OLD ALLENSPARK SCHOOL REUNION JULY 31st - AUGUST 2nd 2009 DEWEESE FAMILY      click on any picture to enlarge The DeWeese family, Jack, Mary, Mary Edie, and Monica, moved full-time to Allenspark in January 1956. They arrived in a snowstorm to live in the Hansen (Mary's folks) family cabin with no running water and Jack working in Boulder before it was "in" to commute. Mary Edie immediately enrolled in the Allenspark School as the only kindergartner. There were six other students at the time and Mrs. Kathy Miller was the teacher. That winter the snow was up to the school's eaves on the west side and the boys built an extensive snow cave. There were deep hollows in the snow so we could swing on the swings at recess. Being chosen to ring the bell after recess was a huge honor, and walking "all the way"--a block--to school made me feel like quite the grown-up girl. The big boys were scary, but I had my pal Susie in her wheelchair to play girl stuff with. One day Bobby Sutherland came to school with a matchbox full of ticks, which he used to torment us. Eddie Sutherland was my "boyfriend", and Dale Fry was my hero! Often, on Wednesdays, all the school kids would catch a ride to the Kelley House for lunch with the guild ladies. Our moms were all in the guild and kids were a huge part of organization activities. I remember putting on the school play on the Kelley House stage, and doing square-dance demonstrations there in the summer. At Christmas, each child got to choose an ornament from the tree--to keep! I still have several of those ornaments. The families were so close to each other then--we relied on each other for everything, but especially companionship. The DeWeese family moved to Lyons that fall and then to Boulder a year later. Jack died in Allenspark on December 14, 1958, while cutting Christmas trees with Otto Walter and Bud Ewy. In 1967, Mary and Dick Baker (of the Ferncliff Lodge and Allenspark Ski Area Bakers) were married. Mary died in 2006. Mary Edie DeWeese: I'm living in Allenspark full-time again after retiring from 31 years at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder. It's great to be here--not as difficult as it was way back when, but still pretty tough in January! President of the Allenspark Wind Board of Directors and the Allenspark Beetle Control group, I also work on free-lance editing and graphic design jobs. The biggest job, though, is keeping the family cabin together! Monica DeWeese Riffe: Living in Ft. Collins with her husband Mark and children Evan and Elsa. She works for the school district and is a mixed media artist in her spare time. reunion home