Estes Valley Voice Podcast

Story by Heidi Bigler Cole

TWA Pilot Tom Maher noticed something unusual when he arrived at Heathrow Airport in London. It was 1965. Throngs of young women were crowded into the airport parking lot, looking toward the tarmac.

“What’s going on around here?” Maher asked.

“You’re taking the Beatles to New York today,” local airport staff told him.

Maher was about four months into his 31-year TWA career when he met the Beatles.  He had just resigned his Air Force commission to be closer to home and his three young daughters.

The Beatles were in first class and Maher had an in-flight visit with them.

“The two things I remember specifically were that they watched the movie with sunglasses on and they played with the kiddy games.” The kiddy games were puzzles and sticker books normally given to children.

The flight attendants retrieved the Beatles’ silverware, which they later distributed among the flight crew. As part of his Beatles adventure, he received a photo of band members exiting the plane. All four musicians autographed the photo that he later gave to Thorsness’ teenaged daughter, Dawn, who was part of the Beatlemania crowd. She still has the picture.

That group of celebrities who caught the attention of a young generation was only one of many famous personalities he met and ferried about the world during his second piloting career. He said two stand out in his mind: “highly intelligent” Jill St. John, and Julia Child.

“I had probably the most (flying) hours of anybody” flying TWA at that time, he surmised. That’s because prior to becoming a commercial pilot, Maher was an Air Force test pilot with about 1500 hours in the cockpit. When he retired, he had about 27,000 hours.

As test pilot, he flew the F-105 Thunderchief and the F-100 Super Sabre, which was the first plane capable of supersonic speed.

“Six weeks before I was due to get out, I had to eject from the [Thunder] chief jet,” he said. Ejecting was his only choice, as the plane was on fire. “It was a multi-million-dollar aircraft. People weren’t impressed, but it came out all right,” he recalled.

Shortly after Maher resigned his Air Force commission, his old unit was deployed to the Vietnam War. His best friend and commander, Major Leo Thorsness, was shot down and spent nearly six years in prison at the Hanoi Hilton, a prisoner of war (POW) camp. The future Sen. John McCain was his cellmate.

Thorsness, who also made it back to the U.S. from the infamous prison camp, was one of the first two Air Force airmen to receive the Medal of Honor.

Maher had wanted to re-enlist, but pilots coming back from the war discouraged him.

“They won’t let us fight to win,” the returning pilots told him. They said the war was political and that Maher’s contribution would “run up statistics” those friends told him. Several of Maher’s pilot compatriots were shot down and/or died in the war. Maher says that Congress and the President weren’t paying attention to the POWs. That led him to work with lobbyists to make POW freedom a presidential priority.

Maher thoroughly enjoyed his life as a commercial pilot. His family moved to Estes Park in 1967.  For 29 years, he commuted from Estes Park to New York City, where his flights originated.

Since becoming fully retired from flying–TWA followed national safety standards and demanded Maher step away from the captain’s chair when he turned 60–Maher has been fully entrenched in Estes Park’s community life. 

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Story by Elisabeth Sherwin

Colorado is known for many things. Unfortunately drinking is one of them. The state’s per capita alcohol consumption is higher than the national average.

The national average is 536 drinks per person per year. Colorado beat that in 2023 with 645 drinks per person per year, according to the State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup.

Fortunately, many residents also seek treatment, with 40- to 59-year-olds being the largest age group looking for help.

Terry Rustin, a psychiatrist and internist who specializes in addiction and behavioral medicine, has had experience treating senior problem drinkers. Rustin makes his home in both Estes Park and Texas and is a staff psychiatrist at La Hacienda Treatment Center in Hunt, Texas.

According to Rustin, about 12 percent of people who drink alcohol develop a dependency on it. They tend to fall into one of two groups. One group is young, mostly male, associated with anti-social and risky behavior.

“The other group develops a problem after many years of drinking in control,” he said.

“Those in this group are older than 40, equally male and female, avoid risk, have had successful careers and relationships, and obey the rules of society,” he added.

When those in the older group finally ask for help, their friends and family often cannot believe it. They did not see it coming. Addictive disorders in older drinkers worsen slowly and gradually, so that it can be many years before they get help.

Rustin says a typical history from an older person follows this pattern:

First, they tried alcohol and a few drugs in their teens and twenties, but never had a problem. Next, they settled down, raised a family, had a successful career, had friends, hobbies, and interests. After some thirty years or more, they retired and had too much time on their hands. Drinking increased, they became more isolated, stopped participating in clubs, church, and other activities. Finally, after some incidents, someone they trusted told them they were drinking too much. At first they resisted, but eventually agreed that they needed help and went into treatment.

That four-step drinking history mirrors the experience of Joe P., 64, an alcoholic now in recovery.

“Some people start drinking after they retire,” said Joe. “That’s what I did. I’m a poster child for that statement.

“You go from 1,000 miles per hour working to zero miles per hour,” he said. It’s a hard adjustment.

Joe retired at age 48 and moved to Estes Park, a town where the median age is 60, more than 1.5 times the median age in Colorado as a whole.

“I had aches and pains and I was depressed. So I crawled into a bottle. I’ve seen it happen and I think it’s a lot more common than people are willing to admit.”

Eventually, Joe came to the realization that he needed help.

“I knew I needed help but I didn’t know where to go. I was ashamed.”

Fortunately, recovery programs abound. Joe was able to find help and he recently celebrated five years of sobriety.

“I sleep well, I have energy, I feel like a million bucks. I used to take 27 pills a day. Now I take one,” he said.

His take-home message is simple: “If you think you have a problem, you have a problem. Get help before it is too late because the world is a beautiful place.”

Rustin says the treatment of older adults with addiction disorders is not substantially different from treating younger people, with the exception that older adults tend to be more willing, more engaged, and more motivated.

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Story by Barb Boyer Buck

Over the last year as America prepared to elect a new president, immigration was one of the most talked about political issues, including heated rhetoric about deporting those who are in the country without legal authorization.

On Oct. 30, a week before the election, during a campaign rally in Rocky Mount, N.C., Donald Trump promised that “on day one,” he would “launch the largest deportation program in American history.” He went on to say he would ban all “sanctuary cities.”

Although the word sanctuary never appeared in the bill, in 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed HB19-1124 which protects individuals from being arrested or detaining solely on the basis of their immigration status. Additionally, the law prohibits law enforcement or any other authority from providing an individual’s immigration status to federal officials. Colorado is one of 11 states identified by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and one of 13 states identified by the Center for Immigration Studies as a sanctuary state.

With the inauguration just two weeks away, Trump’s campaign threat has many people worried.

Immigrants make up 14% of the U.S. population, or roughly 46 million people out of a total of almost 335 million people. This includes about 11 million people who are undocumented, about 50% of whom have entered the country legally, but have overstayed their visa. The other half entered without authorization.

Together, immigrants and their U.S.-born children make up more than a quarter of U.S. inhabitants. According to the American Immigration Council, in 2022 there were 160,000 undocumented persons in Colorado, 70% of whom have lived in the state for 10 or more years. More than five million citizen children live with undocumented parents in the United States, 72,000 in Colorado alone.

The journey to citizenship

Becoming a U.S. citizen is an arduous process that can take years, first to be given the opportunity to immigrate, and then to go through the application process which includes a citizenship test.

Those wishing to become a U.S. citizen need to know how many voting members make up the House of Representatives, list the three branches of the government, and name the 13 original states.

They need to be able to recite information about major wars the United States has engaged in, what century the wars took place, and which president was in office during these wars.

They need to know what the stars and the stripes represent on the American flag, why the Colonists fought the British, and the name of at least one of the more than 20 American Indian tribes still living in the United States today.

The answers to up to 100 questions need to be studied and recited in English during the civics test to become an American citizen.

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Story by Patti Brown

Looking back and looking forward

This week we touched the six-month milestone since the launch of the Estes Valley Voice. We are grateful to our readers, subscribers, sponsors, and advertisers. Thank you all and thank you the generous contributors who helped us not just to reach our goal but to exceed it for a 50-50 match through ColoradoGives.

Thank you to the Colorado Media Project and Colorado News Collaborative for serving as our fiscal sponsor. We will receive a grant of $11,294 from this campaign. As a news startup that runs on a shoestring budget, this funding will go a long way toward paying our writers and keeping the lights on.

None of our stories are behind a paywall because we believe that people should have access to the news, but we depend on the support of paid subscribers, sponsors, and advertisers to keep the doors open. And we deeply appreciate the support of people who believe in the value of local community journalism. Thank you.

Over the past six months, so many people have reached out to say, “keep doing what you’re doing!” What we’re doing is reporting the news.

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Story by Hank Lacey

A Larimer County judge ruled Monday that the Estes Valley Fire Protection District violated the state’s open meetings law when it hired chief Paul Capo during an October executive session.

The decision is a win for the Estes Valley Voice and its editor, Patti Brown, in a lawsuit filed to challenge EVFPD’s secretive process for hiring its new day-to-day leader. 

“[W]hile they avoided taking a formal vote or ranking all the candidates, it’s clear that after discussing each of the candidates and weighing their strengths and weaknesses, the board members agreed that the Fire District should offer the fire chief position to Mr. Capo” during executive session, wrote District Judge Juan Villaseñor.

The EVFPD governing board violated Colorado’s Sunshine Law, he said, “because it adopted a position or took formal action during that executive session.”

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Story by Elisabeth Sherwin

“I am a story-teller,” said Kevin Wolf, 73, in a recent interview.

Wolf also is a published author of a half-dozen books, the most recent of which is “Trailridge,” a mystery/adventure set in Rocky Mountain National Park.

In it he introduces Guy Hogan who will be a recurring character in future stories. In Hogan’s debut novel, he solves a crime involving poaching, the Lawn Lake Flood of 1982, a beautiful blonde, and a red Corvette.

In truth, Wolf says, poaching is not a big problem today in RMNP but it has been in the past in other national parks.

Wolf and his wife Nancy had been coming to Estes Park from their home in Littleton for many years before they decided to move here permanently in 2018.

He is a fly-fisherman and hunter who also coaches basketball at Estes Park High School. He is also 6-foot-5 and supports the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

He is a disciplined writer. His routine begins on Monday nights when he facilitates a Zoom group called Writers on the Brink. There he reads the 2,000 words he put on paper over the previous week. Then the process starts over again.

Wolf’s career before writing was sales. He graduated from Cedarville University, a Baptist school in Ohio, with a major in business and sales and sold manufacturing equipment and industrial storage. He had to travel for the job.

One day in 2001, he was sitting in the Detroit airport waiting for a flight. He had nothing to read and nothing in the bookstore caught his attention.

“I opened my laptop and started writing a book,” he said. “It wasn’t a very good book.”

But the writing bug bit him, hard.

“I took adult education courses, found the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, attended conferences, and got serious about writing.”

And good things started happening.

 “I signed with an agent and won the 2015 Tony Hillerman Award for new mystery writers for ‘The Homeplace’,” he said. “I thought I was on my way.”

But the publishing world is a very cruel place. And technology has turned publishing upside down.

“When I first started writing, self-publishing was anathema, but technology has changed the industry. My agent encouraged me to self-publish,” Wolf said.

And it seems like everyone is self-publishing.

Wolf, now the vice president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, said Amazon carries something like 12 million book titles with more being added every day. Macdonald Book Shop in Estes Park carries 8,000 titles.

Competition is fierce.

“It’s a brutal world,” he said. But he keeps at it. His second Guy Hogan mystery will be published soon and the sequel to “The Homeplace” also will be released.

He plans to offer a class at the Estes Valley Community Center possibly in April called “So you you thought you could write a novel.”

And he is working on a short story close to his heart. Members of his family were early homesteaders in eastern Colorado in 1910. The land and an abandoned two-story home are still in the family today.

Wolf and his nephew went hunting there in October.

“In Estes Park, the mountains shout at you. There, it’s a different kind of beauty with rolling hills and prairie that whispers.”

His short story is going to meld family tradition and connection to the land.

In the meantime, he is going to keep writing.

“It’s easy not to write. But my Monday night group gives me accountability.

“And I still have a dream. Maybe one of my books will be used as the basis for a screenplay some day.”

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Story by Hank Lacey

The human-wildlife interface is one of the many challenges threatening the state’s big cat population.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife unveiled in November the results of a multi-year study on Western Slope mountain lions, showing robust population densities, while the agency’s governing body also adopted a ten-year management plan for mountain lions on the East Slope.

The density study’s results followed last month’s rejection of a ballot initiative that would have banned trophy hunting of cougars with dog teams. And the East Slope strategy largely duplicates CPW’s techniques employed on the Western Slope for the past several years.

Both the East Slope Mountain Lion Management Plan and its Western Slope cousin, finalized in 2020, will continue to allow human killing of the predatory big cats. During the most recent year for which CPW has provided data, human hunters killed 265 male cougars and 235 female cougars.

Mountain lions, also known as catamounts, cougars, or pumas, are apex predators, which mean they sit at the top of their ecosystem’s food chain. By preying on herbivores such as deer and elk, cougars prevent overgrazing and promote vegetation recovery, which in turn supports a wide range of wildlife. Research has shown that regions with healthy predator populations often exhibit greater biodiversity, as apex predators indirectly shape their ecosystems through a phenomenon known as trophic cascades.

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The Barrel owner Ingrid Bush sheds light on building a successful business

Story by Dawn Wilson

On a windy, late fall afternoon, Mike, the bar manager at The Barrel, places a cinnamon stick on the handle of a red mug and pours a hot beverage into the cup. Steam drifts off the golden liquid of hot whisky with a hint of honey and lemon. A hot toddy, one of the winter specials at The Barrel, is the ideal drink for warming up after a day on the trails in the notorious winds of Estes Valley.

Two patrons sit at the bar inside The Barrel, chatting with Mike about their morning adventures. In a quiet corner along one of the iconic Bavarian beer garden benches, owner Ingrid Bush shares her insight into how she arrived at this point on her path to business ownership. Bush admits that the path included bumps along the way that caused her to pause and evaluate the right business direction.

In September, Bush received the $5,000 Ready, Set, Grow Grant from two other successful businesswomen in Estes Park, Harriett Woodard of Bank of Colorado and Julie Abel, realtor and owner with Signature Home Team. The goal of the grant is to empower women of Estes Valley to succeed in their business endeavors, and Bush recognized the value of the money to heighten the presence of her bar.

“I heard about the grant from the Chamber newsletter and a Chamber member,” said Bush. “Because of where we’re located, I now have two new neighbors. So, we are getting new signage because our signage is very dark, even though we have a light on it. You really can’t see the sign so I’m going to get a new sign from Kent Smith.”

Bush’s plan involves installing two new signs on the building, which includes an outside container bar and an indoor Bavarian-style beer garden and hall. One of the signs will replace the sign over the main entrance on Moraine Avenue. The second sign will be added to the north facing wall to bring attention to the business from that direction.

The construction for The Loop the last two years and a move in 2018 to their current location at 251 Moraine Avenue also impacted the bottom line of the business.

Bush talked about lessons learned as a result of the challenges put in front of her the last few years.

“Going through the move from downtown to this location, it taught me how much stronger a person I am,” said Bush. “There are a lot of hoops of fire that I had to go flying through and put out on a daily basis. Working with this construction person and that contractor, and getting everybody on the same page, it all taught me how much more I can actually do than I had previously thought.”

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Light pollution from outdoor, artificial light has been shown to take a toll on humans, wildlife, and ecosystems

Story by Suzy Blackhurst

Clearly seeing the Milky Way and other stars and protecting ecosystems that rely on the day-night cycle are just two of the named benefits of becoming a certified Dark Sky International Community, according to Dana Paiement, senior destination development manager at Visit Estes Park.

The certification also will be beneficial for promoting visitation to Estes Park, she told town board trustees during last week’s board study session.

“Not only does it help protect wildlife, it enhances astronomy, promotes health and improves safety, but it boosts local sustainable tourism,” Paiement told the board. The International DarkSky Place certification is supported by the Colorado Tourism Office through the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

“Certification is awarded to communities that actively work to reduce their light pollution, protect their night sky quality, and educate residents about the importance of dark skies, essentially signifying a commitment to preserving a naturally dark environment for astronomy and wildlife observation.” Paiement explained. Certification is awarded through DarkSky International, an organization working to promote dark skies throughout the world.

Paiement said she hoped her presentation to the board would lead to town support in passing a lighting management plan ordinance in the future. VEP already has completed a portion of the requirements, including having convened a coalition for the stars, conducted two DarkSky measurement events during the past year, engaged the community with Dark Sky education and outreach, obtained letters of support from the community and drafted the lighting management plan and ordinances.

Community outreach programs have included Rocky Mountain National Park’s hosting the 2024 Astronomy Festival, night sky and astronomy programs in the national park, at the YMCA of the Rockies and the Estes Park Observatory. In addition, Rocky Mountain Conservancy has secured funding for an intern to complete a lighting inventory of the national park.

Should Estes Park receive certification, it would join six other Colorado communities who already have received certification: Crestone, Norwood, Nucla/Naturita, Ridgeway, Westcliffe/Silver Cliff and Paonia. Others seeking certification include Bayfield, Grand Lake, Rangely, Silverton, and the Western Slope DarkSky Association.

While town board members appeared to generally agree with the concept, they also were somewhat skeptical about how the program would affect individuals and businesses.

“You trigger that keyword — draft ordinances – it gets a lot of people’s attention,” said trustee Mark Igel. “So to be a dark sky community, what would people anticipate? Does it change the fixture? Does it mean reoutfitting your house, your business? Before I say, sure, talk to the town staff to craft ordinances, I’d like to know,” Igel said.

While being supportive of the concept, trustee Frank Lancaster cautioned VEP about being mindful of truth in advertising.

“I think it’s something we should be doing, and we should be aggressive about it, and I do think our (municipal) codes are a lot better than people may think, Lancaster said. However, “I don’t want people coming here and leaving being disappointed because we told them one thing and they got here and they found something else in looking at the stuff from “Smithsonian (magazine).”

“Keep the discussions going,” said Mayor Gary Hall when providing direction to work with town staff on further details. “There will be a lot of development of detail and a lot of the questions out there as we get into looking at potential ordinances, whatever shape that is.”

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Candidates interested in standing for election on one of five area boards can submit their name from Jan. 26 through Feb. 20

Story by Suzy Blackhurst

On Jan. 26, just six short weeks from now, people interested in serving on one of five special taxing districts in the Estes Valley can get an early jump on other candidates. Procrastinators have until Feb. 20 for their name to be printed on a ballot for the elections which will be held May 6, 2025.

Operating as Estes Park Health, the Park Hospital District may be the first such special district to set parameters for spring elections. During its meeting on Dec. 11, the EPH board voted unanimously to pay $34,309 to Circuit Rider of Colorado, a Littleton firm, for organizing and managing its election for two positions.

David Batey, chair of the EPH board, is term limited and ineligible to again seek a seat on the board. Batey first was elected to the board in 2018, and again in 2022. Drew Webb’s current term expires in 2025. At this point he has made no public declaration about his plan for the future.

Other special taxing districts that will hold elections in May include Upper Thompson Sanitation District, Estes Park Sanitation District, Estes Valley fire Protection District, and the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District. By state law, all special districts are required to adhere to the same guidelines and election-related dates.

Each district can determine whether to conduct its election in person or by mail. EPH board members agreed their election would be conducted by mail.

Candidates for special district offices are not required to collect signatures before seeking a seat on the various boards as they are in municipal elections. Self-nomination forms will be made available from Jan. 1 through Feb. 20 either by contacting Circuit Rider or Rachel Ryan, executive assistant at EPH. Ryan has been named the deputy designated election official for the election. Forms can be filed from Jan. 26 through Feb. 20.

According to state law, if there are not more candidates than the number of offices to be filled by March 4, including those candidates who file affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates, “the designated election official if instructed by resolution of the governing body, shall cancel the election and declare the candidates elected.”

In addition to Park Hospital District, positions on the Upper Thompson Sanitation board of directors held by Chris Eshelman, Stan Gengler, Kent Bosch, and Mike Morton expire in 2025.

Estes Park Sanitation District board positions currently held by Jennifer Waters, Todd Plummer and Frederick Houser expire in 2025 as does every position on the Estes Valley Fire Protection District. Those spots currently are filled by Chris Buser, Mike Lewelling, Ryan Bross, Brian Tseng, and David Hamrick.

Three seats on the Estes Valley Park and Recreation District board of directors held by Scott Dorman, Dan Dorman, and Michael Fallon expire in 2025.

Elections for directors of the Estes Park School District will take place Nov. 4, 2025. School board seats currently held by Stacy Ferree, Ava Kendell and John Davis will be up for election.

Information about Special District Elections is available on the Colorado Department of Local Affairs Division of Local Government website.

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