Introducing our hottest citizens

The sound of a siren travels far in the thin air of our mountain communities. That’s usually what folks notice first. Those on the road might see the flashing lights next, followed by the big red or yellow fire trucks headed somewhere in a hurry. As a truck passes by, they might catch its “Colorado Sierra” or “High Country” logo. At the scene, they’ll see the word “Timberline” on these emergency responders’ coats. Ever wonder who’s behind the wheel? Who is that under that helmet and heavy bunker gear? Chances are it’s a friend or neighbor, someone you know but maybe didn’t know was working hard to protect your life and property as a volunteer firefighter. Over the next several months, the Weekly Register-Call will be introducing you to these amazing individuals. In the firefighting world, a “Hot Shot” is a firefighter who specializes in fighting wild land fires, however we’re coining that term for our local jacks (and jills)-of-all fires, firefighters (and considering our location, we’re not out of line). Below is our first-

Hot Shot of the Week

Christopher Patrick, known in the local firefighting world as “Chrispy,” became a volunteer firefighter three years ago. Single (“and available,” he says), Chrispy attended graduate school and now works full-time as a Regional Manager for the United States Government. When he’s not occupied with work or firefighting duties, he still finds time for his other interests – Jeeping, camping, recreational sports, and dogs.

Chrispy said he signed up as a volunteer firefighter because he wanted to be of service to his community (and to drive big red trucks). He describes himself as healthy, physically strong and capable – except “I’m probably a few pounds overweight.” He’s frequently spotted working out at the Community Center after work.

For Chrispy, everything about being a firefighter is work, but it’s fun work, like playing hockey or skiing, and that makes the work easier. Learning all of the technical and procedural knowledge, making the correct radio calls for example, and being able to think through the adrenaline rush that occurs on calls, is what he finds most challenging about the job. The personal satisfaction, “feeling like you’ve done your job,” is the best experience of firefighting, said Chrispy. A successful outcome – a “save” – always feels good. Water supply is challenging in our area and even the department’s largest engines carry roughly a minute to a minute and a half of water on board. That’s enough to “knock down” a fire from outside, Chrispy notes, but not enough for firefighters to safely enter a burning structure. Being part of the teamwork that keeps the water coming, keeps everyone safe and saves a life or property, well that feels pretty good to firefighters. Responding to a call when someone has passed away is Chrispy’s “worst case scenario.” A volunteer responding to that call must deal not only with the deceased, but sometimes with family members and close friends who are under a great amount of emotional stress.

Words of advice for prospective volunteers: Expect to make a commitment of time (in addition to responding to calls, there are trainings and operational activities) and expect to respond to all calls, “not just the “glory” calls like fires, but also the 2 a.m. stomachaches or smoke sightings that turn out to be just fog.”

Chrispy wants the community to know, “We’re here to serve.” He’s Lieutenant of Timberline Station 7, the station located mid-Gilpin County near Taggert’s convenience store/ gas station. “I will do my best to ensure that the folks responding to your emergency will have the proper training, attitude and equipment to deal with just about anything we get called for,” he assured. Asked to provide one word that best describes his experience as a firefighter in our mountain community, Chrispy responded: “Fulfilling.”

Timberline Fire is made up of volunteers from Colorado Sierra and High Country Fire Protection Districts who respond together. The two volunteer departments expect to complete a merger under the Timberline name sometime in 2011. The fire protection district, with seven stations, spans Gilpin County from south of Black Hawk, north into Boulder County (the Magnolia Road area). It borders Jefferson County in some areas to the east, and extends west to the Moffat Tunnel area.

Think you can do this job? Timberline (http://timberlinefire.org) is currently recruiting volunteers. Anyone interested should call 303-582-5786 or 303-582-5768.

Colorado Medical Marijuana

On August 12^th of 1930 Harry J. Anslinger was appointed the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics. With prohibition in force, legal and illegal drugs were gaining in popularity. Previously legal drugs heroin and cocaine’s social ills were well recognized and legislation penalizing the non-medical use or distribution of those drugs enjoyed broad support. They were completely banned in1924. With dangerous drugs addressed, marijuana became Anslinger’s main target. In the United States, cannabis was mostly known as a bottled extract that one’s grandfather used with little fanfare. Mexican immigrants were known to smoke marijuana as were jazz musicians. Anslinger along with newspaper magnet William Randolph Hearst began what could be described as a scare tactic campaign heavily inundated with racial overtones. The 1936 propaganda movie and cult classic “Reefer Madness” was the campaign’s film counterpart. Besides a giggling man who played the piano very fast, it portrayed high school students being lured into a lurid world of manslaughter, rape, madness, and suicide. Hearst had lost 800,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. Having invested heavily in the timber and wood pulp paper industries that supported his newspaper empire, hemp (a product of the marijuana plant used in making paper) was financially threatening. Marijuana was known as cannabis in the early 1930’s until Anslinger re-dubbed it “marihuana” to sound more Mexican.

Harry J. Anslinger wrote in his “Gore File,” that “There are 100,000 total marihuana smokers in the U.S. and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others. The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races. Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users, insanity, criminality, and death. Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as a white man. Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing. You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother. Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.” In 1937 the “Marihuana Tax Act” made marijuana effectively illegal under Federal Law.

Since then public opinion about marijuana use has mellowed, but Federal laws have not. Possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana remain a Class 1 felony. The recreational use of marijuana to attain its euphoric “high” is no secret, and can be debated endlessly. While marijuana doesn’t appear to compare to the social and health problems that alcohol and cigarettes (both legal drugs) create, it still may be harmful to ones health. Marijuana’s active ingredient THC may cause short-term memory loss. Marijuana is usually smoked and smoke contains chemicals some of which are carcinogens. Its smoke would seem innocuous compared to tobacco’s as no known cases of lung cancer from inhaling the drug have been reported. The old argument of marijuana vs. alcohol is hackneyed. It is true however that I’ve never heard of anyone being so stoned that they caused highway deaths or beat their wife after leaving a pot party. Many believe in the beneficial uses of medical marijuana. In a completely different category than recreational marijuana, patients find it effective in treating glaucoma, neurological disorders like Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy, muscle spasms, AIDS, and countless types of chronic pain. Its medicinal uses in China date back five thousand years. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and experiencing nausea have found that marijuana restores their appetites at a time when they desperately need to regain their strength. It turns out that the “munchies” can be a good thing.

In 1996 California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. Since then, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Colorado have followed suite. Fourteen states have laws pending. Fifty four percent of Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 to the state constitution on November 7^th 2000 legalizing medical marijuana. With certain restrictions it removed criminal penalties for patients of at least 18 years of age using, possessing, and cultivating medical marijuana. Taking effect on June 1^st 2001, the State of Colorado Dept. of Public Health began accepting applications for medical marijuana registry identification cards. As of mid-2009, around 15,000 patients had applied and met the requirement of a doctor’s recommendation and received their confidential cards.

Providers for medical marijuana remained in short supply as federal laws supersede state laws. Providers mostly relied on their beliefs and a shortage of DEA agents. Representing a major shift in drug policy guidelines, in March of 2009 Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that “It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.” In October President Obama instructed federal authorities “not to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana users and suppliers who are complying with state laws.” In an ironic twist, the Mexican connection that originally helped make marijuana illegal now may have been a factor in making it technically legal. An ongoing drug war being waged and mostly lost on our country’s southern border saps limited funding. Taxes collected from marijuana dispensaries and caregivers are a bonus. There are now estimated to be over 100 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado and more than 60,000 registered patients.

Nearby, Nederland has three public dispensaries and two grow shops. A few people have taken to calling Nederland “Nedsterdam” after Amsterdam and their legalized drug culture. Cannabis Healing Arts (formally located at the One Brown Mouse Boutique) has moved their operations down the street to the old Acoustic Coffee site at 95 E. First St. The owners have been marijuana rights activists for over 20 years. Its original location in a boutique was understandably like walking into a store. Patients were able to choose their medical marijuana from a series of trays holding jars of various strains of cannabis. Marijuana is classified in two types-Sativa and Indica. Each possesses different medicinal properties and most of the marijuana for sale is a hybrid of both. The different strains listed on a chalkboard come with names like Northern Lights, Blueberry, Bubblegum, Purple Haze, Bubba Kush, Sour Diesel, Mango Afghanie, AK47, Maui Mist, Meltdown, Grape Ape, and Mr. Nice. Prices run between 14 and 18 dollars per gram. Marijuana edibles such as brownies, lollipops, baklava, and Obama cookies are also offered. For those wishing to “grow your own” marijuana clones can be purchased.

If Cannabis Healing Arts was akin to a store, then Grateful Meds at 110 Snyder St. (lower level) reminded me of a doctor’s office. A buzzer must be pressed to gain admittance to the small waiting room which is almost always filled. Patients enter a second room to purchase their medicine which may include hash or tinctures. The inventory and services are comparable to those of Cannabis Healing Arts and prices are more than competitive.

The Tea Alchemy apothecary/dispensary at 98 Hwy 119 Ste 2 also carries some medical marijuana. The cannabis is locally grown and organic as it mostly is at the other dispensaries in town. Their retail space reminded me of a spa. The emphasis of Tea Alchemy’s business focuses on overall wellness. Beneficial native roots and herbs of most kinds are for sale.

Where can one find the Colorado native Greenback Cutthroat Trout around here? Where can I catch some of those big strings of trout they caught back in the early days? They did catch huge numbers of trout, no doubt about that. Their creels were bursting at the seams! Back in Governor Gilpin’s day one could easily hook from thirty to fifty pounds of greenbacks in most any stream near here. In 1874 Fall River was dotted with fishing camps. Everyone caught many trout and no one went home without fish. They’d write to the Rocky Mountain News about it every day. Catches of forty to fifty fish a day per person were common, and the trout were even sold in Denver fish markets. When C.F. Orvis (who founded the famous fishing supply company) came here in 1875, he proclaimed our Front Range high streams and lakes the premier trout fishing spot in the nation. The other day I came across a tourist brochure promoting fishing around Rollinsville in the 1920s. Featured were strings of up to 100 trout all recently caught and ready for the pan. Those trout were a mixture of Brookies and the lovely Greenback Cutthroat, our Front Range native trout. Not only lovely to look at, Greenbacks were especially good to eat. They were said to have much more flavor than eastern brook trout. So can history help me find them today?

Two species are gone now

Originally there were four species of Colorado trout. Most common was the Colorado River Cutthroat. The Yellow Fin Trout (a particularity lovely one) was found only in the Twin Lakes area near Leadville, but mining run-off waste wiped it out. The Rio Grande Trout of the San Luis Valley, and our own Greenbacks were the others. Both the Yellowfin and the Rio Grande are extinct now, but some still have hopes for our native Front Range trout, the Greenback. We’ll never see two of those trout species again and that’s sad, but I’d love to see a native Front Range Greenback. Interestingly enough, the Front Range Greenback Cutthroat was common, though not plentiful, until fairly recently. There were some of them lurking and dancing in the quieter eddies of the whole upper South Platte River system including Boulder Creek well into the 1940s.

For many years, the Rocky Mountain News published a daily fish report. The Greenback Trout was tops in terms of exciting catches. By 1890 though, Greenback catches were rare enough to be mentioned. The Colorado fish commissioner was worried about trout populations in general by 1880, and urged hatchery programs to be given top priority. He argued that propagation and planting of young fish should begin at once. By 1886 his plan was in full force. The railroads took cans of the hatchery fish up into the high mountains and dumped them into streams. Sportsman’s groups prided themselves on dispersing the hatchery fish. Unfortunately they dumped the wrong kinds of trout.

The wrong kinds of trout

In the 1870s, 80s and 90s, fishermen in our part of the world still caught the widely prized Greenbacka now and again. But once the stocking programs began in the 1880s, the new varieties took over. Brook Trout and Rainbow Trout were common and driving out the natives. The Brook Trout is better adapted than the native trout. Greenbacks spawn later than Brook Trout, and that means the young Greenbacks are at a disadvantage and often are eaten. The Brookies get better stream positions also just by virtue of their bigger size. This did not matter to the state agencies and fisherman groups planting trout, however. They just wanted more trout in the streams. In 1905, The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad planted millions of trout, probably 6 million in fact, but no Greenbacks. Local improvement associations worked hard to drum up a large supply of fish. In 1907 they realized part of their dream over in Estes Park, where the first large scale trout hatchery was built. During its first year of operation it planted a million Rainbow, Brook, and even a few Colorado Cutthroat Trout. Eventually they would plant 6 million a year.

Apparently the stocking worked. The Rocky Mountain News fish reports often talked of 215 or 230 trout caught in a single day. Some of those huge catches happened right here in Rollinsville, or in the North Fork of the St. Vrain River. During years like 1912 and 1914, such huge trout catches were reported almost daily. The stocking programs grew more and more “scientific” too. The federal Bureau of Fisheries assisted the local hatcheries in many ways. These scientists assisted in the creation of rearing ponds called “sizing ponds.” In these ponds the trout were raised until they could compete with existing trout in size and vigor. Unfortunately this spelled even more doom for the native Front Range Greenbacks.

Science isn’t always scientific

Various websites about the greenback contain various dates for the realization that the greenbacks were almost gone. Certainly by the 1980s it was clear they were in trouble. Hatcheries started raising Greenbacks and they were declared “catch and release only” throughout the state. Still, scientists thought stable populations could be built if enough waters were closed and enough young Greenbacks were raised in hatcheries. Unfortunately the Greenbacks they were raising in the Estes Park and other hatcheries were not our native Front Range Greenbacks, but rather Colorado River Greenbacks. It’s an understandable mistake. Both have that gorgeous bright red coloring on the undersides of the male. Both look much the same. But, alas, our native Greenbacks now only survive in about 11 miles of really remote streams. Their location is kept secret for good reasons. It is much feared that they will go the way of the other two native trout species. That will leave only the Colorado River Greenbacks. Not that the Colorado River variety isn’t showy. You can see them in the shallow waters of Lily Lake over in Rocky Mountain Park right now. They are building their nests and flash close to the surface. A gaudy fish they are, but native Front Range Greenbacks they are not.

Unintended consequences

Several of the high mountain lakes in our area had never supported fish populations. So, during the 1930s and 1940s dedicated volunteers carried or put on burros cans of trout fry. Those trout took to their new habitat beautifully. The unintended consequences were amazing and bad. All sorts of amphibians disappeared as they were eaten by the trout. Several endangered frog species were wiped out in a few seasons. But, there were  now Brook trout in the high lakes. Maybe I should try to climb to Little Echo Lake and catch a few of those guys.

Will history help guide me to good trout fishing?

Colorado history can help me a little here. I won’t ever be able to catch a Greenback Cutthroat, or probably ever see one. But Brook Trout are good eating too. My best clue from history would be to follow the roadbed of the Denver, Rio Grande and Western as it was in about 1926. The railroad dumped a lot of Brook Trout all along the streams leading to Gunnison and then up to Crested Butte. Leadville got its’ share too. They did an amazing amount of stocking right here in Gilpin County too. The whole idea was to attract tourists along the route. Now I know where to go!

I’ve just picked up my fishing license and paid for the “all areas fee.” I’m trying to convince Gus that being a Black Lab means sitting by the bank of a stream and looking like a photo in Field & Stream magazine. All of those Black Labs look on adoringly as their “masters” scoop up trout into a little net. We’ve practiced a couple of times and he doesn’t get it so far, but we’ll see. Now I’m off to borrow a rod and reel from an obliging neighbor. Trout of Colorado beware, for history is my fishing guide!

On Saturday, May 9^th, there was a flurry of activity at the school building as community members sat in groups and conducted interviews with three potential candidates for the position of superintendent of the Gilpin County RE-1 School District. The district is comprised of two schools, the elementary and undivided high schools, with about 360 currently enrolled students.It’s been a solid eight years since community members have had the opportunity to work with the school’s board of education in such an exciting endeavor. Participants included parents of students, members of the Parent Teacher Association and District Accountability Committee, among others. The interviewing committees will make recommendations to the board regarding the selection of a candidate for the superintendent’s position. Ultimately, the board alone will make the final candidate selection and make their choice public on Monday, May 18^th.

The board of education members and the candidates, Tina Goar, Cheryl Gomez, and Mike Lynch, spent some time together socializing over dinner Friday night at Crook’s restaurant in Black Hawk. While the candidates were being interviewed at the school on Saturday, their family and friends were out exploring Gilpin County.

Tina Goar is the candidate from Buena Vista, who is the current superintendent of the Buena Vista School District R-31. There are four schools in her district, an elementary school, middle school, high school, and an alternative high school, with approximately 1,000 students enrolled in all the schools. Goar has served as the Buena Vista superintendent since July 2006 and has been in the education field for over 25 years.

Cheryl Gomez, the candidate from Pueblo, is the principal of a charter school, Pueblo School for the Arts and Sciences. The school is unique in that its charter is held by Colorado State University. Gomez oversees a school specializing in K-8 education with an enrollment of just over 350 students. The school’s mission is to provide a well-rounded education “anchored in the arts and in harmony with the sciences.” Gomez loves working with kids in a small community and should she make the final selection, she would enjoy working in Gilpin.

Mike Lynch is the candidate hailing from The Learning Center for Human Development (TLC), a part of the Douglas County School District. He is their executive director. The Learning Center is a hub for Douglas County school personnel providing professional training and career development to potentially 6,500 staff members. Lynch has been the TLC director for over two years. When asked what he liked about Gilpin, he replied “the people.” Being here over the weekend for the interview was a very favorable experience for him.

The candidates for the superintendent position are outstanding and the board will have a hard choice to make in the immediate future.

Gilpin County’s Sesquicentennial Celebration officially started Saturday at the Governor’s Mansion in Denver. Gilpin County hosted the kick-off event, a commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of John Gregory’s discovery of gold in Mountain City. The front gates and doors to the mansion were opened at 11:00 a.m. for the free event. People streaming in for the tour of the Governor’s elegant first floor, were greeted by Gilpin volunteers. Inside, docents pointed out the chandelier from the White House. (Washington wants it back but “Fat chance,” said the guide.) The rich wood paneling in the library, exotic oriental lamps and paintings and the huge airy “palm room” were oohed and aahed over by each group. The home of Colorado’s first family is known as the Queen of the Hill because of its elegance and location.

In the restored Carriage House at the rear of the manse, the Peak to Peak Chorale performed in the morning and afternoon, even including an encore command performance. They sang several of the songs included in the upcoming dinner theater they’ll present on May 8^th and 9^th. Central City Opera’s Steve Taylor performed songs appropriate to gold rush history, filling the carriage house with such wonderful baritone renditions that folks who heard his first performance made a point of coming back for the second. Gilpinite Neal Standard, as Henry Teller, had folks chuckling as he took cell phone call after cell phone call (Teller was a fan of new technology…) from famous historical figures. One of those calls could have been from Jerome Chaffee who also played an important part in state history. Gilpinite Chuck Roberts portrayed him. Both Teller and Chaffee were early Colorado senators. Both Standard and Roberts are active members of the Gilpin County Historical Society. The GCHS is doing its part to promote the Sesquicentennial summer events. (Visit www.Gilpin150.com for a schedule.)

Out in the courtyard, several groups had set up booths to share information about Gilpin and assure visitors of a warm welcome in the hills. The Black Hawk/Central City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau booth gave away goody bags with t-shirts, calculators and pens. Prospector Run’s booth offered free popcorn (choose from a half dozen different seasonings), candy and bottles of water. The Hidee Mine booth was popular for kids wanting to learn how to spot the gold dirt in their pans. Photographs of old-time Gilpin were on exhibit. The Paul Brokering Photography booth offered sepia photographs shot on the spot, of modern day folks pretending to be old timers. There were costumes for kids to dress in and popsicle stick “log” cabins to be constructed. Black Hawk Alderman Greg Moates, Central City Mayor Ron Slinger and Gilpin County Manager Roger Baker mingled.

The event served to pique folks’ interest in Gilpin. Some chose to visit the County that day, where a Gregory Day reception awaited them. Coach America buses provided shuttle service to and from Gilpin several times in the afternoon. Costumed characters (GHS volunteers) entertained the riders with stories and points of interest along the way. Upon arrival, there were free tours of the Teller House and Opera House, as well as a walking tour along East First High and Pine Streets in Central City. The Hidee Mine was a popular tour stop on the way into town. Century Casino had a prize wheel and giveaways for folks who visited there.

The event was a collaboration of sponsors (Black Hawk, Prospectors Run, United Power and Century Casino); partners (Gilpin County, the Visitor’s Bureau, Central City Opera Association, Denver Film Society, Gilpin County Historical Society, and the Colorado Tourism Office); and supporters (Coach America, Colorado Gambler. Governors Residence Preservation Fund, Buckhorn Skinners, Hidee Mine, Post Modern Company and Paul Brokering Photography). Each organization funded or contributed in-kind to the event. Gilpinites can celebrate the sesquicentennial at home and in neighboring Idaho Springs and Golden. They, too, are celebrating their Sesquicentennials with summer events and activities.

The Peak to Peak Chorale players are at it again. Just in time for Mother’s Day, they’ve put together their annual spring dinner theater musical production, “John Gregory’s Gold.” This will be the ninth play (she thinks, but who’s counting?) written by soprano Cora Jean Leenheer. She describes herself as “mainly a homemaker” (with a background in psychology and management) who likes to write and does a little bit of professional editing. “I’ve become quite a history buff,” she said, crediting the months of research she’s done while writing each original Chorale play. Each one delves into one or more local characters, bringing them back to life from historical newspaper accounts, personal letters and family stories. Cora Jean’s research means the story is historically accurate. The actors are allowed some elaborative license, infusing their characters with personality while performing the character vignettes between musical pieces. It’s an entertaining way of presenting Gilpin history with a personal touch.

This year’s performance, in honor of Gilpin’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, highlights John Gregory, the man who discovered gold in Mountain City one hundred and fifty years ago. He arrived on June 13^th, 1859, in a snowstorm. Gregory later sold his claim for $7,500 (then wondered if it was enough). There were many more adventurers who came looking to get wealthy: William “Green”berry Russell (Russell Gulch), John Fletcher, General William Larimer, George Jackson (Jackson’s Diggings), Wilkes DeFrees and William Byers and hundreds whose names live on, not in the history books, but in the local phone directories. They braved many hardships to do so-the rough trail and miles of footsore walking, illnesses, bad weather, hunger, lack of shelter-but there was worse, as the actors will tell. As the miners reconnoitered at the foot of the Rockies, gathering their supplies (and fortitude) to enter the mountains, they encountered “man-devouring Platte River skeeters and gnats!” Some of these characters were scoundrels. Some, like Gregory, were “go-backs,” who came and went or weren’t here for long. Others stayed and built the foundation of our community today.

Strong voices and enthusiasm characterize the music of “John Gregory’s Gold.” The show is directed by Ann Wyss. Pianist Midge Norville provides the instrumental accompaniment. Numerous songs touch a variety of styles, including a rhythmic “Sit Down Miner” and the Rocky Mountain News round. Gilpinites may find the tunes familiar, but the lyrics are custom-made. As are the costumes. Each member creates his or her own stage presence via the selected dress, be it “formal or normal.” Hats are popular and no two are alike.

There are more than two dozen chorale members who rehearse weekly fall to spring to entertain their friends in Gilpin. Each December they perform several holiday concerts. Then, early in each new year, they begin preparing the spring musical. With its opening on Mother’s Day weekend, it’s a fun family-friendly “dinner and a show” that locals can count on. It’s also their main fundraiser (but they’ll accept donations anytime).

Performances are Friday, May 8^th and Saturday, May 9^th on the theater floor of Doc Holliday’s Casino, Main Street, Central City. Cash bar at 6:30 p.m., Dinner at 7:00 p.m. followed by the show. On Sunday, May 17^th, there’s an afternoon performance at the United Center in Idaho Springs, at 3:00 p.m. (light refreshments included). Purchase tickets by May 1^st from your friends and neighbors in the Chorale or call 303-582-5583. Seating is limited. Last year’s performances packed the house both nights.

“It was a blast!” That was what Robert Branford had to say about his first time as a participant in the 23rd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic held from March 28-April 3 in Snowmass Village. “Miracles on a Mountainside!” proclaims the motto for the clinic. The schedule of adaptive sports events for this year included snowmobiling, scuba diving, fly fishing, rock climbing, and snowshoeing. Education workshops, such as “Strengthen Your Emotional Muscles” and “Self Defense for the Visually Impaired,” taught by an agent of the U.S. Secret Service, were offered as well. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) hosts the annual Sports Clinic with the Disabled American Veterans organization co-sponsoring the event.

This year, as they’ve done in previous years, the Central City Elks Lodge #557 had a crew of members and guests to work as volunteers in assisting the disabled Vets to and from their flights at Denver International Airport (DIA). This past Sunday one of the Elks’ volunteers assisted United Airlines flight personnel in escorting Branford and another Vet, who required wheelchair transportation, from their Aspen/Snowmass plane to their respective departure flights for home.

While waiting for his flight home, Branford fondly recalled the events of the past week. Branford is blind and had been serving as a medic in the U.S. Army when his blindness occurred. Despite his visual impairment, he was able to downhill ski, fly fish, and scuba dive during the clinic. Branford was proud of the fact that he ran a downhill race against his roommate and beat him by completing the race in 16 seconds. Branford had not skied in over thirty years. His favorite sport turned out to be fly fishing. The Vets were transported to the Crystal River and while on a float, Branford hooked plenty of whitefish and trout. His prize catch was a 33” trout that was returned to the river as for their purposes this was a catch-and-release sport.

The winter snowstorm that occurred during the clinic only minimally affected the outdoor sports events: one day of fly fishing was cancelled and tire chains were required on the vehicles transporting the Vets to their numerous activities. Being from Columbus, Ohio, Branford wasn’t bothered by the twenty-or-so inches of snow Snowmass received. He mentioned the moisture being good for the dryness of Colorado.

Scuba diving was Branford’s second favorite sport during the clinic. He enjoyed being in the warm indoor pool and was surprised to find that his usual “milky” vision seemed to be clearer underwater with a mask on. He and other Vets played Frisbee in the pool and they really had fun. They also learned to communicate with each other by squeezing hand-held small rubber balls to convey messages.

Branford frankly admitted to a “poor pity me party” when his blindness happened. He said he eventually “got over it” and has gone back to school to learn accounting at Columbus State College. He makes use of a digital tape recorder for recording class lectures and uses an audible software program for his computer. Branford’s received additional training in developing his manual dexterity. He’s had to stop thinking about relying on his eye-hand coordination and learn to rely instead solely upon his hands in dealing with physical tasks. Branford’s overall goal has been to become more independent in living.

Branford hopes to attend next year’s Winter Sports Clinic, along with several other VA sponsored events during the summer. All first year participants in the Winter Sports Clinic have their expenses paid for by the VA. After that the participant must pay for all his own expenses. More details about the event can be found at the website www.wintersportsclinic.va.gov.

When you next see a Central City Elks Lodge member, be sure to thank him or her for volunteering time and effort in supporting the Winter Sports Clinic. The disabled Vets who participate in the event are truly grateful for the support. You might also want to donate a little of your own time at DIA next April. Contact the Central City Elks Lodge or member Jimmy Stewart at his e-mail address of mclwayne@gmail.com for more information and to serve as a volunteer.

She originated the Lincoln Highway, met both Lincoln and Custer and was proclaimed “the most loved woman in Colorado”. After leading the fight to give women the vote, she was the first woman in Colorado to be appointed to a state board. The local papers trumpeted, “Her character, ability and mind made her a natural leader. During Colorado’s formative years she wielded a restraining, cultural authority on the state.” Frances Belford was a leader in political, club and social life, an authority on Dante and “an eminent leader in all movements that spoke for national, state or civic progress.”

Frances’ family lineage in America dated back to 1632. The Congressman’s wife was born on January 13, 1839 in Lewiston, Pennsylvania, and after attending local public schools, taught school herself. At 20 she married the fiery and intelligent lawyer, James Belford, a recent law school graduate. The couple settled in Missouri, later moving to Indiana. A chance meeting between James and Schuyler Colfax, a Congressman from Indiana, would alter the young couple’s future. The Congressman would become Vice-President under Grant. Colfax had been impressed with the young lawyer’s remarkable memory, his quick absorption of facts and figures and particularly, his knowledge of mining law, and he suggested to President Grant that Belford be appointed to a judgeship. In June of 1870 the young lawyer was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Colorado.

James was a voracious reader and could not afford many books. He read mining law because the other lawyers in Indiana were not interested in that area of study and those books were readily available in the law libraries. An oft-told tale in the Belford annals states that Belford once saw the new Longfellow translation of Dante in a bookstore and immediately thought of Frances, who loved Dante’s work. The poor lawyer looked a long time at his shoes; the soles were missing and the uppers were mostly gone, but the tongue and the strings were there, so he bought a pair of rubber overshoes to make up for the deficiencies in the shoes and spent the rest of a five-dollar fee on the Dante tome. Because of that purchase Frances became a leading authority on Dante in this country and was so recognized by the National Dante Society.

Two other Supreme Court judges were appointed to the Territory of Colorado in 1870, so they drew lots for location. Belford drew Gilpin County’s district and would make Washington Hall, the first Gilpin County Courthouse, in Central City famous for his unusual, but fair and impartial, decrees. But when Frances first saw the thriving gold-mining town, denuded of forests, she supposedly prayed that ‘this cup would pass from her’. She quickly grew to love the community, however.

Their home on East First High in Central City would become a haven for liberal, free-thinking leaders of the time. Frances’ belief in spiritualism was strengthened by her journey west to join James in Colorado. A young Army officer shared the trip with her as far west as Nebraska and helped entertain her two small children on the tedious stage ride. The two adults talked of their spiritual beliefs and the officer confessed his feeling of impending catastrophe in his life. The officer continued from Nebraska to his final destination – the Little Big Horn in Montana – where Custer would indeed meet a catastrophe.

James was an orator without peer in his day and the popular judge was voted as the first-ever U.S. Congressman from the new state in 1876. From that election until 1884, with one term out, he would serve our state in Washington D.C.

There, in the seat of American government, Frances first suggested the idea of the Lincoln Highway. This perceptive lady felt strongly that the Civil War had its roots in a lack of communication between the two parts of the country. She wanted to bind east and west and forever prevent the sectionalism that had caused the Civil War. “If we had built great roads going North and South so that the people would have traveled more and known each other better, there need never have been a [Civil] war.” She worried that a similar problem might develop between East and West and out of these concerns and a hope that sectionalism could be prevented, she worked out the details for the famed highway. Another movement she began while she lived in the nation’s capital was the restoration of the monument to George Washington’s mother. Here, too, she was successful.

Back in the Centennial State, Frances occupied herself with politics, organizations to better oneself and one’s community and raising the couple’s eight children. The two causes for which she worked the hardest were voting rights for women and a prohibition on alcoholic beverages. The fact that Colorado was the first state to give women the right to vote (Wyoming was only a territory when it granted the fair gender that privilege.) was due in large measure to her efforts. She was rewarded by being the first woman in the state appointed to a state board after women were legally able to vote. In fact, she was appointed to two boards, the State Board of Charities, Corrections and Pardons and the board of the Colorado Agricultural College (predecessor of Colorado State University). She was also chosen a Trustee of the Greeley Normal School (predecessor of the University of Northern Colorado).

When the national Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) met in Denver in the 1880s, Frances was chosen as a speaker. Her obituary in the Rocky Mountain News noted that, “She worked consistently, intelligently to make her vision a reality. Providence permitted her to live to see the accomplishment of the works for which she had been the Western Pioneer.” She lived to see the national enfranchisement of women and a federal prohibition against alcoholic drinks. The News asserted, “She had a distinctive part for many years in both areas.” As Baker and Hafen note in their History of Colorado, “Wherever there was hard, thankless, [unpaid] public work to be done, Frances Belford was among those present.”

The interests and energy of this remarkable woman were much broader than those two causes, however. On her 75^th birthday, Tuesday, January 13, 1914, the Woman’s Club hosted a reception for Frances and everyone of importance in the state came to honor this popular lady. The list of attendees included tributes from Governor Ammons, Denver Mayor Perkins, Mrs. Edward Costigan, President of the Woman’s Club, Mrs. Mary C.C. Bradford, State Superintendent of Public Instruction – and representatives from ALL the organizations with which she had been connected. The list of the organizations she worked for included the Denver Woman’s Press Club, Clio Club, Colorado Equal Suffrage Association, Daughters of Colorado, Wednesday Current Events Club, Hesperian Club, South Side Woman’s Club, West Side Woman’s Club, Roses of Jericho, Jewish Woman’s Council, Co-Electric Club, Territorial Daughters, Public Service League, Around the World Club, Belva Club of the Woman’s Republic, Mothers’ Congress, Why club, Historic Art Club, 22^nd Avenue Club, Denver Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Monday Club, Jane Jefferson Club, WCTU, Round Table, Colonial Dames and the Shakespearean Club. Of course the Dante Society, which she founded, was present. They jointly proclaimed Frances “the best loved woman in the state”. Frances was also the driving force behind establishing the State Home for Dependent Children in Denver.

The “Best Loved Woman in Colorado” died on January 27, 1921, survived by four of her eight children. James had preceded her in death; they are buried at Riverside Cemetery.

I get word that the airstrip at my final lodge is being regraded. The transfer to my last safari camp will be by helicopter. Having never been in one before, I am almost as excited about the helicopter ride as I am about my next destination. Flying at 400 feet and looking down through Plexyglass at elephants and giraffes, a Marshall Eagle passes below. We touch down at Chitabe Lediba, in the southeastern part of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Surrounded on three sides by the Moremi Game Reserve, it and its sister camp Chitabe are known for leopards. They are also famous for their part in the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPCT). Founded as the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project by Dr. Tico McNutt in 1989, its research now includes the study of other large carnivores as well. The twelve packs of African Wild Dogs totaling 160 animals in the area may represent the densest dog concentration in all of Africa. The African Wild Dog or “Painted Dog” is the second most endangered predator on the continent with a remaining population estimated at only three thousand. Only the Ethiopian Wolf is rarer. University of Montana graduate students, Botswana national students, and local staff comprise BPCT’s field team monitoring animal populations, distribution, behavior, and livestock conflict management. The dogs here were featured in the May 1999 National Geographic and BBC’s 2002 film “A Wild Dog’s Story.” The book “Running Wild – Dispelling the Myths of the African Wild Dog” was written and photographed by the owners of Chitabe Lediba.

On our first game drive, Francolins, or “Chitabe Chickens” as my guide calls them, run ahead on the road flying off at the last second before being hit. A big truck carrying supplies to Maun is heavily mired by the log bridge that we take. Four men who are waist deep in water pry at the tires, only to succeed in freeing the vehicle the following day. Chitabe Lediba is a mixture of wetlands, dry acacia, and savanna woodland. We plow through a pond that has a “hippo trail” leading from it. Wattled Cranes, Kori Bustards, Fish Eagles, Crested Barbets, Little Bee-eaters, Malachite and Woodland Kingfishers are all seen. Two Red-billed Oxpeckers climb around a giraffe’s neck in search of insects. A bull elephant crashes through the woods. Antelope of varied kinds graze with the zebra. We come across a Blacksmith Plover that is only hours old. Still hardly able to walk let alone fly, the white brown and black camouflage is its only real defense. It scrambles a couple of feet and lies down in the sand while its parents circle and squawk loudly. I can’t help but wonder how long this helpless creature can last in the African bush.

After experiencing a few game drives, a person learns that the encounters that capture one’s attention the most involve predators. Speeding to a leopard sighting, my guide O.T. is my craziest driver yet! Holding on to my camera with one hand and a metal bar to keep myself onboard with the other, we quickly arrive at the siting area of the female leopard. She is on the move. Roaring as she goes, she is searching for a male to breed with. Doubling back into the dead trees that the elephants have knocked down, she continues her roars and comes to rest on a fallen tree trunk. It’s getting darker now, and a Spotted Hyena appears and approaches the leopard. She is in no mood for his antics and backs him off with a swipe of the paw and a snarl. After a good leopard viewing and photo session, it is pitch black when we stop for our “sundowner.” I wonder where the hyena went, when O.T. shines his spotlight to the side of the Land Rover. At only ten feet away, the beast is getting a good whiff of our food! He slinks off, returning twice when we finally scare him off for good. We continue our game drive into the Botswana night. I get fleeting glances of “bush babies,” a small primate, as they whip through the branches. After photographing a Giant Eagle Owl, my guide can’t start the engine. The spotlight that he was using may have drained the battery. Different rules apply after the sun goes down and with our hyena encounter fresh in my mind, I ask my guide about the danger that they might present. He tells me, “It’s not the hyenas that you have to worry about it – it is the lions and leopards!” This is of little reassurance as a sense of vulnerability overtakes me. Fortunately there is enough power to radio camp and someone should be here in fifteen minutes. O.T. jiggles some wires and miraculously the Land Rover starts! Four hundred feet away from where we were stranded, a Spotted Hyena lopes by our headlights with a meaty bone in his mouth. I fall asleep in my tent that night to a chorus of Reed-frogs. They sound like a thousand bamboo wind chimes.

The next morning before dawn, we set out and find Vervet Monkeys. Eating as they work their way through a tree, they number about twelve with a few babies among them. An African Wild Cat streaks across the road so fast that he is but a blur. A male and female Ostrich trot away from us. Spoiled by large predators, game viewing seems a little slow today, and I resign myself to photographing mostly birds. A Lilac-breasted Roller poses for a while as does a Magpie Shrike. My guide is anxious to leave and I put him off for a few more shots. He has heard a lion, one of two large males that have entered the concession from the Moremi Reserve in search of females. In tire tracks that we laid down only minutes before are hyena spoor. We get closer to the lion roars and see dog tracks in the road. O.T. shouts “Dog!” I see two darting through the trees. We go off-road in pursuit of them. A pack of thirteen, they are moving fast and on a hunt. My guide knows the dogs and roads well and finds them sprawled resting in a grassy opening. The alpha male and female of the Wild Dogs are wearing radio collars and are part of BPCT’s research project. With the dogs quiet and pictures taken, we drive a short distance for a bathroom break. Gone for only a couple of minutes, the dogs have vanished. Holding on tightly, we race around some more when we see the lions coming towards us. Even my guide considers these lions dangerous. We stop and let them pass.

I’ve almost lost hope of seeing the wild dogs again, when we spot them. Wild Dogs cover vast tracks of land as they push their prey along. While hunting, they can burn twice as much energy as a Border collie. Their pace is relentless, and kill success rate high at 80 percent. Feeding mostly on medium-sized ungulates, Wild Dogs also sometimes kill larger prey such as zebra or wildebeest. With one grabbing the tail and another latching on to the victim’s upper lip, the rest of the pack will disembowel their prey. Admittedly gruesome, it is an efficient killing technique quicker than the lion, leopard, or cheetah’s method of suffocation. It appears to be a learned behavior particular to certain populations. Along on their hunt, my driver does a remarkable job of keeping up with them. After losing the dogs several times, sometimes he would stop, listen, and point to where the dogs were. We pause in the middle of the pack that is chasing a herd of Impala into a thicket. The animals disappear with some rustling when the Impala bounds from the brush toward our vehicle. A dog just misses the Impala by a few feet! The dogs run past us also, leaping in the air to get above the grass for a better look at their quarry.

Three more leopard sightings filled other days. One was of a male leopard on a kill, with a smaller unrelated male waiting for a chance at some leftovers. The Okavango Delta’s wildlife is rich and diversified. It has been an amazing journey. With the runway still not finished, I depart by chopper flying over a herd of 120 elephants.

Kwetsani Camp is found in the southwestern part of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Rains from Angola take months to reach the area, sometime during March when the delta is magically transformed into a marshy oasis. At this time Kwetsani becomes a “water camp” wherein boat safaris, fishing, and bird-watching are emphasized. My visit coincides with the arrival of the floodwaters.

I land at the Jao Concession airstrip on a clear warm afternoon. Puddles on the landing strip splatter our aircraft with walls of muddy water. While waiting for another airplane holding my safari companions, my newly met guide starts up the engine of the Land Rover to scare off an elephant that has drifted too close to the runway. On our way to camp vast herds of red lechwe line either side of the vehicle. They are a large antelope that tends to carry its ebony horns low when running, possibly because of its bulky neck. We approach a group of them crossing a wet patch in the road. One by one twenty of them leap over the water. Closer to camp three lazy lions block the road lounging in the cool sandy ruts. Their bellies are empty, but we only warrant an occasional glance during their stretching exercises. Greeted at the lodge by singing as is the custom, a 15 foot high boardwalk leads to my thatched tent. Elephants are discouraged from scratching themselves on the boardwalk’s timbers. Baboons climb on the roof while eating “sausages” from a Sausage Tree. Pulpy two feet long fruit that resemble sausages and weigh up to eight pounds, they are like coconuts when falling and have been known to kill people. The dangers in Africa are many and not always obvious! At the next camp my driver will show me a tree from which a “sausage” fell and killed a guide.

On our first game drive we find that the lions have moved a relatively short distance into the tall grass. A young male and two females, we pull up within ten feet of them. Wide awake, they are laying down with their heads up. Several yawns later, they stir a bit with the male abruptly sitting up. At a leisurely pace he walks to the road which is filled with water for a drink. Still having not eaten, the females follow and they are away into soggy ground on their first hunt of the day. We drive over a dyke where monitor lizards and herons mix. A fish eagle is off to the side feeding on catfish scraps. Defiantly but somewhat foolishly, in the middle of the road stands a chameleon. Our guide Lesh picks him up with a stick after being snapped at. He puts the lizard on his coat whence the chameleon matches its color perfectly. For the next hour we drive through dense scrub with only a few antelope and bird sightings. Near Jao Camp, one of only two other camps in the concession, I can’t believe my eyes when we come upon a leopard! He is sitting on the roadway eyes fixed straight ahead on some impala. Walking towards us, he turns and heads into the seemingly impenetrable brush. We take an alternate route crashing through scrub palm arriving right next to the big cat. Sprawled under a tree we stare each other down for ten minutes. By now our guide has radioed other safari vehicles in the vicinity and they begin to arrive. This is how it works on safari as all the guides share special sightings with one another so that everyone can enjoy them. At first feeling selfish with our find, I learn later the value of the system when we are included in a kill. After an afternoon break and tea, we head for a leopard kill. The same young male leopard that we saw earlier and its mother have stashed a lifeless adolescent red lechwe under a broken-down old tree. The male gnaws at the lechwe’s muzzle while the satiated mother naps on a horizontal branch. Smacking of gums and scraping noises come from the leopard’s mouth! Long slabs of fresh meat are torn from the carcass. After getting his fill, he joins his mother in the tree to sleep it off.

The next day we drive through ever-rising waters. Parts of the roads that were dry yesterday are now overtaken by lakes. At times water rushes over our hood and catfish jump in the wake of our Land Rover! Maribou and saddle-billed storks wade around us. Sacred and glossy ibises are abundant. Crocodiles bask contentedly while hamerkops fly ahead of us. We now go for a mokoro ride in a traditional dugout canoe. The couple in the other mokoro jokingly accuse our pole-man Nelson of making hippo noises. The hippo sounds that we hear are from real hippos and we are in their undisputable domain! After a peaceful and non-eventful cruise of the pond, we continue our game drive. Water buffalo are near the leopard kill site with no leopards to be seen. Hyenas likely made off with the remains.

A massive male lion has entered the concession and is loudly announcing his presence to females and potential male rivals. The other animals acutely know that he is here also as wildebeest scatter in front of him. Every eye of an impala herd is trained on the roaring beast. We catch up to the lion a few times and let him pass. Heavily muscled, his aura is surly and deliberate. Closer to camp, our guide Lesh notices lion tracks. Very fresh, we follow them to a point where some grass has been knocked down. Off-road, Lesh follows the signs to the edge of an overgrown hummock. A mature male lion lay feasting on a putrid antelope. Judging by other tracks that we’ve seen, our guide thinks that he stole it from a leopard who now sits across the road in another leafy stand. On my way to the airstrip only a few hours later, we check the site again only to find that the lion has devoured his meal and moved on.

Next time: Chitabe Lediba.