| May 2013 Vol. 23 No. 5 | View Full Issue |
From the Editor's Desk
Written by Jeanne Davant
A gym of our own? It could happen
Briefly...
Senior Center classes focus on finances
Did you know there are new rules for coverage of equipment and supplies through Medicare?
Find out what they are at a seminar that will be conducted by Senior Insurance Assistance from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. May 8 at the Colorado Springs Senior Center, 1514 N. Hancock Ave.
The seminar is free, but as always with Senior Center classes and programs, you should register ahead of time at the front desk. If you can’t attend this month, it will be repeated June 18.
From the Editor's Desk
Written by Jeanne Davant
Time to get your hands dirty
May ranks high on my list of favorite months. It’s the time when I can finally get out into my garden. (September – harvest time – is a close second.)
If you’re an avid gardener like me, you’re itching to get your hands dirty. I’m going to be putting in minimal new plantings this year because of our water restrictions, and I’ll install a drip irrigation system to maximize the watering I do.
| April 2013 Vol. 23 No. 4 | View Full Issue |
Not just for kids
Hula hooping’s not just for kids—it’s a fun way to get in shape. Liz Steiner, left, Marie Downing and instructor Treese Kjeldsen show how it’s done during Hula Hoop Fit ‘N Tone, just one of many exercise and dance classes offered at the Colorado Springs Senior Center. Registration for summer classes begins April 29.
Chuck Murphy to receive entrepreneurship award
Chuck Murphy, founder of Murphy Constructors, will receive the 2013 University of Colorado Colorado Springs College of Business Lifetime Entrepreneurship Award at an April 19 campus luncheon.
Murphy will be recognized for his local entrepreneurial success and for his outstanding community volunteer contributions.
Murphy founded Murphy Constructors in 1960, originally Murphy & Company, which has renovated and restored several historic building including the Pioneers Museum, Phantom Canyon’s Cheyenne Building, The Cliff House and the Manitou Springs Spa Building.
| March 2013 Vol. 23 No. 3 | View Full Issue |
New Horizons Band proves you’re never too old to play music
Written by Jeanne Davant
One by one, the musicians in the Kicks Band drift into the sanctuary at First Evangelical Free Church.
As the 7 p.m. rehearsal time approaches, they form a circle, setting up music stands and removing their instruments from their cases. The players start to run scales and arpeggios.
At 7 p.m., conductor Ed Nuccio steps into the center of the circle, and the band plays a few warm-up tunes. Then it’s on to the real work — a repertoire of big band jazz works.
The Kicks Band is just one component of the New Horizons Band program started by Nuccio in 2001.
Read more: New Horizons Band proves you’re never too old to play music
State lawmakers consider bill to boost funding for senior services
A bill that would increase funding for services delivered to seniors through the Area Agencies on Aging has passed in the Colorado Senate Finance Committee, but advocates are concerned about its future in the Legislature.
Senate Bill 13-127 would increase state sales and use-tax receipts credited to the Older Coloradans cash funds by $4 million for the next three years. The current funding level is $8 million annually.
Read more: State lawmakers consider bill to boost funding for senior services
| February 2013 Vol. 23 No. 2 | View Full Issue |
80-something author’s detective novel set in local retirement community
Written by Jeanne Davant
I have never figured out why they put a huge telescope in the middle of the 100-foot hallway connecting the third floor Independent Living Section of the Palisades Retirement Community with the second floor Assisted Living section. No one ever uses it; no one except me, and that was to catch a vicious criminal.
Thus begins The Octogenarian Sleuth: The Case of the Magic Telescope, a new book set in a retirement community that greatly resembles The Palisades at Broadmoor Park.
The author, Bill Petersen, lives there.
The book’s detective, Pete Petersen, resides at the Palisades. Furthermore, the detective’s sidekick, Samantha, greatly resembles a server in the Palisades’ dining room.
Bill Petersen’s book, a delightful spoof of classic detective fiction, recently became available in a Kindle edition at Amazon.com. It’s also available in a print edition.
The 80-something Petersen (the author, that is) was inspired by a telescope beside one of the windows in that long hall at The Palisades.
Read more: 80-something author’s detective novel set in local retirement community
From the Editor's Desk
Written by Jeanne Davant
Now is the time to protect your home against wildfire
Six months ago, the unthinkable happened.
Our community lost two people and nearly 350 homes when the Waldo Canyon fire roared into Mountain Shadows. Thousands of people were evacuated from Manitou Springs and the Westside, which could easily have been decimated had the winds blown in a different direction.
| January 2013 Vol. 23 No. 1 | View Full Issue |
Fort Carson museum will be a landmark and tribute to soldiers
Fort Carson is Becky Bayer-Hughes’ second family.
Her parents worked there, and when she graduated from college, she got a job on the post too.
“The Army kind of raised me,” she says.
During her 35-year career, “I worked for some wonderful people who taught me a lot,” she says. “They reinforced the values my family taught me: loyalty, honor, respect, integrity, doing the right thing. They just deserve to be honored.”
After her retirement as a strategic planner for the Command Group, Bayer-Hughes started volunteering for the Mountain Post Historical Association. The association’s mission was the construction of a museum, the Mountain Post Historical Center, to honor Fort Carson’s colorful and dramatic history.
Read more: Fort Carson museum will be a landmark and tribute to soldiers
Songspinners are friends indeed
Written by Jeanne Davant
The Songspinners provide lively entertainment at a fundraiser for the Colorado Springs Senior Center sponsored by the Friends of the Colorado Springs Senior Center and Winslow Court. The event on Dec. 7 raised about $700. The goal of the Friends Group is to support and raise funds for the Senior Center’s programs.
Photo by Jody Barker, courtesy of Colorado Springs Senior Center
| December 2012 Vol. 22 No. 12 | View Full Issue |
Glowing tree lights honor departed loved ones
More than 30,000 white lights are glowing throughout the holiday season on the grounds of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. Each light represents a loved one who shines on in the memories of their families.
Hundreds of families gathered Nov. 17 as the lights were switched on to celebrate life and honor their loved ones at the 28th Annual Trees of Life Community Tree-Lighting Ceremony sponsored by Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care.
Trees on the museum grounds are adorned with small white lights and sparkling snowflakes that symbolize loved ones who have passed on. A special red, white and blue tree pays tribute to the military and local community protectors, and four trees along Vermijo Avenue glisten with lighted snowflakes.
During the ceremony, Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation board members read loved ones’ names provided at the event.
A community-based nonprofit organization, Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care has been serving the Pikes Peak region since 1980, providing relief, comfort and control to more than 2,000 patients and families each year.You can still honor your loved ones by purchasing a symbolic light or a 2012 Trees of Life mirrored-glass ornament. Contact Pikes Peak Hospice at 633-3400 or visit www.pikespeakhospice.org/treesoflife.
Purchases support Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care.
Capitol Christmas tree pays Springs a visit
With former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell at the wheel, a custom-designed Mack truck pulled into the parking lot of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium early on the morning of Nov. 11.
Aboard the long trailer was the 73-foot U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, making an early stop in its 23-day journey to Washington, D.C. It stopped just long enough to allow spectators of all ages to have their pictures taken and sign their names on the truck.
The tree was cut down Nov. 2 near Meeker by Joe and Matt Ostrowski from Tree Medicine, a small, family-run business in Englewood. A huge crane lowered the tree, wrapped to protect it, onto the bed of the trailer.
After many more stops, it will arrive in Washington and be placed on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol. It will be decorated with more than 5,000 ornaments handmade by Colorado children; each depicts the tree’s theme, “Celebrating the Great Outdoors.”