Golden Gate Canyon State Park

In late June Dan Weber, Park Manager of Golden Gate Canyon State Park, led a tour of a “spike camp” built for young adults working on sustainable trails projects in Golden Gate. The projects are viable through the combined partnerships of the Colorado State Parks, Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC), Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA), and Clinton Family Fund.

Bruce Clinton remarked that he and his wife, Martha, were proud to be part of this project partnership and would like to see this type of project replicated throughout Golden Gate. The Clintons reside primarily in Chicago, Illinois, and spend part of the year at their home in Gilpin County.

According to Kelly Causey, Executive Director of Mile High Youth Corps, the non-profit organization offers projects centered on energy, land, and water conservation for youth between the ages of 18-24 years old. Projects range in length from 11 weeks to 12 months and prospective employees follow a standard application and interviewing process for a project job. Recently MHYC’s popular projects received about nine applications for each open job slot.

Through their established land conservation program, MHYC built their first trail in Golden Gate in 1999. This year MHYC hired a youth crew of 12 Corpsmembers to live in the park’s first spike camp during the summer and work on building a new sustainable trail.

The term “spike camp” first came into use by the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It describes small work groups who travel from a base camp to work on a distant project.

The crew is working on a 5.5 mile trail, part of the Mule Deer Trail, which will be multi-use for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. Its purpose is to link part of the north end of the park to the middle area, from Panorama Point to Fraser Meadow.

The spike camp is located off Gap Road on a service road between Panorama Point and Harmsen Ranch. The camp enclosure consists of four large tents—a mess tent, shower camp, sleeping tent for female crew members and sleeping tent for male crew members—construction gear and requisite port-a-potties. It is also equipped with a working electric fence to “keep the bears out.”

Crew members spend a total of ten weeks at the camp with rotating shifts of “ten day hitches,” or working at the camp for ten days and then having four days off. Park Manager Weber commented that having the crew members actually living on site, instead of being transported from town and back each day, and working eight hours every day really led to fast visible results.

The spike crew follows a well-established routine. They wake up at 6:30 in the morning; do some stretching to prepare for the day’s labor; ask each other random questions in reviewing safety procedures; pack their lunches and then head out to the trail for the day. After a half-hour lunch break, they continue trail building, eventually returning after an eight hour work shift to camp for dinner. A mini-generator provides power but it’s generally lights out early when darkness and the stars above settle in.

Building a trail requires a lot of hard work. Trail building means—among many things—constructing a three-foot wide clear area through the forest. It means winching big rocks, cutting down hazardous trees, hauling tree stumps out of the ground, building trenches, and creating in-slopes on switchbacks.

Golden Gate provides the crew with all necessary equipment, including all trail building tools such as axes, chainsaws, pneumatic pruning saws, shovels, and specialized fire-fighting tools like Pulaski axes and McCloud rakes.

Corpsmember Mike is the sawyer for the spike crew; he is certified on a 10 inch chainsaw and has an “A” license. Mike is originally from Portland, Oregon, pursued environmental studies and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio. He heard about the spike camp and trail project by word-of-mouth and applied for a position. Mike “likes it a lot” and also appreciates the leadership-building qualities and scholarship awards offered by being part of MHYP’s AmeriCorps Leadership and Conservation Program.

Park Manager Weber anticipates future funding for more trail building and other projects in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. To be a part of these conservation projects and more, check out the Mile High Youth Corps website at www.milehighyouthcorps.org for more information.

Spending a day on a famous “fourteener”

Originally called Mt. Rosa, Mt. Evans was renamed so in 1895 in honor of Colorado’s second Governor of Colorado Territory, John Evans. In 1917 Denver’s Mayor Robert Speer, with the Pike’s Peak road attracting tourists from his town, secured the funding for a new road to the summit of Mt. Evans. Only able to be worked during the summertime, it took ten years to complete and opened on October 4^th 1927. Paved three years later, it remains the highest paved road in the world.

Taking Colorado Scenic Byway Hwy.103 south out of Idaho Springs, one rises 7,000 ft. to the terminus of Hwy. 5 (Mount Evans Scenic Byway), just below the summit of Mt. Evans. Daytime highs at the top only reach sixty degrees – if you are lucky – so it is advisable to bring extra clothing. Snow is a possibility on any day of the year. Mt. Evans Research Station’s caretaker Ralph Reiner has recorded wind-chill temperatures at 198 degrees below zero and wind-speeds of 224 mph. Up to 500 inches of snow fall there every winter. Despite the harsh conditions, a few creatures find the alpine tundra environment to be an ideal habitat.

Mt. Evans has always been one of my favorite and most productive locations to view wildlife. I saw my first mountain goat at Mt. Evans. Introduced in 1947, they may be displacing native bighorn sheep who also reside in the area. As I wind up the road past the Nature Center, the ancient bristlecone pine trees start to thin. Some of them have been around for over 2,000 years! On my right is a hillside where I have fond memories of an hour I spent with two white-tailed ptarmigans several years ago. It is also where I observed a long-tailed weasel checking each rock crevice for a potential meal. Unfortunately, I don’t see any ptarmigan or weasels today and I keep motoring. Along the way daredevil yellow-bellied marmots sun themselves at the edge, and sometimes even in the road. Potholes are the entrances to their dens which can reach 23 ft. in depth. A marmot barks its shrill alarm call a few times and ducks into its hole. Loosely translated it means: “Car tire! Car tire!” At a bend with a breathtaking view of an emerald-colored lake, bighorn sheep approach visitors for handouts (which are strictly prohibited to protect the sheep). One year I informed a woman that she was not supposed to feed them, but when my head was turned she slipped the bighorn a couple of Cheetos and drove off. Even with their adorable big brown eyes, today the habituated sheep get only salt from the sweaty hands of enchanted tourists and the roadway.

Ten miles up the Mt. Evans road approaching Summit Lake, the permafrost has buckled the pavement. Beyond, I notice a small furry creature scurrying on a talus slope. Similar in size to a golden-mantled ground squirrel, it is a pika or “whistling hare.” Often seen before heard, this one is busily gathering plant matter and setting it out to dry in the sun. After it has cured, he will stash the bounty in his burrow. The summer season is short and only the most industrious will survive.

The endless vista of Denver and the Great Plains is fronted in shades of blue from nearby mountain ridges. It is said that you can see for 100 miles from the top. Working my way in that direction, the treeless terrain becomes otherworldly. Moonscape rocks jut toward the azure sky. Several of the stones resemble marmots as I do double-takes in search of photography subjects. I spot a herd of seven mountain goats in the distance. Making a slow serpentine approach, I sit down in fairly close proximity to them. Unperturbed by my presence they go about their business of grazing and tending their young. The nannies eat while two kids bound about in play. Two sub-adults and a billy, whose strands of wooly white fur gently drift in the breeze, round out the group. They slide closer as they feed, at one point coming within six feet of me!

At road’s end lie the stone ruins of the Crest House, which burned down because of a propane explosion in 1979. It used to house a gift shop/snack bar, but now is a rustic windbreak from which to view the surrounding peaks. For those wanting to bag a “fourteener” (one of Colorado’s 54 peaks over 14,000 ft.), the summit of 14,264 ft. Mount Evans is only a short trail and 116 ft. of elevation away. I elect to head down as I don’t want to climb another fifty three.

ATV and dirt bike access discouraged

Located front and center among the five cemeteries above Central City, the smallest plot of sacred ground, the Red Men Cemetery, was recently the scene of special preservation efforts by a group of local volunteers. Coordinated by Ray Rears of Gilpin County’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission (HAC), about thirty people turned out Saturday morning for a day-long “Cemetery Clean-Up.” The group was divided into several teams, delegated to general clean-up or fencing duties. The Red Men Cemetery received both.

In past years, the cemeteries were peaceful, visited mainly by families of the deceased. Occasionally, tourists wandered the paths between grave markers, gleaning the human history of our area through epitaphs and longevity calculations. Today’s use of the cemetery area is a contradiction, sometimes a conflict. With access to national forest lands just up the adjacent Columbine Campground Road, the area around (and sometimes in) the cemeteries fills every weekend, outside of wintertime, with dirt-bike and ATV riders. Parked pick-up trucks and trailers occupy the open areas outside the cemetery fences. The off-road off-load disburses fifty or more motorized bikes and four-wheelers, whose riders have turned paths circumventing the cemeteries into rutted lane-wide trails. With a “road bisecting it and no fence to protect it, the Red Men was fair game.

On Saturday morning, the clean-up crews watched as truck after truck, bearing trailers loaded with multiple ATV’s (one with a half dozen dirt bikes) arrived every hour – 23 trucks in all. With locals parked in the space by the Red Men Cemetery, the off-roaders vied for the remaining parking spaces and soon lined the roadsides. Ramps were lowered from the tailgates, vehicles wheeled to the ground; engines sputtered to a start and the riders took off, generally headed up the road, though a few made their rounds of the cemeteries. If not seen, they were heard. Clearly visible, however, was the trash and debris that’s been left behind.

In fluorescent vests of orange and yellow, the cleanup crews were easy to spot between tombstones and trees as they plucked beer cans, bottles and food wrappers, all too numerous to count, from the grounds of the five cemeteries. Rusted metal pieces discovered dumped in one area, when assembled, were found to be the remains of a large propane barbecue grill. That, plus an old real estate sign, pieces of pipe and strips of aluminum siding, were the largest pieces of debris. These were piled into or onto the clean-up crew’s truck and trailer. Big black garbage bags accumulated as the crews exchange their full bags for empty ones. While they moved through the International Order of Odd Fellows, Catholic, City of Central, Forresters, and Knights of Pythias Cemeteries, others were cleaning up and fencing the Red Men Cemetery.

There are 17 different families represented by the 26 known graves in the Red Men. This burial ground served the patriotic fraternal organization descended from the Sons of Liberty, organized in 1765, that worked clandestinely for the Colonies’ independence. They modeled their structure on the democratic governing body of the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1812, they changed their name to the Society of Red Men, later amending that to the Improved Order of Red Men which has been the official name since 1834. The oldest grave in the Red Men Cemetery is that of Thomas Liddecoat who died in 1884; the last burial at the Red Men occurred in 1913. There are now only two members of the Red Men’s Colorado order living. Neither of the elderly men are local residents and both have communicated with Rears that they would be willing to let another entity take on the cemetery’s ownership. (County Commissioners are considering.) They had gladly granted permission for the work done Saturday. In addition to trash pick-up and fencing, crews trimmed the vegetation growing up around the gravesites, revealing the sometimes deteriorated condition of the tombstones. The 1891 marker for 19 year-old “Jennie, Wife of Peter Sonne,” was found toppled from its base. The marks of the chain someone had wrapped around it, probably connected to a vehicle to pull it down, were clearly visible. At that point, if the vandals had intended to steal the marker, they likely discovered it was too heavy to manage. It took the strength and guiding hands of six men to reposition Jennie’s headstone to its rightful place and only after they had raised and leveled the base and applied epoxy to secure the cement base and two-part granite marker. On a nearby grave, only the base remains. Volunteers hope the four-strand fence they erected will help preserve the remaining stones and prevent further damage to the cemetery.

Seventeen different groups and individuals contributed materials, equipment and manpower to the Red Men preservation effort. That included the County and the municipalities of Central City and Black Hawk. They contributed equipment and labor to set the corner posts, as well as some of the food for the volunteers. Other donations of materials, food and cash came in from Hutchison Western, Prospectors Run, Air O Pure Portables, Broken Handle Mining Company, St. James Methodist Church, Central City Elks, Gilpin Historical Society, Lady Luck Casino, B&F Market, Clear Creek/Gilpin Abstract & Title Company, Wyoming Chili Company, the Newman family, Connie McLain, and Zane Laubhan. The volunteers brought shovels, trimmers, wire stretchers and other tools. Most of the metal fence posts were pounded in by hand until Joe and Cynthia Phillips showed up with their tractor and mechanized driver. For the most part, gloves, sunscreen, plenty of water and old-fashioned muscle were the order of the day.

The invasion of off-roaders that turn the cemetery area into a weekend parking lot and tail-gating party has been a topic at Central City Council and County Commissioner meetings several times. Jurisdiction of the area is unclear. The boundaries of City, County and Forest Service lands aren’t clear and an expensive survey will be needed to determine them. If the expense can be shared, perhaps a survey will be ordered. If that happens and jurisdiction is clarified, the entities can govern their own areas, perhaps limiting or even prohibiting motorized use. Currently, there is no overnight camping allowed in the area. The Sheriff’s Office had provided a deputy on Saturday, in case of confrontation from the off-road users. He also warned several of the riders they couldn’t be on county roads unless their vehicles were licensed for that purpose. The off-road vehicles are allowed to ride the trails on forest land, but volunteers suggested a different location could be created for their staging area or access limited to fewer vehicles. The local governments and residents would all like to see less traffic, noise, trash and impact at the cemeteries. The new fencing should now discourage, if not prevent, riding through the Red Men.

Central City Opera Review

A very enthusiastic full house was most appreciative of Saturday’s Central City Opera opening night performance of an often performed opera, Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. And well the audience should have been enthusiastic. It was a strong and triumphant performance. The most repeated remark as the audience filed out was “Wasn’t that great?”

The opera is a bittersweet tale of love and betrayal that reminds us of “the ugly Americans.” The American Naval Lt. B. F. Pinkerton arranges a marriage to a beautiful Japanese girl while he is stationed in Japan, although he has no intention of it being a permanent one. His plan is to have a “real” marriage with an American woman one day. Cio-Cio-San aka Butterfly, on the other hand, gives up family and religion to marry this man she truly loves. Pinkerton is warned by Sharpless, the American Consul, that this is a mistake but Pinkerton doesn’t listen.

Pinkerton, played by tenor Chad Shelton is elegant. He is a more than the usual bastard most tenors make him out as. You cannot like him from the start. He is arrogant and overbearing. This said, however, Shelton is a striking figure with a wonderful tenor voice that rings throughout the hall. His presence on stage is, if a little wooden, a compelling and demanding one. He expects to get his way and does. You almost believe his grief in the last scene where is tormented by what he has done, but not quite, because his grief focuses back on how hard this is on him, and not what he has done to others

Shelton has been highly acclaimed both nationally and internationally as a having a rich high tenor which he uses with confidence, and with excellent diction, and this was certainly the case on opening night.

Grant Youngblood, a CCO favorite appearing for a fourth straight year here was the Consul, Sharpless. His is a great baritone voice that gave body to his role and his acting was truly believable as he found himself caught up in this dilemma that he had tried to stop in the first place.

Kudos go also to mezzo-soprano Mika Shigematsu who returned as Suzuki after her performance in that role in the 2005 CCO presentation. Suzuki is Butterfly’s faithful maid, friend, and companion. She is very real in her emotions throughout the evening and although she has a limited amount of singing, her voice is rich, very pleasing, and blends well with Butterfly.

But the night belongs to Madama Butterfly portrayed by nationally and internationally acclaimed soprano, Yunah Lee. Hers is a magnificent performance in which she matures before our eyes from a love struck fifteen year old through the three years after she is abandoned by Pinkerton (who returns to the U.S. and marries) into a woman, destitute, having lost her honor, and reason for living. In the end, with her father’s sword, Butterfly commits hari-kari rather than live without the love of her life and in dishonor, begging on the streets to provide for the beautiful son she dearly loves, born a Pinkerton after he leaves.

Ms. Lee is a soprano of amazing talent that allows compelling quiet and beautiful moments to sooth the soul but also to bring out in the concert listener the feeling of rage and despair that comes to the fore when betrayed. She pays close attention to detail in making her character real.

The patience of Madison Ana Anderle as Dolore, Butterfly’s son, really has to be noted.  It was a non-singing, non-speaking part in which there seemed to be perfect calm no matter how much cuddling and loud singing into the face there was. This was much to ask of a small child.

There were other commendable supporting roles that went into making this a very emotional and satisfying performance. Among these were Joseph Gaines as the Marriage Broker, and Nicholas Nelson as The Bong.

Matthew Halls returned as Conductor leading an excellent orchestra which initially at times from where we sitting seemed a little loud. In the first act the orchestra played loudly, which made the singers to have to sing a little louder to be heard. Lee and Shelton were equal to the task, but it was somewhat overwhelming. The balance in the 2^nd half of the opera seemed to be better.

The chorus has little to do in this opera, but it did it well. The famous “humming chorus” performed off stage was really beautiful. The chorus master this year is Andrew Altenbach.

Director Catherine Malfitano put together a drama that made the most of the passion of this opera. The interaction of the lovers was beautifully staged. On the other hand much use was made of having characters creep onto the stage, which got a little old. Good use was made of parasols, and the lighting of the central characters with the rest of the stage muted was good. Dany Lyne was responsible for both costume and set design. The set was very well contained in one house that showed the shoji screens of a typical home in Japan at the beginning, but for some reason or another disappeared to leave an open stage as the interior of the home.

In other productions, we do not remember ever seeing much of the American flag, but in this one, it was a bit overdone, draped obviously here and there, held up by Butterfly and Suzuki at one point near the end as a backdrop for her son to stand in front of, worn by her on occasion, and even draped over her and her son as she committed hari-kari. Perhaps a bit overdone without adding that much to the opera.

Overall, Madama Butterfly is a very dramatic and emotional success. A must see event! Next on the list of openings is Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach.

Gilpin County Commissioners Buddy Schmalz, Jeanne Nicholson and Forrest Whitman renewed the contract with Jefferson County Public Health, revisited the County’s zoning regulations, reviewed Colorado Department of Transportation’s plan to widen Highway 119, as well as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s mine reclamation work, plus several other issues for the good of the order at their June 29, 2010 meeting.

Silver Sneakers

Kathi Lambert of the Parks and Recreation Department was told to pursue bringing the Silver Sneakers program to Gilpin’s senior population, once the County’s attorney reviews the contractual requirements. Silver Sneakers is a fitness program for seniors, funded through individual insurance plans and Medicare. A reimbursement rate of $3 per visit means Gilpin County will receive up to $30 per month for each senior citizen who uses the Community Center, whether that’s for a fitness class, walking the track or trail or using the cardio and weight equipment (but not swimming). Healthways, the managing company, guarantees the County a minimum of $250 per month, until the program is self-sustaining (50 members), to cover the cost of two program instructors, regardless how many seniors visit. Another $250 is paid annually for equipment replacement and/or marketing the program. Equipment and music is provided by Healthways at no cost to the County. Healthways will also pay the County $200 per month for program administration. Bringing in the program could net the County additional annual revenue of at least $5,650. Commissioner Nicholson suggested that revenue, after paying any program costs, be put into a scholarship fund for seniors whose insurance doesn’t cover the program.

Parks and Recreation staff presented a new promotional DVD they’ve created for use at the Community Center.

Gilpin County/JeffCo Public Health

Commissioners, acting as the Board of Health, renewed the arrangement with Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) to provide community health and environmental health services to Gilpin County. Commissioners signed a contract good through June 30, 2011. Commissioner Schmalz said the JeffCo arrangement has worked very well, although there was “some uncertainty” when it started.

Ann Marie Bailey is employed by JCPH as Gilpin’s Public Health Coordinator. Gilpin County reimburses JCPH for Bailey’s salary and benefits plus 15% to cover administrative costs. Nurse home visits to high risk families and children with special needs are billed to Gilpin at the rate of $65 per hour. Bailey is charged with identifying priority public health problems and solutions, directing, monitoring and evaluating public health programs, investigating and controlling certain communicable diseases, policy and budget recommendations, reporting and more. Per the contract, Bailey maintains a Gilpin office (located in the Public Health building near the fairgrounds).

Craig Sanders, also employed by JCPH, has been handling Gilpin’s environmental health services (individual Sewage Disposal Systems, well tests, food establishment, child care facility, school, body art studio and swimming pool inspections plus administration, program and policy development, etc.). Gilpin pays JCPH at an hourly rate of $65 for environmental health services.

CSFS 2010 Grant

When Commissioners decided to fund the study and creation of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, one reason was that having a CWPP in place opened up grant funding opportunities. Now, Gilpin has been granted $48,466 from the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) for fire mitigation work around County facilities. The County must contribute matching cash plus an in-kind (office accommodations) valued at $7,920. County Manager Baker noted Commissioners had planned for that match in this year’s budget. Fire mitigation work will be done at the Justice Center/ Community Center complex, the Road and Bridge building, and the Library. These areas are considered Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas adjacent to critical need or otherwise highly valued facilities. Commissioner Nicholson commented the County had invested a lot of money for these structures and it would be irresponsible not to act to protect them. The work covers 52 acres and is to be completed by September 1, 2011. Some of the funding will be used to hire a half-time CWPP Implementation Coordinator. Most of the work will be done next year.

Zoning Revisions

Community Planner Ray Rears distributed a copy of the County’s current Zoning Code with proposed revisions to hearing notification procedures, circumstances in which Administrative Variance Fees will be reduced-or doubled; Use-by-Right for areas zoned Heavy Commercial and Use-by-Right for all zones regarding utilities and communications, and regarding changes to an established cemetery or grave yard; screening requirements when there are more than 4 operable and/or 1 inoperable vehicles in residentially zoned areas; definitions; light emissions; buffers and screens; wetlands setbacks; re-vegetation requirements; and exemptions from building fees for green-built, alternative energy and fire proofing/prevention utilizations in building. The code addressing the number of animals allowed was clarified and is broken out by the specific animal and acreage. Rears will hone some of the revisions and Commissioners will look at them again at a future meeting prior to approving them.

Superfund Site Update

Jim Lewis and Steve Laudeman told Commissioners their CDPHE project, with input from the Environmental Protection Agency, will soon address mining reclamation work in the Virginia Canyon area and along the main stem of North Clear Creek, plus a potential Chase Gulch project in Black Hawk. Waste rock is being removed from these areas and relocated at a repository site near Virginia Canyon (Pewabic Mountain). The project is being coordinated with the Highway 119 widening project that CDOT will do south of Black Hawk. Approximately 10,000 cubic yards of waste rock will be moved to the repository and then another estimated 10,000 cubic yards of fill rock from the Highway 119 construction area will be deposited on top. The proposed haul route bypasses Black Hawk and Central City by using Miners Mesa Road to Lake Gulch Road to Missouri Flats Road (or alternatively Virginia Canyon Road). It’s not yet known how many truck trips per day the project will require. The Virginia Canyon area will be dealt with this summer, followed by the North Clear Creek project in Summer 2011. The Chase Gulch project, if done, would likely occur in Fall 2010.

Highway 119 Project

Russell Cox and Kevin Brown updated Commissioners on their CDOT project, the widening of Highway 119 below Black Hawk. Blasting should start this fall, said Cox, with the main construction starting next spring. This project includes widening the highway to four lanes, curve straightening, creating a multi-use creekside trail, stabilizing and restoring the creek (with fish habitat) and addressing flood risks in the box canyon behind the sanitation facility. The project is being done in phases from the Forks of Creek area up to Black Hawk. The turn lane at Douglas Mountain will be addressed in this phase. A future phase includes, when funding is available, a wildlife bridge at the southern end. The entire project budget is estimated at $45 million. Eventually, the trail will also run the length of this stretch of 119 and will include historical markers with informational input from County Manager Baker.

Gasification Project

A proposed bio mass system at the Community Center, which would not only heat County facilities but provide electricity through a gasification process, has been put on the back burner by Commissioners, as “premature.” More information should be gathered, they said, before they consider the next step – a feasibility study for Gilpin’s location. The County is currently working on a performance contract study to determine a procedure that requires contractors to guarantee their end result will work in Gilpin. If it doesn’t they forfeit their pay. The gasification project is to be evaluated for that process as well.

DOLA Grant Applications

With the July 1 deadline looming for the 2010-2011 Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Gaming Impact Fund grant applications, Commissioners authorized Eagles Nest Child Care Center, Mountain Family Health Center and Jefferson Center for Mental Health as approved applicants, although they hadn’t yet seen the actual applications. They review and prioritize those at a later date but gave their authorization to enable the applicants to meet the deadline.

Connector Stop at Roy’s

At the request of County residents, Commissioner Whitman asked that a bus stop be considered at Roy’s Last Stop. Commissioners directed Baker to contact SRS, the contractor providing the bus service and see what they can do.

Budget Concerns

Commissioners, wanting to see just how Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 would impact the County, decided to review the budget with those revenue cuts in mind. If those measures pass, Commissioners will need to make enough cuts to get all the way through the year without using the Tax Anticipation Loan they have relied on in past years. Lobbyists, Colorado Counties, Incorporated (CCI), has requested Gilpin share the results with other counties.

Attorney’s Update

County Attorney Jim Petrock told Commissioners Sheriff Bruce Hartman’s challenge of sheriff candidate Jerry Yocom’s ballot certification had been denied by Judge Fred Rodgers last week.

A new complaint from Philip Wolf has been entered against the County and Petrock, personally, in United States District Court stemming from Commissioners 2008 denial of use of his land as a rock quarry. Petrock said he would be getting input from County Technical Services, Incorporated and that a request order would be filed with the court asking that Wolf be restricted from filing more such cases. Petrock said the number of times Wolf has sent paperwork for such cases to the County has numbered “well into the double digits,” although Wolf hasn’t followed through on all of them. Commissioner Schmalz said the cases had become a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Public Comment

A Central City resident volunteered her help in researching a legal or legislative solution regarding the ATV and dirt bike riders who fill the areas around Central City cemeteries with their parked trucks and trailers every weekend. She had pictures to show people camping there, too. She told Commissioners the matter couldn’t be ignored and if the laws are unclear about that area, it needs to be straightened out.

A mid-County resident told Commissioners there needs to be a cost efficiency study for all of the County’s departments as some departments are overstaffed and some are understaffed. She advised Commissioners that department managers are very subjective in reporting and the study should be done by an objective party. Make it a priority, she urged. She also recommended the County not fill vacated employee positions unless absolutely necessary.

Heads Up

There is no Gilpin County Commissioner meeting next week. Commissioners meet next on July 13, 2010.

Brass Bed Racing – one of America’s most unique events!

Some local residents didn’t even bother getting out of bed on Saturday, June 19th. The 36^th annual Madame Lou Bunch Day and Brass Bed Race hosted a few bed heads who “hit the sack” and raced, by bed, through the streets of Historic Central City.

After the 12 teams completed, the Bed Race and Costume Winners were announced at 5 pm. The “Money Off the Ceiling” party then commenced at Easy Street Casino’s Gold Coin Saloon from 5-8 pm where karaoke singing and bar top dancing entertained the guests.

Madams and Miners Ball continued the celebration at 8 pm across the street and upstairs at Doc

Holiday’s Casino. There were prizes for the best “Dandy Dan,” “Madame” and “Sporting House Girl” costumes, and they were eligible to win $50 for their category.

Free tours, rides, food, fun

In the archives of this newspaper the July 1, 1904 issue reports values of an ore shipment from the Hidee Mine in Lake Gulch district as 6 ounces gold, 9 ounces silver and 11% copper for a total valuation of $130 per ton. The mine had been in operation for eight years by then. The Hidee is still operating today. For the past 15 years it’s been under the ownership of Ed Lewandowski, President of the Hidee Gold Mining Company, producing gold now sold as nuggets or in vials for the tourist trade and collectors. Last Friday, Lewandowski and his crew hosted their sixth annual End-of-Spring Celebration, a community appreciation event with mine tours, surrey rides, music and food. “It’s all free,” Lewandowski repeated as he visited municipal and county meetings prior to the event, inviting all who were there to attend. Close to 300 people did just that, keeping Lewandowski’s crew busy from 4:00 to past 7:00 p.m.

Lewandowski’s sons, Ed and Gary, introduced folks to the Hidee (named for a dance hall girl, but misspelled) as they gathered at the portal. Inside, the temperature stays about 45 degrees Fahrenheit (year round) so jackets were advised. Many also donned hard hats, provided by the gold mining company.(The Hidee’s “back,” the ceiling, is generally high enough for easy walking, but the hard hats were greatly appreciated by those who encountered the occasional “brow,” a low spot that, even though warned of by the guides, still knocked a few unwary noggins.)

Inside the Hidee, tour guides Mark Greaves and John Northern led groups of 10-15 people through the tunnel, pointing out geologic features along the way, like the Dory Fault Line, and explaining mining processes. There were so many mines operating in Gilpin County at one time, that miners sometimes connected the different claims underground by tunneling from one seam to another. Just up hill from the Hidee, the remains of the Pittsburgh’s surface operations can still be seen. 135 feet underground, the workings are seen, inside the Hidee, as the Pittsburgh cross-cut. The tour culminates 700 feet in, where the Hidee claim intersects with the Fay. At that point, a vertical vein of gold traverses the wall and visitors are handed a single-jack (hammer) and drill (chisel) so they can chip out their own sample to take home. In addition to gold, ore from the Hidee may contain silver, gold-pyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, covalite and other trace minerals. Because the gold at the Hidee is pyritic, Lewandowski said not to disregard the “fool’s gold” there. It bears the real stuff, too. Hidee ore bears 3-7 ounces of gold, 6-12 ounces of silver and 10-16% copper per ton. The vein accessed on the tour is a particularly rich one, bearing up to 14 ounces gold per ton.

After touring the mine, visitors compared their ore samples, tracing thin yellow threads through golf-ball sized chunks of rock. Some tried their hand at panning in the Hidee Village sluice or took a surrey ride up to the Pittsburgh on the Clydesdale-powered Hidee Village Stage Line. A trio of musicians, known for the day as the “Hidee Miners,” played on the porch of Ma’s Eatery as folks strolled Main Street, watched the Legendary Ladies do-si-do or sat in the picnic area munching gourmet hotdogs, chips and cookies.

Those who missed this event don’t have to wait another year to see the Hidee. Individual and group tours have been offered since 1981 (720-548-0343 or www.HIDEEGOLDMINE.com). A generator powers electric lights and air circulation (supported by ventilation shafts) throughout the mine and the walking is easy. There’s never been a cave-in at the Hidee and the state inspects it for safety annually. The Hidee, located in an extremely rich gold-bearing region (locals dubbed it the “Richest Square Mile on Earth”) has been featured on television and the tour is recommended by the Colorado State Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety as a safe way to learn about 19^th century mining. Guides know their history, geology and mining and are enthusiastic information-sharers. Elevation for the Hidee Gold Mine is 8,600 feet. To reach it, take the Hidee Mine Road, located at mile marker 6.3 on the Central City Parkway.

Don’t bother getting out of bed on Saturday, June 19. The 36th annual Madame Lou Bunch Day and Brass Bed Race will host a few bed heads who will “hit the sack” and race, by bed, through the streets of Historic Central City.

- Music and Entertainment starts at 12 Noon

- Team Check-in at 1:15 p.m.

- Race Begins at 3 p.m.

-  Bed Race and Costume Winners announced at 5 pm

- “Money Off the Ceiling” party at the Gold Coin Saloon from 5-8 pm

- Madams and Miners Ball at 8 pm at the Central City Elk’s Lodge, 113 Main Street

Come up in your best “Dandy Dan,” “Madame” or “Sporting House Girl” costume, and you’ll be eligible to win $50 for your category.

Need a primer on the cast of characters? Grab your bowler hat, pocket watch and three-piece suit for dapper Dandy Dan. Don’t forget your feathers, peek-a-boo bustier and full skirt for the Sporting House Girl. And, let loose with the lace, satin and your best bustle for the Madame look.

Go to www.centralcity.com to find out more about registering your Brass Bed Race team.

64^th Annual Show opens

The gallery of the Gilpin County Arts Association (GCAA) is once again open for the summer.  Gallery Manager Sandy Early tallied more than a hundred guests at the June 5^th opening night celebration. This exhibit, the 64th annual, showcases the work of more than 80 individual artists with 198 pieces encompassing two-dimensional fine art (paintings/drawings in oil, watercolor, acrylic, color pencil, pastel, batik and mixed media); three-dimensional fine art/craft (fiber, glass, jewelry, raku, polymer clay, porcelain, acrylic on clay, marble, wood and metal); and photography. Prices of the exhibited works range from $45 into the thousands.

GCAA is a non-profit organization begun in 1947 with an exhibit of 35 paintings. A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into getting this show open every year. The gallery is housed in the historic Central City Hall/Washington Hall building on Eureka Street. The cool space of the old jail room entrance will be much appreciated by visitors on summer afternoons, but after being closed up all winter, it’s a cold job opening and cleaning the unheated building each May. Once that’s done, the artists begin bringing their work (and bringing their work, and bringing their work). The gallery fills with pieces in the process of being checked-in. Then come hours of arranging, hanging, placing; rearranging, re-hanging and replacing. Finally, the paintings and photographs have been dispersed, the muted woolens and bright silks hangered or draped, the clay and glass works pedestaled, the jewelry encased and, out in the pocket garden, GCAA has created live art in a scene of lush foliage, cheerful flowers and a sculpture fountain.

There are five rooms, 3,600 square feet, of unique display space. Most of it is on the second floor, the old Miner’s Court and in the area that was once a stable. The space has been opened up, revealing and incorporating the structure of the building for display purposes. The Sluice-Room, designed by Central City artist Angelo diBenedetto, has always surprised and delighted visitors with its water feature. This year another feature, uniquely diBenedetto, has been added. GCAA acquired the hand-crafted bronze-clad door of the artist’s studio (donated by the City of Arvada) and has mounted it at the room’s entrance as a permanent exhibit. Other than the building itself, diBenedetto’s door is GCAA’s most sizable example of form meeting function, but visitors will find objects both beautiful and useful throughout the gallery.

The competitive show was once limited to Colorado artists. Scrapbooks of photographs, clippings and other memorabilia, the “Memory Pages,” are on display (an alternative title might be, “Who’s Who: 50 Years of Colorado Artists”). They are an unbroken thread of history for GCAA, going back to 1948. The juried show remains highly competitive, but has been expanded to include works of the best and finest artists in the Rocky Mountain West (Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming).

GCAA funded awards for the 2010 show of $1,800, all generated from membership contributions, commission art sales, artists’ entry fees and gifts. Jurors Steve Sumner (Two Dimensional Fine art), Andy Cook (Photography) and Bebe Alexander (Three Dimensional Fine art), selected this year’s award winners. Best of Show ribbons were placed on Harv Mastalir’s “Woven Top Table,” Virginia Unseld’s “Aspen Shadows,” and Carol Walker’s “Black & White Stallion.” First, Second and Third Place awards were given in each category as were the Jurors’ Choice awards. Les Schowe’s engraved metal bracelet earned the Josephine Schwartz Award and the photograph entitled “Ground Fog & Hoarfrost” by Charlie Anderson won the Koropp Award.

In addition to the works on display, GCAA’s gift room offers hundreds of binworks and a treasure trove of hand-wrought jewelry, stained glass, silk scarves, ornaments for home and garden, custom cards and other unusual gift items for sale (like a silk silver-keeper reticule). Nearby are the works of Gilpin School students. GCAA exhibits several pieces from every grade level. The show runs through August 19^th. Gallery hours are noon to 6:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays (closed Mondays). On Opera nights, the gallery is open until 8:00 p.m. GCAA is also displaying works in the Terrace Room/VIP Room of the Teller House.

This year’s exhibit runs through August 14^th. Then the gallery will close for two weeks while a new show, the “Members Show” is prepared. That exhibit opens August 28^th and will remain open to October 1^st or the first snowfall. After that, GCAA staff would have to wear parkas to work, said Early, knowingly. Until then, however, the gallery will continue to draw visitors up from the metro area and even some return out-of-state shoppers. And, of course, savvy locals.

The grindstone sitting in the corner of the Coeur d’Alene shaft house doesn’t look dangerous, but the pedal operated sandstone wheel, or one like it, could be the implement of explosive destruction in 1940. A miner, sharpening a shovel, must have thought he was far enough away from the box of blasting caps being trimmed by mine superintendent (and Central City mayor) Charles Richards. He wasn’t. A spark alighted amidst the caps and Charles Richards was no more.

The Couer d’Alene mine, Central City’s “sentinel on the hill,” is once more open for tours. The structure, owned by the Gilpin Historical Society, has been used for storage for years. Around five months ago, Ed Lewandowski and his crew from the Hidee mine, began clearing, cleaning, repairing, reinforcing and finally, arranging mining artifacts and equipment so that folks can see for themselves the size, layout and inner workings of the structure atop the mine shaft..

“Heavy” describes just about everything at the Couer d/Alene. Outside are numerous massive pieces of iron equipment. The building itself is constructed of strong thick beams and timbers. Inside – more heavy massive pieces of equipment. The Couer d’Alene was designed for efficiency with the engine room, smith’s shop, furnace room and shaft all under one roof. Originally there was a high collar around the shaft, which drops into the dark belly of Academy Hill a full 700 feet. The gallows style head frame towers above it, the reason for the high roof. Volunteers shinnied to its top to run the cable over the wheel for the bailing bucket now on display, hanging above the grated shaft. The guide stands on the grate, directing the beam of his flashlight past his toes where it illuminates 75 feet of “new” timbers descending the shaft. Below that, it’s bedrock. The Couer d’Alene’s shaft was a double-wide – one side was the bucket-way and the other, the ladder-way. Imagine climbing the wooden rungs up from the Couer d’Alene’s six levels (tunnels were at 200, 400, 450, 550,600 and 700 feet). Guides explain the rhythm of the mine, with the huge Fairbnaks (someone goofed the mold) coal-fired steam engine that converted water, pumped from the mine, to the steam that ran the hoist. That was the elevator that lowered and raised the bailing and ore buckets-three men to an ore bucket or 1,000 pounds of ore. Near the engine, guides Jon Northern and Tom Haus pointed out the depth guide. A man stationed there would watch it as the bucket traversed the shaft. When the bucket needed to stop or resume moving, he rang the bell, signaling the bucket’s movement. A wrong or missed signal could cause the death of a miner below. The bell signals were so important that the same signals were used in every mine.

There were hazards above ground, too. If the steam engine exploded, and that was always a real risk, the hoist operator, engine man, and likely everyone in the shaft house, would be killed.  In later years, as mine operations became larger, the engine works were located in a separate building. Explosives were always kept outside the shaft house. The Couer d’ Alene’s magazine was an iron-doored dug-out one hundred feet from the shaft house. Miners at the Couer d’Alene reaped gold, silver, copper and lead. A tunnel at the 600 level accessed a body of ore ten feet wide. Production averaged two ounces gold per ton. The mine stopped ore production the same year Charles Richards was killed, 1940. Ownership passed to the Central City Opera House Association and then to the Gilpin Historical Society. Gaming impact funds restored the roof, which had caved in during a 1986 snow storm, and preserved the shaft house for today’s visitor. The rust red structure is a prominent sight as visitors drive into Central City. From the Couer d’ Alene, the sight of Central City and Gregory Gulch spread out below is a picturesque panorama that’s worth a visit all by itself.

On Saturday, that view looked down on a courtyard full of folks at the old Central City High School, located on East First High Street. It now houses the Gilpin Historical Museum, and numerous displays about the mining and commerce of days gone by. This year, the museum’s director, Dave Forsyth has added a special exhibit to include some of that commerce not discussed in high society; drinking, gambling and prostitution. He calls the exhibit, “The Sins of Gilpin County.” Forsyth has also added new items and displays throughout the museum-for example, a dress shop has “opened” this year in the Main Street exhibit. 2010 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Gilpin Historical Society. They hosted a well-attended full-blown barbecue on the lawn and dropped the museum entrance fee to 40 cents. The “panning” exhibit just outside the front entrance was especially popular, indicated by the excited whoops from children discovering shiny “nuggets.” Chuck Roberts, dressed in period costume, including a long-gun, rounded up the tourists from the streets below. They were greeted by more members dressed in period costume and the aroma of hamburgers and hot dogs hot off Chris Rogers’ grill.

All five of the Society’s Central City venues are now open for the season. In addition to the museum and Couer d”Alene, visitors can tour the Teller House, Opera House and Thomas House.