Crimes Of Opportunity see page 4
Edgewater Snuffs Out Fireworks see page 5
New Column: Ask The Super see page 7
Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
Wheat ridge | Edgewater | JUNE 13 – JULY 16, 2013
Wr Council Members Vie For Mayor’s Seat W
heat Ridge City Council members Joyce Jay and Mike Stites have announced their candidacies for mayor of Wheat Ridge. Mayor Jerry DiTullio, elected in 2005, steps down from that post at the end of the year, having served two, four-year terms, the maximum allowed. Stites, a life-long resident who has served the last 10 years on city council, told the Neighborhood Gazette he is “excited about Wheat Ridge and its future. Working with citizens and businesses is the key to our growth within the city in the next few years.” Stites is the owner of B&F Tire Co, a family owned business for over 56 years in the Wheat Ridge community. He and his wife Juanita have two grown children, their daughter Breana and son Korey, along with two Boxers, Rudy and Jake. Stite’s father Frank “Hank” Stites, is a past Mayor of Wheat Ridge. To contact Stites, call 303-423-8360.
Jay is a Wheat Ridge resident of 29 years and a successful business owner, now retired, “and ready to further serve our city.” In addition to serving on city council, she is a board member of the Denver Regional Council of Governments, Wheat Ridge Business Association and Wheat Ridge Business District, and volunteers with the Jeffco justice system. “I am running for mayor because the City’s potential is staggering,” Jay told the Neighborhood Gazette. “I look to our ingredients of location, easy access, parks, greenbelt and a leadingedge major hospital. Add the 2016 arrival of a commuter rail station and it is easy to see the ‘discovery’ of Wheat Ridge is about to be handed to us. This opportunity needs our best planning and development. We have the possibility to move from a grocery store economy to providing a higher quality of life in an attractive city – yet we can insist on retaining our small town values and charm.” To contact Jay, email meljay831@aol.com or visit Joyce Jay for Mayor on Facebook.
SPrING HAS FINALLY SPrUNG, and one can enjoy the fresh smells and vibrant colors of local gardens at the Third Annual Wheat Ridge Garden Tour on Saturday June 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The self-guided home-garden tour starts at 9 a.m. at Wheat Ridge 5-8 School, 7101 W. 38th Ave. The $15 ticket is available on the day of the tour on the green at Wheat Ridge 5-8 School. This year lunch is included in the ticket price. All ticket proceeds benefit Wheat Ridge charities. A new addition is the Lunch Stop, which will be at Anne Brinkman’s garden at 7420 W. 34th Ave. from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. For additional information, visit wheatridge gardentour.com; contact Milly Nadler, co-chair, 303-319-0690 or e-mail wheatridgegarden tour@gmail.com; or Vicki Ottoson, co-chair, call 303-777-6144 or e-mail wheatridgegarden tour@outlook.com. PHOTO BY HEATHER LEE
A Humble Hero – Wheat ridge Vet receives WWII Medals By Cyndy Beal
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sa “Ace” G. Hodges is a modest man. He needn’t be, but he is. Hodges, 91, is a decorated World War II veteran of 31 combat missions as a flight engineer and top turret gunner in B-24 Liberator bombers. The Wheat Ridge resident was also a successful businessman, who spent the post-war years working in steel fabrication, including owning his own steel-fab shop in Redmond, Calif. Today, he likes to fish and golf. Between his work and building a life for himself and his first wife, Dorothy, Hodges hasn’t had much time to think of his war
A DAY OF DECORATIONS for Wheat Ridge resident Asa “Ace” Hodges. In January, Hodges received five of the six medals he was awarded close to 70 years ago. He now has all six awards. PHOTO BY JOYCE JAY
service or medals. In January, Hodges received five of the six medals he was awarded close to 70 years ago. The awards and citation were received through assistance from the Forgotten Heroes Campaign in a public ceremony. He now has all six awards. Hodges, a tech sergeant in the Army Air Force (the Air Force became a separate branch of service after the war), downplays his war service. “It wasn’t personal,” Hodges said, pointing out that he was engaged in aerial missions, not hand-to-hand combat. The bulk of the awards are for his service as a flight engineer and top turret gunner in B-24s, in the European Theater. Most notably, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and the Air Medal with Four Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters. The DFC, one of the nation’s highest awards for valor, was awarded after a mission on which Hodges’ pilot was killed and he assisted the co-pilot in flying the plane. The DFC is awarded to those who distinguish themselves in combat “by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight,” from the U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet. The Air Medal with Four Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters was awarded for completion of the then required 30 missions. Hodges completed 31 missions. Hodges’ other awards include the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, and WWII Victory Medal. He also received the Carbine Expert Rifle Badge with ribbon, which is a qualification rather than a decoration. Hodges’ generation is often called “The
Greatest Generation,” in reference to Tom Brokraw’s book of the same name, and for good reason. Characteristic of the generation is a sense of responsibility and humility regarding their accomplishments. They served their country because it was the right thing to do, either at home in countless ways toward the war effort, or in foreign lands fighting for freedom and humanity. Then when they came home, they further contributed and transformed the country
into an economic powerhouse, constructing commercial buildings and residential homes, the Interstate Highway system, and much of the America we know today. Without this generation and their children, the Baby Boom, to follow, Wheat Ridge wouldn’t have many residents or its 1950s and 1960s brick homes and schools – and never would have had any reason to incorporate as a city in 1969. Continued on page 5
Mark Calendars For Carnation Festival, Zoppé Circus By Dana Butler
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he 44th Annual Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival will be held in Anderson Park off 44th Avenue, August 16, 4 pm–11 pm, and August 17, noon–11 pm. Each day will include a variety of food, music, fireworks, rides, games, children’s activities, and more. The main attraction is the Zoppé Italian Family Circus. New this year will be a community fine arts sale, a nonjuried show of approximately 20 vendors in media such as glass, wood, and textiles available for viewing – and purchasing – from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday. The 2nd Annual Pie Bake-Off Contest is set for Friday evening, with prizes for best taste, best looking, best use of the most locally grown and sourced ingredients, and best overall. The carnival midway will boast new rides and games including inflatables,
jousting, climbing walls and balloon darts. Other attractions include a midget race car demo, classic car show and model plane flight demonstrations. Returning, popular features include festival fare from food vendors, a juried art show, spaghetti dinner and chili cook-off. Under the big tent, the seventh generation of the Zoppé family will present 13 circus performances over the course of the 10 day run, Aug. 16-25, in addition to the grand tent raising on Thursday, Aug. 15. VIP (chair seating) tickets for the circus are $20, or $15 for general admission (bleacher seating). Circus tickets are available for sale at the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center and online (enter coupon code “Gazette” for a $5 discount). For more information on the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival and Zoppé Family Circus, visit http://thecarnationfestival. com.