By Ron Goodman 

"By the time your readers get the April issue," Russell Kates, general manager of Steele’s Markets, explained, " all of our stores will be fully stocked and back up again." Kates explained that the corporation got into financial difficulty when it opened a new 63,000 square foot store in Fort Collins in December 1999. "That store cost $10 million to open," Kates said, "and as soon as we opened, the city closed the main road to the store. Our sales dropped 70 percent."

Steele’s was able to obtain bank financing to help it through this critical stage. It also hired an expert in the grocery industry who has completed 18 reorganizations of small grocery chains. "You can look forward to changes and improvements in the Niwot store," Kates declared. "Gourmet foods, an upgraded deli counter and prime beef are examples."

"We want our customers to tell us what we need to do so the community will shop there." Kates said. 

"It’s really important that we have community support. We are competitively priced and it is a business. We have to pay the bills, (and) we need the community’s support to be successful." 

The Niwot Park-n-Ride open recently with an additional 25 parking spaces. The lot, which connects to the Route L bus, is located at Highway 287 and Niwot Road. Bus service is available to Longmont and Denver from that location.

Gail Anderson, owner of The Christmas Place now located on the corner of Franklin Street and Second Avenue, is planning a new patio in the front yard. "We plan to have a farmer’s market there this summer," she said.

Niwot Auction building owners are considering the rental of several stores along the Second Avenue side of their new building.

Botanica, which is presently located in the Lockwood Building is moving into the Niwot Emporium space presently occupied by Miss Kitty’s Boutique. The boutique is moving out of Niwot and relocating to Fort Collins.
 
 

Gritty Grandma And Polymorphic Presidents Win Children’s Lit Awards
By Gay Waterbury 

Hooray! The new Newbery and Caldecott medallists have been announced, and we’re not talking bake-offs or marathons here. If you’re in the mood for some delicious reading (pardon me while I mix my metaphors) you will find it in the books whose authors and illustrators have really gone the extra mile creating distinguished contributions to American literature for children.

Both medals are awarded annually by the Association of Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The Newbery, named for 18th century British bookseller John Newbery, has recognized excellence in writing since 1922. The Caldecott, first awarded in 1938 and named for 19th century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott, honors the best in children’s picture book illustrations.

This year, author Richard Peck took top Newbery honors for A Year Down Yonder the sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, which was a 1999 Newbery Honor Book (that is, a runner-up to the big winner) and National Book Award finalist. Although I was eager to read A Year Down Yonder, I had to read its prequel first. What a treat it turned out to be! A Long Way from Chicago quickly finds the short way into the reader’s heart and imagination.

Every August from 1929 through 1935, Joey Dowdel and his sister, Mary Alice, ride the train from Chicago for a week’s visit to grandma’s house on the edge of a small Illinois town (so small it is never named) somewhere on the Wabash Railroad line. Grandma Dowdel says she likes to keep to herself, which, Joey observes, "was uphill work in a town like that." But that doesn’t mean that Grandma doesn’t know everything that goes on there, nor does it keep all kinds of interesting things from happening.
From their first visit, when Joey is nine and Mary Alice is seven, the children find that Grandma Dowdel is a force to be reckoned with. She’s big, shrewd, and has a reputation for having an itchy trigger finger. She keeps a twelve-gauge Winchester Model 21 shotgun behind the wood box and brings it out occasionally. According to Sheriff O. B. Dickerson, she is a "one-woman crime wave." However, her "crimes" (carried out shamelessly with her grandchildren as accomplices) reveal a much more complex woman. 

One thing’s for sure: nobody crosses Grandma and gets away with it. In her own time and her own way, Grandma will have the last word.

A Long Way from Chicago captures the essence of small-town American life during the Great Depression. The characters are wonderfully drawn with names like Aunt Puss Chapman and Shotgun Cheatham, and they speak in colorful idioms. Grandma responds to every bit of gossip that comes her way with a poker-faced "Do tell," and says things like, " If I could pop all the corns on my toes, I could feed a famine."

Told from Joey’s point of view, this "novel in stories" charts the development of a young boy’s understanding of, and love for, his proud and eccentric—but also wise and compassionate—grandma. If you don’t have a Grandma Dowdel in your own life, you’ll surely want to adopt this one. 

A Year Down Yonder
Richard Peck
Dial Books, $16.99

In A Year Down Yonder, Mary Alice is telling the story. It’s now 1937, and the Dowdel family is feeling the Depression in a very personal way. Mary Alice’s dad has lost his job, and her parents are forced to give up their apartment for smaller accommodations. Seventeen-year-old Joey has a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps planting trees out west, and Mary Alice is sent to live with Grandma Dowdel for the school year.

Even after several summer visits, Mary Alice has not warmed much to the little "hick town" where Grandma lives. She can’t imagine living for a year in a place that doesn’t even have a picture show. Grandma doesn’t give her any time to get adjusted, taking her straight from the train station to enroll in school.

Mary Alice is an easy mark for Mildred Burdick, the class bully, but Mildred will soon have her first taste of Grandma’s justice. On her first night back in Grandma’s house, Mary Alice is reminded whose side Grandma is on. "I can’t fight all your battles for you," says Grandma, "but I can give you a level start."

Once again, Richard Peck proves his skill as a consummate storyteller. We follow Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel through a year of adventures, both sobering and hilarious. Grandma, again, shows her mettle as champion for the underdog and the needy and vanquisher of the high and mighty. Mary Alice discovers that Grandma not only has eyes in the back of her head, but eyes in the back of her heart, as well.
 

David Small won a Caldecott Honor medal in 1998 for The Gardener, written by Sarah Stewart. This year he is the life of the picture book party with So You Want to Be President? This funny and informative compilation of presidential facts and anecdotes illustrates how diverse a group of people have sought and attained our nation’s highest office. 

Small’s illustrations, in the style of political cartoons, are delightfully droll. Find yourself smiling at Andrew Johnson, who was once a tailor, pinning up the pants of Ronald Reagan in one, and another in which Richard Nixon flashes his victory sign as pins fly in the White House bowling alley.

If you want to be president, you’re in colorful company. 
 

NHS Basketball Coach Ernie Reichert will retire from teaching after this year, and though the decision was not easy, he’ll give up his basketball coaching duties as well. 

"It was a struggle," Reichert said of the decision to step down. "I really love the kids." Reichert has taught at Niwot since it opened in the fall of 1972. His ties to the basketball program go back almost as far. He served as athletic director for several years before becoming an assistant basketball coach under Don Winger in 1982. When Bob Banning took over from Winger, Reichert became the JV coach. When Banning left to pursue graduate studies, Reichert became head coach.

Reichert plans to spend more time in his garden. "I plan to take it easy, take a year off, then decide what I want to do," he said. 

"In this day and age, it’s a game of specialists," Reichert lamented. "You have to have players who shoot year round." The demands of running a spring and summer program were more than he could put his heart into. 

With eight undergraduate varsity players coming back, Reichert was tempted to return. Though Chris Hauck and Jeff Brent will graduate, Paul Creighton, Tyler Resch, Tim Maguire, Josh Anfang, Seth Thomas, Mike Olsen, Jon Borgese and Sam Eubanks will be back. "It took us until the end to jell," Reichert noted. 

Niwot, a No. 24 seed in the tournament, played its best game of the season when it upset No. 9 seed Alameda in the state regionals, 50-48. Early in the game when Tim Maguire hit a 15 foot shot from the corner, Bob Creighton, Paul’s father, turned to Joel Maguire, Tim’s dad, and said, "With the game on the line, I want to see Tim take that shot." The elder Maguire responded that he would rather see someone like Paul Creighton take it inside for a game winning attempt. As it turned out, Bob Creighton had the right call. With a suffocating zone defense, Niwot had led the whole game, but Alameda tied it up in the last few minutes. With 30 seconds on the clock, Niwot played for the last shot. As the clock wound down, Seth Thomas found Maguire open in the corner for a game winning shot with 2 seconds on the clock. Niwot lost the next round to eventual state champ Pueblo South after leading at halftime. 

Creighton was voted Offensive MVP by his teammates, while sophomore Anfang was voted Defenseve MVP. Creighton was also selected as Best All Around and Anfang was Best Young Player. Resch and Creighton were voted Most Inspirational by the team.