by Rebecca Young

You, your family, friends, neighbors - anyone who's interested in local history, good writing, outdoor adventures, or the sublime art of photography --are invited by Jefferson County Historical Society to spend Saturday, September 22nd with four writers who have captured the stories of some of the remarkable people and places that made Front Range History.

Please join us at Mt. Vernon Country Club for our first annual book-and-author event, Reflections: Colorado Authors, Colorado Stories. Specially designed to acquaint our community with its history and the local authors who bring it to life, this full-day event promises to be educational and entertaining! All proceeds from the event will go to support the Preservation Project for Heritage Grove.

"Nothing Will Work Unless You Do"

-Maya Angelou

by Diane Fuchs

Certainly, when it comes to the operations of JCHS, Ms. Angelou's quote is "right on." As a volunteer society, everything we do depends on committed individuals donating their time, talents and energy. I want to share with you the phenomenal contributions the following wonderful people make to your historical society:

On June 23, 2007 eight board members and their spouses assisted in the planting of flower pots and building benches to create a boundary for the recently designated "preserved area" of Heritage Grove. Rebecca Young was responsible for arranging for the discount flowers, gravel, potting soil, and pots with our friends at Evergreen Nursery. Simon Young helped Hank Fuchs put together the wagon wheel benches that provide an attractive and useful barrier. Randi and Juan Marcos and Mike and Pat Strunk gave up their Saturday mornings to plant and paint.

While we prepared the garden in front of the Heritage Grove Pavilion for the summer season, Pat Strunk taught me what Yarrow looks like!

Rebecca Young is responsible for our newsletter, "The Record", and all of our marketing material, including the ones promoting the upcoming "Reflections" event. Without Randi Marcos, JCHS would not be as financially viable. She has done a wonderful job distributing our books for sale through out Jefferson County. Randi also manages the rental contracts for Heritage Grove. Susan Jones has assisted Randi in making our books available on our website and setting up the Paypal system. Susan is absolutely fantastic in understanding and maintaining our website along with other necessary computer needs.

Our other members contribute in so many ways. Hank Fuchs spends time keeping track of our finances and submitting tax information. He helps to maintain Medlen School along with JoAnn and Pem Dunn. Juanita Weare and Barbie Alderfer keep our membership lists in order -- and this is in addition to serving, respectively, as Recording Secretary and Corresponding Secretary for the Society. Bud Weare, Mike Strunk, and Hank Alderfer serve on the board as general directors and are very committed to the preservation of Heritage Grove. Susan Halama serves not only as one of our directors, but has written and published some wonderful articles in behalf of JCHS in several of our community newspapers and magazines. Dale Devine, a new board member has, for the past several years, helped in the development of education programs at Hiwan Museum. Jeanne Collopy-Bach serves as the Society's Program Coordinator and has been instrumental in putting together our "Reflections" event.

Hiwan staff members have been wonderful to work with and a huge thank you goes out to John Steinle and Rod Matlock. John is always willing to carry a ladder, help arrange grove tables and just be generally helpful in all manners. Rod watches out (in an entirely unofficial capacity) for Heritage Grove just because he is a caring individual. He noticed a potential beetle attack on one of the trees when helping to set up for Summerfest. Lam Tree Service was called in ASAP, and after Mike Goldblatt's personal inspection, all the Grove's pines were sprayed. The suspect tree is being carefully monitored.

Jefferson County Historical Society would not exist without these wonderfully committed individuals - and there's always room for more! If you would like to serve on the board or help out with any of a variety of tasks please let me know. In particular, we currently need help with:

• Making up a "Reader's Basket" door prize for the "Reflections" event. Put together a basket with a value of about $50 with reader type goodies. You will be reimbursed for your costs.
• We still need individuals to serve as Grove Maintenance Director and Oral History Coordinator.

Come join the committed individuals who do so much to make JCHS work. And when you come across any one of these fantastic folks, please THANK THEM FOR ALL THEY DO.

"Books" Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams, "I could not live without books."

Horsefeathers! The Art of Horsehair Basketry by Linda Aguilar

Be sure to stop in and see our newest exhibit, open now through Sunday, November 18. Aguilar, who is a Chumash basket weaver originally from California, will be at Hiwan on Thursday, October 11 at 7 PM to give a program on her basket weaving. We do require reservations for this special program and request a donation of $7 to cover costs.

From Pots to Pianos ...

We have had several fantastic donations to the museum recently. A man doing research on the Hopi tiles in Dr. Jo's room has given us a ca. 1900 San Ildefonso pot, a ca. 1880s Rio Grande rug, and his entire collection of pot shards (to be used in our education programs). We are also pleased to announce the donation of Father Douglas' piano from the Church of the Transfiguration. Very exciting!

And speaking of pots, if anybody has any teapots that they would like to donate, we are looking to acquire a few more to use during our teas. Please call Meghan if you have one you would like to donate.