Good Colorado Sunday morning, friends!
I’m writing to you today from my kitchen, where I have two 1-pound bags of heritage flour sitting on the counter waiting for me to take action. Yes, this was an impulse buy that may or may not have been influenced by attending a “nogoff” at a distillery located in an old dairy building in Longmont where, when I was a kid, my grandpa used to take me for a scoop of peppermint ice cream.
Maybe it was the nostalgia. Maybe it was the five shots of eggnog spiked with hooch from Dry Land Distillers, which, as a member of the Colorado Grain Chain that Gabe Toth writes about in this week’s cover story, stocks an interesting array of products made from grains grown not far from the still.
My little sacks of flour came from Black Cat Farm, and I am not ashamed to say that in my carry-away bag, they cushioned bottles of Cactus spirit made with wildcrafted prickly pear paddles smoked over a wood fire. I have no idea how the booze will taste, or if my white Sonora flour will bake up into something exceptional, but I like the tale that is attached. And that’s kind of the point of the Grain Chain — getting people to care about the origin story of the things they eat and drink.
Senior Editor
The Cover Story
Colorado spirits with Colorado grains
This story checked a lot of boxes for me: Colorado grain. Collaborations with local farmers and maltsters. Developing local flavors. Support for brewers and distillers who are looking for ways to close the economic loop and keep their spending local. And, of course, delicious adult beverages.
This grant program from the Colorado Grain Chain also illustrated the diversity of beer and spirits that can be supported by local agriculture. (Full disclosure, I’m a non-dues-paying consumer member of the Colorado Grain Chain, and the distillery I manage sources a variety of grains from other business members.)
The projects that were chosen for grant support range from a delightful, malty pilsner that I’ve seen still for sale in Longmont within the past week, to small runs of boutique products only available at or near their place of production, to longer-term research that will eventually drive the production of a whole quinoa-focused product line.
It also shows off the breadth and depth of Colorado’s fecundity, with the inclusion of grain and other ingredients, even foraged constituents, from Steamboat to the San Luis Valley and the Western Slope to the Front Range.
It’s a snapshot of the flavorful and varied crops our growers can provide, as well as of the delicious and innovative products our brewers and distillers can create. Hopefully It can be a springboard, an inspiration for the next round of pioneering local products.
READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY STORY
Gabe Toth | Author
The Colorado Lens
It’s December and Colorado’s snowpack is attempting to make up for the lost ground in this below-average early season snowfall. Farther downstream in Las Vegas, the Colorado River officials gathered last week to discuss how to manage water supply for 40 million people from this state’s watershed. Here are the images of people and other beings soaking, or skiing, on Colorado’s wealth of precipitation from this week.
Hugh Carey | Photographer
[https://newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Colorado-River-negotiators_SM-03.jpegL][Officials from seven states in the Colorado River Basin discuss water issues Thursday during a panel at the 2023 Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas. The officials are in the midst of negotiating rules for how Colorado River water will be managed in coming decades. (Shannon Mullane, The Colorado Sun)]
Flavor of the Week
Stumped: The hunt for Kennedy’s White House Christmas tree
SALIDA – Searching for a sacred stump deep in the forest might seem like a fool’s errand, but that didn’t stop Jim Dickson from looking for what remains of one of Colorado’s most famous spruce trees.
In 1996, while working for the U.S. Forest Service and living in Salida, Dickson was given a needle-in-a-haystack assignment: Find the remnants of the seven-story spruce that served as the 1962 national Christmas tree at the White House. The one lit by President John F. Kennedy just weeks after the Cuban missile crisis.
“All in all, I probably spent six weeks trying to find it,” said Dickson, now 80 and still living in Salida.
He started with a general location and then received a picture from a local whose kids posed at the stump the November day it was cut down. “I went out there with the picture and looked and looked and looked.”
The biggest problem was the tree. Though 2 feet in diameter, it was cut so low that only about 10 inches of its base was left behind. And, after more than three decades, a forest of trees had grown up around the stump.
After regrouping, Dickson contacted three local men who helped fell the tree and continued the search. Within weeks they found the almost-buried treasure. But how could they be sure? Dickson said a pile of rocks placed at the location in 1962 had not been disturbed, and “I took samples of the stump and it was confirmed to be about the right age.”
The Forest Service soon put up a sign to honor the only White House Christmas tree lit by Kennedy, who on Dec. 17, 1962, gave a tender speech at The Pageant of Peace ceremonies about his longing for harmony.
“This has been a year of peril, when the peace has been sorely threatened. But it has been a year when peril was faced and reason ruled,” he said. (You can listen to his remarks from the White House Audio Collection and see more photos via the JFK library files.)
What makes this remote tribute to a once-towering spruce off Poncha Pass even more special is that the tree is the only one from the Centennial State to be the official White House Christmas tree.
Finding that Forest Service tribute sign can take a stroke of luck.
It was Fourth of July when we were exploring the area between Poncha and Marshall passes (outside of Poncha Springs) and I happened upon the marker. I was walking along Silver Creek looking for a place to fish. I got into some thick willows and after walking out, I noticed the back of a random sign. I made my way up and found the simple words noting where a giant Colorado blue spruce deemed special enough to grace the White House Ellipse had once stood.
There are no signs leading you to the spot, which is marked by the same pile of rocks and a newly installed sign marking the location. But for Jim Dickson’s tenacity, it would be just another random stump in the Colorado high country.
READ MORE ABOUT HOW THE SALIDA SPRUCE WAS SELECTED FOR THE WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS TREE
^davidkrause^1
SunLit: Sneak Peek
“Recorder of Deeds” author seizes one key task on 9/11: Remember
EXCERPT: Catherine Underhill Fitzpatrick was a fashion reporter in New York, covering star-studded Fashion Week, when the 9/11 attack changed the world. Suddenly, she found herself running toward the mayhem, soaking up the dark and tragic details of that day and serving as essentially a war correspondent. Her memoir, “Recorder of Deeds,” chronicles her efforts to do justice to her collision with history and deal with the personal toll that followed her long afterward.
THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: Fitzpatrick reveals that her first manuscript glossed over the enduring impact that the experience of 9/11 had on her personally and professionally. Feedback from friends and her editor moved her to include some of the uncomfortable truths. Here’s a portion of her Q&A:
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Fitzpatrick: When I finished what I considered to be a completed memoir, I sent the manuscript to a half-dozen beta readers who knew me well during the years covered in the book. They helped me realize that I needed to be more forthcoming about the end of my career.
Then, in the hectic weeks before the book made its debut, the editors at Bedazzled Ink Publishing convinced me to describe the ongoing effects of PTSD on my professional and personal life. These revisions, though difficult to put into words, made the story far stronger than it had been.
READ THE INTERVIEW WITH CATHERINE UNDERHILL FITZPATRICK
Kevin Simpson | Writer
Sunday Reading List
A curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.
🌞 It looks like the first gray wolves imported from Oregon could be paws on the ground in Colorado as soon as Monday. A U.S. District Court judge on Friday declined to block the reintroduction, even though a coalition of Gunnison County cattle ranchers sued, saying federal environmental impact assessments were skipped as Colorado worked on plans for bringing the predators back. Jason Blevins was on the story all week.
🌞 Even middle school kids have big dreams. But sometimes money gets in the way of achieving them. A program backed by Gary Community Ventures and the city of Denver is attempting to knock down some of those barriers, giving $1,000 to low-income kids to cover the cost of sports, music, dance and other activities offered by 127 organizations. Jennifer Brown checked in with some parents to see how the My Spark Denver project is working.
🌞 Xcel Energy floated a massive energy resource plan to Colorado regulators that included about $15 billion in costs to build new solar and wind generation and the new transmission lines to get the power to customers. Mark Jaffe was there when the Public Utilities Commission tapped the brakes to the tune of $3 billion because they were worried about the timing of the projects.
🌞 What are We The People worried about headed in the the presidential election year? In the case of Colorado voters, it’s the cost of housing and crime that are keeping people up at night, Jesse Paul reports.
🌞 Lawmakers last week pledged to “fully fund” K-12 education. But Brian Eason and Erica Breunlin looked at the proposed budget and asked around and learned that even if schools are fully funded for the first time in 14 years, Colorado still lags other states.
🌞 What lies beyond the finish line of a big race? Dan England asked and learned that some athletes report a big, empty feeling. Most don’t have a plan for coping with the blues, and even clinical depression, after a big event. But some Colorado coaches are starting to include post-race care in their training plans.
🌞 The future of the Colorado River will be guided by compromise. Negotiators from the seven Colorado River Basin states admitted during the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas that it’s going to get messy. Shannon Mullane was there to pick up the details.
Dana Coffield | Senior Editor
Thanks for stopping by this morning. We especially appreciate your attention on these days when the time to be outside is scarce. Speaking of which, time is running out on our attempt to gather 200 new members to the cause of supporting The Colorado Sun. If there’s someone you think should be part of the Colorado Sunday crew, feel free to forward this link to them: coloradosun.com/join. And if you’re still on the hunt for gifts, we’ve got a solution for that, too: store.coloradosun.com.
— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun
Corrections & Clarifications
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