LOOK AHEAD

Seniors see a light roster of end-of-summer activities

By Kathleen Spring Senior Center Meals and Activities Redstone Review The Town of Lyons’ Plein Air Painting class in the park was a success. The Wednesday Walkers group has LYONS – In July, the number of decided to meet from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. during August to COVID-19 cases in Colorado started take advantage of the cooler mornings. Meet at the Walgoing up, and stricter measures to preter Self parking lot for a walk to the park, where the vent the spread were instituted by the group stops for a few exercises and stretching before head

Spring governor. As of mid-August, the numbers started to reverse. But seniors are a ing back. Contact lramsey@townoflyons.com The Walt Self Senior Center is closed until further novulnerable group due to age and/or health conditions, tice. BCAAA is providing twice-weekly hot lunches in and they need to pay attention to where they go. boxes. Call 303-441-1415 for more information. The Many restaurants, small stores, and churches have old River Church is serving free boxed hot meals outside the ventilation systems, and Senior Center on Monday plentiful opportunities for nights; call 303-823-6469 asymptomatic people to at 4 p.m. for details. touch areas that you might Scam Alerts touch, such as backs of Seniors have reported getchurch benches, clothes ting calls from someone prehangers, and restaurant tending to be Xcel Energy, chairs. In addition to generwho said they were going to ally wearing facemasks and shut off the gas in 30 minsocial distancing, seniors utes due to non-payment of should consider not enterthe bill. Just hang up. Call ing these places. Two weeks Xcel directly if you are overago, the governor of Ohio due on payments. Second, a announced that 91 people in a church got COVID-19 because of one infected person attending the service. It is best to stick with ZOOM meetings, patio dining, online shopping and delivery services. According to the Thanks to the many volunteers at The River Church who have been preparing free boxed hot suppers every Monday night during the pandemic for the seniors, as part of their Mana Cafe ministry that “serves all who are hungry.” Volunteers Terry Blake-Boehm (left), Faye Campbell, and Russ Boehm serve up meals with a smile. PHOTO BY KATHLEEN SPRING number of seniors have gotten multiple Friend requests on Facebook from strangers (men generally) who want to be their friend. Click on Remove. Wellness If you are feeling at times Boulder County health dedepressed, lonely, scared and partment, Lyons has had six cases of COVID-19 since more, there are local resources that you can utilize. LEAF’s March, which is high for a population of under 2,000. mental health therapist, Cherie Maureaux, has free weekly Thank you to local realtor Laura Levy who provided online group sessions, and is also available for individual sunflower arrangements from Living Arts Floral to seniors counseling. Email mentalwellness @ leaflyons.org. at the Senior Center, citing Christmas in July. A musi Free Transportation Vouchers cian, who wants to remain anonymous, has arranged for The Boulder County/zTrip Voucher Program was consome performers to gather and play in a few backyards for ceived to replace the missing midday bus service for those seniors in town, all with social distancing. Some seniors in need. Due to some confusion last month, I need to clarify have been starting to socialize more by visiting each that you will not be given free bus tickets, but instead, you other on their porches and in their gardens. To get the will get vouchers to be used with independent vehicle latest social news in town, read About Town by LaVern transportation services. Contact lramsey@townoflyons.com Johnson on Facebook every Thursday. or call Lisa at 303-823-6622 ext30. In July, Lyons lost one of its early senior club officers, Ruth Major. Her dedication to aiding seniors and her Kathleen Spring is a local historian, author and photograkindness will be remembered. We also lost Charlie Stacy, pher. She does publicity, research, exhibits, and fundraisers who was often seen walking with wife Junie. Sending for the Lyons Historical Society, and has done extensive video condolences to the Peoples and Stacy family. interviews Lyons’ pioneers.

Lyons’ own Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens is Boulder County’s first botanic garden

By Cathy Rivers and Garima Fairfax Redstone Review

LYONS – Garima Fairfax, botanist and naturalist, has had a dream since 2006, to create a botanic garden in Lyons. After the Foothills Mobile Home Park was destroyed in the 2013 flood, the area just south of Fourth and Prospect was leased by the Rocky Mountain Botanic Garden (RMBG) nonprofit. Land preparation began in early 2019. Planting began this June 23 in the Grasslands area, which is one of the five Colorado ecosystems represented, which also include Foothills, Mountain, Riparian, and Southwest CO. Over 300 plants are now in the ground, representing about 10 percent the total gardens planned. The RMBG mission is to foster an understanding and an appreciation of Rocky Mountain native plants and wildlife, and to create a place where Lyons locals and all visitors to the garden of every age can learn, and enjoy the peace and beauty of the natural world, now and for future generations. We plan to offer classes such as native plant identification, gardening with native plants, and attracting bees and butterflies to your garden. RMBG (www.rmbg.org) deeply appreciates all the recent donations from the Lyons community, which will help restore and build the gardens. These contributions allow not only replacment of the pulled plants, but also enable buying bigger trees and shrubs than originally planned. Due to the pandemic, the annual spring plant sale, which is the major annual fundraiser, wasn’t held, so the generous donations from the community have helped tremendously. Volunteers continue work Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, 9 to 11 a.m. Feel free to join us. Please send donations to: PO Box 613, Lyons, CO 80540. Thanks to everyone who has contributed or provided support in other ways. Be sure to stroll by to check out the progress. Paths are closed to the public for now, to give the new plants time to settle in.