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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


Inside P r e m i e r

F e at u r e s

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Clearview LIbrary

windsor trails

Carolyn Figal

Jon moore

Community growth spurs expansion plan

Windsor residents take advantage of more than 40 miles of trails

Despite battling cancer, she continues her volunteer work

finds life lessons in martial arts, and turns it into successful Windsor business

5 Calendar of Events 10 things to do in Windsor

6 Windsor Recreation Center Grand Opening

10 Answers to the most-asked questions about Windsor The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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501 8th Ave. P.O. Box 1690 Greeley, CO 80632 For all editorial, advertising, subscription and circulation inquiries, call (970) 352-0211.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Trevor Reid Luanne Kadlub

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE WITH DR. ROBIN

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October 2016, Volume 1, Issue 3. Published by: Greeley Publishing Co., publisher of The Greeley Tribune, Windsor Now, The Fence Post and Tri-State Livestock News Robin Downing, DVM, MS, DAAPM, DACVSMR

www.windsorvet.com 415 Main St. • Windsor, CO 80550 970-686-9664 • 866-DR-ROBIN

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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine

on the cover The rugged trail at Belmont Ridge Open Space in Windsor.


oct. 21

Town Board Work Session, 6 p.m. Regular Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 301 Walnut St. www.windsorgov.com.

oct. 28

S.A.L.T. Haunted House, 6 p.m., Boardwalk Park Museum, 100 5th St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com/549/ Community

r so ar nd d s

oct. 24

i n W le nt s to or Ca ve hing inds E t W 10 in do

Pumpkin Plunge, 6 p.m., Windsor Community Recreation Center Pool, 250 11th St. Windsor. (970) 674-3500.

nov. 2

nov. 2

Planning Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 301 Walnut St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com.

Day of the Dead Celebration, 6:30 p.m., Clearview Library District, 720 3rd St., Windsor. (970) 686-5603.

nov. 7

Town Board Work Session, 6 p.m., Town Hall, 301 Walnut St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com.

nov. 9

nov. 14

Historic Preservation Commission, 5:45 p.m.,Town Hall, 301 Walnut St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com.

Town Board Work Session, 6 p.m. Regular Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 301 Walnut St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com.

nov. 14

Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m., 1020 Main St. Windsor. (970) 686-8000.

nov. 16

Downtown Development Authority, 7:30 p.m.,Town Hall, 301 Walnut St., Windsor. www.windsorgov.com.


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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


Windsor’s Clearview Library By Trevor Reid // For Premier

W

hen the Clearview Library was built in 1997, Windsor’s population numbered less than half of what the population is today. Without room to expand at the library’s current location, 720 3rd St., the Library Board hopes to build at a new location. “It’s just the story that you hear all over northern Colorado: the extreme growth of the communities,” said 64-year-old Ann Kling, director of the Clearview Library District. As more houses, young families and senior citizens find their way to northern Colorado, Kling explained, library usage and participation keeps rising. Though the library was able to expand in 2009, its current location does not provide room to accommodate the continuing growth of Windsor. “We’ve outgrown the space,” Kling said. “Now this building is landlocked. There’s no room to expand it. It wasn’t meant to be built up, and there’s nowhere to build out.” To match the growth of Windsor, the Library Board has set its eyes on a piece of property at the edge of the Greenspire development, near Colorado highways 392 and 257. The new location would be nearer to the geographic center of the Clearview Library District, which reaches north into Severance and east into the

hopes voters approve new library project in 2017 to accommodate population growth, expanded programs

The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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western edges of Greeley. The board hopes to finalize on the property before the end of the year. “We believe the new building will be a gateway into Windsor from the east side,” Kling said. “That whole area is going to change in the next five years and look very, very different from the way it is now.” A feasibility study released in June reported that it would cost more than $20 million to build a new library at the Greenspire location, excluding the property purchase. To pay for the building, the Library Board is pushing to get a bond issue on the ballot by the fall of 2017. The Library Foundation will also hire a part-time foundation director in January 2017 to ramp up private funds and donations. Sustaining operations of the 30,000-square-foot building would require a mill-levy increase, something Clearview Library District hasn’t asked for since 2001. Jacob Shepard, 34, a regular patron of the library, admitted the library space is getting tight. “It seems like a small area for everything that they do have in there, but it’s an exceptional library,” he said. Kling hopes the new site will provide both an opportunity to serve more residents and to serve them more efficiently. The current library was built a year before Google went online. “In 1997, the internet was sort of new,” Kling said. “It was still pretty much print.” Today, libraries are built for greater flexibility for patrons to use technology and gather for meetings. Wi-Fi usage continues to skyrocket at the library, Kling said, and it’s not expected

to slow down anytime soon. Clearview Library District president Joann Perko, 60, said many people today go to the library for a change of scenery. “You know when you’re in the same room all day long? It gets old,” Perko said. “Libraries have to evolve and change with what people need.” “Books are not the big thing now, it’s more meeting space,” Kling added. During a potential partners’ meeting for the feasibility study, they agreed that there isn’t enough meeting space in Windsor. To fulfill the desire for more space, the feasibility study’s layout for the new library included a large room that is not meant for library programming, but community use. Perko added that the new library could include more room for makerspace, a new feature in libraries that provide an area for DIY projects. Currently, the library’s makerspace is tucked away in a corner, with the library’s 3D printer at the center. “That could be better, if we had the space. I think we have this little, crowded corner for creating things. In a bigger building, we could make that the size it needs to be to really succeed,” Perko said. Other additions Kling said would be beneficial to the new space include: quiet spaces where small groups could collaborate, an area for teenagers, a room dedicated to kids’ programming, and more space for the children’s area. “It’s getting more and more crowded in that area, and more and more kids are coming in,” Kling said. “We don’t even have room for the

The search continues for the perfect Lego piece during a program at Clearview Library, 720 3rd St., in Windsor. Kylie Eickleberry, left, helps Kaitlyn Belfiore, 6, build a Lego creation. Events like these are just some of the ways libraries are changing in an effort to help inform and entertain the public. 8

OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


“We believe the new building will be a gateway into Windsor from the east side,” Kling said.

picture books that we would like to keep because it’s so crowded.” Though they clearly already have ideas about what the community needs, Perko said the Library Board will continue dialogue with residents about the plans to give them what they want. “We would definitely have to survey and speak to the community and find out what are some of the things they absolutely want to have,” she said. In modernizing the library, the Library Board also hopes to use an environmentally friendly design to both reduce costs and spread environmental consciousness. “Some of the concepts in newer buildings

are amazing. They use natural light and just use light tunnels, where it captures the sunlight and brings it in,” Kling said. “All those newer technologies make us more environmentally conscious and make the citizens more aware.” The Library Board is hoping to complete the new building by the end of 2019. Whatever the plans for the new library might entail, Kling said, is up to the people. “If it’s possible, we’ll do it. If it’s something we think is within our budget and it’s a need, we’ll try to satisfy that need because it’s all about what people want. It’s their tax dollars, it’s their library,” Kling said. Perko, who became president of the Library

Board shortly after Kling became director of the Library District, said Kling’s leadership has had a powerful impact. “When Ann came onboard, the attitude became, ‘we will say yes to your needs whenever possible,’ and I think the community has really started to see that this library will do whatever it can to give them whatever they need,” Perko said. Despite the library’s tight space, Shepard did not hesitate to agree that the service it provides always goes above and beyond. “The most unique part of this library is how helpful everybody inside is,” he said.

The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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Answers to the most-asked questions about the town of Windsor Have you wondered where to go to pay a ticket? Does the town have ordinances to regulate pet ownership? Who do I call about a big pothole? And why is the sky blue? Except for the color of the sky, the town of Windsor answers these and dozens of other questions to help Windsor residents navigate municipal government and be a wellinformed citizen. Here is a sample of some of the useful information on the Windsor FAQ: Where does our water come from? The town of Windsor purchases water from three sources: Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, North Weld Water District, and the city of Greeley. Its primary water supplier is from North Weld Water District with the city of Greeley and Fort Collins-Loveland Water District as our secondary source. Why does my water look cloudy? The “milky” color comes from tiny air bubbles in the water. When cold water comes out of the faucet it may look “milky.” If you fill a glass with water you will see that the “milky” color will quickly disappear. The water is perfectly safe to drink when it looks this way. Why might the drinking water have an odor? If your drinking water has an odor, it is because of an algae bloom in the raw water. If the water smells like a geranium, has a musty odor, or the smell of a wet dog, quite often the smell is associated with algae in the raw water. This problem is harmless, and usually short in duration. Why might the water appear dirty? This is usually due to the fact that fire hydrants are being flushed, or there has been a water leak in your neighborhood, or there are water taps being made, or new water mains have been recently installed. Let your water run in your bathtub or at several faucets to help clear the water up. If it still appears dirty, call (970) 674-2400 or report it online: at www.windsorgov.com/Report-it. What is cross connection? The Colorado Cross Connection Law applies to all cross connections. Cross connection is any actual or potential connection between a potable water system, the drinking water supply and any other source or system that can introduce contaminants into the treated water system.Contaminants from your sprinkler system may include fertilizers, pesticides, and weed killers. Any part of the sprinkler system that allows back flow to occur is called a cross connection. What is back flow? Back flow means water flowing backwards into the water supply system. There are two ways back flow can enter the water supply from a sprinkler system; back siphonage and back pressure. Back siphonage happens when the pressure in the water supply suddenly drops. Pressure drops can happen because of nearby fire fighting or repairs of breaks in the town water main. The pressure drop creates a vacuum, sucking the water backward through the system. The vacuum is much like a person sipping on a straw, which causes liquid to flow in the opposite direction. Back pressure is also reversal of water flow in the water system. However, this type of reversal happens when water pressure increases on the customer’s side of the water system. Examples of things that can cause pressure increases in your sprinkler system would be injection fertilizing or blowing out the system in the fall. — Source: Town of Windsor, www.windsorgov.com/faq 10

OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


Windsor residents take advantage of

more than 40 miles of trails By Trevor Reid // For Premier

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s temperatures cool off and leaves change colors, Windsor’s trails are alive with runners, cyclists and even new families finding time to get outdoors. Windsor-born Brian Oglesby, 37, is the father of one of those families. “We take full advantage of the trails. We use this one,” he said one afternoon at Windsor Lake, “the one over off 13, Poudre Trail – every single one in town, we use.” Oglesby said he first started using the trails about 20 years ago, when the trails were built. Now, with his wife Jenny, he uses the trails at least once a week. “We try to take the whole family,” 35-year-old Jenny Oglesby smiled as she looked down at her 4-year-old daughter Jovie and their two dogs, Farley and Elzee. “It just depends on work schedules. We try to get the kids and the dogs out for exercise.” With more than 40 miles of trails

throughout Windsor, there are trails for varying situations and skill levels. One trail in particular sticks out for its incorporation of natural surfaces, winding through the Belmont Ridge Open Space in southwest Windsor. Director of Parks, Recreation & Culture Eric Lucas explained the appeal of unpaved trails by pointing to the diverse uses residents get out of the trails. “There are different types of users: runners would prefer to run on asphalt versus concrete. There are people who like to hike in a more natural area, such as the Belmont Ridge Open Space,” said Lucas, adding that the natural surface provides a trail for off-road bikers. While the Belmont Ridge Open Space’s natural surface trail provides a small, rugged hike for those who are seeking a sense of escape, many still appreciate the wildlife along the paved trails. “We have a lot of beautiful areas

out here, especially with the lakes,” Mrs. Oglesby said. “I like that we’re not really too invasive into the surrounding wildlife, and that’s a big draw here: we have all the bird wildlife that likes to come to the lake.” Bianca and Andrew Hastings have regularly visited Windsor’s trails for about six years, since they’ve had kids together. As they walked towards the playground at Eastman Park, where their five-year-old son excitedly ran, they immediately pinpointed what they love about the trails. “The scenery,” Mr. Hastings, 28, said, “all the trees and wildlife.” “That’s the whole reason why we like the trail,” 27-year-old Mrs. Hastings explained. “We get to be in the park with the kids, but we also get to explore a little bit of nature.” Lucas said the trails system’s popularity is due to its accessibility. “Walking, biking and hiking are the number one requested activities in Windsor when we do surveys,”

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Windsor Trail Highlights • Windsor Lake Trail, 2.3 miles: Located by Main St. and Highway 257, this trail passes by Boardwalk Park and Windsor Lake Dog Park. With parking both off the highway and at Boardwalk Park, it’s an easy trail to access for an afternoon walk around the serene waters of Windsor Lake. • Eastman Park Trail Loop, .9 miles: Wrapping around Eastman Park centrally located Windsor, this short trail is perfect for those looking for a short walk • Belmont Natural Trail, 2 miles: Winding through the Belmont Ridge Open Space in southwest Windsor, Belmont Natural Trail is the only trail in Windsor with a natural surface.

Rick Best of Windsor runs around the Windsor Lake trail. Best goes on a run around the lake every day.

Lucas explained. “All these activities are accessible by all types of users. You can be young and old, athletic or not. Walking, biking and hiking can be performed by any and all demographics.” The Poudre River Trail stretches through the heart of Windsor, starting in the northwest at River Bluffs Open Space and continuing southeast into Greeley. After the Windsor trail was connected to the Greeley trail in December 2008, it reached its current length of more than 21 miles. Poudre River Trail Corridor’s Interim Trail Manager Gary Mason, 69, got involved with the trail after retiring in 2010. When he first started cycling on the trail in the summer of 2011, he stopped at a map of the trail and noticed a phone number for those interested in volunteering. After he helped with maintenance on the trail that summer, he’s helped every summer since. “It means the world to me because I’m a cyclist,” he explained. “I just rode 25 miles today on the trail. Usually if I have time I’ll ride the 42 miles from Island Grove to River Bluffs and back.” Like any volunteer, Mason’s enthusiasm for the trail doesn’t stop at self-interest. “We see everything out there: cyclists, walkers, baby buggies, runners and skaters. It’s just a great feeling,” Mason said. Since the Windsor and Greeley portions of the trail have been connected, the focus has been on connecting the Windsor trailhead at River Bluffs to the Fort Collins trailhead of the Poudre Trail at Colorado State University’s Environmental Learning Center. Connecting the trails would mean crossing Interstate 25, a difficult and pricey project. “We were funded in 2012 with $5 million to complete that connection. It was supposed to be completed by the end of 2015,” Mason said. “We had a little slowdown with that progress because of 14

landowners being a little reluctant and also the Colorado Department of Transportation put the kibosh on our overpass we were going to put just north of Harmony by Walmart.” Aspirations for the trail don’t end there. “There’s long-range plans to connect to Denver trails, following the Platte River,” Mason added. With its central location, its storied past and its expansive future, the Poudre River Trail is popular among Windsor residents. The River Bluffs trailhead, however, lacks access from other Windsor trails. Lucas said the Parks Department is aware that residents both to the east and to the southwest desire a connection to the River Bluffs Open Space. “Objective number one is trying to connect Highland Meadows area to the Poudre Trail. That’s proving very challenging, mainly because of the topography,” Lucas explained. After hiring a firm to get cost estimates on the connection, which would cross Colo. 392, Lucas said the firm gave a $5 million estimate on the project. To cut down on costs, the department will continue to look at other options for the connection. The Parks Department is also working on acquiring easements to connect the Number Two Canal Trail from its current endpoint at 17th Street to the River Bluffs Open Space. Windsor’s Parks Department hopes to acquire easements in 2017 and to build the connection in 2018. After noting that eco-counters recorded more than 300,000 users of the Boardwalk Park Trail and the Poudre River Trail since February, Pennsylvanian native Lucas marveled at the widespread engagement with the outdoors. “I must say in my year here in Windsor and northern Colorado, Windsor folks and Coloradoans really enjoy the outdoors.”

OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine

• Poudre River Trail, 21 miles: With nearly 10 miles of the trail in Windsor, the trailhead has parking at 6371 E County Rd 32 E., at River Bluffs Open Space.The trail continues into Greeley, where it ends at Island Grove Regional Park. Other Windsor Trails • Steeplechase Trail, 2 miles. Follows Steeplechase Dr. in southwest Windsor. • #2 Ditch West Trail, 1.8 miles. Follows the Greeley Number 2 Canal from 17th St. to Windsor Lake. • #2 Ditch East Trail, 1.4 miles. Starting on the east side of Windsor Lake, the #2 Ditch East Trail follows the Greeley Number 2 Canal to the Great Western Trail in Severance. • Kodak Trail, 1.5 miles. Starting at the east intersection of Water Valley Pkwy. and Eastman Park Dr., the Kodak Trail is located along Eastman Park Dr., reaching the eastern border of Windsor. • Eaton Ditch Trail, 1.6 miles. From 7th St. to Highway 257, the Eaton Ditch biking trail follows New Liberty Rd.The Eaton Ditch walking trail departs from the biking trail at Seadrift Dr. and rejoins it at Crossroads Blvd.

Jackie Schumacher pushes her son Maxx, 1, as her son Christopher, 5, rides along beside them on the Poudre River Trail in Windsor.


#2 Ditch West 1.8 mi

#2 Ditch East 1.4 mi

Windsor Lake Trail 2.3 mi

Poudre River Trail 21 mi

Kodak Trail 1.5 mi

Highland Meadows Trail 3 mi Belmont Natural Trail 2 mi

Steeplechase Trail 2 mi

Eastman Park Trail .9 mi 7th Street Trail .75 mi

Eaton Ditch Trail 1.6 mi

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The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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Windsor’s Carolyn Figal continues her volunteer work despite battle with cancer By Luanne Kadlub // For Premier

Carolyn Figal smiles before she begins her work with the Weld Food Bank in Windsor.

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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine

ust about everyone in Windsor knows — or knows of — Carolyn Figal. Hundreds know her as their former beloved kindergarten teacher, many others as the wife of the late Reg Figal, who was high school principal and later assistant superintendent of schools, and many others know her simply because she’s involved in just about everything there is to be involved in — and then some. Does Carolyn Figal ever take a break? Nope. Not even daily radiation treatments for squamos cell carcinoma — a type of skin cancer — are enough to get the 81-year-old to slow down. Her calendar is too full. Birthday parties, Octoberfest, making jams and jellies with friends, parades, calling bingo at Grace Pointe every Saturday, Monday-Friday workouts at a local health club, helping with the weekly community dinner at Bethel Lutheran Church where you’ll also find her helping out in the office and playing chimes, attending Lions and Kiwanis Club meetings, handing out candy at the community Halloween party and volunteering at the Windsor Food Pantry are some of the many ways she stays involved. In years past she served on the Windsor Public Library Board, helped out on United Way fundraising campaigns, assisted with the Windsor Crop Walk, even donned a turkey costume for the Pelican Lakes Turkey Trot. For Carolyn Figal, it’s been a life well lived. And when she reminisces, it begins when she was born in Winside, Neb., to Ad and Howard Kahler. Her family moved to Brush when she was 5 and later moved to Greeley. Now fast forward to when Carolyn Kahler met Reg Figal while both were students at Colorado State College of Education, now the University of Northern Colorado. “We met in a coffee shop and fell madly in love,” Carolyn said. Reg graduated in August 1957, Carolyn on Dec. 14, 1957, and they were married on Dec. 27, 1957. Now fast forward a few more years. Reg was teaching and coaching in Craig when, in 1966, he accepted an offer to become the new principal at Windsor’s Junior-Senior High School. The couple made the move to Windsor, then population 1,500, and rented the only house


TOP: Long time member of the Windsor Lions Club Carolyn Figal smiles as she greets people wearing a bald eagle cap during the clubs annual breakfast held during the Windsor Harvest Festival. MIDDLE: Carolyn Figal fills a bag with peppers as she volunteers with the Weld Food Bank in early October in Windsor. bottom: Carolyn Figal laughs as she helps hand out food while volunteering with the Weld Food Bank in Windsor. Despite her cancer still finds the energy to volunteer in the community in a variety of capacities.

available at the time, a “beautiful two-story house,” Carolyn said. She was a stay-at-home mom to sons David and Mike until one day in 1968 Reg came home and asked how she’d like to go to work. “I told him I was working. I was painting the room,” Carolyn said. She accepted his offer nonetheless and began teaching half-day kindergarten at Tozer Elementary — a time when teachers could still give hugs to their students, she said. Carolyn was anything but a pushover, however. Her students were expected to be good students and to be polite – both in her classroom and when they showed up trick-or-treating at her home, which, of course, they all did. “She was compassionate and cared about the successes of every child,” said Ruth Ann

Roberts, whose daughter, Kristen, had Mrs. Figal as her kindergarten teacher. “Every moment was a teachable moment.” When both were retired — Reg in 1988 and Carolyn in 1991 ­— the couple became snowbirds and spent winters in Tucson and enjoyed trips to Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, where Carolyn — never one to pass up a good time — went parasailing while Reg stayed firmly on terra firma. Although she concedes she has been blessed in her lifetime, it has not been without heartbreak. The Figals’ son, David, died of an aneurysm while water skiing at Horsetooth Reservoir in 1990, and Reg died of a massive stroke 10 years later. Windsor High School’s gymnasium now bears his name. She remains close to son Mike, who works at Stoddard Funeral

Home in Greeley, and daughterin-law, Tammie, along with numerous nieces and nephews. And now when Carolyn’s out and about her former students and much of the town regularly return the many hugs she has bestowed upon them throughout the years. At Windsor’s recent homecoming parade — she hasn’t missed one yet — several students and faculty broke away to greet her, to give her hugs and to fill her candy bag. Others hollered “Hello Mrs. Figal” and waved as they rode by on floats. Carolyn recalls that at the wedding of a former student she asked the deejay to play the chicken dance and hokey pokey and to invite all of her former students to the dance floor. They all obliged her and had a great time, she said. Carolyn spends what few quiet moments she has at the only home she and Reg ever owned, which by coincidence or not is next to Tozer Elementary. The home is filled to the gills with memories and memorabilia including family antiques, a sofa rescued from

the basement of what was once Windsor’s teacherage, and myriad collections: teddy bears, decorative plates, beer steins, figurines and lots and lots of family photos, including a room screen adorned with photos presented to the Figals when they were honored by United Way some years back. They were grand marshals of the Windsor Harvest Parade as well. When she learned they had been selected in 1998 for the honor, Carolyn said she began crying. “Of all the wonderful people in our community, we were chosen.” Windsor’s booming population hasn’t changed the community’s core, Carolyn said. “We still have wonderful, beautiful people and lot of support from our community. One of the most fun things I enjoy doing is cutting out newspaper articles that include people from the community and getting them laminated to give to them,” she said. One last question: Has Carolyn Figal ever said “no?” Her answer? Yep, you guessed it: “No.”

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Jon Moore

finds life lessons in martial arts, and turns it into successful Windsor business

By Luanne Kadlub // For Premier

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on Moore’s life path became crystal clear as soon as he signed up for a martial arts class at Aims Community College taught by Sensei Jim Sereff, founder of the Anshinkai-do Karate. “He had something I was thirsty for and that spoke to me,” said Moore, co-owner with his wife, Janine, of Moore Martial Arts in Windsor. He studied with Sereff 10 hours a week and took over teaching his classes in 1992. Turns out Jon’s wife-to-be also studied with Sensei Sereff. Later when Jon and Janine were married and living in Greeley, the couple turned their garage into a makeshift dojo. “As we were starting to develop our core group, they had friends from Loveland and Fort Collins who wanted to start coming to class. 18

OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine

Moore says the rewards for both he and Janine, ...is seeing students build confidence and self-esteem that help with real-life situations.


We looked around and found this place,” he said of the Main Street location in Windsor. “It seemed like a good fit. It was a growing community and it didn’t have much in the way of karate studios.” Since 2001, Moore estimates more than a thousand students from Tiny Tigers (ages 4-6) through adults have come to the dojo to learn martial arts and self-defense, and in the process gain self-confidence and self-esteem. In addition to learning kata – martial arts forms – students learn the history behind the two styles taught at the dojo: Ashinkai-do Karate, which translated means “The Way of the Peaceful Mind,” and Kosho Ryu Kempo, “The Old Pine Tree School of Encouragement.” Moore said teaching two systems provides a firm foundation that allows students to absorb the art and to work with different instructors. In addition, students practice Japanese calligraphy as a means to gain a deeper understanding of body connections, and advanced students have the opportunity to be invited into the Leadership and Warrior Scholar programs. Moore says the rewards for both he and Janine, who by day supervises the print shop at Aims, is seeing students build

confidence and self-esteem that help with real-life situations. “A lot of these kids deal with situations that may impact them in school,” he said. He tells the story of one student being bullied at school. Moore talked with him about different ways he could handle the situation, such as talking to teachers and the administration, as well as how to position himself to stay out of harm’s way. Another success story is that of the young mother who used her newly acquired self-defense skills to prevent her son from being abducted during heated divorce proceedings. And then there’s the student whose parents feared he would not graduate from high school. “After working with us he found his way and is now a police officer working hard to protect and serve our communities,” Moore said. Progressing through the different ranks takes time at Moore Martial Arts. To date, 18 students have received one or more black belts. “It does take awhile to learn what we do. Janine and I always had the idea that we wanted our students to be better than we were at those ranks; we want them to better than us, and that keeps us pushing forward.”

More info » Moore Martial Arts, 514 Main St., Windsor » Phone: (970) 686-1247 » Website: http://www.mooremartialarts.com/

LEFT: Jon Moore kicks during a photo shoot at his dojo in downtown Windsor. Inset LEFT: Jon Moore punches toward the camera at his dojo in downtown Windsor. RIGHT: Sauvren Reddick, 5, blocks an attack by Jon Moore during a practice session at Moore's dojo in downtown Windsor.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Business Owner Spotlight is a monthly feature in Windsor Premier, profiling owners of local businesses in Windsor. To suggest a feature on a Windsor business owner, email Editor Randy Bangert at rbangert@mywindsornow.com. The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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Windsor residents celebrate completion of newly expanded Recreation Center Staff reports

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OCTOBER 2016 • premier • The Best Of Windsor Magazine


T

he opening of a newly renovated and expanded Windsor Community Recreation Center brought out hundreds of residents on Oct. 8 to see a facility that is now almost twice the size of the old one. A long line waited to get inside after the official ribbon-cutting of the new facility. The $16.1 million expansion was completed about 15 months after construction started. It is funded by a 0.75 percent sales tax increase that was approved by voters in the 2014 election.

For more information about what the new Windsor Community Recreation Center has to offer, go to www.windsorgov.com/189/Community-Recreation-Center. The Best Of Windsor Magazine • premier • OCTOBER 2016

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