September 12, 2024
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Coffins plan to rebuild fire-ravaged family home, express gratitudefor outpouring of support. By Chris Dickey Mere days removed from experiencing the devastating loss of the home that has housed generations of family get-togethers, holidays, birthday celebrations, funerals and a wedding reception, Tracy Nichols-Coffin is remarkably determined about what comes next.“Heck yes, we’re rebuilding,” she said when asked about such plans by the Silver World this week. “Red House 2.0.”To Lake City historians, the structure at 521 Gunnison Avenue, which dates to 1876, was known as the Beam-Nichols house. To the family that has occupied it since John and Mary Ann Nichols purchased it in 1969, it’s forever been known as “The Red House” because of the signature (and unchanging) color adorning its log and clapboard siding.The house was engulfed in flames late Sunday afternoon, Sept. 1, after a barbecue grill caught fire and quickly spread to the house. No one was injured, including pets, and local firefighters’ quick response prevented the blaze from spreading to neighboring homes.“The scary part happened to us,” Nichols-Coffin said, “but the death of that home is being felt by all of us who have loved it for so long.”John Hatley Nichols grew up frequenting Lake City from the Texas Panhandle on family fishing trips in the 1940s and ‘50s — before there were any paved roads here. When he and Mary Ann married, they decided they wanted to make Lake City a more permanent part of their family experience, so they purchased the Gunnison Avenue home.Their three children — Jack, Tracy and Dawson — all grew up with the Red House being a mainstay in their lives.“We moved around a lot as a family,” Nichols- Coffin explained, noting that her father was an “ad man” from Chicago. “But we spent every summer and Christmas at the Red House. It really is like a family member. It’s been our anchor our whole life.”The Red House has served as a home to the Nichols’ children as well — fourth generation family members with such connections.Tracy and her husband Mike Coffin have three grown kids (Tyler Coffin, 30, who lives in New York City; Army Captain Justin Coffin, 28, who is currently stationed at Ft. Liberty in North Carolina; and Mary Hatley Coffin, 19, who recently enrolled at Lake Forest College in Illinois).Jack Nichols, who died in an ice climbing accident in 2018, and his wife Leslie had two boys (Johnny and Thomas) who grew up in Lake City, spending “tons and tons of time at the Red House,” according to Leslie.Dawson, his wife Jenny and their two daughters, Hannah and Rosie, live in the Northwest but are also frequent Lake City visitors.In 2006, Tracy and Mike purchased the home from Mary Ann. For years it served as their family summer retreat, but the couple, who both work remotely, moved into it full time this past June.And the first Sunday in September was progressing quite normally, until fate intervened. “We were having guests over for dinner,” Nichols- Coffin explained. “We lit the grill like we always do. Mike was walking in the side door to come grab the chicken. He was maybe three steps away from the grill when I looked out the window and saw the house was on fire.”The speed with which the flames grew amazed the couple. Mike tried to turn the control knobs to the grill off, but they’d already become inoperable. He was dragging the grill away from the house, but the flames became too intense.They even had a fire blanket in the home, which Tracy attempted to smother the building flames with. She likened it to “putting a napkin on a fourteener.”Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Deputy Denim Starnes happened to be patrolling by at the time and was the first official on the scene. Firefighters arrived a reported eight minutes after the call went out. But it was too late.The Coffins lost most of their possessions to the blaze — clothes, family photos, phones, wallets, computers. But they remain thankful that some items were spared — including Tracy’s wedding ring and Mike’s flyfishing rod and flies.Mostly, though, they are overwhelmed with gratitude for the “many miracles” of support the community has bestowed upon them in light of the tragedy.They’ve been housed in town with friends Liz and Kenny Howard. They’ve already received a lead on a potential rental home. Strangers have handed them money. Local businesses — including Climb, The Breakfast Hangout, Packers and Inklings — have offered free food and household necessities.Jason Santos of the local presbyterian church was on scene and immediately started a food train, eliminating all need of the Coffins doing any cooking or grocery shopping for more than a week now.“I can’t tell you how many people who have hugged us and prayed for us,” Nichols-Coffin said. “Everybody has been so kind. It’s overwhelming.” The house at 521 Gunnison Avenue before the fire, left photo, and after, right photo. Mike Coffin reflects on the incident with gratitude: That wind, which could have spread the flames to other structures, was not blowing; that their kids were not home; that all the firefighters remained safe; that their dogs, Boo the Black Lab and Jack the Corgi, were retrieved from the burning building.Mostly, though, he’s grateful for the love and support of the Lake City community.“It’s just an honor to be welcomed here,” he said, “and have these people wrap their arms around us.”The process of what to do with the charred remains of the home has already begun. An insurance adjuster and forensic fire expert have begun their investigations. A search for potential asbestos comes next, then salvage work will commence.Gunnison-based architect Jody Reeser and contractor Ken Bodine have already visited the site, with wheels turning on how to rebuild. There is hope that some of the original log structure is salvageable.“We really value the historic integrity of this community,” Nichols-Coffin said, “so we really want to recreate the facade if we can and the historic nature of the
Extremely variable weather — clear and sunny conditions one minute, followed by pounding rain and sleet at other times — failed to deter out-of-town and local mountain bike riders participating in last weekend’s sixth Annual Alpine 50.Sponsored as a fundraiser for Lake Fork Conservancy, this year’s Alpine drew a total of 109 bike racers who registered. A total of 99 men and women bike racers were at the starting gate Saturday morning, of whom 82 finished, according to organizer Mike Fleishman. Top place men’s and women’s finishers departed the town park starting line in Lake City at 6:30 a.m. August 24, proceeding up valley to maneuver past Lake San Cristobal and then the upper Lake Fork.The rain-soaked and muddy course took racers through descending clouds of mist on the Shelf Road above Sherman as they braced for the grueling, steep climb up 12,620’ Cinnamon Pass, then a brief respite after the summit as they dropped down into San Juan County near Animas Forks before the vertically-challenging climb back into Hinsdale County at 12,800’ Engineer Pass. Engineer Pass, which was cited by nearly every bicyclist in the race as the most demanding in the race, was followed by the speedy generally downhill descent on Henson Creek and back to the town park finish line.Commenting on the challenging 16 percent gradient up and out of the upper Animas Valley, first place men’s finisher Brian Elander caught his breath, saying it was perhaps the most challenging race of his entire life.The reward after summiting both Cinnamon and Engineer Passes, according to Elander, was the scenery, “above treeline,” he said, “you can see forever.”Elander, age 22 and a native of Evergreen, Colorado, who now lives in Moab, Utah, finished the mountainous 50-miler with a time of three hours, 34.11 minutes — compared to last year’s first place finisher Olympian Todd Wells who completed the race in three hours, 24.49 minutes.Following in Elander’s muddy bike tracks were second and place men’s finishers, Nathaniel Schneider, Wheat Ride, Colorado, time three hours, 43.18 minutes, and Anthony Iannacito, Denver, three hours, 53.43.Also exhausted but ecstatic at race end was first place women’s bike race finisher Liv Geer, from Salt Lake City. A first-timer in the race, Geer was barely breathless at her five-hour, 11:53-minute finish, describing the race as “fantastic” while noting that the most difficult section of the route was the last “couple of miles… I was tired.”Following in close pursuit of first place finisher Geer were Denver racer Maura McGovern, in second place among women at five hours, 18.58 minutes, and Katie Branham, third place, five hours, 25.52 minutes.Unprecedented in this year’s race were a total of 11 Lake City area bike athletes, including several with Lake City ties.Tops among locals was 6th place male finisher Jaden McNeese, piloting a Kona Raijin for four-hour, 11.06-minute finish in his fourth Alpine 50. McNeese said he experienced low energy levels — “my legs fell apart” — after starting out too fast up Cinnamon Pass.McNeese was re-energized after downing a combination of pickle juice and peanut butter at the Cinnamon Pass aid station, further stimulation being cold temperatures and “grippy rocks” over which he and bike rattled.McNeese’s mother, Lake City School special education instructor Lydia McNeese, was once again a competitor in this year’s race, riding a Niner mountain bike and finishing ninth among women, time six hours, 28.32 minutes. Challenges in this year’s run, according to Lydia McNeese, were excessive moisture and “mud everywhere.”At age 12, Lake City 7th Grader Landon Rhodes was the youngest participant in the six-year history of the bike race, finishing the 50-mile circuit with his father, Lake City GCEA lineman Logan Rhodes, finish times respectively seven hours, 4.52, for Landon and Logan’s time seven hours, 4.54.Also unprecedented was the fact three generations of the Rhodes family competed in Saturday’s bike race, Landon’s father, Logan, and grandfather, Trinidad, Colorado, resident Lonny Rhodes, seven hours, 36.02.A fourth member of the Rhodes family competing on Saturday was Landon Rhodes’ uncle, Cameron MacDonald, from Castle Rock, Colorado.Close family connections also included the two Hartman brothers, repeat Alpine 50 participant Silas Hartman, who characteristically finished the race by riding his bicycle backwards across the finish line, time six hours, 37.23 minutes, and his Lake City 10th Grade brother Levi Hartman, who completed his inaugural entry in the Lake City 50, time seven hours, 27.18, on his Yeti mountain bike.In the Lake City father and son category, Hinsdale Commissioner Greg Levine crossed the finish line on a Guerilla Gravity after eight hours, 13.46 minutes’ strenuous pedaling. At the finish line, Levine reflected on just two prior practice sessions, calmly observing “one should have a little more training before the race.”Levine’s son, Lake City School Alum Bennett Levine, 27th among Alpine 50 men, time five hours, 21.51 minutes riding a full suspension Yeti. Succinctly commenting that the race was “nice,” Levine sustained energy by happily feasting on Cheerios, rice crispy treats, Take 5 candy, and potato chips – best part of the race summiting Cinnamon Pass, most difficult the steep climb up Engineer.In addition to multiple members of the Hartman, Rhodes, McNeese, and Levine families, other Lake Citians competing in Saturday’s bike race included Dan File, and Brant Cunningham.The Sheldon Little Fastest Time Award — appropriately consisting of a curved chunk of rubber bicycle tire — was presented for fasted cumulative finish times by bikers from a specific town. This year, both Little Awards went to teams from Colorado Springs — for the women, Branham and Galgano, Balliett, Juneau, and Abbas for the men — prompting announcer John Coy to note, “all that Olympic training is really paying off.”Other awards which were presented on a slightly more light hearted note were: Best Finish Line Display to Silas Hartman; So-Far-Away Award, Tom Cosgrove from Naples, Florida; Best Beard to Joe Miller; Telluride’s Pete Dahle, Most Enthusiastic; Best Dressed to Jennie Gerard; Stasha Sockwell garnering the All Smiles Award.Landon Rhodes, Youngest Rider Award; 71-year-old Sam Voorhies has the distinction of being
Unlike the room’s usual appearance as a town trustees’ meeting room with an orderly arrangement of chairs and meeting table with piles of paperwork, the Town of Lake City’s Armory multipurpose room was transformed into a lively bistro of sorts last Friday morning for the long-anticipated opening of the Senior Connections’ Senior Center.Chairs were drawn up to tables with red checkered tablecloths dotted about the room inviting guests to pause for conversation while perhaps imbibing from a fully stocked coffee bar and partaking of snacks which, for the center’s opening last week, included freshly baked banana bread. Also of interest were the room’s non-edible accoutrements, a cache of neatly stacked and intriguing boxed board games and puzzles which await closer inspection.Looking out over the room and mingling crowd with satisfaction last Friday were staunch proponents of expanded senior citizen services in Lake City, including the newly furnished senior center which will be open with regularly scheduled hours on a year-round basis.On hand and glowing with satisfaction on Friday were Senior Connections volunteers such as Cheryl Tate, Lonnie Sweet, and Mary Nettleton, all of whom have been putting in long hours since January with the envisioned goal of not only a well-equipped and vitalized senior citizen center but also an impressive array of expanded senior citizen services.Also, on hand last week celebrating the opening of the new Senior Center was staff from Silver Thread Public Health, including public health director Tara Hardy who is equally enthused with new developments in terms of senior services. Working in tandem with Silver Thread Public Health and a direct result of the enthused Senior Connect Team volunteers, the Senior Center in the town trustees’ Armory meeting room is now open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays August 9, 16, 23, and 30 through this month and increasing to both Wednesdays and Fridays starting in September.Additionally, team members are working with Mountaineer Movie Theatre owner Phillip Virden on a no-charge Senior Movie Night at 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 20, featuring the John Wayne Western classic, “True Grit”. Senior Walking is also planned in the Armory from 2 to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Friday starting in September.Home cooked lunches, either sit-down or grab & go, or the potential of deliveries to homebound residents, will resume the second and fourth Fridays in September. Specifics of the luncheon meals are still being worked out, although the new Senior Center will remain the central focus with sit-down meals on those Fridays served 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., together with the grab & go or home delivery options.A series of informative lectures are also being lined up for Senior Citizens, including Gary Shondeck of Gunnison-based Shondeck Financial Services & Insurance who has offered to come to Lake City on Friday, October 4, starting 10 a.m. for a presentation which will include details on changes to Open Enrollment for Medicare Part D. Shondeck will also be available to work with individuals.Other potential lecture topics sponsored by the group may include the popular topic of taxes by a knowledgeable accountant and an attorney who will be invited to address local seniors on legal documents such as wills and Do Not Resuscitate directives.During a sit-down interview with Senior Connect Team members Cheryl Tate and Lonnie Sweet prior to last week’s Senior Citizen Center opening, Tate marvels at literally thousands of volunteer hours which have been expended toward the revitalized services for Senior Citizens ages 60 years and up who live within Town of Lake City and adjacent rural portions of Hinsdale County.Referring to the volunteerism spirit, Tate says, “It truly takes a village… if the result of all this effort is the way we envision it, it will have been well worth it.”Tate credits the town and county senior citizens for their energy and determination. “They all have great ideas,” she says, “and they’re energized.”Senior services in Hinsdale County are under the umbrella of Silver Thread Public Health, Tara Hardy expressing her gratitude for the re-energizing efforts of the “grassroots” group.Public Health has several staff openings and continuing through this month will be reviewing applications for the positions of a Senior Citizen Coordinator, who will be available to assist with the Senior Connections group, as well as a second position handling consumer protection which is also being filled.Work by the volunteer Senior Connect group dates to January this year when a group of concerned local residents —these including Cheryl Tate, Lonnie Sweet, Lori Lawrence, Rick Hernandez, Faye Underwood, Mary Nettleton, Dan McGee, and Dawn Kortmeyer — put their heads together with the goal of addressing the needs and wants of the local senior population which they felt were not being met.The grassroot organization’s first goal was to peruse the county’s voter registration lists and determine the number of seniors living in the county. From a list of 723 voters, they determined fully 52 percent of the registered population is age 60 years and over or, more broadly 60 percent of the county’s registered voters are over age 55.The next step, according to Tate and Sweet, was to contact existing seniors’ organizations in other regional communities such as Silverton, Creede, Saguache, and Nucla/Naturita to learn what services they offered in terms of senior centers and senior lunches and, just as important, their sources of funding to support the programs.With that information in hand, Tate says they scratched their collective heads, wondering, “what do we do now?”An important early addition to the corps of grassroots local volunteers was enlistment of an energetic, non-senior, Hinsdale County Commissioner Greg Levine, who was an enthusiastic addition to the group.Levine’s enthusiasm and talents “are invaluable,” Tate says. It was at this point pre-spring this year that the volunteer group was also expanded to include Tara Hardy of Silver Thread Public Health.It was through casual conversations with Town of Lake City Recreation Director Ben Hake that the suggestion was made for use of both the kitchen and adjacent town-council meeting room in the Armory. While occupied for town meetings on
The atmosphere was festive and town was lively on August 1 for the Celebrate Lake City event, celebrating the County’s founding 150 years ago in the year 1874.From 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., folks were free to explore the upstairs courtroom at the County Courthouse where cannibal Alferd Packer was tried, and from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., a community picnic was held, catered by CLIMB Elevated Eatery, serenaded by the musical stylings of Tim Mallory and blessed by Pastor Jason Santos.While everyone ate, County Commissioner Kristie Borchers gave a speech detailing the history of the area, beginning with the collapse of the Mesa Seco plateau into the Lake Fork Valley 700 years ago, when the Slumgullion Earthflow dammed the river, creating Lake San Cristobal.Borchers explained, “The lake was a favorite camping spot when Native American tribes used this land as summer hunting grounds. The Ute Territory was subsequently reduced under several different agreements, driven by gold and silver exploration in the San Juan Mountains. The state of Colorado created Hinsdale County on February 10, 1874.”Borchers thanked the crowd for coming to the “summer party,” explaining that the actual birthday of the county was in February, when Lake Citians celebrated out on the ice at Lake San Cristobal.“We spent some time this winter gathering up a timeline of 150 years of work improving our county,” she said, directing people to the Visitor’s Center for a full timeline.The abbreviated timeline Borchers recited, which she deemed ‘snapshots in time,’ is as follows: 1877, construction of the Hinsdale County Courthouse, which remains largely unchanged, where Susan B. Anthony spoke and Alferd Packer was tried for murder; 1881, telephone service reached Lake City; 1889, the first passenger train arrived; 1907, the first automobile arrived; 1915, the first tourists from Texas arrived; 1921, women won the right to vote, and the Town Trustees were an all-female board, also, a big flood washed out the train depot, tracks and roundhouse; 1937, construction of several auto courts began and there were individual cabins available for rent; 1950, the first Jeep tours began, using Otto Mear’s constructed backcountry roads for recreational sightseeing and not just as supply routes; 1954, the Chamber of Commerce sponsored construction of Deer Lakes; 1956, reliable electricity was established in Hinsdale County; 1968, water and sewer systems were established, the same year the Lake City Ski Hill opened; 1975, the Lake City Medical Center was opened downtown; 1978, National Register for Historic Places designated Lake City a Historic District, which remains one of the largest historic districts in the nation; 1985, Highway 149 paving over Slumgullion Pass was completed; 2013, Ute Ulay stabilization project began, along with the Papoose Fire, impacting Upper Rio Grande; 2019, more than 100 + significant avalanches impacted Hinsdale County; 2020, Hinsdale County purchased Peninsula Park.Borchers concluded her speech saying, “Thank you to those of you serving Hinsdale County, living in Hinsdale County or partnering with Hinsdale County. We appreciate all the work you do.”
Cheers repeatedly rang out — together with occasional syncopated finger snapping and the continual audience clapping — at last Sunday afternoon’s Reunion Concert hosted by Lake City Stinger Band. The annual reunion concert brought together not only exceptional local instrumental talent but also top notch visiting musicians from throughout Colorado.In all, 52 instrumentalists took part in the at-times sedate and lyrical “Landscapes”-themed concert featuring woodwind musicians, alternating with an at-times tempestuous music tempo served up by the brass and percussion musicians.Integral to the entire, enthralling performance was the conductor, Dr. Brett Keating of Western Colorado University, Gunnison, who exuberantly supervised both pre-concert rehearsals on Friday and Saturday, as well as the 60-minute afternoon concert on Sunday. Among the scores of finely tuned musicians were members of Lake City Stinger Band. A delight to the assembled musicians’ brass section were Jim Rowe and Bill Goodwin, trombone; Ken Matzick and Tara Hardy, trumpet, together with former resident Leslie Klusmire, up from the San Luis Valley who added critical oomph on the bass drum in the band’s percussion section.Conductor Keating was animated throughout the performance, powerfully wielding his baton as he encouraged the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections of the band from the central podium. At the conclusion of each selection, with applause ringing, Keating then gestured toward the musicians, routinely leaving the podium to applaud from the sidelines. Starting promptly at 2 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium — and with a 10-minute intermission — the Reunion Concert featured two resonating programs, the first starting out with the lyrical woodwind section showcased with Carmen Dragon’s lilting rendition of “America the Beautiful”.This was followed in succession by brass and woodwind sections featured in Rika Ishige’s “A Miniature Town”, and then a clear audience favorite — and one of two trumpet solos during the afternoon — visiting musician John Prillo performing the fast-paced “La Virgen de la Macarena”.Introduced by Keating and pictured on the front page of this week’s edition, Prillo is a masterful brass musician with a clear empathy between both conductor and audience. Keating stated he has conducted Prillo at five separate public performances and encouraged him to travel to Lake City, “because I just can’t get enough.”Equally as enthralling was the instrumental “The Monarch” with its composer, Dr. Ben Justice, head of the WCU Music Dept., in the audience. Slight of build, bearded, and equally as animated as the conductor, Justice explained the inspiration for writing the piece and in reference to more venerable selections which were played in the program, assuring the audience, “Yes, I am the composer and I am not dead.”Justice explained the fascinating inspiration for “The Monarch” as a tribute to Monarch Pass, the instrumental starting off lilting at the base of the envisioned high mountain pass and its fast-paced tempo predictably increasing. A few moody chords are included in the presentation, reflecting “scary parts,” according to Justice based on winter crossings of the mountain pass.In all, with Prillo on trumpet and joined by brass, woodwind, and percussion portions of the band, “The Monarch” is a vibrant and grand mountain processional.Ending the first half of the presentation on a high note, band members performed the fast-tempo, rhythmic “Byzantine Dances” by Carol Brittin Chambers which was accompanied by audience and musicians snapping their fingers, rhythmic hand clapping and a concluding spirited and unanimous yell, “yahh!”The “Landscapes” theme of Sunday’s concert was evident after a 10-minute intermission starting with a traditional favorite, the audience gleefully clapping in accompaniment as the band rolled out John Phillip Sousa’s 1889 classic march, “The Thunderer”. Pierre Plante’s “American River Song” was next, again showcasing woodwind instrumentalists with the lyrical “Shenandoah” refrain meandering through it and with John Prillo, trumpet, and lilting clarinet and flute.The second solo trumpet selection — and again followed by resounding applause and gleeful smile from conductor — was Mike Gill performing Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”. The afternoon’s concluding selection was the soaring, three-part “Redrock Mountain” written by the Italian composer Rossano Galante and including passages with familiar and well-loved melodies from American film. At the concert’s conclusion, audience stood and clapped, Conductor Keating once again raising his arms and smiling as he made a broad gesture toward musicians and exited the podium to join the applauding audience.Sunday’s performance included brief introductory remarks by Lake City Band’s Ken Matzick who marveled at a fine culmination after just seven cumulative hours rehearsal time by the visiting and local musicians. “It’s a wonder,” he said, “as it comes together.”Matzick — familiar to Lake City audiences as he joins Tara Hardy performing Taps at both the May and November Veterans’ ceremonies in Veterans’ Park — expressed thanks which included Rebecca Hall, staff, and school district for use of gymnasium and school facilities; school facilities manager Darren Hardy; Tara Hardy and Terry Anderson for promotion; and Bill Goodwin, Jim Rowe, Mike Gill, and Dave Menapace for logistics, including transport and set up of instruments.
Town of Lake City Board of Trustees is currently on the hunt for a new member (see notice page 11), after unanimously approving the resignation of Amber Votruba at their Wednesday, July 17 meeting.According to Town Manager Lex Mulhall, Votruba was appointed to the board but was never sworn in, so the approval of her resignation was a formality. Votruba and her husband, Josh, are proprietors of Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill, and during the bustling summer season with the restaurant closed only on Wednesdays, said Mulhall, as Votruba communicated to him, she simply did not have time to devote to being a Town Trustee.In other town news, a new Town Clerk has been hired, Grant Massey, whose parents, David and Diane Massey, own a home in the area.Massey, 29, previously worked in Dallas, Texas, for a corporation called The Judge Group, specializing in recruiting, executive staffing, IT consultancy and learning solutions. His area of expertise was in security clearance for commercial defense contractors.His desire to move to Lake City originated with the notion of escaping Texas summer heat, in addition to the fact that he had been for some time looking to get into Town Government. Having been coming to Lake City for many years with his parents, he jumped at the opportunity to become Town Clerk and live in Lake City full-time.The Massey family has been visiting Lake City in summer for approximately 47 years, and his parents purchased a home here 13 years ago. He tells WORLD that while technically, home base for his parents is Irving, Texas, they mainly live out of their RV and keep on the move owing to his father’s career as an HR recruiter and talent manager.It was because of this moving around so frequently that Massey was homeschooled for his High School education, but once he graduated, he earned his degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.When asked what his first impression of the job as Town Clerk were, he said, “everyone has been so friendly and welcoming.” He also said that larger towns have larger administrative staffs, sometimes 4 or 5 clerks, and while that’s not necessary in Lake City because of its population, he knows it is going to take him a while to become fully acclimated to the job of Town Clerk. “I imagine it will be a few years before I really have a handle on everything that a single Town Clerk needs to learn. The breadth and depth of this job are enormous.”For now, Massey and his Corgi-mix, Rufus, are settling into the Massey family home here in Lake City and enjoying the cooler temperatures.Town Manager Lex Mulhall says he is thankful to again have a clerk, and wishes to remind readers that Town office hours have changed; open 8-5 Monday, Wednesday and Friday, closed Tuesday and Thursday.
If possible, I would like to submit a letter to the editor.My name is Dana and I am from Huntsville, Alabama. I would like to share my experience and thoughts of your lovely Lake City.I had the opportunity to start the San Juan Solstice 50 (SJS50) for the third time this year AND this year was my first finish! WHEW!!I have been running ultras and volunteering as well, for the past 24 years. I have experienced many race atmospheres in many places over those years. I would like to ensure that the SJS50 race organizers and volunteers confidently know that their sense of community and family is lovingly forecasted upon the SJS50 runners.Please know that your lovely townspeople, merchants, and SJS50 race volunteers are the best of the best! The race atmosphere is very welcoming and I love the “old school” vibe of the run. The race organizers and volunteers each go above and beyond to ensure that every runner is very well-taken care of. The post-race breakfast event was phenomenal!I was blessed to spend two weeks in Lake City prior to the race. I am from Alabama and know, very well, what southern hospitality consists of. The town of Lake City is top-notch and “we southerners” do not have anything on you all. Thank you for your kindness!Dana OvertonHuntsville, Alabama
Hinsdale County appropriately celebrates the sesquicentennial of the county’s creation during a day-long celebration on Colorado Day, next Thursday, August 1. Hinsdale County and Town of Lake City’s first cabin, now at venerable 150 years age, both predate creation of the State of Colorado, 148 years ago, which is celebrated on August 1. In recognition of Hinsdale County’s formation on February 10, 1874, self-guided tours of offices in the 1877 Hinsdale County Courthouse, together with the equally historic Hinsdale County Courtroom upstairs, will be thrown open to the public from 1 to 3 p.m. on August 1. Staff in the County courthouse’s ground floor offices — Assessor Sherry Boyce, County Clerk Joan Roberts, and Treasurer Lori Lawrence — will be on hand to explain the significance of their individual offices, with the added incentive of snacks and light refreshments which will be served up in the Hinsdale County Assessor’s Office. This is followed by a free-of-charge Community Picnic catered by Climb Elevated Eatery which will be held beneath and adjacent to the Town Park pavillion from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. In addition to the picnic — exact particulars of menu remaining a surprise — Lake City/Hinsdale County Chamber of Commerce will host a cash bar. Jacob McDonald — no relation to the county’s revered judge, County Court Judge James McDonald — from State Historic Fund will be on hand to highlight preservation projects in the county which have been partially funded through the State Historic Fund. The fund is responsible for preservation projects on a number of historic landmarks, most recently the Getz family’s Lost Trail Barn on the upper Rio Grande, restoration of the County courthouse building in 2017, Lake City Arts’ acquisition of the historic Hough Block, and renovations of Hinsdale County Museum in the Finley Block 1999-2000, to name a few. Built in 1877 and Colorado’s oldest continually operating County courthouse, the two-story frame building in Italianate Revival architecture with paired cornice brackets is intentionally symmetrical with sash windows on either side of doorways leading to a central ground floor hallway. On both the back, west facing portion of the building overlooking Veterans’ Park, and east-facing front of the building on Henson Street, three equally proportioned double-hung windows light the upstairs courtroom and offices of Hinsdale Country Judge and Clerk of the Court. The overriding sense of symmetry on the front portion of the building carried through to the centered front door which is balanced on either side by the trim of equal-proportioned double-hung, six-pane windows. At $4,450, local contractor Jonathan Ogden was successful bidder to build the 30×60’ two-story frame courthouse in 1877. The courthouse was built on lots donated by local businessman J.W. Brockett and members of the Lake City Bar Association were so confident that the building would be completed on time that they named a committee which sent out invitations to a Grand Celebration Ball to be held on June 8, 1877. Unfortunately, windows for the edifice failed to arrive in time for the grand celebration and a string orchestra provided music for the somewhat breezy ball in the upstairs courtroom without the benefit of windows. Italianate Revival architecture was already outdated and considered somewhat old fashioned by the time the building was completed in 1877 but reflects an architecture style with which early pioneers of Lake City were familiar. Notable events in the building’s history were two successive evenings when noted Suffragate Susan B. Anthony spoke on the courthouse’s front steps in September, 1877, and the first manslaughter conviction of Alferd Packer and his sentence to be hanged by the neck, as pronounced by District Court Judge M. B. Gerry, “until you are dead, dead, dead, and may God have mercy upon your soul” in 1883. The courthouse narrowly averted being burned to the ground by an unknown arsonist in 1879 when kerosene-soaked gunnysacks were ignited in the hallway in front of the doorway to the County Clerk’s office. The building was successively remodeled — sometimes with sensitivity, sometimes otherwise — starting in the 1950s when ceilings were lowered, indoor toilets installed for the first time, and linoleum in carpet design used to cover the original floorboards on which Susan B. Anthony walked on in 1877. Wrought iron kerosene chandeliers were removed from the courtroom but safely stored during a remodeling in 1954. The chandeliers were rehung and remain to this day thanks to the efforts of newly-formed Hinsdale County Historical Society in 1974. Most significant in the building’s preservation was a multi-year $750,000 renovation ending in 2017 which leveraged local funding with donations and significant grant funding from the State Historic Fund and Colorado Dept. of Local Affairs’ Energy and Mineral Impact Fund. Sensitive rehabilitation of the courthouse building 2016-2017 included foundation repair, new electric wiring and heating, removal of the courtroom’s linoleum flooring to reveal the original floorboards, and — perhaps most significant — returning ceilings in ground floor offices to near their original 12’ height. In addition to Hinsdale County at the 150-year-mark, 2024 is notable as a preamble to Town of Lake City’s 150th anniversary which actually occurs in 2025. In terms of municipal history, 2024 is significant as the 150th anniversary of Town Founder Enos T. Hotchkiss constructing the town’s first habitation in August, 1874. Hotchkiss was supervisor on the crew of men building the Saguache & San Juan Toll Road from Saguache, 96 miles to the present site of Lake City via Los Pinos Indian Agency, across the Powderhorn Valley by way of Beaver Creek and then up the Lake Fork Valley. Hotchkiss tarried at the forks of the Lake Fork at what was then known as Godman’s Creek — now Henson Creek — to build the first habitation in what was to become the Town of Lake City. The single room cabin, windowless, and with dirt roof and floor, was located at the northwest corner of what was to become Gunnison Avenue and 2nd Street, now the location of Dan Murphy’s M4 Realty.
On Friday and Saturday July 12-13, volunteers from Lake City, Georgia, Wyoming, Utah and Durango supported 146 Hardrock 100 runners in accomplishing their 100-mile trek across the beautiful San Juans: Silverton, Lake City, Ouray, Telluride and back to Silverton.I would like to thank Troy Strayer, Robert Hudgeons, Laurel Darren, Amanda Hartman, Mike Ralph, Harry MacKendrick, Wade Wandry, Brant Cunningham, Bill Reinhardt, Leslie Nichols, Morris Coile, James Walsh, Matt Carling, Anna Kuznetsova, Siqi Wu, Eric Hodgson, Erik Henderson, Michele Frank, Alex Belisle, David Herring, Maurice Rodriguez, Eric Krohn, Rachel Krohn, and Daniel Krohn. Lake City Community School students, staff, and alumni volunteers for 2024: Rebecca Hall, Lily Virden, Caitlin Rhodes, Bennett Levine, Forrest Swift, Priya Hartman, Silas Hartman, Elliot Hartman, Levi Hartman and Rowan McNeese.Additionally, I would like to graciously thank Greg Collins (water tank); Utah’s Sanitation and Joe Hearn (dumpster); Lake City Community School (suburban and grill); San Juan Solstice (all the things); R.E. Hall (generator); and Dan Scroggins (trailer).The trail community is full of incredible people. I was humbled to spend my weekend in the presence of such grit, perseverance, uplifting human spirit and kindness. It is always a great day at the HRH Sherman aid station. Thanks to all of you! Thank you,Martha Reinhardt:HRH Sherman Aid Station Captain
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