Estes Valley Voice Podcast

Story by Patti Brown

Nationally recognized grief institute gains former Estes Park Health Foundation president

evin Mullin has a new home at Judi’s House. The former president of the Estes Park Health Foundation, Mullin joined the researched-based grief institute in Aurora, as the director of philanthropy at the end of 2024.

Founded in 2002 by former Denver Bronco quarterback and Super Bowl XXXIII winner Brian Griese and his wife, Brook Griese, a clinical psychologist, Judi’s House provides comprehensive grief care to children and families.

The affiliated JAG Institute, named for Griese’s mother Judith Ann Griese who died from breast cancer when he was 12, is recognized nationally for its research and professional training programs for professionals centered on grief and trauma care. The organization also provides education to communities and schools about childhood bereavement.

Mullin says in today’s complicated world, children face the challenges of grief through the loss of parents, siblings, friends, and caretakers due to illness, accidents, suicides, and violence. Childhood bereavement is not well understood or addressed, and it can leave lifelong wounds.

Data from the National Institutes of Health has estimated that between April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 140,000 U.S. children—or one out of every 500 children—lost a primary or secondary caregiver due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model, created by the JAG Institute in cooperation with New York Life Foundation, projects that 6.3 million children in the United States will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. In Colorado, one in 14 children will experience the loss of a parent by the time they are 18.

The CBEM has identified that children in low-income groups are not only more likely to experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they reach adulthood, but they also have fewer social and financial resources to help them navigate through the difficulties of bereavement. The results can have an impact on health and well-being from childhood into adulthood.

As director of philanthropy, Mullin and his team of six are charged with development and donor relations for the non-profit organization which has more than $23 million in assets.

Judi’s House occupies a 26,470-square foot purpose-built facility that opened in August 2022. The building includes play, art and group therapy rooms, community education and workforce training space, and a backyard garden for outdoor therapy and gatherings. Since beginning more than two decades ago, the organization has provided grief-informed care to more than 14,000 children and families.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Lincoln Roch

Following a summer that saw destructive wildfires sweep through Larimer and Boulder Counties, Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, who represents the Estes Valley, is sponsoring a pair of bills that would address fire mitigation and emergency information.

One would make it easier to carry out prescribed burns on private land. The other would consolidate emergency information and county wildfire updates into an existing state website.

Both bills result from Marchman’s work on the Wildfire Matters Review Committee, a legislative panel that meets during the summer while the General Assembly is out of session.

Prescribed burns

SB 25-007 would create a cash fund in the state treasury for damage caused by prescribed burns. Additionally, it would allow “certified burners” from other states to transfer their certifications to Colorado. A certified burner is a person who has received training and certification by the state to carry out low complexity prescribed burns on private land.

Property owners would be eligible to receive money from the new fund if they submit a claim within 60 days of a prescribed burn that caused damage. They would need to provide proof of the damage and its cost. The burn that caused damage also needs to have followed all state regulatory requirements.

Colorado State Fire Chiefs executive director Ken Watkins, who is supporting the bill, explained that property damage from prescribed burns is relatively rare and when it does occur is usually minor. 

“If there is damaged property…most of the time what you might see is like fencing,” Watkins said. 

He sees both the cash fund and certification reciprocity as new tools in the toolbox for carrying out prescribed and controlled burning.

To receive certified burner reciprocity from state regulators, an individual would need to submit proof of valid certification from a state government to the state’s Division of Fire Control and Prevention. Those credentials would need to meet Colorado’s standards and requirements.

“We’re trying to reduce the red tape to make more immediate changes, to really take care of some of the fuel that we’ve got and to strike it down before we run into further wildfires,” Marchman said.

The bill does not affect Rocky Mountain National Park or other federal lands. Their wildland crews require federal certifications. Local property owners will still need to get permitted to carry out a prescribed burn. That is done through the Lairmer County Department of Health and Environment and Estes Valley Fire Protection District.

EVFPD chief Paul Capo says that the bill would help the district’s goals. Late last year, the district started a wildland mitigation program using funds from Ballot Issue 1A which Estes Park voters approved in April.

EVFPD hired a full-time wild land program manager and a wildland educator. The district is also planning to hire multiple full-time employees to work in the field on mitigation efforts. Currently, it is offering property owners a voluntary wildfire mitigation assessment. That service will then be expanded to include the option to have EVFPD crews perform mitigation work at no expense to the landowner.

“We’re going to provide that service through the 1A funds, and so then we can all just do that in-house,” Capo said.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Opportunities to step up and lean in on elected and appointed boards, and to get involved in the community

Special District elections — Self-nomination applications due by Feb. 28

While the saying “you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem” has been attributed to many people–Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick of the famous Riverside Church in New York City, Rep. Edna Fuller of Florida, and political activist Eldridge Cleaver–the saying is an invitation to become involved and serve your community.

There are several opportunities to step up and lean in, including standing for election this spring on one of five special district boards: Estes Park Sanitation Board, Estes Valley Fire Protection District, Estes Valley Recreation and Park District, Park Hospital District (dba EP Health), and Upper Thompson Sanitation District.

There are 17 open board seats on these five special district boards which are responsible for millions of dollars collected through a variety of ways including mill levy taxes, fees, and fines.

Read the Estes Valley Voice 2025 Special District Election Guide to learn more and to file a self-nomination form by Feb. 28 to run for one of the seats. The elections will be held on May 6.

However, if there are not enough candidates to stand for election, the elections will canceled and people are simply appointed to sit on the boards rather than being elected by the voters of the community.

Opening on the Estes Park Housing Authority Board

There is an opening on the Estes Park Housing Authority Board to complete a term expiring April 30, 2027. This is a volunteer position. As required by the Colorado Revised Statutes, this seat must be filled by an individual currently receiving benefits from the Housing Authority.

To learn more about the Housing Authority and to view meeting minutes, projects, and associated links, click here. Interested individuals are invited to submit an application along with a resume and cover letter by 5 p.m. March 3, 2025.

Openings on the Estes Park Education Foundation Board

The Estes Park Education Foundation is seeking individuals to join its board to serve as treasurer, allocations manager, and third-party grants manager. ​For more information and to apply, click here.

Openings on the League of Women Voters of Estes Park Board

The local League of Women Voters chapter is looking for four people to serve on the board in the positions of vice president, secretary, treasurer, and voter services director or co-directors. Interested individuals should email Kathy Long.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

By Mayor Gary Hall

I’ll continue my recent focus on local entities and partner institutions – my “local focal point.” National policy is in a state of great change and some of those may affect the Town and our critical partners. I’m working to stay attuned to those real or potential impacts; some will take time to settle, filter down, and understand. Others might be more immediate.

All in all, the Town Board and Town staff must continue to work to maintain our local services as best we can during these turbulent times.

The Park School District

I think the world of Superintendent Ruby Bode and her team. They are entrusted with our most precious human resource, our youthful students.

Ruby’s crew navigates challenging regulations and finances to provide guidance, education, opportunity, and fun to the ever-changing crop of kiddos. I am cheered to see how they nurture those budding brains with humanity and compassion. I recall the critical junctures in my life when I became aware of social issues and more. Many of those epiphanies started in my school years; the Estes kids are at some of those highly impressionable times.

These are the moments that, to a large degree, shape their comprehension of the world, their discoveries of self, and their directions in how they interact with future adult peers. I support the superintendent’s enlightened efforts, and those of her staff, to shape our children’s futures.

I have concerns about the shrinking student population due to the challenges of young families being able to afford living here. That drives me to support workforce housing projects and childcare causes.

Eagle Rock School

I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of the administrative staff members in January. That is an amazing and strong organization on the hill up there. Over 30+ years, they’ve had so many bright students pass through, kids who were looking for a different creative path in their pre-college education, and who found it at Eagle Rock. In fact, the administrators I met with were prior students, so it feeds itself.

Safeway 

We all know some of the dedicated, hardworking staff by name. Some have been there for a long time, serving our community. They need more of those dedicated, dependable workers. Send strong workforce members their way!

Most of the time, I find what I’m looking for at Safeway. In the aisles, I always meet a friend or three, including employees. Those dedicated staffers are key to the operation. We’re lucky to have a supermarket in town.  Before 1985 or so, we didn’t have one. I support them in spirit and commerce. There will always be the challenge of visitor surges versus inventory, but Manager Jared Allen and his team work to compensate.

I know that many folks supplement from Front Range stores if they can. Perhaps there will be additional stores in the future, or options for delivery from Front Range stores will become broad and affordable in the future as transport systems evolve. I’ll continue to encourage options.

I also enjoy stopping in The Country Market for the goods that they keep. Our Safeway supermarket is essential to Estes, and I will continue to be there. (The self-service line moves quickly even when long!)  

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Elisabeth Sherwin

The early history of Allenspark, Colo., has been preserved largely thanks to one woman: Edie DeWeese.

She was born into a pioneer Allenspark family who came to the area in 1904.

DeWeese, 74, says you could accuse her of embracing “impostor syndrome” since she is not a technically trained historian.

“But if you stay somewhere long enough you are the only one who remembers anything,” she says. “And I love the people.”

Her story begins with her great-grandparents.

“My great-grandparents, Frank V. Gay and Mary, came to Lyons and Allenspark and filed a mining claim,” she said. They were from Kansas and started coming to the mountains every year to escape seasonal hay fever.

The mining claim was unsuccessful but they liked the area and bought the northwest central plat in the village of Allenspark.

Frank’s daughter, Edith, married Andy Hansen and they had three children. Andy built the cabin two doors south of the Allenspark Community Church, which still stands today.

“My mother was the second of those three children, Mary Gay Hansen,” DeWeese said. Mary Hansen married Jack DeWeese. They had two daughters, Edie and Monica.

“I came to Allenspark for the first time in 1953 for a visit with my Hansen grandparents and I loved it,” she added.

Mary and Jack DeWeese decided to move year-round to Allenspark in January of 1956. The family lived in the unwinterized cabin that now has the address of 26 Washington St.

“It was colder than cold,” DeWeese remembered. She walked a block to school in Allenspark past piles of snow that towered over her. There were seven kids total in the school, which now is a private home.

But the family found that life in an unwinterized cabin was too hard, so they moved to Lyons and then to Boulder where her father had a jewelry store.

“We would still come up to the cabin a lot, on weekends,” she said.

DeWeese went to high school in Boulder and then attended CU Boulder for two years before marrying John Bell in 1970. The couple divorced in 1975. Those were her self-described hippie years.

In those days, hippies were not popular in Allenspark.

While both DeWeese’s mother and grandmother were members of The Hilltop Guild, a lady’s club, DeWeese was not made to feel welcome.

“The way I remember The Hilltop Guild situation in the early 70s is that the Guild ladies didn’t want any ‘hippies’ to join. My mother and grandmother had both been in the Guild since the beginning and many members knew me, so they might have given me a pass. Even so, I couldn’t take advantage of my ‘birthright’ status when other young women were being excluded.

“Since then, the Guild ladies have graciously invited me to join many times, and, while I’ve declined, I have volunteered in other ways to support them,” she said.

As an adult, DeWeese lived in another family cabin half-block from the original homestead. This cabin at 169 Second Ave. was built out of wood from the 1890s Allenspark school.

She made that her home from 1972 to 2005 during which time she drove to Boulder for her job at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“I was a technical editor. But I began as a clerk and over the course of 31 years I moved up to head of publications.”

That was where she learned to write and turn documents into publications.

On the job, she said, you don’t wait for the muse, you just write.

Her day job helped with her volunteer job at The Wind. The first edition was published in 1974.

“We had two electric typewriters and would put out The Wind in anyone’s kitchen we could find. I did typing, copy-editing, paste-up, everything.”

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Author talk, Habitat for Humanity presentation, snowshoeing and ice fishing, and social-memory café

“Conscious Living, Conscious Aging,” author talk at Good Sam’s Tuesday

Aging is not for sissies, and it is also more than being busy with bridge and golf. Retirement and aging are times of both challenges and opportunities. As our bodies age and as our roles in life change, we face significant bridges to cross. How do we leave a legacy and make what are often called the “golden years” meaningful?

Ft. Collins author Ron Pevny will talk about the 10th anniversary of his book, “Conscious Living, Conscious Aging” Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in the main dining room at Good Samaritan – Estes Park Village in Estes Park. The talk which is sponsored by Good Sams, Senior Helpers and the Estes Valley Voice, is free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and the author will sign copies. RSVPs are encouraged. Click here.

Habitat for Humanity not only builds affordable homes for people in need but the organization also partners with homeowners to assist with repairs when homeowners are financially or physically unable to make changes on their own? 

Representatives from Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley will speak at the Estes Park Senior Citizens Center on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at noon, 1760 Olympian Lane, about its Critical Home Repairs program and provide an overview of Habitat for Humanity’s mission, its history, and its work in Estes Park and St. Vrain Valley including current projects such as the construction of five homes on Raven Avenue in Estes Park.

The event is open to everyone. Attendees are welcome to have lunch while attending the presentation. Bring your own lunch or pre-purchase a hot meal. You must order your meal before 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10. The cost of a meal is $7 for EPSCC members and $12 for non-members. Membership is $35 per year and take advantage of lunch discounts and all of the great activities. For more information about the EPSCC or to order a meal for the presentation, call (970) 581-2195.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Patti Brown

After a family member made a report for a wellness check to local authorities on Jan. 21, the body of naturalist, author, and award-winning photographer Kent Dannen was found half a mile from his home on Big Owl Road in Allenspark by a search and rescue team on Jan. 23.

He was the author of more than a dozen hiking and outdoor books including several FalconGuides about hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dannen’s sister, Debbie Lanham says the exact cause of her brother’s death may never be known but he had recently had a fall and may have experienced another one while out on a hike, something he continued to do almost daily. Dannen was in good health, according to Lanham, but had not been heard from for five days, which prompted the request for help. He was 78.

Dannen grew up in St. Joseph, Mo. When he was a boy, his family vacationed yearly at the YMCA of the Rockies. “My dad’s dad was coming out here when it was still a teaching camp for Y staff,” said Lanham explaining the family’s history in the area. “So really it goes back a long way with the Y.”

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Barb Boyer Buck

This is the second in a series the Estes Valley Voice is publishing on the individuals who serve as Estes Park Town Trustees. The first featured Trustee Mark Igel.

“When you’re all done and you’re sitting on the back porch having a beer with friends, and they are talking about what I did during my term in office, what do I want them to say?” said Town of Estes Park Trustee Frank Lancaster in an interview on January 23.

He brings a wealth of professional experience to his perspectives and actions while serving on Town Board. For 18 years, he was the Larimer County manager, working with the staff and boards of each of the communities, including Estes Park. In 2012, he was hired as Town Administrator locally, retiring in 2019.

“I was approached by a couple people on the board to see if I would apply” to fill the seat vacated by the sudden death of Trustee Scott Webermeier in March 2023. Webermeier also served as mayor pro tem, a position currently held by Trustee Marie Cenac. 

“I had always said there’s no way I’d want to be an elected official,” said Lancaster. “I liked being on the staff side, the professional side. But they said they really wanted somebody who could hit the ground running.”  Lancaster was appointed to fill the seat held by Webermeier in May of 2023. In 2024, he ran for Town Board and was elected to a four-year term. He has no plans to run again in 2028.

“That’ll be five years on the board,” he said. That’s enough.”

Lancaster believes Town Board is a policy governing entity, not micro-managers for what Town staff were hired to do.  He is a senior advisor to the International City/County Management Association, working with boards all over the country. “It’s a mentorship role,” he said; one in which he has seen all kinds of boards, including dysfunctional ones, that get “caught in the weeds.”

“They would like to tell staff what to do, or tell them how to do it,” he said. “I don’t believe that’s appropriate; it doesn’t fit with policy governance (which is) based on a lot of research about what makes a high functioning board, which is what I want us to be.

 “Sometimes there’s this feeling that, well, if I’m elected, I must understand it all. … (but Trustees are) there to represent the people and set the policy in the overall direction, not the day-to-day stuff,” he said.

This subject was included in his book, “Navigating Rough Waters: Anecdotes, Quips, Quotes and Musings of a Local Government Manager. ” In it, he combines his past management experiences with that of working as a river rafting guide, which he did for a while after graduating from Colorado State University with a degree in horticulture.

Lancaster is a Colorado native and grew up in Wheatridge. After his time as a rafting guide, he worked as a Larimer County forester, running the weed district which led to a position in solid waste management for the county.

“In the mid-1980s, the landfill had problems,” he said. After 10 years in that position, Lancaster went on to get his MBA in public management before becoming the Larimer County Manager. Lancaster is also a CSU Master Gardener, providing advice about horticulture issues to local landowners and property managers.

Specific projects he would like to work on during his tenure as Trustee include moving the post office and revitalizing Cleve Street.

“There could be more quaint stores (along Cleve Street and in the space where the post office is now), more reasons to come up in the winter,” said Lancaster. He said the downtown corridor is a destination in itself, not just a way to get to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Another big priority is flood and fire mitigation; “the insurance issue is huge, he said. “what’s going to happen if we can’t get a gen

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Lincoln Roche and Patti Brown

Mother Nature provided a fresh blanket of fluffy white powder throughout the day Saturday for the inaugural Skijor event on the Estes Park Fairgrounds and Event Center campus. Temps dipped into the single digits as spectators dressed in parkas, winter boots, western hats, fur coats, and tried to keep warm while watching skiers, snowboarders, horses, and riders compete in the extreme sport known as skijoring. 

According to Running Wild Events organizer Kevin Benes, 9,000 people–including spectators, participants, staff, volunteers, and sponsors–braved the elements to be part of the new two-day event which offered competition tiers for participants in junior, novice, and professional categories.

To add even more color to the extraordinary event, Estes Park’s own Rooftop Rodeo Royalty Lily Finch participated in riding sponsor flags in the competition zone for an authentic Western flare.

Billed as the closest skijoring event to Colorado’s Front Range, athletes raced in 250 runs for more than $25,000 in prize money, a chance to wear an official Skijor jacket, and bragging rights. Official race results are posted on the organization’s website.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com

Story by Patti Brown

While the goal is not to be busy for the sake of being busy, there are a lot of things that offer engagement and an opportunity to lean in and contribute to our community.

Over the past week, I have attended an Indigenous Fashion Show, an instructional recital and ballet master class put on by AVID — Artistic Adventures in Dance –and the Estes Skijor event. This may be the “shoulder season,” and some businesses are taking a brief break, but the Estes Valley is not in hibernation mode.

This week I am having dinner with a group of Estes businesswomen to talk about what a quarterly networking organization might look like. The purpose would be to support each other and share lessons learned. Stay tuned.

My February calendar includes a One Book One Valley event this week with Elizabeth Letts, author of “The Ride of Her Life,” the First Friday Night Art Groove on Feb. 6 and the Wine and Chocolate Festival on Feb. 7.

The Estes Valley Voice is also sponsoring two events in February. One is an author talk with Ron Pevny of Ft. Collins on Tuesday Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in the dining room of the Good Samaritan Society – Estes Park Village. Pevny has just released the 10th anniversary edition of his book “Conscious Living, Conscious Aging.”

Estes is a unique community. Forty percent of our population is 60 and older. For the most part, we are a well-elderly community with many people who have chosen to move here during their retirement years because they are active and love the outdoors. The senior years are a time of more than just retirement. Pevny’s book is not about how to be busy with activities, but rather he offers insights into navigating the existential challenges and opportunities that this period demands.

The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, click here. The book is available at the Estes Valley library, it can be ordered from Macdonald Book Shop, and it will be available for sale at the event.

The Estes Valley Voice is also sponsoring a workshop on Colorado’s Open Records and Open Meeting Laws that will be held in the Town Hall boardroom on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. The presenter will be Jeffrey Roberts, the director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. This workshop is also free and open to all members of the public. To RSVP, please click here.

While the goal is not to be busy for the sake of being busy, there are a lot of things that offer engagement and an opportunity to lean in and contribute to our community.

This week we will be publishing a guide about the upcoming special district elections on May 6, and all the open board seats on these various boards.

Between the Estes Valley Fire Protection District Board, Park Hospital Board d/b/a Estes Park Health, the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District Board, the Estes Park Sanitation District, and the Upper Thompson Sanitation District there are 17 seats open on special district boards in our community.

Read full story here:

Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com