EDGEWATER COUNCIL Edgewater’s Comprehensive Plan Is Coming Page 4
THE GREAT OUTDOORS Love Cycling? Consider A Group Ride Page 5
40 WEST ARTS 40 West, Colorado Mills Celebrate Lakewood’s 50th Page 13
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| SLOAN’S LAKE | WEST COLFAX | TWO CREEKS | WEST HIGHLAND May 15 – June 16, 2019 • ngazette.com • FREE
First Fridays, Colfax Art Crawls, And The Circus Come To The Art District ■ By
Nancy Hahn
F
ans of the 40 West Art District are familiar with the added fun of First Fridays. On the first Friday of each month, all the galleries are open for evening hours. Most are open until 9 or 10 p.m. Many galleries offer demonstrations or special activities for visitors. Sometimes there are food trucks or other vendors to add to the fun. First Friday is always special in the Art District and our warmer weather makes the evening even more fun. Now, something new is being added. On March 1, the art district celebrated a special Mardi Gras First Friday with beads, music, special players and fun. There was a marching band, other musicians, face-painters and lots of other fun. As the Art District grows, First Fridays are growing, also. These extra special First Fridays are so much fun, they will now be called Colfax Art Crawls and will be added three times a year. This writer’s first experience with a First Friday in the Art District was on June 2, 2017. There was a man with a big, red Continued on page 12
THE CIRCUS REALLY IS COMING TO THE 40 WEST ART DISTRICT on June 7, as the district celebrates a circusthemed Colfax Art Crawl. It’s a reprise of the first 2017 event, which featured circus performers wandering the district core, balloons and a massive metal elephant sculpture on loan from artist Greg Wasil. PHOTO: DAVE REIN.
Wheat Ridge, Edgewater Promote Tree Awareness ■ By
T
Meghan Godby
he Arbor Day Foundation has a program called Tree City USA, comprised of over 3,000 cities across the United States, including Wheat Ridge, Lakewood and Edgewater. The designation is based on four standards, including a well-funded community forestry program and tree-care ordinance. In fact, Wheat Ridge is the third oldest Tree City in the entire state, right behind Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. To celebrate their 40th anniversary as a Tree City, Wheat Ridge hosted a commemorative tree planting in partnership with the Mile High Youth Corps. Forty trees were planted in both parks and right-ofways, a project made possible by a grant from the Colorado Tree Coalition. The commemorative planting is only one of the city’s projects to help promote tree appreciation in the community. Last year, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, along with Kullerstrand Elementary, partnered with the Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) to work on the Greenbelt. The three-year project was designed to perform sustainable environmental improvements while also creating hands-on learning opportunities for children. With help from the city, Patagonia, the Community First Foundation and over 2,000 hours of work, more than 700 new trees, shrubs or grasses were planted throughout the project. “It gives the kids an opportunity to be outside, to have a hands-on environmental education,” said Carol Lyons, Executive Director for IES in a video on the project. “I just love the excitement and knowing that what we’re doing today is going to be helping tomorrow.” Such efforts were echoed by the City of Edgewater, which hosted an Arbor Day
celebration on Saturday, April 27. The event brought neighbors and city staff together to help plant trees near the Civic Center. Not only was this an opportunity for residents to meet their neighbors, but it was also a chance to learn more about tree care and maintenance. These awareness-building events are especially crucial as trees continue to face threats from disease and insects, like the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). While the EAB has not been detected
in Jefferson County, it is a genuine threat. Many cities have detailed mitigation plans so they can be ready to act at a moment's notice. Robin Rice, Forestry Technician for the City of Wheat Ridge, explains. “The USDA recommends communities prepare in advance,” she said. “Usually, EAB has been in a community a few years before it has been officially detected. We are monitoring, setting traps and treating some trees.”
The City of Edgewater also has EAB on its radar. An inventory of all Ash trees within public right-of-way was completed in 2014, and when the insect was discovered in Boulder, the Edgewater initiated prescribed removals of smaller trees and the tagging of larger trees. As we move into a time of increased development, these types of programs and plans of action will help ensure that our local communities can enjoy our trees for many generations to come.
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Kate Farley: Growing An Urban Flower Farm In West Highland ■ By
Laurie Dunklee
“What I need most of all are flowers, always, always.” –Claude Monet “I hope to bring the community together to learn about urban agriculture and gardening,” says Kate Farley, who is transforming her corner lot in West Highland into a flower farm. “I’ve heard lots of positive feedback so far, from people walking by.” Farley, who moved to West Highland from the Cheesman Park neighborhood in 2013, started her 2,000-square-foot, cut-flower farm last summer. The urban farm, named Lily’s Flower Farm after her 90-pound Bernese mountain dog, is “a big experiment,” Farley says. This spring she planted 130 peonies on the parking strip and 130 dahlias in the backyard. Along with the perennials, she started many varieties of annuals from seed, in her basement under grow lights. “I plan to test about 70 varieties of flowers for their suitability as cut flowers: long, straight stems, a long shelf life, and popularity in bouquets. Mostly, I’ll go with the ones I think are pretty!” Continued on page 2
URBAN FARMER KATE FARLEY, who is transforming her corner lot in West Highland into a flower farm. PHOTO BY LAURIE DUNKLEE.