. Resident told Sheba she was on private property and asked that she and her unleashed pets get gone. Apropos of nothing, Sheba accused Resident of beating his own dogs. Resident responded that he does not beat his own dogs and couldn’t imagine why a perfect stranger and flagrant trespasser would make such an accusation. Resident notified JCSO of the troublesome tourist and, righteous indignation intact, Sheba and her pack humped back over the fence and wandered down the street where she soon encountered Mr. and Mrs. Local, who were out walking their dog. Sheba rushed forward and began lavishing very physical attention of the Local’s leashed animal. Mr. Local told her to stop, explaining that he wasn’t at all sure how his hound would react to such intensive handling by a stranger. “Do you want to do hand-
healthier habits.
Step three: Touching Grass
Once I had a clean (app-free) slate
to-hand combat?” Sheba asked. Just then, one of Sheba’s dogs leapt toward the Local’s dog, clearly spoiling for a fight. Struggling to keep the animals separated, Mr. Local warned Sheba that if she didn’t immediately take her dog in hand he’d be forced to “kick it” to keep it off of his dog. Sheba charged at Mr. Local, and a very brief melee ensued, followed quickly by the arrival of a JCSO deputy. Sheba rushed forward to lodge a complaint. “He hit me!” she told the deputy. “He hit me in the (bosom)! I want to press charges!” Mr. Local assured the officer that he’d raised his hand in the universal signal to stop, and it was Sheba who’d run her (bosom) headlong into it. Since Sheba didn’t have a case, and the Local’s didn’t want to make one, the deputy figured it best to simply advise Sheba on proper public comportment. Sheba didn’t want to hear it, turning on her heel and hustling her dogs back out of town.
Lights, camera, action
EVERGREEN – The way Bob and Bunny told it, Bob was trying to grill outdoors on the evening of Nov. 16, but the “bright light” from neighbor Beaufort’s house was making it difficult to properly attend his trayfull of T-bones. Bob told deputies he “asked (Beaufort) to shut off the light,” which is when Beaufort grabbed his
dog, stormed across the property line and started “yelling profanities” and “threatening to assault” Bob and/or Bunny. Bob and Bunny provided surveillance footage showing Beaufort “jumping, lunging and screaming” at the house, “clearly agitated.” Queried for comment, Beaufort assured the officers he’d been agitated and then some. Beaufort said it was Bob who fired the first verbal volley, shouting “shut the (flashing) lights off!,” apparently peeved because Beaufort’s bairns were “running around the yard with lights on their heads.” Beaufort said he’d had every intention to “kick his (fussy) teeth in,” but when Bunny called over that she had a gun and was prepared to shoot him, he figured he’d made his point and retreated to his own yard. Deputies advised Beaufort that his outburst crossed several legal lines, and that in future he should keep his cool. Deputies advised Bob and Bunny that their own actions “constituted criminal behavior,” and in future they should try to be chill.
and a rough timeline to work with, I was ready for step three, which I called “touching grass.” I thought of things I’d like to do more in my day-to-day life, and then when I wanted to go on my phone, I did one of those things instead. Reading, calling a friend, working out, meditating, journaling, pondering over the meaning of life … there are endless possibilities. I didn’t do all of these things every day, but it helped to have a lot of options.
My Takeaway
One of my goals for 2024 was to read five books. It might sound like a low bar to clear, but up until I began this challenge in late September, my 2024 book count was a whopping two. And one was an audiobook, so does that really count? Determined to avoid yet another failed New Year’s resolution, I picked out a stack of books and got to work. I couldn’t believe I had abandoned my love for reading for hours of doomscrolling on social media. And while I still have one to go, I can confidently say it was a success.
Sheriff’s Calls is intended as a humorous take on some of the incident call records of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for the mountain communities. Names and identifying details have been changed, including the writer’s name, which is a pseudonym. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty.
I wasn’t perfect every day, but I was reminded of one of my former editor’s favorite quotes, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” Focusing on the good, the results of my 70-day digital detox are pretty rad. I got back into reading, learned how to do a pulI-up, spent more time outside, and felt more present in my day-to-day life. I even inspired my stepdad to join in on the challenge with me. It was helpful to have someone else to go through the process with. And he’s actually still going!
So, what now?
While part of me thought I could keep going forever, it didn’t feel realistic for me to never return to social media, both as a young reporter and an Enjoyer of Memes. But the process has changed my approach to social media. I don’t use it as a distraction from real life anymore. Instead, I try to use other habits for escapism, like listening to podcasts, going out for a walk or getting lost in a book.
One of the interesting things about giving up social media is you remember who your reallife friends are. My real friends and I still texted and hung out like normal. Sure, they couldn’t send me funny TikToks or memes for 10 weeks, but we still communicated. This made me examine the people on my social media. I realized I was following so many people I don’t talk to anymore, which made my social media experience all the more overwhelming at times.
Whether it was a classmate from high school, or someone I met at a party during undergrad, it all felt like unnecessary clutter. It’s nothing personal; it’s just that I don’t need to know Chad from Theta Xi’s thoughts on cryptocurrency. I vowed to unfollow quite a few of these folks once my digital detox ended.
Since I’ve unfollowed a lot of people, I notice that spending time on social media doesn’t make me feel bad about myself the way it used to. Comparison is the thief of joy, and comparing myself to influencers was not serving me in any way.
Through my research while on the break, I learned about a lot of tools people use to limit their social media usage. Once I returned, I set up controls on my phone that “time me out” of social media usage. It’s like using parental controls on a kid’s iPad, except I’m doing it for myself. There are tons of apps out there that can help you limit your social media use.
I’m proud to say that if you look at my screen time report today, the ‘productivity’ category has taken first place. London Lyle is a freelance reporter for the Denver North Star and La Ciudad newsletter.
Colorado cyclist returns from 5-year trip around the globe
Ted Eliason details circumnavigating the
BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMNMUNITYMEDIA.COM
After over ve years pedaling across 56 countries spanning ve continents, Ted Eliason is back in time for the holidays and enjoying the creature comforts of his Westminster home.
On Dec. 14, Eliason, 57, turned the nal corner of his neighborhood bordering Westminster and Arvada on his Surly bike to return at last to his wife, Kendra, and the welcome sight of his friends, family and food he’d missed for a half-decade.
It only took 51,164 miles and 1,379 days.
Eliason had always planned to climb the Himalayas. To prepare for this bucket-list goal, he moved to Colorado in 1999 with the idea of using the Front Range as a training ground for tackling the tallest peaks in the world. He and Kendra had lived a life together of rock climbing, ice climbing, mountain climbing and all sorts of mountaineering adventures (including summiting all of Colorado’s 14ers), from the Rockies to the Alps to the Andes and in Canada.
But one day a mountaineering accident broke Eliason’s foot. To help in his recovery, he took up cycling, but could never have guessed the places it would take him.
“I had started watching people on Instagram doing this kind of cycling, and realized the money that I would spend on one guided peak in the Himalayas was enough to fund me for about three years on a bicycle instead,” Eliason said. “And so I sort of changed my lifetime goal at the last minute. Instead of taking three months with a 50% chance of success at one mountain, how about we take three years and try to go through 50 countries around the world in one trip? And so I was at a point in my life where I decided, if I’m ever going to take a shot at this, this is when I need to do it.”
Part I: Hitting the open road … and quick roadblocks
After weeks of planning and plotting, he set out on his expedition in 2019, pulling his loaded-up bike out of his garage to trek across the country to Newfoundland, stopping during nights to set up camp and nd at ground for his tent. In the beginning, it was easy to overthink, and to overdo just about everything, he said.
“Absolutely there were a lot of doubts,” Eliason said. “I started by over-planning, over-gearing, over-spending. And it’s funny. e longer that I’ve been doing this, the more my executive
world on his bicycle
thinking about, ‘OK, where do I have to be tomorrow? Where am I going to eat, sleep, you know, what can I a ord?’ And over time, I just got better at it.”
He rode his momentum down to Providence, Rhode Island, where he’d y across the pond to start his European stint. After landing in Dublin, Eliason powered up to Scotland before turning south for Brindisi, Italy, to wind around the Alps to the east.
A ferry took him to Greece, where he biked east through Croatia to the Danube River.
Following the ancient waterway from Serbia to Bulgaria, Eliason quickly learned that this trip wouldn’t be possible in just three years. e COVID-19 pandemic would halt his journey and the world over.
for the Turkish border to open, which it never did.”
Discouraged and antsy, Eliason reluctantly made for the So a International Airport, ashing his passport to guards through highway checkpoints and nally being let through.
Getting home was an expensive roadblock in his journey, costing him both his nances and his time.
Upon his return, Eliason quickly discovered (unsurprisingly) that he wasn’t satis ed sitting around waiting for the Earth to reopen. Before he knew it, he was back on the bike.
function has shrunk to where I only think like one or two days ahead at most. So the learning
process has really been how to go with the ow. Every evening I wrap up my miles, but then I’m
“I missed the Turkish border from Bulgaria by a day,” Eliason said. “ I got to Bulgaria, and then basically the whole country just locked down. Which, you know, if you’re going to get stuck, Bulgaria is a good place. It’s the least expensive country in the EU. I had a very comfortable one-bedroom apartment on the Black Sea. I wound up staying there for three months waiting
“When I got home, I wasn’t ready to stop,” he said. “My wife suggested I bike out to Oregon and see my brother, and I had always wanted to do the West Coast bicycle route down Highway 1. My COVID loop was up to Glacier, over to the U.S.-Canada border, down the West Coast to Tijuana. And back at that point, I was in California spending $8 on a box of Triscuits, and just was like, this is not the priority for spending. So I went home, and I kind of rotted for a year and a half and waited.”
Ted Eliason poses in front of a sign depicting the longest road through Australia. He biked from Perth to Sydney on his journey. COURTESY PHOTOS
The map above details Ted Eliason’s final stretch from South America back to Colorado. It also details his trip during COVID-19 to Oregon and down the West Coast.
Part II: Getting back in the saddle
By April of 2022, Eliason nally felt borders had opened enough to pick back up where he left o . But this time, Kendra was coming along, if only for a bit.
e adventurers went back to Greece for Round Two. ey enjoyed parts of Greece and Turkey together for two weeks before Kendra returned to the U.S. and sent him o for Central Asia. A bus took her to the airport in Istanbul.
As for Eliason, he made it into Turkey this time and followed a path across Georgia and Central Asia to the Chinese border.
Rather than go through China, which was still closed due to the pandemic, he traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to y rst to Dehli, India, before connecting to Leh, one of the northernmost points of India and a key historical trade point also known for stunning views and cultural signi cance.
After enjoying a week of backpacking in the area, Eliason continued his journey down the west coast of India around the peninsula to Chennai on the eastern side. Kendra ew to meet him again in Bangkok in January 2023.
All the way from Bangkok to Nha Trang, Vietnam, the two cycled across Cambodia together for ve weeks. It was an experience the two will relish forever and was the favorite stint of the long journey for both riders.
“South Asia was freaking amazing. I would go back,” Kendra said. “ ere’s not many places I would say I would go back. e riding was so amazing. ere’s always a huge shoulder (to bike on), and they’re all on two wheels. You’d see families of six on one motorcycle. It was so crazy exhilarating to go through South Vietnam. e tra c was just insane. We had kids chasing us and cheering us on (and) little kids racing us on bicycles. It was like a bicycle culture.”
From there, Kendra went home while Eliason looped up through Vietnam solo to the Chinese border before wrapping around Laos to get to ailand. He moved south through Malaysia before hopping over to Indonesia to bike from Java to Bali, concluding the Asian stint of his journey.
Another ight took him to Australia, where he’d trek across the outback from Perth all the way to Sydney before taking to New Zealand. While this portion of his trip was undoubtedly beautiful, Eliason said Australia and New Zealand, much like the U.S., can be di cult to navigate. “ e U.S. and Canada together, as well as Australia and New Zealand, are geared around cars, and how you travel through them is just very di erent from how you travel in the rest of the world,” Eliason said. “ e rest of the world is, in general, much easier. I mean, there are towns everywhere, there’s food everywhere (and) it’s more a ordable.” ere would be long stretches of highway between cities or towns that would make him push harder to reach a food source, or often camp for the night and survive on what he already had on his person.
After ve weeks in New Zealand, it was time to go back to the Americas.
Part III: Back to the Americas
Landing in Santiago, Chile, the nal stretch up South America back to Colorado was underway. But rst, he’d loop down the Carretera Austral highway to Ushuaia, Argentina, dubbed the “end of
the world” at the southernmost point of South America on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.
Most of 2023 had passed since Eliason had seen Kendra. But she decided to y south for the winter in December to explore ve South American countries with him.
ey met in Calafate to cycle through Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande Do Sol Brazil, Paraguay and nally Bolivia to La Paz where she ew home again ve months after she’d arrived.
us began the last leg of his transcontinental journey. It began with Peru, which Eliason said was the beginning of his travel burnout.
“Peru was absolutely the most di cult for me,” Eliason said. “ e Himalayas are easier because the roads are like the Front Range — like (here). In Peru, they are not. ey are up and over repeatedly. So you’re doing 3,000-meter climbs, which can take two days, and then going down and doing it again. It’s very safe.
e people are very nice. e dogs are a bit aggressive. But getting through the Peruvian Andes for me was just really, really grueling.”
He continued up through Ecuador and Colombia before taking a sailboat to Panama. Central America took him through Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala before he broke through to Mexico.
e American Southwest was beckoning, and Eliason was anxious to chase it. He longed for his wife, his bed and some Taco Bell.
He nally broke through to Arizona, riding the desert up to Utah and cutting across to Colorado. Just a week from home, a snowstorm would hit Colorado, delaying his nal homecoming. He camped in Parker before making his way to Denver, stopping at the REI at Con uence Park downtown.
Local cyclists and friends joined him there to make the nal stretch back to his Westminster garage. Eliason was welcomed home with a party, a makeshift “ nish line” to break through, and lots of food he’d been missing.
After six sets of tires, countless ats, seven broken chains, eight sets of brake pads, over 20 spokes, four rim/wheel repairs, ve pairs of pedals, 3½ saddles and over 10 ights, he pulled into the garage he’d embarked from ve years ago.
Dismounting from his trusty Surly Disc Trucker, he fell into the arms of his wife while friends and family cheered, ready to celebrate his return. It was sunny and 50 degrees, and for the rst time, Eliason didn’t have to set up camp or worry about what tomorrow’s road would bring.
“ ere’s far, far less to fear about most countries in the world than I ever expected,” Eliason said, re ecting on a lifechanging journey. “ e vast majority of countries will greet a foreign traveler on a bicycle, even an American traveler, like a long-lost relative. I mean, people are just generally good, curious, kind, hospitable people.”
For more photos and to experience Eliason’s journey mile by mile, visit @ bikingthebluemarble on Instagram, and stay tuned for his experience in his own words in a forthcoming book he plans to begin soon.
THERE’S MORE ONLINE!
See more photos at https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/2024/12/17/ colorado-cyclist-returns-from-5-year-triparound-the-globe/ and read answers to four more questions we asked Ted Eliason.
Pictured is a campsite Ted Eliason from Colorado set up along Peru’s grueling highway through the Andes mountains.
Ted and Kendra Eliason pose for a photo as they cross into Brazil.
COURTESY PHOTOS
WORSHIP DIRECTORY
BERGEN PARK CHURCH
Bergen Park Church is a group of regular people who strive to improve ourselves and our community by studying the Bible and sharing our lives with each other. On Sunday mornings you can expect contemporary live music, Children’s Ministry that seeks to love and care for your kids, teaching from the Bible, and a community of real people who are imperfect, but seek to honor God in their lives. We hope to welcome you soon to either our 9:00AM or 10:30AM Sunday service.
Search Bergen Park Church on YouTube for Livestream service at 9:00am 31919 Rocky Village Dr. 303-674-5484 info@bergenparkchurch.org / www.BergenParkChurch.org
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH SERVICES 28244 Harebell Lane
Sunday Service & Sunday School: 10 a.m.
Wednesday evening: 7p.m: (Zoom only Nov.1st-Mar. 31st.)
Visit: www.christianscienceevergreen.com for more information and ZOOM link
Reading Room: 4602 Plettner Lane 303-674-5296
OPEN: TUES-SAT 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
CHURCH OF THE HILLS PRESBYTERIAN (USA)
Serving the mountain community from the heart of Evergreen Worship 10:00 a.m.
Reverend Richard Aylor
O ce Hours: Tu-Thur 9:00 - 4:00; Fri 9:00 - noon Bu alo Park Road and Hwy 73 www.churchofthehills.com
CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION EPISCOPAL
In-Church: Sunday Communion Quiet Service 8:00 am & with Music 10:15 am 10:15 am only Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86017266569
In-Meadow: 2nd Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m. --June through September— 27640 Highway 74 – ¼ mile east of downtown Evergreen at the Historic Bell Tower www.transfigurationevergreen.org
CONGREGATION BETH EVERGREEN (SYNAGOGUE)
Reconstructionist Synagogue
Rabbi Jamie Arnold www.BethEvergreen.org / (303) 670-4294 2981 Bergen Peak Drive (behind Life Care)
DEER PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Reverend Dr. Knut Heim, pastor, Sunday Worship 10 AM
Located one mile west of Pine Junction just o Rt. 285 966 Rim Rock Road, Bailey (303) 838-6759 deerparkumc.org
All are welcome to our open/inclusive congregation!
EVERGREEN LUTHERAN CHURCH 5980 Highway 73 + 303-674-4654
Rev. Terry Schjang
Join us for worship in person or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EvergreenLutheranChurch
Sunday Worship held at 9am. www.evergreenlutheran.org + All Are Welcome!
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CHURCH – EPC
1036 El Rancho Rd, Evergreen – (303) 526-9287 www.lomcc.org – o ce@lomcc.org
Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m., with communion every Sunday “Real Church In An UnReal World” A community empowered by the Holy Spirit which seeks authentic relationships with God and others to share the good news of Jesus with Evergreen, the Front Range and the world. Come as you are, all are welcome!
PLATTE CANYON COMMUNITY CHURCH
Located: 4954 County Road 64 in Bailey. O ce hours MWF 8am-1pm 303-838-4409, Worship & Children’s Church at 10am
Small group studies for all ages at 9am
Transitional Pastor: Mark Chadwick
Youth Pastor: Jay Vonesh
Other activities: Youth groups, Men’s/Women’s ministries, Bible studies, VBS, MOPS, Cub/Boy Scouts.
ROCKLAND COMMUNITY CHURCH
“Connecting all generations to Jesus”
Please check our website, www.Rockland.church, for updated service times ¼ mile north of I-70 at exit 254 17 S Mt. Vernon Country Club Rd., Golden, CO 80401 303-526-0668
SHEPHERD OF THE ROCKIES LUTHERAN CHURCH
Missouri Synod. 106 Rosalie Road, Bailey, CO 303-838-2161 Pastor John Graham Sunday Worship Service; 9 a.m., Fellowship Time; 10:15 a.m., Sunday School & Bible Class; 10:45 a.m. www.shepherdoftherockies.org UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF EVERGREEN Rev. Sarah Clark • 303.674.4810
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PUBLIC NOTICES
Legals
City and
the 21st day of January 2025 final settlement will be made by the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado to: CONCRETE EXPRESS INC. 2027 W. COLFAX AVE. DENVER CO 80204
hereinafter called the “Contractor”, for and on account of the contract for the “Mouth of Canyon” Non Federal Segment of P2P Trail project in Jefferson County, CO.
1. Any person, co-partnership, association, or corporation who has an unpaid claim against the said project, for or on account of the furnishing of labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender, or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or any of said work, may at any time up to and including said time of such final settlement, file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim.
2.All such claims shall be filed with Heather Frizzell, Director of Finance for Jefferson County Colorado, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden CO 80419-4560.
3.Failure on the part of a creditor to file such statement prior to such final settlement will relieve the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado, from any and all liability for such claim.
County of Jefferson, State of Colorado
Andy Kerr, Chairman Board of County Commissioners
Legal Notice No. CAN 1771
First Publication: January 2, 2025
Last Publication: January 9, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice
Request for Proposals –BPRC HRU Replacement Project
Evergreen Park & Recreation District (EPRD) invites qualified companies (“Respondents”) to submit their proposals for the replacement, removal and disposal of the existing Heat Recovery Air Unit at the Buchanan Park Recreation Center and the installation and set-up of a new Heat Recovery Unit of similar type. Selected Respondent and all subcontractors shall conform to all applicable laws and building codes and shall secure all necessary building permits for the project. A copy of the full RFP can be found on EPRD”s website, www.evergreenrecreation.com or at www.bidnetdirect.com.
A mandatory Pre-bid meeting will be held at the Buchanan Park Recreation Center, on January 30, 2025 at 10 a.m.
Complete proposals shall be provided to EPRD by Wednesday, February 28, 2025 no later than 10 am. Proposals may be submitted via mail, hand delivery, or email to EPRD: Attn: Bob Schmitz, 1521 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen, CO 80439, bschmitz@eprdco.gov.
Legal Notice No. CAN 1758
First Publication: January 2, 2025
Last Publication: January 9, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice
NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT RME LTD., LLC dba ELITE SURFACE INFRASTRUCTURE CP 24-01 FLOYD HILL PARKING AREA IMPROVEMENTS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with the notice provisions contained in 38-26107, C.R.S., the CLEAR CREEK BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS has established Tuesday, January 7th, 2025, 8:30 am, at the Board of County Commissioners hearing room, located at 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado, as the date, time and place of final settlement with RME Ltd., LLC dba Elite Surface Infrastructure for Clear Creek County project CP 24-01 Floyd Hill Parking Area Improvements, County of Clear Creek, State of Colorado. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, sustenance, or other supplies used or consumed by such contractor or his or her subcontractor in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that supplied laborers, rental machinery, tools, or equipment
to the extent used in the prosecution of the work, whose claim therefore has not been paid by the contractor or subcontractor, at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for work contracted to be done, may file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim with the Clear Creek Board of County Commissioners, Clear Creek County, P O Box 2000, 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado, 80444-2000. Failure to file such verified statement or claim prior to final settlement will release the County and its employees and agents from any and all liability for such claim and for making final payment to said contractor.
George Marlin, Chair Board of County Commissioners
Legal Notice No. CAN 1764
First Publication: December 26, 2024
Last Publication: January 2, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier
Public Notice
NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT
JEFFERSON COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO
Pursuant to C.R.S. Section 38-26-107, notice is hereby given that on the 14th day of January 2025 final settlement will be made by the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado to:
OLDCASTLE SW GROUP INC DBA APC 2350 S 1900 W SUITE 200 OGDEN, UT 84401
hereinafter called the “Contractor”, for and on account of the construction contract for Asphalt Overlay Replacement project in Jefferson County, CO.
1. Any person, co-partnership, association or corporation who has an unpaid claim against the said project, for or on account of the furnishing of labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or any of said work, may at any time up to and including said time of such final settlement, file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim.
2.All such claims shall be filed with Heather Frizzell, Director of Finance Jefferson County Colorado, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden CO 80419-4560.
3.Failure on the part of a creditor to file such
statement prior to such final settlement will relieve the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado, from any and all liability for such claim.
County of Jefferson, State of Colorado
Andy Kerr, Chairman
Board of County Commissioners
Legal Notice No. CAN 1762
First Publication: December 26, 2024
Last Publication: January 2, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier
Public Notice
NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT
JEFFERSON COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO
Pursuant to C.R.S. Section 38-26-107, notice is hereby given that on the 21st day of January 2025 final settlement will be made by the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado to:
COLORADO MOISTURE CONTROL INC. 3108 E. 50th Ave Denver Co. 80216
hereinafter called the “Contractor”, for and on account of the construction contract for South
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