Aurora
Founded in 1891, the city of Aurora was originally named Fletcher by its founder, former Chicago resident
Donald Fletcher. In 1907, the town changed its name to Aurora.
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Annual Exercise with the dead 2008
with Bicycle Aurora
CYCLE INTO HISTORY AT FAIRMOUNT CEMETERY
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
9:30 AM -12:30 PM
Tom Tobiassen leads this bike tour along the shaded paths of Fairmount Cemetery. Cyclists encounter the
graves of past builders & characters with stories of bygone times. Meet at the Aurora History Museum.15051 E.
Alameda Pkwy. Bring bike, water, etc 14 miles along the Highline Canal Trail. 14 miles.
http://bicycleaurora.org/
Information@BicycleAurora.org
Tom@bicycleaurora.org
303-699-9260
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
May 12, 2004
What better place to ride a bike on a beautiful spring day than a cemetery, especially one filled with the ghosts
of Aurora’s past?
That’s exactly the kind of thing that excites Tom Tobiasson, Aurora’s most civic-minded bicycle enthusiast, and
this year he’s hooked up with the Aurora History Museum and the Aurora Spellbinders to liven up the experience.
On May 22, well-prepared storytellers in period costumes will greet cyclists as they tour the graves of famous
Aurorans at Fairmount Cemetery.
“We haven’t done the actor thing before, but every year I lead a tour to the cemetery and we hit the pioneers’
gravesites,” Tobiasson said. “We don’t have a pioneer cemetery in Aurora, so we don’t have much choice but to
go to Denver.”
The tour begins at the Aurora History Museum, and Tobiasson leads cyclists along
Highline Canal to the cemetery. The ride organizers use radios to keep stragglers from getting too far behind
and also bring basic tools and supplies for roadside repairs.
“It’s really more of a tour — it’s only 14 miles,” Tobiasson said. “It’s all flat, anyone can do it and you can bring
the kids along. It’s an easy ride.”
Eight storytellers will re-enact the lives of such prominent Aurora history-makers as Mabel Foster Vincent
McFadden, co-editor of the Aurora Democrat; Billie Preston, the last resident allowed to ride her horse through
town; Francis Perry, one of the founders the city and the Colorado National Guard; and Francis Fay Holzer, wife
of Charles Holzer, Aurora’s mayor from 1931 to 1936.
“Francis Fay Holzer is one of the quietest characters of all,” said Eileen Dumas, who will be playing Holzer at the
cemetery. “There’s not a lot of information about her, but her husband was the mayor responsible for paving
Colfax Avenue.”
According to Dumas, who founded the Aurora Spellbinders, the re-enactments are part research and part
guesswork.
First, the storytellers studied archives from the Aurora History Museum and boned up on historical events that
took place during the lives of the characters.
The challenge is turning that information into a living character, Dumas said.
“It’s very hard because you don’t really know what the person was like, so you take what you’ve read and make
it come alive as part of yourself.”
One early Auroran who won’t be on the tour is the city’s founder, Donald Fletcher —
nobody knows what happened to him. According to city historians, it’s one of
Aurora’s great mysteries.
The Cycle Into History at Fairmount tour is one of the early rides of the season for the Bicycle Aurora
organization.
All summer long, Tobiasson leads groups of cyclists along the elusive trails of Aurora, unveiling the best ways to
connect to the more extensive bike trails in other parts of the metro area.
The organization starts the season in April with a few warm-up rides around Cherry Creek Reservoir. In
September, riders gather for a 100-mile ride along the bike trails of metro- Denver.
The ride starts at Cherry Creek Reservoir and follows the Cherry Creek and Platte River trails to Chatfield
Reservoir, veers west along C-470 to Morrison, then follows the Bear Creek trail back to the Platte and Cherry
Creek trails to Cherry Creek Reservoir.
Since the ride stays within the metro area, the route is popular with people who want to ride long distances, but
don’t want to stray too far from home.
“We found that women like to ride that,” he said. “A lot of women like to do the distance, but don’t like the open
highway.”
Tobiasson said the group rides are gear more toward fun than toward serious training. Most rides are designed
for people who have yet to qualify for the Olympics.
Quicker riders are usually pointed to a group that starts at Treads Bicycle Outfitters at 16981 E. Iliff Ave.
“Our group is more recreational. It’s more for learning your way around the trails rather than for fitness,”
Tobiasson said. “Although for some people it’s a fitness ride because they have never done it before.”
To register for the Fairmount Cemetery ride on May 22, call 303-326-8650. Entry fee is $3 for residents or $4
for non-residents. The tour is limited to 30 people.
For information about other Bicycle Aurora rides this summer, visit the website:
www.bicycleaurora.org or call 303-699-9260.
By Eric Mees
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Memories and memorials mark miles and tombstones
By H. Harrison Cochran
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
We bicycled through Fairmount Cemetery last week. That may sound like an odd way to spend a pleasant
spring morning.
Thanks to the Aurora Bicycle Club and the Aurora Historical Society, it turned into a most interesting and
educational spin. About 35 folks met at the Aurora History Museum and pedaled across the Highline Canal trail
to Fairmount. Except when dismounting to cross Havana, a bike ride on an Aurora trail takes you to places in
town you can’t experience from your car. I highly recommend it.
Our colorful troop may have looked odd to the few there placing flowers, making
arrangements or maybe deciding whether to buy a plot for themselves.
By arrangement we were there to meet some of the dead.
No, this was not a sequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. These were appointments with members of the
Aurora Spellbinders in costume who, each by the grave marker of their character, told us a little about the life of
one of Aurora’s deceased.
Amongst the living legends was Francis Perry, a founder of Aurora and the Colorado
National Guard, the colorful Billie Preston, the last resident of Aurora who rode a horse around town, and Mabel
Foster Vincent McFadden co-editor of the Aurora Democrat, predecessor to the Aurora Sun, and Sentinel.
As we listened to the ghosts, sauntered between the graves, visited the chapel and
entered the still, cold marble halls of the mausoleum; my mind wandered, too.
We have such an interesting relationship with death and dying. It is where even the bravest and most realistic
souls come face-to-face with themselves.
We all know it is where we are going, yet each death of a loved one—each visit to a friend with a fatal illness
somehow startles. We return to memories of those lost, religious rituals from our past and whatever defenses
and denials are available.
Each religion is different, but from St Peter’s pearly gates to Hindu reincarnation, most were developed around
the need to see death as a doorway not a destination.
Buddhists recommend to young monks that they meditate amongst the dead and dying to contemplate their own
impermanence and prepare to live fully.
Which brings us back how we handle the details of human remains.
This week as another shipment of men and women left Buckley for Iraq, more families were forced to think about
the unthinkable. It is a tenant of our corps that at whatever cost, no body should be left behind.
This weekend will see a different troop of visitors to Fairmount and hallowed grounds
across the country. Oh they will see the same stones and hear stories from the deceased, but they will not be
out for a weekend ride.
Memorial Day is so aptly named: it is an intersection of our memories and those we would commemorate.
For most of our lives Memorial Day is the weekend that we put the boat in, clean out the cabin, crank up the
Weber, attend graduation parties or the day the pool opens.
For enthusiasts it is a holiday signaled by the invocation, “Gentleman start your engines.”
It’ll dawn on you that for many such light-hearted escapes will not mask a need to visit a hallowed piece of
ground, a stone marker or urn bearing flowers or flags. They will pause reflectively no matter how hectic their
lives to remember and mourn.
Such vigils make sense of the wheel of life and let us continue on our path.
Back to home page
Founded in 1891, the city of Aurora was originally named Fletcher by its founder, former Chicago resident
Donald Fletcher. In 1907, the town changed its name to Aurora.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Annual Exercise with the dead 2008
with Bicycle Aurora
CYCLE INTO HISTORY AT FAIRMOUNT CEMETERY
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
9:30 AM -12:30 PM
Tom Tobiassen leads this bike tour along the shaded paths of Fairmount Cemetery. Cyclists encounter the
graves of past builders & characters with stories of bygone times. Meet at the Aurora History Museum.15051 E.
Alameda Pkwy. Bring bike, water, etc 14 miles along the Highline Canal Trail. 14 miles.
http://bicycleaurora.org/
Information@BicycleAurora.org
Tom@bicycleaurora.org
303-699-9260
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
May 12, 2004
What better place to ride a bike on a beautiful spring day than a cemetery, especially one filled with the ghosts
of Aurora’s past?
That’s exactly the kind of thing that excites Tom Tobiasson, Aurora’s most civic-minded bicycle enthusiast, and
this year he’s hooked up with the Aurora History Museum and the Aurora Spellbinders to liven up the experience.
On May 22, well-prepared storytellers in period costumes will greet cyclists as they tour the graves of famous
Aurorans at Fairmount Cemetery.
“We haven’t done the actor thing before, but every year I lead a tour to the cemetery and we hit the pioneers’
gravesites,” Tobiasson said. “We don’t have a pioneer cemetery in Aurora, so we don’t have much choice but to
go to Denver.”
The tour begins at the Aurora History Museum, and Tobiasson leads cyclists along
Highline Canal to the cemetery. The ride organizers use radios to keep stragglers from getting too far behind
and also bring basic tools and supplies for roadside repairs.
“It’s really more of a tour — it’s only 14 miles,” Tobiasson said. “It’s all flat, anyone can do it and you can bring
the kids along. It’s an easy ride.”
Eight storytellers will re-enact the lives of such prominent Aurora history-makers as Mabel Foster Vincent
McFadden, co-editor of the Aurora Democrat; Billie Preston, the last resident allowed to ride her horse through
town; Francis Perry, one of the founders the city and the Colorado National Guard; and Francis Fay Holzer, wife
of Charles Holzer, Aurora’s mayor from 1931 to 1936.
“Francis Fay Holzer is one of the quietest characters of all,” said Eileen Dumas, who will be playing Holzer at the
cemetery. “There’s not a lot of information about her, but her husband was the mayor responsible for paving
Colfax Avenue.”
According to Dumas, who founded the Aurora Spellbinders, the re-enactments are part research and part
guesswork.
First, the storytellers studied archives from the Aurora History Museum and boned up on historical events that
took place during the lives of the characters.
The challenge is turning that information into a living character, Dumas said.
“It’s very hard because you don’t really know what the person was like, so you take what you’ve read and make
it come alive as part of yourself.”
One early Auroran who won’t be on the tour is the city’s founder, Donald Fletcher —
nobody knows what happened to him. According to city historians, it’s one of
Aurora’s great mysteries.
The Cycle Into History at Fairmount tour is one of the early rides of the season for the Bicycle Aurora
organization.
All summer long, Tobiasson leads groups of cyclists along the elusive trails of Aurora, unveiling the best ways to
connect to the more extensive bike trails in other parts of the metro area.
The organization starts the season in April with a few warm-up rides around Cherry Creek Reservoir. In
September, riders gather for a 100-mile ride along the bike trails of metro- Denver.
The ride starts at Cherry Creek Reservoir and follows the Cherry Creek and Platte River trails to Chatfield
Reservoir, veers west along C-470 to Morrison, then follows the Bear Creek trail back to the Platte and Cherry
Creek trails to Cherry Creek Reservoir.
Since the ride stays within the metro area, the route is popular with people who want to ride long distances, but
don’t want to stray too far from home.
“We found that women like to ride that,” he said. “A lot of women like to do the distance, but don’t like the open
highway.”
Tobiasson said the group rides are gear more toward fun than toward serious training. Most rides are designed
for people who have yet to qualify for the Olympics.
Quicker riders are usually pointed to a group that starts at Treads Bicycle Outfitters at 16981 E. Iliff Ave.
“Our group is more recreational. It’s more for learning your way around the trails rather than for fitness,”
Tobiasson said. “Although for some people it’s a fitness ride because they have never done it before.”
To register for the Fairmount Cemetery ride on May 22, call 303-326-8650. Entry fee is $3 for residents or $4
for non-residents. The tour is limited to 30 people.
For information about other Bicycle Aurora rides this summer, visit the website:
www.bicycleaurora.org or call 303-699-9260.
By Eric Mees
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Memories and memorials mark miles and tombstones
By H. Harrison Cochran
The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
We bicycled through Fairmount Cemetery last week. That may sound like an odd way to spend a pleasant
spring morning.
Thanks to the Aurora Bicycle Club and the Aurora Historical Society, it turned into a most interesting and
educational spin. About 35 folks met at the Aurora History Museum and pedaled across the Highline Canal trail
to Fairmount. Except when dismounting to cross Havana, a bike ride on an Aurora trail takes you to places in
town you can’t experience from your car. I highly recommend it.
Our colorful troop may have looked odd to the few there placing flowers, making
arrangements or maybe deciding whether to buy a plot for themselves.
By arrangement we were there to meet some of the dead.
No, this was not a sequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. These were appointments with members of the
Aurora Spellbinders in costume who, each by the grave marker of their character, told us a little about the life of
one of Aurora’s deceased.
Amongst the living legends was Francis Perry, a founder of Aurora and the Colorado
National Guard, the colorful Billie Preston, the last resident of Aurora who rode a horse around town, and Mabel
Foster Vincent McFadden co-editor of the Aurora Democrat, predecessor to the Aurora Sun, and Sentinel.
As we listened to the ghosts, sauntered between the graves, visited the chapel and
entered the still, cold marble halls of the mausoleum; my mind wandered, too.
We have such an interesting relationship with death and dying. It is where even the bravest and most realistic
souls come face-to-face with themselves.
We all know it is where we are going, yet each death of a loved one—each visit to a friend with a fatal illness
somehow startles. We return to memories of those lost, religious rituals from our past and whatever defenses
and denials are available.
Each religion is different, but from St Peter’s pearly gates to Hindu reincarnation, most were developed around
the need to see death as a doorway not a destination.
Buddhists recommend to young monks that they meditate amongst the dead and dying to contemplate their own
impermanence and prepare to live fully.
Which brings us back how we handle the details of human remains.
This week as another shipment of men and women left Buckley for Iraq, more families were forced to think about
the unthinkable. It is a tenant of our corps that at whatever cost, no body should be left behind.
This weekend will see a different troop of visitors to Fairmount and hallowed grounds
across the country. Oh they will see the same stones and hear stories from the deceased, but they will not be
out for a weekend ride.
Memorial Day is so aptly named: it is an intersection of our memories and those we would commemorate.
For most of our lives Memorial Day is the weekend that we put the boat in, clean out the cabin, crank up the
Weber, attend graduation parties or the day the pool opens.
For enthusiasts it is a holiday signaled by the invocation, “Gentleman start your engines.”
It’ll dawn on you that for many such light-hearted escapes will not mask a need to visit a hallowed piece of
ground, a stone marker or urn bearing flowers or flags. They will pause reflectively no matter how hectic their
lives to remember and mourn.
Such vigils make sense of the wheel of life and let us continue on our path.
Back to home page
