Spring 2012 - Morse Park Neighborhood Organization

General Meeting
Election Time
April 12—7-9pm
Clements Center
Spring 2012
Morse Park awarded npp grant for rain garden
Earlier in the year MPNO applied for a Neighborhood Participation Grant to remove the run-off
pond at the park and replace it
with a Rain Garden.
Twenty-one submissions were
received by the City of Lakewood
and of them 3 were awarded—
MPNO was one of them!
Our Rain Garden plan was accepted and has moved into the
planning stages. It will most likely
begin construction in late fall of
2012.
So for all of you who will be
happy to hear that the “icky” pond
will soon be gone, hip hip hooray!
So, what exactly is
a Rain Garden?
A Rain Garden is a modern, environmentally friendlier—greener,
method for satisfying the same
development aspect of a detention
facility, but with a method that
actually treats water via natural
methods, including with natural
vegetation, before allowing it into
the stormwater system or groundwater. A Rain Garden has layers of
sand, gravel, and soil beneath it to
catch and treat stormwater, with
drought tolerant vegetation within
it. The Rain Garden allows rainwater to pool in the garden for an
extended period, and then dry out
on the surface within 4-6 hours.
Excess flows can still exit into the
stormwater system after being
partially treated by the vegetation.
Why build a Rain Garden?
Rain Gardens are self watering
and easy to maintain, especially
if planted with native, drought
tolerant plants. Rain Gardens also
help to clean and slow the rate
of stormwater entering our rivers
and creeks, which in turn protects
the animals, plants and fish who
rely on healthy waterways for their
survival. Stormwater pollution is
one of the biggest threats to our
local rivers and creeks. Untreated
stormwater contains harmful pollutants such as heavy metals, oil,
organic matter and excess nutrients. Excess nutrients such as nitrogen can cause vigorous growth
of algae, which leads to reduced
oxygen levels in the water. Algal
blooms threaten animals, plants,
and fish throughout the ecosystem.
So we thank you City of
Lakewood for awarding us a grant
to build this wonderful feature into
our already beautiful park.
Applications for the 2013
program will be available in
May of 2012.
The City of Lakewood offers
grants of up to $50,000 to qualifying Lakewood neighborhoods
through its Neighborhood Participation Program (NPP).
INSIDE
President’s Letter........................................................................................................................................2
Lakewood Updates Recycling Ctr., Rooney Rd. Recycling, The 7th Annual CO/Colfax Marathon.....3
Know Your Neighborhood..........................................................................................................................4
Vet Corner—Bite Me, ..................................................................................................................................5
Garden Corner, Bridge Replacement; Highway 6 Over Sheridan...........................................................6
Visit www.morsepark.org
photo courtesy of: Create-A-Scape, LLC 2012
info@morsepark.org
The President’s Letter
Spring is
here and many
of us are gearing up for the
annual task
of a thorough
house cleaning. As you fill
those countless
garbage bags
with unwanted
items, I urge you to think about
each thing you put in the bag. Ask
yourself if anyone else could use
the item.
taken to Best Buy for recycling at
no cost to you.
If you have glass, aluminum,
plastic, paper, cardboard, phone
books, etc., I implore you to take
advantage of free access to arguably the most efficient and welldesigned recycling center in the
entire metro area. The City of
Lakewood has recently installed
a state-of-the-art facility at 1068
Quail Street, which provides
free recycling for all Lakewood
citizens. Not only does the center keep tons of trash from being
dumped into a landfill, it also includes compactors that are powered by the sun.
Let’s Talk Trash
Spring Cleaning/Recycling
For those items that have truly
outlived
their usefulness and must
Rather than putting it into a
be
relegated
to the depths of a
landfill, think about donating it
landfill,
which
trash pickup service
to a charitable organization like
will
you
use?
ARC or Good Will. Do you have an
• Do you use the same service as
old computer, stereo or cordless
your neighbor?
phone? Many electronics can be
• Have you ever considered how
many trash trucks drive
down your street on any
given day? When you think
of the noise, air pollution
and street wear generated
by those trucks that each
pick up at only one or two
addresses, it makes you
wonder why you haven’t
congregated with your
neighbors to decide on one
service for the entire street.
I would encourage you
all to consider this propostion for the sake of
www.cornercupboardtearoom.com/
www.documentsolutionsusa.com/index-1.html the community and the
environment. B
To learn more about
recycling and trash services, be sure to attend our
General Meeting on April
12th.
—Brian Paulson
MPNO President
Board of Directors
4/11—4/12
Brian Paulson, President
303-462-0454
brian-paulson@hotmail.com
Linda Sundine, Vice-President
303-235-0524
sundine88@msn.com
Jim Akers, Treasurer
303-237-1855
dwolf1955@aol.com
Tom Sabel, Secretary
303-231-9261
motlebas@hotmail.com
Matt Girard, 7th Year Board Member
303-202-6896
mgirard@flatironcorp.com
Madie Martinek, 6th Year Board Member
720-837-0599
martinek@qadas.com
Karlanne Sinkovic, 3rd Yr Board Member
Newsletter/Advertising/Webmaster
303-233-5817
karlanne@comcast.net
Johanna Parker & J.P. D’Andrimont,
New Co-Board Members
303-202-6643
jpandjp@mac.com
Fred Clarke, 1st Year Board Member
303-333-1245
fbnba@msn.com
Zerain Martinez, New Board Member
303-568-9146
zem1972@gmail.com
Helen Bushnell, New Board Member
720-980-3408
sunhelen@fastmail.net
General Meeting
Election Time
April 12th
7-9pm
Clements Center
info@morsepark.org
2
visit www.morsepark.org
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization—Spring 2012
Lakewood’s Updated Recycling Center
The Lakewood Recycling Center
located on 1068 Quail Street has
undergone some remodeling.
The remodeled site includes a
separate entrance on Quail Street
for the fenced recycling area.
Individuals and businesses are
welcome to recycle acceptable
materials at no cost during the following hours:
Winter hours:
October—April
7am—5pm
Summer hours:
May—September
7am —7pm
Containers will be available to
sort recyclables into the following
categories:
• Glass bottles and jars (large bin)
• Newspaper (large bin)
• Other paper (will accept current
materials plus non-bagged shredded paper) (large bin)
• Aluminum and steel cans, plastic
bottles and tubs #1-7 (compactor)
• Cardboard (compactor)
• Four containers are still available
for unsorted recyclables and for
those users who would rather not
sort their recyclables.
City of Lakewood employees
staff the center seven days a
week, excluding major holidays.
Lakewood employees provide
direction on sorting recyclables,
physical assistance when necessary, education on recyclables accepted and operation of the solarpowered cardboard compactor.
The recycling center has been
remodeled to provide for more
convenient access to the site, and
to provide for part-time site attendants to assist site users and
to provide for additional recycling
services to users in the future.
The remodeling of the recycling
center and the employment of
temporary employees was possible
because of a grant received from
the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment.
For more information, please
call 303-987-7974 for a recorded
message on times, materials accepted and other information; or
call 303-987-7190 for further questions. B
—Linda Sundine
The 7th Annual CO/Colfax Marathon
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization is looking for enthusiastic
volunteers, that like to have fun!
Have you ever wanted to run
in a marathon? Volunteering your
support at the Morse Park Organization’s water station is the next
best thing.
Water Station Volunteers will be
giving out water along with being
a cheerleader to runners going by.
Our water station will be located
at the 20th Ave. entrance of Morse
Park, located between Allison St.
and Carr St. Rockley’s Music will be
providing musical entertainment to
keep the runners mojo going.
The Colorado/Colfax
Marathon is 26.2 miles. The
marathon will start and finish at City Park. The course
incorporates no hard hills
and has shade relief with
great neighborhood diversity.
Last year’s Colorado/
Colfax Marathon was a
success so, come on out
and have some fun while
getting to know your
Rooney Road
Recycling Center
Environmental Services at the
City of Lakewood participates
with the operation of the Rooney
Road Recycling Facility. The
Rooney Road Recycling Center
is one of the largest of its kind
in the county, and has received
numerous state and national
awards for its operation.
The center is owned and
operated by a coalition of cities
and towns located within the
county. This facility gives
citizens of Jefferson County a
place to legally and safely dispose
of many household chemicals as
well as other services such as:
• Solvents, paints, waxes,
insecticides, used oil, etc.
• e-waste—including microwave
ovens, cell phones, computers,
small appliances, printers,
scanners and more (fee may
apply).
• limbs, lumber, leaves and
grass.
Dept. of Planning & Public Works
Lakewood Civic Center North
480 S. Allison Pkwy.,
Lakewood, CO 80226
303-987-7500
neighbors and representing your
community. The Marathon will
be Sunday, May 20th at 6-9am. If
you are interested in volunteering,
please contact Madie Martinek at
720-837-0599. B
wellbeingschiropractic.com/
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization—Spring 2012
visit www.morsepark.org
3
Know Your Neighborhood
Living in Morse Park
Things are always changing in
the Morse Park Neighborhood.
I was thinking of all the changes
that have happened over the years
along Colfax in the 52 years I have
lived in my home.
On Carr and Colfax there was
the King Soopers where the Quality Auto Sound is now. The store
had a marquee that said “Closed
Sunday—go to Church.”
Where the Wendy’s is there was
a five and dime store. The Safeway
was on Colfax near Balsam on
the north side of the street which
is now Budget Car Sales. If you
look at the outside of the building
you can see it has the shape of a
Safeway. Across the street was the
popular local movie theater which
we would walk to in the evenings
and is now home to the Harley
Davidson business.
We owned a furniture store
www.sundanceautorepair.com/
www.estatewizards.com/
www.hummelsbandbauto.com/
called Starr Furniture. It is where
the Massa Auto Pawn is now. I
was able to go into the building
the other day. It had definitely
changed from the old furniture
store.
Back then my husband and
I met for lunch one day at the
Lakewood Bar and Grill. It was the
first time I had been there. He ordered his beer and I asked for hot
tea since I’m not a drinker. The
waitress looked at me blankly. She
did bring me a very dusty tea pot. I
told my husband “I’m not drinking
that” and my husband said “what
do you expect—this is a bar not a
tea house.” I’ve been wondering if
the tea pot is still there. LOL.
There was a little diner down
the street from us where we could
get a cup of coffee and a piece of
pie for about 15 cents.
We had a Piggley Wiggley store
and of course the Howell’s Clothing store. I didn’t need a car in
those days—everything was at my
fingertips.
I had a friend who had moved
from Chicago and was living on
17th Avenue. She would say how
amazing the area was . . . “you have
everything here, and you
don’t even have to leave
the neighborhood.”
Our local Dolly Madison ice cream was the
crème of the neighborhood. They had a soda
fountain and seating, and
everyone from the neighborhood would go on hot
summer evenings for a
nice cool treat. My kids
and I loved to go there.
Morse Park was packed in the
summer time. Families would
come during the week from all
over West Denver and spread their
blankets out for picnics. When we
had company, we would walk over
to the park for picnics. Our friends
were often from large cities and
couldn’t believe we had such a
nice park in what was practically
in our own backyard.
My kids went to Slater Elementary. It was a good school with a
strong PTA. They have good memories of this neighborhood. They
still are friends with some of their
former classmates. My grandchildren have spent hours in the park
playing with their children.
Recently, a dear neighbor of
mine, died. It was such a loss as
she was one of the first to live in
this neighborhood, and I felt that I
had lost a mother. She was always
one I could go to share things and
talk about all the changes that
were going on in our lives. I guess
that is something we all have to
adjust to. Changes happen all the
time and we just have to go with
the flow. B
—Eileen Schechter,
Neighbor
General
Meeting
Election
Time
April 12th
7-9pm
Clements
Center
4
visit www.morsepark.org
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization—Winter 2011
Bite Me—prevent the likelihood of bites
Dog bites have been in the news
lately. Annually, the Center for Disease Control, estimates that there
are 4.5 million dog bites. Of those,
1 in 5 (800,000) required medical attention. Out of 4.5 million,
3.5 million will involve children.
Sobering statistics to say the least,
but when one starts to look at dog
bites it becomes apparent that in
many situations, especially with
children, we as humans are actually saying “bite me” to the dogs.
So how does one prevent, or at
least decrease, the likelihood of a
bite incident.
Any dog can bite
First, it needs to be recognized
that any
dog, repeat
any dog,
can bite.
My personal Golden
Retriever,
that had
never had
a history of aggression or biting, snapped at a child one day
when the child approached him
while eating. While any dog may
bite, due to genetics and breeding
certain individuals may be more
likely to bite in certain situations.
Terriers, in general, for example
were bred to be hunters and to be
protective in their environment.
Thus, some may not be appropriate for households with small
children. Again this is a generality,
each individual is different, but in
choosing a dog for a household it
is important to look at the general
genetic disposition of the breed.
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Second, educate yourself
and your children. Again most
bite incidents are due to poor
choices on the human’s part
combined with training and
genetic issues in the dog.
Some basic rules of thumb:
• Let sleeping dogs
lie! Do not bother a dog
when they are sleeping
or busy.
• Do not bother a dog
when they are eating.
Seventy-one percent
of bites involving children are associated
with food. Consider
feeding your dogs
away from your children especially when
the child is less than
5-years old.
• Be kind to dogs and animals. It is
felt, however, that most children
do not understand empathy until
5-7 years of age. So do not count
on this until kids are older!
• Do not approach or tease dogs
in cars or behind fences. Most
dogs are naturally protective. Approaching in this situation is
asking to be bit.
• If approached by a strange dog,
be calm as possible. Do not run.
If the dog becomes aggressive,
roll into a ball.
Train and socialize your dog
Finally, as a pet owner it is your
responsibility for training and socialization. Encouraging growling
and protective behaviors without
adequate training is playing with
fire. Know your dog as an individual and a breed. Know your
responsibilities. If you need help
contact your veterinarian or local
resources for training. B
—Jim Akers, DVM
www.hobnobpet.com • www.npphc.net • www.stpaulsfamily.org
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Sat 11 a.m. - 3pm
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Moving boxes • Shipping supplies
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2000 Wadsworth Blvd. • Lakewood, CO 80214
(303) 424-6245 • fax (303) 431-7979
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization—Spring 2012
visit www.morsepark.org
5
The Garden Corner
Preparing garden areas for this
summer’s flowers & vegetables—
the Create-A-Scape way! As days get longer and warmer,
we tend to gaze outside at the gardens we left behind for winter, and
start to consider the possibilities
for the coming Spring & Summer
season.
you don’t have a tiller, use
a pitch fork to break up
clumpy dirt and to work in
compost and Preen, raking
soil evenly as you go.
Next, think about what
you are going to plant and
which plants grew best and
what you used most last
year.
Plant your seeds for lettuce, Choose from among
the many leaf lettuces,
including Red Sails, Ruby and Salad
Bowl. Romaines; try Rouge
d’Hiver and Freckles for good
color. Carrots, Peas, Green
onions, Asparagus and
Strawberries are good, and
for your flowering gardens
plant Hardy Boy pansies. All
these can be planted the 3rd
week in April.
For summer yields, I plant
I like to start by mid
March if possible by turning
soil over and tilling. Repeat
this process in 2 or 3 weeks,
only this time, amend your
soil by adding compost,
and Preen, which acts as
a pre-emergent to control
early weed germination. If
a variety of tomatoes: Cherry, Yellow Pear, Roma, and Champion.
Cilantro and a variety of Herbs,
Peppers, Cucumbers, and Corn, all
combine to create wonderful salads, salsa or use with main dishes.
You can even freeze the salsa for
later use.
Plant colorful flowers. Marigolds, Petunias and Zinnias
enhance the look, and help pollination by attracting bees while
controlling pests.
—Kris Anderson,
Create-A-Scape, LLC— 720-273-2753
Special thanks
to Kris Anderson, Morse Park
resident, for this gardening article. You can send us articles too!
info@morsepark.org
Bridge replacement; highway 6 over sheridan
Overview:
The Colorado Department of
Transportation and Edward Kraemer and Sons, Inc. have joined
forces to replace the aging bridge
structure that carries Highway 6
traffic over Sheridan Blvd.
The project will be constructed
in three major phases. Each phase
will last approximately four to five
months. Traffic on HW 6 will be
switched a total of four times.
Improvements to Highway 6
include wider shoulders, improved
lighting, a new sound wall, and
additions to CDOT’s Intelligent
Traffic System. Improvements on
Sheridan Blvd include relocated
6
and wider sidewalks, new median
islands, new intersection traffic
controls and a new asphalt surface
within the project limits as well as
all on and off ramps to Highway 6.
All major demolition of the current bridge will be done during the
night. This is to ensure maximum
safety to the surrounding public.
A few things you can look forward to in upcoming newsletters
include: Construction updates,
upcoming traffic shifts, major night
work, anticipated lane closures or
revisions to traffic, major construction noise.
visit www.morsepark.org
Schedule:
This $9 Million project just got
started and will be completed in
August of 2013.
• Project Website: www.colora-
dodot.info/projects/us6sheridanbridge
• Project Information Officer:
Stefan Hennig
• Contact Number: 303-241-6586
Please do not hesitate to contact
us at our hotline with any questions or concerns you may have.
—Sincerely,
The CDOT & EKS Team
Morse Park Neighborhood Organization—Spring 2012