LYONS – Everyone is welcome to join the Lyons Community Church congregation at 350 Main St. in Lyons on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for worship service and fellowship right after the service through this Advent season.
On Sunday Dec. 22, as part of the 10 a.m. worship service, the church will have an all-ages Christmas Pageant to celebrate the joy of Christmas with our children.
On Tuesday Dec. 24 everyone is welcome to join the congregation for a Christmas Eve service of lessons and carols and candlelight at 6 p.m.
The Pastor is Mattias Krier. He can be reached at mckrier@ gmail.com. The office can be reached at lyonscommunityumc@gmail.com or call 303-8236245.
Lyons Catholic Church celebrates Christmas
LYONS – The Lyons Catholic Church holds Roman Catholic Mass at the Lyons Community Church location, 350 Main St. in Lyons. There is parking in the back.
Mass is held on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. There is a Facebook page. People who want to live stream the Roman Catholic Mass can find the link on St. Francis of Assisi website, afassisi. org or call 303-772-6322 for information.
Christmas Eve Mass will be held Tuesday, Christmas Eve at 4 p.m. at the regular meeting place, at 350 Main St. (the Lyons Community Church building). Hymn singing will start at 3:45 p.m.
Living with Wildfire in the St. Vrain Watershed
LYONS – The Watershed Center, Wildfire Research Center, and local Fire Protection Districts are working together within and near the St. Vrain Watershed to better understand fire risk on residential parcels and gather community perspectives on wildfire and mitigation. They invite you to participate in the Continue Briefs on Page 2
Lyons Town Board raises wastewater utility rates and maintains the 2024 mill levy on property taxes
By Susan de Castro Gierach Redstone Review Editor
LYONS – The Lyons Town Board had to hold and continue until the February 3 meeting four ordinances and two resolutions concerning the Tebo annexations. According to Attorney Brandon Ditman, the items were put on hold because, “There were some major issues that we had to work through, so we had to put the ordinances on hold.”
The Lyons Town Board voted unanimously to pass Ordinance 1177 on first reading, to increase the service rates and charges by 3 percent for the wastewater utility service. This rate increase is estimated to bring an additional $28,500 in revenue to the water/wastewater enterprise fund to cover increased expenses from inflation based on the Consumer Price Index rate adjustment.
Residential customers with metered town-provided water service pay a base rate of $24.50 per month; the proposed monthly rate would go up to $25.20 per month.
Trustee Mark Browning pointed out that the rate increase in wastewater rates was due to the increased cost of hauling away sludge from the wastewater plant. Also the Lyons Municipal Code requires adjusting the wastewater fund rates and charges in accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI for 2025 is estimated to be 3 percent.
The good news for the people of Lyons is that the town board decided not to raise the mill levy for 2025. Municipalities are allowed to raise property taxes each year by up to 5.5 percent to keep up with expenses. They can choose to not raise the mill levy or to raise it by a smaller amount.
Based on the Lyons Municipal Code, the property tax mill levy is set by resolution. For 2025 the town board decided to use the
same mill levy as 2024, due to the increase in property taxes. The 2025 mill levy is 15.137 mills, giving the town taxpayers a temporary tax credit of 4.85 mills.
According to Finance Director Cassey Eyestone, this amount is different from the 2025 Budget adopted by the Board on November 18, 2024. The difference is due to the timing of the Boulder County Assessor’s final certification of property values (November 21, 2024) and when the budget was developed. This timing difference occurs every year. Based on Boulder County’s preliminary valuation, the net total taxable assessed value decreased by $151,180. The revenue to be collected in 2025 will decrease by $2,288.
This means that the mill levy will bring in about $896,000 in 2025. The updated revenue amount complies with the 5.5 percent property tax limitation. This year, the levy is required to be certified to Boulder County by December 15, 2024.
Moving along, the board passed on first reading Ordinance 1178, to change the source used for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This request came from the board to the staff to make the change. The Lyons Municipal Code currently states that the source to be utilized for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Denver/ Boulder Metropolitan Area.
Staff recommended changing the CPI source in the LMC to the Colorado Office of State Planning and Budgeting, which produces a quarterly economic update report for Colorado and includes the CPI. At the November 18, 2024 meeting, the Board of Trustees directed staff to draft an ordinance to make the change in all applicable sections of the LMC.
Lyons Finance Director Cassey Eyestone told the board that the Colorado Office of State Planning and Budgeting is a very good source
and that it is used by other municipalities.
The board moved on to discussing affordable housing at the regular meeting after a discussion at a workshop held before the board meeting. The board would like to create more affordable housing in Lyons and that discussion included creating housing for middle class people who do not qualify for the lower-tiered income housing but cannot afford the housing that is considered mid-range housing.
The discussion included the fact that the Area Median Income (AMI) in Boulder is quite high compared to other parts of the state, making it difficult for some residents to qualify.
Trustee Tanya Daty said at the workshop, “We have to come to the realization that we live in a county that is unaffordable to many people. There is only so much that we can do.”
According to the statistics listed on the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) website, the AMI in Boulder County is $102,200 for one person and $146,00 for a family of four. The board’s discussion included creating a tiered system of two tiers of housing; Tier One would be housing for people who qualify for 30 to 80 percent of the AMI and Tier Two would be for people in the 80 to 120 percent of the AMI income bracket. Mayor Rogin suggested during the discussion to make Tier Two not deed-restricted.
Deed restricted usually means that a property is subject to specific rules and limitations on how it can be used, outlined in the legal document (deed) that transfers ownership, often including restrictions on what can be built, how the property can be used, and even its appearance, usually enforced by a home owners association (HOA) to maintain property values within a community; essentially, it limits the owner’s full rights to the property. The board plans to have more discussions on the affordable housing issue.
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Pure holiday joy! A little visit with Santa (Gil Sparks), full of smiles and festive cheer. CATHY RIVERS
From cat rescues to fighting fires, LFPD is there
By Rob Stumpf Lyons Fire Chief, Redstone Review
LYONS – Coming up on a year as the Fire Chief in Lyons, I am spending some time reflecting on where we are and where we are heading. It is budget season for fire districts like Lyons, and we are deep in the throes of determining how to meet both our goals and aspirations and your expectations.
We hosted a family in the firehouse. The grand-daughter had won a free ride in a fire truck through a local fundraiser, and several of the family were surprised to hear that our crew was on duty 24 hours a day. In fact, in the two years I’ve been with Lyons Fire, not a week has gone by where I didn’t encounter someone that was unaware of the services provided, our staffing model, or some other critical aspect of the department that we, who live it every day, take for granted. So, here is a little more about us.
Lyons Fire is what we call a combination department, in that we are staffed by a combination of career, part time, and volunteer members. Many of you know that it wasn’t always this way, and up until very recently, Lyons Fire Protection District (LFPD) was staffed by an all-volunteer force that responded from home or work when an emergency occurred. Over time, volunteerism became increasingly more difficult for people to do, and decisions were made to supplement the response with paid members.
In the course of a little more than three years, LFPD began staffing a single paid member, and then two paid members each day. The department adopted a traditional shift model used at firehouses around the
country, and decided on a 48/96 rotation that mimics neighboring agencies. That means our career members work a rotation where they are on duty for 48 hours, followed by 96 hours. off. This cycle repeats year round.
They come into the firehouse for their “set” with bed linens and clothes and gro-
and sometimes it isn’t, we have a roster of 15 Volunteers, a half dozen Wildland-only firefighters, and a team of Fire Investigators as well. All told, there are over 50 members responsible for providing the services and safety offered from a full-service fire/rescue agency.
ceries for a two-day stint at the station, and they eat, work, sleep, shower etc. there, just like at home. For most of us, the firehouse is a second home, and many of us see these colleagues here more than we see the family at home. The Duty Crew on for 48 hours answers calls day and night; no excuses and no questions asked. We are here to serve. A little more recently, we added a parttime firefighter/EMT position to each shift, bringing daily staffing to three, and shortly thereafter, a paramedic, bringing the daily crew to four total. At a minimum these days, a 911 response in Lyons will get a Captain, Engineer (driver), FF/EMT, and Paramedic to your door and at your service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Yes, even on Christmas, the crew is here, standing vigil.
The Duty Crew of four is supplemented during the work week by a part-time Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal, an EMS/Admin Officer, and the Fire Chief, all of whom are also trained and certified to respond to emergencies. And, if that weren’t enough,
Six months ago, LFPD embarked on yet another ground-breaking evolution of service, when we put an advanced life support transport unit in service in town. LFPD 4021 is a Paramedicand-EMT-staffed ambulance serving the District, also 24/7/365. Prior to May of this year, response times for an ambulance to Lyons exceeded 15 to 20 minutes, and today, that time has been cut by more than half. We have transported 71 patients since May 13 to local hospitals for the critical care they needed in an emergency. Last summer, we responded to a rattlesnake bite that was 22 minutes from the 911 call to the delivery of the patient to the ER in Longmont. I cannot overstate the impact of having that kind of capability; it is simply a game changer.
Many of our calls still come into a landline phone number, and sometimes folks seem surprised when we tell them they should call 911. Many times, our crew can be out of the station, at training, at Station 2, or getting lunch. So I would just offer that the very best way to reach us, no matter where we are, is calling 911 when you have an emergency. The landline is great for routine questions and needs, but we have 911 is there when you need emergency help.
Housing and Human Services Commission offers help with utilities and health care to those in need
By Kay Sparks Redstone Review
LYONS – With colder weather here, utility bills tend to increase. The Town of Lyons has a rate reduction program for qualifying consumers of town utility services. Town utility services include electric, water and sewer services provided on a monthly basis. The monthly reduction is 20 percent of the total billed rate, charges, and surcharges, excluding taxes.
To qualify, the consumer household must meet the following criteria: first, consumer’s total income from all sources, including income from the consumer’s spouse (if applicable), does not exceed 150 percent of the applicable poverty income guidelines established and published by the federal government of the U. S.; second, the consumer physically occupies and permanently resides at a residence for which the rate reduction is sought, that is served by town utility services and that is within the corporate boundaries of the town; third, noncash benefits, such as food stamps or housing subsidies, do not count as income. Income used to compute eligible status is before taxes and deductions, and excludes capital gains or losses.
To apply or learn more details, contact Brandi Johnson at Town Hall (bjohnson@townoflyons.com or 303-823-6622). She can assist you in filing a completed affidavit of eligibility.
Lyons Health and Wellness Clinic is now able to accept Medicaid, Medicare and United Healthcare. Blue Cross Blue Sheild is in process and should be completed in the next few weeks. The clinic will continue to offer affordable self-pay rates to patients without insurance.
The clinic has expanded its hours and is now scheduling patients by appointment for telehealth or in-person visits: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday; 5 through 7 p.m. on Tuesday; and noon until 2 p.m. on Saturday. Please call for an appointment (303) 498- 5941 or schedule online through the website, www.lyonshealthandwellness. com. The office is located at 435 High St. in Lyons where it shares space with Lyons Physical therapy.
Providers Megan Foreman FNP-C and Josh Tueting NP-C are both accepting new patients for all services. In addition to wellness services (bio-identical hormones for men and women, women’s health, men’s health, weight loss, skin care, Jeuveau/Botox, mental health medications), the clinic also provides primary care and acute care for illness and injury for adults and children ages two years and up. In-house flu and rapid strep tests are available, and the clinic is typically able to schedule same-day appointments for illness.
Housing and Human Services Commission opportunity
If you find the information and activities of the HHSC helpful and would like to become involved, there are two openings on the HHSC. A prospective member can be a resident of Lyons or the greater Lyons area. The HHSC meets monthly on the second Monday of the month from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Lyons Regional Library. For more information, contact Kay Sparks at 509-881-8096.
Kay Sparks and her husband, Gil, moved to Lyon several years ago from Washington State to be closer to children and grandchildren. She is a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and public health nurse.
Emergency medical calls and fires make up the lion’s share of what we do, but as a full service agency, we offer a lot more as well. Motor vehicle accidents, swiftwater and ice rescue, hazardous materials, rope rescues, active alarms, and gas leaks all fall under the auspices of the fire department. But did you know we also provide lockout services, smoke detector installs (who has more ladders than us?), station tours, inspections, school visits and public education, lost item retrieval, lift assists, lost/ missing persons, risk evaluations for home/ property, and yes, sometimes even a cat in a tree. Truth is, after 27 years, it’d be easier to tell you what the fire department doesn’t do. At the end of the day, we are here for the community, and I cannot think of a single thing our firefighters wouldn’t do for you and your family.
I am insanely proud of work being done here, and most notably of the men and women who give of themselves to do it. We stand on the shoulders of giants who came before us, volunteer and paid, to reach new heights.
Side note, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that five of our members recently graduated from the Estes Valley Regional Fire Academy after months of firefighter training. Courtney Malone, Cesar Medina-Rivera, Matt Gilchrist, Don Mulligan, and Kevin Mahoney will all be certified Colorado Firefighter I, and they are to be congratulated for putting in such hard work.
Chief Rob Stumpf came to LFPD in February of 2023 as the Deputy Chief of Operations. Late in 2023 he became the fire chief at LFPD. He has 26 years of experience in the fire service, the last 12 of which he spent in Colorado. He served as a firefighter, engineer, Battalion Chief, and Operations Chief in small jurisdictions such as Lyons and Berthoud, and larger ones in Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana.
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“Living with Wildfire in the St. Vrain Watershed” survey, which you’ll receive by mail over the coming days if you live in the study area.
Every community member is an important part of fostering wildfire-ready communities and ecosystems. This includes you. Your participation in this survey is voluntary and anonymous, but hope you respond so that they can learn about and better address the needs of our communities.
If you have any questions about this study, please reach out to Chiara Forrester, the Forest Program Director
Stumpf
MAYOR’S CORNER
ADUs and us: Change is afoot
Rogin
By Hollie Rogin, Mayor of Lyons Redstone Review
LYONS – Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have long been a part of the housing landscape in Lyons. An ADU is a self-contained living unit that can either be attached to or detached from a primary residence. It must have independent living facilities such as sleeping, cooking, and sanitation areas.
In 2016, the Board of Trustees, town staff, the Planning and Community Development Commission, the Utilities and Engineering Board, and many residents spent countless hours and expended considerable effort to create an updated ADU ordinance to take into consideration our goals, constraints, and opportunities. It has been amended from time to time; for example, we now have a more streamlined approval process, and tiny homes on wheels can be considered an ADU. Our ordinance was created by Lyons, for Lyons. The ordinance has served Lyons very well. So well, in fact, that other municipalities looked to Lyons for examples of how to create their own. So when the state legislature took up ADU reform last session, I was among several elected people from multiple jurisdictions asking that cities and towns like Lyons be able to retain our current laws. Ultimately, these lobbying efforts weren’t successful, and the legislature passed House
Bill 24-1152 (HB24-1152). It’s set to take effect on June 30, 2025.
HB 24-1152 requires municipalities of over 1,000 residents, including Lyons, to allow ADUs on properties with single-unit detached homes in areas zoned for residential use. This includes HOA-governed neighborhoods. The law aims to streamline the ADU approval process and expand housing options. It brings both challenges and opportunities.
Under the new law:
Lyons must permit one ADU per residential lot, regardless of whether the ADU is attached or detached, and regardless of the
size of the lot. Unless there are objective health and safety standard violations, the town must approve ADU permits. ADUs can be between 500 and 800 square feet in size.
Lyons is prohibited from requiring new off-street parking unless specific conditions are met. For example, if the property lacks
existing off-street parking, then one additional parking space could be required.
Any HOA restrictions on ADUs are void if they contradict state law. While HOAs can still impose reasonable restrictions, such as limitations on size or design, they cannot ban the construction of ADUs.
Properties that lack access to a public water or sewage system, properties located in flood zones, or properties that are historic but not within a historic district can be exempt from the ADU mandate.
There is no primary residence owner occupancy requirement, except while the ADU is being constructed.
One key feature of HB24-1152 is the opportunity for Lyons to become a “Certified ADU Supportive Jurisdiction.” This means we can be eligible to apply for state incentives and programs aimed at encouraging affordable housing. These benefits could include grants and access to financing programs for residents to build ADUs on their properties. If you are interested in finding out more about building an ADU on your property, or if you have any questions, please contact Town Hall.
written was, “If a property is less than five acres but has been subdivided from a larger tract, it also goes to a vote of the town.” Finally, I would like to wish the Redstone Review a happy Silver Anniversary; 25 years of providing Lyons with vital local information is no small feat. The Redstone works with a skeleton crew of talented, dedicated individuals who will stop at nothing to get you the news you need. If you haven’t
subscribed in the past, please consider a subscription or a donation to keep them around for at least another 25 years.
Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy holiday season and a joyous new year.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Roger Flynn for bringing to my attention an inaccuracy in my previous column about annexation. In talking about the recent Lyons ballot question and related ordinance, I wrote, “If a property is less than five acres but has been part of a parcel more than 20 acres in size in the past, it also goes to a vote of the Town.” What I should have
Christmas Services in Allenspark mark the season
By Staff Reports Redstone Review
ALLENSPARK – You are cordially invited to join the Allenspark Community Church for our seasonal services to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.
The log church, located at 16 Washington St. in Allenspark, will be decorated with garlands that represent the love and peace of Christ, sparkling lights symbolizing Christ being the light of the world, and poinsettias whose red leaves are thought to be a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem. With a theme of The Songs of Christmas, the seasonal ser-
vices will be held each Sunday through December 22. The Christmas Eve service on the Christmas Eve will include the lighting of the fifth Advent candle, signifying the birth of Christ. Pastor Ralph Patrick will lead this service which starts at 4:30 p.m. It will include seasonal hymns, reading the story of Christ’s birth, and special music by the church choir and guests.
The Allenspark Community Church looks forward to seeing you at any or all of our services of the Christmas season, and we wish all of you a very blessed Christmas.
Spike is a sweet, teddy bear of a dog with a heart full of love! At almost 4 years old, he’s playful, affectionate, and always ready to make the most of life. He’s a treat lover, toy enthusiast, and the ultimate cuddle buddy. Whether it’s playtime, snack time, or just a cozy snuggle, Spike’s gentle personality will melt your heart and make him the perfect companion.
To see all our adoptable animals or get more details visit longmonthumane.org. Or stop in at the shelter at 9595 Nelson Road.
Hollie Rogin was sworn in as Mayor of Lyons on April 18, 2022. Before that she was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees for the term of 2020 to 2022. She was re-elected mayor in the April 2024 election. In 2015, she created the foundation for what is now the City of Boulder’s Commercial Affordability program on a pro bono basis. While serving as a Trustee, she was the Board liaison to the Economic Vitality Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission.
Travels with Redstone
Old Faithful in July—Lyons residents Katherine and Cora Gregory are ‘blown away’ by the breathtaking view of the iconic geyser at Yellowstone National Park! ─Pictured here with their copy of the Redstone Review, they take in the natural wonder while soaking in the beauty of this unforgettable experience. Take the Redstone with you on your next trip and send us your photos showing where the Redstone has traveled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@ gmail.com.
OPTIONS
Lyons’ first school teacher, T.J. Thorne: A
man
of
many
talents who shaped the community in countless ways
By Monique Sawyer-Lang Redstone Review
LYONS – Born Thomas Jefferson Thorne in Ohio on May 13, 1857, T.J. Thorne came to Lyons in 1882 having followed two of his brothers, William and George, who were living in Lyons. He soon proved to be a man of many talents in the Lyons community. He was the first teacher at the Lyons schoolhouse where he taught for two years. He married Lillie Lyon, daughter of E.S. Lyon, the town founder, July 2, 1884. Together they had two sons, Edward Raymond and Thomas J. Jr. He purchased the general store building, currently Ralston Antiques, on High Street from E.S. Lyon in 1885 and operated it until 1890. T.J. along with his wife Lillie played a part in the organization of the First Congregational Church, the Old Stone Church on 4th and High, in 1889.
In 1890 T.J. and Lillie began operating Thornecroft, a sanatorium for consumption (tuberculosis) patients. It was located just a couple of miles northwest of town, the current location of Stone Mountain Lodge. Also, in 1890 he and Thomas Lavridson built a two-story building on the corner of 4th and Main, known in later years as the Lavridson building even though the name and datestone on the building said T.J. Thorne 1890. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1967. The stone with his name and date was rescued and it now sits outside the entrance to the Lyons Redstone Museum.
In 1891 he was advertising his services in the Longs Peak Rustler as a Notary Public and a June edition of the Lyons Recorder notes that T.J. Thorne was the district census taker. In the 1899-1900 school year he served as principal of the Lyons School, which by this time had become a two-room schoolhouse. The following year he served as principal of a school in Gering, Nebraska.
In 1902 he received a law degree from Denver University, even though he had been advertising his legal services in the Lyons Recorder since 1900. He opened a law office above the post office on Main Street in June of 1903. His law practice
An English schooling
By Peter Butler Redstone Review
LYONS – Recently on the radio I heard a story that the Texas legislature had changed the school curriculum so that teaching must be based on the Bible. It reminded me of my own education and how different it was, not only through differences across the Atlantic but also comparisons across the decades.
In the 1960s, in Great Britain, the Labor government imposed high taxes but offered good public services. Schoolteachers were paid well and would spend their entire careers teaching at one institution until they retired. But there was a social separating system that would definitely not pass todays DEI. There was no Diversity Equity or Inclusion in “The Eleven Plus” exam, which was a way of separating ten-year-olds into those who would become future professionals from the likely future blue-collar workers. I must have passed, so off I went to Windsor Grammar School for boys.
endeavor didn’t last long, as he was teaching in Fort Collins when he died of pneumonia on March 11, 1904. T.J. Thorne is buried in the Lyons Cemetery.
Lillie continued to operate Thornecroft after T.J.’s death and married Austin Smith in 1910. In 1917 they converted the sanatorium into a tourist resort and named it Bella Vista. Austin Smith died in an accident in 1921 while working on the Longmont water line between Hall Ranch and the Welch Resort.
Lillie sold the business soon afterward. In 1926
Lillie became ill with tuberculosis and in 1930 moved to California to live with her son, Tom Jr.. Lillie passed away February 4, 1931, one month after the death of her father E.S. Lyon; she was 64.
The Lyons Historical Society relies entirely on grants and donations to fund our operations and your support is greatly appreciated. You can donate online at https://coloradogives.org/organization/ Lyons-Historical-Society. If you prefer to donate by check please mail to Lyons Historical Society, PO Box 9, Lyons, CO. 80540.
Monique Sawyer Lang is the Collections Manager of the Lyons Redstone Museum. She is also a volunteer with the Lyons Food Pantry and a former member/chair of the Lyons Community Foundation Board. She lives in Spring Gulch.
years later we bunch of snot-nosed kids were using Planck’s constant to determine the electron energy levels and shapes of atomic orbitals.
Although we spent most of our time learning Latin and physics somehow I managed to get friendly with the head of the art department. Peter Wickham was an extraordinary person who probably could have been making a fortune running a London ad agency. One of his many skills was his italic handwriting, Italic is known these days as a type face form that leans forward like this but originally it was a style of cursive script that was designed to be fast. Right-handed writers pull the pen towards the right and make an up and down zigzag motion.
In chemistry we were following a new curriculum from the Nuffield Foundation. They had devised a course that made insanely hard-to-understand quantum physics palatable for youngsters. My favorite was the structure of benzene, a toxic and carcinogenic solvent possessing a whacky structure of six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms. There is a story that the German chemist Kekulé was stuck trying to determine its molecular structure but he had a dream in which a snake formed a circle by biting its own tail. Later this story became six monkeys who grabbed each other by the tail and formed a circle. If you have dreams like this maybe you should cut down on the CBD oil. A hundred
Sounds easy but it isn’t. When he scribbled quickly, his writing was the prettiest you had ever seen, but when he slowed down, and made it perfect, his output should have been in a museum.
One of his responsibilities was the school printing press. I had shown some interest and one day he offered the chance for myself and classmate called Peter Luff (Yes, three Peters in one room) to run the printing press. Occasionally the school would need a run of tickets, say, for the drama department’s upcoming production of Sweeney Todd What we did was not far removed from what Gutenberg was doing in 1455 when he famously invented printing with moveable type.
Most people think that Gutenberg invented the letters, but that technology had already been stolen from the Chinese. It was a time when intellectual property theft went the other way. The real advance was in quick-drying inks. If you have never spent any quality time with a can of printing ink maybe you should. It is the blackest, stickiest, gooiest slime ever invented. When you spread it out with a hand roller there is a sizzling sound as it loudly complains. Luff and I would set text using old-fashioned lead type. There was an ancient chest of drawers which must have
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at the Watershed Center: cforrester@watershed.center, 720-745-3160, or www.watershed.center.
Watercolor class for seniors returns LYONS – Due to popular demand, our watercolor class, taught by Linda Lefou, will be continuing into 2025. Classes will be on the first Monday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Preregistration is required for these classes. You can register by responding to this email. Be sure to specify which dates you plan to attend. We are currently taking registration for Jan 6, Feb 3, and March 3.
This free class focuses on basic to intermediate watercolor concepts. Techniques covered include wet on wet, wet on dry, layering, blending, lifting, and basic color theory. Each session features a new project. Come to one session or all three. This class will be taught by our own Linda LeFou. She has been painting since 2019 and has over 60 hours of study with the artist Alison Fennell. Class is held in the basement at Walt Self. Parking is available at Sandstone Park. Preregistration is required. The class is for ages 55 and over.
Classes are first Mondays of the month, January through March, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Walt Self building, 335 Railroad Ave.; use the basement entrance on back side of building. Classes are free. To reserve your spot contact Lisa Ramsey, at lramsey@townoflyons.com or 303-823-6622 x30.
For Lasagna lovers
LYONS – And now for some more fun. Do you need some lasagna love? Elizabeth Simmons and her family like to make lasagnas to give away during the holidays. You can reach out to her at smirvins@gmail.com if you’d like one. They come in sizes to feed one to four or more people. Yum.
weighed close to a ton. Each shallow drawer contained a type face with exotic names such as Perpetua, Plantin or Bembo. Each letter was a small lead casting slightly less than an inch high on a crisp rectangular stem with a notch to show the orientation. One by one we would add letters, upside down and backwards, into a device called a setting stick, while our left thumbs sensed the row of notches, to be certain that each letter was upright.
The finished block of type would be locked on a rigid frame called a chase which would fit in the press. The press was a machine designed to crush your fingers and our job was to defeat its evil purpose. While it was running we would place a blank card on a little shelf and whip our hand out just in time for the inked type to crunch down. Then we would pull out the printed card and insert a new one before the next circulating threat thumped down. These days the PTA would accuse the school of child exploitation and torture but we loved it. It was nerd heaven.
After we left school Peter Luff went on to join Margaret Thatcher’s government as Member of Parliament for Worcester. I don’t know if the Iron Lady knew about his printing skills but he was knighted, Sir Peter Luff, in 2015. We all wore a school uniform of gray long trousers, white shirt, a necktie that denoted our “house” affiliation and a black blazer with the school badge on the pocket. It was a leveler so that there was no visual difference between the lowliest kid and the offspring of rich people. It was years before a I realized my peers’ real backgrounds.
We were called by our last names: “Butler hand me that book.” It seemed natural, and it worked, because out of 100 students in the final year, 12 went to Oxford or Cambridge and only a small handful did not go to university and that was choice, rather than failure. It was a heady time.
Peter Butler was born in India and lived in a house facing a giant kapok tree. Growing up in England there were trees but never quite enough. After qualifying as biochemist there was a gradual evolution into being a graphic designer. He and his wife Deirdre moved to the U.S. in 1997 and to Lyons in 2000. Finally there are enough trees.
Butler
Thomas Jefferson Thorne (1857–1904), a man of many talents was a key figure in Lyons’ early history.
Sawyer-Lang
Missing the warmth, security of wood heat
By Greg Lowell Redstone Review
LYONS – I recently came across an ad for firewood and was shocked by the prices. It hasn’t been that long since I heated my former house with wood and the figure of $510 a cord seemed implausible. But research showed that, yes, that appears to be the prevailing price for hardwood here in Colorado. At that price it might be cheaper to buy used furniture and chop it up.
Only about 1.5 percent of U.S. homes uses wood or wood pellets as the primary source of heat. Here in Colorado few homes use wood as their primary fuel, largely due to the availability and cost of natural gas and the relative scarcity of quality firewood.
But in the New England states, wood heating is more common: Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire rank in the top five states where wood heat is used. That makes sense; the three states are heavily forested with maple, oak and other hardwood trees that provide dense, BTU-rich cordwood that will heat a well insulated home on the coldest night.
I can attest to this. Over the course of 32 years, I heated three homes with wood and despite the inconvenience and labor involved, I miss the heck out of it now. Here in Lyons, I have only to push a button and heat happens. Xcel has taken the intimacy of house-heating from me.
My experience with wood burning first occurred during the 1970s OPEC oil embargo that caused oil prices to quadruple and resulted in shortages. Those of you of a certain age well remember the anxiety of waiting in line at the gas station on your appointed day, hoping you could get your
ten gallons.
People living in the Northeast were especially hard hit as oil was their primary source of home heating. But the Northeast’s forests were its best ally against the oil shortage. Wood stoves became a hot item, chainsaws hung in every garage and driveways were filled with “grapple loads” (wood delivered in log lengths to be cut and split by the homeowner). OPEC became a
Some of my wood I purchased, but a great deal of it I cut, split and lugged myself. There’s the old adage that wood warms you twice; once when you cut it and once when you burn it. I disagree. Somewhere in the midst of cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking, I counted how many times I touched a single piece of wood and conservatively, came up with the number eight. Each piece of firewood was like a familiar acquaintance, except of course I generally don’t consign old friends to a fiery end. I scrounged firewood wherever I could.
four-letter word and hardy New Englanders, my parents included, installed wood stoves in their homes in defiance of rising home heating oil prices. My mom put a decidedly un-PC bumper sticker on her car that read, “Shake Up a Sheik. Heat With Wood.” Even after oil prices moderated and the shortages stopped, those of us with woodstoves never forgot our vulnerability to world crises and out of a sense of security and habit kept stacking cordwood in our yards.
Especially prized were the times when the power company cleared roadsides to prevent limbs and trees from taking down the lines during winter storms. I recall one Saturday when, after the power company had cut and dropped a half mile of prime oak, maple and beech, I and a half-dozen like-minded wood burners staked out our roadside claims to the fallen timber like 49ers at Sutter’s Mill and made off with truckloads of wood. I worked at General Electric for a few
years and was heating my little ranch house with wood when I was made aware of a unique tradition. Each Saturday, the company would allow employees to storm its scrap wood yard and take whatever they wanted.
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., employees gathered outside a gate beyond which loomed a house-sized pile of wood. We waited with garbage cans and canvas wood carriers to haul off our woody booty.
At the appointed hour, a guard swung open the gate and the horde attacked. Most prized were the butt ends of large oak planks used to support giant power transformers within their oil-filled tanks. These were kiln-dried briefcase-size chunks of wood so perfect it seemed a shame to burn them. There was also a composite material called lebanite that looked like thick Masonite and burned with a heat so intense that three pieces would last through a cold winter night.
Like vultures on a dead rhinoceros, the crowd jostled one another while tearing apart the pile. Within an hour, most of the wood was gone. Those Saturday morning bonanzas got me through two cold winters without having to buy much firewood.
Heating with wood is laborious, time-consuming and dangerous. But I loved it. There’s the exercise of cutting and splitting wood and there’s the satisfaction of looking at your wood pile knowing that your family will stay warm even during the worst winter power outages. And the environmental aspect is profound; I once calculated that I had saved more than 15 thousand gallons of heating oil over my three decades of wood heating. But wood heat isn’t for everyone. If you’re going to cut your own, you better know what you’re doing, wear safety equipment and know when to stop. I had a few close calls. Once I was cutting a friend’s pasture edges alone on an unusually warm winter
Continue Wood on Page 14
Whether black or gray, Abert’s squirrels can brighten the day
By Deborah Huth Price Redstone Review
LYONS – There are all sorts of squirrel species, but perhaps one of the cutest and most fun to see is the Abert’s squirrel with its long ears that make it look like it got parts from a rabbit. In the Rocky Mountains, these squirrels (often called tassel-eared squirrels) are usually solid black, but recently I had the privilege to see a gray and white one visit my yard.
When visiting Arizona some years ago, I saw a number of gray Abert’s squirrels with rust-colored stripes down their backs.
lations exist only in Ponderosa pine stands, according to Bruce Gill, former wildlife biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The Ponderosa pine tree stands that Abert’s squirrels like are isolated islands of trees scattered from southern Wyoming to northern Mexico. “Some populations have been isolated from others for so long,” says Gill, “that the species has split into six genetically distinct subspecies. The south-
Abert’s squirrels can actually vary in color from black to light or dark gray with white bellies. Colorado is the only place where the solid black variety is usually seen. Just like black bears that can be black, brown, or even blond, Abert’s squirrels like to keep us guessing as well.
Abert’s squirrels are typically found in pinyon-juniper, lodgepole pine, and Ponderosa trees, but their reproducing popu-
essential oils like terpenes and oleoresins to protect themselves from things like squirrels, but the trees that Abert’s squirrels pick for their dining room produce less oleoresins than other Ponderosas, says Gill.
Other tree squirrels, such as pine squirrels, rarely eat the inner bark of twigs due to the fact that they are not able to digest this material as easily as Abert’s squirrels. Instead, pine squirrels keep big caches of seeds,
ern subspecies are typically gray in color while the northern subspecies exhibit a variety of color forms or morphs.”
Abert’s squirrels depend on Ponderosas for food and shelter. When winter and snowfall sets in, they feed on the inner bark of pine twigs, usually chosen from the uppermost branches. These special trees are referred to as target trees. Pines produce
Ponderosa pines depend on the truffles for essential minerals and vitamins, and “when the squirrels feed on truffles,” notes Gill, “they help disseminate the spores, contributing to the health of the trees.” Spores are spread when they pass through the squirrel’s digestive system.
cones, and other food stored for winter use that they strongly defend, whereas Abert’s squirrels continue to hunt for food throughout the winter and are not as territorial.
The Ponderosa pine and the Abert’s squirrel have a mutual relationship, where they help each other survive. When the ground is clear of snowfall, Abert’s squirrels feed on truffle mushrooms at the base of the trees.
You can often find an Abert’s squirrels favorite “target” trees by noticing clipped-off twigs with pine needles still attached near the base of the tree. These fallen twigs in turn provide additional food for animals like deer. Abert’s squirrels especially like the seeds of pine cones. They will get to the seeds by spinning the cones like little corn cobs, stripping away the scales and leaving a nice little cone stem behind. Whether black, gray or somewhere in between, Abert’s squirrels are fun little neighbors to observe who have adapted well to surviving the winter.
Deborah Huth Price is an environmental educator living in Pinewood Springs. You can read her blog at www.walk-the-wild-side.blog or email her at debhprice@gmail.com.
Learn about Lyons Area History: Quarries/ Quarry Town, Lyons Pioneers, Lyons 1900s, Isabella Bird Welch Resort
Chopin
dan siddall broker/owner
Meet the colorful Abert’s squirrels! From black to gray to rust-striped, these tassel-eared cuties are a joy to spot in the Rockies DEBORAH HUTH PRICE
LOOKING UP
Healthy holidays: Maintain your exercise routine and reduce stress
By Bronwyn Muldoon Redstone Review
LYONS – The holiday season is a busy and exciting time of year but can also be stressful. Between shopping, parties, traveling, and visiting family, it’s easy for your regular exercise routine to fall by the wayside. Research has shown that physical activity levels tend to decrease the most after holidays.
That’s why it’s essential to prioritize your health this time of year. Regular exercise can help reduce holiday stress and keep you feeling your best.
Here are some of the key benefits of maintaining your fitness routine:
Stress Management
The holidays bring a lot of added demands on your time and energy. Exercise is a proven way to manage stress and improve your mood. When you work out, your body releases endorphins that can lift your spirits and help you better cope with
the season’s pressures. Making time to be active, even just a little bit each day, can go a
long way in keeping you calm and centered.
Immune System Support
Cold and flu season tends to ramp up during the winter months. Staying active can help support your immune system and reduce your risk of getting sick. Keeping up
with your workouts makes you less susceptible to holiday illnesses that could derail your plans.
Weight Management
The holidays are full of rich, indulgent foods that can pack on extra pounds if you’re not careful. Regular physical activity helps you maintain a healthy weight by burning calories and boosting your metabolism. It also gives you an outlet for all the extra energy you may have from eating more decadent foods.
If you need help sticking to your exercise routine, consider talking to your physical therapist. They can create a customized fitness plan to help you stay on track, even with a busy holiday schedule. Physical therapists can teach you exercises you can do at home and provide tips for fitting activities into your day.
Here are a few quick tips to help you stay active this holiday season:
Schedule your workouts like any other important appointment, and don’t cancel
Denver: SunTrain says it’s the “crazy” future
By Michael Booth
The Colorado Sun, Redstone Review
DENVER – Even the founders of SunTrain and an enthusiastic governor admit it sounds crazy: Charge up a train full of massive batteries with clean solar or wind energy out on the plains, then roll the trains to Denver or any other spot that’s low on power without using billion-dollar electrical lines.
The train track becomes the transmission line – “trainsmission,” by the company’s coinage. SunTrain, Gov. Jared Polis, Xcel Energy and national clean energy advocates say the idea is ready, and if they land a $10 million federal grant, a demo project charging trains at Pueblo and plugging into the grid at Denver’s Cherokee power station could be ready by 2026.
The trains would then run 115-odd miles north to Denver’s Cherokee plant, which is a former coal-fired plant converted to natural gas generation by Xcel.
The initial trains would be diesel powered, but even those would still make the battery power some of the cleanest energy around, SunTrain officials said in a rollout at Xcel’s Cherokee plant in north Denver. Rail power is an efficient use of fossil fuels, and train-delivered electricity reduces carbon by about 88%, they said.
SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized iron phosphate batteries holds enough power for 20,000 homes for an hour, or 1,000 homes for a full day. The first-of-its-kind demonstration in Pueblo would start with 20 battery-packed rail cars, with the electrical and rail technology eventually supporting 100-car battery trains providing temporary power for hundreds of thousands of people.
SunTrain’s first demonstration at Pueblo would charge a train full of batteries at the solar farms that have sprung up around the Comanche coal-fired power plant run by Xcel.
As San Francisco-based SunTrain and partners begin to use electric locomotives that can themselves run on renewable energy, rail delivery of charged batteries would become a 100% carbon-free operation.
Fighting climate change, keeping the electric grid reliable and keeping energy affordable for consumers all require dozens of innovative renewable energy ideas, Polis said at the presentation.
“There’s lots of exciting technologies to be looked at,” Polis said. “Of course, not everything that entrepreneurs are trying will work out, but the fact that we have dozens of
them.
Find ways to be active with friends and family, like going for a walk after a meal. Keep home exercise equipment (like weights or a yoga mat) accessible and ready to use.
Park further away from stores and buildings to get in extra steps.
Don’t let the hustle and bustle of the holidays derail your health and fitness goals. With a bit of planning and creativity, you can maintain your exercise routine and enjoy a happier, healthier holiday season.
Bronwyn Muldoon, a licensed physical therapist, owns Lyons Physical Therapy, 435 High St. in Lyons. Some of the things addressed at her clinic include but are not limited to: acute and chronic spinal pain (back and neck pain), postural dysfunction alignment, sports and performance-related injuries, repetitive/overuse-related injuries, post-surgical rehabilitation, muscles strains and sprains, and physical rehabilitation of all kinds. For more information call 303-823-8813.
ideas being pursued that at least pencil out with projections on paper – we’re going to need some of those solutions.” Colorado surpassed California and other states in the percentage of car sales for electric vehicles in the third quarter, Polis said, citing a new national analysis. Colorado holding the No. 1 position in electric sales for the first time means the state more than ever needs reliable, affordable electric power, Polis said.
Xcel executives said they are continuing to push forward their multibillion dollar Colorado transmission upgrade called the Power Pathway, but it’s a yearslong project for approvals and construction. Batteries on trains use existing infrastructure – the cost of running trains is variable, but the capital costs are small by comparison and improve as battery technology advances.
Railroads are willing to work with the newer lithium iron phosphate batteries because they are not flammable, and much less volatile than older lithium ion batteries, executives said. The newer batteries also use fewer rare-earth metals whose mining is causing environmental problems around the world. Hauling batteries can help replace business lost to the closure of coal-fired or oil-fired power plants around the nation.
SunTrain and other backers mentioned multiple scenarios where the battery trains could be attractive:
•Bridging deliveries of solar or wind energy not yet connected to a power grid, and at times of the day when urban areas see demand surges. Train-based batteries can store wind power generated at nighttime off-peak hours,
Jeff Anderson, CEO of SunTrain, gifts a model train to Gov. Jared Polis at the Xcel Cherokee Power Station in Denver on Dec. 4, announcing a proposed pilot program for SunTrain in Colorado. KATHRYN SCOTT, SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN
Lyons Library marks a notable year
Bauman
By Kara Bauman Redstone Review
LYONS – As we reflect on 2024, it’s clear that the Lyons Community Library has been a vital hub for information, connection, and engagement. This year brought an array of enriching programs, meaningful events, and exciting milestones that strengthened our community ties and celebrated the power of knowledge and creativity.
We began the year by expanding our hours to better serve you, and introducing Kanopy, a streaming platform offering access to movies, documentaries, and children’s programming. Our Fashion REBELution series started 2024 with creativity and sustainability, giving participants the tools to redesign old denim into unique creations.
Spring was in the air by March, and so was a spirit of discovery. Programs like “Amazing Grasses of Boulder County” and “Drawing Differences” celebrated diversity in our natural world and our community, while the Cookbook Book Club invited food lovers to share recipes and stories.
In May, we hosted our first annual Lyons Lit Fest, a day-long literary celebration featuring local authors, workshops, and keynote speakers. Summer brought the “Adventure Begins at Your Library” reading program, encouraging all ages to explore through books, nature, and handson activities.
Autumn saw us gather to honor the Friends of the Library during National Friends of Libraries Week. Their dedication enriches our library through fundraising and volunteer efforts. We also celebrated the history and impact of the library during an Open House commemorating five years in our new building. This event highlighted the milestones of our Library District and showcased the many services we provide, from cultural passes to digital downloads. Seasonal favorites like the LEGO and Pokémon Clubs returned, while new offerings, including ukulele lessons and mindfulness workshops, brought fresh opportunities to connect and grow.
In November, we looked ahead with gratitude. Events like the Teen Advisory Group’s “thankfulness tree” project and nature journaling sessions fostered reflection and creativity. Meanwhile, our writing circles and book clubs remained spaces
for dialogue and expression, bolstered by thought-provoking book selections. December brings the return of the Family Fireside Festival on December 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. Join us for a cozy winter celebration for the whole family. Come in from the cold for an afternoon filled with winter-themed crafts and games for all ages. Create a festive wreath using recycled book pages, play reindeer antler toss, enjoy a hot cocoa bar, and much more.
This year’s event also features a Book Swap. To participate, bring a gently-loved used book, wrap it in festive paper, and label it with the intended age group and genre. Trade it for a new-to-you book at the Swap. If you don’t have a book to bring, no worries: the library will provide wrapped books so everyone can join in on the fun.
As we close out the year, the Lyons Community Library continues to be a beacon of connection. Whether through innovative programs, community celebrations, or a quiet space for reflection, we are here to serve.
Looking ahead to 2025, we are excited to continue our ukulele classes, fostering creativity and joy for music lovers of all ages. We’re also thrilled to announce a series of outdoor preparedness programs in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, designed to help our community safely explore and appreciate the beauty of our natural surroundings. Stay tuned for more details, and thank you for making 2024
LEAF delivers the gifts of health and wellbeing
By Lory Barton Redstone Review
LYONS – Holiday greetings from LEAF, Lyons Elevating All Fund. In this season of giving, our teams are focused on delivering the gifts of health and wellbeing in the Greater Lyons area.
In addition to our regular programs, LEAF’s holiday offerings include the Food Pantry Benefit Concert, Holiday Giving Tree, Super Duper Food Pantry, and holiday art therapy workshops for adults and kids. We hope you join us for any and all of these events that are helpful for you. Each has been designed to grow healthy community and meet local needs. A few people have been curious recently about LEAF’s funding and programming. As we head into the heart of year-end fundraising and as we plan for 2025, I’m pleased to share transparently.
member, one 30-hour-per-week Program Director, and approximately 35 hours per week of staff administrative and program support. We have a dedicated army of volunteers and donors, too, whose efforts make it possible for LEAF to operate in our community.
LEAF served 30 percent of the local population last year, with most participants utilizing services many times through weekly Food Pantry attendance, daily Meals on Wheels deliveries, scheduled behavioral health services, etc. We expect participation levels to be higher in 2024 and moving forward, and we’ll share this data in the new year, once it has all been compiled.
any money not used as agreed. With robust funding, Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery served 167 unduplicated individuals in the third quarter of this year alone. Even with painful cuts for 2025, we expect this program’s funding to continue to come primarily from government grants.
Serving upwards of 60 households each week these days, the Food Pantry uses approximately one-third of our annual
unforgettable. We look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in 2025. If you are a resident of the Lyons Regional Library District and are inspired by the governance and vision that enable these wonderful programs and services, consider joining our Board of Trustees. We are currently seeking a Trustee to serve on the Board. Applications are due by December 31. Together, we can shape the future of our community’s library.
Please note your Lyons Community Library will be closed December 24, 25, and 31, as well as January 1, and we wish you a safe, warm, happy holiday season. Generally, we open at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday. We close at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. on Fridays, and 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Our online catalog is available 24/7 at lyons.colibraries.org and we’re always open for digital downloads on the Libby, CloudLibrary, and Kanopy apps. Give us a call at 303-823-5165 or email info@lyonslibrary.com with any questions. Please see the calendar of events on our website for additional programs, program information, and registration instructions.
Kara Bauman is the Director of the Lyons Community Library and holds an MLIS from the University of Kentucky. She’s an avid fly angler, enjoys craft beer, and travels extensively to see her favorite band, Widespread Panic.
program expenses account for the cash total. We receive one government grant in the amount of $15,000 for the Food Pantry. We must raise the balance of the need locally, which is around $85,000 plus donated food. Our local impact is substantial: 100 percent of our guests have told us that the service helps to meet their nutritional needs and helps them remain living independently.
You are likely aware that LEAF’s five programs include Lyons Community Food Pantry, Lyons Meals on Wheels, Basic Needs and Resource Matching, Lyons Volunteers, and Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery. We have one full-time staff
Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery uses around 40 percent of LEAF’s annual budget. This makes sense, of course, because licensed professionals must provide these services. Fortunately, the majority of our Mental Wellness costs have been covered in recent years by county and federal funding. These “use it or lose it” grant dollars are highly specific and cannot be transferred to address different needs within the organization. In fact, we must return
budget. Specifically, annual Food Pantry operations require about $100,000, plus around $130,000 worth of donated food. Food purchases, insurance, utilities, our van, some staff costs, and miscellaneous
No less important, our remaining three programs (Meals on Wheels, Basic Needs and Resource Matching, and Lyons Volunteers) use the final portion of LEAF’s budget. None of these efforts receives any government support, so we need to raise an additional $100,000 locally to offer these valuable services. So this is our bottom line: LEAF’s four core human services programs require approximately $200,000 to operate each year. These funds feed hundreds and hundreds of people, care for our most at-risk community members, support local housing security, and enhance safety and beauty in Lyons. If you value the help and support that so many of your friends and neighbors receive each year at LEAF, please consider
CONSENSUS
Lyons Community Theater presents Harvey
By Jim Ramsay Redstone Review
PINEWOOD SPRINGS
– The Lyons Community Theater production of Harvey originally scheduled for November will be presented on Friday, December 13, Saturday, December 14 and Sunday afternoon, December 15 at the Wildflower Pavillion on the Planet Bluegrass grounds, according to publicity person, Patty McNichol.
Information about times and where to purchase tickets will be available on Facebook and on flyers soon to be posted around town. For more information, email lyonscommunitytheater@gmail.com.
Harvey is a play by Mary Chase about a kindly man who befriends a pooka , a shape-shifting spirit from Celtic mythology,
in the form of a six foot, three- and one-half inch tall rabbit. Of course, no one else can see the rabbit, so Elwood P. Dowd is widely regarded as eccentric, if not a little crazy.
Embarrassed by her brother’s insistence that Harvey is real, his sister Veta attempts to have him committed to a mental institution to save her social standing. The resulting hijinks provide us with a lesson about the importance of friendship and loyalty.
Harvey premiered on Broadway in 1944 to great success, and it became a Hollywood movie in 1950 starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The success of the movie inspired several made-for-television remakes, including one to be directed by Steven Spielberg that was abandoned at the end of 2009.
The Lyons production is directed by Barney Dreistadt, and it stars Gwydion Winklemeyer as Elwood P. Dowd, Cherrie Ramsdell-Speich as Veta Louise Simmons
It must have been a Christmas miracle
By Susan de Castro Gierach Redstone Review Editor
LYONS – There are lots of ways to define a miracle. Mine is pretty simple. It is something that happens that has no plausible way of ever happening; it defies all logic.
As a young person, I only remember one. It was early in December in northern Michigan and the winter chill had set in. The snow was already hard packed and the snow plows were only scraping the topmost layer of new snow off the roads and sidewalks. The days were gray and it was dark by early afternoon.
A soft layer of new snow covered the town of Charlevoix, where I was trying to grow up. Christmas was rapidly approaching, but my spirits were low. A few months earlier, before the snow had set in, my mother had backed her car out of the garage and crumpled my new bicycle into a twisted ribbon of metal.
and Kim Mitchel as Veta’s daughter’ Myrtle Mae Simmons. To find out who plays Harvey, you’ll need to come and see the play. Lyons Community Theater welcomes community involvement in its productions, so you will see many friends and neighbors backstage as well.
Lyons Community Theater is an all-volunteer theater that welcomes anyone who would like to get involved. Send an email to lyonscommunitytheater@gmail.com to let them know you’d like to join. And be sure to show your support for local theater by coming out for Harvey
Jim Ramsay was raised in Iowa, Iran, Nigeria and Afghanistan. He studied English at CU in Boulder and taught English as a Second Language in Tanzania, Botswana, the University of Illinois and the Economics Institute at CU. An affinity for computers led him to technical writing, and he wrote manuals for tech companies
very quickly before she could take off.
I was in deep distress about my crumpled bike. We lived on the edge of town and my bike was my only link to the outside world and my friends. I devised a plan and began to seriously promote the idea of getting a new bicycle for Christmas. You might say I became Zealot bordering on fanatic – I had to have a bicycle by spring.
My mother said that I was out of control and decided to sit me down and explain the true meaning of Christmas which had nothing to do with bicycles. I listened of course because you have to when you are a kid. My parents version of democracy was that children had the right to remain silent at all times.
My parents said it was entirely my fault for parking my bike behind her car. The truth is that I could have parked my bike across the street and my mother would have managed to run over it, but they were not going to listen to that logic.
Only a few years before, when I was very young and could barely reach the car door handle from my front seat in the car to pull it shut, she nearly killed me by taking off in a blast of speed backwards when I was only halfway in the car. I had reached out to grab the door handle and went flying out as the door swung wide open and I landed in the street. Then she lunged the car forward almost running over me before she slammed to a stop and hauled me back into the car. We all learned to get in and out of the car
I needed a new strategy. I had to give it some serious thought, which is what I was doing one evening while standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. I was listlessly swinging my baton in one hand, by the ball at the end of the baton.
I was standing on one leg balancing my other foot on my knee. My dad was watching the news on TV.
It was truly an accident and no one was more surprised than me, when out of nowhere I swung the baton around my shoulder then under my arm and suddenly the unthinkable happened. It slipped out of my hand and sailed right into our very large front window in the living room. There was a loud crack and glass few everywhere as the baton carved a large hole in the window and landed in the snow. As the ice cold air rushed into the room, my knees buckled, this was probably going to be the end of life as I knew it.
It was my first year of marching band. I
Travels with Redstone At the iconic Straits of Gibraltar, with the Mediterranean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, are L to R: Susan de Castro Gierach, Gail Frandfort, Kim Freymiller, and Barb Kuffs. Standing amid the historic tunnels and caves that once served as military hospitals and headquarters, including for US General Dwight D. Eisenhower during WWII. Send us your photos showing where the Redstone has traveled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@gmail.com.
had decided to become a majorette after marching around the football field in 20-below-zero weather trying to play my freezing cold French horn thinking, “This is insanity.”
I can’t say that it was a good choice since my hands got so cold holding the baton that my fingers would not work to do any baton maneuvers.
Staring at the broken window, I remembered all the times my parents told me not to practice my baton in the house and it became clear to me why they were warning me. My dad got up from the couch to examine the hole in the window. He had a tendency to explode at the slightest provocation. Slowly he turned to me and said, “I guess you just bought yourself a new window for Christmas.” He seemed unusually calm as he went to the garage to find some scrap lumber and plastic to board up the broken window. It was eerie.
My hopes for a new bike were dashed to pieces. Nothing seemed to be going right. My brother was allowed to lock himself in the kitchen and decorate all the animal Christmas cookies by himself. My mother sensed my dismay. She told me that I could plan Christmas Eve dinner and I could have anything I wanted for dinner. This sounded great, but in reality dinners at our house were never simple.
My dad was Spanish from the Caribbean Islands and my mother was Norwegian, not a combination I would recommend. My mother liked boiled fish, especially the heads, and boiled potatoes. My dad ate every meal with a restaurant size bottle of Tabasco Sauce which he poured on everything, even soup. My sister and brother, who were a lot older than me, would not eat mushrooms, celery and most vegetables. My parents were not fond of beef or pork, which came out like charcoal when my mother cooked it. When we didn’t have fish we had frozen dinners and Twinkies. I thought about it for a while and came up with the obvious choice, lobster tail. I told my mother my choice for dinner and she said, “You must be joking.” I thought it was the perfect choice but my mother didn’t. I thought she might go for it since she could see things were not going well for me.
Christmas was only a few days away and the tree was up and decorated in front of the boarded-up window. The day before Christmas Eve I fell while ice skating and somehow managed to gouge my face on the skate blade of the guy skating in front of me. His blade landed right between my eyes and I got a huge bleeding lump that turned black and blue. I looked like a prize fighter. On Christmas Eve a blizzard settled in. My mother decided to go with my suggestion and she made lobster tails for dinner and we all loved it. That night we trundled off to Midnight Mass. I sang in the choir with a huge lump between my eyes. As I sat in my choir seat, I pondered my situation and decided that things had to get better. I thought that I could still walk to the beach in the summer and I could earn money in the summer, perhaps enough to buy a used bike before it got too cold to ride.
Christmas Day arrived with a great clatter of noise. I raced to the living room to discover that my brother received a new drum set for Christmas. He was pounding away on the drums and hitting the cymbals with his drum sticks and I was wondering how we were going to live with that unbearable noise when I noticed some handlebars tucked behind the Christmas tree. I moved the branches to see a brand new bike. I was so shocked that I took a step back and nearly fell over. I could see my dad smiling across the room. He nodded his head. I threw my arms up over my head and danced around the room to my brother’s drum beat. I was right, things were getting better.
It was truly a Christmas miracle. Everyone opened up presents, but I continued to dance around the living room as the light filtered in through the cracks in the boarded-up window.
up and down the Front Range. He moved from Boulder to Pinewood Springs in the early 1990s to follow a dream of mountain living, and he’s still up there.
Ramsay
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Redstone Review: A community’s voice, a story worth sustaining
By Tamara Haddad Redstone Review
LYONS – It all started in February 2000, when Susan de Castro Gierach decided to create something that Lyons, Colorado, didn’t yet have – a woman-run, independent monthly newspaper. She didn’t inherit or buy it; she built it from scratch.
Those early days were tough. “People thought the Redstone Review was just another advertising circular. Many threw it away without a second glance,” says Gierach. But she didn’t give up. She believed in the power of stories, the importance of community, and the necessity of local news. Slowly but surely, Lyons began to believe that too. People started to read the stories in the paper and started to discuss the stories with friends and neighbors. Soon lots of people were reading the paper.
Now, nearly 25 years later, the Redstone Review is not just a monthly newspaper; it’s a vital testament to perseverance, passion, and community grit. Each month, its pages chronicle the ongoing lives and events that define this mountain town. Local businesses celebrate their milestones; families see their stories reflecting on them, and Lyons’ arts, politics, and culture enjoy a monthly platform.
The journey isn’t always smooth. When Covid-19 hit, the Redstone Review, like so
many other enterprises, faced financial uncertainty. Advertising dollars dried up, and operating costs skyrocketed. During the pandemic businesses were forced to close and the whole country shut down, which meant advertising revenues dried up.
teers, trading for some services, and always maintaining a very high standard.
Redstone’s local printer in Berthoud closed its doors and put the building up for sale, leaving about 80 of its client newspapers and magazines scrambling to find a
The Redstone survived because Gierach had built up a small cushion of savings which allowed payment of bills during this stressful time when everything shut down. But after the pandemic, the small cushion was gone and advertising revenue never returned to the same level as before Covid, and the costs of everything skyrocketed. Among the new burdens, the cost of newsprint increased immensely, the cost at the printers rose, the cost of hiring new staff grew, and postal costs also went up a large amount.
The Redstone has absorbed as much of the costs as possible. For almost 25 years the Redstone has provided a totally free newspaper to the community, paying for all the printing and postal costs, recruiting volun-
LCF launches its annual appeal with a $20,000 matching challenge
Pickarski
By Rachel Pickarski Redstone Review
LYONS – As the holiday season approaches, the Lyons Community Foundation (LCF) is rallying the community to support its Annual Appeal. This year’s campaign comes with an exciting opportunity to double the impact of every dollar donated. Thanks to the generosity of local donors, all contributions will be matched up to $20,000, making it possible to raise a total of $40,000 to benefit Lyons.
The LCF Annual Appeal kicked off earlier this month with mailings sent to every household in the 80540 zip code. Included in the mailing is a remittance envelope for cash or check donations, as well as a QR code linking directly to the donation portal. Donors can also give online at lyonscf.org.
The funds raised will go directly toward supporting local programs and initiatives that enhance the vibrancy and resilience of Lyons. From human services and youth enrichment to environmental sustainability and cultural engagement, the Lyons Community Foundation continues to fund projects that make a difference.
new printer. A new printer finally turned up a few months ago in Cheyenne, Wyo., but at a higher cost and a much longer commute to pick up the newly published papers.
Yet through it all, the Redstone has endured, staying true to its mission of delivering local stories to every Lyons address, for free. “We are staffed largely by volunteers with only two paid employees, our page designer and our ad designer,” says Gierach. “Everyone else works either on commission, or in trade, or as a volunteer. They and our advertisers support us entirely.”
Now facing personal challenges after losing her husband, John Gierach, whose obituary can be read in the New York Times, Susan reflects on the weight of keeping
“We raise money to give it away to the community,” said Gil Sparks, LCF Board Co-chair. This simple yet powerful mission fuels LCF’s work year after year, and the matching campaign is an opportunity for everyone to play a role in its success.
LCF has already raised $7,710 (as of December 8, 2024) toward the $20,000 match, but there’s still work to do. Community members are encouraged to make their donations early to ensure that the full match is secured. Past grantees have shared heartfelt stories about how LCF’s support has positively impacted their programs and the people they serve. Every dollar contributed helps sustain these vital efforts.
the Redstone Review afloat: “The paper has always been a labor of love, run with a small team. It’s never been about profit; it’s about the people of Lyons and their stories.”
Two months ago, the paper won 21 awards from the Colorado Press Association, a remarkable achievement for such a small publication. These accolades reflect the quality and dedication behind every issue. But awards don’t pay the bills. The reality is sobering: without community support, the Redstone Review faces the same potential fate as so many other local, independent papers nationwide.
Lyons has read, shared, and relied on the Redstone Review for nearly a quarter century. The first issue of Redstone came out in February, 2000. Out of a hope that the town recognizes what it has – a means of shared identity and local communication that supports our town – the paper asks for something in return. The Redstone needs your help.
This isn’t just about money; it’s also about pride. Lyons is known for its big hearts and generous spirit. Supporting the Redstone Review means championing a legacy of independent journalism and a woman-owned business that has repeatedly beaten the odds.
Think back to the floods and wildfires that tested Lyons’ resilience. Who told those stories? Who gave voice to the challenges and triumphs of this town? The Redstone Review did. This paper is not just a
As the year comes to a close, LCF invites the Lyons community to come together, celebrate generosity, and amplify their collective impact. By participating in the Annual Appeal, donors can ensure that LCF remains a driving force for good in Lyons.
LCF wishes the Lyons community a happy and healthy holiday season filled with joy and connection. Together, we can make this a season of giving to remember. Visit lyonscf. org to donate and learn more about the foundation’s work.
Rachel Pickarski is the Marketing and Communications Consultant for LCF.
My personal 2024 reflection
By Sally King Redstone Review
This holiday season finds me a bit ragged, hung out to dry when out of the blue an osprey swoops down to give me a lift. From up here I can see the John’s rattlesnake and the charming mink who runs along the River Bank, fox, deer and turkey. I love . . .v making an annual print, it is a deeply intuitive practice, a personal reflection of the overall vibe of 2024. And this year it has taken a huge effort to just maintain balance (have you noticed) but something akin to faith has emerged trusting in the outcome of things, more than I did which entails having to let go of “my outcome” (not easy – right?)
Holiday fun suggestion: Take visitors to see local art
By Sally King Redstone Review
I recommend checking out the Lyons Public Art Collection I took my grandson to see the hand painted tiles mural (over the water fountain in the library). We counted eagles and decided which one was our favorite.
Then I showed him my Stonehenge like Bear Heads and introduced him to “Bear Hug” on Main Street. Then onward to John’s kinetic pieces, in front of the market, the other on the Crystal Way. The town was also gifted two Bill Vielehr Sculptures, one is on the north side of the Ute Highway coming into town and the other is in the courthouse courtyard by Android’s wonderful mural of the animals. And of course don’t miss – the Clarifier located near Blackbear Hole, our community made mosaic.
And as a grand finale, a visit to the hidden Labyrinth Here’s a clue (Hwy. 7 near Prospect – seek the trailhead.) So go local for an art experience.
Continue Redstone on Page 10
Data confirms elephant population decline in parts of Africa
By Jayme DeLoss Colorado State University, Redstone Review
FORT COLLINS – Habitat loss and poaching have driven dramatic declines in African elephants, but it is challenging to measure their numbers and monitor changes across
phants to date.
Declines were not uniform across the continent, with some populations disappearing completely and others showing rapid growth. Colorado State University Professor George Wittemyer, one of the architects of the study and chair of the scientific board of Save the Elephants, said that identifying success stories where elephant populations are stable or increasing could help with their conservation.
the entire continent. A new study has analyzed 53 years of population survey data and found large-scale declines in most populations of both species of African elephants.
From 1964 to 2016, forest elephant populations decreased on average by 90 percent, and savanna elephant populations fell on average by 70 percent. In combination, populations declined by 77 percent on average.
The study compiled survey data from 475 sites in 37 countries, making it the most comprehensive assessment of African ele -
“The context and the solutions at different sites can be quite different, but there are examples where people are effectively managing and protecting these populations,” Wittemyer said.
“It helps to have a contextually relevant model for elephant conservation, and we’ve got that in a lot of different places.”
The study modeled site-level elephant density rather than numbers because the survey area was not constant over time for most survey sites. A clear trend toward smaller populations emerged. The study “shines a light on how quickly even something as big and noticeable as elephants can just disappear,” Wittemyer said.
Elephants may be big and noticeable, but counting them is complicated and resource intensive. Surveys of savanna elephants are done by spotters in planes, and forest elephants must be counted on foot. Drones aren’t yet capable of the long flights over remote areas necessary to survey elephants, and processing drone imagery also is resource intensive.
Africa is more than three times the size of the U.S., and each African country has its own wildlife management policies and political system. Some places survey regularly, and others not at all. Existing surveys were conducted through careful logistical planning and resource investment.
“We were really happy to bring all of that data together and leverage it, given the effort and care taken to collect it,” Wittemyer said.
As elephant populations declined, some protected spaces were condensed and survey borders changed. To compensate for shrinking survey areas and gaps in data, the study authors had to use places with good information to estimate population change for nearby places with less information. They looked at site-based trends to get a picture of the overall distribution of trends.
“The strength of our approach is that we were able to infer these trends, even in places where the data were extremely poor, in a way that allowed the results from each survey site to be compared,” said co-author Charles Edwards, a research scientist with CEscape consultancy services. “Understanding how and where trends are different across the range of a species is arguably more important for their conservation than an overall change in abundance, which may only reflect change in the largest populations.”
“It’s not a metric of the number of elephants left on the continent,” Wittemyer added. “It’s an assessment of how each population is doing, and they’re generally not doing great.”
The study examined how African elephants fared by species and region. In the war-torn Sahel region of northern Africa, elephant populations have been decimated. Eastern and central Africa generally saw declines from ivory poaching as well as from human population growth and wilderness conversion crowding out elephants.
However, elephants are thriving in parts of southern Africa, particularly in Botswana, where populations have been protected and sustainably managed.
The authors said that the study’s comprehensive assess -
ment of the status of African elephants is fundamental to management decisions like knowing where to invest limited funding and capabilities to best protect elephants.
“The overall story is one of decline, but we’re focusing on long-term stability of the species,” Wittemyer said. “I think we can do that in a bunch of places, but not all places.”
Jayme DeLoss is in the media/communications department at Colorado State University.
Co-authors of the study, “Survey-based inference of continental African elephant decline,” are Kathleen Gobush (University of Washington), Fiona Maisels (Wildlife Conservation Society and University of Stirling), Dave Balfour (Nelson Mandela University) and Russell Taylor (WWF Namibia).
Mange in wildlife and when to help
By Cindy Leikam Redstone Review
LYONS – The term “mangey” is often loosely used to describe animals that are missing hair, sickly, emaciated, scabby, and in overall poor health. This time of year, reports of “mangey” animals increase, due to the concern that these hairless critters won’t survive the cold winter temperatures. But what exactly is mange? Can wild animals cope with the infection without intervention? And should humans intervene to treat mange-afflicted animals?
Mange is a highly contagious skin infection caused by burrowing mites. There are three types of mange: Demodectic, Notoedric and Sarcoptic. Each is caused by a different species of mites. The Demodex mite is species specific to domestic dogs, and does not infect wildlife, cats, humans, or other mammals. The mite that causes Notoedric mange (also referred to as feline scabies) also is not species specific and infects a smaller range of hosts. Canines are much less affected by this type. Sarcoptic mange (also called canine scabies) is the most common. The mites are not species-specific and affect a wide range of domestic and wild animals all around the world, and so is the main focus of this column.
The mites that cause mange spend their entire life cycle on their host. They spread with skin to skin contact, and infest bedding and nesting materials in burrows and
dens. Once an animal comes in contact with them, the mites burrow under the skin, or in the hair follicles, where they lay eggs, dig tunnels, and excrete waste, which is the main cause of the infection. Infection usually begins on the underbelly, armpits, and legs. Over time, the infection spreads across the body, hair or fur begins to fall out, skin becomes scab-like, crusty or leathery, and secondary skin infections can occur from excessive scratching or environmental factors.
peratures drop, animals with less hair are more likely to suffer from frostbite and hypothermia.
Those that do survive on their own develop natural immunity and are more likely to successfully fight off future infections. That immunity may pass to their offspring, creating a more resistant population. Mange is not the direct cause of death, but it can contribute to it. When the infection spreads to the face, the scabs can inhibit the ability to see and smell, often leading to starvation and dehydration when they cannot find resources.
Most wild mammals around the globe are susceptible to contracting mange, but members of the canine family like foxes and coyotes are most at risk from this type. Bears, squirrels, porcupines, rabbits, deer, raccoons all can carry the Sarcoptic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, and suffer from the effects of it. Domestic animals can also contract it, including cats, dogs, horses, and even humans. Always wear gloves when handling wildlife or unfamiliar domestics. Is mange fatal if left untreated? The answer is complicated. Environmental factors like weather and seasons, and individual stressors like nursing pups or a weakened immune system, can factor into whether an animal will survive or not. Can wild animals overcome the infection without treatment? Healthy animals are more likely to overcome an infection than unhealthy, underweight, immunocompromised, or stressed animals. Seasonality of infection can make a big impact as well. When tem-
If there is an animal that seems to be suffering from this condition, there are some helpful tips. First, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for advice. Send pictures and videos of the animal in need. The rehabilitator can assess the situation and determine if the case is severe enough to warrant the stress of capture and transport for treatment. If the animal needs to be trapped, seek guidance from professionals. Local animal control officers can be helpful, especially with large animals like foxes, coyotes, and raccoons.
Always wear gloves if required to handle the animal. Keep pets away. Never leave out baited piles of food laced with medication. It can reach untargeted critters with incorrect dosages, which can be toxic and lead to sickness or death.
Resist the urge to treat on your own.
Not all hair loss and itchiness is caused by mange. There are several other skin conditions with similar presenting symptoms. Testing via a skin scraping is required to determine if it is mange, and if so, which type. Then, a treatment regime can be prescribed under the medical supervision of a veterinarian.
A combination of medications, regular baths with special shampoo, proper care, and a clean environment will usually clear up the infection within a few weeks.
Cindy Leikam is an intern for Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, on Colorado Hwy. 66 east of Lyons.
Making art is soul food
By Sally King Redstone Review
And making collaborative art is even better.
Six of us with brushes in hand . . .
Painted a log . . . naturally beautiful
Daring us to add our marks as we Began humming an earth chant . . .
Silently moving around each other
Applying paint, each woman trusting her intuition
The log emerged – lovely to behold. Having entered the field of shared experience
We felt a loosening of a tightness
We didn’t know was there.
Ritual painting is primitive
A very old earth/animal connection. A celebration in its most subtle of forms. Community practices are healing
Especially if they begin in quiet
So the soul can play and be free
Sally King is a local artist who believes it’s imperative that each of us pop our head up out of the collective trace, to bring through our creative gifts. You can find her on her blog and website, hersoupot.net and sallywhiteking.com or e mail sallywhiteking@live.com.
Can pythons help treat heart disease? A CU scientist aims to find out
By John Ingold
Colorado Sun, Redstone Review
BOULDER – Professor Leslie Leinwand at University of Colorado and her lab want to know how python hearts grow and shrink so fast – and whether the answer could lead to treatments for humans.
Somewhere deep inside a forest in central Africa right now, there is a ball python waiting for its next meal. And waiting. And waiting.
organs, including the heart, shrink back to normal size without suffering any damage.
When Leslie Leinwand, a powerhouse biology professor and expert in cardiovascular health at the University of Colorado, first read about this, she was giddy.
“I walked out into the lab, and I said, ‘I think we ought to start working on pythons,’” she said. “And people looked at me like, ‘What?’”
Until that point, Leinwand’s lab had been a fairly typical research operation. They
Pythons can go months – perhaps even longer than a year – without eating. But when they do it is a gourmand’s feast, with the python sometimes consuming a meal equivalent to its entire body weight. Imagine fasting until next Thanksgiving, then hitting up the McDonald’s drive-thru for 300 Big Macs.
Humans would die trying to live this way, but pythons have an extraordinary trick. To deal with all this nutrition at once and the stresses of pumping it through the bloodstream, the snake’s organ systems temporarily become huge. Its heart expands 25% or more. And, once the meal has been digested and its nutrients distributed, those
worked with mice and rats to solve scientific riddles.
When the snakes finally arrived in her lab – 18 baby pythons in a single pillowcase, which itself was inside a cardboard box that had been shipped from an exotic animal dealer in Oklahoma – Leinwand did question her decision.
“I picked up this pillowcase, and the whole bag is kind of moving,” she said. “And I had a moment where I thought, ‘What have I done?’”
But Leinwand knew that the rest of the animal kingdom held secrets that could benefit human health. Drugs like Ozempic that have revolutionized treatment for
4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 3 car garage. 3743 nished sqft. with a 1,400 un nished basement. Amazing upgrades and mountain views in town.
diabetes and obesity were developed based on research into Gila monster venom. The venom from deadly sea snails has been studied for potential therapeutic benefit.
So Leinwand plowed ahead. And now her nearly two-decade-long quest to understand python hearts has yielded valuable insights that could one day lead to treatments for multiple kinds of heart disease.
Take, for instance, the python’s expanding-shrinking heart trick. Leinwand and other researchers in her lab have discovered that python hearts are remarkably pliant. Understanding what makes them so could help treat a human condition called cardiac fibrosis, a stiffening of the heart associated with heart disease. “We would love to know how to make stiff hearts much less stiff,” Leinwand said.
Or what about how a python is able to pump all that sludgy, fat-laden blood through its body following a big meal? A recent study from the lab looked at components of heart muscle cells called myofibrils taken from ball pythons after feeding. (The lab has also studied Burmese pythons, but purchasing and transporting those has become difficult as regulators crack down in response to the species’ invasive rampage across Florida.
Those same restrictions mean Leinwand’s students now have to drive new python test subjects back from Oklahoma themselves.)
“We saw something really cool,” said Claudia Crocini, a researcher at Charité – Berlin University of Medicine in Germany who worked on the study while a postdoctoral student in Leinwand’s lab. “These myofibrils after feeding were able to produce a lot more force compared to the nonfed python hearts.”
a meal, doubling the snake’s heart rate, it looks like that of an elite endurance athlete, not like that of someone with advanced cardiovascular disease. Understanding how this happens could lead to treatments for the many human ailments linked to an enlarged, but sick, heart.
And then there’s this little factoid: No matter how much they eat, pythons don’t seem to get heart disease. Leinwand’s tried, in an experiment she half-jokingly calls “‘Super Size Me’ in snakes.” She even tried to publish a journal article with the title “Redefining snake oil.”
“I love that title,” she said. “But they didn’t.”
By now, you may be wondering how serious of a person Leinwand actually is. Interesting research, good sense of humor, but c’mon. Snakes? To treat human heart disease?
But Leinwand may be the most impactful Colorado scientist you’ve never heard of. She has an extraordinary record of turning scientific insights from the lab into actionable treatments that make it to market,
In other words, python hearts got stronger, something that could help treat human heart conditions involving a weakened heart.
Leinwand is also fascinated by how a python heart grows. When it swells after
where they are helping people live healthier lives.
John Ingold is a co-founder of The Colorado Sun and a reporter currently specializing in health care coverage. This article is reprinted by permission from The Colorado Sun
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Eagle Valley Dr Lyons, CO
A ball python in University of Colorado Boulder professor Leslie Leinwand’s lab, photographed by one of her graduate students. YUXIAO TAN, CU-BOULDER
Leslie Leinwand, the chief scientific officer at the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado, photographed in her lab in Boulder, in October, 2024. STEVE PETERSON, THE COLORADO SUN
WHAT’S COOKIN’
Planning for tasty holiday gifts
Shark
By Barbara Shark Redstone Review
LYONS – I like to prepare special treats for special friends. Sometimes it’s a box of homemade cookies or crackers and sometimes it’s one of these treats.
Sweet and Spicy Nuts
These are a wonderful cocktail nibble and good to serve with hors d’oeuvres. They’re very more-ish, a great gift with a bottle of sparkling apple juice or wine.
Combine in a small bowl 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground cumin seeds, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, one teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, one tablespoon sugar. Set aside. Heat one tablespoon canola oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add three cups
nuts – a combination of almonds, walnuts, cashews and pecans and toss to coat with the oil. Sprinkle nuts with 1/3 cup sugar. Shake skillet to combine and let sugar caramelize. Shake until the sugar begins to melt then stir gently. Watch carefully and adjust heat so the nuts don’t burn. When sugar has caramelized and the nuts smell toasty, remove from heat and toss with the spice mixture. Cool and store in a jar or tin.
Granola
Another welcome gift is this granola. I shared the recipe in the December 2021
Crustless quiche to lower the carbs
By Catherine Metzger Redstone Review
LOVE – We love quiche. There’s nothing quite like the melding of eggs, cheese, custard and savory elements for a festive brunch, lunch or appetizer. At the same time, we always try to cut down on needless carbohydrates. So, with this recipe, we are liberating our quiche by going crustless using parchment paper lining in our pie plate, or a buttered pie plate. It’s still as delicious, but it’s just fewer carb calories.
Crustless Quiche Lorraine
For a 9-inch quiche serving 6:
1/2 cup Gruyere/Swiss cheese
3 whole, large eggs, beaten lightly with enough half and half to make 1 ½ cups
Pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
6 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Prepare the filling/custard:
Combine grated cheese, beaten eggs, half
and half, nutmeg and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Cook the bacon until almost crisp then add the onion and parsley and cook another five minutes until golden. Drain the bacon mixture in sieve and let cool. Once cooled, add it to the filling mixture, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Assemble and bake:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Pour the filling into a pie plate generously buttered or lined with parchment paper and place in the preheated oven to cook for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, or until deeply browned on
issue of the Redstone but here is a reminder. In the Cuisinart (or by hand), chop with several pulses ─ 1 1/2 cups raw almonds (do these first as they are the hardest), then 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, 1 1/2 cups other raw nuts ─ walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts. You’ll end up with various sized pieces from crumbs to chunks. Don’t overprocess. Place in a large bowl with one cup pepitas, 3/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 sesame seeds and/or flax seeds. Add three cups rolled oats. Stir in one cup unsweetened coconut flakes and a 1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut, 1/3 cup cacao nibs (optional), one tablespoon cinnamon, one tablespoon ground ginger, one teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, (about half of a nut) and a big pinch of salt.
1/2 cup safflower or your favorite flavorless vegetable oil, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and pour over the nut mixture. Stir until well combined and moistened.
Spread in a high-sided baking pan, 9 x 13 inches, and roast in a 350 degrees oven for 20 minutes. Stir up and continue roasting for 20 minutes, until browned, toasty and fragrant. Cool well, then store in a jar or tin.
Combine 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup,
Adapt the recipe to suit your taste, adding or subtracting varieties of nuts, seeds, and spices. This makes enough for a week of 1/2 cup servings for two or several gift jars.
Barbara Shark is an artist and author of How I Learned to Cook, an Artist’s Life. She lives near Lyons, Colorado. For more recipes, read her blog at www.howilearnedtocookanartistslife.blog.
top. Enjoy warm or cold with fruit garnish, salad and a crusty piece of bread. Broccoli and Red Pepper or Canned Pimento Quiche
Here’s another variation on the quiche theme. Sauté 2 tablespoons of shallots or
scallions in butter, add 2/3 cup cooked broccoli, and add 1/2 cup of sliced red peppers or one small jar of drained pimentos. Stir and cook until tender. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
For the custard, blend three large eggs with enough milk, half and half or cream to make 1 1/2 cups. When filling is cool, add 1/4 cup Gruyere or Swiss cheese, blend with filling and custard, and place in pie shell that is covered in parchment paper or buttered. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in an oven preheated to 400F.
Catherine Ripley Metzger has been cooking professionally and privately since 1979. She was a French cuisine journeyman at the celebrated Henri d’Afrique restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Today she is the proprietor of the food blog www.foodfortheages.com and cooks with curiosity from the ground up in her log cabin home on the Western Slope of Colorado.
Wood Continued from Page 5
day and was tired, trying to do too much and didn’t notice the bowed maple sapling under a felled tree that violently released when I cut it and missed bashing my head by inches. Or the big beech that one day got hung up vertically and refused to fall until I cut it vertically piece by piece – each cut dropping the standing tree a few feet, a dangerous practice.
But there were the satisfying times also, like the twin red oaks – with butt ends as big around as car tires – that uprooted in the swamp behind our house. I spent many winter weekends cutting and splitting, then hauling the wood by sled 23 pieces to a load (yep, I counted) back to the house. Those two BTU-rich giants heated the house the entire next winter.
I burned my last piece of wood the month before we moved to Colorado.
Now I have but to set the thermostat and I have heat. I’m not sure my shoulders and knees could handle the rigors of cutting firewood anymore. But that’s not to say I don’t miss the warmth and satisfaction of a good woodstove on some of these cold Colorado days.
and deliver it to substations or be parked as backup.
•Powering remote needs that are not on the grid but are near current or abandoned rail lines. Music festivals similar to Coachella have already expressed interest, SunTrain said.
•Providing new or backup power to artificial intelligence data centers without further stressing existing power plants or transmission lines. Some AI executives have even started pursuing their own nuclear power plants as a reliable source of energy as data centers explode.
SunTrain has been financed by venture capital so far. If the federal grant does not come through, SunTrain executives said they could seek more private capital or an alternate combination of research and development grants.
If the project proves out, SunTrain could have 100-car trains waiting at either end and run charged and discharged trains in either direction, every day, SunTrain co-founder and chief technology officer Chris Smith said. If the project fails, “it’s all on wheels,” Smith said, meaning the powerful batteries can be rolled elsewhere for other projects or uses.
Xcel is “well on its way” to stated goals of 80% renewable generation of Colorado power by 2030, and needs innovative ideas to get to 100% by 2050, said the company’s Colorado president, Robert Kenney.
“Crazy ideas are usually the ideas that solve crazy problems,” Kenney said. “And climate change is one of those.”
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Michael Booth is The Colorado Sun Environmental writer, and co-author of its weekly climate and health newsletter, The Temperature. He and John Ingold host the weekly Sun Up podcast every Thursday.
This story was used with the permission of The Colorado Sun, an award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state – our community – can better understand itself. The Colorado Sun is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
LEAF Continued from Page 7
giving generously this year-end. Truly, when we all pull together and do what we can, there is “enough” and everyone can get the local support they need.
It’s rare for an organization to successfully provide such a breadth of services with such limited staff and resources. And even as we move into our new home next month, our 2025 budget is slated to be lower than this year’s. While we will be able to grow even more health and wellbeing from our new location, our operating expenses are not expected to increase. I think it’s important for the whole community to know just how hard we are working to serve well, and to do so with lean resources.
Our theme for 2025 is, “We Are Better Together.” When this theme was chosen months ago, we had no idea just how appropriate it would be. With painful funding cuts and rising utilization of LEAF’s services, we’re not just better together; we can’t do any of this unless we do it together.
If you value the health and wellbeing, and the community connectedness and vibrancy that LEAF’s presence fosters in Lyons, and if you are able to stand with us in this challenging coming season, many hundreds of LEAF guests and hundreds of volunteers and donors will be grateful. You should have received our holiday card with its remittance envelope by now, or you can donate online. Questions? Email me at lory@leaflyons.org and we will connect.
Finally, here’s a major announcement that has been a few years in the making. Our Food Pantry will open in the new year from our new home. After the Super Duper Pantry on December 18, we will be closed on Wednesday, December 25 and Wednesday, January 1. And we will welcome guests from our new Food Pantry location at 304 2nd Avenue on Wednesday, January 8. We look forward to serving even better than ever before from our new home. Stay tuned for details.
You can always learn about what’s happening at LEAF on our website, leaflyons. org. Follow us on social media, too, to stay current with all that our teams are doing to make our community an even better place.
Lory Barton is the Executive Director at LEAF, Lyons Elevating All Fund. Having previously served with local and international non-profit organizations, she’s glad and grateful to partner with so many at LEAF to change our small corner of the world in the greater Lyons area.
Travels with Redstone
Tristan, Tanya, and Gabriel Daty wrap up their Marrakech adventure with a perfect shot by the Koutoubia Mosque and the Redstone Review— talk about a ‘picture-perfect’ way to end their trip!
Take the Redstone with you on your next trip and send us your photos showing where the Redstone has traveled. Send your photos to redstarnews5@gmail.com.
Redstone Continued from Page 10 witness to Lyons’ history: it’s a participant. Small newspapers are shutting down at alarming rates all across the country.
According to a Northwestern University study, an average of 2.5 newspapers closed per week in the U.S. in 2023, meaning that hundreds of newspapers stopped printing throughout the year, with over 130 confirmed closures or mergers reported. This rapid decline means the U.S. is on track to lose one-third of all its newspapers by the end of this year.
There are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a new report from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
According to Axios, without newspaper in rural areas there is a news desert. The reason this matters is because most communities that lose a local newspaper in the U.S. usually do not get a replacement, even online. This leads to an uninformed population that needs to vote on laws that may not be understood.
The Internet and social media are not a substitute for newspapers. Elon Musk is not a journalist. Much of the Internet news has an agenda aimed to serve a small group’s interests and has no factual basis, there is no research behind their statements, even in a small news story.
Newspapers in smaller communities serve the people, they are there to inform people about local happenings, events, music and art shows, what the local government is doing, or not doing.
As the Redstone approaches its 25th anniversary this February, it’s a time for celebration, yes, but also a time for action. The stories that the Redstone Review covers are more than the news of our town; the stories are of you and your neighbors, your friends, and your families. The news will keep coming, with your help.
After 25 years of delivering the Redstone to your mail box every month for free, it asks you to give back.
The paper is starting a donation program for members to make an annual donation to Redstone Review each year. A membership can start with a $25 Reader annual donation to the paper. Readers who can are invited to donate more, such as with Reader II for $50, Reader III $100, Reader IV $500, or what ever level you want to do.
Any amount will be appreciated. No amount is too small or too large. The Redstone Review LLC is not a 501(c)(3) and donations are not tax deductible. But donations will help the paper to survive.
This is an invitation to reflect on what the Redstone Review means to Lyons and to ensure it continues to matter.
“In these days of dwindling print news, the Redstone Review is a refreshing and steady presence on the Lyons area scene,” said Greg Lowell, a Redstone volunteer. “I look forward to its delivery every month and its eclectic writing and coverage of local news.”
Lyons is a town that believes in coming together and lifting each other up. Twenty-five years ago, the Redstone Review began as a seed of an idea. It grew because Lyons made it grow. Now, it’s time to nurture it again.
Send your support to: Redstone Review, P.O. Box 68, Lyons, CO 80540. Your contribution will ensure that this paper, this community’s voice, continues to thrive.
Together, we can write the next chapter of the Redstone Review’s story.
Tamara V. Haddad won an award from the Colorado Press Association for Second Place for Best News Feature Story in the Class 4 Division for 2023. She specializes in Commercial Biophilic Design, which transforms spaces in Boulder, San Luis Obispo, and San Francisco with nature-inspired aesthetics. Contact her at Botanybydesign.com.
Sun Train Continued from Page 6
Lyons’ resident Greg Lowell is a Lyons Town Board Trustee and serves as the liaison of the Ecology Advisory Board.
The Sun Mountain Solar project, with 637,000 panels across 1,700 acres in Pueblo County, supplies 293 MW of power. It went online in February 2023. MIKE SWEENEY, SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN
