Reading Buddies unites kids and teens
Douglas County Libraries is seeking teens in grades seven to 12
and children in grades one through three for Reading Buddies, a
program that pairs teen volunteers with young readers. All buddies
must apply to participate in the program, which begins in June.
Through the program, teen buddies are trained to interact with
struggling readers in ways that will encourage a love of reading
based on the child’s interests and developmental needs.
“My buddy and I were paired up because we both like sports,”
said Hayley Marr, 14, who participated in a spring Reading Buddies
program at Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock. “I looked
forward to going every week, and liked playing games and doing
activities that helped him learn.”
Parents whose children have participated say little buddies also
look forward to attending, and that little buddies enjoy the fun,
relaxed reading experience with a caring older buddy. Among young
buddies, the program has resulted in increased independence,
interest and ability in reading.
Teens benefit from the program, too, and not just in terms of
hours earned toward high school graduation community service
requirements.
“I used to think I wanted to be a high school counselor,” said
Marr. “This helped me learn that I really like working with younger
kids. My buddy and I had a ton of fun.”
Reading Buddies meets once a week for eight weeks. The program
is available at Highlands Ranch Library, Lone Tree Library, Parker
Library and Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock. Weekly
sessions include reading aloud, book extension and writing
activities, and reading, writing and phonics games.
Applications are available at the library. For more information,
call 303-791-7323 or visit DouglasCountyLibraries.org.
Road work to impact Founders Village
Road work soon will impact some streets in Founders Village as
part of the town’s 2010 Pavement Maintenance Program.
One program component, expected to begin the week of May 24, if
weather allows, is concrete street replacement that involves
removing damaged sections of roads and replacing them with new
concrete.
That work will begin in Founders Village, with replacements
being completed on Mikelson Boulevard between Wagonwheel Trail and
Sovereign Street and on Enderud Boulevard between Carlton Street
and Colo. 86.
Construction in those areas is expected to take about three
weeks to complete. Lane closures will occur as the road work is
under way. Motorists do not need to take an alternate route.
However, they are advised to proceed through the areas with
caution.
After Founders Village, concrete replacement will happen in The
Meadows and Plum Creek–Meadows Boulevard between Meadows Parkway
and Coachline Road and Masters Circle, likely starting in late
June.
Information about all 2010 Pavement Maintenance Program work can
be found at CRgov.com/pmp.
Additionally, those who have questions may contact construction
manager Carl Armijo, 720-733-2471 or carmijo@CRgov.com.
Residents can tour new reservoir next month
Castle Rock residents and business owners can get an up-close
look at Rueter-Hess Reservoir, which is being built in Parker, and
which the town is helping to fund.
The June 12 tour will include four stops around the reservoir
and will showcase the work involved and preview what is yet to
come.
Ground was broken on the reservoir in fall 2008, and work is
expected to be completed in 2012.
The reservoir will hold drinking water for Castle Rock, Parker,
Castle Pines North and other local municipalities. Plans call for
the reservoir’s recreational uses to ultimately include parks,
trails, fishing and nonmotorized boats.
The tour is free and will include information about the town’s
involvement in the project and about Castle Rock’s broader
long-term water goals. Light refreshments will be served, and
attendees will receive a memento to help remind them to conserve
water.
Space on the tour bus is limited, so reservations are required
by June 4. Contact crichards@CRgov.com or
720-733-6002 to secure a space or ask questions.
Check-in for the tour will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the tour bus
will leave town hall at 9 a.m. Participants should be back to Town
Hall, 100 N. Wilcox St., by noon.
Douglas/Elbert Task Force moves to bigger site
The Douglas/Elbert Task Force completed the move of its offices
and food bank April 23, and the doors opened to its clients April
28.
The new space is at 1638 Park St. The Food Bank is temporarily
located in what will be the future home of the Thrift Store. For
the near future the Thrift Store will remain in its location at 416
Jerry St.
For more than 25 years, the task force has been meeting the
immediate needs of residents of Douglas and Elbert counties who are
in financial distress and at risk of becoming homeless, helping
them to work through troublesome times with dignity.
In 2009 the agency served 14,630 clients, 96 percent of them
required food to survive, and more than half of those clients were
children. In 2009, the task force distributed more than $522,000 in
food, hygiene, and household supplies, 30 percent more than in
2008, and has distributed more than $190,000 in food, hygiene and
household supplies and clothing in the first four months of
2010.
Visit www.detaskforce.org for more
information.
Search, rescue team earns national Valor award
Douglas County Search & Rescue, along with four other
Colorado teams, was presented with the National Association for
Search and Rescue’s Valor Award. The award, which has been awarded
twice in the past, was also presented to Alpine Rescue Team
(Evergreen), Custer County Search and Rescue Team (Westcliffe), El
Paso County Search and Rescue Team (Colorado Springs) and Rocky
Mountain Rescue Group (Boulder).
The teams earned the award based on a high altitude rescue that
occurred July 27-28, 2009, when 26 members of the five teams went
“above and beyond the call of duty, exemplifying the selfless,
perhaps risky commitment to others embodied in the NASAR motto,
‘That Others May Live.'”
The rescue took place entirely at night on the traverse between
two of Colorado’s most dangerous 14,000-foot peaks, Crestone Peak
and Crestone Needle, in a gully notorious for rock fall and
surrounded by 70-degree rock faces of 1,500 feet. Rescuers had to
climb nearly 4,500 vertical feet, ascending more than 3,000
vertical feet to the summit, then perform a technical lowering for
1,700 vertical feet and then climb back up 1,500 vertical feet to a
pass before descending another 1,500 feet.
Ten successive roped technical rescue lowering stations were
required to lower the injured climber from 14,000 feet to a
helicopter at 12,300 feet — all before severe summer thunderstorms
developed over the peaks.
The rescue was unusual from typical high-mountain missions in
several ways:
To avoid dangerous, forecasted afternoon thunderstorms this
entire mission was completely performed during the night on one of
the most notorious and severe 14,000-foot’ peaks in Colorado.
Rescuers from the five SAR teams had to work together in severe
technical terrain with very difficult route finding, which was all
done by headlamp.
Command and coordination was entirely by radio, spread across
two sides of a large mountain; the command post was 15 miles
northeast of the accident site, ground access was from the
southeast and the lowering to the helicopter was on the southwest
flank.
The technical evacuation involved creative and improvised
anchors requiring expertise far above the norm.
Rescuers’ efforts were physically demanding, requiring rescuers
to climb over 4000 vertical feet. Rescuers ascended more than 3000
vertical feet to the summit, performed a technical lowering for
1,700 vertical feet, and then climbed back up 1,000 vertical feet
to a pass before descending another 1,900 vertical feet to the
trailhead.