By Bruce Warren
Chris and Josanne Wiorek of Longmont are planning a family trip, but
it’s not exactly a vacation. By late September or October, the Wioreks
plan to be in China, for at least the next two years and possibly longer,
where they will work together with the Chinese people on health improvement
projects.
Josanne is a native of rural Niwot, where her parents, Stewart and
Josie Poet, still reside. After graduating from Niwot High School,
Josanne earned a nursing degree from the University of Northern Colorado.
Chris moved to Colorado from Milwaukee after obtaining an engineering degree.
“This has been in the works for a long time,” Chris noted. Josanne
and I decided this was the right time.” Their 12-year-old son Sam
and 2-year-old daughter Anna will accompany them.
Their venture is sponsored by IDEAS, a non-profit organization which
arranges partnerships with foreign governments in some of the poorest countries
in the world. “We had a friend who got to be president of IDEAS,”
Chris explained. “There were opportunities for business people to
go to China. The more we looked at it, the more we liked what we
saw.”
Although their Christian faith led them in this direction, they are
not missionaries in the traditional sense. “We enjoy helping people,”
Chris said. “We saw a need in China and an opportunity. It’s
a good way to use our skills to help other people.”
Josanne said, “Our goal as development workers in China is to serve
the whole person; to model our work after the character of God.”
She found encouragement in a passage from Isaiah: “Seek justice, reprove
the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
The Chinese government invited them to come over, and gave them permission
to work there. Wioreks don’t anticipate problems with practicing
their religion. Chris notes that the Chinese constitution provides
for freedom of religion, but that to the Chinese government, this means
westerners may practice their faith with other westerners, but not with
the Chinese people. “We can’t share openly with the Chinese people.
We have to wait until they ask,” he explained.
Their first project will be construction of a holistic Community Health
Education Center in southwest China. IDEAS works with
the Chinese government to obtain the site and then provides funding and
oversight of the day-to-day operations.
Chris will focus his efforts on water filtration, wastewater treatment
and agriculture while in China. Josanne will provide health education
and assistance. Chris describes their work as “village-based appropriate
technology.” He continued, “It has to be appropriate for the people.
They have to take ownership and see the value of what we’ve done-value
for their families. They must have the motivation to maintain it
because it has to be sustained by them, not by us.”
Their first order of business is to build a relationship of trust with
the people, “so we do the project they think is needed, so they take ownership
right away,” Chris said. One obstacle is the language.
All of the Wioreks have been studying Chinese, but as they explain, “ It’s
hard to use on a daily basis over here.”
Support for the project comes from individual donations and a few churches.
They are close to having their trip fully funded, but need a few additional
donors before they can prepare to leave.
“The hardest part is leaving our families,” they explained. Though
all of their extended family is supportive, it is hard for the grandparents
to see their grandchildren go away for several years. Their first
trip home will be in two years. “Sam is excited to go, he likes the
idea,” Chris said. “There is a fear of the unknown, but since we’re
all going, it gives him some comfort.” Sam will attend
an international school in China with other western children.
The average annual income of the people of southwest China is $3600.
Their health care expenditures average $39 per year per person.
The low level of health care contributes to a high infant mortality rate
of 38 per 1000 children. “Kids die of diarrhea and dysentery,” Chris
said. “There are simply no resources to improve water quality.
We hope to help them live longer and stay alive.”
Anyone interested in supporting Chris and Josanne Wiorek should contact
IDEAS through its website at www.ideasworld.org
or by calling IDEAS at its Littleton based office at 720-283-9100.
Further information is available on the website www.fareastfocus.org.
Photo courtesy of Oliver Photography, Louisville
The Wiorek family, Josanne, Sam, Anna and Chris.
By Ron Goodman
Cliff Tharp, a Colorado native, has lived in Niwot with his wife Bernadette
since 1974. They have two children, Tiffani, who is a pharmacist/master
herbalist and Todd who is a master scheduler. Cliff and his wife are expecting
their first grandchild.
Cliff, who is best known for his service as a firefighter, has always
been active in community affairs. He helped start Niwot-Gunbarrel
JayCees, he helps the Niwot Ladies Club put on the Lobster Bashes and helps
the Niwot Optimists with pancake breakfasts and the Easter egg hunt.
“I have always tried to do things to set an example for the community.”
Cliff said. “We cannot stop progress, but we have to try to control
changes in the community. I take care of Engine Number 10 because
it is for everyone in Niwot, the fire district and the county to enjoy.
It is a pleasure to watch the kids and parents enjoy the old truck.”
Cliff loves to take out old Number 10 to as many events as possible.
“I do that for PR for the fire district,” he said, “but mostly for the
kids to get into it.” He has brought the engine to NCA events, especially
Nostalgia Days, since the NCA was formed.
Always active in the fire fighting community, Cliff said, “I always
felt that the customer was first, and the fire department was there for
the community. I tried to move fire fighting forward into the 21st
century, to do a better job.” He wants to “get the departments into
the 21st century and put out fires with less waste of water by using compressed
air foam systems.”
One of his current projects is getting flags for Engine Number 10, including a fire department flag, an EMS flag, and a wildland fire flag.
Cliff was BCFFA president and worked hard when Boulder Rural Fire Department became a tax supported fire district. He made a lot of friends by helping people. “My family has probably suffered by my being gone so much, and for that I am sorry,” he noted. “But my wife is still with me, after 36 years of putting up with all my being gone since coming to Niwot in 1974.”
Cliff retired from IBM after 30 years, and from the Fire District after 21 years of service. He is presently working at STK.
He wants to get more people involved in volunteering. Cliff said,
“Niwot. It is a great area and we all need to get involved, even if it
is only four hours a year per person. You get to meet some great people
and they become friends. That is what I have received back from volunteering
- a lot of great friends.”
Among Cliff’s accomplishments are these awards:
By Jennifer Delaney
The third annual Longmont and Niwot Artists Studio Tour will be
held on Sept. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sept. 22 from noon to 5 p.m.
Studios of approximately 60 local artists will be open to the public during
those hours.
Among the artists who will open their studios are Carolyn Bradley,
Gail Denton, and Linda Roth of Niwot, and Dan Fogelberg of Gunbarrel.
The Old Firehouse Galley will exhibit works by each of the tour’s artists from Sept 6 – 25 and will host a reception on Sept. 6 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The tour is free, and free maps are also available at several locations. During the tour weekend, directional signs will be posted along selected routes, and yellow signs will be in front of each studio.
Carolyn Bradley has been painting with oils for more than 10 years.
While she paints some figures and still lifes, she prefers landscapes and
gets her inspiration from Colorado’s scenic mountains, vast plains and
wildlife. She loves to be outdoors and paint on location to observe the
changing colors of the clouds and landscape. Bradley strives to create
pieces that evoke an emotional response. Besides the upcoming tour, you
can see some of her work at Mary Williams Fine Arts Gallery on Pearl St.
in Boulder, Twiggs in Niwot gallery, and Gallery Easy in Loveland.
When I arrived at Gail Denton’s DyeWorks studio, she was wearing
purple surgical gloves as she put the finishing touches on a large piece
of saffron silk that had been stamped and thermally faxed with sienna elephants
and other original designs. She said, “This would make a wonderful tablecloth!
Someone will see this and know it belongs in their home.”
Each of Denton’s pieces is unique. The stamps are carved in India, but Denton and her partner, Donna Brown, design the thermal faxes (the newest version of a silk screen created on an old mimeograph machine).
Denton’s experience with weaving led to spinning and finally to dying and surface design. Brown is an expert seamstress. Partners now for five years, they collaborate on the overall design to create exquisite and ethereal fabric and clothing. The result is not only resplendent, but the added benefit is that all dyes used for the textiles are natural and nontoxic.
This fall, at the request of their customers, they are branching into menswear, with ties and silk shorts. Denton and Brown are available for private commissions by appointment (303-530-4777) and their natural dyes can be purchased via their website: www.thedyeworks.com. Their work is also available locally at Baby Doe’s in Golden.
Linda
Roth worked as a landscaper for 12 years, developing a knowledge and love
of plants; so the transition to botanical artist was a natural progression.
Botanical art is an ancient, traditional European form with strict guidelines.
While some artists used gauache, or water color pencils, Linda prefers
watercolors. She explained that often people will not identify her preferred
medium as such, because it exhibits far more detail than a typical watercolor.
Roth is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists with over 600 members. She has shown her work in Denver and New York. Besides the tour, you can see her work at the Mary Williams Fine Arts Gallery in Boulder.
Dan Fogelberg of Gunbarrel explained that artists on the tour not only demonstrate finished products, but also strive to give patrons an idea of the process by exhibiting pieces in various stages of production. To create a ceramic piece, Fogelberg begins on the potter’s wheel and alters the work with his hands and a variety of tools after it has been thrown; therefore, each sculpted piece is unique.
American raku, a technique he often employs, requires that the pot be removed from the kiln with metal tongs at the maturing point of the glaze (approximately 1900 degrees.) Then he places it into combustible material, such as sawdust, straw or newspaper. He uses two methods of glazing. When applying copper-bearing glazes, the color is affected by the amount of oxygen the copper receives during the glazing process, referred to as the post firing reduction period.
The
second technique, vapor glazing, is rare largely because of the hazards
involved. At first glance, one may assume that a piece prepared in this
manner has been fired traditionally, but the magnificent, iridescent colors
are born out of a process whereby the artist places chemicals into the
kiln chamber when it reaches approximately 800 degrees. He reseals the
chamber and the chemicals vaporize and put a permanent coating — “something
like the colors you see in oil and water on the street.”
Fogelberg explained that there is an unpredictability in both processes. “You have to be in a dialogue with the medium, open to chance and serendipity, and willing to take chances.” Artistic passion often gives words to a life philosophy!
Weather permitting, Fogelberg will also display some of his abstract paintings, which he creates with acrylic paint applied to paper that he casts onto textured surfaces. The biggest influences on this work are the textures and colors of the western landscape, of the rocks, farms and the Colorado places that move him. Fogelberg’s work is currently being exhibited in a show entitled “Men at Work” at the Boulder Gallery Art Cycle.
For more information on the tour, free maps, and more: The Old Firehouse Gallery, 667 4th Ave., Longmont. Phone: 303-651-2787. Hours: Tues: 2-5 p.m.; Wed-Fri.: noon – 5 p.m.; Sat.: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Longmont Council for the Arts Muse Gallery, 521 Main St., in the Optical Centre building.
The Longmont Studio Tour’s web site is: www.longmontarts.com.
Photo courtesy of Gail Denton
Gail Denton shows some of her dyed fabrics
Photo courtesy of Carolyn Bradley
Carolyn Bradley prefers painting landscapes, including Colorado scenes
On July 1, Stephanie Roth and Christy Garvin, both Colorado natives and graduates of Niwot High School, opened Grace Studios School of Dance in Broomfield. Their goal is to provide quality dance education and performance opportunities in a positive and nurturing atmosphere.
Both Roth and Garvin began studying dance as pre-schoolers from Judlyn Maupin at Niwot’s Grange Hall, where they eventually began teaching classes.
While at Niwot High, Roth was an active participant in the choir and drama departments, and was president of Evenstar, touring with them and choreographing NHS musicals. After graduating in 1988, she studied dance and vocal music at Oklahoma City University, then went to STEPS and Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre in New York City, Perry Mansfield in Steamboat Springs, and finally the University of Colorado.
Roth is a member of Dance Educators of America, and has been on the faculty of several private schools, as well as the City of Boulder and the City of Westminster dance departments. She has been a performer, choreographer and producer with the Longmont Theatre Company, Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, Jester’s Theatre Company, and Dance Caravan.
Roth toured with the OCU Chamber Choir and the Andy Williams Christmas Tour. Her father, Dennis Roth, was a central figure in many of Niwot‘s notable traditions including Niwot Nostalgia Days, Niwot Youth Sports, Niwot Community School.
Her mother, Michele Roth, still resides in the Niwot area. Roth’s 3 year-old son, Joseph, is one of the pre-schoolers beginning dance lessons at Grace Studio‘s summer classes.
Before graduation from Niwot High in 1996, Garvin was active in sports, music and drama. In May 2000, she received a BA in Psychology, with an emphasis on childhood and adolescent development.
Besides her years with the Judlyn Maupin School of Dance, Garvin studied at Dance West and the Pearl Street Studios. She choreographed and performed with Judlyn Maupin, the City of Westminster, the City of Boulder, Longmont Theatre Company and First Presbyterian Church’s “Salt and Light.”
Garvin was a kindergarten and preschool teacher at Seven Oaks Academy in Longmont. She also taught creative movement and developed and directed the school-age summer camp curriculum.
Grace Studio‘s maxim is “Celebrating Life Through Dance.“ The studio’s goal is to provide the community with excellence in dance instruction in a family environment.
Besides daily instruction in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, music theater, swing and sports movement, the studio sponsors The Spirit Dance Company for dancers between the ages of eight and eighteen. Members participate in all Grace Studio performances and represent the studio in competitions, workshops and local outreach programs including a community pre-school enrichment program and a birthday club.
Grace Studios is located inside Broomfield Family Fitness and Racquet Club, 2095 West 6th Avenue in Broomfield. For class schedules and other information, visit the web site: www.Grace-Studios.com or call 303-465-5678.
By Ron Goodman
BBB. It’s All For The Birds.
As a public service to our fine feathered friends the Courier is initiating
a new program for our readers. The acronym, BBB, explains it all,
Build Better Birdhouses.
The all too numerous wildfires in Colorado this season have reduced
the habitat for our bird population. The recent foothills fire in
north Boulder is the closest to affect our area. The Three Toed Woodpecker
is one of only a few species that move into burned-out areas and live there.
Most others move on, looking for new habitat.
Steve Frye, owner of Wild Bird Centers in Longmont and Boulder,
siad, “The Big Elk Fire made more of an open forest and meadow of the area.
Blues and hummingbirds use meadows.” But the rest of the bird population,
Frye said, “needs habitat all the time, in home yards too, it all helps.”
BBB To The Rescue.
Your environmentally friendly Courier is right there in the forefront of the battle for better bird habitat, with our new BBB, Build Better Birdhouses program. And it is not just for the birds. Think of the hours your house cat will spend at the window, watching young chicks learn to fly.
The BBB program is simple and it is easy for you to join in the
fun. The Courier has arranged for its readers to get a 10% discount
on any feeder or birdhouse purchased at a Wild Bird Centers Store.
Birdhouse kits cost about $20. Completed houses range from
$25 to $70. Feeders cost $8 to as much as $260. Books and plans
for home construction are also available. To receive a discount,
tell the salesperson that you read about the store in the Courier.
Another good local source for inexpensive nesting boxes is Michael’s in the Meadows Shopping Center. The store has seven different designs, ready for decorating and installation. They cost only $5 each.
A good local source for houses, feeders and seed of all kinds is Niwot Feed and Rental, 291 Second Ave. in Niwot. Steve, Kay and Tim Rollman, the owners, have a good selection of houses starting at $13 and feeders ranging from $8 to $60. Feed is available in bags up to fifty pounds.
The Yankee Doodler Bookshop, 112 Second Ave. in Historic Downtown Niwot, has a large selection of books on the subject, including field guides for bird species identification.
The Cottonwood Park West Homeowners Association recently initiated
a birdhouse building contest for its residents. All of the entries
must be installed in the open spaces owned by the association. In
addition to providing detailed information for home built nesting boxes,
the HOA purchased 20 prebuilt houses and is distributing them free to residents
to decorate and install in the open spaces.
Construction Hints
I like to build birdhouses out of old lumber. Weathered fence boards look great. The old boards split easily but you can glue them together with Tightbond II, a weatherproof adhesive. If you are shy about removing old boards from your neighbors’ fence, an alternative is available at Resource 2000, on 63rd Street in Boulder, near Stazio Ball Fields. They have a large selection of very reasonably priced used building materials. Wood shingles, bits of metal, old license plates and tile make good roofs. I use twigs and branches for decoration and a front perch. Double the thickness of wood around the opening, this makes the interior safer from predators.
BBB. Build a better birdhouse or two for your yard. Join
in the fun and help our fine feathered friends find a new home.
And if you keep your bird in a cage, you know what to do with
the Courier when you have finished reading it.
Wild Bird Centers are located at 28th Street, south of Canyon
in Boulder and on 17th and Main Street in Longmont. Phone: 303-485-3204.
Michael’s is located in the Meadows shopping center on Baseline and Foothills
Parkway.
Dimensions For Constructing Nesting Boxes
Species floor depth entry hgt diam hgt box
Chickadee 4x4 8-10 6-8 1 1/8 6-15
Nuthatch 4x4 8-10 6-8 1 _ 12-20
House Wren 4x4 6-8 1-6 1 _ 6-10
S. Sparrow 6x6 6 open open 1-3
D. Wdpecker 4x4 8-10 6-8 1 _ 6-20
Photos by Ron Goodman
Some examples of Birdhouses designed and built by the author from found materials. BBB yourself and send us a photo of your creation. We might even publish it.
The Dog Days Of High Tech
By Mary Wolbach Lopert
Have all your dot coms gone bust? Do you have enough sunken shares
to wallpaper your house? Has the dream of an early retirement in
that little cabin by the lake dried up like your lawn and your 401K?
Me too.
But face it, who could keep up with it all? The built-in obsolescence
on all your can’t-live-without gadgets, which used to last at least a year,
has been cut down to nano seconds.
Heather, a 30-something friend, beautifully illustrated this concept. While trying to keep up my end of a conversation about the pros and cons of various cell phones and their ubiquitous calling plans, I mentioned that I used OmniPresent, which gave me 60 gazillion minutes for life between 2 and 4 a.m. but had fewer dropped calls.
This statement was met with a disdainful scoff. “Their phones suck,” Heather emphatically stated. “My old Sign-Me-Up-Forever phone had games, a calculator and 327 various ringing patterns. Now I have to press too many buttons to get through OmniPresent’s calling menu to automatically dial a number.”
When I asked her why she didn’t just push the buttons herself, I received one of those “You must be kidding” looks complete with eye roll. How 20th century am I?
I guess George Jetson’s worst nightmare has been realized. We now have chronic finger fatigue due to excessive button pushing. And it doesn’t even get us to where we want to go.
But if you absolutely, positively have to have your technology fix, there is one area which is still fertile ground, and it belongs to the dogs.
Yes, Spot and Rover have it made. There are now soft-bite flying Frisbees™ so your canine companions won’t hurt their mouths when they chomp down. If Fido prefers a sphere to a disk, but either you don’t have an arm like John Elway or the slobber-soaked, ancient, half-chewed tennis ball doesn’t exactly augment your new manicure, there is a device which looks like an overextended pasta server, which will allow you to throw the ball a country mile.
At least these products allow dogs to be dogs. It is the products which anthropomorphize dogs into very hairy, furry, four-footed humans that really get me. Just last Saturday I read a blurb announcing that if sun can damage human eyes, imagine what it does to your dog. Enter Doggles™, sun glasses for dogs. Wearing a bandana or a visor is just so passé. With two sizes, these glasses are guaranteed to fit any breed from Chihuahua to Great Dane and at only $22 to $23, who could refuse? As the article said, “You don’t hang your head out of the car window.”
The other area where there has been an infusion of technology is with odors. I’m not talking about the smells directly emitted from your pet, which in our house can clear a room in 2.3 seconds, but the scents given off in everything from beef flavored doggie toothpaste and balls, to bubbles.
Yes, bubbles have gone high tech and to the dogs. I saw an ad promoting this wonder product last January that stated that by April, Bubble Buddy™ would be on the market in three doglicious™ flavors, sizzlin’ bacon, peanut butter and jelly and barbeque chicken. Best of all, unlike your dog, Bubble Buddy™ was guaranteed not to stain your furniture.
I immediately called my cohort and fellow dog-lover Julia, and we excitedly marked our calendars. After all, nothing says spring like bacon-flavored bubbles.
On a glorious April day, as the grass turned green and the daffodils
bloomed yellow, I headed down to the local pet emporium for the promised
fun. Bubble Buddy™ was there.
This item wasn’t just a plastic wand with a circular end; Bubble Buddy™
was actually a light violet gun-shaped device, where the human fills a
reservoir with the scented bubbles and pumps the trigger, which causes
a stream of bubbles to joyously float through the air. And as the
packaging clearly showed, the dogs would likewise be jumping for joy.
I have to say with one exception, the product worked. Yes, the
bubble solution did smell like bacon. Yes, the Bubble Buddy™ did
blow a stream of bubbles all over our backyard. And yes, there was
jumping and joyful frolicking.
Now for the “but,” and there’s always a “but.”
It was the humans who were doing the frolicking and joy jumping. The dogs were doing a combination of the following:
The humans, on the other hand, were doing a combination of::• Tucking tail between legs and acting cowardly
• Sniffing other dog’s rumps and private parts
• General leg lifting
• Stalking next-door neighbor’s rabbit hutch
Technology has done some wonderful things for animals. We’ve had our dog implanted with an electronic I.D. chip in case he gets lost. And while taking a late evening stroll, we ran into a black dog with a glow-in-the- dark, bright red LED collar.• Demonstrating to said dogs how to chase bubbles
• Sampling bubbles to see if they tasted as good as they smelled
• Chasing dog with tail between legs to show that bubbles weren’t really scary