Estes Valley Voice Podcast

By Mayor Gary Hall “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was the movie that made Robert Redford a superstar. He got his acting start at the Historic Elitch’s Garden Theatre in Denver. He’s given back so much to the industry that made him famous with the Sundance Film Festival. The festival’s move to Boulder is a great boon for Colorado – and for Estes Park – artistically and culturally, as well as...

By Elisabeth Sherwin Estes Park is home to several species of unusual animals, from gigantic moose to snowshoe hares. Now add another rarity to the mix – a best-selling author. You will be able to meet best-selling author and Estes Park resident Aimie Runyan at two events this week: Tuesday, April 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Macdonald Book Shop and Friday, April 4 at 6 p.m. at the Estes Valley Library . Bot...

Story by Suzy Blackhurst Finding the right person to lead Visit Estes Park, the local marketing district charged with promoting tourism to the area, appears to be a harder task than the organization’s board of directors anticipated. Two candidates, Candace Carr Strauss and Cindy Mackin, made presentations before a search committee in late January. Since then, Carr Strauss withdrew, and Mackin, who...

Story by Suzy Blackhurst Twenty months after John Cullen, owner of The Stanley Hotel, and Donald Zuckerman, head of Colorado’s Film Commission, first suggested to the head of the Sundance Film Festival and Jeff Kraft, deputy director of the state’s Office of Economic Development that the Stanley Hotel would be the perfect location for institutes associated with the festival that could expand to Bo...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck “I want everybody to ban the words affordable housing. It’s not affordable housing,” said Eric Blackhurst, president of the Estes Park Housing Authority board, at their monthly meeting on March 19. “We deal with low-income housing, we deal with workforce housing, and we deal with attainable housing.” Blackhurst said that since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel...

Commentary by Dan Denning “Most Americans would agree that spending money and preserving our Parks is something the government should spend money on. But not indiscriminately, and not without more supervision and accountability.” Here’s a thought that is both obvious and controversial: A good deal of the public reaction to the staffing changes in our National Park System is really political anger...

The Estes Edit by Patti Brown Last week we celebrated the community’s women, and this week, figuratively, we will wake the dead. Over the past week Estes Park began waking up from its annual post-holiday winter hibernation. The season between New Year’s and March is often referred to as the shoulder season, a time when businesses see a contraction in the number of tourists to the Estes Valley. Man...

Story by Audrey Brice Although some checks still need to be counted, One Hundred Women Who Care – Estes Park has already collected more than $12,000 for the Estes Park Salud Family Health Center – the largest amount the philanthropy group has raised to date. The clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center, needs to raise $1 million to offset a projected operating shortfall. If the clinic cannot me...

By Barb Boyer Buck “I’ll explain to you my interest in annexation,” said Town of Estes Park Trustee Bill Brown. “I’m sure you’ve seen a map of the Estes Valley and we’ve got a pretty odd collection of what’s in town and what’s in the county.” Annexation is one of the issues that inspired Brown to run for Town Board. He is serving his first term after being elected last year. Brown believes develop...

Story by Patti Brown The local rumor mill went wild Monday night after broadcaster Rachel Maddow reported on her cable news show that Rocky Mountain National Park would not be open this summer due to staff cuts. According to Kyle Patterson, management specialist and public affairs officer for RMNP, the Park has not announced any closures of RMNP and information shared by MSNBC was inaccurate. The...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck & Patti Brown More than 500 people flanked both sides of the road for more than a mile Saturday morning near the entrance to the Beaver Meadows Visitors Center in Rocky Mountain National Park to show their support for Park employees whose jobs have been cut or are at risk. While the exact number of RMNP full-time and seasonal employees affected is not known because the...

Story by Suzy Blackhurst Establishing a permanent home for Encore! — an Estes Park performing arts center — has been an aspiration for arts aficionados in the Estes Park area for decades. The latest attempt to receive the support of the Town for the most recent plan will be considered by the Trustees during its study session Tuesday evening. On tap for discussion is whether results from a fall 202...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck This is the third in a series the Estes Valley Voice is publishing on the individuals who serve as Estes Park Town Trustees. The first featured Mark Igel . The second featured Frank Lancaster . “It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had, and every day I feel like I’m not good at it,” said Town of Estes Park Trustee Kirby Hazelton about working in local government. Elected in 2022...

By Mayor Gary Hall A healthy Rocky is critical for a healthy Estes My wife Linda and I love RMNP and the other forests that surround our mountain cradle. When we moved up here in 2003, we already had some experience on the mountains. In these 21 years, we’ve spent a lot of time in the Park. We recharge our batteries there. We feed our souls in the Park. So, we have great respect for those who keep...

Story by Patti Brown A rally to protest the Valentine’s Day firing of U.S. Forest Service and federal workers is set to take place at 10 a.m. Monday morning by the iconic Rocky Mountain National Park welcome sign near the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Estes Park. According to a press release issued on Feb. 14 by Gov. Jared Polis, “the Trump administration fired at least 90 people in Colorado an...

by Hank Lacey and Lincoln Roch Update: Feb. 15, 2025, 9:46 pm Attorney general Phil Weiser and attorneys general from 17 other states and the District of Columbia obtained on Feb. 5 a preliminary injunction that blocks President Donald Trump’s executive order that purports to strip children of immigrant who are born in the U.S. of American citizenship. The ruling by U.S. District Judge John C. Cou...

Story by Patti Brown Nationally recognized grief institute gains former Estes Park Health Foundation president evin Mullin has a new home at Judi’s House . The former president of the Estes Park Health Foundation, Mullin joined the researched-based grief institute in Aurora, as the director of philanthropy at the end of 2024. Founded in 2002 by former Denver Bronco quarterback and Super Bowl XXXII...

Opportunities to step up and lean in on elected and appointed boards, and to get involved in the community Special District elections — Self-nomination applications due by Feb. 28 While the saying “you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem” has been attributed to many people–Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick of the famous Riverside Church in New York City, Rep. Edna Fuller of Flori...

Story by Lincoln Roch Following a summer that saw destructive wildfires sweep through Larimer and Boulder Counties, Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, who represents the Estes Valley, is sponsoring a pair of bills that would address fire mitigation and emergency information. One would make it easier to carry out prescribed burns on private land. The other would consolidate emergency information and...

By Mayor Gary Hall I’ll continue my recent focus on local entities and partner institutions – my “local focal point.” National policy is in a state of great change and some of those may affect the Town and our critical partners. I’m working to stay attuned to those real or potential impacts; some will take time to settle, filter down, and understand. Others might be more immediate. All in all, the...

Story by Elisabeth Sherwin The early history of Allenspark, Colo., has been preserved largely thanks to one woman: Edie DeWeese. She was born into a pioneer Allenspark family who came to the area in 1904. DeWeese, 74, says you could accuse her of embracing “impostor syndrome” since she is not a technically trained historian. “But if you stay somewhere long enough you are the only one who remembers...

Author talk, Habitat for Humanity presentation, snowshoeing and ice fishing, and social-memory café “Conscious Living, Conscious Aging,” author talk at Good Sam’s Tuesday Aging is not for sissies, and it is also more than being busy with bridge and golf. Retirement and aging are times of both challenges and opportunities. As our bodies age and as our roles in life change, we face significant bridg...

Story by Patti Brown After a family member made a report for a wellness check to local authorities on Jan. 21, the body of naturalist, author, and award-winning photographer Kent Dannen was found half a mile from his home on Big Owl Road in Allenspark by a search and rescue team on Jan. 23. He was the author of more than a dozen hiking and outdoor books including several FalconGuides about hiking...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck This is the second in a series the Estes Valley Voice is publishing on the individuals who serve as Estes Park Town Trustees. The first featured Trustee Mark Igel . “When you’re all done and you’re sitting on the back porch having a beer with friends, and they are talking about what I did during my term in office, what do I want them to say?” said Town of Estes Park Truste...

Story by Lincoln Roche and Patti Brown Mother Nature provided a fresh blanket of fluffy white powder throughout the day Saturday for the inaugural Skijor event on the Estes Park Fairgrounds and Event Center campus. Temps dipped into the single digits as spectators dressed in parkas, winter boots, western hats, fur coats, and tried to keep warm while watching skiers, snowboarders, horses, and rider...