In 2005, the nonprofit Kids on Bikes was founded in Colorado Springs to promote a healthy lifestyle for the community’s youngest members. And learning to ride a bike is, after all, a rite of passage, as Daniel Byrd, executive director of Kids on Bikes, reminded me. Byrd is a bicycling enthusiast. He commutes to work […]
Ian Ferguson is a Manitou Springs native who lives out loud and mostly flies under the radar – though he seems unlikely to stay under the radar. While Ferguson spends his days teaching music at Ute Pass Elementary School, outside of the classroom he collaborates with at least seven local bands who perform across a […]
This year, following 120 years of ministering to Manitou Springs residents, St. Andrews Episcopal Church closed. The historic structure in the center of town is an area landmark. While closing the sanctuary marked a pivotal end to the church’s storied history, the Manitou Springs Food Pantry located on the lower level remains open. Food Pantry […]
In the old days, entering the Manitou Springs Carnegie Library felt like a sort of coming home. There was an ambiance rather like being in a friend’s living room, remembered Rob Danin, a Manitou resident and former UCCS professor. Danin and others of like mind hope to return the cozy feeling to the current library. […]
Twenty-eight years ago, two visionary Colorado College professors saw a local need for connecting kids with the outdoors. Married couple Howard Drossman and Julie Francis, both environmental educators, set out intending to volunteer for a preexisting nonprofit – but they didn’t find one that connected children with nature. As a result, the pair developed the […]
In 2018, I placed a big black checkmark next to a lifelong goal at the top of my bucket list – mission accomplished. Together with my husband and youngest son, I drove to a remote ranch in Seneca, Nebraska, helped lasso a reindeer calf I had just purchased from the ranch owner, gently loaded the […]
Colorado has no shortage of homegrown wineries. High-altitude vineyards provide a favorable climate for grape growing and cool evening temperatures are beneficial to the vines as well. The Manitou Springs Wine Festival will celebrate 30 Colorado wineries at the 22nd annual festival June 7 from 12:30 to 5 p.m. at Memorial Park (502 Manitou Ave.). […]
It’s here! It’s really here! The arrival of summer in Colorado can feel like a mirage. A few warm days tickle our senses in April and May, but wet, heavy snow and the need to keep a down jacket on speed dial linger. Nothing is more “Colorado” than pink and white tree blossoms shivering beneath […]
The Patriarca family calls themselves American medical refugees. Stefany and Christian Patriarca, and their children Aliana, Giovanni and Sofia, uprooted from Florida and replanted themselves and the family business here in Colorado Springs nearly a decade ago to access medical marijuana for the youngest child, Sofia. When Sofia was just a few weeks old, she […]
Territory Days is a staple of Old Colorado City. In 2025, the event marks its 50th year. Like mining to the gold rush era, Territory Days belongs on W. Colorado Avenue. For three days over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, a spirited street festival takes over Old Colorado City – Colorado’s first Territorial Capital. Vendors, […]
Trump’s first administration from 2016 to 2020 eroded protections and support for LGBTQ+ and young adults with stances like not supporting the use of a person’s pronouns, banning transgender persons from the military, banning the rainbow flag at U.S. embassies and more. Today, just over 100 days into Trump 2.0, those policies are back – […]
Here’s where to shop, dine, unwind and even sip as you celebrate the most important lady in your life – Mom! Colorado Salt Cave Wellness Center (4647 Centennial Blvd.) 719-401-7996 A visit to the Salt Cave Wellness Center can be a short excursion or a full immersion into the most current healing and cleansing trends. […]
Beneath the Pinery on the Hill, several of Colorado Springs’ oldest churches and neighborhoods unfold into a patchwork of diverse architecture. There is no better view of downtown than the one framed by each window in the Pinery’s massive east-facing wall of light and glass. Central to this picturesque view sits the city’s iconic golden […]
The American Numismatic Association (ANA) Edward C. Rochette Money Museum (818 N. Cascade Ave.) is sharing a timely message about pop culture; that while movie stars and music icons are a reflection of modern society, so are coins! “Numismatics” is the study and collection of coins, tokens, paper money and related objects, and from April […]
If I surveyed 50 people, and asked each of them to define the job of a registered nurse, odds are good most of those surveyed would draw a parallel between nursing and saving lives. In fact, as part of my research for this week’s column, I collected an entire page of inspirational quotes about the […]
LaDoris Burton is a lot of things – entrepreneur, fashion designer and seamstress extraordinaire, to name a few. However, she isn’t new to being the subject of a story. In 2019, The Pueblo Chieftain ran a story about Burton under the headline “Just a Girl Building an Empire,” which detailed Burton’s goal of growing her […]
On the backside of Palmer Park, up against the Colorado Springs Country Club, sits the Mark Reyner Stable, home to Nancy Harrison’s nonprofit Colorado Springs Therapeutic Riding Center. It is authentically western here and easy to forget you’re in the city – Nancy, who is about to recognize her 50th year of ownership along with […]
Dawn Abeyta is a mother to three boys, and the entire family has a hand in the success of her youngest son Hunter’s namesake business. What started as a simple craft project to make Christmas soap became Hunter’s Hope in 2017. Hunter Abeyta is a 22-year-old Colorado Springs native with autism. I ask him if […]
While visiting Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, it isn’t unusual to find both the owner’s mother and grown daughter, together, happily roaming property grounds in Colorado Springs just off El Paso Boulevard. The four-acre property, bordering the National Natural Landmark Garden of the Gods, is rooted in local history. Nostalgic postcards from the resort date back […]
As long as Tymm Hoffman has a voice, a keyboard or a pen, diversity and inclusion will remain part of his mission living in Colorado Springs. He will keep writing and posting on Facebook and showing up at every District 20 and District 49 school board meeting because, as he says, being a parent is […]
