BLACK HAWK — I’ve had a hell of a year. I’ve seen many highs and lows. I’ve reached many milestones, experienced many changes, gone through a lot of personal trauma, moved beyond some of it. I’ve had multiple health changes that affect my long-term health and wellness.
But here I am, looking forward to a new year, new beginning, new opportunity to continue evolving into the person I want to be. If you know me, you know I am an eternal optimist. I continue to believe there is something amazing out there that I can bring the magic to make it happen.
I am grateful for the people who believe in me, my mission, my ideas, my goals, my optimism. I am grateful for the people who keep me in check, who keep it real, who remind me I “can’t do it all” anymore, and show me ways to keep the vision alive, even with the slowing down.
More than anything, I am grateful for my friends, my family, and most of all for the amazing team I work with every day. Every person I interact with is a blessing. Each encounter offers me an opportunity to grow, to learn, to listen, to understand.
I’m not easy to work for. I expect a lot. I expect a full work week, every week. I expect clear communication daily. With my expectations, I also believe that right now we have the best team I’ve ever had the honor of working with.
I also believe there is always room for improvement, especially by me. Specifically by me. I need to listen better. I need to work smarter. I need to use my tools to react better when a situation is tense. I also need to hold myself accountable for my actions. In return I expect the same of others.
Christian is the best boss I have ever worked with. He is completely hands off and trusts us to do the work we were hired for. People ask me a lot about him. I explain over and over again that when Christian bought the paper and subsequently hired me, it was with the caveat that I run the paper until I have people trained to replace me. I’m working on it. I’m actually closer than ever.
Christian’s philanthropy in the community is unparalleled. He believes in paying a living wage and supporting the economy of the Peak to Peak. He is invested in many projects, but the one I am most thankful for is Mountain Vale Media and what it has meant to all of us to be recognized (and compensated) at a fair wage that allows us to live in this beautiful region.
As a side note, if you have an idea to share outside the paper, I’m happy to forward it, but I will never share his information or phone number. It’s that simple.
Back to the bulk of the team. I want to say a special thank you to a few who have been with me far longer than we’ve been owned by Mountain Vale Media.
Thank you to Sara Sandstrom, who has stepped into the role of Managing Editor. Sara joined us in 2017 as a copy editor. We’re still learning, but she will be an amazing replacement for me.
As well as Lynn Hirshman, who has been here longer than most at the paper, joining The Mountain-Ear in 2004 and working off and on since. She brings an honest, straight forward tack to the editorial team that keeps us on our toes. She works well in difficult situations.
Lynn and I hold most of the historical knowledge of the region for the last several decades, recalling aspects of events, government, and the evolution of our larger Peak to Peak communities.
I have so much gratitude for Mindy Leary and Christopher Kelley. They have continuously evolved as the paper changes have taken on a lot of tough issues this year.
Mindy has embraced the role of Senior Reporter, covering Gilpin County and beyond since 2018.
Christopher Kelley joined us in 2021, and dove right into covering Nederland with in-depth coverage of important events and government. He also started a new column, the Peak Report, which offers a deeper dive on larger issues and how they affect our small communities.
I am so thankful I took a chance hiring Christopher and have loved watching his writing skills continue to flourish.
Of course, I have so much gratitude for John and Anne Scarffe. John has been at the paper off and on since 1991. He has literally covered every single beat we have. Anne has been with us since 2014 and has covered several different beats, but mostly from behind a camera lens these days.
Now for some of our newer folks who joined us since we became Mountain Vale Media.
Jessica LaFone came to us in 2024, with a willingness to learn, a trunkful of knowledge in graphic design, and an incredibly pleasant personality. Jessica is our Creative Director and not only handles the weekly design and layout, she handles all of the staff in the creative department.
Brittney Wagner I often call my right hand. Brittney is our circulation coordinator, as well as my administrative assistant. She knows more about how the business runs than anyone else. She has covered stories, contributed photos, will be writing a column each month in the new year, and handles the office Monday through Thursday each week. Brittney joined us in 2023.
Amanda MacDonald joined us in 2024 and is another of our amazing ad sales team. She also does circulation in Nederland and northwest Boulder County. Amanda brings extensive knowledge of sales and marketing to the team and connects well with community members and businesses in her sales region.
Terri Vernon has been with us since 2022 and handles the bookkeeping, no easy task with an organization of this size. She is a long-time local who connects well with people.
Rick Rudstrom is one of our long-time volunteers. He started helping us back in the day when The Mountain-Ear was located inside Brightwood Music. I think he just wanted to look at the shiny guitars, but he has stuck with us since 2021.
We hired Dave Gibson in 2019, borrowing him from another local publication and then pulling him in to write feature articles. He covers school sports, event features, writes about travel around the world, is a phenomenal photographer, and has long ties in the Nederland and Gilpin communities that bring a local perspective to all he writes.
Curt Halsted took a bit of a break after retiring this spring from the Gilpin school as their art teacher. But he’s back, covering community and school news. Watch for more articles in the coming year! Curt has been with us since 2021.
Wes Isenhart is our environmental journalist. He also covers some government stories, has focused on the Gilpin school board, and covers feature news. He became part of our team in 2023.
David Sockrider is our artist-in-residence. David creates all of the amazing covers you see on our special sections. These include Body Mind Spirit, Studio Tour, Taste of the Peaks, Peak to Peak Visitor’s Guide, and Shop Local. David also works on ad creation, video production, and videography.
Jamie Lammers has been working with us for several years. He joined us as an intern in 2019 and has remained on staff in several roles since then. Jamie now works on the podcast, covers community events, and writes our weekly music column.
I certainly can’t forget to mention our fantastic columnists. Brian Alers has been writing history articles, normally focused on mining in the region, since 2015. He has an extensive collection of historical photographs he shares with his stories as well.
Karen Anderson has contributed “Mountain Spirit Astrology” since 2000. She also gives private astrological readings in the area.
Doug Armitage, my husband, submits occasional humorous columns, generally focused on music, his true passion. Doug and I also own Brightwood Music in Nederland.
And then there is Denise Boehler, who contributes the Pet of the Week, along with occasional articles about local wildlife in the region.
Frank Sanders, husband of Denise, submits our monthly column “Nederland Night Skies.” Frank is one of our regular columnists who offers data reporting and has a wonderful local following for his work.
Amy Skinner and Richard Brandon send in their mental health column each month. Amy writes and Richard submits photos: another power couple who work together to bring you knowledgeable health-related information each month.
Of course, you all know James DeWalt, nature photographer and writer of our “Life in Nature” column. James joined our team in 2022 and contributed a monthly column until this year when he started writing two per month.
Alexander Joseph gives us our weekly poetry column. He is also a published author of seven books, including the short story collection American Wasteland, the prose poetry collections Broken Light in a Burning Wood and Our Mother, The Mountain, and the poetry chapbook Buttons and Bones. He has been with us since 2020.
Maryann Rosen joined us in 2023. She contributes podcast segments, often based on history of the Peak to Peak region.
Polina Savich also started as an intern. She began in 2023 and contributes some of our evergreen content, is co-writing articles with other staff, and handles some of our Facebook social media. Polina is currently a student at Western Washington University, with a double major in environmental studies and journalism and a minor in political science..
Hayden Hardt-Zeman still works on the archive when he’s home and will be working on our office again to hang up more of our awards soon. Hayden is currently a student of Psychology at Whatcom Community College. Hayden has been with us almost since birth (not kidding) in 2005. Well, in 2006, when I started at the paper, anyway. He is my youngest son.
This year we welcomed four amazing staff members to the team.
When the Boulder Weekly (BW) announced they were closing, I reached out to Shay Castle about an idea I had been mulling over. After many emails and texts back and forth, she recommended a few members from BW who would be a perfect fit to bring my idea to fruition.
I met with Shay (now an Associate Editor), Jezy Gray (now the Caribou Current Managing Editor), and Tyler Hickman (now our Multimedia reporter/producer) to share my vision. I welcomed them to the team with an idea to start a new Arts & Culture publication, to fill the void left by the Boulder Weekly, but also to expand our coverage area.
We quickly welcomed another BW member, Carter Ferryman (now our Marketing and Sales Coordinator). And thus began our journey to start the Caribou Current—watch for it on stands in February.
All new members also work on all of our publications. The Caribou Current covers the Peak to Peak region of Allenspark, Jamestown, Gold Hill, Ward, Nederland, Rollinsville, Coal Creek Canyon, Central City and Black Hawk, as well as the foothill regions including Lyons, Boulder County, and Golden.
We’ve also welcomed Lori Garcia, our graphic designer who works on our special sections and will be our designer for Caribou Current.
Kaia Cole joined us on our circulation and ad sales team. She’s been amazing to work with, and brings fresh perspective regarding how younger people consume news.
Cecilia Wilson is also new this year, and handles the office on Fridays, when many of us are out and about covering news or working from remote locations. She backs Brittney up and works on police reports, gathering data, and covering Gilpin school news.
Blaizun Diamond has been working on our website this year, helping to flesh out what works and what does not, with the platform we use, Creative Circle.
And we can’t forget our wonderful interns, Macaela Ball and Libby Chandler, students at Nederland Middle Senior High School, and Lila Nuttle, our intern from CU Boulder. All of our interns are amazing, have covered community news and school news, and are a welcome addition to the team.
I am positive I have forgotten someone here? Perhaps this year I have caught them all. Regardless, I am thankful. So very thankful. These people make my world go round. They bring unique perspective to everything I do. They are entrenched in the local community and even more, in the journalism community.
I cannot wait to see what 2026 brings. One day at a time. One edition at a time. One solid effort from each and every one of them, here at The Mountain-Ear.
And even more so, I look forward to my own growth and change this year. And to being a part of the amazing community we call home. I ask for new hope as my husband and I rebuild Brightwood. And compassion in the ups and downs of our own situations. And spending time with family and friends, especially kids and grandkids.
May 2026 be kind to each of us, and may we move forward with intention.
