This Week in History

10 years ago

• Miss Loveland Valentine Madison Polansky delivered three gift baskets and an official stamped Loveland Valentine to the Colorado Capitol and to Gov. John Hickenlooper. The gifts included the special blend of valentine coffee, as well as a shirt and coffee mug from the Sweetheart City. Miss Valentine spent three hours at the Capitol, meeting with lawmakers and sharing details on the Loveland Valentine Remailing Program. Of the visit, the Mountain View senior said: “It definitely has been the best part of Miss Loveland Valentine to date.”

• Loveland City Council members continued to discuss an ordinance to regulate oil and gas development within the city. During a study session, members learned the details of the most recent draft of the ordinance made to reflect decisions from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The city planned to hold to meetings for public input, and a grassroots group called Frack-free Loveland announced members’ intention to attend. The group was advocating for a ballot measure asking voters to ban fracking in the city limits.

• A bankruptcy filing from Loveland’s Schmidt’s Bakery and Delicatessen showed that the business owed $24,000 to 40 employees for work performed prior to when state tax agents locked up the business on Jan. 8. The workers were being forced to wait along with other creditors through the bankruptcy process in hopes of recouping their losses. The filing listed just over $44,000 in assets against $814,000 in liabilities including $190,000 that the Internal Revenue Service said it never received in federal payroll tax withholdings. Colorado tax agents seized the business, a Loveland staple with a large and loyal customer base, the morning of Jan. 8, so suddenly that several breakfast customers were asked to leave without finishing or paying for their meals. The secretarytreasurer of the business issued a statement saying he alone knew the extent of the business’s financial troubles, and that his co-owners were unaware of the circumstances that led to the shutdown.

• The winners of a snow sculpture contest in downtown Loveland were announced. Garett Dreiling and Steve Carmer took first place in the team category, while Carey Hosterman, Eli Hopkins and Forrest Hoskins claimed the people’s choice award

• Volunteers at Mckee Medical Center announced that they broke two fundraising records. They generated $166,000 for the hospital through sales at Mckee Thrift Avenue, the hospital gift shop and an annual fall craft fair. That included $91,000 from the Thrift Avenue, which was a record in itself, beating their previous top year of $84,500.

• Loveland residents had two weekends left to browse the history of Loveland’s fire department, to see equipment dating as far back as the 1800s and to learn how a bucket brigade grew into a fire authority before the historic artifacts were to be packed into storage until the Loveland Museum was able to expand into a larger facility. The fire exhibit, born from the dream and hard work of retired Loveland firefighters, debuted Oct. 9, 2009, in the museum’s sequel building, the old Home State Building behind the main museum building.

• Loveland resident Elaine Penkava, retired from a career making exquisite custom veils and headpieces, showed off some of the results of the marriage of her two loves, quilting and the bridal industry. She was making quilts and pillows from old bridal gowns, each unique to showcase the special attributes of each gown. Her charge was 22 cents per square inch, making

each heirloom quilt about $500 depending upon the size, and she put about 100 hours, creativity and love into each creation.

• Larimer County staff continued discussing how to best serve Loveland residents with a county office. They had been planning a $1.7 million remodel of the existing building at Sixth Street and Cleveland Avenue but decided to look at other options as well. “The building is not in great shape,” said County Manager Linda Hoffmann. “It might not meet our long-term needs even with the remodel.” County staff was to bring a recommendation to the elected commissioners within 30 days. The commissioners said it was important for the county to keep offices in Loveland, through the remodel, through a partnership with another government office or by buying or remodeling a different space. “Even though we’re going to have tough times and a difficult budget, there are no plans to shut down the Loveland office,” said Commissioner Tom Donnelly, a longtime Loveland resident. “No way.”

• The Loveland Museum held its second annual Stamp Camp, an opportunity for young residents to learn about the Loveland Valentine Remailing Program, which started in 1947, and to get the opportunity to stamp valentines for the program. The museum, Postal Service and Loveland Chamber of Commerce hosted the camp to introduce a new generation to the city’s valentine traditions

• Loveland rolled out its first hydraulic hybrid bus, putting technology from Loveland-based Lightning Hybrids on the road for the city for the first time. The company created a system that stores energy created by a vehicle when it brakes and uses that stored energy to propel the vehicle after the stop. In 2009, the company received a $50,000 economic incentive from the city, but when it wasn’t able to fulfill the terms of the deal was left owing the city $28,000. Instead of repaying the debt in cash, the company was installing its system on two City of Loveland Transit buses.

25 years ago

• The Loveland City Council was considering buying the former Jack in the Box restaurant property at Eisenhower Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, and then renting some of the property back to Good Times Drive Thru for a hamburger restaurant. The city was eying the property to accommodate a major upgrade at that intersection anticipated to be about a decade into the future and had been negotiating to buy the land for $300,000 and rent it out for the restaurant. A 4-4 council vote paused the plans, and officials said it could sink the deal and ultimately lead to the city paying more for the property in the future. City plans were to build an “hourglass roundabout” to move traffic through the intersection or to simply widen the road, both of which would have required some of the property at that intersection. Negotiations were to continue with another vote before the Loveland City Council at the end of the month.

• Neighbors were seeking to preserve the natural and historic aspects of Mariana Butte, worried that 1,100 homes, businesses and other developments planned for the surrounding 230 acres would overshadow the landmark. Those spearheading the efforts spoke of the area’s place in Loveland history, its ties to Mariano Medina as well as the Native American cultural heritage including teepee rings and a possible sweat lodge that indicated American Indians had set up semi-permanent camps near the butte next to the Big Thompson River. Those spearheading the effort were asking the city of Loveland to permanently preserve the 24 acres that include the butte.

• Volunteers kicked off Loveland’s Valentine Remailing Program by hand stamping a special cachet and postmark from the Sweetheart City onto valentines from around the world. That first day of stamping, the team processed a record 10,125 letters from all 50 states and 25 countries.

• State lawmakers were on track to approving a proposal from Rep. Bill Kaufman to create a fourth Larimer County judge position. The Loveland Republican told members of the House Judiciary Committee, which endorsed the proposal, that Larimer County had the greatest need of all the state’s urban Front Range counties for a new judge. The county increased from two to three judges on Jan. 1, 1978, and since then population had grown about 65% from 137,739 residents to 226,748 people.

• Thompson School District schools were gearing up for Colorado’s second statewide reading and writing test, which was to be administered to fourthgraders in March. Educators were working to ensure students were prepared for the standardized test designed to assess how well they were learning to read and write. The results of the first ever statewide tests were mixed for Thompson students with 60% of fourthgraders scoring proficient on reading and 61% falling below state standards on writing.

• US West was introducing ultra-fast internet service to Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs in the first six months of the year. Loveland was surrounded by cities that would receive the service, designed to send information 250 times faster than standard modems, but was not chosen for the first round of the new service. US West officials said, once the first rollout was complete, it would evaluate the process and decide the next cities to get service.

• The Thompson School District Board of Education voted to increase its funding for the district English as a Second Language program from $42,000 to $98,136. With state funding added to the district amount, the total budget for the project was to be $137,950. The district was working to boost the program after a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights that the district was not meeting these student’s needs. In response, the district pledged to make sure the teachers were endorsed in teaching English as a Second Language to serve the 140 students whose native tongues included Spanish, Vietnamese, Polish, Russian and Czechoslovakian. Each student attended regular classes but was pulled out for 45 minutes each day to work with an ESL teacher.

50 years ago

• The Loveland Post Office installed a self-service machine to sell stamps in the lobby of the post office’s headquarters at 601 N. Cleveland Ave., a new style of vending machine in use at many post offices across Colorado. The machine would sell 8-cent stamps in books costing $1 each, as well as stamps for special delivery (60 cents), postcards (6 cents) and overseas airmail (15 cents each)

• The Larimer County Democrats elected Susan Furniss of Fort Collins to serve as the party chairperson. She had replaced Louis Bein as chair in 1972 when he resigned to run for Larimer County commissioner. Jim Disney, a Loveland artist, was named vice-chairman for the party.

• Larimer County Clerk James Thompson traveled to Seattle to review two types of electronic voting systems. He was part of a Colorado delegation investigating different systems that would alleviate crowded voting machine conditions. If the delegation liked the voting systems, they were to report back to the state to start the process of making computer cards legal for voting.

• Bill Mccloud, Loveland’s animal control officer, was investigating who had clipped through the wire on the center cage at the dog pound, freeing six dogs from the enclosure at the county fairgrounds located southwest of the city. Mccloud reported that this was the second nefarious incident at the pound. A month previously one German shepherd was shot and another poisoned.

• The Thompson School District Board of Education learned that the developer of 175 acres southwest of Berthoud planned to give the district 8.8 acres as a future school site. The area was located 500 feet east of U.S. 287 and about three-fourths of a mile north of the county line. “The developers are not all that anxious to set a precedent, but it is something that is likely to come later as a requirement,” Dave Shupe told the board. “Every developer must take seriously his obligation to the school district.” The donation was in an area where a lot of building was planned or underway.

• City Manager Don Hataway reported that total real estate mill levies for Loveland residents were more than 10% lower than for any other cities of similar size in the area, including Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley and Longmont.

• The Thompson School District Board of Education discussed what member Bus Tarbox described as “bad sportsmanship” on behalf of both student and adult fans, coaches and players at Loveland High School events. “This bad sportsmanship has gotten worse in all schools over the past few years,” Tarbox added, “but it’s gotten worse here in a hurry. Loveland has come up with a bad reputation of being poor sports.” Other board members shared their own person experiences, and then the board directed administrators to work up a positive statement about sportsmanship that could be read before athletic events, and expressed that individuals should be removed from the gym or stadium for bad behavior.

• Golfers were being asked to pay increased fees for the use of the Loveland Municipal Golf Course, a hike of 50 cents per round or $10 for a membership. Daily fees were $3.25 for 18 holes on weekdays and $4 on weekends and holidays.

• The Samsonite Corp. sold its toy product line that had been made in Loveland to Gabriel Industries of New York, but the Loveland plant and its equipment were not included in the sale. Terms of the sale called for Samsonite to continue to produce a substantial amount of the toys during several months, leading a Samsonite spokesman to speculate additional staff might be needed to produce those toys. The plant and equipment remained for sale.

• Loveland Memorial Hospital reported a flu outbreak with 56 patients, over the capacity of the 49-bed hospital. The city of Loveland health officer reported a higher rate of absenteeism due to the London flu, though schools in the Thompson School District seemed to be past the peak of the flu outbreak. Previously, teachers, custodians and other staff had been out in higher percentages due to the flu, according to school district officials.