Parks and Rec director resigns - Dan Rodgerson

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Dan Rodgerson, the Parks and Recreation Department director who saw through construction of the Community Center here, announced Wednesday he will resign to take a new job in South Carolina.

Rodgerson, 34, accepted a job as executive director of the Greenville Recreation District. He'll be leaving Glenwood Springs at the end of February.

"It's a step up in the right direction. I just submitted my resignation to Mike (Tuesday)," Rodgerson said of his boss, Glenwood Springs city manager Mike Copp.

Greenville, S.C., a city of about 300,000 people, has more than $6 million budgeted yearly for its recreation district. Rodgerson will oversee a staff of 55 employees - 41 more than he had in Glenwood Springs.

Rodgerson said one of the motivating factors for his move is a chance to earn his master's degree in public administration at Clemson University. His tuition will be paid by his new employer once he gains South Carolina residency.

"I enjoyed my time here," he said Wednesday. "It was certainly a difficult decision to make."

But another reason Rodgerson and his wife, Minda, are leaving, he admitted, is the high cost of living in the Glenwood Springs area.

"We never bought a house," he said. "Property values are about half in South Carolina."

Rodgerson said his replacement has not yet been chosen.

"They'll probably do a national search," he said.

Rodgerson took the reins of the recreation department in July 2001.

Since then, he oversaw completion of the Community Center and operated it during its first year.

The recreation department also started construction on ballfields behind Sopris Elementary School, a roof and support building were installed at the Community Center skating rink, and tennis courts for the Community Center were approved.

Rodgerson also helped garner two grants for a new swimming pool, and was instrumental in the purchase and construction of the Community Center climbing wall.

"I really feel good about the facilities and the department," he said. "Council has been incredibly supportive of me and recreation in a lot of ways."

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City Council delivers the green for `sodless park' - Dan Rodgerson

The new ballfields at Sopris Park will get sod after all.

Glenwood Springs City Council members reversed an earlier decision to cut costs on the new park and agreed Thursday to spend an extra $58,000 to buy sod.

Seeding the park would cost $5,000 to $8,000, but would also delay use of the park until fall 2003. By laying sod next spring, the ballfield could be used almost immediately.

"Reports of the sodless park stirred up a lot of people about when the park could be used," city parks and recreation manager Dan Rodgerson said.

City Council members heard about it, too, and were easily persuaded to pull the $58,000 from the fund that collects parkland dedication fees.

The original cost for sodding the park was bid at $90,000 by the park's contractor, Gould Construction.

Rodgerson said Little League families offered free labor to place the sod, and landscape architect John Taufer suggested that only the ballfield itself be sodded. Those savings cut the cost of buying sod to $58,000.

Councilman Larry Emery said the expense would still leave enough money in the fund to pay for tennis courts at the Community Center.

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Hall of Fame Nominations - Dan Rodgerson

The Glenwood Springs Community Center is calling for nominations for a 2002 Hall of Fame inductee. Nominations for the 2002 inductee are due by Friday, Nov. 1. Nominees must be currently or have been a resident of Glenwood Springs. Nomination forms are available through the Glenwood Springs chamber, 1102 Grand Ave.; the Community Center, 2301 Wulfsohn Road; or City Hall, 101 Eighth St. For more information, call Dan Rodgerson at 384-6301.

Local author Jerry D. Mohrlang will give a slide presentation, "Adventure in Borneo" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Glenwood Springs Branch Library, 413 9th Street. Mohrlang is the author of "Sarawak," a newly published work of historical fiction set in Borneo. The program is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book-signing. Through The Looking Glass bookstore and the Glenwood Springs Branch Library are sponsoring the event. For more information, call 945-5958.

Learn to square dance. Lessons will begin Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Roy Moore Elementary School in Silt. Singles and couples of all ages invited. Single men especially needed. Dance to master caller Dan Seeley of Meeker. For more information, call P.J. Miller at 984-0801.

The reference department of the Garfield County Public Library system will sponsor a program on genealogy, "Beyond Death Certificates: Newspaper Records" at the Silt library at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Professional genealogist Barbara Henritze will speak about newspaper articles that can help in a genealogy search. The program is free. For more information, call the Silt library at 876-5500 or Sharon at 947-0512.

Carbondale will shut down the irrigation ditches on Oct. 15. If you have any questions, please call the public works department at 963-1307. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this drought period. Through everyone's cooperative efforts, we all seemed to have enough water when it was needed. If there is any water left in the river next year, we expect to have the ditches back on around the first of April.

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Community Center group laps up circus - Dan Rodgerson

Dear Editor,

On behalf of Friends of the Community Center and the LAP (Let's All Pledge) fund-raising campaign, I would like to thank Robert Macgregor for the use of his property at Glenwood Meadows as the venue for Circus Chimera. The circus came to town three weeks ago, and despite the torrential rainstorm, put on four wonderful family-oriented shows and managed to raise $5,000 towards the pool!

I commend Mr. Macgregor for his community-mindedness and for his enthusiastic response to our needs.

Also in line for thanks are Dan Rodgerson, the city's director of parks and recreation, and his crew for all their preliminary set-up work and then on Sunday for mopping up the mud.

And last but not least, a special thank-you to all the businesses and individuals who prepurchased tickets in a show of support that ultimately ensured the success of the event.

If you enjoyed the show and would like to see Circus Chimera back in Glenwood Springs next year, please e-mail them your comments at: chimera@1starnet.com.

Sincerely,

Cheryl A. Peterson

Glenwood Springs

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LAP Pool fund drive now halfway to $3.2 million- Dan Rodgerson

Fund-raising efforts aimed at building a new pool next to the Glenwood Springs Community Center pool are in the swim.

The Let's All Pledge, or LAP, campaign drive is halfway to its ultimate goal of collecting $3.2 million.

The drive was boosted Thursday when organizers learned they would receive $100,000 from the state Department of Local Affairs. They also received a $10,000 donation Thursday in the LAP mailbox.

"We're excited about the funds," Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation Department director Dan Rodgerson said. "The grant was a long shot since the city has received money from the Department of Local Affairs for City Hall and the Community Center. We're pleased to receive something."

The latest pledge brings the total amount up to $1,703,850.

"(The latest donations) puts us over the halfway point of our fund drive and places us in excellent position for additional grants," LAP chairwoman Terri Miller said.

One concern about the status of the fund-raising is the impending September deadline. But Glenwood Springs Mayor Don Vanderhoof said he would support a request to extend the deadline.

"The fund-raising group has done an excellent job so far, and we have had major successes in the past few months," Vanderhoof said.

More money is expected in the coming weeks from local people and businesses, Miller said.

"We certainly see this project as a win-win situation for the whole community," Miller said.

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Pool complex fund-raising enters community phase - Dan Rodgerson

The Friends of the Community Center committee is reaching out to locals with an appeal to raise an additional $2 million to complete a public aquatic center in Glenwood Springs.

Designs for the $3.2 million pool complex were approved earlier this month by City Council.

A community wide capital fund-raising campaign starts Monday with hopes of raising enough money to break ground on the project in late September.

"As the momentum continues to gain, this project appears to be more of a reality than a wish," said Dan Rodgerson, Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation director.

"We are excited about how the pool will dramatically enhance our program offerings. It would be incredible to be able to ice skate, rock climb and swim laps all under the same roof," he said.

The 11,000-square-foot public pool facility will be attached to the northeast wall of the gym at the Community Center. It will include a flexible eight-lane 25-meter pool, a leisure and learn-to-swim area, play slides, a Jacuzzi and an outdoor patio.

Included in the cost of the pool construction is funding for an enclosed balcony for cardio equipment overlooking the pool on one side and the current gym on other. The addition of the "cardio balcony" will help the Community Center expand its popular fitness component.

The volunteer, fund-raising citizens committee reports that more than one-third of the estimated funds needed to build the pool facility have been pledged.

Fund-raising began in April 2001 with solicitations to past and present families of the Sopris Barracudas competitive swim club program, followed by a targeted mailing to area businesses.

To date, $1.175 million has been promised for the project from the city, area businesses and numerous families. The fund raisers also are pursuing numerous grants this summer from a variety of private and government entities.

A mailing to 4,800 local residents and 500 businesses will be sent out this week. A pledge form also is included on page 3 in the new Parks and Recreation Leisure Scene booklet for summer.

Tax-deductible contributions can be spread out across four years.

The City Council also recently proclaimed April 29 to May 13 as LAP-Let's All Pledge weeks.

The citizens committee is working with the city Parks and Recreation Department, which will oversee construction and operation of the facility. The nonprofit Two Rivers Community Foundation will collect, manage and distribute gift funds for the center construction.

For information, contact committee spokeswoman Terri Miller at 947-9835.

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Molly Hatchet's roaring will accompany motorcyclists' roarin' - Dan Rodgerson

After receiving detailed plans for the handling of a July 6 Molly Hatchet concert at Two Rivers Park, Glenwood Springs City Council members gave the show their blessing.

"I think if done properly, it would be a good thing for Glenwood Springs," Councilman Larry Emery said. The other council members agreed.

The concert is scheduled for the evening of July 6 as part of the first-ever Harley-Davidson Roaring Fork Independence Rally. Molly Hatchet, a southern-rock band out of Jacksonville, Fla., is best known for its hit "Flirtin' with Disaster." According the band's official website, the band's name comes from 17th-century Salem, Mass., where, according to legend, a woman named Hatchet Molly would behead her lovers with an ax.

In his presentation to council Thursday night, Patrick Coggins, general manager of Aspen Valley Harley-Davidson and organizer of the rally, alluded to the public banter that's been going on recently in the Letters to the Editor section of the Post Independent. He insisted that most motorcycles - even Harleys - aren't inherently loud, but they all can be modified to be made louder. Coggins also pointed out that there are loud cars and loud trucks on the road.

The plan for the concert includes a request for uniformed Glenwood Springs police. Coggins told council that rally organizers would pay for the extra police patrols.

The motorcycle rally is set to take place July 4-6 and will use the Glenwood Springs Community Center as its hub.

Coggins told council that the idea behind the rally is to take advantage of the presence of around 800 bikers who ride to Aspen each Independence Day and give them a place to gather and spend their money downvalley.

Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation director Dan Rodgerson said he'd like to set the record straight regarding the community center's role in the rally.

"There's a whole bunch of misconceptions out there that Harley riders are going to take over the Community Center," he said.

Rodgerson assures that rally participants will be in the center's banquet rooms and on the ice rink's surface - where there will be vendors - but that the rest of the facility will be open.

"They'll be focused on that side of the Community Center. Everything else will be open to the public," Rodgerson said. "We have made every effort to minimize impacts on our members and on residents."

The Harley-Davidson rally isn't the only motorcycle event planned. Rodgerson said there will be a Honda Gold Wing rally later this summer.



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