NEWS Briefs & NOTES from your editor, 5/18/23

Weather: Wow! 7 straight days of rain! Are we glad to see the sun again! Over the first five-days: Some areas, like Ponderosa Park, got 7 inches, and Greeley got 4+ inches. Our area got around 2 inches. ==Hwy 72 was closed from Golden to Nederland /and/ Cherry Creek Park roads buckled and were washed away, and are closed. The water rose 10 feet! === As far as temperatures, it got pretty cool (bring back the blankets at night). Daytime temps were about 60 degrees. But, Tuesday and Wednesday’s sun brought up warmer temperatures in the high 70s, == We will have a couple of days around 60 now, and then the mid- to high-70s next week, with chance for more rain in the afternoons. Wow! is our grass growing fast and tall! 

May Archaeology and History Preservation Month=== Our article this week is about the history of the early years of Longmont, and how the Strawberry Festival got started. (The city is celebrating its 150 year anniversary this year!)

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month===  Our article this week is about “telehealth for Anxiety and Behavioral Health.” It includes an easy way to join professionally run groups online, rather than do an individual treatment/session in person, which currently is hard to find.

ADDICTION on your back? — Recovery in action. SMART meeting tonight, May 18th, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., Lyons Community Church basement 350 Main St. Lyons CO. – free (and it is non-Christian focused sessions, like AA). – you can register confidentially, or just drop by at 7pm. Email: consultJames@gmail.com.

LEAF will no longer purchase the building on Main Street (it was “under contract” to buy). See “letter” to the public from Director Lory Barton. 5/18/23

APPLE VALLEY ART FEST (with Todd & Rebecca Jackson) is on August 5^th. You can contact her for info or a booth. We will have more information closer to that date.

Jazz in morning? – the Mid/Hi school jazz band gave the elementary school kids an impromptu performance on Tuesday!

UKULELE CAMP – we don’t list all the many camps, but I thought since this was on Apple Valley Road, I’d let you know about it ====== Have young children interested in playing ukulele?  Join Ukulele Sprouts 1/2 day Summer Camp July 10-14 at The Alchemy Barn (1005 Apple Valley Rd. Lyons, CO 80540). Camp will be hosted by Phoebe Hunt who has taught at Rockygrass Kids academy for 6 years as well as played Telluride, Rockygrass and Folks Fest.  Spaces are limited to 12-15 children ages 6-10 years old. There is a 10% sibling discount! Enroll at: ukulelesprouts.com 

******School’s Out****PARTY TIME********

1. May 25, 2023, 3:30 pm to 5:30pm – LYONS – School’s Out! Summer Kick Off Party – for all school-aged kiddos, and their parents, at Lyons Dairy Bar & Thor’s Pet Palace: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Free! — Face paintings, sidewalk chalk art, fairy hair (fee$), coloring contest, balloons (fee$), reptile viewing, beanie babies, and more!
2. May 25, 1 – 2:30 p.m. — PINEWOOD SPRINGS TWEENS & TEENS — IT’S THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Join us at the ESTES PK library to celebrate! Come get a free book by signing up for the Summer Reading Program, enjoy some free pizza and snacks, make art and play Just Dance on our Wii. A Tween / Teen Summer Reading Program event.  REGISTER==ok to just show up if you are reading this too late!

Environmental CONFLUENCE PROGRAM a SUCCESS! – comments by Bob Brankenridge: Great presentations last night at our school’s “Confluence” event showing the research they do along the St Vrain rivers, and with the Redstone Museum, and even work on a Community Garden project. It seemed to be nearly a full house in the auditorium! Lyons Ecology Advisory Board Chair Greg Lowell started with a brief intro on the role of EAB within town governance. This annual event “brings together Lyons students from kindergarten (and also preschool!) to 12th grade, to present their year of environmental leadership and conservation learning in our community.” The students and teachers are doing lots of great things, including growing food, stocking trout, and monitoring river and pond water chemistry, temperature, and aquatic life. Congratulations to all! === Adrean Kirk, Lyons Community Farm, says: “We love Lyons! If you were at the high school last night you saw the kids who we are working with. Mr Glover’s environmental tech class is offering lots in the community garden this season.”

LYONS STREET SWEEPING: is scheduled to take place for all Town of Lyons streets beginning on Monday, May 22 between 4-5 a.m. starting on High Street. The goal for Monday, May 22nd and Tuesday, May 23rd is to complete the North side of town in this approximate order of areas (hitting all streets in between) moving West to East. == The goal for Wednesday, May 24th is to start on Main Street and Railroad starting at 4-5 a.m. then moving to the South side of Town in the following approximate order of areas (hitting all streets in between) moving East to West. == these services are being performed by a Contractor who will not clean or sweep where items are items obstructing the roadway.

BEAR SIGHTINGS in LaVern Johnson Park and RiverBend on Wednesday 5/18/23. //Eagles are nesting there.

WATER SAFETY for our LITTLE ONES:  There was a sighting in Lyons at Lyons Elementary last Tuesday, May 9, early in the afternoon of an otter— Josh the Baby Otter was in town to promote water safety to the kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. Nancy Hammans and Josh the Baby Otter (aka: Emily Forsberg) presented safe play around water this summer. Students learned how dangerous being around water can be and always have an adult with you

DO YOU LOVE BEES and are good at talking to people? — Tyler Stellern is looking for Market Booth Attendant to help me at our Non-Profit Bee Advocate booth for the Boulder Creek Fest May 27-29. Simply Bee Conservation (SBC) will be paying $22 an hour to talk to people and help us sell donated artesian honey and native bee houses to raise money for our good works. We will also be educating our neighbors on how to support pollinators. Tyler@simplybeeorganics.com

Western Stars art gallery added yet another statute to the front of their store — a standing & waving bronze bear! by local sculptor Christine Knapp. Check it out.

BANK of the WEST now has a full staff – 5 people. The new permanent manager’s name is Deanna Zick (wife of Lyons Fire District Chief Peter Zick). She has 20 yeas of experience in the mortgage industry (in Arizona). — We will do an article later this summer or fall when they make the official full-transition to the new bank name and operations.

ART CLASS FULL — June 2, 10 a.m., Lyons library: Beginners drawing class (thru the summer) by local popular artist Anita Miller = class & waiting list are both full.

RANGERS Protecting Our Park/Rules:  The Bark Ranger Volunteer assists by walking the Town of Lyons Park grounds,  reporting poor dog behavior directly to Town Staff, and educating visitors about the parks. – see ARTICLE.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS — Regan Delker says: “I am reaching out because I am in need of a few volunteer host families for some amazing exchange students from Germany who are coming to Colorado for their exchange year. They are here on a special grant program. CBYX is a scholarship program, funded by the U.S. Congress and the German Parliament (Bundestag), which brings German high school students to the United States and sends Americans to Germany for an academic year. Started in 1983.” For more details see Facebook or contact: reganpriceciee@gmail.com

===CONSTRUCTION===

1. May 22 – Hygiene Rd. will be closed at Hwy 36, and detour route is St. Vrain Road.
2. May 22 – upper Broadway (N. Boulder) will have lane closures; alternate routes suggested.
3. Hwy 36 from Left Hand Canyon area to Apple Valley Rd. in Lyons – construction and partial closures from May 15 to August. (see our previous construction article for more details)
4. Vasquez stage in Sandstone Park is expanding (more news to come).
5. UPDATE: We just got more details on the HYGIENE RD. construction 5/19/23: Boulder County will begin a roadway resurfacing project on Hygiene Rd beginning, Monday, May 22. Work will take place between 7 am and 4 pm, Monday thru Thursday. It is anticipated to last through July, weather permitting.  Learn more
6. May 23 – I-25 closure at night: Project: widening progresses as crews continue concrete paving, and repair bridges. To shift I-25 traffic into a new alignment, a full closure of northbound I-25 from Harmony Road to Mulberry Street will take place the night of May 23. The detour is estimated to add an additional 15 minutes of time to your drive.

===GOVERNMENT===

—-Colorado unemployment is at 2.8%

—-Gov. Polis signed a bill “Apprenticeships Navigator Program” into law. Provides training opportunities for students to prepare them for jobs after graduation that do not need a degree.

—-Gov Polis signed into law 4 Wildfire Bills, which include putting into action the “last resort insurance,” and making fire rebuilds and repairs exempt from sales and use taxes.

==SPORTS== Our Nuggets basketball team won the first round of games in the Playoffs, and now, on Tuesday, they won the first game in the Western Conference Finals. There are 7 games total, and the next one is Thursday night, with the last one at the end of May. People can’t stop praising two-time MVP Nikola Jokic (the Joker) for his amazing skills, and another triple-double this week! But also mentioned during this game were Bruce Brown and Michael Porter Jr. The LA Lakers are an outstanding team, with LeBron James playing.