By Elizabeth Walsh TEACHER, AUTHOR, RANCHER and environmentalist, Nancy Oswald jokes, “If I ever wrote a memoir, I’d call it the crooked path.” Perhaps it is the twists and turns, the side ventures, even odd roads that lead to a full, rich, interesting life journey. Raised primarily in Denver, Nancy frequently spent time at …
By Tina Mitchell
One mid-winter afternoon a while ago, we were driving from Coaldale to Cotopaxi. Above the Arkansas River, a patch of snow gleamed on a dry, south-facing cliff. Odd, since snow doesn’t usually linger long there. Then, the “patch” moved – a mountain goat! A first for us in the canyon. We dubbed it “Goatapaxi.” Later, DOW officials suggested that it was probably an old male, unable to survive higher up. We never saw “Goatapaxi” again, but the memory remains vivid.
By Joe Stone
At first glance, Mark Rostenko may seem like one of the least likely people to win a nationwide songwriting contest. While he’s been involved with music for a long time and has been playing for fun with a local jam group for a number of years, he only started taking his music seriously thee to four years ago. Even then, it took encouragement from a friend before he “got more serious” and began creating his own songs. Now, a little over a year later, American Songwriter has awarded the Cotopaxi, Colorado, resident grand prize in the magazine’s 2016 Lyric Contest for his song “Billy (Off the Line).” First glances can be deceiving, and for this writer, it only took one conversation and a listen to Rostenko’s lone demo to realize he’s the real deal. He is a man fulfilling his destiny to write and perform music that can make a difference, music that can change people’s lives.
by Central Staff Community farm markets and gardens are sprouting up all over the Central Colorado region. From Westcliffe to Cañon City, Alamosa to Gunnison, consumers are being given a larger choice of where to buy their edibles as well as knowledge of their origins. One of the newer local farm markets is now held …
Residents of Fremont County can now log on to a new community website for news, issues, opinions as well as cultural content and other items of interest.
Fremont Connection is the brainchild of Kristina Lins, Bob and Kay Parker, Dan Grenard and Gloria Stultz, who felt the county was not well enough served by the local media and decided to take matters into their own keyboards. The team has been working on the concept since last fall and launched the site in early April. The website is quickly gaining readership as well as contributors and offers a variety of content aimed at, but not exclusively for, Fremont County residents.
by Ron Flannery
We were motoring up U. S. 50 in the canyon east of Cotopaxi, Colorado. As usual, my dad scanned things beyond the road itself. Suddenly, he said, “Yep, they’re still there.” Not seeing anything but the steep canyon wall on one side and the Arkansas River on the other, I asked, “What’s still there?”
