Welcome to the Canyon Echo on another windy Spring Friday. I’m Jane Reuter and I’m here to give you a recap of this week’s news around the foothills, plus share some local stories you won’t find anywhere else!

This week we are talking about construction work that is going to shape our summer and our future, as well as some local faces with their own stories to tell.

Let’s dig into it!

The sounds of construction will fill Bergen Park for the next several months as large projects on two neighboring sites are officially underway. Both aim to enhance Evergreen, the larger fire station with greater safety and the natatorium with not only more fun, but a place for area swimmers to practice in a competition-level pool with features for all ages.

But the construction at Buchanan will likely soon drown out that of Station 2 as the pool is just the beginning. Groundbreakings for the skatepark, pavilion and entire 42-acre park remodel will also be happening in the next couple of months. It’s months of work for both agencies that has been years in the planning.

“It’s so crazy to look out and see all of you standing where there will be water,” said EPRD board member Betsy Hays.

Meanwhile, keep your butterfly stroke going strong. You can doing it there in about a year.

Why it matters: Following the winter that wasn’t, and a spring that so far hasn’t delivered its customary wet, heavy snowfalls, water districts aren’t waiting to tell customers their Kentucky bluegrass might be a little thirsty and lot less lush this year.

What’s happening: Morrison enacted a restriction of no more than two days a week, but set no time limit on watering. Evergreen Metro District is asking for volunteer customer restrictions on water use. Both will step it up if needed. If they haven’t happened in your community yet, restrictions will be coming soon.

Why it matters: Lake Evergreen, once a postcard-pretty spot for ice skating and other winter recreation, just had its shortest ice season ever at a mere two weeks — and it’s been shrinking for years. Several in the area think it’s time for an indoor ice rink with year-round activity.

What’s happening: One of the men behind the idea broached it with the EPRD board last month. Meanwhile, they’re gathering input and support for their proposal on the Rally for the Rink website.

What to know: The Downtown Evergreen Business Association hired its first paid staffer in a decade. She’s a vivacious difference maker who transformed sleepy Eagle, CO, with ideas and fundraising into a popular destination for ArtWalks and other fun events.

Next step: Kat Conner will focus first on some internal business, but rumor has it there’s already a new fall event in the works. Perhaps something themed after the cloven-hoofed mammals for which Evergreen is already known.

We’ll run the results from this poll in a future newsletter! We promise!

Evergreen senior Ryn Gardner will join former teammates Averi Gardner (sister) and Bella Reece next season on CU’s women’s lacrosse team: Read the story here

Jeffco Public Schools is going through tough times. Take a shot at balancing their budget with education reporter Suzie Glassman’s tool: Read the story here

These are newsy for fun local tidbits we receive that might not rise to the level of a full story, but we feel are more than worth sharing.

While we initially reported that the Rotary Club of Evergreen’s St. Baldrick’s fundraiser, held on St. Patrick’s Day at The Wild Game, raised nearly $10,000, we were wrong. Very and happily wrong. Since then, additional donations have brought the total to $20,000. All of it goes to fund research into cures and treatments for kids with cancer.

Evergreen HS grad Isaac Manobla, who now calls Del Norte home and works as an organic farmer with Sol Mountain Farm, is also a long-distance cyclist. Now 36, he’s ridden from San Diego to Brazil, the top of the Baja to the bottom, and the Canadian Rockies to Mexico. When he’s not riding or farming, Isaac is also a metal sculpture artist and contributes to the Del Norte Arts Council. Mom Diane, who moved here with the family in 1992, is still a resident of Evergreen. His father, veterinarian David Manobla, started Hiwan Animal Hospital.

Rick Peters just self-published a historical fiction book, “Edward Modern” last month. But it wasn’t through his efforts alone that the book is now published.

Peters wrote the book from 2018-2022, and then was diagnosed with an early-onset form of dementia. Rick lost his ability to read and write. But the book wasn’t through. His wife Alice edited the project from where he’d left off, and brought it across the finish line.

That in itself would make a lovely story.

The book follows an engineering student and a female journalist navigating personal, social, and cultural awakening amidst the rise of early 20th-century American skyscraper construction and urban expansion

“Edward Modern” is available on all ebook platforms, and paperback print is available through B&N and Amazon.

I’m working to turn this into a story in the Canyon Courier in the coming weeks!

Idaho Springs’ Natalie Strom and Evergreen’s Jacqueline Crivello recently launched The Glass Sipper, which they describe as “a thoughtfully designed glass hummingbird feeder that blends function and safety with a more elevated aesthetic for outdoor spaces.”

The design features an all-glass nectar reservoir and an antimicrobial top to discourage the growth of bacteria and fungus. It’s dishwasher-safe, leak-resistant and designed with bright colors to help attract birds.

The Glass Sipper is available at TheGlassSipper, participating Wild Birds Unlimited stores, and select small businesses in the Evergreen area.

“We all want to think we’re worth the trouble.”

A lovely sentiment and words to remember when the people in our lives seem difficult. Found in an otherwise meh book I’m reading.

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