Biking, running, and swimming at any measurable distance prove to be challenging workouts. Roll all three into one race and you have an event that would push the boundaries of anyone’s body. But for a women’s team of triathletes in the Roaring Fork Valley, that challenge can be conquered alongside strangers turned sisters and plenty of adaptive training.

“We’re good at teaching people the sport. And we’re teaching them to believe in themselves, that they have more than they think they have to give,” said Head Coach Carla Westerman, 59. “We teach them to enjoy what they’re doing and that the process of ‘becoming’ is way better than ‘being’ part of it. The process of becoming that triathlete is better than being a triathlete.”

The Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon team was founded in 2000 by Judy Haynes and Nancy Reinisch as an outlet for women of western Colorado to reconnect with athleticism they may have known in their youth. But over the years, the team’s mission evolved to introduce women of any athletic ability to triathlons. 

The team generally consists of about 25 returning athletes and 25 first-timers, or “babes” as they’re affectionately called on the team. 

Training starts mid-May, with the women committing to two weekly training sessions as a team, plus whatever they can do on their own time. Coaches teach the team about road running, trail running, hill running, track running, road and triathlon cycling, and swimming in a pool then open-water swimming. 

The summer of training culminates in the Outdoor Diva Sprint Triathlon in Longmont on the third Sunday in August. It consists of a half-mile swim, an 11.8-mile bike ride, and a 5k run around Union Reservoir.

Last month, the team celebrated their 24th season and 45 team members competed in the race, some taking first place in their division.  

Age spread among the athletes ranges from 17-68 last season, but the team has recruited women up to age 73 in the past. 

“It’s not just the fastest ones or the slowest ones — that’s not really what we’re about. We have a space for everybody,” Westerman said. “And we will make it as comfortable as we can and we will do everything we can to get you across the finish line.”

Westerman, alongside co-lead coach Sharma Phillips and a roster of six assistant coaches, has designed a program to prepare the team for the race in Longmont since 2018, when she stepped up as lead coach. 

They focus on meeting women where they are and challenging them to perform their best and never sell themselves short as a competitor or teammate. Westerman herself started on the team in her 40s without a storied athletic career behind her. But the team met her where she was and taught her the tools to succeed. 

“I learned to swim at the ripe old age of 45 (or 46) and completed my first sprint distance and was hooked. Hooked on the sport, hooked on the team. I guess it filled a void in my life,” she said. “I’d always had this image in my head of an athlete that I wanted to be, but didn’t quite know how to get there until I joined the team.”

For Assistant Coach Sydney Miller, 29, joining the team was a natural next step. She swam in college, committed to CrossFit for a while, and coached triathlon at Colorado Mesa University. But after moving to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2020, she was looking for a community. 

COVID-19 threw a wrench in her plans — then she became a mom two-times over — but this past season Miller finally got to participate with the team. 

“It was just physically good for me, emotionally good for me, and mentally good for me to be a part of a team like that,” she said. “I was around so many women that had the same mindset and same goals and like-mindedness of wanting to push themselves to be better and help each other.”

Miller coached swimming for the team, and said that coaching for a group of women ranging in age from 17-68 differed greatly than coaching a group of 18-22-year-old college athletes. For one, she said, everyone wanted to be there. 

“Coaching was so easy because the team wanted to learn and they just soaked it all up so much,” she said. “Every practice it was like, ‘OK, what can we do better? Can you watch this? How can I improve this?'”

But challenging moments arose when a certain drill wasn’t clicking or a lingering injury complicated a set. Miller said that happened a fair bit with the team, but refocusing her team member to an adaptive move or stressing the importance of rest prevented injury.

“Sometimes you just need to have someone feel your frustration, and just listen, take it in,” Miller said. “(Addressing the issue) was either changing the set so they can still participate or just having them rest and knowing and reassuring them that rest is OK. It’s not going to hold you back. It’s not going to deter you from your goal. It’s just reminding them that yes, it’s frustrating, and it’s hard. But the more we take care of it now, the faster that we can get around it and get you to that end goal.”

For one team member, learning the value of rest came down hard. Sherrie Setterberg, 66, has competed with the team for 12 years, serves the team as assistant coach, and shows no signs of slowing down. 

She’s been competing in triathlons for about 34 years, just after the birth of her oldest child. In high school, she said her sport was synchronized swimming, noting that she was a teenager when Title IX passed. 

“I would say that triathlon is what picks me up, it gives me that reason to kind of push through, and I love it for that. I just love it. I really don’t see myself stopping,” she said. 

Setterberg plans her race schedule every January — entrance fees are lower if you sign up early. And she once even qualified for nationals, which serves as a motivator to keep improving and qualify again, especially after a grueling year for her health. 

About five years ago, Setterberg was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a mastectomy and starting on a year of chemo treatments, a skier collided with her. That crash resulted in a broken femur and a severe concussion, she said. And the main thing that kept her motivated was the hope of competing again. 

“The sport of triathlon was my carrot. It was like, I’ve got to get through this. I’ve got to do my PT, I’ve got to finish my chemo. I waited for my doctors to say, ‘Yep, go ahead.’ (The doctor said) I won’t be able to train all summer like you really want,” Setterberg said. “I couldn’t push against the wall while swimming because my chest still wasn’t up to speed … And I said, ‘I don’t care how I do. I just want I don’t care if I’m not trained up, I just want to go.'”

And the summer following cancer treatment and the crash, Setterberg competed. Training was complicated because she still couldn’t push off the pool wall and her femur was recovering, but her teammates got her through it.

Everyone agreed that the sisterhood among the team is what makes it so special. Making intergenerational friendships and sharing advice, competitive drive, and compassion keeps the team close-knit.

“We start as 50 strangers. And then as the season goes on, and they are training together and they are riding in our cars at the Harvey Gap when we started our open water training, and they start to make these connections with each other,” Westerman said. “And by the time we get (there), we’re a team of sisters.”

Biking, running, and swimming at any measurable distance prove to be challenging workouts. Roll all three into one race and you have an event that would push the boundaries of anyone’s body. But for a women’s team of triathletes in the Roaring Fork Valley, that challenge can be conquered alongside strangers turned sisters and plenty of adaptive training.

“We’re good at teaching people the sport. And we’re teaching them to believe in themselves, that they have more than they think they have to give,” said Head Coach Carla Westerman, 59. “We teach them to enjoy what they’re doing and that the process of ‘becoming’ is way better than ‘being’ part of it. The process of becoming that triathlete is better than being a triathlete.”

The Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon team was founded in 2000 by Judy Haynes and Nancy Reinisch as an outlet for women of western Colorado to reconnect with athleticism they may have known in their youth. But over the years, the team’s mission evolved to introduce women of any athletic ability to triathlons. 

The team generally consists of about 25 returning athletes and 25 first-timers, or “babes” as they’re affectionately called on the team. 

Training starts mid-May, with the women committing to two weekly training sessions as a team, plus whatever they can do on their own time. The summer of training culminates in the Outdoor Diva Sprint Triathlon in Longmont on the third Sunday in August. It consists of a half-mile swim, an 11.8-mile bike ride, and a 5k run around Union Reservoir.

Last month, the team celebrated their 24th season and 45 team members competed in the race, some taking first place in their age group.  

Age spread amongst the athletes ranges from 17-68 last season, but the team has recruited women up to age 73 in the past. 

“It’s not just the fastest ones or the slowest ones — that’s not really what we’re about. We have a space for everybody,” Westerman said. “And we will make it as comfortable as we can and we will do everything we can to get you across the finish line.”

Westerman, alongside co-lead coach Sharma Phillips and a roster of six assistant coaches, has designed a program to prepare the team for the race in Longmont since 2018, when she stepped up as lead coach. 

They focus on meeting women where they are and challenging them to perform their best and never sell themselves short as a competitor or teammate. Westerman herself started on the team in her 40s without a storied athletic career behind her. But the team met her where she was and taught her the tools to succeed. 

“I learned to swim at the ripe old age of 45 (or 46) and completed my first sprint distance and was hooked. Hooked on the sport, hooked on the team. I guess it filled a void in my life,” she said. “I’d always had this image in my head of an athlete that I wanted to be, but didn’t quite know how to get there until I joined the team.”

For Assistant Coach Sydney TK, 29, joining the team was a natural next step. She swam in college, committed to CrossFit for a while, and coached triathlon at Colorado Mesa University. But after moving to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2020, she was looking for a community. 

COVID-19 threw a wrench in her plans — then she became a mom two-times over — but this past season TK finally got to participate with the team. 

“It was just physically good for me, emotionally good for me, and mentally good for me to be a part of a team like that,” she said. “I was around so many women that had the same mindset and same goals and like-mindedness of wanting to push themselves to be better and help each other.”

TK coached swimming for the team, and said that coaching for a group of women ranging in age from 17-68 differed greatly than coaching a group of 18-22-year-old college athletes. For one, she said, everyone wanted to be there. 

“Coaching was so easy because the team wanted to learn and they just soaked it all up so much,” she said. “Every practice it was like, ‘Okay, what can we do better? Can you watch this? How can I improve this?'”

But challenging moments arose when a certain drill wasn’t clicking or a lingering injury complicated a set. TK said that happened a fair bit with the team, but refocusing her team member to an adaptive move or stressing the importance of rest prevented injury.

“Sometimes you just need to have someone feel your frustration, and just listen, take it in,” TK said. “(Addressing the issue) was either changing the set so they can still participate or just having them rest and knowing and reassuring them that rest is OK. It’s not going to hold you back. It’s not going to deter you from your goal. It’s just reminding them that yes, it’s frustrating, and it’s hard. But the more we take care of it now, the faster that we can get around it and get you to that end goal.”

For one team member, learning the value of rest came down hard. Sherrie Setterberg, 66, has competed with the team for 12 years, serves the team as assistant coach, and shows no signs of slowing down. 

She’s been competing in triathlons for about 34 years, just after the birth of her oldest child. In high school, she said her sport was synchronized swimming, noting that she was a teenager when Title IX passed. 

“I would say that triathlon is what picks me up, it gives me that reason to kind of push through, and I love it for that. I just love it. I really don’t see myself stopping,” she said. 

Setterberg plans her race schedule every January — entrance fees are lower if you sign up early. And she once even qualified for nationals, which serves as a motivator to keep improving and qualify again, especially after a grueling year for her health. 

About five years ago, Setterberg was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a mastectomy and starting on a year of chemo treatments, a skier collided with her. That crash resulted in a broken femur and a severe concussion, she said. And the main thing that kept her motivated was the hope of competing again. 

“The sport of triathlon was my carrot. It was like, I’ve got to get through this. I’ve got to do my PT, I’ve got to finish my chemo. I waited for my doctors to say, ‘Yep, go ahead.’ (The doctor said) I won’t be able to train all summer like you really want,” Setterberg said. “I couldn’t push against the wall while swimming because my chest still wasn’t up to speed … And I said, ‘I don’t care how I do. I just want I don’t care if I’m not trained up, I just want to go.'”

And the summer following cancer treatment and the crash, Setterberg competed. Training was complicated because she still couldn’t push off the pool wall and her femur was recovering, but her teammates got her through it.

Everyone agreed that the sisterhood amongst the team is what makes it so special. Making intergenerational friendships and sharing advice, competitive drive, and compassion keeps the team close-knit.

“We start as 50 strangers. And then as the season goes on, and they are training together and they are riding in our cars at the Harvey Gap when we started our open water training, and they start to make these connections with each other,” Westerman said. “And by the time we get (there), we’re a team of sisters.”

The next Longevity Project event is slated for 5:30-7 p.m. on Oct. 4 at The Arts Campus At Willits (TACAW), 400 Robinson St., Basalt. The panel is titled, “How to maintain mobility, balance, and athleticism throughout life” and will feature experts in the field.Tickets can be purchased at aspentimes.com/longevity-project-2023-fall.

New records obtained by Post Independent show former Glenwood Springs City Manager Beverli Marshall was transparent with City Council over the Vogelaar Park project.

According to the records, Marshall was open about talking with the Department of Local Affairs about housing grants, and about presenting the Vogelaar Park project to other entities including the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. 

“Continued working with grant consultant and staff on applications for various projects,” Marshall wrote in the weekly email to Council on July 28. “The next grant opportunity is for the Vogelaar Workforce Housing project under the More Housing Now & Land Use program, which is due August 1.”

Council was aware, and encouraged Marshall to present to RFTA, even though she had hesitation.

“After last night I don’t think I should present to either County it RFTA,” Marshall texted mayor Ingrid Wussow on Aug. 4. “I have no credibility at this point, so a presentation isn’t likely to gain support.”

Marshall had other updates in her emails to Council that showed extensive transparency in her planning and work.

“Continued working on presentation for upcoming RFTA Board meeting to discuss the Vogelaar Workforce Housing project and partnership potential between our agencies,” Marshall said in the same email.

Councilor Shelley Kaup responded to Marshall’s weekly email on July 17, stating interest in the geothermal study in the DOLA More Housing Now grant. 

“Thank you for the update. Glad to hear you are having conversation about Housing opportunities,” Kaup said to Marshall in the email. “Also, am interested in the geothermal heating opportunities in the Confluence area, potential to lower the energy use of the whole development…”

On Aug. 10, Wussow texted Marshall to tell her the RTFA meeting was ahead of schedule, and that they were ready for her presentation at 9:24 a.m.

Later in the day at 12:52 p.m. Marshall texted Wussow about not receiving information she needed from people.

“I didn’t get anyone’s strategic planning priorities and I need to finalize the agenda today,” Marshall texted Wussow. “

After responding to that text, Wussow sent Marshall a text at 1:35 p.m. saying, “Nice job on the presentation with RFTA.”

Although Marshall wrote weekly planning emails to all of Council, work phone messages between her and staff were sparse in the last week before the executive session was called on Aug. 10, the same day as the RFTA board presentation. 

For example, only one text exchange was sent between the Public Information Officer Bryana Starbuck and Marshall from Aug. 3-11.

On the day that Marshall was “placed on administrative leave,” she sent out only two texts.

“I should have known when you wouldn’t talk or meet with me,” Marshall texted to City Attorney Karl Hanlon. “I guess I’m the one misreading the room.” 

She texted the message to Hanlon at 8:42 a.m. Aug. 11. She also texted Chief Operating Officer Steve Boyd, who is now the interim city manager. 

Her first text to Boyd was at 7:46 a.m. on Aug. 11, asking if she was fired because her password to her email wasn’t working. 

Boyd responded by telling her there was an issue and emails were reset. He gave her a temporary password to log in, and told her how to change it.

At 8:41 a.m. Marshall sent Boyd a final text on her cell phone. 

“Goodbye and thank you,” Marshall texted Boyd. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out. I had no idea I was misreading the room.”

This was then followed by the 10 a.m. email response message saying that she was no longer employed with the city of Glenwood Springs.

The city of Glenwood Springs plans to begin releasing previously requested open records on their website, according to Hanlon and Council at the Aug. 21 Council meeting.

The city currently has the title of previous requests and the names of the people who requested them listed on their website. 

Once the records are released on the website, the public will have access to the Post Independent’s open records involving Marshall. 

Rifle High School’s Bears Stadium is a perfect place to visit on fall Friday evenings. The air is crisp, Bears football is above .500, the band is serenading the crowd, the cheer squad is working their hardest to get everyone pumped up.

Here are the great scenes from last week’s Bears game against Brush, a game Rifle won 28-14.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story said the Post Independent reached out to Sherronna Bishop. The email, however, was not yet sent to Bishop.

Survey data from the Re-2 School Board’s Social Studies Standards Review Committee has been compromised.

The review committee said there was evidence that the survey has been shared with people out-of-state and that multiple people appear to have taken the survey multiple times, according to an anonymous source.

The review committee said during the first meeting that the survey data offers no numerical value, yet that there was enough information still contained in the survey to represent thinking around beliefs with the social studies standards. How that information will be used remains unclear. 

The survey was recently put out by the district, asking community members and parents whether the district should adopt either the 2022 Adopted Social Studies Standards, the Revised 2022 Social Studies Standards, or the conservative American Birthright Standard (ABS).

ABS was rejected by the Colorado Board of Education in October 2022.

The survey link was shared through multiple outlets by Re-2, which included emails to friends and family, links in newsletters and posts on social media. It was also shared in previous reporting by the Post Independent.

The Post Independent found that the survey link appeared to be shared by Re-2 Board President Tony May to Sherronna Bishop, also known as America’s Mom. Bishop shared details on her Telegram page talking about how May sent her the survey link.

“Tony sent this out to me,” Bishop said on her Telegram page. “Pls make sure you are taking this survey and spread to your community members too!”

Bishop then posted a picture of her completed survey, followed by, “Guys pls take a moment and complete this!!! I’ve included screenshots of my responses.”

“Pls share to everyone I am calling out names,” Bishop added on Telegram. “And I’m saddened we are still allowing Heather Grumley to operate in rifle after all get (sic) failures and turning on re 2 parents. Tony, Dawn and Britton need our support. I don’t know where Jason is on this, he was clearly beta male white mandates and masks. Can’t imagine he would take a stand for real American history. Your thoughts?”

Bishop famously moved from Silt to Texas in May of 2022, once the FBI began investigating Tina Peters, a former Mesa County clerk caught breaching Mesa County’s election system.

Bishop made a name for herself as Congressional District 3 Rep. Lauren Boebert’s campaign manager. Bishop was associated with Peters during her voting data breach, and is heavily associated with MAGA politics, including having a podcast on Mike Lindell’s Frank TV, called “America’s Mom.”

Bishop’s first posts were on Sept. 1, followed by a 10-minute video on her Facebook page on Sept. 4, mentioning similar statements related to May and the survey. Bishop’s Facebook page is under the name America’s Mom.

On Sept. 5, community member Mae Gray posted a TikTok video, under the screen name Pryncyss, also spreading the survey link to her followers, just as Bishop had done, stating that it seemed like Re-2 Board members were not being objective during this process.

“I shared the survey out of concern for the communities that are eager to follow in the ABS footsteps,” Gray said. “What this has done to Woodland Park is so telling. And that alone raises huge concerns.” 

It remains unclear which of these two events prompted the review committee’s decision to not use the survey data, if any.

When asked for comment on this issue, May kept directing the conversation to Gray’s TikTok video; all while avoiding explaining why Bishop is thanking him for the survey link. Gray’s TikTok video came out a day after Bishop’s Facebook video.

May also claimed he thought Bishop’s posts were related to Re-2’s Telegram page. The Post Independent could not confirm, however, that Re-2 has a Telegram page.

“Bishop can say what she wants to say,” May said. “That’s what she said.”

Asked if May thought Bishop was lying, May responded with, “I’m not saying anything.”

“I saw [Bishop] post on Telegram and that’s where I first saw it… I was told [Bishop] lives in Florida or Texas but I don’t know where she lives,” May said. “I’m not going to get into any of this.”

Re-2 Public Information Officer Theresa Hamilton said that Re-2 is working on a new survey and will work on controlling who can access and take the survey.

Re-2 faced criticism for how the initial survey was collecting data. Previous reporting stated that Re-2 was only collecting the IP address of survey participants.

This is a developing story.

Editor’s note: This is the second of the series The Longevity Project, a collaboration between The Aspen Times and the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

They swim, they run, they ski, they bike.

They conquer.

There are truly some unbelievable Roaring Fork and Colorado valley residents out there who maintain fantastic physique regardless of their generation.

These ageless, ironclad athletes are not only relentless when it comes to health discipline — they’re inspirational.

For the second installment of this year’s Longevity Project, the Aspen Times and Post Independent sat down and picked the brains of these folks.

And what we found out is, it’s a lot easier to overcome life’s greatest challenges if you’re fit.

Fit is fantastic

When Gary Miller was faced with life-threatening illnesses, he almost gave up. But putting up a fight proved to be the best response. 

“I think a lot of people just give up and that’s an easy trap to fall into,” Miller said. “The worst thing you can do is give up.” 

Originally, the Garfield County retiree said he did give up. He said he started balancing his checkbook and cleaned his garage. It was then, however, he reversed course. 

His solution: exercising.

Miller was diagnosed with kidney cancer and congestive heart failure and his doctor didn’t sound too optimistic about his recovery. Miller was very active throughout his life, but had a knee replacement surgery six months before his cancer diagnosis. 

There was about a year he wasn’t able to work out, and he seemed to have the odds stacked against him, which made giving up seem so easy.

“Congestive heart failure diagnosis is almost the kiss of death,” he said. “I am very lucky and very fortunate.”

He started slowly, working himself and his heart rate up. 

“I was watching myself get more and more healthy through tracking my heart recovery rate,” Miller said. 

Miller said he made the doctors remove his kidney, and when they did they were shocked it wasn’t as bad as they thought. With the cancer out of the way, his doctors said he could then focus on his heart.

Swimming and mountain biking were the treatments he needed to bring his heart back. 

“Going into a sickness being fit is so helpful,” Miller said. 

Although he didn’t start as an athlete, swimming and then mountain biking became things he loved doing.  

“I wasn’t an athlete in high school,” Miller said. “I started managing the for the (Glenwood Hot Springs Pool) and got addicted to working out and fitness. I fell in love with mountain biking.”

Starting slowly and getting a heart rate going is what he recommended for people just beginning to exercise, whether for the first time or after taking a long time away from it. 

“Building these short distances and staying with it is important,” he said. 

Warming up before extensive exercise was also recommended. For example, if someone thinks they will lose their breath on Doc Holliday’s Grave Trailhead, they should warm up by walking a couple blocks on a less-steep section beforehand, Miller said. 

“I’ve always been aware of maintaining a rapid heartbeat recovery from peak,” Miller said. 

And bringing your heart rate back down steadily after a good exercise is helpful for heart health. 

Breathing is also important for working up to harder forms of exercise and heart health, he said. Make sure to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. And don’t hold your breath, he said.

“I really feel like I stumbled onto a process of recovery from congestive heart failure that worked for me,” Miller said. “At 76 years old, I consider myself pretty darn athletic.” 

Formidable Frenchy

Attitude goes a long way in staying healthy late in life, and nobody embodies that better than longtime Roaring Fork Valley resident Jacques “Frenchy” Houot. A passionate skier and cyclist who was competing in Aspen Cycling Club events into his 80s — he officially “retired” from competition in recent years — his journey to becoming one of the area’s most passionate racers was showcased in a short documentary called “The Frenchy” by Michelle Smith, which made its debut in 2018.

“I am 41-years-old, each leg,” Houot said in the film, which documents him skiing shirtless, biking technical terrain, pedaling a fat tire bike through snow, paragliding, and offering nuggets of wisdom from his Carbondale home.

In talking with the Aspen Times around the film’s release, Houot credited laughter with being what’s kept him going all these years. He admitted to surviving cancer, a heart attack, an avalanche, and numerous crashes.

A nagging back injury, he said in the film, was cured by volunteering at a disabled military veterans’ ski race at Aspen Highlands.

“They don’t complain,” he said then. “I said to myself, ‘I don’t have a right to complain.’ … Then I said, ‘No problem!’ to my back. That fixed me.”

Even when not competing, Houot could always be found near the course, cheering racers on, whether that be on skis or a bike. His continued enthusiasm for the sports — not to mention his distinct accent — is part of what drew Smith to want to focus on Houot for the documentary. As Smith recalled, he was eager to share his life story and his idiosyncratic health remedies — often arriving at her home unannounced to impart wisdom, tell jokes, chat about his day or discuss the latest World Cup results.

“The energy was infectious,” Smith said then. “He is just nonstop.”

“I want people to think that it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can still do what you want with your life, have fun and laugh,” Smith added. “That’s the most important thing. … You can defy aging if you have the right attitude.”

Not just another day

As the brisk morning air fills the Roaring Fork Valley, 62-year-old Mike Vidakovich embarks on a run that challenges many half his age. This isn’t a new pursuit; it’s a testament to a lifetime of athletic tenacity and a steadfast dedication to well-being.

“I’ve been lucky when I was a sophomore in high school here playing basketball. I had to have minor knee surgery over Christmas break, but I was right back out on the court like three weeks later,” Vidakovich said.

Despite the years and various sports he’s engaged in, injuries have been few. When they have occurred, his recovery approach combined advice, intuition and a dose of patience.

“I just seek advice from people who have had similar little setbacks and just try to do the rehabilitation,” he said, referencing a previous leg ailment. “I would still go out and jog for a little ways. And then I’d walk when it started to tighten up.”

Beyond the occasional injury, Vidakovich’s commitment to fitness isn’t just about physical prowess. It’s also a mental game.

“I’ve always enjoyed exercise, especially the anaerobic stuff like distance running,” Vidakovich said. “I like to see how far I can push myself.”

For Vidakovich, age is just a number. He remains the oldest player in the Rifle co-ed softball league and stays active with regular stints at the athletic club. His morning ritual often includes runs near West Glenwood, pushing himself up challenging terrains and reflecting by a creek.

His advice for those looking to stay active as they age? Don’t stop.

“There’s no stopping,” Vidakovich said. “I’ll be 63 in November and it’s much more difficult to try to come back if I stop now. I just enjoy it. Movement, runs, softball, golf. Part of it I may even call competitiveness, but I feel I was born to push myself and I enjoy doing it.”

And perhaps that’s the secret. Every morning Vidakovich wakes up in the Roaring Fork Valley, it’s not just another day. It’s a bonus, another opportunity to push limits and savor life’s vibrant pulse.

Channeling energy

Sheldon Wolitski’s story is one of transformation. At 51, his earlier years on the hockey rinks during high school and college came with a cost: lingering shoulder injuries that forced him to quit the game by his sophomore year. 

“The impact on my body became overwhelming,” Wolitski said.

Now, with a household bustling with five children under the age of nine, he’s channeled his energy into a pursuit of longevity and optimal living.

“The injuries from my hockey days set a trajectory. Longevity is now front and center for me,” Wolitski said. “At 51, living an optimal life has taken precedence.”

As the founder and president of Colorado Xtreme Hockey, Wolitski’s commitment to health isn’t just a personal endeavor. His home is a testament to this, featuring wellness tools like hyperbaric chambers, cold therapy units, a 210-degree sauna and red light therapy.

“After hockey, I started competing in Ironman competitions. By my eighth competition I started to understand the importance of recovery,” Wolitski said. “From there, focusing on longevity, especially as an older father, was a clear path.”

Wolitski’s vision expanded to the workplace when he founded Aspen HPX, an organization welded to assist those looking for a healthy lifestyle. There, a study aimed at employee wellness and peak performance yielded impressive results — a 35% increase in performance for employees involved with organization compared to their counterparts.

“Taking care of oneself has tangible benefits, both professionally and personally,” he observed.

For those keen on emulating his approach, Wolitski points to Tony Robbins’ novel “Lifeforce” as a starting guide. He’s also a staunch advocate for functional integrative medicine, emphasizing its holistic and preventive perspective.

“The healthcare landscape is evolving. A holistic, preventive approach is the future,” Wolitski stated. “Grasping one’s biomarkers and connecting with the right medical experts can redefine health.”

For the former hockey player, the pursuit of longevity is a game worth playing, and in the Roaring Fork Valley, he’s seizing each day with purpose.

The next Longevity Project event is slated for 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 4 at The Arts Campus At Willits (TACAW), 400 Robinson St., Basalt. The panel is titled, “How to maintain mobility, balance and athleticism throughout life” and will feature experts in the field.

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.aspentimes.com/longevity-project-2023-fall/.

The city of Glenwood Springs just took a groundbreaking step with governmental transparency when it comes to the Colorado Open Record Act.   

Now, you and everyone you know can view any open record requests to the city of Glenwood Springs on their website.

During the Sept. 21 City Council meeting, City Attorney Karl Hanlon announced that the city will begin releasing any and all open records requests, along with who and how they requested them. 

This level of transparency will include all open records that the Post Independent requested after the departure of the City Manger Beverli Marshall, along with any other open records requests to the city from everyone. 

“If we don’t have to have our staff duplicate work, I’m thrilled because a lot of people probably can find what they need, potentially in a past request,” Mayor Ingrid Wussow said. “I hope this makes for a very amenable relationship with the community and finding the information that they want and pertaining to our city government.”

Requesting open records costs money for the time and resources it takes to produce the requested records and cities in any part of the country need to take time to sift through information to estimate how long the request will actually take. 

All municipalities in the state of Colorado are capped at charging $33.58 an hour. 

The more vague the request, the more money a municipality will need to charge for time, and any journalist, politician or member of the public is able to request records as long as they are willing to pay up.  

For example, the Post Independent requested all emails that involved Marshall from when it was announced she was placed on administrative leave to the day of the request, a week later. 

That vague request cost the PI about $335 for city staff to sift through those emails. 

The first hour of searching requests is free, so anyone who requests direct or narrowed down information gets it much faster and rarely has to pay.

The PI also requested some simple information separately, like Marshall’s contract, and it was returned within hours with no charge.

Once a large request is placed, the entity or municipality is given one business day to reply and three business days to produce the information after the requestor has paid. If the request is big enough, the staff might request additional time. 

All public entities that receive taxpayer funding are subject to open records requests, and in the state of Colorado they must comply with the Colorado Open Record Act. 

One reason the city of Glenwood Springs decided to release all records previously requested was to save time for their staff.

On Aug. 22, state legislators including Rep. Elisabeth Epps spoke at the Colorado Press Association Convention about how open records requests can be weaponized against governments to slow or even halt productivity because of outrageously large or vague requests. 

“If somebody’s using it as a cudgel (baton) that is incredibly expensive in time and staff resources, I don’t think that it’s bad to show that,” Councilor Jonathan Godes said. 

Hanlon said that the one reason the city of Glenwood Springs has put the records on the website is to help staff resources. 

“If you’ve ever tried to search your email inbox, you get a lot of things oftentimes that have nothing to do with what you were searching for,” Hanlon said. “There’s a number of things that have to be reviewed and looked at in those cases, and, unfortunately, it can be intensive when we get requests that trigger, maybe 1,300, 1,500 to 2,000 emails that need to be reviewed.” 

This can cause a staff to spend sometimes upwards of 10 hours sifting through emails to produce the information, making it so a city staff is unable to get any actual work done, Hanlon said. 

State legislators have also been concerned with the amount of time entities spend fulfilling requests in these cases and are looking to change the language around how CORA requests are handled in the 2024 ballot language. 

Chris Jackson was gardening with his wife when he noticed a plume of smoke rise from nearby forestland.

Jackson, soon taking over for Dave Blair as head chief of the Grand Valley Fire Protection District, then received an obligatory call.

“Well,” Jackson recalled. “I guess I better get dressed.”

This emergency call was made June 24, the first day of the Spring Creek Fire south of Parachute. The wildfire, now suspected to be man-made, later peaked at more than 3,000 acres, data shows. Jackson confirmed the fire also blew over several natural gas well pads. 

“It was pretty intense to see a fire grow from 200 acres to 1,500 acres inside of two hours,” Jackson said. “It’s insane.”

For the Florida native, 46, Spring Creek was not only his biggest exposure to the National Incident Management System, it was the fiercest deviation from his career of mainly fighting structure fires.

Spring Creek’s spread summoned more than 400 firefighters, from California, Oregon, Wyoming — even his native Florida. He also worked side by side with the Bureau of Land Management.

As federal airplanes scraped the landscape in trails of red retardant and helicopters unleashed hazes of water, it was Jackson’s job to ensure everyone’s safety while crews set perimeters in uninhabitable, unforgiving terrain.

“The fire was burning in areas that we just couldn’t get to very easily,” Jackson said, adding that the smoke was visible for miles. “But once you get back into those hills, you don’t see where the fire is. The mountains and topography, it’s very limiting.

“We relied on existing oil and gas roads to get access to these fires, but a lot of the places you just had to hike up and hike in.”

But amid the soot-chalked faces of his Grand Valley crews combating Spring Creek’s exponential expansion emerged another challenge: norovirus.

This contagious bug broke out among Spring Creek crews seemingly as fast as the fire itself. At the makeshift encampment at Cottonwood Park, firefighters were afflicted with nausea, vomiting and fever.

Both Jackson and his wife Sherry, however, are certified paramedics. They quickly took it upon themselves to rush to the Grand River Health pharmacy, buy up as much antiemetic medicine as they could and soon administer it to scores of firefighters.

“For the initial phases of that outbreak, I stepped up and went over and helped volunteer, starting IVs with my wife because we were so short-staffed and everybody was focused on fighting the fire,” Jackson said. “That was not something that we had planned for.”

In the end, Jackson and Sherry treated more than 70 firefighters.

The fire is considered 100% contained; however, interior spots will be left smoldering likely until snow falls, according to Jackson’s estimates.

 All in the family

Jackson grew up in Delray Beach, Florida, where his father, Todd, was the city’s fire chief.

“I always kind of knew I wanted to be in the fire service. I grew up around it — that slide down the poles and all the fun stuff,” Jackson said. “So, that’s what I did right out of high school.”

Wasting no time, Jackson acquired certifications in fire, emergency medical technician and paramedic fields. He then outshined about 4,000 fellow applicants and nabbed his first bonafide first responder position — a firefighter/EMT with Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue.

After six years in Ft. Lauderdale, Jackson acquired positions with the DeKalb County Fire Rescue in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Georgia, as well as the Smyrna Fire Department, also in the greater Atlanta metro area.

By 2011, Jackson was offered a lead faculty position for Colorado Mountain College’s EMT/fire program at the Rifle campus.

“Around that time I was recovering from testicular cancer. I kind of thought my fire days were over,” Jackson said. “Thankfully, it was caught quick and everything was fine, but there was a time I thought I wasn’t going to be a firefighter anymore.”

Still, overcoming the odds Jackson was encouraged to eventually apply to the Grand Valley Fire Protection District in 2012. By 2014, he was on full time. 

Jackson was then promoted to deputy fire chief in 2018.

“I kind of always knew I wanted to go the route my dad did,” Jackson said.

Chief Blair’s next chapter 

Outgoing Grand Valley Chief Dave Blair is a product of western Garfield County’s oil shale days.

Shortly after the Limon native worked on the Unocal Oil Refinery Project near Parachute Creek in the early 1980s, he joined Parachute’s volunteer fire department in October 1985.

Blair later became head Grand Valley fire chief in 1997.

“In ’87, we had a big fire here on Battlement Mesa — 3,600 acres,” Blair recalled. “That was kind of my first introduction to big fire. And then, in ’99, I had already been fire chief for two years when we had the large fire on the mesa itself, where we lost nine houses and significantly damaged, I think, 30-40 houses.”

With Blair fully retiring Dec. 31, 26 years of institutional fire chief knowledge precede Jackson. Blair said, however, he has an excellent staff and also helped mold Jackson into the person they wanted and knew he would be.

This makes the job a lot easier, Blair added. 

“The community is going to be very fortunate that we brought Chris in, because he’s been in his deputy chief role for the past five years,” Blair said. “He lives in the community, he’s known in the community, he shares the same values and believes in the mission’s statement of the fire district. And I think it’s going to be a seamless transfer.”

Blair and his wife, Gail, have been married since 1979. His son, Cody, is also a Grand Valley firefighter while his other son, Jeremy, a U.S. Navy veteran, lives in Delta.

Blair, 67, and Gail also have six grandchildren. In addition to spending time with family, Blair said he looks forward to traveling the nation and participating in car shows.

Right now Blair is restoring — befittingly — a 1920 Chevrolet fire truck.

His final thoughts on retirement?

“It’s getting real now that when you start preparing for the 2024 budget you have to delete your own name from the staff. That’s probably the biggest thing,” Blair said. “The reality is that you will no longer be part of the district, per se, in the coming years. But I’m looking forward to retirement.

“I’m heavily into old cars and touring, so we’ll be doing a lot of that, I’m sure.”

Gearing up

Jackson acknowledges the heavy torch being handed to him by his predecessor. 

“I feel very privileged,” he said. “I have very big shoes to fill. (Blair) has been a great mentor, and he’s been an excellent chief. I feel I have the skills and the training and the experiences now to be an effective chief like he is and that’s going to be my intention.”

Jackson takes over as Grand Valley stares down about $6.8 million budgeted for the general fund, 42 personnel and three executive staff, including himself.

Meanwhile, Grand Valley used to average about 600 emergency calls per year. The district cleared 1,200 in 2022.

“It’s increasing every year,” Jackson said of the calls, adding that more people are moving to the Parachute and Battlement Mesa communities due to a cheaper housing market. “We’re one of the most affordable places to live in Colorado.”

With this in mind, one of Jackson’s biggest goals is to add staff to the district with the aim of bracing for higher influxes and providing a better service to the community.

Jackson and Sherry have four kids. When he’s not fighting fires, Jackson does home renovations, fishes, hunts and plays golf.

Jackson also continues to teach first-responder courses part time at Colorado Mountain College.

A meet-and-greet of Chief Jackson is slated for 1-5 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the main Grand Valley Fire Protection District station, 124 Stone Quarry Road, Parachute.

Jackson said he’s honored to take over and feels it’s a huge accomplishment.

“I really wish my dad was alive to see it, but he passed away in ’14,” he said. “But I know my family’s very proud of me.”

As community members in the Roaring Fork Valley anxiously await developments, a man with ties to a local soccer club accused of sexual assault had an arraignment  Thursday. 

Cesar Herrera Romero, 20, faced 9th Judicial District Court Judge John Neiley.

Arrested on June 7, Romero is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child and an additional count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. 

Romero’s association with a Roaring Fork United Soccer Club, where he allegedly used his access to players to commit the offenses, has elevated community interest in the case.

The Carbondale Police Department began its investigation after the Pitkin County’s Sheriff’s Office alerted them in early February to juveniles disclosing sexual assault incidents allegedly involving Romero.

During Thursday’s hearing, Romero’s attorney, Peter Rachensky, initially sought to postpone the next court date to Nov. 16. District Attorney Virginia Sorrell pushed for a shorter continuance, arguing for a hearing within a month.

“This is a case with a number of victims and victims’ families,” Sorrell said. “Continuing for another two months is not something that I was anticipating we would be doing. I have held off on having conversations with the families of the victims, hoping to have some mitigation or additional information.”

Rachensky signaled he had no objections to the shorter timeline.

“I don’t object to that, your honor,” Rachensky said. “I just want to let the people know, this case, from my viewpoint, is only three months old. Cases like this are never ready to go in a three-month time span.”

Neiley ruled that the next court appearance for Romero will be a review scheduled for Oct. 26. The review will strictly serve as a check-in date and that any subsequent continuances would require more substantive action, such as a plea or sentence.

The Garfield Re-2 School Board Social Studies Curriculum Adoption Action Plan (SSCAAP) concluded the last of its planned social studies standards community forums Tuesday at the Rifle Branch Library. 

Tuesday’s discussion was held in Spanish with English interpretation and was added as a direct result of feedback obtained during previous discussions to include all members of the community. 

The district currently looks to adopt one of three standards for its social studies curriculum: the 2022 Adopted Colorado State Standards, the 2022 Revised Colorado State Standards or the American Birthright Standard.

Before 2020, 13 content standards across Colorado were reviewed every six years. But in 2020, the state decided to revise the process, which now reviews one-third of these content standards every two years.

But the 2022 Adopted Colorado State Standards drew controversy when it called for highlighting diverse peoples and naming specific groups. This includes citing African Americans, Latino, American Indian, Asian Americans and LGBTQ+ communities.

This prompted Re-2 Board President Tony May to introduce into discussion the possibility of the district adopting the American Birthright Standard, a program created by Civics Alliance. This organization is being billed as a “nonpartisan” effort to teach American patriotism and liberty.

ABS was rejected by the Colorado Board of Education in October 2022.

Since May introduced ABS to the district board in spring 2023, parents and community members have spoken for and against the program, using school board meetings and the four community forums to voice concerns.

Many have called ABS too extreme and conservative. For instance, during the community forum in New Castle on Sept. 11, about 60 people spoke. Of which, the majority showed support for the district adopting the 2022 Standards.

Meanwhile, community members in favor of ABS have either questioned the history being taught by the 2022 Standards, as well as the teaching of sexual education and the LGBTQ+ community to younger students. Many people who spoke during the first two community meetings were ABS proponents.

Along with the community forums, the SSCAAP concluded its public survey. The survey was used to obtain public comment for the review process. 

According to Re-2 Director of Communications Theresa Hamilton, the survey was emailed to family members and included in district newsletters. It was also made accessible on the Re-2 school website, shared over social media and through a Post Independent article.

So far data from the survey will include voluntary information. This references who participated in the surveys and if the participants are only those who live in the Re-2 School District. Previous reporting on this stated that only an IP address would be collected through which the survey was submitted.

All data obtained from both the forums and survey will remain private at this time. All of the data obtained will now be reviewed by the SSSRC, which will present its findings and recommendations to the Re-2 School Board by the Oct. 25 board meeting. 

Although the Re-2 school board election is set for Nov. 7, it remains unclear when the board will vote for the adoption of a new social studies curriculum based on the recommendation presented by the review committee. During the August board meeting for the adoption of the SSCAAP, the board never got to the specific portion of when a vote would be held, despite going round and round on other topics presented in the SSCAAP.

The SSSRC is still being formed but will be composed of community members, parents and educators. Applications to join the committee closed on Monday.

The SSSRC will hold meetings Sept. 21, Sept. 28 and Oct. 8. These meetings are not open to the public or the press and are considered a “work product.” 

“This is not a meeting where public officials will be present,” Hamilton said. “No decisions will be made. It [SSSRC Meeting] will be for purely processing all of the information to form a recommendation to give to the board.”

The total cost to taxpayers for the SSCAAP could not be obtained at this time but this story remains part of the Post Independent’s ongoing coverage of this issue.

May did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. 

An ongoing effort to improve Cottonwood Pass, a popular alternative route when Interstate 70 closes through Glenwood Canyon, was addressed by Garfield County commissioners and Colorado Department of Transportation officials on Monday.

CDOT Program Engineer Karen Berdoulay highlighted eight of 14 possible safety improvement spots along Cottonwood Pass in Garfield County, which are identified through a 2022 feasibility study. Many of the spots, which account for 14% of the entire corridor, either call for widening, smoothing curves or improving sight distances.

CDOT also identified six additional Cottonwood Pass improvement spots in Eagle County, including improvements to Blue Hill. The improvements to this narrow, steep segment of roadway could cost up to $60 million, Berdoulay estimated Monday.

“That really was the goal of this project, is to identify ways to improve safety at the critical areas that were identified by the counties,” Berdoulay said. “We also learned it’s very important for the stakeholders to respect the corridor character. It was not our goal to go through and design highway improvements to meet CDOT standards, for example, or even county standards. It was really trying to maintain the rural feel of the road, minimize impacts to private property and mitigate visual impacts for improvements.”

The Grizzly Creek Fire in 2020 and its massive ensuing debris slides in 2021 regularly diverted motorists from Interstate 70 onto Cottonwood Pass, a non-advertised detour that runs southwest of Gypsum through Eagle County and on through Garfield County to Colorado Highway 82.

Colorado Department of Transportation traffic numbers show average traffic jumped more than nine times the regular amount when Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon closed. Cottonwood Pass in 2021 typically saw an average of 400 vehicles per day, which increased to 3,700 during the debris slides.

For Garfield County, each of the eight possible improvement locations have a significantly less price tag than eyed along Cottonwood Pass in Eagle County. Improvement costs for Garfield County range from $300,000 to about $3 million.

The biggest ticket item is to spend $3 million to modify and realign the intersection of Cattle Creek and Catherine Store roads. Berdoulay said the modification aims to mitigate driver confusion and navigation.

Ever since an inundated Cottonwood Pass prompted a feasibility study, however, there has been pushback against improvements by some area residents. Some argue Cottonwood Pass improvements may have an opposite impact on safety.

“The concerns really of the public on Catherine Store Road were that, if any of these improvements were made, it was going to create the opportunity for greater speeding,” Karen Moculeski, president of the Keep Missouri Heights Rural organization, said Monday.

CDOT currently seeks state and federal grants for improvements to both Glenwood Canyon and Cottonwood Pass, Berdoulay said. If successful, the grants will go to Eagle County and improvements will be constructed by 2030.

On Tuesday, Garfield and Eagle County commissioners met to further address possible Cottonwood Pass improvements. 

“Our priority here is to support Eagle County on Blue Hill,” Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said on Monday. “Until that happens, Cottonwood Pass remains as it is today.”

Jankovsky added, “The first improvements need to happen in Eagle County.”