Matterhorn III

Page 1

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww W O L V E R I N E  F A R M  P U B L I S H I N G ’ S

MAT TERHORN

iď Š zď ş

free  :  a  quarterly  print  supplement  :  fall  2011

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

A Â STOREHOUSE Â OF Â WONDER Â : Â FORT Â COLLINS , Â CO Â : Â FREE

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

T Â H F E O Â Â A E R T T , A

RE LIKE EGGS HOW BEE A S T S T ST RTI A REE W U B H , E L A N C Y D C O O I T B T HER FA A H D BE B COU

L

LES

S:

Â

T S

iď Š zď ş

Article,  Illustrations,  &  Photograph  by  Charles  J.  Malone Â

D

uring August’s First Friday I part with some friends and head south Right now, Beet Street faces a combination of challenges and opportunities down College. I run into another friend who’s new to Fort Collins that will make or break the organization. Executive Director Ryan Keiffer and wants to show her sister around. They try to make sense of the recently resigned, and the funding they receive from the DDA (Downtown Arts District’s gallery walk map the way newcomers to any city do: by searching Development Authority), originally pledged at $1 million annually, has been for street signs and turning about. reduced over the last several years to about half that supplemented by matching The Arts District and gallery map are sponsored by Cache Bank and sponsorship from the community. The original mission of Beet Street was to Trust, Beet Street, the Downtown Business Association, and others. The turn Fort Collins into a “Chautauqua of the West,â€? inspired by the model of district includes a number of the galleries downtown, the Poudre Studio Artists, the Chautauqua Institution in New York State, which offers lectures, arts, FCMOA (Fort Collins Museum of Art), and Art Lab. recreation, religious, and educational programs to Thinking about the galleries I’d seen, I realized most Right now, Beet Street faces a families who visit the lakeside town during a 9-week of them are not true commercial galleries and they’re combination of challenges and programming season. This plan initially included the GHĂ€QLWHO\ QRW RQ WKH PDSÂł'DUUHQ 0DKXURQ¡V H[KLELW construction of a downtown amphitheater in Civic Park opportunities that will make or at The Forge, the Launch skateboard show and silent and to bring in world-class speakers. break the organization. auction in the vacant space formerly known as Tuesday After three years and $3 million of funding from Morning, and the imaginative, mechanized charm of the the Downtown Development Authority, this vision was Lost and Found Emporium. abandoned for the public performances of Streetmosphere and the potential The Fort Collins arts scene is lively and divided. In the middle of it is Beet development of an Arts Incubator with the help of a $100,000 matching grant Street, the City’s publicly- and privately-supported arts organization, which from the National Endowment for the Arts. ODERUV DW VLJQLĂ€FDQW H[SHQVH WR SXW WKLV FRPPXQLW\ RQ D QDWLRQDO PDS WR Streetmosphere turns the heart of downtown into a stage for performing support local artists, and to incorporate the arts into the economic engine that artists. Beet Street auditions and pays local or regional “musical acts, jugglers drives our downtown. and magicians, acting troupes, comedians, dancers, storytellers, and paintersâ€? to entertain visitors. continued on page 4

Coming  Home

Save  the  Poudre  Update

Bike  Sharing  in  the  Fort

Floral  Finances

By  Aaron  Holsag pg.  3

By  Gary  Wockner pg.  8

By  Rick  Price pg.  11

By  Maggie  Canty-­Shafer pg.  19

AGRICULTURE Â Â : Â Â BICYCLES Â Â : Â Â BOOK Â REVIEWS Â Â : Â Â TRAVEL Â & Â ADVENTURE Â Â : Â Â PHOTOGRAPHY Â Â : Â Â LOCAL Â CULTURE Â & Â ACTIVISM

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

2 Â Â

                                                                                                  matterhorn

hď ¨

                                                                                                 fall  2011

M A T T E R H O R N  exists  because  good  news  exists.  The  good  news  is  that  our  community  changes  constantly.  Our  neighbors  are  innovative  and  creative.  Amidst  the  dynamo  of  Fort  Collins,  we  support  these  forward  thinking  activities,  we  applaud  those  who  earn  it.  We  are  interested  in  good  ideas  paired  with  right  action  wherever  they  occur.  When  necessary  we  also  sound  our  horn  to  call  attention  to  wrongheadedness  and  missed  opportunity.  We  exist  at  a  vibrant  nexus  between  journalism  and  the  literary  arts.  We  believe  in  interviews,  information,  research,  thoughtful  exploration,  and  poetry.  We  aspire  to  do  better,  to  reinvent  ourselves  incessantly.   We're  driven  by  our  community,  we  encourage  everyone  to  participate,  to  think,  to  write,  to  engage  the  issues  at  hand.  We  crave  feedback  and  interaction.

wolverine  farm  publishing ’ s

MA T TE RHORN

A  Quarterly  Print  Supplement # 3  fall  2011

managing  editor Charles  J.  Malone contributers *ULĹ—Q $UHOODQR Maggie  Canty-­Shafer Mark  Easter Alix  Gadd Aaron   Holsag Beth  Kopp Heather  Manier Amy  Palmer Kate  Payne Rick  Price Patrick  Richardson  Matthew  Sage Gary  Wockner poet Erin  Virgil  publisher/designer Todd  Simmons board  of  directors Bryan  Simpson Gary  Wockner special  thanks 7KH 0DWWHU %RRNVWRUH 9ROXQWHHUV 7KH %HDQ &\FOH (OOLRWW -RKQVWRQ %HHW 6WUHHW VWDĹ” DQG YROXQWHHUV The  Fell  Types  used  in  this  newspaper  were  digitally  reproduced  by  Igino  Marini.  www.iginomarini.com   Everything  herein  Š  2011  Wolverine  Farm  Publishing.  All  rights  held  by  the  individual  authors  and  artists  unless  otherwise  noted.  The  opinions  expressed  KHUHLQ DUH WKRVH RI WKH DXWKRUV DQG GR QRW QHFHVVDULO\ UHĹ–HFW WKH SRVLWLRQ RI :ROYHULQH )DUP 3XEOLVKLQJ  Send  monetary  donations,  comments,  questions,  story  pitches,  books   and/or  music  to  review,  agricultural  tools  to  try  out,  bicycles  to  ride,  etc.,  to:  Wolverine  Farm  Publishing,  PO  BOX  814,  Fort  Collins,  CO  80522  Especially  seeking  letters  to  the  editor.  Please  send  in  by  November  10,  2011.  For  more  info  visit:  www.wolverinefarm.org.

front  matter

Â

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                             matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

3

COming Back Article  &  Photograph  by  Aaron  Holsag

F

ort McCoy, Western Wisconsin. January 2010. Negative 14 degrees, (at Suicide rates in the Army are 20% higher than the rate of suicide among least that is what my phone said that day). Captain Roan calls us all the civilian citizens of the United States. Even with incentives to get married, in to talk about what to expect in the months to come once we reach the current Army divorce rate is 3.6% compared to 3% in the civilian world. The Kandahar Province; “the next twelve months of our lives will be a small part; Army’s answers to these problems are informational PowerPoint presentations we will go do our jobs, come home and all of this will be over.â€? At the time I on the issues we may face being service members involved in the War on thought little of it. I thought “twelve months should not be too long, and it will Terrorism. Mental health in the Army has generally declined in the last decade; be over and then I come home, no biggie.â€? this degradation is one of the leading causes of domestic violence and suicide , KDYH EHHQ KRPH IRU URXJKO\ Ă€YH PRQWKV DQG , ORRN EDFN RQ ZKDW among service members. To me, this data seems pretty staggering and begs the the commander said that cold January day in Wisconsin. Now I realize what question why. Finding help when you are no longer on active duty is hard. The the Captain said was a load of crap. Most soldiers will tell you that life in information showing you where to go is no longer dangled in your face. $IJKDQLVWDQ ZDV VLPSOH ,W ZDV RQFH \RX JRW SDVW \RXU Ă€UVW PRQWK <RX DUH Tom explained to me that coming home from Afghanistan was much scared but eventually that becomes normal, and normal became dodging bullets easier than coming home from Iraq. When he went to Iraq he was crossand mortars, and wondering when you are going to get your next shower. The leveled into a different unit; he went with people he did not know and came Ă€JKW QRZ LV IRU XV WR FDUU\ RQ ZLWK RXU OLYHV DQG ZLQ EDFN VRPH RI ZKDW ZH ORVW home alone. When he returned he was 20 years old and confused. He was while in Southern Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the way you adjust to normal in VWLOO D NLG &RPLQJ KRPH IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH KH KDG QR LGHD ZKDW WR H[SHFW Kandahar Provence does not translate well to life back in the United States. and what met him was a lack of focus so overwhelming it led to thoughts of Coming home from the war has become suicide. Coming home from Afghanistan, Tom was “When you spend twelve months dodging even harder for my friends and I than operating in anxious and nervous because he knew better what Afghanistan under less than hospitable conditions PRUWDU DQG JXQ Ă€UH ZKLOH OLYLQJ LQ WKH GLUW to expect his second time around. By not getting for the twelve months we were there. The most shitting in a barrel, and making morbid New his hopes up he would not become disappointed. common issues being depression, high anxiety Year’s resolutions of ‘Don’t die,’ it is hard to Tom told me the other night, “When you spend (especially in my case), and an uncertainty that WZHOYH PRQWKV GRGJLQJ PRUWDU DQG JXQ Ă€UH ZKLOH sympathize with someone when they cry about scares us because we have no idea what we are living in the dirt, shitting in a barrel, and making First World problems.â€? going to do with our lives now. morbid New Year’s resolutions of ‘Don’t die,’ it is We all experience overwhelming emotions hard to sympathize with someone when they cry when people ask us how it was in Afghanistan. I usually respond with “Yup, about First World problems.â€? UHDO VKRRW\ DQG H[SORG\ Âľ VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ WR DYRLG WKH TXHVWLRQ :H GR QRW ZDQW Sophie, a “Ke$haâ€? doppelganger, was excited to come home; I remember to talk to someone who is attempting to feel what we did, especially when we before we left Kandahar she was jumping around in excitement. When she know the inevitable follow up question is, “Did you kill anyone?â€? returned she had fun, partied, saw family, traveled, it all lasted for about four For my friend Tom, coming home from Afghanistan as a 25 year old months until the reality of being home settled in. Going out with old friends Sergeant was easier than coming home from Iraq as a 19 year old Specialist is no longer what it used to be. She says she can only be around her friends for because he knew what to expect. Sophie, who worked in our Headquarters so long before she wants to go home and be around other soldiers like us. Life HOHPHQW ZDV H[FLWHG WR FRPH KRPH $IWHU Ă€YH PRQWKV VKH KDV UHDOL]HG VKH is stressful because she is concerned about her future. She no longer feels like changed into a completely different person: one who is depressed some of the she is part of something bigger than herself, as she did while we were serving, time, anxious around loud music and lots of people, and does not enjoy her she feels like she is not making a difference. Depression kicked in because she old friends as much as she used to. Phil, my buddy who I slept three feet away no longer feels the camaraderie with the people she used to work with, they are from for ten months, has just become irritable with people who don’t do what just not there anymore. Like Tom and me, Sophie is anxious because she does they say they are going to do and people who are incapable of completing the not know what she is going to do with the rest of her life. simplest of tasks. Since I have come home, on most days I experience high Phil, I think, has had a better time with coming home than we have; he anxiety around loud noises and crowds, depression at least twice a week, and KDV D ZLIH WR KROG KLV KDQG HYHU\ VWHS RI WKH ZD\ :KHQ KH Ă€UVW JRW KRPH general irritation when people who have never been overseas feel it is necessary he was paranoid of everybody around, he was paranoid of people in Fort to ask me how Afghanistan was.

continued on page 10

coming  home  from  afghanistan

                                                                                                 Â

4 Â Â

continued from front page

matterhorn

hď ¨

Beet Street’s 2011 programming also includes Culture CafĂŠs, which connect the general public to experts in the arts and sciences over dinner or drinks, the Ansel Adams Masterworks show at FCMOA that ended in March, and the Creative Garden juried show and sale at New West Fest. The Arts Incubator will dramatically change Beet Street’s presence and programming capabilities. Broadly, Arts Incubators strive to embrace emerging artists the way Business Incubators support small business: by offering services, programming, community, and low-cost space. If the plan goes forward Beet Street will take over the old Carnegie Building at Library Park when the Fort Collins Museum moves to its new home. One change they hope to bring to the incubator model is to stay out of the landlord role and focus on programming. In an interview with Matterhorn, Beth Flowers, Beet Street’s Interim Director, said, “At this point this is our one shot. Not that we haven’t had like seven, ZH¡YH KDG D IHZ RSSRUWXQLWLHV KHUH EXW LI ZH GRQ¡W PDNH WKLV ZRUN RU Ă€QG VRPHWKLQJ HOVH WKDW LV D PRUSKHG YHUVLRQ RI WKLVÂł, WKLQN EHLQJ RSHQ WR FKDQJH LV UHDOO\ LPSRUWDQW WRRÂłLI LW GRHVQ¡W ZRUN WKHQ %HHW 6WUHHW SUREDEO\ ZRQ¡W H[LVW DQ\PRUH Âľ Now, what do we have here? To understand what the success or loss of Beet Street means, it is important to take a look at the current state of our arts. The mission of Beet Street is ambitious, inspiring, and possibly, as some artists and community members suggest, misguided. Take First Fridays: last summer a Locals’ Art Walk came about as a compliment to the Art District’s map. About the existing map, Sarah Vaeth, a long-time local artist who has moved on to Portland, says, “I can’t blame [the Downtown Arts District] for pooling their resources and promoting their own interests, but they do present themselves as a comprehensive list of art offerings, and that’s disingenuous. I think the Locals’ map corrects that misapprehension.â€? The split between commercial galleries and younger or less conventional artists is not unique to Fort Collins, but in a small community it highlights questions about the health of our art market. One successful show this August was put together by Andrew Weiss to MXPSVWDUW KLV QRQSURĂ€W /DXQFK +H turned an empty retail storefront on Walnut into wall-to-wall skateboard decks. He featured successful local artists next to nationally recognized artists working in the industry. The show was packed and distinct from many of the other galleries in Old Town. Weiss says, “the First Friday Art Walk is pretty conservative art...If we FDQ PDNH ZKDW ZH¡UH WU\LQJ WR GR DV D QRQSURĂ€W ZRUN LW¡V D VLJQ WKDW SHRSOH DUH willing to support non-conventional art. As far as the First Friday Art Walk, it’s been the same galleries with the same type of art, and there’s amazing art in those places, but they’re not bringing a whole lot of new ideas. As far as what’s going on in Fort Collins, we still have some work to do to get more support locally.â€? Part of what made Weiss’s show a success was that he had a cause people could get behind and natural connections to a broad base of artists. “We handpicked the artists who were all locally-based artists...We were able to connect with Amelia Caruso, who’s very established here, and Ren Burke who’s done a lot of stuff. These are artists who have worked with the city a lot for the APP program, so their names are already out there, it’s not like they needed this for a resume or something.â€? Weiss continues, “They know me on a personal level, and it was like, ‘Let’s get these people involved, and let’s get the kid who stencils his grip tape all the time, and let’s branch out and get some people who are industry artists involved.’ My connection to the skateboard industry helped us get some of the bigger names. We had seven or eight nationally recognized artists that do skateboard graphics. Those brought in a lot of the money that we raised.â€? When talking about our arts community, focusing on visual artists is easy, yet musicians, dancers, skaters, crafters, poets, and other creative people offer a lot of diversity. As with the Launch show, so much of our local scene works on the charisma of driven individuals and the support of their friends. Katie Whittle, who performed with Origami Finger and is active in the local crafty scene, says, “Our music community in Fort Collins is very supportive and open-minded. A lot of the support comes from bands asking you to open for them. Teresa and I played sweet girly music but opened for punk bands like Elway, because we all liked each other. I think that the Bohemian Foundation does a great job supporting young musicians in Fort Collins. I know that if I HYHU ZDQWHG WR ERRN D VKRZ DW WKH $UW /DE , FRXOGÂłIRU IUHH Âľ Similarly, local businesses do an incredible job of giving artists a place to show, sing, or read their work. It seems every place has art on the walls: Big Al’s Burgers and Hot Dogs, Equinox Brewing, Everyday Joe’s, Lloyd’s Art and

                                                                                                 fall  2011

Framing, The Luscious Nectar, The Lyric Cinema CafĂŠ, Mugs Coffee Lounge, Mama Said Sew, Old Town Yoga, The Red Table CafĂŠ, Surfside, The Bean &\FOH 7KH 9DXOWÂłVR PDQ\ EXVLQHVV RZQHUV FRQWULEXWH ZKDW WKH\ FDQ 7KLV LV a sign of something special going on. Across town, diverse gallery models are on display: Coleen Cosner’s CoCo Artist Studio creates a commission-based market by turning patron’s favorite images into paintings, Illustrated Light features David L. Clack’s nature photography, the Global Village Museum explores Northern Colorado’s connections to the larger world, Centennial Gallery offers up a more traditional gallery experience, and Juiced On Imagination embraces art’s therapeutic qualities. This is just a sampling. In spite of the supportive community, Sarah Vaeth says, “I think that, for the foreseeable future anyway, Fort Collins will never be an ‘art market’; there’s not a big enough collector base for any artist to come close to making a living on local sales. For many artists, there’s no local market for their work at all. The art community can’t do anything to change that: these conditions result organically from population size and regional values.â€? Commercial dollars don’t seem to make it to all our emerging artists. Many galleries have to focus on just a few marketable artists to VWD\ Ă€QDQFLDOO\ YLDEOH 7KLV PDNHV LW KDUG WR NHHS RXU WDOHQWHG DUWLVWV IURP going coastal, from trying to make it in the big art markets on our east and west coasts. All this is further complicated by the fact that arts funding is hard to FRPH E\ DQG FRPSHWLWLRQ FDQ EH Ă€HUFH :KHQ ZH WDON DERXW WKLV NLQG RI money, grants and residencies, we’re really talking people’s passion for selfexpression, and funding can be seen as a way to validate an artist’s work. Egos and the sustainability of people’s artistic life can be the unintended casualties of competition. These issues challenge the notion that Fort Collins can ever become “a nationally recognized destination for the arts.â€? Beet Street’s Evolving Philosophy For at least two years Beet Street has been moving away from the Chautauqua model to embrace our into our community’s innate love for the arts. In their new programmatic strategy Beth Flowers evaluates Fort Collins’s challenges as a market differently than Vaeth. If money is the problem, Beth Flowers sees a way forward. “I think the pool is a lot larger than the pool of money that some people say is DYDLODEOH WR WKH DUW DQG WKH QRQSURĂ€W FRPPXQLW\ LQ )RUW &ROOLQV Âľ )ORZHUV says. “I think that there is plenty of money to give everybody what they need and that it is not distributed in that way that makes it easy. And, that’s why EXLOGLQJ WKRVH VNLOOV WR Ă€QG \RXU ZD\ WKURXJK IXQGUDLVLQJ PDUNHWLQJ RU VDOHV LV important. I think there’s plenty of that to go around.â€? It’s from this philosophy that both Streetsmosphere and the Arts Incubator get their inspiration. Flowers emphasizes this new approach is about giving back to artists, creating opportunities for them to come together as a community, and helping them develop skills to turn passion into a sustainable quality of life. Flowers describes the change in philosophy this way: “It’s much more about people in the community than bringing in tourists.â€? Flowers says that it’s not the visiting artists who make Fort Collins a desirable arts community but “creative people living in one place, and living well together.â€? In Beth’s passion for this community, as in Beet Street’s programming, there’s a tension between looking beyond our community for resources and ORRNLQJ LQZDUGÂłEHWZHHQ ORRNLQJ WR LPSUHVV WKH FRDVWDO DUW FHQWHUV RU WRXULVWV to put us on the map, and looking to support the irrepressible community we have. Beth’s conviction is that “the community is so vibrant and there are so many people who are interested in making it an even better place and getting to know one another.â€? Persistent Problems Persist Although Beet Street sees Streetmosphere as a successful shift in strategy, the community’s perception is mixed. Business owners report increased foot WUDIĂ€F DQG GRZQWRZQ FHUWDLQO\ EXVWOHV 7RXULVWV VHHP WR ORYH LW $QQH 0DFGRQDOG ZKR KDV H[WHQVLYH H[SHULHQFH VHUYLQJ QRQSURĂ€WV DQG arts organizations in our community, says, “I think Streetmosphere is putting us on the map as a circus town that pays imitation buskers. The beauty in buskering is to have some out of work musician stop by downtown FC on his way to Omaha, play his sax on our street corners, earn some money to move on. Buskering should not be an organized, structured talent show. â€? Similarly, 6DUDK 9DHWK VD\V ´6WUHHWPRVSKHUH ZDVQ¡W VRPHWKLQJ WKDW , FRXOG EHQHĂ€W IURP because of the kind of work I do, so I can’t speak to it as an insider. I do have a kind of weird feeling about the program: that Beet Street is soliciting and

cover  story

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                             matterhorn

hď ¨

RIĂ€FLDWLQJ EXVNLQJ ZKLFK QRUPDOO\ DUWLVWV MXVW GR IRU WKHPVHOYHV LI WKH\ FDQ get away with it.â€? This ambivalence about Streetmosphere is something one hears over and over, a simultaneous appreciation and skepticism. As Katie Whittle says, “it seems kind of contrived. I like it, I work downtown and get to listen to funny opera singers in the square. I like street performers, but not when it’s sponsored by the city. I want to see smelly traveling kids busking on the street, not dad bands with clarinets.â€? It’s easy to imagine artists who do not want to put on a family-friendly show for tourists during their weekends, or whose work is not appropriate for that venue. Beth Flowers admits Streetsmosphere is not inclusive in this way and says no one has ever applied for the program who has challenged this part of the vision. “I think there is real value to the whole sense of underground. That is a real tension in the art of someone who is purposefully trying to be jarring, trying to jar society in a way that makes people react. That may not be family-friendly; it’s just a different piece of art. But I would say that we haven’t really had anybody apply to Streetmosphere that we’ve turned down because they weren’t family-friendly, or for any aesthetic reason. That could be because they aren’t applying at all because they would be rejected, but until we actually have that experience I don’t know how to answer that question,â€? Flowers says. “I don’t know who those people are.â€? Silver Bullets, Golden Arrows, and All Manner of

Panacea

One can imagine the Arts Incubator better serving a broader community than Streetsmosphere, but not if Beet Street doesn’t have a connection to our community of boundary-pushing artists. Additionally, there’s a lot of work to do here to mend perceptions about Beet Street’s past blunders and defunct strategies. Artists are still sore about fees paid to outsiders like Barbara Ehrenreich and Wynton Marsalis, who are undoubtedly brilliant and important, but probably don’t need money from the source dedicated to promoting our own artists, our own playwrights and musicians. With the amphitheater an abandoned dream, mixed sentiments DERXW WKHLU Ă DJVKLS SURJUDP DQG a much smaller budget than in the past, Beth Flowers knows Beet Street is running low on good will. “We know we’re not building something that’s going to collapse within a year or two, that would be silly. And I think that especially given Beet Street’s history nobody wants to support that.â€? Beet Street sees the Arts Incubator as a new way forward, a new, smarter strategy to get them to their mission. “If this succeeds this is going to be huge. It’s going to totally change the way people think about Fort Collins, and hopefully what it does is make people in the country and in the world think differently about the West and how we are as creative people, and how we support each other,â€? says Flowers. It is easy to criticize expenditures of public funds on the arts. Some conservatives make their careers on it. No one wants to see these limited funds wasted on programs that never take off, when we could be spending money on fancy-schmancy alleyways, or even roads and schools. In a community where similar efforts have failed some recognized early on that the amphitheater project was misguided. It is not hard to appreciate the idea of offering world-class programming to our community and adding to our draw for tourists, and still wonder why we’d want to compete with Boulder’s Chautauqua program established in 1898. A history beyond their control and a OLWWOH EOLQG RSWLPLVP VWDUWHG %HHW 6WUHHW RII ZLWK D GHĂ€FLW RI FRPSDVVLRQ $QQH Macdonald, for example, wants to know, “what has been the return on this $3-plus million investment? I think an open discussion is needed on return on investment, and like any taxpayer-funded entity, it needs to be measured and documented from beginning to end.â€? Macdonald wants to see arts funding reach the people who need it and not get tangled up in failed efforts. She says, “The movers and shakers get these organizations going, then they keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, either due to their own egos, because they are just out of touch with the real Fort Collins culture, or they just can’t articulate a mission, nor organize an organization.â€? According to Macdonald, “Arts Alive is an example of this: started by the City and (then Bohemian Foundation) Stryker-Short Foundation, full of the movers and shakers on the Board, lots of publicity, recruits VRPHRQH IURP WKH (DVW &RDVW WR UXQ LW DQG DIWHU Ă€YH \HDUV ZLWK QR PLVVLRQ IXOĂ€OOPHQW LW UHRUJDQL]HV ZLWK QR FKDQFH IRU VXVWDLQDEOH IXQGLQJ DQG LV Ă€QDOO\ OHIW LQ OHIW Ă€HOG QHYHU WR EH VSRNHQ RI DJDLQ ZKLOH D QHZ RUJDQL]DWLRQ VWDUWV XSÂłWR EH HYHQ ELJJHU DQG EHWWHU DQG really put Fort Collins on the tour destination map. Beet Street is an example of this syndrome.â€?

fall  2011                Â

5

What Macdonald wants to see is, “instead of plopping down something from outside, let our arts and culture grow from within, from who we are as a community, then see how it grows organically. The success of this scenario is shown in the bike culture, the bike and walking paths, the brewing culture, and WKH VXVWDLQDELOLW\ HQYLURQPHQWDO FXOWXUHÂłDOO RI WKHVH JURZ RUJDQLFDOO\ DV ZH OHW RXUVHOYHV EH RXUVHOYHV 7KH\ KDYH DOVR EHFRPH WKH EHVW LGHQWLĂ€HUV RI )RUW &ROOLQV Âľ

A Way Forward In the months we’ve been working on this story we’ve spoken and not spoken with a number of community members. If it seems bold to offer advice we’re doing so from positive intentions. These four suggestions are the best we can offer in terms of a way forward: 1. Open Up. Beet Street is a publicly-funded organization, yet many board members refused to return our repeated calls and emails. It’s hard to imagine artists feeling welcomed into this organization’s mission when the staff and board are inaccessible. We know you’re busy; we’re busy too. We have the common ground of caring about this community, and that’s important. Other community members seemed reticent to talk about Beet Street’s challenges and opportunities because they didn’t want to get cut out if they said something controversial. Still, they couldn’t wait to hear what other people said. A more open, more grassroots model of governance would be incredibly valuable to the health and credibility of Beet Street. 2. Be Inclusive. There’s room to build better connections with local DUWLVWV ZKR GRQ¡W Ă€W LQ ZLWK RXU downtown galleries, who work hard to put their own shows together. With Gallery Underground and On Display gone, with LoFi long gone, many of our artists are hungry for support. The Arts Incubator could be just what they are waiting for, but dismissing them as people who hold the identity of “starving artistâ€? too closely to be helped is turning away from the most vibrant part of our community. Dismissing them because their art is challenging, not safe, not marketable to tourists, or not family-friendly is robbing WKHP RI Ă€YH SOXV \HDUV RI WKH massive funding Beet Street has sponged up. When it comes to the young artists working in our community, Beet Street really needs to know who these people are. Many musicians, artists, sculptors, crafters, and designers are waiting for an invitation to participate. Young artists who want to make some sort of living off of their work need to put aside some anti-establishment, anti-government sentiments, just as WKH\¡YH GRQH ZLWK WKH &LW\¡V $UW LQ 3XEOLF 3ODFHV SURJUDP 7KH\ QHHG WR Ă€QG a way to make use of Beet Street, or speak out and ask for something better. 3. Sort Out Your Values. Beet Street frames its mission, values, and purpose QRW DURXQG DHVWKHWLFV RU EHQHĂ€WV WR WKH DUWV IRU DUW¡V VDNH QRW LQ WHUPV RI the intellectual life and cultural change we often associate with great art, but in terms of economics. When we’re talking about the arts the conversation is inevitably impacted by how we think about these frameworks. There’s an irony here that despite this focus on economics, community members still have legitimate concerns about return on investment. Valuing downtown economics as a primary aspect of Beet Street’s mission inevitably limits the aesthetics and the artist base the organization can support. Although Beet Street doesn’t want to be an arbiter of taste, they are. Sorting out these structural problems is key. %HHW 6WUHHW QHHGV WR GHFLGH LI LW VXSSRUWV WKH DUWV IRU HFRQRPLF EHQHĂ€W RU IRU DUWLVWLF EHQHĂ€WV 7KH DSSURDFKHV DUH QRW PXWXDOO\ H[FOXVLYH EXW VXFFHVVIXOO\ striking this balance requires more awareness and more work than what’s currently being done. Beth Flowers admits that these kinds of conversations are not happening at the Board of the Directors level right now. If the Incubator is going to reach the community that needs it most, they need to. 4. Be Realistic. We all need to be realistic about what the capacity of our community is. We have an excess of talented, active artists due to Fort Collins’s natural qualities and the presence of the University, but this doesn’t mean we have a cultured audience interested or able to pay artists what they are worth. 2IWHQ DUWLVWV OLNH 6DUDK 9DHWK ZKR ZDQW WR JLYH WKHLU ZRUN D FKDQFH Ă HH WR ODUJHU PDUNHWV 8QIRUWXQDWH DV LW LV ZKHQÂłDQG ZKHUHÂłKDVQ¡W WKLV EHHQ VR" We love the ambition and inspirational qualities of Beet Street’s mission, but just as shaking off the amphitheater notion led them to a better strategy, a more realistic and broader assessment of our community might lead to even more Ă€QHO\ WXQHG DSSURDFKHV WR VHUYLQJ DUWLVWV DQG D PRUH DFFXUDWH LGHQWLĂ€FDWLRQ RI what the real problems are. The good news is Beet Street has the talent and resources to help our arts

cover  story

continued on page 6

6 Â Â

                                                                                                 Â

                                                                                                 matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011

continued from page 5

community blossom. Still, the metaphor of an incubator slowly warming eggs SXWV %HHW 6WUHHW LQ WKLV IXQQ\ Ă€JXUDWLYH SODFH DV D FRQGHVFHQGLQJ VXUURJDWH ,W places artists in the helpless role of the undeveloped embryo waiting to grow and hatch to chirp cutely. This is a dangerously disempowering way of looking at things, but it’s just a metaphor. Beet Street’s incubator can become the center our arts community lacks. 3URJUDPPLQJ WKDW KHOSV DUWLVWV Ă€QG DQG JURZ PDUNHWV ZLWKRXW compromising their work can help keep artists here. Events and a center bringing artists from all perspectives and media together in conversation and DFWLRQ FDQ KDYH SRZHUIXO RXWFRPHV 6WXGLR VSDFH ZRXOG EH EHQHĂ€FLDO EXW LI that risks sinking the whole effort, let other entrepreneurs meet that need. Albert Camus said, “Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.â€? If Beet Street takes advantage of the incubator to embrace the complicated, vibrant, and sometimes unsettling interplay between art and society they will makes authentic creation and gifts to our future possible; they will help shape a vibrant and intellectually rich future Fort Collins. If the image of an incubator is condescending, perhaps a more appropriate image for Fort Collins might be the hub on a bicycle wheel, spokes radiating out in all directions.

“Ms. Gilbert’s LogodĂŚdaly is a feat of writerly derring-do, a Borgesian excursion, one both gleeful and droll. She is a skilled fabulist, an astute lover of the more recondite quarters of the English language, and the reader’s charming and witty companion-guide across this erudite terrain.â€?

Erin Virgil Yellow aspen are the only visible evidence of the month. ` September. The heat and exhaust are the same as they were before Solstice fear & worry lines all around the grocery store no aisle without a pursed mouth. Afraid of the transition, not the end. The lessening, what will be lost, caught on a nail and abandoned. On the sidewalk a woman with a basket rushes by: relief when it’s empty. This is a new reckoning. Babies never made me sad before. Scarcity means less things and more time to miss them. September means ‘seventh month’ of the Roman calendar which further confuses the chronology this afternoon. I want to report that as the aspens slowly went gold the people too, changed gradually gracefully.

— Barry Lopez

d

AUTHOR Â READING Â

SATURDAY , Â NOVEMBER Â 19 TH , Â 8 PM

MATTER  BOOKSTORE  AVAILABLE  AT  THE  MATTER  BOOKSTORE  AND  ONLINE  FROM  wolverine  farm  publishing

november  2011

Calming pushing back against all that is unnatural.

cover  story

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

7

“ARE THE POETS IN THE STREETS YET?” now accepting nominations for

fort collins poet laureate

To nominate someone to be the 2012 Fort Collins Poet Laureate, please send in one of their poems and the following information: 1. Poet’s Name & Contact Information 2. Does this poet currently reside in the city of Fort Collins? 3. Would this poet want to be Poet Laureate, with some degree of service to the community part of the honor? (The type of service would be decided upon by the poet.) 4. Why should this poet be the Poet Laureate for Fort Collins?

144 N. College Avenue : Fort Collins, CO Inside the Bean Cycle : 970.472.4284

Include one sample poem and mail to: WFP, PO BOX 814, FORT COLLINS, CO 80522, o n o r b e f o re No v e m b e r 1s t , 20 11.

nominate your favorite fort collins poet on or before november 1st, 2011

                                                                                                 Â

8 Â Â

matterhorn

FROM

S AVE

THE

P OUDRE

Š John Bartholow

A N O PEN L ETTER

hď ¨

                                                                                                 fall  2011

I

W ZDV D JUHDW \HDU IRU KHDOWK\ VWUHDPĂ RZV LQ WKH &DFKH OD 3RXGUH 5LYHU 0DVVLYH VQRZ ODVW ZLQWHUÂłWR DQG PDVVLYH VQRZPHOW WKLV VSULQJ DQG VXPPHU ÂłNHSW WKH 3RXGUH DOLYH DOO WKURXJK WKH VXPPHU :H KRSH \RX JRW D FKDQFH WR HQMR\ WKLV ZRQGHUIXO ULYHU HLWKHU Ă€VKLQJ UDIWLQJ WXELQJ KLNLQJ or in any way that brings joy to your heart. Lots of people have asked us: “What’s new with Save the Poudre and the Northern Integrated Supply Project?â€? So, we thought we’d take a few minutes to give you all an update. First and foremost, the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) and its destructive Glade Reservoir has been delayed yet again, now for the third time. This extremely controversial project is now over 5 years late and over $150 million over budget. The latest delays are because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) KDV EHHQ UHTXLUHG WR FRQGXFW YHU\ FRPSOH[ VFLHQWLĂ€F LQYHVWLJDWLRQV DERXW WKH impacts of the proposed project. The Corps is doing a “Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statementâ€? (SDEIS) to address the dramatic problems with the original DEIS that came out back in 2008. Flows in the river are a KXJH FRQFHUQ DQG FDXVH RI WKH GHOD\Âł1,63 SURSRVHV WR GUDLQ RXW QHDUO\ KDOI the water that is left in the Poudre through Fort Collins. This destruction of WKH ULYHU ZRXOG KDYH VHULRXV QHJDWLYH LPSDFWV RQ Ă€VK RQ WKH ZLOGOLIH KDELWDW surrounding the river, and on wetlands along the river’s banks. In the summer PRQWKVÂł0D\ WKURXJK $XJXVWÂł1,63 ZRXOG GUDLQ XS WR RI WKH ULYHU¡V Ă RZ FRPSOHWHO\ GHYDVWDWLQJ WKH 3RXGUH 5LYHU WKURXJK )RUW &ROOLQV In addition to destroying the river and the habitat surrounding it, NISP would be a stake in the heart of the recreational opportunities on the Poudre LQ )RUW &ROOLQV 7KRXVDQGV RI IRONV XVH WKH ULYHU IRU WXELQJ DQG Ă€VKLQJ ,Q fact, a proposal for a “whitewater parkâ€? for kayaking was initially put on hold because NISP would take so much water out of the river. Earlier this year, we commissioned a study (one of many we have funded) that revealed that D ZKLWHZDWHU DQG ND\DNLQJ SDUN LQ GRZQWRZQ ZRXOG EULQJ XS WR LQ economic activity to the downtown region each year, yet another reason to preserve this river for Fort Collins’ future. We will be delighted if this park gets built. While protecting the river will protect the environment and the economy, it will also protect the public’s health. If NISP is allowed to drain so much water out of the Poudre, the water that’s left in the river will be a muddy, stinking, and polluted mess. Several stretches of the Poudre already are polluted with WR[LF OHYHOV RI VHOHQLXP DQG ( &ROL EDFWHULDÂłVHOHQLXP WR[LFLW\ H[LVWV WKURXJK Fort Collins, and E Coli levels are too high from I-25 all the way to Greeley. These pollutants and others dictate that the Poudre needs more water, not less, LQ RUGHU WR GLOXWH WKH WR[LFLW\ DQG PDNH WKH 3RXGUH KHDOWK\ VR SHRSOH FDQ Ă€VK swim, and tube in the river. Save the Poudre is promoting a “Healthy Rivers Alternativeâ€? to NISP that would allow cities to get the water they need while also getting more water back in the Poudre River. The Healthy Rivers Alternative focuses on aggressive water conservation, water reuse and recycling, much better growth management, and on cooperative agreements with farmers. The battle to stop NISP and save the Poudre is going to be very, very long. So, hang on for a long and wild ride to VWRS WKLV GHYDVWDWLQJ SURMHFW :H QHHG \RXU KHOS In addition to stopping NISP, Save the Poudre is promoting habitat and river restoration programs up and down the river corridor. The Poudre has

long been neglected and has many opportunities for restoration that could improve the river as well as the habitat and recreational opportunities along it. Cities abutting the river have various projects in the planning stages that our organization may support. We’d like to see the river protected and enhanced so the public can enjoy, learn, and appreciate this great resource. $ORQJ WKRVH OLQHV WKHUH¡V D VWURQJ SXVK JRLQJ RQ WR ´Ă€QLVKÂľ WKH ELNHSDWK WKDW currently runs beside the river. Right now the path stops at the Environmental Learning Center near Drake Road, but several cities and Larimer County are trying to get the bikepath connectedbuilt all the way to Greeley. Save the 3RXGUH VXSSRUWV WKLV FRQFHSWÂłLW FRXOG EH DQ DPD]LQJ UHFUHDWLRQDO UHVRXUFH for our community and for future generations to enjoy. When the bikepath is completed, a person could pedal for 40 miles, enjoying the river and its wildlife right in the growing urban corridor of northern Colorado. A new and emerging issue facing the Poudre River is the threat of oil and gas drilling in the watershed, and especially that of “fracking.â€? Oil and gas drilling is marching across Weld County and into Larimer County. The “frackingâ€? process involves high-pressure injections of toxic chemicals into the subsurface to loosen rock and get more gas and oil out of wells. These fracking FKHPLFDOV DUH WR[LFÂłVRPH RI WKHP FDUFLQRJHQLFÂłDQG WKH\ SRVH D GDQJHU QRW only under the surface but also on the surface where they are sometimes spilled DQG FDQ OHDFK LQWR JURXQGZDWHU 7KH FRQĂ LFW DURXQG IUDFNLQJ LV ORQJ DQG FRPSOH[ÂłZH EHOLHYH WKH MXU\ LV VWLOO RXW DERXW ZKHWKHU IUDFNLQJ FRQWDPLQDWHV groundwater, drinking water, and rivers and streams. Oil and gas companies, and regulators at the state and federal level, need to prove that our water is VDIH IRU WKH ORQJ WHUP QRW MXVW IRU WKH QH[W IHZ \HDUV RI SURĂ€WV IRU RLO DQG JDV companies. These fracking chemicals will stay in the ground forever, and thus our water is threatened forever. Recently, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced that he was going to force oil and gas companies to reveal the chemical contents of their IUDFNLQJ Ă XLGV :H DSSODXG WKH *RYHUQRU¡V OHDGHUVKLS RQ WKLV LVVXH )UDFNLQJ LV of special concern to the Poudre River because one of the proposed reservoirs WKDW LV D SDUW RI 1,63ÂłWKH *DOHWRQ 5HVHUYRLU ZHVW RI *UHHOH\ÂłKDV RYHU 25 wells drilled right on top of the reservoir’s footprint with several of them fracked. We asked the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to study the fracking issue at Galeton as a part of the SDEIS process. It could be years before the wells are pumped dry and water contamination, if any, is revealed. We are monitoring the fracking issue closely and we will keep you informed when it’s appropriate to take action. 7KHUH¡V QHYHU D GXOO PRPHQW KHUH DORQJ WKH 3RXGUH 5LYHU :H DUH EXV\ addressing threats to the river, supporting restoration projects, and getting the word out to the public. We often need volunteers to help with these programs, so please consider volunteering on our website, http://savethepoudre.org. Your help is greatly appreciated. It will, indeed, take a village to keep this river alive. 7KDQN \RX IRU \RXU VXSSRUW Gary Wockner Director, Save the Poudre: Poudre Waterkeeper

keep  your  dam  hands  off  my  poudre

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                           matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

9

what  river  is  this?  Article  by  Mark  Easter

T

he Canadian. The Arkansas. The South Platte, the North Platte, the Saint Vrain. The mighty Colorado. The sacred Rio Grande. The Animas, Mancos, Dolores, Gunnison, the White. The wild Yampa. The Big Thompson. The Cache la Poudre. And so many more. The names are well known to us all, a mix of old language and new, and they have been pouring down gravity’s veins since long before there were even people here. They are beacons of hope to us, respites from the stress of daily life, magnets of peace. Givers of life. Economic engines. Our rivers. They are also engineering models. Full employment programs for lawyers. Shipping containers of the currency we call “water,â€? starting in the Colorado headwaters and stopping at state lines. We reduce them to acre-feet and cubic-feet-per-second allocations, expand them as subjects of state and international treaties, argue over them endlessly, speculate untold billions of dollars over their futures. I think they deserve to be much more than this. If we lose sight of our rivers as being anything other than unsustainable economic development programs then I believe we risk losing something fundamental. If we continue on this course, looking back from the high hill of experience we won’t recognize ourselves anymore. 0RVW RI P\ OLIH¡V GHĂ€QLQJ PRPHQWV LQYROYH ZDWHUZD\V , IHOO LQ ORYH ZLWK P\ ZLIH DORQJ VRPH rivers and creeks in Montana, married her near a river in Wyoming, and we horde our vacation to spend paddling the wildest, most remote water we can get to. My earliest, best memories of my dad and EURWKHU LQYROYH D FDPSĂ€UH D PRRQOLW ULYHU DQG D VWULQJHU RI FDWĂ€VK 0\ ODVW ORQJ ZDON ZLWK P\ PRP KDG XV FOLPELQJ IRU PLOHV DERYH D ULSSOLQJ FDVFDGH WKH ULYHU¡V VXEWOH EDFNJURXQG URDU WKH GHĂ€QLQJ element in hours of a treasured conversation. Some of my most peaceful, memorable moments were VSHQW DZDVK LQ TXLHW FOHDQ Ă RZLQJ ZDWHU 5LYHUV GHĂ€QH PH 7KH\ DUH WKH VXUJLQJ FXUUHQW DQG WKH SODFLG SRROV RI P\ OLIH DQG , GRXEW LI things are all that different for the rest of you when you think about it. When you visit a new place or make a journey, do you look for the names of every street or highway you cross? Not very often, I bet. But it is different coming to a bridge over a waterway. My family obsesses over the names of waterways. We look for that green sign with the white lettering ending in “river,â€? “creek,â€? or “slough.â€? Once we know the name we stretch to see the waterway below. If we somehow miss the sign, we ask earnestly “What river is this?â€? and the map comes out, or we stop early for gas or a bathroom break just so we can ask. My home river is the Cache la Poudre. Consider the role your home river plays in your life, or more importantly, the role you would like it to play for the rest of your life. Maybe you’d like to be married WKHUH 2U EXULHG WKHUH SHUKDSV :KHUH GR \RX ZDQW WR JR FDPSLQJ Ă€VKLQJ RU MXVW KDQJ ZLWK \RXU buddies, your family, or meet a lover? Doesn’t your home river deserve all the attention and protection it deserves? The Cache la Poudre is our home river. Please help to stop the proposed NISP/Glade Reservoir. Go to SaveThePoudre.org for more information on the threats facing the river and how you can help protect it.

The  Cache  la  Poudre  River  is  one  of  the  most  endangered  rivers  in  America!   2011  has  been  a  huge  year  for  Save  the  Poudre’s  efforts  to  protect  and  restore  this  wonderful  river.   Four  proposed  dam  and  reservoir  projects  will  release  Environmental  Impact  Statements  in  the  next  18  months  with  thousands  of  pages  of  technical  documents  for  public  review.   Save  the  Poudre  is  gearing  up  for  the  scientific  and  legal  fight  to  keep  this  river  alive  for  generations  to  come.   We’ve  made  huge  progress  so  far—not  one  ounce  of  cement  has  yet  been  poured  in  the  Poudre  River.   The  biggest  threat  to  the  Poudre—NISP  and  its  Glade  Reservoir— is  over  5  years  late  and  $150  million  over  budget.   Thank  you  for  your  support  for  the  beautiful  Cache  la  Poudre  River!

w w w. s av e t h e p o u d r e . o r g keep  your  dam  hands  off  my  poudre

                                                                                                    Â

10 Â

matterhorn

hď ¨

                                                                                                 fall  2011

continued from page 3 Collins, as absurd as that sounds. Phil drove our trucks on most of the convoys. Because of his experiences driving around in Afghanistan, driving back here in the states has changed for him; his wife took away his driving privileges for a PRQWK EHFDXVH KH ZDV VR DJJUHVVLYH RQ WKH URDG $IWHU WKH Ă€UVW PRQWK RU WZR of being home, the anxiety and suspicion of people came down. Phil says he LV VWLOO D ELW MXPS\ HVSHFLDOO\ DURXQG Ă€UHZRUNV ´0\ ZLIH LV DOZD\V VXUH WR SRLQW RXW WKDW WKH\ DUH Ă€UHZRUNV ZKHQ WKH\ JR RII Âľ KH H[SODLQV $OWKRXJK KH GLG not experience some of the depression that others of us did, he has become irritable when it comes to general courtesy; when he says “Helloâ€? to someone he sees on the street, he expects a polite “Helloâ€? in return. It frustrates the hell out of him when he does not get that. At work, when people do not perform simple tasks like showing up on time, when people don’t move with what we call “a sense of purpose,â€? when they don’t follow simple instructions, he feels that he needs to counsel them immediately to resolve the issue. For Phil, these are simple tasks and things that should be done with no problem because they are so easy. Like Tom, Sophie, and Phil, I have experienced some of all these different IUXVWUDWLRQV DQG HPRWLRQV :KHQ ZH ZHUH RQ WKH Ă LJKW OLQH JHWWLQJ UHDG\ WR go back to Kyrgyzstan I was as excited as Sophie was. A week later I realized that coming home was not as great as it seemed. It was not until I moved out RQ P\ RZQ KHUH LQ )RUW &ROOLQV WKDW , H[SHULHQFHG P\ Ă€UVW GHHS GHSUHVVLRQ LW lasted for about a week and a half. It still happens every now and then without SURYRFDWLRQ RU ZDUQLQJ (YHQ WKRXJK , ZDV EDFN LQ VFKRRO LQ WKH Ă€UVW ZHHN RI the summer session nothing is good enough. I sometimes begin to rage in my mind at the slightest perceived offense, requiring all of my willpower to prevent lashing out at the perpetrator. I have to bite my tongue and work at being polite while waiting in line at McDonald’s and having to wait because they forgot tomatoes on someone’s burger, and they now feel it is their duty to make a big deal about it. I realize that people don’t know any better. We see things differently. I try not to tell people I just got back from Afghanistan, but every now and then it slips out unavoidably, and people ask: How is it over there? Are we making a difference? Did you see a lot of action? Did you kill anyone? These questions irritate and confuse me and the friends I served with. I don’t know why people ask us the things they do. We understand people are genuinely curious, however, asking us these questions does not make us feel good. We endured things most people

cannot imagine, and when we are asked about it, it takes us back to those real nightmares. All we want to do is enjoy what we have here and now. If you are walking through Old Town and you come across a Veteran and IHHO FRPSHOOHG WR H[SUHVV \RXU JUDWLWXGH SOHDVH GR VR ZLWK D ÀUP KDQGVKDNH and smile, and know that is enough. The emotional and physical aftermath of war on the individual is enough for us to remember our experiences on a daily basis. Tom, Sophie, Phil and I do not need strangers reminding us of it.

We  are  surrounded  by  wolves. Â

M A T T E R  J O U R N A L  14  A N I M A L  FORTHCOMING  FROM  wolverine  farm  publishing december  2011

coming  home  from  Afghanistan

                                                                                                      matterhorn

                                                                                           Â

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

11

   IN-­DEPTH  LOOK:  PAST,  PRESENT,  A N D  FUTURE  OF  BIKE  SHARING  IN  T H E  FORT

FREEBIKEFREEBIKEFREEBIKEFREEBIKEFREEBIKEFREE Article  &  Photographs  by  Rick  Price Illustration  by  Patrick  Richardson

T

his is a true story, even the future part since I believe that just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it isn’t true. As an academic geographer, wild-eyed bicyclist, and world traveler I have the credentials to write this story; in addition I’ve been intimately involved with, and have some strong opinions about, bicycle culture in Fort Collins. I IHOO LQ ORYH ZLWK DQG LQ ,WDO\ IRUW\ ÀYH \HDUV DJR , VWDUWHG D ELF\FOH WRXULQJ FRPSDQ\ LQ VR P\ EULGH DQG , FRXOG JR WR ,WDO\ HYHU\ VXPPHU ,W ZRUNHG Our daughters took over the company in 2008. In 2005 I helped salvage the Bike Coordinator’s position and coIRXQGHG %LNH )RUW &ROOLQV ,Q , pitched the idea of the Bike Library to the City and wrote the memorandum of understanding that created the partnership that was to run it. I and many others wrote the 2008 Bike Plan, helped the Bike Co-op achieve 501(c)3 status in 2009 and wrote the Bicycle Safety Education Plan in 2011. There’s more but let’s talk bike sharing.

for transportation and “we gave them a bike,â€? said Kathy Collier, who worked with the original program through the Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. Most of the bikes in those early programs came from the surplus of bikes generated at Colorado State University. “We had 300 bikes LQ D ZDUHKRXVH DW &68 ZKHUH ZH¡G SXOO RII SDUWV WR Ă€[ ELNHV Âľ VDLG &KULV Lukesic, Assistant Bike Coordinator for the City at the time. “Eventually they DOO ZHQW WR WKH ODQGĂ€OO Âľ Those early bike share programs evolved, eventually, and included the ´UXVW\ UHGÂľ ELNHV LQ ³´EHFDXVH that’s the only color paint the City could JLYH XV IRU IUHH Âľ

1998 By 1998 the City received funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program to begin “Freewheelsâ€? under a program called “SmartTrips.â€? “Freewheelsâ€? was similar to the ´ELNH SRROÂľ EXW LW LQFOXGHG Ă€IW\ yellow bikes placed in businesses and 1994 in FoCo JRYHUQPHQW RIĂ€FHV 7R JHW D ELNH DQ Countless grassroots bike sharing RIĂ€FH KDG WR ULGH LW DW OHDVW PLOHV SURJUDPV VSURXWHG DIWHU WKH Ă€UVW per month. SmartTrips staff checked “White Bikeâ€? program launched in mileage on the bikes monthly and Amsterdam in 1965. “Provo,â€? the performed routine maintenance. anarchist group, attempted a bike share 7KH &LW\¡V Ă€UVW %LF\FOH &RRUGLQDWRU program by putting ten bikes onto the Kelly Roberts, was instrumental in One of the original 1994 “white bikesâ€? in Fort Collins. streets of Amsterdam. They were gone launching “Freewheelsâ€? as a part of the within a few days. Most programs ended similarly until sponsors realized they SmartTrips mission to promote transit, walking, bicycling, and car-pooling. But needed to hold borrowers accountable for the bikes. GHVSLWH LWV SRSXODULW\ ZKHQ GLIĂ€FXOW HFRQRPLF WLPHV KLW LQ &LW\ &RXQFLO )RUW &ROOLQV WULHG LWV Ă€UVW ELNH VKDUH SURJUDP LQ ZKHQ FLW\ VWDII plundered SmartTrips as a top-heavy boondoggle with a $1.8 million budget. created a “bike poolâ€? similar to the City’s motor pool. Three bikes were placed They shut it down. DW &LW\ +DOO RQH DW WKH XWLOLWLHV RIĂ€FH DQG RWKHUV LQ &LW\ RIĂ€FHV LQ 2OG 7RZQ Recycled Cycles was involved in this early program in conjunction with the 2003 Larimer County Youth Corps. The hope was that City staff would use bikes to Meantime, in 2003, a phenomenon called the Bike Against Collective was run short errands rather than driving a car. born in a garage at 400 Smith Street. Founded by Rafael Cletero and his GRJ 5RVFRH %LNH $JDLQVW ZDV D IXOO Ă HGJHG QHLJKERUKRRG ELNH FR RS 1995 - 96 by 2005. “Why a bike collective?â€? asks the masthead on the Bike Against 1995 saw the “mustard yellowâ€? bike project which placed bikes in government Blogspot. “For Sharing, Helping, Learning, Networking, Recycling... For RIĂ€FHV LQ *UHHOH\ DQG /RYHODQG WKURXJK WKH UHJLRQDO WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ SODQQLQJ +HDOWK )ULHQGVKLS &UHDWLYLW\ 6HOI 6XIĂ€FLHQF\ WKH FRPPXQLW\ GRQDWHV agency. bikes, parts, etc. Äş we get the bikes running Äş we give the bikes away for a donation or for free Äş the cycle continues...We also refurbish and donate 1997 bikes for a wide variety of events and programs to help with community $IWHU WKH 6SULQJ &UHHN Ă RRG LQ -XO\ ´SHRSOH FDPH LQ FU\LQJÂľ ORRNLQJ outreach and fundraising.â€?

in-­depth  look:  bike  sharing  in  the  fort

continued on page 12

                                                                                                   Â

 12

                                                                                                 matterhorn

continued from page 11

hď ¨

One of the yellow bikes from the Freewheels program.

A CSU program announced late this same year was to “put hundreds of bicycles on the campus . . . for students to use freelyâ€? by May of 2004. As a student volunteer explained, “if a person wants to run an errand that is a couple blocks away, they can use the free bike instead of getting in their car and driving there.â€? Despite the best laid plans, the program launched in 2006 with only twenty bicycles, not hundreds. 2005 - 2006 SmartTrips program managers contacted me (as President of Bike Fort Collins) in November 2005 desperate to empty their storage unit which still housed ten yellow bikes. Council had eliminated SmartTrips and the FreeWheels program the month before. ´7KRVH OHIWRYHU ELNHV ZLOO EH VHQW WR DXFWLRQ XQOHVV ZH FDQ Ă€QG D SODFH IRU them.â€? “What happens to the other bikes that are out in the community?â€? I asked. ´$Q\ &LW\ RIĂ€FH RU EXVLQHVV WKDW ZDQWV WR NHHS WKH ELNHV LV ZHOFRPH WR GR VR Âľ was the response. We found some space and took the inventory of excess bikes, including a classy yellow cargo trike. All the bikes eventually made their way either into the new Fort Collins Bike Library or to the as yet unformed Bike Co-op. Though SmartTrips was eliminated, a public outcry resulted in the Bicycle Coordinator’s position being salvaged. The job sat empty for almost two years EXW WKH QHZ SRVLWLRQ ZDV Ă€OOHG LQ 0DUFK $OVR LQ WKH 2IĂ€FH RI 3ODQQLQJ DQG =RQLQJ VKXW GRZQ WKH %LNH Against Collective for zoning violations in a residential neighborhood. As President of Bike Fort Collins at the time, I consulted with Rafael, he got the new City Bike Coordinator involved, and a compromise emerged. Bike Against ZRXOG OLPLW ERWK RSHQ KRXUV DQG DXWRPRELOH WUDIĂ€F WR WKHLU VLWH DQG WKH\ FRXOG continue to operate. 2007 %\ ZH KDG D ELNH FRRUGLQDWRU DQG D PLQLDWXUH ELNH VKDUH SURJUDP DW CSU. The earlier white, red, rust red, mustard yellow and “Freewheel’â€? programs were things of the past. Other bike share projects were in the making, however. Independently of any City initiative or of the University, Bike Against hatched the idea of putting twenty bikes on the street in a renewed effort to start a bike share program. New Belgium Brewing agreed to paint the bikes and put their logo on them. Corporate lawyers tend to shy away from projects like this. They nixed the program even though bikes were in the warehouse ready to ride. So it was back to the drawing board. Out of these conversations came the idea that the City should apply for more federal money to revive a bike share program. The concept of the current Bike Library was born. Bike Against would change its name to the Fort Collins Bike Co-op and would maintain bicycles for the Library. Since %LNH $JDLQVW KDG QR Ă€VFDO RU OHJDO VWDWXV LW RSHUDWHG DV D ´SURMHFWÂľ XQGHU WKH umbrella of the Center for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, which did have 501(c)3 status. The new Bike Library would operate under the umbrella of Bike Fort Collins (which received its 501(c)3 status in 2006) while the new Bike Co-op would become a fully autonomous “projectâ€? under the auspices of Bike Fort Collins. 2008 Two hundred-seventy seven years after Benjamin Franklin established the Philadelphia Library Company an empty suit comes along and counts out a

fall  2011

thousand $100 bills. “Here,â€? he says, “start a bike sharing program in Fort Collins. Something like Benjamin Franklin might have done in Philadelphia in Âľ What do you say? “No thank you, I’ve never run a bike sharing program and wouldn’t know where to start.â€? Or do you take the money, hire people, pull some bikes together, and launch a bike “libraryâ€?? That’s what the City of Fort Collins bike program, FCBikes, did in 2008. The amazing thing is that the empty suit came back four years in a row and kept leaving those bundles of $100,000 each time. With that federal largesse coming to an end in 2012 the Fort Collins Bike Library, City Council, and Transportation Planners are scratching their heads about what to do next. Of course, the writing has been on the wall for a few years beginning with the Downtown Development Authority board that loved the concept of a bike OLEUDU\ ZKHQ LW ZDV SUHVHQWHG WR WKHP LQ EXW DVNHG ´ZKDW DUH \RX JRLQJ to do to make this program sustainable, so that you don’t have to come back to us again next year to ask for more money?â€? There was also a hint of the precarious nature of the program when Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) named the Fort Collins Bike Library one of the “worst wastes of the yearâ€? for federal spending in 2008. Then, in 2009, there was the IRS ruling that Bike Fort Collins, the contractor operating the FC Bike Library, was in violation of IRS employment practices. The grant to run the bike library came through in 2008, just as the economy went on the skids. As a result of the economic downturn I abandoned my bicycle advocacy work as President of Bike Fort Collins to return to my bicycle touring business, which needed my full attention. I turned the reigns over to folks at Bike Fort Collins and pedaled into the sunset. The original vision for the bike library involved a three-way partnership among the City, Bike Fort Collins and the Bike Co-op. Successful partnerships need experienced partners and serious partnerships need lots of luck to succeed. The result was that the Fort Collins Bike Library got off to a rocky start. The new administration at Bike Fort Collins had little business experience, the same with our City partners, and nobody had had experience running a bike share program. Eight board members at Bike Fort Collins would shout at Rafael for not delivering bikes on time and eventually Rafael stomped out of a board meeting, resigning his place on the board. It didn’t occur to anyone that Bike Fort Collins couldn’t run an organization with a committee of eight presuming to give orders to the employees in the trenches. It seems that luck was in short supply. 2009 The Bike Co-op got its own 501(c)3 status in 2009, communications among WKH SDUWQHUV GHWHULRUDWHG DQG WKH %LNH &R RS Ă€QDOO\ TXLW LWV LQYROYHPHQW ZLWK the Bike Library. The Co-op moved out of City property where it had been housed, and struck out on its own in August of 2009. 0HDQZKLOH EDFN LQ :DVKLQJWRQ WKH IHGHUDO GROODUV FRQWLQXHG WR Ă RZ DQG the Bike Library was a success, at least on the surface. 2010 – 2011 'HVSLWH WKH ELUWK DQG GHPLVH RI DW OHDVW Ă€YH RU VL[ ELNH VKDUH SURJUDPV in the City, bike sharing continues to make a lot of sense, especially in a geographically compact city such as Fort Collins. The Armstrong Hotel in Old Town began offering bikes to their guests DQG WRGD\ KDV D Ă HHW RI ELF\FOHV DYDLODEOH DW QR FKDUJH 1HZ %HOJLXP Brewing, with a fat tire cruiser as the FRUSRUDWH LFRQ PDLQWDLQV D Ă HHW RI bikes for use by employees, VIP visitors, vendors and distributors visiting the mother ship. “We use them to go to lunch meetings and for employees to run errands around town,â€? said Brian Callahan, Director of Fun at New Belgium. 7KH %UHQGOH *URXS D JUHHQ HQJLQHHULQJ Ă€UP LQ WRZQ KDV D ELNH IRU HPSOR\HH errands. Otter Box, in its new building on Meldrum, has a large indoor bike storage facility that will allow them to develop their own bike share program for employees, though for the moment they share scooters only. In late fall of 2011 Shane Miller of Fort Collins Car Share will launch “full spectrum vehicle sharingâ€? including traditional, hybrid, electric, electric assist, and specialty bicycles. This allows the user to select the lowest energy and lowest cost vehicle to satisfy the needs of each trip. A unique component of this vehicle share program is that a membership fee of $60 will allow participants to borrow a bicycle permanently. 2012 and beyond I think Benjamin Franklin would like “B-Cycle,â€? a 21st century bike sharing program. As the B-Cycle web site explains, “B-cycles are there when you want one and gone when you don’t. Just swipe your card, grab a bike, and get to where you’re going.â€? :K\ % &\FOH" $VNV WKHLU ZHE VLWH ´3ROOXWLRQ WUDIĂ€F DQG ULVLQJ RLO FRVWV are just a few of the reasons why urban transportation needs a facelift. B-cycle is easy, cheap, and sets you free from your car. And it’s powered by the best alternative fuel: you.â€? % F\FOH Ă€WV WKH ELOO RI DOPRVW DOO RI WKH JRDOV RI WKH ELNH VKDULQJ SURJUDPV LQ WKH )RUW RYHU WKH ODVW Ă€IWHHQ \HDUV E\ DOORZLQJ ELNHV WR EH XVHG IRU VKRUW errands, quick trips to meetings, or to lunch. Far more than earlier bike share SURJUDPV % F\FOH LV PRUH HIĂ€FLHQW LQ W\LQJ LQ WR WKH H[LVWLQJ SXEOLF 7UDQVIRUW grid. B-cycle is for transportation, not just for fun.

in-­depth  look:  bike  sharing  in  the  fort

                                                                                                      matterhorn

                                                                                           Â

hď ¨

$ERYH DOO % F\FOH LV PRUH HIĂ€FLHQW WKDQ WUDGLWLRQDO ELNH VKDUH SURJUDPV since the way it operates discourages the borrowing of bikes that then sit idle. <RX ERUURZ D % F\FOH IURP DQ DXWRPDWHG GRFNLQJ VWDWLRQ RSHQ 7KH Ă€UVW 30 minutes are free and the second might cost a dollar. After that, the cost increases to $4 per thirty minutes or $8 per hour. Imagine a CSU student or professor borrowing a B-Cycle to meet a friend in Old Town for lunch. Once you have purchased your annual membership to the program, you can borrow the bike for free to get to your meeting. Return your bike to a docking station in front of the Rio and go to lunch. “Yourâ€? bike is available to another user while you eat. After lunch you borrow another B-Cycle bike to head back to campus. “Where would we put stations,â€? I’m often asked. As a geographer that seems obvious to me. Anywhere there is a concentration of potential users: Four stations should go in in Old Town o  the Mason Street Transit Center and Parking Garage; o  Old Town Square; o  Mountain Avenue; and o  the Library. CSU could easily host four stations: o  one at the Transit Center; o  two at the Laurel and Prospect stops on the Mason Corridor; o  one in the new parking garage across from the Hilton on Prospect Street;

fall  2011                Â

13

Ten stations would give us a great start perhaps with 200 bicycles. Bicycle docking stations are the new urban street furniture. Fort Collins had better get in line to get its program. Boulder and Denver both have B-Cycle as do Chicago, Des Moines, Louisville, Madison, Omaha, and San Antonio. Spartanburg, South Carolina and Kailua, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu both have start-up B-Cycle pilot programs with just one or two stations. Our current “Bike Libraryâ€? is a fun, novel, unique bike share program. As a tourist attraction it is great. It gets us great headlines across the nation including Senator Tom Coburn’s designation as a massive waste of government funds. %XW LW LV KRPHPDGH FOXQN\ QHYHU KDV Ă€W VPRRWKO\ LQWR WKH WUDQVLW V\VWHP DV was the original plan), and has peculiar open hours. Let’s take the bikes from the Bike Library and share them for bike HGXFDWLRQ LQ VFKRROV RU &LW\ RIĂ€FHV $QG OHW¡V JHW VWDUWHG RQ RXU YHU\ RZQ VW century bike share program. B-Cycle would be a good place to start since it has the experience and the coverage. 36Âł'LG , PHQWLRQ WKDW RQH RI WKH IRXQGHUV RI % &\FOH ZDV 1DWH Kvamme a 1999 graduate of CSU. Nate was a starting linebacker for the CSU Rams football team for four years. Let’s get Nate up here to tell us why Fort Collins needs a plan B. 366Âł.HYLQ 'HQWRQ D PDWK WHDFKHU DW WKH 3RODULV 6FKRRO IRU ([SHGLWLRQDU\ Learning in Fort Collins has received a grant to create his own bike library at Polaris.

Two additional stations might be placed south along the new Mason Corridor. It took Rick Price eight years to decide it was ok to settle in Fort Collins where he writes about anything bicycle related from his home south of Prospect and north of Spring Creek.

N O T- T O - B E - M I S S E D L I T E R A R Y E V E N T S !

DAVID MOGEN AUTHOR OF HONYOCKER DREAMS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH 7PM

BONNIE NADZAM AUTHOR OF LAMB

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH 7PM

j

j

BOOK SIGNING TO FOLLOW READING : BOTH EVENTS FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Wolverine  Farm  Publishing’s

MAT TER

BOOKSTORE

volunteer-­run  :  non-­profit  :  always  accepting  book  donations  located  inside  the  bean  cycle  coffeehouse  :  144  n.  college  avenue   fort  collins,  co   80524 970.472.4284  :  wolverinefarm.org  in-­depth  look:  bike  sharing  in  the  fort

                                                                                                  Â

14 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

                                                                                                 matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011

Hello, it’s me: A brief report on the collapse of American Culture And the importance of recycling media

Article  &  Photograph  by  Mattthew  Sage

I

was born in the cassette era. I had a traumatic encounter with puberty and punk rock during the CD years. I watched the mp3 come into power through college. Now, I am a dejected, internet addicted, post-media-era consumer in a medium-sized college town with no record store and I was ORVLQJ P\ PLQG VORZO\ XQWLO D IHZ ZHHNV DJR , ZDV GHVSHUDWH WR Ă LS WKURXJK rows of media, racks of music in little packages, album artwork, labels, liners, stickers and boxes. Deluxe edition. Repressing. Out of Print. Import only. Special Order. Half-off. I steal music off the internet like everyone else, but I miss the personal connection I used to feel with my music as a young consumer. I needed to get my hands dirty again. I started hunting in some unlikely places in an attempt to sate my internal consumer core and in these shadowy corners I found pure media-addict gold. The 45rpm seven inch single lays directly in the sleepiest and most vital part of the history of American music: Rock, Soul, Motown, Pop. They all thrived on 45. DJs from the 1950s-80s relied heavily on the medium as the primary source material for their airplay. Collectors hogged what they could, but as technology evolved, the 45 was left to blow away and decay alone in the forgotten corners of post-analog culture. I see the 45 as the holey and tangible precursor to the beguiling $.99 mp3. They were cheap, easy to come by (back then) and practically disposable. You picked it up, wore it out, and then lost it somehow or gave it away in a garage sale. Unlike the $.99 mp3, the 45 had a more composed sense of self. If you were going to pay $3-5 for two songs, they had both better be good. Now, the $.99 is a standardized fee placed on the consumption of a purely intangible GLJLWDO PHGLXP 0RUH D Ă€QGHUV IHH WKDQ D VDOXWH WR WKH FUHDWRU RI WKH VRQJ $QG VR WKH SDVVHG DZD\ DV WKH FDVVHWWH DQG Ă€QDOO\ &' FDPH DQG SDVVHG WKLV article and discussion of mp3s as cutting edge will be obsolete within 5 years). Media is destined to become forgotten‌but it is only then that it can regain its YDOXH LQ EHLQJ IRXQG DQG UHFRJQL]HG DV VLJQLĂ€FDQW $V WKH\ ZHUH IRUJRWWHQ WKH IRUPHG D FXOWXUDO PHGLD ODQGĂ€OO D YLQ\O DQG SDSHU TXDJPLUH 7KRXVDQGV RI V QRZ OLWWHU Ă HD PDUNHWV SDZQ VKRSV thrift stores, junk shops, antique malls and garage sales. Many go untouched DQG HQG XS XQGHU HDUWK LQ ODQGĂ€OOV +XQGUHGV JOLGH RXW RI WKHLU SDSHU VOHHYHV UXEELQJ ULGJHV ZLWK WKHLU QHLJKERUV ZKHQ WKH OLJKWV LQ WKH Ă HD PDUNHW GURS DW six. The bittersweet nature of this medium beckons me, reader, and I am here to report to you the very real power of this national trash treasure. There is a large antique shop on I-80 at the Ogallala interchange in Nebraska. Past the Fat Dog’s, the KFC/Taco Bell and the Dollar General; probably two acres of old farm furniture and dresses, pint jars of marbles and quilts, old televisions and frontier memorabilia, cowboy stuff and junk and junk‌and a box of 45s that were only 40¢ a pop. I rounded the corner, past the second Pez dispenser display, and there‌calling to me woefully from behind the glass case full of John Wayne memorabilia‌ Hello, it’s me. I’ve though about us for a long long time. Maybe I think too much but something’s wrong There’s something here that doesn’t last too long Maybe I shouldn’t think of you as love -Todd Rundgren “Hello, it’s Me.â€? 1972.

with a tiny dog-sized skirt, understood I had found treasure. She wrapped them carefully in tissue paper and smiled. I never realized I had become immune to music. I had grown so used to shopping digitally for records, scouring blogs for new bands and mp3s, using media sharing websites exorbitantly, sharing links with friends on social media QHWZRUNV VXUĂ€QJ WKURXJK UDGLR VWDWLRQV DEVHQWO\ FUXLVLQJ <RX7XEH YLGHRV IRU QRVWDOJLD WRUWXULQJ SDVVHQJHUV RQ URDG WULSV DFWLQJ DV L3RG WULJJHU Ă€QJHU $' '- DWWHQWLRQ GHĂ€FLW GLVN MRFNH\ ÂŤLW ZDV KHDY\ÂŤ Am I really hard to please? Perhaps I have such special needs I wondered what was wrong with me My friends all fall so easily But today I fell in love with someone I hardly know. -Diana Ross “I Thought it Took a Little Time.â€? 1976. ‌When I found these records in these extremely unlikely places, and then bought them mostly on a whim, I had a new key through which I could access PXVLF , UHDOL]HG , OLNHG 086,& 1RW MXVW JHQUHV RU VW\OHV RU EDQGV 086,& $0(5,&$1 086,& $UWLVWV , KDG QHYHU KHDUG RI RU NQHZ EXW GLGQ¡W NQRZ became pop-anomalies that drew me deep into their histories. Rundgren. Ross. Gladys and her Pips. Sergio. Oh Sergio. It struck me: these were songs that were crucial to the history of American Rock. As an advocate of both Rock and America, these are songs deep in the history of the culture I am consumed by. These seven inch black discs contain the ridges of history etched into their faces. They were beamed out into space on radio waves and trace through the universe as a document of the DXGLR DXGDFLW\ RI PDQNLQG 7KH\ DUH PDQLIHVW GHVWLQ\ 7KH\ DUH MXVW VRQJV EXW they are so much more. If anyone should ever write my life story For whatever reason there might be Ooh, you’ll be there between each line of pain and glory Because you’re the best thing that ever happened to me -Gladys Knight and the Pips “You’re the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me.â€? 1974. The Earth is in sorry shape. Our economy is dying. But our history is still as rich as ever, and what could be more important than to get empowered by RXU FDSWLYDWLQJ KLVWRU\ DQG IHHO REOLJDWHG WR Ă€JKW IRU VRPHWKLQJ WR SUHYHQW LW from collapsing around us. There are a million artifacts lurking for everyone between every pile of scrap. Feel brave enough to show value in what others would consider cultural waste. Don’t view the pile of VHS tapes in the basement as junk, see it as a portal to childhood. Don’t see the enormous water-damaged polyester CD book full of burned CDs as trash, see it as a portal into your teen angst. Don’t let that stash of 45s in your grandparents basement that is collecting GXVW UHPDLQ LQ VORWK DQG DJRQ\ /LEHUDWH WKRVH UHFRUGV DQG VHH D SRUWDO LQWR WKH history of American Music and your life and what it means to be you, here, right now, reading this on a piece of newsprint, and not on a screen. I’ve thought about us for a long long time.

<RX QHYHU NQRZ ZKHQ \RX ZLOO ÀQG D ODUJH WUHDVXUH LQ D VPDOO SDFNDJH IRU VR FKHDS 7KH ZRPDQ DW WKH VWDQG FRGGOLQJ KHU WLQ\ GRJ LQ D WLQ\ à RZHUHG YHVW

Matt Sage lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. More here: http://patientsounds.blogspot.com/

hello,  it’s  me

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

15

                                                                                                   Â

 16

                                                                                                 matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011

They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks 5HYLHZHG E\ *ULIĂ€Q $UHOODQR

The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking Kate Payne Reviewed by Amy Palmer

Many an avid reader has, at some point or another, sat himself down before a blank piece of paper or computer screen to give that idea for a story a shot. Almost as many have crumpled that piece of paper or deleted that document after realizing their idea only lasted for 500 words. Elizabeth J. Colen, John Jodizio, Tim Jones-Yelvington, Sean Lovelace, and Mary Miller may have done the same thing, but after they got their 500 words out, they realized that they had, if not a traditional short story, something worth reading. They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks is the fruit of dozens of those ideas, related in no more than a few pages each, yet never lacking in inventiveness, poignancy, or content. Each DXWKRU DSSURDFKHV Ă DVK Ă€FWLRQ XQLTXHO\ VRPHWLPHV VWULQJLQJ WKH VWRU\ OLQH together moment by moment, as Jodizio and Miller do, and sometimes crafting a murky personal portrait through stray memories, as Colen does. In “Do Not Touch Me Now Not Ever,â€? Jodizio plays with coerced coincidence and the disturbingly domestic if sometimes devious, sometimes melancholy tales. Sean Lovelace’s “How Some People Like Their Eggsâ€? gets creative, at times SRHWLF ZLWK LPDJLQDWLYH LI QRW IDQWDVWLFDO VWRULHV RI \HV HJJVÂłDQG PXFK PRUH “Evan’s House and the Other Boys Who Live Thereâ€? comes of age through Nickelodeon fetishism as Jones-Yelvington draws up characters frighteningly IDPLOLDU IRU WKHLU VWRPDFK FKXUQLQJ DURXVDOV DQG DZNZDUG DWWHPSWV WR Ă€W LQ The slow but sure emergence of each author’s style is exciting to watch, as their individual fascinations and perspectives meld the stories into a greater whole. 7KLV FROOHFWLRQ LV WKH SXEOLVKHU DVVHUWV MXVW D WDVWH RI WKH WDOHQW Ă DVK Ă€FWLRQ has to offer. Nevertheless, They Could No Longer Contain Themselves is a mouthful RI Ă DYRUV IURP WKH VSLFLHVW HURWLFLVP WR WKH PRVW GHOLFDWH H[LVWHQWLDOLVP allowing the reader just enough time to savor each before the menu changes.

I recently picked up The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking. I took it home, and promptly read about half of the book in one day. Kate Payne’s approach to DIY homemaking is straightforward, embodying ideas surrounding homemaking that I appreciate (upcycling, recycling, being as cheap economical as possible and making use of what you already have). She encouraged me to try some new things, including but not limited to using more natural cleaners in my house. For example, I’d heard that vinegar can be an all-purpose cleaner, but I’d never really heard of how to use it. Now I have two giant bottles of vinegar, and together they cost less than most chemical cleaners. (see PS: vinegar and baking soda together not only clean your toilet amazingly well, but DOVR SURYLGH D FKHDS WKULOO LI À]]\ EXEEOHV DUH \RXU WKLQJ

Payne manages to sound authoritative while remaining non-judgmental, D TXDOLW\ RI ZULWLQJ WKDW FDQ EH GLIĂ€FXOW WR QDYLJDWH )UHTXHQWO\ WKURXJKRXW WKH ERRN VKH¡OO VD\ ´<RX VKRXOG WU\ WKLV ,W¡V DZHVRPH %XW RQO\ LI \RX ZDQW WR 2U whatever.â€? But in more writerly language than that. I’ve read a few DIY home blogs and magazine articles, and I always come away feeling like, “If I don’t do this, I’m a terrible person,â€? an approach which generally sent me more toward ennui and less to action. Payne’s book is more about encouraging people to do the things that are within their relative scopes of commitment and giving them the tools to do so. She also provides inspiration to do more, should readers choose. The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking covers a wide range of topics: from tips on how to make things and clean everything, to ideas for parties that will show off your personal version of domestic bliss.

FREE EDWARD ABBEY POSTER WITH PURCHASE OF $10.00 or more.*

144  N.  College  Avenue  :  Fort  Collins,  CO Inside  the  Bean  Cycle  :  970.472.4284 * COUPON MUST BE PRESENTED AT TIME OF PURCHASE. OFFER EXPIRES DECEMBER 1ST, 2011.

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                            matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

17

From The Arapaho Songbook Andrew Schelling Reviewed by Charles J. Malone “This watershed the land itself is what survives like a raga is sounded can you see the curved way hot it round straight out aheadâ€? So much is at stake in how we think about and treat the land around us. Much of this struggle occurs in language itself. The difference in describing a landscape as beautiful, high prairie or dry, barren plain can justify or negate consequential action. Andrew Schelling’s From The Arapaho Songbook interrogates this capacity of language. Part of his method involves juxtaposing qualities of many languages beginning with Arapaho, an Algonkian dialect. Schelling’s book opens with Edward Sapir’s notion that “Single Algonkian words are like tiny Imagist poems.â€? Sapir is better known for his hypothesis on how linguistics limit our cognitive possibilities. In other words, we can only think and do what our language and vocabulary permit. Schelling explores possibilities in the Arapaho dialect wonderfully distinct from our own. These poems also pull examples from Sanskrit, Ute, Spanish, Haida, Hindi, and Chinese to create juxtapositions with modern American English. Schelling shows the beautiful way language springs from our contact with the world. For example, the Arapaho created place names like wox noho ‘kuhnee-t, ´ZKHUH WKH PXOH GHHU VLQJV DQG QL FKHEH FKL ´LW LV QHYHU VXPPHU WKHUH¾³WKH Never Summer Mountains. The Chinese character for month is the same as the one for moon. These poems also reveal a dangerous, opposing trend in our own lanJXDJH :H FDOO WKH DQWOHUV RI D GHHU D UDFN WKH DUWLĂ€FLDO REMHFW ZH PDNH WKDW they resemble. Our spoken language records our break with the natural world. Schelling writes, “Wild animal names/ are taboo in our mouths,â€? and in the following poem sings against this. He repeats one word: KINNIKINNIK, or, in translation, bearberry. He assaults what can be seen from an ecological perspective as a symptomatic decline. His poetry is also an attempt to heal the break between our language and land the way ragas, or classical Indian songs, are believed to heal illness or bring monsoon rain. The imagery in these poems is our imagery, the land alternately at risk or celebrated is our land. Schelling splits his time between Boulder and the higher elevations of Indian Peaks. The Arapaho people called the Front Range and Colorado’s eastern plains home for generations. Still, these poems reach out to touch many of our roots and traditions. A reader willing to travel with these poems can learn much in explication, as much as from the pure song of Schelling’s poetry. In all, Schelling gives us a balanced poetics:

Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler Reviewed by Beth Kopp

The world of canning and preserving has undergone a recent revival of sorts. From witty, well-designed blogs to beautifully photographed books, there is a GHÀQLWH DWWHPSW WR DWWUDFW WKH PRUH DGYHQWXURXV LQJUHGLHQW FRQVFLRXV FDQQHU One book that seems to aim for this new demographic is Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen by Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler. Tart and Sweet contains an easy-to-follow collection of recipes for smallbatch pickling and preserving. It includes recipes for everything from compotes, marmalades, and fruit butters to pickled veggies, kimchi, and mustards. There DUH VLPSOH LQVWUXFWLRQV IRU WKH ÀUVW WLPH FDQQHU DQG HDFK UHFLSH LV UDWHG HDV\ moderate, or more involved so you know what you’re getting into. Be warned WKRXJK WKH DXWKRUV XVH D IHZ KDUG WR ÀQG LQJUHGLHQWV OLNH RUDQJH EORVVRP ZDWHU MXQLSHU EHUULHV JRRVHEHUULHV ÀGGOHKHDGV DQG VRPHWKLQJ FDOOHG UDPSV SOHDVH WHOO PH LI \RX NQRZ ZKHUH WR ÀQG DQ\ RI WKHVH LWHPV A friend and I couldn’t resist trying the recipe for Peach Lavender Jam. The instructions were easy enough, although using Pamona’s Universal Pectin was a little confusing and required the extra step of making calcium water. The jam itself was tart (less sugar than most jam recipes) but tasty. And, as a bonus, it was paired with a drool-worthy recipe for Brown Sugar Cake with Peach Lavender Jam and Vanilla Buttercream. I look forward to trying more recipes out of this book. Right now I have my eye on the Lemon Herb Pickled Garlic, Spiced Pear Cardamom Butter, and Grapefruit Honey Jam. Overall, the recipes in Tart and Sweet are interesting and inspiring and the addition of canning party themes and canning cocktail recipes at the end is just icing on the (Brown Sugar) cake.

´$ Ă€YH Ă€QJHU KROH ERQH Ă XWH a cave in Germany’s hills an open paw the stiff pads a hanging dewclaw a griffon’s leg bone or a ‘musical tradition at the time modern humans colonized Europe’ we whistled to animals they taught us good manners here is an iPod here a large-breasted QXGH Ă€JXULQJ D IDVKLRQLVWDÂľ

All reviews written by Matter Bookstore volunteers, and all books available at Matter Bookstore.

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – Sean Godberg, owner of Old Town Spice Shop Moby Dick by Herman Melville – Elias McMillan, tattooist at Katalist Koncepts The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman – Will Overmann, Ice Cream salesman Kilwins A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – Miranda Niedermeier, sales associate Killer Rabbit Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey – Jeff Melka, waiter The Crown Pub

hď ¨

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins – Elias McMillan, tattooist at Katalist Koncepts Dharma Punx by Noah Levine – Bodie Roybal, sales associate at The Wright Life The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan – Justin Raynier, Equinox Brewing manager Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – Jeff Melka, waiter The Crown Pub Judy Blume books – Amber Linnenburger, buyer at The Cupboard The Radical Leap by Steve Farber – Kelsey Baun, waiter The Rio

matterhorn

What book changed your life?

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – Cristin Gauthier, owner of Wagz And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss – Tiffany Levine, assistant mgr of Sante Fe Craftsman The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett ² -RDQQD 6WRQH '%$ RIĂ€FH PDQDJHU Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett – Melanie Ault, sales associate at Life of the Party Goosbumps series – Chris Thomas, Starry Night barista The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling – Miranda Niedermeier, sales associate Killer Rabbit Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter series – Kelsey Baun, waiter at the Rio

What was your favorite book from childhood?

                                                                                                   Â

What’s the las t really good book you read?

Bossypants by Tina Fey – Cristin Gauthier, owner of Wagz Tell me Where it Hurts by Nick Trout – Tiffany Levine, assistant mgr of Sante Fe Craftsman In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson ² -RDQQD 6WRQH '%$ RIĂ€FH PDQDJHU People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks ² .HOO\ =ZHLIHO /\ULF &LQHPD PDQDJHU The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon – Ben Mozer, Lyric Cinema Owner No Logo by Naomi Klein – KC Terry, Fort Collins Food Co-op Manager Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway – Justin Raynier, Equinox Brewing Manager Notes From The Tilt-a-Whirl by N. D. Wilson – Vince Black, pastor at The Town Church The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King – Melanie Ault, sales associate at Life of the Party The Help by Katherine Stockett – Miranda Niedermeier, sales associate Killer Rabbit The Paris Wife by Paula McLain – Amber Linnenburger, buyer at The Cupboard

What are you reading right now?

 18  Â

                                                                                                Â

fall  2011

FORT COLLINS READING HABITS Questions  Asked  &  Compiled  by  Beth  Kopp  &  Heather  Manier

OLD TOWN

what  are  you  reading  right  now?  (not  including  this.)  Â

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                            matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

19

FLORAL FINANCes: how your green grows in old town

Article  &  Photographs  by  Maggie  Canty-­Shafer Photographs  by  Charles  J.  Malone

U

nbeknownst to the Old Town shoppers, the Fort Collins City government has a system in place that guarantees its visitors will spend money. The system is simple, undetectable and recession proof. Nothing can stop it. Nothing, that is, except an unseasonal hail storm. ,W¡V DOPRVW LPSRVVLEOH WR ZDON WKURXJK 2OG 7RZQ DQG PLVV WKH Ă RZHUV Beds, planters and hanging pots line the streets and alleys, spotting the dull brick and cement with the bright hues of summer, clustered together in LQWULFDWH SDWWHUQV /LNH JLDQW ZHGGLQJ ERXTXHWV WKH Ă RZHUV PDNH WKH DUHD EHWZHHQ 0DJQROLD DQG /DSRUWH DSSHDU WR EH LQ FRQVWDQW FHOHEUDWLRQÂłWKH NLQG of celebration that says, “It’s a special day. I deserve a latte.â€? At least that’s what the government is hoping for. &LW\ RIĂ€FLDOV EHOLHYH WKH Ă RZHUV DUH DQ LQYHVWPHQW LQ ORFDO EXVLQHVV LQ WRXULVP DQG LQ WKH JURZWK RI WKH FLW\ DV D ZKROH 7KH\ EHOLHYH LQ WKH Ă RZHU SRZHU HQRXJK WR VSHQG URXJKO\ DQQXDOO\ RQ WKH SODQWV DORQHÂłQRW including manpower or maintenance. With a little research, where the plant money comes from and what it’s used for are easy questions to answer, and might just make you even prouder of our little city. But whether or not their petals are worth the price tag isn’t so black and white.

From seed to sidewalk 0LNH %UXQNKDUGW ORYHV )RUW &ROOLQV¡ Ă RZHUV The Parks Crew Chief for the Downtown District knows every pot and planter, and can hardly help but offer detailed explanations of each plant’s RULJLQ DQG QHFHVVDU\ XSNHHS WR WKH FXULRXV YLVLWRU 7KH PDQ FDQ VSRXW Ă RZHU facts like it’s his job. And in a way, it is. Brunkhardt and his staff of seven are the people-power behind the entire GRZQWRZQ Ă RZHU VFHQH ,W¡V D \HDU URXQG MRE WKDW EHJLQV ZLWK WKH GHVLJQ purchasing and planting, daily maintenance, including cleaning up after hail damage, replacing plants stolen by sloshed students looking for cheap dĂŠcor or Ă DWWHQHG SHUHQQLDOV PLVWDNHQ IRU D SLOORZ DV ZHOO DV WKH W\SLFDO GDLO\ ZDWHULQJ and weekly deadheading. In mid-September they replace the summer blossoms ZLWK KHDUWLHU IDOO Ă RZHUV DQG ZKHQ WKH IURVW JHWV WKH EHVW RI WKHP WKH\ VWDUW the whole process over. They work seven days a week, starting their mornings at 6 am, even on WKH ZHHNHQGV 7KH IUXLWV RI WKHLU ODERU DUH RYHU KDQJLQJ EDVNHWV SRWV DQG Ă RZHU EHGV The beds are particularly abundant this year as Fort Collins was chosen as a trial city by Dummen, a German grower and producer. As a part of their Ă RZHU WULDOV 2OG 7RZQ UHFHLYHG Ă RZHUV RI XQLTXH YDULHWLHV QHYHU EHIRUH grown in any other city. A big deal for a little town. “We want to create a welcoming and beautiful environment,â€? said %UXQNKDUGW ´7KH Ă RZHUV EULQJ SHRSOH KHUH 2WKHUZLVH LW¡V MXVW EULFN DQG cement.â€?

6HHNLQJ D PRUH HIĂ€FLHQW DQG VXVWDLQDEOH RSHUDWLRQ WKH Ă RZHU VWDII KDV PDGH huge leaps in composting and alternative energy. Partnering with a few local restaurants (including Austin’s, Enzios and CafĂŠ Ardour), they have compost delivered by bicycle everyday to be used in the beds, and water the plants using electrically powered bicycle watering carts. In an effort to improve long-term sustainability and savings, the Parks Division is in the process of building a greenhouse at the Gardens on Spring Creek to supplement the plants they purchase from Plantorium in Laporte. To Brunkhardt, there’s no question that the City’s time, effort and resources are well spent on the plants. ´7KH Ă RZHUV PDNH D KLJK LPSDFW RQ WKH TXDOLW\ RI OLIH KHUH Âľ KH VDLG ´:KHQ ZH¡UH RQ WKH QHZV RU LQ DQ\ RI WKH EURFKXUHV RU SKRWRV WKH Ă RZHUV stand out. People notice them, relate to them, want to come see them. When you compare downtown to a strip mall, there’s really no comparison. They bring people downtown.

“Keep Fort Collins Greatâ€? $Q\RQH ZKR¡V EXGJHWHG D ZHGGLQJ NQRZV WKDW Ă RZHUV DUH QRW FKHDS (VSHFLDOO\ arrangements as intricate as those lining the streets downtown. So who’s Ă LSSLQJ WKH Ă RZHU ELOO" <RX DUH Âł LI \RX¡YH HYHU ERXJKW DQ\WKLQJ GRZQWRZQ $W OHDVW LQ SDUW $OWKRXJK WKH Ă RZHUV DUH DOO FDUHG IRU E\ WKH 3DUNV FUHZ WKH\¡UH RZQHG and paid for by two separate entities. The Downtown Development Authority IXQGV WKH Ă RZHUV LQ WKH VTXDUH DQG DOOH\ZD\V ZKLOH WKH &LW\ GRHV WKRVH OLQLQJ College and the hanging in the middle of the streets. The DDA pays for its share the same way it pays for most everything, WKURXJK SURSHUW\ WD[HV DQG WD[ LQFUHPHQW Ă€QDQFLQJ 7KH &LW\ SD\V IRU WKH Ă RZHUV ZLWK VDOHV WD[ “In order to ensure that they’re clean and attractive, and to create the kind of environment that makes the district function well, streetscape and EHDXWLĂ€FDWLRQ HIIRUWV DUH LPSRUWDQW Âľ VDLG 0DWW 5REHQDOW H[HFXWLYH GLUHFWRU RI the Downtown Development Authority. “It’s not unlike how at Front Range Village or The Promenade Shops at Centerra there is a property management function that takes care of the common areas.â€? The Keep Fort Collins Great tax initiative, which passed overwhelmingly ODVW \HDU UDLVHG VDOHV WD[ SHUFHQW Ă DJJLQJ SHUFHQW RI WKH UHYHQXH IRU WKH 3DUNV 'LYLVLRQ LQFUHDVLQJ WKHLU EXGJHW E\ DERXW VSUHDG DFURVV WKH entire division). %UXQNKDUGW VDLG KH KDV QR SODQV RI DGGLQJ DGGLWLRQDO Ă RZHUV ZLWK DQ\ RI the new funds, as they’ll be more focused on planting in the alley (of Alley Cat fame) from West Myrtle to Laurel Avenue. )RU WKH ''$ WKHLU Ă RZHU EXGJHW LV GHWHUPLQHG DKHDG RI WLPH DQG JLYHQ to the Parks Division to work within. Robenalt said they consider money spent RQ Ă RZHUV DV DQ LQYHVWPHQW EHFDXVH RI WKH FRPPHUFLDO SURPLQHQFH RI WKH area. ´(YHU\WKLQJ ZH GR LQ WKH GRZQWRZQ LV UHĂ HFWHG LQ KRZ LW SD\V IRU LWVHOI Âľ he said. “Old Town contains 2 percent of commercial space, but produces

continued on page 22 floral  finances

20

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

F R E E A RT Photographs by Charles J. Malone

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

21

                                                                                                    Â

22 Â Â Â

                                                                                                 matterhorn

hď ¨

between 13 and 14 percent of sales tax for the city. It’s a very vibrant commercial area. “ It’s clear that the downtown area is important to Fort Collins economically DQG FRPPHUFLDOO\ %XW ZKHWKHU WKH HFRQRPLF UHWXUQ RQ WKH Ă RZHUV LV ZRUWK WKH $35k is a little blurry. The city hasn’t done any studies or surveys. The only evidence they have WKDW WKH Ă RZHUV KDYH DQ\ LPSDFW RQ PRQH\ VSHQW GRZQWRZQ LV DQHFGRWDO Dr. Nancy Jianakoplos, professor of Economics at CSU, said without more information, she couldn’t say whether this is money well spent. An economist would look at FRVWV YHUVXV EHQHĂ€WV DQG WKHUH LV QR LQIRUPDWLRQ RQ WKH EHQHĂ€WV she said. If you were paying an economist as a consultant to offer an opinion, he might conduct a VXUYH\ RI GRZQWRZQ VKRSSHUVÂł asking how far they have travelled to shop, how much they planned to spend, etc. to get an estimate of willingness to pay. Then he might also survey other shopping options to get the same information for a comparison. He might also look at VDOHV WD[ Ă€JXUHVÂłWR JHW DQ HVWLPDWH RI WKH YROXPH RI VDOHVÂłDQG PD\EH ORRN DW WKH KLVWRU\ RI WKLV Ă€JXUH EHIRUH DQG DIWHU WKH LQWURGXFWLRQ RI Ă RZHUVÂłWR VHH LI WKHUH ZDV D GLIIHUHQFH ,Q FRPSDULVRQ %RXOGHU¡V 3HDUO 6WUHHWÂłDQRWKHU YLEUDQW FRPPHUFLDO FHQWHUÂłDOVR LQYHVWV LQ Ă RZHUV EXW RQO\ VSHQW N RQ SODQWV WKLV \HDU -XVW under half of what Fort Collins spent. Part of this gap is because Boulder also chooses to cover fewer blocks. When compared with the city’s overall 2011 budget (totaling $446.4 PLOOLRQ WKH DPRXQW VSHQW RQ Ă RZHUV LV UHODWLYHO\ VPDOO %XW ZLWK IXQGLQJ IRU VFKRROV DQG WHDFKHUV FRPLQJ XS VKRUW LW VHHPV D ELW PRUH VLJQLĂ€FDQW 8QOHVV RI FRXUVH LW¡V WKH Ă RZHUV WKDW DUH EULQJLQJ WKH WHDFKHUV KHUH LQ WKH Ă€UVW SODFH

fall  2011

Flower power $OWKRXJK )RUW &ROOLQV LWVHOI FDQ¡W SURYH WKH HFRQRPLF EHQHĂ€WV RI WKH Ă RZHUV research done in other parts of the country suggests there’s more to these plants than pretty petals. $FFRUGLQJ WR 3URIHVVRU DQG /DQGVFDSH +RUWLFXOWXULVW -LP .OHWW Ă RZHUV are proven to improve passerby’s moods, making them more inclined to spend money. “Color brings people,â€? he said. “It effects the environment socially and people mentally to see color, rather than a stark strip mall. We have more competition today with Centerra and the Harmony shopping centers, so I don’t think we can over-do anything with color.â€? Virginia Tech Professor and Environmental Horticulture Specialist Diane Relf agrees. In an essay she wrote in 2009, Relf VDLG WKDW Ă RZHUV QRW RQO\ LQFUHDVH tourism revenues for a city, but also worker productivity, community pride and perception of an area. “Fort Collins values a quality lifestyle,â€? said Robenalt. “The Ă RZHUV FUHDWH DQ HQKDQFHG XUEDQ HQYLURQPHQW RQH RI WKH NLQGV RI DPHQLWLHV the city prides itself on, along with the open spaces and trail systems and great parks system. This is just an extension of that.â€?

0DJJLH 6KDIHU LV D ÀQDQFH UHSRUWHU OLYLQJ LQ )RUW &ROOLQV &RORUDGR ZLWK D EDFNJURXQG LQ feature, food and entertainment writing and a passion for social justice. Follow her online at www.maggieshafer.com.

KEVIN DEWLEN 970-­219-­0677

AFTER

BEFORE

Acupuncture  -­  Chinese  Herbs Massage  -­  Qigong  -­  Diet  Therapy Â

HUGH’S ACUPUNCTURE CLINIC FORT COLLINS SOURCE FOR ACUPUNCTURE AND TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

1304 S. College Ave. Suite #7 Fort Collins, Colorado 970.215.7419 floral  finances

5>AC 2>;;8=B 2>;>A03> k B8=24 (&!

your naturally local grocers’market C74 5024 >5 50<>DB 140=B 6A08=B 0SidZX 1TP]

b <

1[P

1TP]b d]V

RZ 4hTb ? T

Pb < APVX X[[Tc

:P\dc 5 [P b ZT

TPc 1TaaXT b

FW ^[

W T F

<4<14A >F=43 & 0=H>=4 20= B7>? 2>>:8=6 C8<4B 5>A 140=B 6A08=B 140=B 6A08=B R Sah \TPbdaT 0SidZX QTP]b 0\PaP]cW 0]PbPiX QTP]b 1Pa[Th fW^[T 1[PRZ QTP]b 1[PRZ ThTS _TPb 1a^f] AXRT 1dRZfWTPc :PbWP 1d[Vda fWTPc 2WX[X QTP]b 2aPRZTS fWTPc 2^PabT R^a]\TP[ _^[T]cP 2^dbR^db Qd[Z X]bcP]c 5[PZTb 1Pa[Th B_T[c CaXcXRP[T FWTPc AhT 6PaQP]i^b RWXRZ_TPb 6aTPc ]^acWTa] QTP]b :XS]Th QTP]b ;T]cX[b P]S b_[Xc _TPb ;X\Pb 1PQh [X\Pb <X[[Tc <d]V QTP]b >Pcb aTVd[Pa a^[[TS >Pcb `dXRZ >Pcb bcTT[ Rdc ?X]c^ QTP]b @dX]^P ATS QTP]b B\P[[ fWXcT QTP]b Tg) ]Peh B^hQTP]b B^h VaXcb FWXcT aXRT FX[S aXRT FW^[T fWTPc QTaaXTb

F0C4A " R ! R ! R " R # R " R ! R ! R ! R " R ! R # R R ! R # R " R " R " R ! R ! R " R # R ! R ! R # R " R ! R " R ! R " R # R R " R " R

2>>:8=6 C8<4 #$ \X] ! \X] Wa Wab Wab Wa Wa $ \X] $ ! \X] Wab !$ \X] !$ \X] $ \X] 1aX]V c^ Q^X[* cWT] bX\\Ta ! \X] " Wab ! Wab Wab Wa Wab Wab #$ \X] Wa ! !$ \X] $ \X] #$ \X] ! Wab $ ! \X] " Wab Wab " Wab ^a \^aT $ \X] $ \X] Wa ^a \^aT ! Wab

H84;3 ! R ! R # R " R ! R ! R " R ! R ! R ! R ! R " R " R ! R

! R ! R ! R ! R R R " R ! R # R # R " R ! R # R ! R ! R ! R ! R " R # R ! R

SfXRWTb faP_b P] b P]

UaTb W

[PSb \PST SPX[h S bP

6A01 6>

34;8

^UU d_ c^ cWaTT 1D;: XcT\b

fXcW h^da ^f] R^]cPX]Ta

4gR[dSTb _a^SdRT P]S R^UUTT =^ ^cWTa SXbR^d]c \Ph P__[h >]T R^d_^] _Ta _daRWPbT <dbc _aTbT]c R^d_^] 4g_XaTb =^e ! ATSTT\ Pc cWT 5^^S 2^^_ !$ 4 <^d]cPX] 5^ac 2^[[X]b

5>>3 5>A C7>D67C

0 ]PcdaP[[h [^RP[ UX[\ bTaXTb

CWXaS CWdabSPh ^U cWT \^]cW Pc 4eTahSPh 9^T½b ## B^dcW <Pb^] 0eT]dT >[S C^f] 5^ac 2^[[X]b

!$ 4 <>D=C08= 0E4 >;3 C>F= k FFF 525>>3 2>>? k (& #'# &##' k >?4= <>= 5A8 ')" 0< C> ')" ?< k B0C BD= ')" 0< C> &?<

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

a

24

NORTHERN COLORADO

FALL BLOOMING

PLANT W hen my out-of-state friends ask me where I live, they always seem surprised when I answer that Fort Collins isn’t a little mountain hamlet surrounded by high peaks. And I think most people along the Front Range think of themselves as living at the edge of the mountains. But we also live on the edge of the Great Plains. Rolling prairie once covered the Great Plains from here to Indiana, encompassing over a million square miles. Now, less than 2% of that area is native grassland; the rest has been settled and farmed and paved and built into its present state of submission. Here on the dry western edge of the Great Plains, our native grassland is called shortgrass prairie. The plants here are adapted to dry conditions and heavy grazing by prairie dogs, bison, elk, and pronghorn antelope. Where rivers such as the Cache la Poudre cut through the shortgrass prairie, cottonwood trees line their banks. In the shade of the cottonwoods, moist soil supports taller, lusher plants than those that typically grow on the shortgrass prairie. These riverbank plants are called riparian species. To see the shortgrass prairie in its semi-natural state (minus many of the native grazers and most of the predators), you need to head out to the Pawnee Grasslands or up to Soapstone Prairie. But here in town, these plants have held their ground in undisturbed areas and have quietly crept back LQWR WKHLU IRUPHU GLJV <RX FDQ ÀQG ULSDULDQ DQG VKRUWJUDVV SUDLULH SODQWV growing along bike paths and roads, in vacant and undeveloped lots (and even in some landscaped lots), and in city-owned Natural Areas throughout Fort Collins. Here are ten fall-blooming native plants that you are likely to see around town.

GUIDE Text & Photographs by Alix Gadd

fall blooming northern colorado plants

                                                                                                     Â

                                                                                            matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

25

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. White Virgin’s Bower seed head 2. White Virgin’s Bower flower 3. White Virgin’s Bower whole plant 4. Bur Cucumber whole plant 5. Bur Cucumber flower

Blue grama Blue grama and buffalograss 5.

Blue Grama, Bouteloua gracilis Buffalograss, Bouteloua dactyloides

White Virgin’s Bower, Clematis ligusticifolia Bur Cucumber, Echinocystis lobata

7KLV WLPH RI \HDU WZR GLIIHUHQW YLQHV ZLWK ZKLWH Ă RZHUV ZLQG WKHLU ZD\ Blue grama and buffalograss are the dominant grass species on the through fences, shrubs, and trees. They grow in similar habitats, and they shortgrass prairie. They’re grasses that thrive with little water and brief, look similar from a distance, but up close they are quite different. intense grazing. And they’re grasses that never get very tall, even without White virgin’s bower is a woody perennial with opposite leaves that grazing. People often panic at the thought of identifying grasses, but DUH VXEGLYLGHG LQWR SRLQWHG OHDĂ HWV &OXVWHUV RI LQFK VWXUG\ these two are easy to spot. Both are low, perennial grasses with narrow, ZKLWH Ă RZHUV ZLWK SHWDOV DQG ORWV RI \HOORZ VWDPHQV JURZ ZKHUH EOXH JUHHQ OHDI EODGHV %XW WKHLU Ă RZHUV DUH TXLWH GLVWLQFWLYH %OXH JUDPD¡V Ă RZHUV JURZ LQ QDUURZ Ă DJ OLNH EUDQFKHV WKDW DUH WKH OHDYHV MRLQ WKH VWHPV /DWHU WKH Ă RZHUV JLYH ZD\ WR PDVVHV RI VLON\ DERXW Âľ ORQJ 7KH LQGLYLGXDO Ă RZHUV KDQJ GRZQ IURP WKH EUDQFKHV plumed seeds. Bur cucumber is an herbaceous annual that has square stems, large OLNH WKH WHHWK RI D FRPE (DFK WDOO VOHQGHU VWHP KROGV Ă RZHULQJ lobed leaves, and curling tendrils that help it cling to other plants and branches up to a foot above the leaves. Blue grama can either grow in IHQFHV 6PDOO GHOLFDWH ZKLWH Ă RZHUV ZLWK VL[ QDUURZ SHWDOV JURZ LQ XSULJKW clumps or form open turf. %XIIDORJUDVV KDV VHSDUDWH PDOH DQG IHPDOH Ă RZHUV WKDW JURZ RQ clusters that stand 6-12â€? above the vines. Hanging down below the vines GLIIHUHQW SODQWV 7KH PDOH Ă RZHUV JURZ LQ Ă DJ OLNH EUDQFKHV RQ Âľ you’ll see 2-inch green fruits that look like miniature watermelons that are covered with ½-inch spines. stems. Each stem has 2-4 branches, and each branch is about 1/2-inch ORQJ 7KH PDOH Ă RZHUV DUH RUDQJH ZKHQ WKH SROOHQ SURGXFLQJ VWDPHQV DUH SUHVHQW )HPDOH EXIIDORJUDVV Ă RZHUV JURZ QHDU WKH JURXQG DW WKH base of the leaves; they consist of several green, urn-shaped burs with feathery, purple pollen-collecting structures protruding from their tops. Buffalograss spreads by sending out many little plantlets along horizontal runners. fall  blooming  northern  colorado  plants

                                                                                                   Â

26 Â

                                                                                                 matterhorn

hď ¨

fall  2011

Common Evening Primrose, Oenothera villosa Common evening primrose is a coarse, short-lived perennial plant that grows 3-4 feet tall. Its reddish, branched stems are lined with oblong OHDYHV DQG WRSSHG ZLWK FOXVWHUV RI Ă RZHU EXGV 7KH Ă RZHUV RSHQ D few at a time in late afternoon, and wither and turn pale orange after DERXW KRXUV (DFK Ă RZHU LV DERXW LQFKHV ZLGH DQG KDV heart-shaped petals. The seeds develop in erect, cylindrical capsules. Common evening primrose grows in moist, partly shaded areas, usually near water. Like most night-blooming plants, common evening primrose is pollenated by moths.

Canada Goldenrod, Solidago Canadensis Canada goldenrod is a perennial plant that grows in the shape of a giant feather duster. The stems are stout and leafy at the bottom, and highly-branched at the top. The upper parts of the plant are covered ZLWK LQFK JROGHQ GDLV\ OLNH Ă RZHUV &DQDGD JROGHQURG LV DQ\ZKHUH from 1 to 5 feet tall, and is usually found in clumps. Look for it in sunny, moist areas along trails and roads, near irrigation ditches, and on riverbanks and lake margins.

$QQXDO 6XQà RZHU, Helianthus annuus This species has been cultivated for 1,000 years or more, but the original wild plants are still thriving right here in Fort Collins. Annual VXQà RZHU W\SLFDOO\ JURZV EHWZHHQ DQG IHHW WDOO DQG KDYH PDQ\ ¾ à RZHU KHDGV (DFK à RZHU KHDG FRQVLVWV RI D GLVN FRYHUHG ZLWK WLQ\ EURZQ RU EODFN à RZHUV DQG ODWHU EODFN VHHGV VXUURXQGHG E\ D VLQJOH URZ RI VWUDS VKDSHG JROGHQ \HOORZ UD\ à RZHUV 7KH OHDYHV are broad and nearly heart-shaped. The stem and leaves are covered ZLWK FRDUVH VKDUS KDLUV D WUDLW WKDW SHRSOH RIWHQ OHDUQ DERXW ÀUVW KDQG ZKHQ WKH\ DFFLGHQWDOO\ EUXVK DJDLQVW D VXQà RZHU SODQW ZKLOH ZDONLQJ RU ELF\FOLQJ $QQXDO VXQà RZHU JURZV LQ GU\ VXQQ\ SODFHV

3UDLULH &RQHĂ RZHU Ratibida columnifera 3UDLULH FRQHĂ RZHU¡V GLVWLQFWLYH Ă RZHU KHDGV FRQVLVW RI D WDOO FHQWUDO FRQH VXUURXQGHG E\ Ă€YH GURRSLQJ \HOORZ UD\ Ă RZHUV 7KH Âľ Ă RZHU KHDGV VLW DWRS OHDĂ HVV ZLU\ VWHPV WKDW ULVH DERYH WKH EUDQFKHG OHDI\ ORZHU SDUWV RI WKH SODQW $V WKH VHHGV GHYHORS WKH UD\ Ă RZHUV GURS RII OHDYLQJ RQO\ WKH EURZQ FHQWUDO FRQH 3UDLULH FRQHĂ RZHU LV D SHUHQQLDO SODQW WKDW JURZV LQ GU\ Ă€HOGV DQG DORQJ URDGV DQG WUDLOV <RXQJ SODQWV are small and slender; mature plants are quite bushy and up to 2 feet WDOO 3UDLULH FRQHĂ RZHU IUHTXHQWO\ WXUQV XS LQ ZLOGĂ RZHU VHHG PL[WXUHV ZKHUH LWV UD\ Ă RZHUV DUH RIWHQ GHHS UHG ZLWK \HOORZ ERUGHUV DV WKH\ DUH in the southern part of its range.

fall  blooming  northern  colorado  plants

                                                                                                      matterhorn

                                                                                          Â

hď ¨

fall  2011                Â

Snow-on-the-Mountain, Euphorbia marginata Snow-on-the-mountain is a native plant that acts like a weed. It grows in disturbed areas, often forming large patches along trails, ditches, and roads. Plants grow about 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall and have a thick, leafy single stem that branches repeatedly toward the top. Snow-onWKH PRXQWDLQ¡V LQFRQVSLFXRXV ZKLWH à RZHUV DUH VXUURXQGHG E\ VKRZ\ green and white leaf-like bracts. This plant has sticky white sap that FDQ FDXVH VNLQ LUULWDWLRQ RU EXUQV VR DV ZLWK RWKHU ZLOGà RZHUV LW¡V EHVW not to pick it.

Rocky Mountain Beeplant, Cleome serrulata Rocky mountin beeplant is a large, often nearly spherical annual plant ZLWK QDUURZ WULIROLDWH OHDYHV DQG ODUJH FOXVWHUV RI SLQN à RZHUV 3ODQWV JURZ WR IHHW KLJK DQG ZLGH (DFK à RZHU FOXVWHU LV LQFKHV ORQJ DQG KDV FORVHG EXGV DW WKH WRS RSHQ à RZHUV LQ WKH PLGGOH DQG ZLWKHULQJ à RZHUV DQG GDQJOLQJ EHDQ OLNH VHHG SRGV DW WKH ERWWRP 7KH à RZHUV DUH DERXW LQFK ZLGH DQG KDYH IRXU SLQN SHWDOV DQG VHYHUDO long stamens that stick out well beyond the petals. Rocky mountain EHHSODQW JURZV LQ GU\ ÀHOGV DQG RSHQ DUHDV 7UXH WR LWV QDPH LW LV RIWHQ abuzz with bees.

Alix Gadd, a CSU-trained ecologist and author of Northern Colorado Plants, can often be spotted rummaging through the undergrowth of Northern Colorado’s amazing public open spaces, camera and plant guides in hand.

fall  blooming  northern  colorado  plants

27

28

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

matterhorn

h

fall 2011

WE TAKE THE OUT OF RINTING design. web. marketing & print.

try our online printing portal at www.printyourjob.com w w w. p i x e l s a n d p re s s . c o m 9 7 0 . 4 8 4 . 0 8 1 1 design. web. print & marketing. we appreciate your support

29

Jewelry Maker, Brenda Epstein Now offering jewelry-making parties x -T]_SOLd^ x -]TOLW >SZbP]^ x 0aPY_^

Easy, affordable, and fun! : 970.217.6877 Visit brendaepsteincreations.com for unique jewelry art

OLD TOWN ACUPUNCTURE CLINIC “Earth connected, heart centered, JHQWOH DQG HŔHFWLYH FDUH for your entire being.” 723 Cherry St. in Old Town Fort Collins, CO (6 blocks west of College Ave.) Our hours are: Mon.-­Fri. 8 am-­6 pm Sat. 8 am-­2 pm Call now to set up an appointment: 970-­482-­3700

ORGANIC, FAIR TRADE COFFEE ROASTED

IN-HOUSE VEGAN PASTRIES ORGANIC JUICES

&

SMOOTHIES

dddd FRENCH PRESS FREE

WIRELESS

THE BEAN CYCLE C O F F E E H O U S E & ROA S T E R S

d

14 4 N. COLLEGE AVENUE : 970.221.296 4 : WWW. THEBEANCYCLE.COM book reviews

                                                                                                      matterhorn

                                                                                                          Â

hď ¨

fall  2011

31

WOLVERINE Â FARM

PUBLISHING A  501( C )3  NON -­ P ROF IT  ORGA N IZAT ION

atter  Bookstore,  and  literacy  rial  publications,  Matter,  Matterhorn,  and  Boneshaker,  our  volunteer-­run  M Wolverine  Farm  Publishing  invites  the  world  back  to  its  senses  with  our  se EHWWHU ZRUOG UP ZRUNV ZLWK PDQ\ RWKHU EXVLQHVVHV QRQ SURĹ•WV DQG LQGLYLGXDOV WRZDUG D ZRUNVKRSV DQG SURJUDPV $ F QRQ SURĹ•W RUJDQL]DWLRQ :ROYHULQH )D

matter  journal Â

matter  bookstore

issue  5 wheels 180  pages $5

issue  6 lacunae 216  pages sold  out

issue  7 patterns 264  pages $5

issue  8 land 312  pages $7

issue  9 fuel 280  pages $10

issue  10 village 232  pages $10

issue  11 the  woods

issue  12 press 176  pages $12

multiple  books

$12 issue  13 edward  abbey 432  pages $17

issue  14 animal released  december  2011

Housed  within  The  Bean  Cycle  Coffeehouse,  the  Matter  Bookstore  is  a  volunteer-­run,  non-­profit  bookstore.  We  s ell  d onated  b ooks  a nd  h and-­selected  n ew  books,  sponsor  community  events,  and  host  bookclub  discussions  and  author  readings.  Volunteers  always  needed.  Applications  available  online  or  in-­person. 144  N.  College  Avenue  :  Fort  Collins,  CO  80522 970.472.4284  :  www.wolverinefarm.org M-­Th:  8am-­9pm  Fri  &  Sat:  8am-­10pm   Sun:  8am-­9pm  Â

literacy  outreach We  currently  have  one  off-­site  program  in  place  at  the  Remington  House,  as  well  as  a  series  of  in-­store  writing  workshops  called  the  Lofty  Writing  Workshops.  Please  check  our  website  or  in  our  store  for  current  workshop  details.  Â

boneshaker:  a  bicycling  almanac 42  series

new/forthcoming  publications no.  100 96  pgs $5

no.  200 112  pgs sold  out

box  set

42-­100  -­  42-­500 plus  ephemera sold  out

no.  300 128  pgs sold  out

no.  400 104  pgs sold  out

43 Â series

no. Â 100 128 Â pgs $8

no. Â 200 128 Â pgs $8 Â

no.  500 160  pgs sold  out

the  tour  de  fat  book for  new  belgium  brewing  released  june  2011

logodaedaly released  november  2011

www.wolverinefarm.org

office  for  wolverine  liberation  and  occidental  walking

The Earth is in sorry shape. Our economy is dying. But our history is still as rich as ever, and what could be more important than to get empowered by our FDSWLYDWLQJ KLVWRU\ DQG IHHO REOLJDWHG WR ÀJKW IRU VRPHWKLQJ WR SUHYHQW LW IURP collapsing around us? There are a million artifacts lurking for everyone between every pile of scrap. Feel brave enough to show value in what others would consider cultural waste. Don’t view the pile of VHS tapes in the basement as junk, see it as a portal to childhood. Don’t see the enormous water-damaged polyester CD book full of burned CDs as trash, see it as a portal into your teen angst. Don’t let that stash of 45s in your grandparents basement that is collecting GXVW UHPDLQ LQ VORWK DQG DJRQ\ /LEHUDWH WKRVH UHFRUGV DQG VHH D SRUWDO LQWR WKH history of American Music and your life and what it means to be you, here, right now, reading this on a piece of newsprint, and not on a screen. —Excerpt from Hello, It’s Me: A brief report on the collapse of American Culture and the importance of recycling media by Matthew Sage

wolverine farm publishing : fort collins , co www.wolverinefarm.org

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.