Winter Break Camp: Day One!

Winter Break Camp started out great with many veteran campers from previous camps this year and even some kids who have been coming for years!

Right away we geared up for cold, snowy fun as we have gotten a ton of snow at the Mountain Park this year. A quick snowshoe demo and we were off on a snowshoeing adventure in search of a great sledding hill.

Along the way we tossed a few snowballs and had a lot of laughs and even a few snowshoe humorous complications as it was some of these kids first time in, as one camper put it, "these fascinating contraptions."

We made our way to the meadow and made a huge maze of tracks to play tag and had snowball fights and built snow-crust castles that resembled Stonehenge.

Later we began a task that will take us all week to complete doing a little each day . . . carving out ice tunnels in the big mounds of hardened frozen snow piled up by the snowplows in the park over the last few weeks. We hope to connect all the tunnels and be able to slide down through them!

Ranger Dave hikes the CO Trail for Nature Education!

Ranger Dave has hiked 117 miles for Nature Education so far (here's one of the many great mountain scenes from along the trail). Check out Ranger Dave's CO Trail Hike blog at http://www.rangerdavehikes.blogspot.com/ and read all about about Dave's fund-raising effort for Nature Education!!!

Horseshoe Lodge opens in a grand fashion!

A gentle warm mid-autumn day was the backdrop for MPEC's celebration of completion of the first phase of the Horseshoe Lodge Project. An estimated 300 people showed up to celebrate, enjoy some delicious goodies, tour the Lodge, and learn a bit about what comes next for MPEC at Horseshoe Lodge. Words of wisdom, story and insight were shared by Pueblo City Councilman Randy Thurston, MPEC Board Member Anne Warren and her son, MPEC camper Zach Warren, camper Jackson Reed, founding MPEC Board Member Tim Sandsmark (now Director of Lookout Mountain Nature Center in Jefferson County), Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, and MPEC Founder and Director Dave Van Manen. A surprise visit by Dudley McFarland, a CCC worker who worked in Pueblo Mountain Park in 1935 (he's now 95) and a donation by the National Automobile Sales Association presented by Barbara and Bill Vidmar added to the day's delight. A few youngsters from our Nature Toddlers group cut the ribbon that officially opened the Horseshoe Lodge as MPEC's new home. The day was both a celebration of the completion of Phase 1 and a kick-off of fund-raising for the remaining phases of the exciting Horseshoe Lodge Project - which we already have quite a bit of the necessary funds to get Phase 2 - the overnight rooms in the west wing - started and completed! Click the ribbon-cutting photo on the right to see lots of Grand Opening photos.

Don Richmond's Show on the Porch of the Horseshoe Lodge was a special evening !

Rain graced Don Richmond's solo concert last night which was divine and sooo needed as the summer temps in Beulah have been hot and dry . Our first concert on the porch of the Horseshoe Lodge was magical indeed and the 60+ music lovers who came out for the show were smiling ear to ear...as the Lodge itself seemed to be doing. When darkness came there was a deep quiet between songs amidst the " stately pines" as Don refered to them. There was no visible moon due to the clouds but some deer showed up in the horseshoe circle and someone commented to me that it was like being in a national geographic park..with the animals emerging from the woods.

More details soon on the total raised for this event underscored by the matching grant that will double every dollar earned by a generous donor from Colorado Springs. Don donated a portion of the concert fee as well as Michael and Becky Poisson from Westcliffe covering Don's balance. This all made for a strong evening that will further Phase 2 goals of the HSL renovation.

If you don't know the music of Don Richmond we recommend you visit his site and get one of his great cd's. No Man's Land is a collection of fine folk music inspired by the San Luis Valley and Don's connection to Nature. Our favorite song from this cd is Wide Open.