The Senior Voice - November 2009

The Senior

I O C V E November 2009

Local Attractions • Scenic Places • History • Money • Health • News

Ski Ghost Town Town USA In Northern Steamboat Springs

Colorado

Famous Longs Rodeo Peak Bronc Pioneer Climbers North Colorado

Outlaws Mountain In Early Girl Colorado Ida McNally

Cover Skiing Picture: Steamboat Skier Springs Billy Kidd

2 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

Social Security State Legislation By Stephen Clifton, Director Social Security Office, Greeley

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f you’re planning on retiring sometime early in the 2010, now is the time to apply for Social Security benefits. The most convenient way to apply is online at www.social security.gov/applyonline. Before you start your application, we recommend you get an estimate of your retirement benefit. This you can do at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimat or. The Retirement Estimator uses your personal employment history to estimate your retirement benefit. It also will help you to answer some of the questions on the retirement application. You can use the online application to apply for Social Security retirement or spouses benefits if you are at least 61 years and 9 months old; want to start your benefits in the next four months; and live in the United States. Before filing online for retirement, we suggest you have the following information on hand: Your

date and place of birth and Social Security number; your bank or financial institution’s routing transit number and the account number for direct deposit of your benefits; the amount of money earned last year and this year. If you are filing for benefits in the months of September through December, you also will need to estimate next year’s earnings; the name and address of your employer(s) for this year and last year; the beginning and ending dates of any active U.S. military service you had before 1968; the name, Social Security number and date of birth or age of your current spouse and any former spouse. You also should know the dates and places of marriage and dates of divorce or death (if appropriate); and have a copy of your Social Security Statement. Even if you don’t have all the information we need, you should go ahead and apply. We will contact you later if we need information. ■

By B.J. Nikkel Colorado State Representative

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y summer and fall flew by as I concluded a series of twenty town hall meetings around my district. As your State Representative, I take my job very seriously. One of my goals is to be accessible and available to you the taxpayers. I am working to put people, not government, first. Irresponsible government does not serve the people. Raising taxes during a recession or economic downturn has been catastrophic for many people in our state who were already suffering economic woes. There were 57 bills with “fees” (taxes) attached last session. I hear daily from Coloradans who are angry about the car tax that forced higher rates on vehicle registrations, as well as forcing unfair, indisputable and expensive late fees. I voted against this “back-door” method of taxation. Some common sense solutions I will support are to repeal the car tax and also restore the majority party’s

repeal of the Senior Homestead Property Tax Exemption, which has seriously hurt many seniors. Frankly, I find that repeal unconscionable. I’ll co-sponsor legislation allowing Coloradans to purchase insurance plans across state lines to give ythem choice. If you need a minimal, inexpensive plan and we don’t have it in Colorado, you should be allowed to purchase it in another state. We should implement an automatic hiring freeze when the economy shrinks. Our governor grew government by 4,400 employees in three years; 1400 were hired in the midst of a hiring freeze as “exceptions.” When you and I must tighten our belts, the government should, too. I believe in growing futures, not government. Excessive fees, taxes, regulation and mandates on people and small businesses have seriously hurt Coloradans who are already struggling to make ends meet in these tough economic times. You can email me at Rep.Nikkel @gmail.com or call at 970-663-3506.

■

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The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 3

Steamboat: Ski Town USA

Published Locally Since 1980

By Bill Lambdin VOL. 29, NO. 12

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teamboat Springs is called Ski Town USA for several reasons. It has produced more Olympic ski team members than any other city in the nation. It is where competitive skiing began in Colorado when Carl Howelsen built the first ski jump there in 1913. And its ski business was developed by local people who had a passion for skiing seldom found elsewhere. Norwegian ski champion Carl Howelsen was working as a stone mason in Denver when he discovered the champagne powder of Steamboat in 1913. He helped the local people in the quiet, little ranching town realize that they lived in a skier ’s paradise, teaching them that they could do more with those long wooden boards than ski to school or to the pasture. Howelsen’s ski jump became so well known that it attracted champions from everywhere. Ragnar Omtvedt set a world record jump on it and told the people of Steamboat: “You have the fastest course in the world here...There is no reason why (skiing) cannot be made a big thing for Colorado.” A few years later, a young local rancher, Jim Temple, had become an avid skier and decided to build some ski runs on Storm Mountain. It wasn’t easy starting a ski area in this small, isolated town. Outsiders said it would never make it—too difficult to get to and too rural in its atmosphere. But outsiders were wrong. The isolation appealed to many skiers, who liked the Western atmosphere and the idea of a ski area overlooking a beautiful ranch valley. And the townspeople were determined to make it work. During one dry winter, hundreds of them shoveled snow onto the ski runs from drifts along the trees to get the ski area open. It was reminiscent of the spirit F.M. Light & Sons showed during the Great Depression. Established in 1905, F.M. Light & Sons is Steamboat’s oldest retail business. You see their yellow signs along the highway, and their store is still downtown. When the Lights’ business faced failure during the Depression, they loaded their saddles, jeans and

970-229-9204 Email: [email protected] www.theseniorvoice.net PUBLICATION INFORMATION The Senior Voice newspaper has been published locally the first of each month since 1980 for residents age 50-plus.

ADVERTISING Ad deadline is 20th of month. For rates, call 970-229-9204; email [email protected] or see theseniorvoice.net.

Wolfgang Lambdin Advertising Director/Editor Fort Collins, Colorado (970) 229-9204 [email protected] SALES OFFICES:

Carl Howelsen, who built the first professional ski jump in Colorado at Steamboat Springs. Colorado Historical Society. Stetsons in a Model-T Ford and drove to ranches throughout the area. If the customers wouldn’t come to them, they would go to the customers. Steamboat did much the same when the town sent its best skiers to competitions around the world— Buddy Werner, Skeeter Werner, Moose Barrows and many others. Through them, Steamboat’s reputation as a ski town grew. The Werners were an especially popular family. Hazie’s restaurant that sits atop the gondola at Mount Werner was named for Hazie Werner, the mother of three Olympic skiers: Buddy, Loris and their sister Gladys (Skeeter). The Werner family settled on a nearby ranch in 1941 and first lived in a log cabin with a sod roof. The children trained at Howelsen Hill where their mother sometimes sold hot dogs. Later the Werner family became very successful. Buddy was a threetime Olympian, national giant slalom champion and North American combined champion. Loris was also an Olympian. Skeeter won the North American Ski Championship in 1955, was the youngest member of the U.S. National Ski Team, an Olympian, and founder of the Steamboat Ski School.

Buddy Werner was killed in an avalanche in Switzerland in 1964. After that, Steamboat’s ski mountain was renamed Mount Werner in his honor. Writer John Rolfe Burroughs remembered when Buddy Werner became the first American to achieve recognition from the great skiers of Europe: “No European had really ever taken an American skier seriously until the day in 1958 when Werner stood at the top of the Hahnenkamm down-hill course peering into a fog that blotted out the run...A teammate called ‘good luck.’ “Buddy jabbed in his ski poles, pulled himself in mid-air into his characteristic streamlined crouch and almost instantly vanished into the murk. “Far below, the Austrian spectators waited, staring into the fog...Suddenly out of the mists rocketed Werner. He carved a magnificent steep last schuss that held the crowd breathless and then swept across the finish line...He had broken the record.” Steamboat remembers people like that. ________________ COVER PICTURE: Billy Kidd, one of Steamboat’s best known skiers years ago. Photo courtesy Steamboat Chamber Resort Association. ■

Ft. Collins and Loveland (970) 229-9204 Greeley (970) 454-3789 EDITORIAL DEADLINE Announcements and stories must be received by the 10th of the month.; ads by the 20th of the month. READER INFORMATION Subscriptions $48 a year. The Senior Voice welcomes readers' letters and contributions. The Senior Voice assumes no responsibility for damaged or lost material submitted by readers.

© Copyright 2009 The Senior Voice EDITORIAL OFFICE:

1471 Front Nine Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525 (970) 223-9271 email [email protected] www.theseniorvoice.net No material may be reproduced by any means without permission of the Senior Voice.

Dr. William and Peggy Lambdin Founders, 1980

4 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

Question About Estate Planning By Ron Rutz, Attorney Legal Correspondent Q: You have said it is easy to use probate in Colorado. But if I don’t want to do that, what are my options? A: Gifting. If a gift is made, there is no right to have it returned. Gift tax consequences arise for any gift if, during a calendar year, the total of all gifts to an individual exceeds $13,000. If an appreciated asset is given, the recipient steps into the shoes of the giver for capital gains purposes. Therefore, the receiver would be subject to the same capital gains or capital losses that the giver would have incurred. Generally it is better for someone to inherit and receive a stepped-up basis than to receive a gift and take over the existing basis and tax liability. Trusts. In some states like California, a living trust is, without a doubt, the most desirable way to anchor an estate plan and avoid probate. That is not necessarily the case in Colorado. Trusts are more complicated.

Instead of a Will with a few pages, a person usually receives a thick “book” with a trust that almost no client understands. Unless the cost to set up the trust and then the cost to take it apart after death is around $350, the trust will prove to be much more expensive than a probate that the family can do themselves. The forms and procedures are available free on the internet. Trusts are often called double probates in the sense that in a probate with a Will, assets are transferred once at death. But with a trust, assets are handled first to transfer title into the trust name, then a second time at death from the trust to the beneficiaries, and possibly a third time for the assets still titled in the deceased’s name transferring assets into the trust (start a probate) and then out of the trust. Trusts are still used in Colorado, but probate might be better. Limited Liability Company (LLC). Assets, especially out-ofstate real estate, are placed in an LLC because, in order to transfer the deceased’s ownership, his or her

certificate is simply canceled and new certificates are issued to the beneficiaries. Among other things, the LLC will avoid court probate of real estate in a sister state where the probate laws may be harder to work with than in Colorado. Thus, one of the traditional reasons for having a living trust (to avoid foreign probates) has been diminished

greatly by the use of LLCs. In deciding whether to use probate or avoid it, you must have a clear understanding of what happens in your state. ________________ Attorney Ron Rutz will answer questions sent to 2625 Redwing Road, Suite 180, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526. Phone: 970-223-8388. Email: [email protected]. ■

Prostate Surgery Issue P

rostate cancer patients who have the new minimally invasive “keyhole” surgery are much more likely to be left with incontinence and impotence, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The new surgery uses robotic technology and requires only a small incision, but it leaves men with more problems than the traditional surgical method. Researchers studying nearly 9,000 patients found that the new method results in about twice the number of impotence and inconti-

nence problems as the traditional method. Part of the problem is that the new method requires extensive robotic training that many surgeons doing it do not have, said researchers. But patients are demanding the new method because it is widely advertised; so many doctors take a short course in it and do it, even though they are not fully qualified. Researchers advise patients to investigate a surgeon’s experience and qualifications carefully before using the new method. ■

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The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 5

Health Research

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onflicts of interest continue among some university professors who publish articles in medical journals and don’t reveal that they have ties to drug companies, said Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley has led several investigations that reveal things like drug companies paying well known university professors to put their names on articles that were produced by ghost writers hired by the drug companies. That, say Grassley and others, deliberately misleads doctors and consumers who need information in medical journals to be unbiased and truthful. Grassley has asked the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the federal agency that funds much of the medical research in the U.S., to crack down on such practices. But the NIH says it is the universities’ responsibility to supervise their professors. The universities say it is the professors’ responsibility; so in many cases nothing gets done except finger pointing. In the meantime, said Grassley,

there is a growing mistrust of medical research. That view was confirmed by another recent study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It said nearly 11 percent of the articles appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008 were produced by ghost writers who were paid by drug companies. Nearly 8 percent of the articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association were by ghost writers; and so were nearly 8 percent in the British journal Lancet. In a survey of more than 600 article writers, about 8 percent of them admitted that ghost writers had contributed to their articles. Ginny Barbour, editor of the journal of the Public Library of Science (PLoS Medicine), told the New York Times, “I feel that we’ve basically been lied to by authors.” She and others point out that writers paid by drug companies can possibly mislead doctors and harm patients if dangerous side effects of medicines are not revealed. ■

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6 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

Famous Bronc from Greeley

Cowboy on a bronc (not Midnight). Hazel Johnson Collection. (Editor’s Note: Greeley historian Hazel E. Johnson wrote the following story years ago.) By Hazel Johnson

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he famous bucking horse Midnight was acquired by Verne Elliott of Greeley in 1928. Elliott toured the U.S. and promoted the first rodeo in Madison Square Garden. He also took his rodeo to London. Midnight was a real crowd pleaser and, as a tricky bucking horse, threw some of the cowboy greats. People at Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Denver Stock Show always looked forward to seeing him. Some rated him the best bucking horse the world had known. One rodeo cowboy said, “He was an ornery cuss, 1,600 pounds of coiled steel spring with all of the feints and moves, plus the explosiveness

of dynamite.” While Midnight was said never to have been ridden, the statement wasn’t quite accurate. According to Guy Elliott of Greeley, he was ridden twice–but under suspicious circumstances which no one ever explained. After Midnight’s last rodeo, Vern Elliott put him to pasture on the St. Vrain Ranch near Greeley where he roamed free for several years until his death. Elliott buried him on the ranch, encircled the grave with a rail fence and had a marker erected. In 1966 the Cowboy Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City exhumed Midnight’s bones and took them there for burial. Dean Krakel, a western historian formerly of Ault and director of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, was in charge of the exhumation. Some people do not know that this famous horse was from Weld County. ■

The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 7

Find Out Investment Costs By Scott Burns Financial Writer Q: I have been trying to determine my portfolio’s expenses without success. I have a variable annuity with four mutual funds. I also have six stock funds, a couple of bond funds, corporate bonds, a CD and a few corporate stocks. All are managed by a broker who makes recommendations, handles transactions and provides an income check each month. There are fees, management expenses, etc., associated with each entity within the portfolio and a management fee from the broker. How can I discover all the various fees being levied on my portfolio A: Sadly, there is no “Truth in Investing Expenses” law. Personally, I’d like to see a law that required every monthly statement to contain a total of all expenses as a percent of assets in the account. I suggest that you make a formal request to your broker for a tally of the average annual expense for your

variable annuity and the expense ratios on your stock and bond mutual funds. This will still be incomplete since it won’t include the commissions or house spreads on your bond and CD purchases. Nor will it include his management fee if there is one. Asking these questions isn’t rude. It’s essential. A second question you should ask is what the return on your account has been over the trailing 12 months and 36 months. This should include adding back in any withdrawals you have made, expressed as a percentage of the account value. You can then ask your account manager to compare his performance to a meaningful benchmark. If he isn’t willing to do that, your money is in the wrong place and you should move your account. ________________ Scott Burns is a longtime financial researcher and writer for The Dallas Morning News and other papers. He answers some questions of general interest sent to: [email protected]. ■

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8 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

Sunshine and Sorrow By Bill Lambdin

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ne of the haunting pioneer stories in northern Colorado involved a beautiful 16-year-old girl who died mysteriously while living in the mountains west of Fort Collins. Ida Louise McNally came from a respected family of early settlers. Her parents, Nicolas and Jemima McNally, had come to Fort Collins in 1878 with their eleven children. Nicolas was a lumberman previously from Canada and Michigan. He moved his family to a farm near Bellvue, north of Fort Collins, but heard of the mining boom at Teller City and decided to move there, in the mountains southeast of Walden. Just a week before the move, their young son, Freddie, died. As if that weren’t enough, the family had a difficult time getting to Teller City. It took them seven days in a twoseated buggy, traveling in a storm, sleeping on the ground on Dead Man’s Hill and elsewhere. One night they found a deserted cabin with a dirt floor. The cabin

wasn’t locked, so they built a fire to get warm and cooked a meal of beaver tail stew. Then one of their horses died. They had to walk miles to get a stage that could take them the rest of the way. Ida’s father homesteaded 160 acres and built a log cabin near Teller City. The family was hard-working and religious, and gained the respect of other settlers in the area. Life began to look better. In 1883, when Ida’s older sister Anna married and had a child, Ida went to live with her to help care for the baby. Ida was almost 16, a healthy, pretty girl enjoying the summer sunshine in a beautiful mountain setting. Life was just unfolding for her. She walked along sparkling mountain streams, stood surrounded by wildflowers and listened to the breeze softly moving through the sweet scented pine trees. Life was pulling her toward womanhood, making her strong and beautiful. Then everything changed. Ida discovered she was pregnant. She

Old Teller hotel near Ida’s home. Colorado Historical Society. was unmarried and didn’t know what to do. She had a strong religious background and became confused. Sadly, she made a decision to take her own life. No one knows who her lover was or exactly how she ended her life. Some said she may have drunk lye and endured several agonizing days before her death on August 11, 1883. A local newspaper did not give details, but said: “The sudden death of Miss Ida McNally, a charming and very intelligent lady who was

well known in this vicinity, will be a painful surprise to many friends.” Years later, Fort Collins writer Rose Brinks found a picture of Ida. On the back of it, Ida had written: “I have engaged the sun to shine for me.” Unfortunately, the sun did not shine long in Ida’s young life. _______________ Fort Collins writer Rose Brinks told the story of Ida and other local pioneers in her book “History of Bingham Hill Cemetery,” available by calling 970-221-4261. ■

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The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 9

Vitamin D Supplement P

eople who don’t get enough vitamin D are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problem, according to a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “There are a whole array of studies linking increased cardiovascular risk with vitamin D deficiency,” said researcher Dr. James H. O’Keefe. “There is strong evidence that supplementing vitamin D improves health.” Most Americans need vitamin D supplements because they cannot get enough through daily sunshine exposure or foods. You would have to drink about 15 glasses of milk a day to get enough, say researchers. You would need to get 15 to 30 minutes of daily sunlight exposure on your skin; and that’s difficult to do every day in winter. Some researchers recommend at least 200 international units a day for people below age 50; 400 units for those 50 to 70; and at least 600 units for those over 70. Other researchers recommend higher

doses. Vitamin D might also help people avoid cancer, according to a report in the Annals of Epidemiology. Researchers said a lack of vitamin D might disrupt activity between cells that is necessary to healthy cell life. That could allow cancer cells to take over healthy cells. “The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels,” said Cedric Garland, an epidemiologist at the University of California. Elsewhere, a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry says getting the right amount of Vitamin D might also reduce the effects of aging on the brain. Researchers studied 3,000 men age 40 to 80 and found that those with high vitamin D levels had better memory and processed information quicker than men with low levels of the vitamin. The differences were most notable in men over age 60, said researchers. ■

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10 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

From Water Hole to Den of Sin By Peggy Hunt

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as Vegas got its name from the Spanish explorers who first came to the area in 1829. They called it “the meadows” for the green meadows fed by a natural water reserve in the middle of the desert. In 1843 Capt. John C. Fremont, having heard of a “great river” in the region, entered the desert basin to conduct the first official mapping of what would become Nevada. In the mid-1800s, a migration of Mormons had replaced the original Spanish residents, but by 1887 the Mormons were also gone. In 1902 a man named William Clark planned to build a railroad line between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City using the artesian springs at Las Vegas. Clark decided not to build the railroad and auctioned off his land as town sites, netting $265,000.

People who bought those town sites later made huge profits when, in 1930, the federal government decided to build Hoover Dam nearby. That project put Las Vegas on the map, and local businesses profited greatly from the 5,000 men working on the dam for five years. Then in 1931 the state legislature established legalized gambling in Nevada, and the town sites sold by Clark in 1905 were worth huge sums as casinos and hotels began springing up on them. One of the most sensational events in the development of Las Vegas was the 1946 building of the Pink Flamingo by Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, who skimmed huge profits from bootlegging and gambling operations. The Pink Flamingo was the forerunner of all the later large casinos, but Siegel met a violent death before he lived long enough to enjoy much of his money.

See Your Best...

Las Vegas is very different from its origins. By the late 1950s, Las Vegas had a well established image of glamour and glitz, and a reputation as “sin city” where anything goes. Famous entertainers worked there regularly, including Frank Sinatra and his “rat pack” consisting of Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Dean Martin. In 1966, Howard Hughes arrived in town in the middle of

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the night and took up residence at the Desert Inn, which became his home for the next four years. He bought several of the hotels and casinos, and even bought a TV station so he could watch his favorite movies in his hotel room. Since then, the once barren desert meadow has become the entertainment capital of the world. At least, that’s what it calls itself. ■

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The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 11

Events and Exhibits Pioneer Association Annual luncheon and business meeting in Fort Collins, November 21 at 11:30, Cafe Columbine, 802 West Drake. For reservations, call Bonnie Crane, 226-4984.

Greeley Friends and Newcomers Meeting November 10, at Trinity Episcopal Church 3800 West 20th Street, features information on Hospice programs. Call 330-4525.

Johnstown Christmas Boutique December 5 at 9 am to 3 pm, at the community center, 101 W. Charlotte. Crafts, silent auction, baked goods, quilt raffle, Santa visit for kids, coloring contest, hayrides, and more. Also quilt and craft show at Faith Lutheran Church, 3999 W. South First Street. Call 587-9599.

Wyoming Historical Society The society’s 2010 historical calendar is available from linda@dancewyoming. com, or call 307-322-4237. It features colorful photographs of many historical events and people throughout Wyoming. For information about the society, see www.wyshs.org. ■

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12 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

Early Fort Collins By Arlene Ahlbrandt

The Fort Collins Sugar Factory. Courtesy of Arlene Ahlbrandt.

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he Fort Collins Sugar Factory was built in 1903 and would have been 106 years old now had it not been demolished in the 1990s. In 1904 the stockholders sold the factory to the Great Western Sugar Company, which owned beet factories in Loveland, Greeley and other places. The original building was two stories with walls made of three layers of red brick. The tall smokestack could be seen for miles. The plant could process 1,200 tons of beets a day. The population of Fort Collins more than doubled when work

began in beet fields and at the factory. In the spring and fall, rural schools had “beet vacations” so children would work on the farms. For years, the sugar industry was prosperous, but in 1954 the farming economy was depressed. The factory needed repairs and was simply shut down. In 1994 the city of Fort Collins purchased a 32-acre parcel of the former factory and renovated one of the buildings for the street department, which still stands at Linden Street and Vine Drive. Another parcel of land now houses the New Belgium Brewery warehouse. ■

The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 13

Loveland Pioneers: W.B. Osborn Family By Lois Hall

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he Loveland Museum and Gallery was built on the homestead site of the W.B. Osborn family, and the museum stands as a tribute to those pioneers of the Big Thompson Valley. The Osborns were among the earliest settlers in the valley, arriving in l86l. William Osborn and his wife, Margaret, built the first house in the town. He was also the first judge in Larimer County. In their home, the first church service in Larimer County was held in l863. Judge Osborn performed the first marriage ceremony in the county when Andrew Ames and the woman he wanted to marry came to his home in a

Drug Companies’ Influence

H

ow much do drug companies influence the practice of medicine in the U.S.? Quite a bit, according to investigations by Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). He found, for instance, that the influential National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gets much of its funding from drug companies although it is supposed to be a patient advocacy group. NAMI has for years supported legislation that benefits drug companies, said Grassley. The organization’s director, Michael Fitzpatrick, acknowledged that but said NAMI plans to be less influenced by drug companies. He told the New York Times, “I understand that NAMI gets painted as being in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies...It’s simply not true.” Elsewhere, Sen. Grassley has found numerous instances of drug companies paying university professors to put their names on research articles that were actually produced by ghost writers who are paid by the drug companies. Such articles appear in influential medical journals that doctors and patients depend on for information.

■

covered wagon drawn by oxen. In l862 Osborn bought a half bushel of wheat, a half bushel of oats and a half bushel of rye. He planted these on his farm, becoming the first in the county to plant wheat. He cut and hauled native grass hay to Blackhawk and Central City where he sold it to mining companies for their livestock. Osborn’s love for farming was shared by his great grandson Milo and his wife Madalyn. Their home was built just a stone’s throw from the site of the original Osborn log cabin erected in l862. The Osborn farm was cited as the piece of land in Colorado owned the longest by one family. The historical exhibits at the

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W.B. Osborn was born in 1824 and came to Loveland in 1861. Photo Loveland Public Library. Loveland Museum evoke what life was like around the turn of the century. The Victorian room displays include several Osborn

Erectile Dysfunction

he American College of Physicians support the use of erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra, Celias and Levitra, according to a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Only mild side effects are occasionally associated with the drugs, including headaches, nausea, visual disturbances and diarrhea, said the physicians. However, men who take nitrate medicines or have unstable heart disease should not take the drugs. Erectile dysfunction affects men

of all ages, including young men with diabetes and others suffering from depression or chronic health conditions. “Patients need to know that erectile dysfunction is a common disorder,” said Dr. Amir Qaseem, senior medical associate with the American College of Physicians. Men who experience erectile dysfunction for more than three months should see a doctor and consider using the drugs, said the researchers. Some doctors also need to be more aware that the drugs are safe. ■

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belongings such as a brass chandelier and paintings. Later members of the Osborn family, Otto and Cora, donated the original Osborn family homesite to the City of Loveland for the museum, which was built in l956. ■

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14 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

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ACROSS

DOWN

1. 6. 10. 11.

1.

12. 15. 17. 18. 19. 20. 22. 24. 26. 28. 31. 34. 36. 37. 39. 40. 41. 44. 47. 49. 52. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59.

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_____ Peaks Wilderness Area Holder of #6 down Injure severely Town partly in both Weld and Boulder Counties _____ Springs A.S.A.P. Inert gas Turin relic The Emerald Isle, to locals Attempt Mischievous one Singer Scaggs, to friends Hair style for young gals Tower site When you might pick up some overtime The Denver & Rio Grande, for one Potter’s rank at the #4077 “You _____ me” (Sam Cooke classic hit) Word before “River” or “Canyon” Total Meal Allen or Conway _____ City (brief tenured mining camp of Grand County) _____ House (Belushi fraternity spoof ) What a Tsar might proclaim This might describe a procrastinator’s work Janitor’s plight Locale between Vail and Edwards Jason’s craft _____ Force Teacher’s warning: “There will be a _____ _____ the entire chapter tomorrow.”

ANSWERS

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 13. 14. 16. 21.

22. 23. 25. 26. 27. 29. 30. 32. 33. 35. 38. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 48. 50. 51. 53.

“_____ _____ corny as Kansas in August” (“South Pacific” tune) Named for a German immigrant hotel owner, this Chaffee County locale is between Buena Vista and Salida Christian designer? “_____ _____ Rappaport” (Bas Bleu production of ’09) Indigent Pot pie veggies Where you’d find Jeppesen Terminal, for short Orlando’s team Word on a package of chicken breasts, perhaps Method of horse training in obedience and precision Dance seen in Tel Aviv Pound purchase, maybe? County in the southeast part of the state named for cattle rancher who was married to the daughter of a Cheyenne chief killed at Sand Creek Latvian capital “_____ _____to your no call list please.” Ore mined near Gilman and Red Cliff near Battle Mountain Adjective for a young Jack Nicklaus or Alan Ladd It’s measured by degrees Largest city in South America Guthrie, et. al. Desires County seat of Logan County Defeat soundly Home to Ft. Lewis College Capitol of France? Silver _____ near #12 across Tease B and B King with the “golden touch” _____ Lake in RMNP Sahl of 50s and 60s comedy and satire Trotsky or Uris Pollution monitor, briefly

Colorado Crosswords 8426 S. Hwy 287 • Fort Collins

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are created exclusively for The Voice by Tony Donovan, who lives in Loveland.

The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 15

Laughter Is the Best Medicine A

woman saw a beautiful parrot in a pet shop, and it was for sale for only $25. She asked the manager, “Why is the parrot so cheap?” “It was owned by a woman who ran a brothel,” said the manager. “Sometimes it says surprising things.” “Bad things?” “No, just unusual things.” She bought it and took it home. That evening her husband came home from work, walked in and the parrot said, “Hi, George.” Do you know this guy? “I wanted to get a gift for my wife’s birthday; so I bought her a little pocket-size tazer stun gun. “She was at work when I sat at home and decided to test it. I put two AAA batteries in it. The instructions said a one-second burst would shock an assailant. A two-second burst would cause muscle spasms. A threesecond burst would leave an assailant flopping on the ground like a fish out of water. “I wanted to try it on a flesh-andblood object, and I looked at our cat

Gracie. How much could the little five-inch gun do with only two AAA batteries in it? “Gracie much have read my mind. She gave me a look that said, ‘Don’t do it, stupid!’ and left the room. “I decided, what the heck, I’d try a short one-second burst on myself while standing at the kitchen counter. I pointed it at my leg and pulled the trigger. “BAM!! HOLY MOSES!! It was a weapon of mass destruction! “I hit the floor like a ton of bricks, my body convulsing uncontrollably, writhing and jumping in spasms. I saw a blue flash bounce around the room. It hit the microwave and came back at me. I couldn’t get out of the way. “BAM!! “When I woke up, my body was soaking wet. My nipples were on fire. I couldn’t move, and I felt my eyeballs rolling around. I heard Gracie making high, screeching sounds I’d never heard before. “When I was finally able to get up into a chair, my bottom lip felt like it

weighed 50 pounds. I had no control over the drooling. “I don’t know how long I sat there. My wife finally came home and helped me into bed, laughing her head off. “She never uses the thing—except to threaten me.” Two sisters owned a ranch but were in financial trouble. They needed to buy a bull to breed their stock.

One sister saw an ad for a bull and said, “I’ll go see if it’s what we want. If it is, I’ll send a telegram, and you bring the truck to get him.” She paid for the bull but had only enough money left to send a one-word telegram. She told the operator, “Just say ‘comfortable.’” The operator asked, “How will she know what that means?” “She’s blonde. She’ll read it slowly: Come-for-da-bull.” ■

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16 • November 2009 • The Senior Voice

P

erhaps the most beautiful thing about snow is watching someone else shovel it.

Let it snow. Let the wind howl. It doesn’t matter. Not when you leave the work and worry of taking care of a home behind, and trade it in for getting more out of life. Somewhere you’re free to do what you want. To make new friends. And feel a real sense of belonging. Senior living at Good Samaritan Society – Communities of Northern Colorado opens up a world of possibilties, without having to lift so much as a shovel.

Join us for our Holiday Open House tour! Dec. 18 and 19, from 1 – 4. Greeley (970) 353-7773 | Loveland (970) 669-3100 | Water Valley (970) 686-2743 Fort Collins (970) 226-4909 | Estes Park (970) 577-7700

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