Why the "split" between "old" and "new" Coloradans . . .

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by danskone8

Some of us could have fun trying to identify the counties where those communities are located. I did not see an unfamiliar community because of my serving as a search and rescue volunteer and a volunteer fire-fighter in several mountain communities as well as Adams County. During the flood of 1965, I was Adams County Red Cross Director of Emergency Services. My volunteers, in turn, performed emergency services from Waterton up to Brighton, including the roping of propane tanks and securing them to trees and bridges to hopefully prevent an unanticipated destructive explosion. Many paid firefighters refused to assist, even though they were being paid to assist. My favorite place to live has been Blue Valley, up above Idaho Springs, at roughly 10,000 elevation. Crow Hill (near Bailey) was not so bad either. Perhaps it would not be so crowded in Colorado if we exiled anyone who could not prove that they have given of themselves for any humanitarian effort. Wonder how many people would remain in Colorado.

Probably not very many. For me, I have been a long-time volunteer over the years--on everything from Forest Service projects, historical preservation projects, community non-profits, and the like. Right now, I volunteer considerable time to four different non-profits in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. It is very fulfilling--unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer volunteers to do the work. It's a sad indictment on Gen X, Y, and younger that you see very few of them in most volunteer ranks anymore. I don't buy their "I'm too busy" crap, either. When I was in my 20's and 30's, I found time to volunteer, even when I was working long hours in a then-rotten economy. Talk to most any volunteer organization and they will tell you that the numbers of volunteers is going down, and the median age of their active volunteers is going up. It's sad that we as a society have gotten our priorities so screwed up.

PS--I was just a kid at the time, but I was an eyewitness to the South Platte flood in 1965 in Denver. Quite an event, and one that probably 90% of today's Front Range residents don't even know anything about.

[DOUBLE H]

Good points by Jazzlover. And I can CERTAINLY use a little bit more of my time in the volunteering department. I have done a little with the public radio station we have here in Grand Junction, helping sort out music collections donated to them. The station is funded somewhat, but all dj's do their 2 hour sets for free for the love of doing it. One guy does 2 hours big band, another 2 hours of musicals, another two hours of bluegrass, etc., etc.

Other ways would be to sign up with Partners, helping out a boy who never had a dad, go to one of his baseball games, teach him how to fly fish, stuff like that. Help him with his studies. There are a couple kids who live near me who are good kids, have no dads. I slip them some coin for doing some yard work for me. Wish I could keep up with them on the ball diamond but I'm so damn arthritic I'm lucky to get to first base without having a coronary! I can improve in this category myself; I don't mind admitting it at all! Other ways would be to help the Salvation Army sort out donations.There are lots of different ways to donate your time.

1965 Denver Flood. Like Jazzlover, I remember this event very well. That morning, the skies to the southwest of Denver were dark at breakfast and getting darker. I lived in south Englewood, and while I couldn't SEE the crest coming down, I could HEAR it. Take a drive down South Santa Fe Drive sometime. Imagine all the bridges getting knocked out from Bowles Ave. to Sixth Avenue. That's right, they ALL went down. Twenty eight people were killed. Over a half BILLION dollars in total damage. Think about what that would be in todays economy, that would be LOTS of billions of dollars in damage. They found trees, cars, refrigerators, house trailers, and worst of all dead bodies all the way up the Platte River to Fort Morgan and beyond. It was an ugly, ugly scene.