Laura Lucero

Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Celebrating women authors

September 7, 2024

By the staff at Covered Treasures

“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”—Toni Morrison

Dive into these novels by local and international women authors. Some are debut novels that make us look forward to more to come.

Killer Chardonnay (A Colorado Wine Mystery #1)

By Kate Lansing (Berkley Books) $10

Parker Valentine has always dreamed of opening her own winery in her hometown of Boulder, Colo. But she gets more than she bargained for when a food and wine critic unexpectedly shows up on opening day. A negative review could be fatal for her business, and not only does he seem to hate her chardonnay, he also collapses and dies shortly after drinking it. Soon her winery is at the center of a social media firestorm. With #killerchardonnay trending online, Parker’s business is in danger of closing, and she has no choice but to investigate the murder herself.

The Housemaid

By Freida McFadden (Grand Central Publishing) $13

Every day the housemaid cleans the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. She collects their daughter from school and cooks a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in her tiny room in the attic. The housemaid can imagine what it’s like to live their life and tries on one of the white dresses in the wife’s closet. The wife finds out, but by the time the housemaid realizes that the attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late. The Winchesters don’t know who the housemaid really is, or what she is capable of.

A Novel Love Story

By Ashley Poston (Berkley Books) $19

Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. She feels safe and at home in a book. Which might be why she’s so set on going to her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures. But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel. Somehow she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.

Tallgrass

By Sandra Dallas (St. Martin’s Griffin) $18

During World War II, a family finds life turned upside-down when the government opens a Japanese internment camp in their small Colorado town. After a young girl is murdered, all eyes (and suspicions) turn to the newcomers. Rennie Stroud has just turned 13 and, until this time, life has pretty much been what her father told her it should be: predictable and fair. But now Rennie will discover secrets that can destroy even the most sacred things. Part thriller, part historical novel, Tallgrass is a riveting exploration of the darkest—and best—parts of the human heart.

The Other Einstein

By Marie Benedict (Sourcebooks Landmark) $17

Marie Benedict’s The Other Einstein offers us a window into a brilliant, fascinating woman whose light was lost in Einstein’s enormous shadow. This novel resurrects Einstein’s wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated. Was she simply Einstein’s sounding board, an assistant performing complex mathematical equations? Or did she contribute something more? Marie Benedict illuminates one pioneering woman in STEM, returning her to the forefront of history’s most famous scientists.

Homecoming

By Kate Morton (Mariner Books) $20

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia. An epic story that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, how we protect the lies we tell, and what it means to come home.

Until next month, happy reading.

The staff at Covered Treasures can be reached at books@ocn.me.

September Library Events – Book club, Medicare information, LEGO program

September 7, 2024

By Harriet Halbig

Monumental Bookworms, an evening book club at the Monument Library, will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The September selection is West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. Monumental Bookworms is sponsored by the Tri-Lakes Friends of the Library.

Come to the library from 1 to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18 for a Medicare Open Enrollment Q-and-A program presented by the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging. The presenter is Barbara Sigmon, MBA, a case manager for the agency. Bring your questions to this interactive question and answer program. Registration is required at 719-488-2370 or online at ppld.org, programs by location.

On Friday, Sept. 20 the Monument Library will host Idea Lab: LEGO Build. Engineering your best LEGO creation, completing LEGO challenges, and producing LEGO art are only some of the possibilities of this open-ended program using PPLD’s LEGO resources. Join us for the fun! For ages 5 to 12.

Harriet Halbig may be reached at harriethalbig@ocn.me.

High Altitude Nature and Gardening (HANG) – Cut and come again crops to plant in September

September 7, 2024

By Janet Sellers

Kale will rise again.

For years I did not eat kale because I didn’t know anything about it, but after I tried it both as young plant leaves and full mature leaves, I decided it was one of my favorite vegetables ever, not to mention it has amazing health benefits. Packed with superfood amounts of vitamins, minerals and plant compounds, we can eat it (and our dogs might like it, too!) in salad, steamed, stir-fried, in green smoothies, and even baked as kale chips. Fair warning, kale chips are so yummy and easy to make (just oil lightly and toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes) you may need a couple of bunches to make a batch—they go down easy and disappear quickly. Potato chips seem heavy and dull by comparison.

At the Tri-Lakes Cares food garden, protected from deer by the tall fence, we left our kale plants to overwinter sort of by accident due to an early snow last fall, but they came back in great shape in April, and we got three crops from them by the end of June. We just cut the leaves from the lower parts of the plant and the plants kept growing till 5 or 6 feet high for all of them, offering a very long harvest. We did the same with the lettuce. Then we let the plants flower and go to seed. Lots of seeds fell and they’re regrowing now. We’ll have plants for this fall season and for next year. We plan to leave the newer plants to overwinter making strong roots. The plants will then come back and grow again for us in late spring next year. It’s also possible that we could have them last for a few seasons. Some people can keep their kale plants for three years or more as long as they’re cut back and the roots are protected over the winter. It seems to work very well.

Many leafy greens and plants can be simple “cut and come again” food crops in the garden or in pots. “Zombie” plants can regrow in soil, such as lettuces and similar foods sold with root ends intact including scallions, celery, kale, bok choy, chard, herbs, and more. Even onion roots will sprout tasty leaves. Many herbs thrive with careful pruning, and we can propagate or eat the cuttings. Broccoli will sprout side shoots after the first top harvest. Broccoli, kale, and the brassicas originated from mustard greens, carefully tended over the centuries and bred to enhance the plant for nutrition, locale, and so on. We used to grow these in our kitchen window in a baking pan for transplanting, but in winter we can just harvest from the windowsill when they get big enough.

Letting our locally growing plants go to seed in fall can offer some good seeds that are hardy for our area for the next year.

Janet Sellers is an avid “lazy gardener” using deep mulch to spare watering and keep out weeds in the Back to Eden garden scheme. Your garden tips are very welcome; please send them to JanetSellers@ocn.me.

Art Matters – Real local art made for real people

September 7, 2024

By Janet Sellers

Our Art Hop in Monument and the cultural Chautauqua in Palmer Lake this summer welcomed happy visitors from nearby and across the globe. These have become favorite local summer festivals, introducing local art and artists to an ever-widening public. Art welcomes all ages and people. It’s a cultural driving force for community and a magnet for interaction and creating relationships. It’s fun to see, fun to make, and a great pleasure to own.

Per Americans for the Arts: “Communities in which residents socialize with and trust each other have higher livability scores than communities with lower social trust, and the arts are a driver in building that trust. In addition, cultural participation leads to wider community participation and to increased volunteerism and increased tolerance—all of which are key to civic engagement. It also increases involvement in local issues and projects that promote community health.”

Live, creative experiences promote well-being. We have a need for creative times and connections. Daily, we are overwhelmed with deep fake AI, but genuine interaction is refreshing. We all use the search engines routinely and try to escape the advertising robo-calls. Still, I wondered if bots pose creative ideas. I put a question to the online robot about art events and it wrote, “Art events often serve as vibrant hubs for social interaction and community-building. Art has a unique way of breaking down barriers and creating shared experiences that help build a sense of community.” Not bad, but very bland, proving my point on vitality. I wondered if the bots could write poetry or songs and got hilarious rhymes: “In oil and acrylic, secrets softly seep, From shadows deep to light that dares to leap, In corners of the world, they hang, colors dance on canvas, hues and shades twang. …” Indeed, nothing compares to original poesy in the arts by creative people made for others to buy, enjoy, and cherish.

Our local community events will continue the rest of the year, but the last Art Hop is Friday, Sept. 27. Bring your friends and your enthusiasm and buy some real art from real artists for yourself, your workplace, or the upcoming gift season, too. Let the significance of originality and creative thinking inform your choices, and let the joy of looking be a continuing pleasure for years to come. Art is one of the things we have that can increase in value, always in heartfelt and personal memories, and sometimes as investments.

Janet Sellers is an artist, writer and speaker, with talks on art making, collecting, and creative strategies for artists, exhibits, and funding. Contact her for more: JanetSellers@ocn.me.

**Above:** The Art Hop on Friday, Aug. 23, welcomed guests at the art galleries, shops, eateries, and alfresco pop-ups around town. At his studio gallery, Jefferson Studios, local artist Daryl Muncey shares an art print made from his original painting. In his new art garden spot, Muncey showcases the work of guest artists. Photo by Janet Sellers.

**Above:** At Bella Art and Frame Gallery, the member artists exhibited their works indoors while the alfresco art fair artists shared their creative works with Art Hop visitors. Photo by Janet Sellers.

Jefferson Studios founder Daryl Muncey greeted art lovers at the August Art Hop. (32 sec)

August’s featured Art Hop artist, Tom Ulmer, displayed his nature photographs at Bella Art and Frame (28 sec)

Faery Grove offered face painting, hair tinsel and other activities during the August Art Hop. (41 sec)

Snapshots of Our Community

September 7, 2024

Youth Fire Camp, May 30-June 1
Kiwanis Peach Sale, Aug. 3
Chautauqua, July 29-Aug.4
National Night Out, Aug. 3
EV Chargers in Palmer Lake, Aug. 8
Rotary assembles “blessing bags”
Sue Walker retirement, Aug. 8
Sue Walker honored, Aug. 12
PL Pickleball Courts, Aug. 12
OCN reporter now naturalized American citizen
NASTaP Gathering, Aug. 16-18
Trinity Park welcomes all
Monu-Palooza, Sept. 1
Academy Jazz Ensemble, Aug. 23
Eagle Scout Project aids Trinity Park
WMMI Family Day, Aug. 24
Murphey at TLCA, Aug. 31

Youth Fire Camp, May 30-June 1

**Above:** High school students attending the second annual “Youth Camp” receive instruction at Monument Fire District’s Station 1 training room. Eleven high school students attended the camp May 30-June 1 to discover more about the type of work firefighters and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers carry out. Students were taught Stop the Bleed, CPR training, EMS skills and scenarios, forcible entry skills, vehicle extrication, and how to compete for a firefighter or EMS career position successfully. The camp is expected to continue annually for high school students with an interest in fire and EMS careers. The students and staff were grateful for the hospitality and lunch on the last day provided by Emergency Incident Support (EIS). Caption by Natalie Barszcz/Photo courtesy of Monument Fire District.

Kiwanis Peach Sale, Aug. 3

**Above:** For the second straight year, Monument Hill Kiwanis Club filled orders for more than 1,000 cases of hand-picked peaches on Aug. 3. The sales net the Kiwanis club about $10,000. The money funds grants to various groups in the Monument area. Fifty-two volunteers helped distribute the peaches in two-hour shifts. In the photo, Rick Schoenlein (face obscured), Chuck Leggiero, and Dean Snow manage to stuff three cases of peaches into the trunk of a BMW Z3. Photo by Bob Harrigan.

Chautauqua, July 29-Aug.4

**Above and below:** The local Chautauqua was revived in Palmer Lake for 2024 by the Palmer Lake Arts District. As a historic American cultural event, the weeklong cultural adventures included yoga and Feldenkrais classes, numerous historic cultural talks and walks, a guitar concert with Masa Ito, music with Ray DeMers and with the Tri-Lakes Brass ensemble, poetry readings by local poets, and kids’ paintings of the lake. Bagpiper Isaac Watkins led the “call for artists” from the bridge over the lake to the art pavilion to the all-day plein air painting contest. Michael Magrin (judge for the plein air art contest) led a cloud painting class that rounded out the art events courtesy of Palmer Lake Art Group. Photos include Watkins, a landscape scene of the crowd listening to the Tri-Lakes Brass, Jim Sawatzki sharing the Summer Sojourn at Palmer Lake Town Hall, Nicole Urbatchka leading yoga classes at the Village Green, and Magrin’s cloud painting class. Photos by Lynn Roth and Janet Sellers.

National Night Out, Aug. 3

**Above:** From left, El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Lt. W Grier and Sgt. J Darbyshire (standing) engage with a group of young attendees at the annual National Neighborhood Night Out event at the Little Train Park in Promontory Pointe on Aug. 3. The Promontory Pointe Homeowners Association board members hosted the annual picnic for about 120 guests to thank local first responders from Monument Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and Monument Fire Department for providing a safe neighborhood. Participants were treated to a live performance by singer/songwriter Nick Davey performing renditions of pop classics such as Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry, I’m Into Something Good by Herman’s Hermits, and a mashup of The Tide Is High made popular by Blondie with Stir It Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Sandwiches and cookies from Black Forest Café were served. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.

EV Chargers in Palmer Lake, Aug. 8

**Above and below:** On Aug. 8, the Town of Palmer Lake held a grand opening for a bank of two electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed by CORE Electric Cooperative, the town’s electricity provider. The chargers on town property south of County Line Road and east of Highway 105 are available to all EV drivers, but CORE customers get discounted prices. The Board of Trustees unanimously passed resolution 79-2023 authorizing a lease agreement with CORE. The ribbon cutting was attended by CORE Electric personnel and the Palmer Lake mayor, a trustee, and staff. Rob Osborn, CORE director of Business Development, and Rob Liechty, CORE member energy programs director, oversaw the installation. Osborn and Liechty said part of CORE’s mission was to serve smaller communities along the Front Range and support rural development. For more information, see https://ocn.me/v23n12.htm#plbot. From left are Town Administrator Dawn Collins, Liechty, Mayor Glant Havenar, Osborn, Trustee Shana Ball, and staff. Photos by Jackie Burhans.

Rotary assembles “blessing bags”

**Above:** On Aug. 15, members of the Tri-Lakes Dynamic Rotary Club assembled “blessing bags” for children filled with water, snacks, socks, and stuffed animals, which the Monument police will distribute to those in need. For more information, visit www.TLRotary.com. From left are Alisha Baty, Officer Kelly Fisher, Laurie Beasley, Christy Smith, Sloan Fisher-Goodwin, Nicole Schoolsky, Jonathan Bradley, and Shannon Schur. Photo by John Small.

Sue Walker retirement, Aug. 8

**Above and below:** An emotional Sue Walker said goodbye to Silver Key Senior Center at an Aug. 8 retirement party attended by an overflow crowd of more than 50 people. Walker, 61, has been director of the senior center for nine years. She told the crowd, “You guys are like my family.” Walker continued, “It’s a big adventure for me. It’s sad, but yet it’s happy.” She says she’ll especially miss volunteer Sandi Watson-Staggs, who she described as “a sister from another mister.” Walker plans on a “busy” retirement. She wants to travel, help her husband Jeff with his web development business and spend more time with their two daughters. Adrienne Timmons has been named interim director. Photos by Michael Weinfeld.

Sue Walker told seniors that they should take care of each other. (18 sec)

Sandi Watson-Staggs introduced Sue Walker, who said Sandi was her best friend at the senior center. (39 sec)

Sue Walker told the seniors that she’d miss them. (8 sec)

Sue Walker honored, Aug. 12

**Above:** During the Aug.12 recognition and farewell to Silver Alliance’s Program Manager Sue Walker, she shared a hearty laugh with her audience upon receiving Silver Key’s Gold Spoon Award from Silver Key Foundation Board President and CEO Jason DeaBueno. Walker was hired in 2013 by Tri-Lakes Silver Alliance to develop activities and events for the Tri-Lakes Senior Center. She inherited a program that was not much more than a once-a-week bingo and potluck luncheon run by local seniors themselves with about 25 attendees. She started adding regular exercise events, then informational presentations. Health and crafts programs followed. Soon she had a full calendar of activities spanning every day of the week with many being free events. She produced a monthly newsletter and with the help of her husband increased publicity through a dedicated website and published notices in the local papers. Although hired and paid as a part-time employee, it was rare when she was not found at the Senior Center promoting the many available classes and encouraging seniors to engage and socialize. Her enthusiasm for the program from the beginning was contagious, which accounted for the ten-fold increase in regular attendance during her tenure. Walker filled a key role in accomplishing a successful and seamless transition of the Senior Center from Silver Alliance to Silver Key in 2022. Now the Silver Key Senior Center, it is located in downtown Monument in the former Grace Best Elementary School, at the corner of First and Jefferson Streets, across from St. Peter Catholic Church. For more information, visit www.silverkey.org/trilakes/. Photo by Allen Alchian.

PL Pickleball Courts, Aug. 12

**Above:** On Aug. 12, workers were placing fencing around the Palmer Lake Pickleball courts located adjacent to the lake. Photo by David Futey.

OCN reporter now naturalized American citizen

By Lisa Hatfield

Helen Walklett has been reporting for Our Community News since early 2017. She emigrated to the United States with her husband and two daughters from the United Kingdom in 2016. In her prior life, she was an elected member of Rothbury Parish Council in Northumberland, the northern-most county of England, so she already understood the workings of local government. This made her a perfect candidate to report on the El Paso Board of County Commissioners meetings when she volunteered with OCN.

The Walklett family submitted the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form N-400 Application for Naturalization in March 2024 after holding “green cards” for the required five years, and then all separately took the citizenship test as part of an immigration interview in July. When USCIS granted approval, Walklett and her family received their notice to take the Oath of Allegiance, which happened on Aug. 14. They turned in their permanent resident cards and recited this oath:

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Lisa Hatfield can be reached at lisahatfield@ocn.me.