Alzheimer′s Association Memory Walk
WALSENBURG- The 20th annual Alzheimers Memory Walk will take place Sat. Sept. 26 at Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg. The effort raises money for the Alzheimers Association which provides Colorado families with the care and support they need to live every day with this disease. Events include a kids′ activities area, food, music and prizes. Event check-in is at 9 am, and the walk will begin at 10. For information on how to participate, contact Betty Nufer at 544-5720.
Spanish Peaks Celtic Music Fest
HUERFANO- Save September 25-27 for the fifth annual Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival in Walsenburg and La Veta. Enjoy harps, fiddles, pipes and whistles, dancing and storytelling, all against the fall colors of the beautiful Spanish Peaks.
The Festival offers five different concerts, a ten-hour Celtic Harp Retreat, and a Sunday noontime “Burns Supper” in honor of Robert Burns’ 250th anniversary. The weekend also provides a variety of workshops including singing, storytelling, Scottish and Irish ceilidh dancing, Irish step dancing, and numerous instrumental classes. There are also free workshops for beginners in harp, bodhran and whistle. And this year we can promise you session playing not only throughout the day, but also late night at the Parkside Gallery in La Veta. Finally, there will be free ceilidh dancing Saturday and Sunday afternoons in La Veta Park.
For more information see the Festival website: www.celticmusicfest.com.
Celtic Eucharist
LA VETA- The Reverend Don Henderson will speak about Celtic spirituality on Sun. Sept. 27 at 8 am and celebrate the life of St. Hilda at a Celtic Eucharist at 9:30 am. Both events are free at St. Benedict Church, 113 W. Field St. Coffee and tea as well as Scottish and Irish pastries will be available for sale.
St. Hilda was born in 614 and died in 680; she founded the Abbey at Whitby where she inspired many in the traditions of Celtic Christianity and the gospel of peace.
Water Board meets
WALSENBURG- The Board of the Huerfano County Water Conservancy District will meet at 7:00 pm on Mon. Sept. 28 at City Hall, 525 S Albert Avenue, Walsenburg. The meeting is open to the public.
And then, Water Enterprise meets
WALSENBURG- The Water Enterprise of the Huerfano County Water Conservancy District will meet immediately after the HCWCD regular meeting, approximately 7:30 pm on Mon. Sept. 28 at City Hall, 525 S Albert Avenue, Walsenburg. The meeting is open to the public.
Conservative Coalition
LA VETA- The Conservative Citizens Coalition Meeting will be held on Mon. Sept. 28 at the La Veta Community Center at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome!
Create a Wild Thing
WALSENBURG- An Art Workshop for children in grades 1 thru 7 will be held at Spanish Peaks Library, Wed. Sept. 30, 2009, from 4:30-6 pm. This is an opportunity to create your own Wild Thing monster in mixed media with Dianne Hanisch. Supplies will be provided. Please sign up for the event at the library. There will not be a charge for the session. For further information please call 738-2774.
La Veta Boosters
LA VETA- The La Veta Boosters will be hosting their annual Chili Supper on Thurs. Oct. 1 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm in the La Veta school cafeteria. Cost for adults is $5, students $3 and children 3 and under are free. Chicken soup will also be available. Thank you for supporting the La Veta Boosters and your La Veta Redskins.
Geology of the Spanish Peaks
LA VETA- Here’s a question every self-respecting Huerfano County resident should be able to answer: is the Dakota Wall a dike or a hogback?
You can find out the answer at the La Veta Public Library on Thurs. Oct. 1 from 7 to 8:30 pm as Dr. Larry Harris presents “The Geology of the Spanish Peaks Region.” Harris will give his audience some basic background in geology and then will look specifically at the geology of our region. The accompanying slide presentation is made up of his own photographs, a treat that will make the evening worthwhile even if you have no interest in geology.
Please join us for this fascinating event. All donations will be used to support future adult programs at the library. Call 742-3572 for more information.
Dust off your lederhosen!
LA VETA- It’s time for the 23rd Annual Oktoberfest celebration in La Veta, Sat. Oct. 3, from 10 am until 6 pm.
The day begins with a tribute to a local veteran, followed by music from Das Edelweiss, a genuine German oom-pah band. From 2 until 6 pm, the street will rock with the sounds of Family Juls. This year’s Oktoberfest Royalty will be announced at 1 pm.
Prizes will be awarded all day long, with the grand prize being announced at 4 pm.
A beer garden, artisan and food vendors, and the annual Twin Peaks Rodders Car Show – Southern Colorado’s largest – complete the day’s festivities.
It’s fun for the whole family. All proceeds benefit the Candy Cocco Memorial Student Award Fund, which provides scholarships for graduating seniors in Huerfano County.
So join us for beer, brats and fun on Sat. Oct. 3 in La Veta!
Oktoberfest Bonfils Blood Drive
La Veta- The LaVeta Fire Protection District ill be hosting the Oktoberfest Bonfils Mobile Blood Drive on Sat., Oct. 3, 2009, from 10:30 to 2:30 pm.
Individuals interested in donating a unit of life-saving blood are invited to call Sue Pezze at 742-3239 to schedule an appointment. Sign-up sheets are also available at Charlie’s Market and the La Veta Public Library. One donation can help save up to three different patients by providing whole blood, platelets and red blood cells. Whole blood cannot be made synthetically, healthy people are the only source and all blood types are needed.
To schedule an appointment or to obtain more information, call Sue at 742-3239. Walk-ins are also welcomed.
Art Welding with Jim Fowler
LA VETA- This intensive two-day class on Oct. 3-4 will teach basic welding and cutting techniques as well as basic safety. If you have never welded before or even if you are experienced, you will learn to create exciting sculptures. A variety of art metal techniques will be taught and tools will be provided for hands-on instruction. On the second day you will create your own sculpture from found objects that you have brought for that purpose. Cost for the class $150 plus $60 lab fee.
Class will be held at the La Veta School of the Arts-across from the town park on W. Ryus Avenue. For more information or to register call 719-742-3421, e-mail LVArtSchool@yahoo.com or check our website www.theLVSA.org.
Blessing of the animals
LA VETA- Rev Lyn Burns will give a blessing of the animals Sun. Oct. 4 at 1:30 at La Veta Town Park on W. Ryus.
Ludlow author to speak at Historical Society annual meeting
by Carolyn Newman
LA VETA- An author with a new book, From Redstone to Ludlow, will speak at the annual Huerfano County Historical Society annual meeting Wed. Oct. 7 at the La Veta library. The 7 pm meeting is open at no cost to all present and prospective Historical Society members. The work of the past year will be summarized, future plans detailed and board members elected.
The author, F. Darrell Munsell, writes about John C. Osgood who, with his associates, organized Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in 1892. Perhaps Osgood is best known for battling the coal miners′ unions.
He notes two opposites in Osgood′s life. First, he paid for armed gunmen and machine guns at the Ludlow tent colony when miners were on strike. Eventually at the Ludlow tent colony 11 children, two women and several men died as a result of the violence. But also Osgood tried to improve the lives of workers so they would not organize unions by building a model village at Redstone.
Here in Huerfano County, Osgood had a school named after him, located at the Rouse coal camp south of Walsenburg. The Walsenburg newspaper reported in 1902 "The Osgood School building has not a superior in any camp in Colorado."
Munsell, professor emeritus, West Texas A&M University, is a former president of the Redstone Historic Society.
Democratic Party meeting changed
WALSENBURG- Because of the conflict with the Celtic Music Festival, the Huerfano County Democratic Party 2010 Election Kickoff Meeting date has been changed to Sat. Oct. 10. It will still be held at 3:30 pm at the Huerfano County Community Center in Walsenburg.
La Veta Fire Protection District Fundraiser
LA VETA- We have an immediate and unbudgeted need for emergency extrication and rescue equipment that will be used by our first responders for the following: Vehicle accidents (you may recall some of the serious ones responded to over the last year); Car Fires; Industrial and ranch accidents; Structural collapse; Forcible entry; Rail accidents; Confined space rescue. An additional challenge is that newer vehicles are now constructed with high strength structural metals.
In an effort to be prepared for this evolving aspect of providing public emergency protection, the District must upgrade its extrication and rescue equipment. We have acquired and used a “demo” set of equipment on a loan basis from a fire equipment supplier. The arrangement is ending and we feel that having the equipment would be of such value to our community that we are going directly to you, our residents and business community, to raise the funds. The cost is around $8,000.
The fundraiser begins immediately with a goal to wrap the effort up Oktoberfest weekend. We will have a booth at that event where we will be demonstrating the equipment and hope to receive any remaining donations at that time.
Please feel free to turn a donation over to one of our volunteer Fire Fighters and they will ensure that it gets to our Treasurer. Donations can also be mailed to La Veta Fire Protection District, P.O. Box 44, La Veta, CO 81055. The District will return a receipt to you via mail for tax purposes if desired. You may also donate directly by stopping by our booth at Oktoberfest.
Thank you in advance for your support. We continue in our efforts to ensure that the LVFPD has the equipment, personnel and training to best meet community needs.
Annual church celebrationa success
by William J. Bechaver
AGUILAR- Last Friday, worshipers from the area Catholic Parishes gathered at Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Aguilar to commemorate The Holy Feast Days of Our Lady.
The celebration, held annually in Aguilar to honor The Nativity Of Our Lady and The Most Holy Name Of The Blessed Virgin Mother, began in the church. The sanctuary of the church was decorated with a beautiful statue of Our Lady Of Guadalupe, adorned with live roses of scarlet and white. The Mass was con-celebrated by the church’s pastor, Fr. Phil Coury, and Fr. Martin Frias from Walsenburg. Music was provided by the Saint Mary’s Spanish Music Choir, as it has been since the celebration’s inception several years ago.
Parishioners were in attendance from all the churches in the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, which, in addition to Aguilar, include Saint Mary’s in Walsenburg, Christ The King in La Veta, Sacred Heart in Gardner. Parishioners also came from surrounding communities of Gulnare and Trinidad.
Following the celebration of the Mass, the festivities moved to the adjacent parish hall, for a pot luck dinner, with chicken and chilies, pizzas, casseroles, salads and desserts, including a large sheet cake specially ordered and decorated for the occasion.
Yearly, the celebration grows in scope, as well as in attendance, and a great experience of spirituality and comradery was had by all. It is hoped that participation will continue to increase for years to come.
