Klein Youth Choir To Perform At YMCA of the Rockies, Hyde Chapel

Wednesday, June 7 At 7:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, June 7th, the youth choir from Klein UMC will be the featured performing group at a concert in Hyde Chapel. This performance is free and open to the public.

Klein United Methodist Church is located in Spring, Texas, about 35 miles north of Houston. The youth choir is a group of 15 singers who rehearse yearround to share music to glorify the Lord in worship and in their community. They will be on tour in West Texas and Colorado the first week of June. Wednesday’s performance will be about 40 minutes long and include music from several genres of Christian music; gospel, spirituals, traditional choral, and contemporary Christian music. The concert will be held in the newly renovated Hyde Chapel on the YMCA grounds. The recently completed renovation has readied Hyde Chapel for the future while honoring its rich history. To enhance the connection to nature, the chapel received a larger window, offering stunning views of the mountain surroundings. New wood flooring, a new audio/visual system and a redesigned parking lot now offer a more accessible worship space. The general public is invited to come see the new worship space during weekly worship or during any of the many other ongoing summer scheduled events.

This Wednesday night concert is a part of the Chapel Ministry’s 2023 Summer Worship program. Learn more about the YMCA Chapel Ministry and 2023 Summer Worship activities at ymcarockies.org/Activities, and follow the link to the latest Activity Schedule.

Suncreek Youth Choir To Perform At YMCA Of The Rockies, Hyde Chapel

Monday, June 5 At 7:00 p.m.

On Monday, June 5th, the youth choir from Suncreek UMC will be the featured performing group at a concert in Hyde Chapel. This performance is free and open to the public. Suncreek United Methodist Church is a large, suburban church located about 45 minutes north of downtown Dallas in the suburb of Allen, Texas. The Cantate Choir has existed for over two decades and has a rich history of musicality, service, and presence amongst the community we serve. They are currently comprised of 26, 6th-12th graders and will be touring West Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma the first week of June with a home concert performance on June 8th.

The concert will be held in the newly renovated Hyde Chapel on the YMCA grounds. The recently completed renovation has readied Hyde Chapel for the future while honoring its rich history. To enhance the connection to nature, the chapel received a larger window, offering stunning views of the mountain surroundings. New wood flooring, a new audio/visual system and a redesigned parking lot now offer a more accessible worship space.

The general public is invited to come see the new worship space during weekly worship or during any of the many other ongoing summer scheduled events.

This Monday night concert is a part of the Chapel Ministry’s 2023 Summer Worship program. Learn more about the YMCA Chapel Ministry and 2023 Summer Worship activities at ymcarockies.org/Activities, and follow the link to the latest Activity Schedule.

What Can I Do With THAT?

By: Judi Smith

June generally means a swelling population for the Estes Valley. Both millions of visitors and part-time residents arrive to spend time in the green (as in trees and flowers) community, hiking, fishing, boating, or just having coffee on the deck. The air in Estes is still clearer than most of the USA; our temperature is still cooler than the heat across the Front Range; the drought is not as punishing here as Arizona’s lack of water; and we do not face insistent and constant wildfires. (Evacuation every nine years would seem like a vacation to some Californians!)

Still, to preserve that green, we must all be mindful of the changing conditions of life on Earth. Even though we are better off than many South American cities and farms, our own climate is warmer; mosquitos more prevalent; grasshoppers now resident in most Estes gardens. As the temperature rises, the too well-insulated pica are finding summer harder and harder to survive – even here. It is necessary for Estes residents and visitors to pay attention to fire codes and ecological recommendations that slow that progression.

Air pollution knows no bounds, but floats everywhere. Even in Estes, we are experiencing days when the air is not as clear as we would like. Today, as I write this, we have an Air Quality Index of “8” in Estes Park. My windows are open as we air out the house, preceding tomorrow’s predicted AQI level of “20.” One way to support not only the pica, but our own future, is to, whenever possible, redirect all forms of “waste” away from the landfill. Abusing our landfills leads to investing more land in storing “trash,” even when much of that discarded material could be recovered and recycled to provide a continuing resource.

The first rule of thumb in preventing waste from contributing to greenhouse gases (ghg): Keeping organics out of the trash can will accomplish three things: 1). We eliminate 30% of what is filling our landfill – so the life of the landfill will be significantly longer. 2). The household trash without organic material does not smell. This makes fixing breakfast more pleasant. 3). Because there is no odor, instead of weekly, trash runs can be done once a month, saving about $540 per year ($15 per trip). What could you do with that savings?

Our rapidly changing information technology results in computers and other electronics reaching the point of replacement faster that the expiration of the many parts that comprise the equipment. The manufacture of computers, like any other product requires processes that increase greenhouse gases, like the generation of heat in the building. Computers use metals which must be mined, but can be recycled innumerous times.

They require plastic, made from petroleum. Perhaps unsure of what to do with them, people were discarding computers into the landfill trash. Sometimes they were adding them to the recycling bucket, but, because they are not all alike, these items cannot be single streamed.

So, under Governor John Hickenlooper, Colorado passed a law forbidding electronics in the landfill OR in the recycling bucket. They created a class of certified (trained) electronic recyclers who would dismantle and sort the electronic ingredients for recycle and reuse. This kept them out of the landfill, recycled the materials, and saved the resources that would be needed to manufacture replacements from scratch. This is still true today. In Colorado, electronic equipment may not be thrown “out” in recycling or landfill trash. Disposal must be handled by a Certified Electronic Recycler. Of course, the recycler must charge a fee to pay the employees who do the dismantling.

Today, people use electronics in all facets of life: computers, printers, scanners, routers, phones, televisions, remotes. There are several Certified Electronic Recyclers down Highway 34. Just type “Certified Electronic Recycler” into your browser along with the City or County you prefer. However, bear in mind, that it costs to drive down-valley. This year’s IRS calculation is 65 cents per mile including all the costs of operating and repairing the vehicle plus eventual replacement.

On the other highway, (US36) Eco-cycle is qualified also. They accept “anything with a cord or a battery.” If it is electronic there are fees. If they consider it scrap metal, it is free (except the $3 entry fee. If it is a plastic electric appliance, they also accept that.

OR – if you prefer to do it the easy way and you have some space where you can store your discards for the summer, the League of Women Voters, Community Recycling Committee (CRC), along with the Town of Estes Park, Eco-cycle, and the Estes Park Rotary Club, are hosting Estes Recycles Day on August 12. Ecocycle will be here to accept electronics, and (thanks to grants from The Village Thrift Shop, the Estes Valley Rotary Club and the Premiere Member Credit Union) the electronic fees will be significantly reduced this year, so if you have been “stocking up” this is a great year to clean out the closet. We will also be recycling scrap metal, microwaves, CFL lightbulbs, smoke detectors, plus bicycle tires and tubes. And, of course, the EP (noon) Rotary will be offering paper shredding. Come and join the fun – and get rid of some hard-to-recycle material while you are there.

Agree? Disagree? Comments?

RRRcyc@signsandwishes.com

Estes Park Health Invests In New CT Scanner

When it comes to high-tech equipment, the CT scanner is one of the centerpieces of diagnostic imaging, giving radiologists an extraordinarily detailed look inside the body.

“There’s no doubt that the CT scanner is the workhorse modality of every radiology department,” explained Estes Park Health radiologist Dr. John Knudtson.

“It gets more use than any machine. CT stands for computed tomography. All that x-ray information is then sent to very powerful computers. Hence the name computed tomography. That x-ray data is reconstructed by the computers into an image of the body.”

A CT scan is a painless imaging test. Estes Park resident Stephen Gilbert had the test on the order of his doctor.

“I had a baseline CT a number of years ago,” Gilbert said. “I’ve had a couple of strokes in my life.”

In the spring of 2023, Estes Park Health installed a new CT, a Siemens 128-slice scanner. The images are uploaded to a computer that creates incredible images the radiologist can look through, almost like slicing up a loaf of bread to see what’s inside. The computer reconstructs all the individual snapshots into multiple cross-sectional images of the internal organs and tissues.

The new machine is a good upgrade to Estes Park Health clinical equipment.

“It’s just an overall big improvement over what we had before,” Dr. Knudtson emphasized. “The image quality, the resolution, the speed, accuracy -- all those things are improved with the new scanner. We can get people in, diagnosed, treated, stabilized. If they need a higher level of care, we can get them to the higher level of care very quickly, very effectively.”

The new scanner is used for emergency cases, and for inpatient and outpatient care, giving Estes Park Health experts a way to peer inside the body to see what’s happening. The radiologist and physicians can pinpoint pathology and evaluate the size and location to guide treatment.

Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings

AA of Glen Haven- Every Monday night at the Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. Also Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Glen Haven Town Hall.

Early Worms-Monday thru Saturday at 7:00 a.m. (Tues., Thurs. & Saturday hybrid meetings with Zoom #796 839 839 PW:Worms20) at St. Bartholomew Church, 880 MacGregor Ave.

Fall River Group

Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held at 453 West Elkhorn: Mon., Weds., at Noon Fri. at 7:00 p.m.

Zoom Meetings-Everyday at noon Zoom #999 829 166 (no password needed).

Monday Zoom Big Book study at 7 p.m. #654 598 884 (no password needed).

Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Zoom #999 829 166

Note: The AA Meeting website has over 6,000 members and there are 69 AA Meetings a week plus NA has 30 meetings a week. Go to www.intherooms.com