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Volunteers reporting on community issues in Monument, Palmer Lake, and the surrounding Tri-Lakes area

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Snapshots of Our Community

D38 at the state capitol

Above: On March 1, a delegation of community members, parents, educators, board members, and the administrators from D38 took a trip to the state capitol to meet with state legislators and attend both House and Senate sessions. The trip was arranged by district lobbyist Amy Attwood and gave the district a chance to forge relationships and make the case for increased funding for K-12 education. Attendees were able to meet with Rep. Don Wilson, D20 Monument; Sen. Mark Baisly, SD-4, Sen. Paul Lundeen, SD-9, and Sen. Janice Marchman, SD-15. All have Education Committee assignments. Wilson and Lundeen are local to the Tri-Lakes area and Marchman is a working teacher. The group also got to sit in on part of a House and Senate session and watch a debate on Senate amendments to HB23-1064 Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact designed to make it easier for teachers, especially active military members and eligible military spouses, from one member state to receive a teacher’s license from another member state. The amendments were rejected, the bill was passed in the Senate, sent to the governor, and signed into law. In the photo from right to left are Leah Braaten, elementary teacher; Alexandra Seabourn, reading interventionist; Amy Sienkowski, middle school assistant principal; Tiffiney Upchurch, board member; Cynthia Eversole, music teacher; Chris Thomas, kindergarten teacher, Brett Ridgway, chief business officer; Carolyn Bedingfield, grandmother; followed by several other attendees up through KC Somers, D38 superintendent. Not shown are: Char Armstrong, psychologist; Jackie Burhans, community member and parent alumni; Courtney Bushnell, business/marketing/computer science teacher; James Howald, community member and parent alumni; Stephanie Markle, social studies teacher; and Theresa Phillips, board vice president. Photo by Jackie Burhans.

Palmer Lake Broomball, Feb. 26

Above: On Feb. 26, the Palmer Lake Parks Commission sponsored the Second Annual Palmer Lake Winterfest Broomball Tournament. Proceeds from the event will be applied toward park improvements in Palmer Lake. The tournament had three divisions: Adult, Family/Friends, and Youth, with 10 teams signed up. Each team consisted of six players including the goalie. Teams could also have substitutes. Players needed to bring their own brooms and the desire to have a fun day on the Palmer Lake ice. Players and spectators also enjoyed music, s’mores, drinks, and various treats throughout the afternoon. Photo by David Futey.

Team Rubicon wildfire mitigation

Above: On March 4 and 5, 40 volunteers of Team Rubicon conducted wildfire mitigation operations in the foothills west of Larkspur. Their efforts included Home Ignition Zone mitigation education and the reduction of potential wildfire fuel through tree thinning operations. This area has been designated as high risk for extreme wildfires. The team’s efforts are part of a county-wide collaborative effort to protect life, property, and critical infrastructure outlined in the Douglas County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Team Rubicon is a veteran-led volunteer disaster prevention and response group. This is the second of seven wildfire prevention efforts planned for this year in various Colorado communities. Caption by David LaRivee. Photo by Sharon Williams.

The Stickmen at the TLCA, Mar. 1

Above: The Stickmen brought their unique progressive rock style to the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts (TLCA) stage on March 1. The trio is composed of bassist Tony Levin, drummer Pat Mastelotto, and guitarist Markus Reuter. The band’s name is derived from the Chapman Stick played by Levin. The Chapman Stick is a 10- to 12-string instrument that offers the versatility of being used to play bass lines, melodies, and chords. Levin is considered one of the preeminent Chapman Stick players in the world. The Stick along with the U8 Touch guitar played by Reuter are both typically played by tapping and other techniques without the use of a guitar pick. The trio played selections from their 2022 EP titled Tentacles including Ringtone, Danger in the Workplace, and the title track Tentacles. Their set also included Prog Noir, Crack in the Sky, which is based on a Levin poem, and three King Crimson songs including Red. Levin and Mastelotto are longtime members of that band. Levin also has the distinction of having played on over 1,000 albums, being one of the most recorded bassists in music history. Photo by David Futey.

Drilling through the night

Above: Monument’s Well 13 near Santa Fe Trail and Fourth Street had a drilling rig operating 24 hours a day with a sound barrier wall and a well-lit tower and work space. The drilling took place over the last few weeks and is now completed, providing water for Monument’s residents. Photo by Jackie Burhans.

Stallsmith building dedication

Above: The Palmer Lake Sanitation District dedicated the district’s building to Joseph Stallsmith on March 8. Forty-five years ago, Stallsmith created the Palmer Lake Sanitation District and selected the original board members. Mark Bruce, current board chairman, presented a plaque commemorating Stallsmith’s contribution to the district and the Palmer Lake community. The plaque will be displayed at the entrance to the building. Stallsmith, 99, thanked the 25 people attending the ceremony and commented that he also helped set up the sanitation system at the U.S. Air Force Academy and used that experience to help in Palmer Lake and said “it was all downhill from here.” (an old joke). Becky Orcutt, district manager, presented a cake with a decoration shaped like a sewer manhole cover and cupcakes. One of the participants joked, “Don’t eat the brown ones.” Photo by Steve Pate.

Stars of Tomorrow Talent Show

By Steve Pate

Monument Hill Kiwanis, in conjunction with Lewis-Palmer School District 38, presented the first annual Stars of Tomorrow talent show March 19 at the Palmer Ridge High School auditorium. Emcees Anna Hacker, 10th-grader at Lewis-Palmer High School, and Dennis Beasley of Monument Hill Kiwanis, introduced the finalists in the competition to a crowd of about 350. Three categories of contestants competed for prizes. Rose Magdalene Helgoth, a fourth-grader at St. Peter Catholic School, won the elementary school category with a vocal performance of Who Will Buy from the musical Oliver and won the $500 elementary category prize. The middle school winner, Eric Lambrech, in sixth grade at Lewis-Palmer Elementary School (competing in the middle school category), performed the Piano Sonata #20, First Movement by Ludwig von Beethoven and won $750. The high school category winner was a bassoon solo by Raleigh Eversole, accompanied by Rob Lambrech on piano. Eversole, a senior at Palmer Ridge High School, won a $1,000 scholarship. The overall winner of the competition, all categories, was Wyatt Hyden, a junior at Palmer Ridge High School who won a $2,000 scholarship. Hyden has performed for a sold-out crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheater. He arranged and performed a guitar solo medley of Van Halen, Chuck Berry, Metallica, and Ozzy Osborne. The talent show was professionally judged for the students of Lewis-Palmer School District 38, grades 1 through 12. As reported in OCN last month, 49 students tried out over three days of preliminary competition to narrow the field to the 20 performers who qualified for the final competition. Steve Pate may be contacted at stevepate@ocn.me Above: Raleigh Eversole, Wyatt Hyden, Erich Lambrech, and Rose Magdalene Helgoth, category winners. Photo by Bob Harrigan.

TLWCC makes beds for needy kids

Above: Members of the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club (TLWC) helped build beds for needy children on March 18. The 32 members, including Lori Forman, left, and Susan Congdon, right, picked up saws, drills, sanders, and hammers to build the beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a volunteer group dedicated to building, assembling, and delivering high quality beds for hundreds of needy children in northern Colorado Springs, northern El Paso County, and eastern Teller County. TLWC members also donated cash and bedding sets to outfit the beds. In its 50 years, TLWC has donated over $1 million to local police, school, and other nonprofit organizations in the Tri-Lakes community. Photo by Pam Munson.

Moors and McCumber at TLCA

Above: On March 18, Kort McCumber, left, and James Moors played a post-St. Patrick’s Day music celebration at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts (TLCA). Moors and McCumber can both trace their family lineage to Ireland. That connection along with annual visits there provide the inspiration behind many of their lyrics and instrumental arrangements that weave Irish history and musical influence. Their set list included John Devoy, about an Irish Republican rebel; the non-instrumental Marjorie that highlights their lush vocal harmonies; Leaving for Cobh, about making the journey to the port of Cobh in Ireland to board a ship for the United States during the Potato Famine of 1840s; and the instrumental Standing Stones. They incorporated a variety of instruments throughout the evening including the Irish Bouzouki, fiddle, banjo, guitar, cello, and keyboard, which displayed the breadth of their musical talents. Information on the TLCA is at trilakesarts.org. Photo by David Futey.

Deer enjoy felled pinon pines

Above: Mule deer dine on the many pinon pine tree mounds in the nursery off Sunburst Drive, Monument, in the late afternoon on March 20. The deer were unperturbed by the chainsaw operators working close by as the forest thinning continued. The large-scale tree felling is part of the second phase of forest mitigation in the area. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.

Monument Rock gains visibility

Above: Forest thinning reveals a highly visible view of Monument Rock from Mount Herman Road on March 20. The area is hardly recognizable now that the scrub oak is cleared and many trees have been cut down. The fresh scent of pine permeates the air along the trails buried under bark debris left over from the fire mitigation project. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.

Odd place to water ski

Above: People gripe about dog (and horse) poop in the Monument Preserve and the debris left after the U.S. Forest Service wildfire mitigation, but a boat a mile in from Nursery Road? More trash to clean up. Actually, the hull appears intact, as does the trailer. But the interior (inset) is trashed and would need serious rework. And there’s no motor. This photo was taken March 21. On March 25, Focus on the Forest—Tri-Lakes arranged for Milo Crawford at The Unstuckables to use his truck to tow the boat to be impounded in Woodland Park. Photo by Steve Pate.

Eversole wins All-State honors

Above: Raleigh Eversole, who recently won the top prize in the High School category in the Monument Hill Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow contest, has also achieved best All-State musician status in four categories—choir, jazz, orchestra, and band. Eversole is in 12th grade at Palmer Ridge High School and plans to attend college next year aiming for a career in music. He sings and plays bassoon and tenor saxophone. On March 22, Eversole led off the Honors Recital at Lewis-Palmer High School with a solo bassoon performance of Elegy for Innocence, accompanied by Rob Lambrech on piano. Photo by Bob Harrigan. Caption by Steve Pate.

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