Aurora
The historic Commander's House
Lowry AFB ~ Aurora, CO
Built in 1904
Photo & info from: www.lowry.org
The historic Lowry Air Force Base Commander’s Home sold at a private auction in 2007; and it is now a private residence. The
Commander’s Home is located at 7400 East Sixth Avenue Parkway, just east of Quebec Street.
***PRIVATE RESIDENCE, PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB***
Built in 1904, the Spanish, eclectic-style home originally housed the superintendent of the Agnes C. Phipps Memorial Sanatorium, a
tuberculosis hospital. It later became the Lowry Officer’s Club, home to base commanders and eventually became a private residence.
The 3,500 square-foot home is light-filled and designed for entertaining. It has a surprisingly contemporary layout, with three bedrooms
(including a main floor master and guest suite), formal dining and living rooms, office/den and sunroom. The home’s interior is a great
remodel opportunity, offering the ability to customize the interior finishes to complement the home’s historic features. It sits on the biggest
lot at Lowry including 21,000 square feet of professionally landscaped grounds with a spacious outdoor terrace.
FYI: I have absolutely NO knowledge that the Commander's House is haunted or not. I just
included it on my website to portray a beautiful example of Aurora's history.
Aurora History
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.
In 1891, Donald Fletcher founded the town of Fletcher on the plains east of Denver, naming the town after himself. The real estate tycoon
left two years later, leaving the new residents with bond payments for non-existent water. The town was renamed Aurora (Latin for dawn) in
1907, and remained a small community until after World War II. Postwar suburban development transformed the town into what became
the fastest growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Although Aurora has long been considered by many only as one of Denver's larger suburbs, its growing population in recent decades
(now over half the size of the City of Denver) has led to efforts for co-equal recognition with its larger neighbor. A former mayor once
expressed the somewhat whimsical notion that eventually the area would be called the "Aurora/Denver Metropolitan Area." However, such
efforts are somewhat hampered by the lack of a large, historically important central business district in the city, which is largely suburban
in character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Colorado#History
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
*** Nearly every month during the full moon, the Plains Conservation Center hosts Full Moon Walks ***
Full Moon Walk - Thunder Moon
July 7th, 2009
Plains Conservation Center
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
7:30 PM To 9:00 PM
Reservations Required
Don't ignore the rumbling thunder during this month of severe weather. The "thunder gods" might be telling you important tales of
weather. Listen as thunder speaks about weather facts and fiction under the light of the full moon.
Members free; non-members $5.00
Cost: $5.00
Location: Nature Center
Reservations are required.
To register online, fill out the form below or call 303.693.3621.
https://plainscenter.org/ssl/register.asp?eventnumber=212
Plains Conservation Center
21901 E. Hampden Ave.
Aurora, Colorado 80013
Phone: 303.693.3621 - Fax: 303.693.3379
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
August - Full Moon Walk - Heat Moon
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
7:30 PM To 9:00 PM
Reservations Required
Experience an evening of a different sort as you discover the Cheyenne lifestyle of the early 19th century. Envision using available prairie
resources to survive while playing Cheyenne games, tasting customary foods, listening to stories, and more.
Members free; non-members $5.00.
Cost: $5.00
Location: Nature Center
Reservations are required.
To register online, fill out the form below or call 303.693.3621.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Past Event:
Halloween Tales
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.
DeLaney Farm --- 170 S. Chambers Road Aurora 80017 – Round Barn
All Ages
Meet a good witch, Cerridwen, portrayed by storyteller Erica Sodos, and hear her stories of Halloween fun and fantasy. See some magic,
get a Halloween treat bag, and discover the only round barn in Colorado.
Register with City of Aurora registration desk - 303-326-8650 or www.auroragov.org/recreation
Registration number 124360.
Contact 303-739-6666 for more information.
$7 ($5 Residents)
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Past Event:
Annual Exercise with the dead 2008
with Bicycle Aurora
Cycle into history at Fairmount Cemetery
Held annually in July. Please call to confirm dates & times.
From July 2008:
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.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
More neat Aurora historical facts from www.auroragov.org
* 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.
* In 1921, the U.S. government selected Aurora as the site for Fitzsimons Army Hospital to treat the wounded—especially those affected
by mustard gas and tuberculosis—during World War I.
* In 1929, Colorado's Secretary of State recognized Aurora—with 2,000 residents—as a city, and tax revenues were appropriated for
sewers, roads and fire stations. Most citizens were located just south of Colfax Avenue, an area that is now called Original Aurora.
* During the Great Depression, Colorado’s congressional delegation managed to save Fitzsimons from closure due to cuts in military
expenditures. President Roosevelt later visited Fitzsimons and was so impressed with the facility that he appropriated funds for its
improvement.
* In 1942, the Army Air Corps built Buckley Field, enhancing the military presence in Aurora. This, coupled with the addition of Lowry Field,
resulted in more employment, residents and money for the city.
* In 1947, Buckley Field was renamed Naval Air Station.
* By 1960, Aurora had 50,000 residents. The Naval Air Station is renamed Buckley Air National Guard Base.
* The 1970s were prosperous for Aurora with the city benefiting from new highway construction.
* The 1980s were a time of economic cooling off, as with the rest of Colorado.
* The 1990s ushered in economic prosperity. However, closures of the military bases, which began with the closure of nearby Lowry Air
Force Base, threatened the city's well being.
* In 2000, Aurora’s population had increased to 292,393 residents.
* In 1995, the U.S. Congress targets Fitzsimons for closure. That same year, officials with the City of Aurora, University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center and the University of Colorado Hospital present the U.S. Department of Defense with a plan to reuse the decommissioned
base as a world-class medical campus. The Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority is formed through an intergovernmental agreement.
* In 1998, the first biotech companies move to Fitzsimons.
* In 2000, Buckley Air National Guard Base re-designated as Buckley Air Force Base.
* By October 2004, the 1-square-mile life sciences city at Fitzsimons is home to the University of Colorado Hospital and Health Sciences
Center, Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute, the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building, Research Complex I and Colorado
Bioscience Park Aurora, with more to come.
www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/Visitors/About_Aurora/005079?ssSourceNodeId=871&ssSourceSiteId=621
Back to home page
The historic Commander's House
Lowry AFB ~ Aurora, CO
Built in 1904
Photo & info from: www.lowry.org
The historic Lowry Air Force Base Commander’s Home sold at a private auction in 2007; and it is now a private residence. The
Commander’s Home is located at 7400 East Sixth Avenue Parkway, just east of Quebec Street.
***PRIVATE RESIDENCE, PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB***
Built in 1904, the Spanish, eclectic-style home originally housed the superintendent of the Agnes C. Phipps Memorial Sanatorium, a
tuberculosis hospital. It later became the Lowry Officer’s Club, home to base commanders and eventually became a private residence.
The 3,500 square-foot home is light-filled and designed for entertaining. It has a surprisingly contemporary layout, with three bedrooms
(including a main floor master and guest suite), formal dining and living rooms, office/den and sunroom. The home’s interior is a great
remodel opportunity, offering the ability to customize the interior finishes to complement the home’s historic features. It sits on the biggest
lot at Lowry including 21,000 square feet of professionally landscaped grounds with a spacious outdoor terrace.
FYI: I have absolutely NO knowledge that the Commander's House is haunted or not. I just
included it on my website to portray a beautiful example of Aurora's history.
Aurora History
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.
In 1891, Donald Fletcher founded the town of Fletcher on the plains east of Denver, naming the town after himself. The real estate tycoon
left two years later, leaving the new residents with bond payments for non-existent water. The town was renamed Aurora (Latin for dawn) in
1907, and remained a small community until after World War II. Postwar suburban development transformed the town into what became
the fastest growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Although Aurora has long been considered by many only as one of Denver's larger suburbs, its growing population in recent decades
(now over half the size of the City of Denver) has led to efforts for co-equal recognition with its larger neighbor. A former mayor once
expressed the somewhat whimsical notion that eventually the area would be called the "Aurora/Denver Metropolitan Area." However, such
efforts are somewhat hampered by the lack of a large, historically important central business district in the city, which is largely suburban
in character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Colorado#History
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
*** Nearly every month during the full moon, the Plains Conservation Center hosts Full Moon Walks ***
Full Moon Walk - Thunder Moon
July 7th, 2009
Plains Conservation Center
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
7:30 PM To 9:00 PM
Reservations Required
Don't ignore the rumbling thunder during this month of severe weather. The "thunder gods" might be telling you important tales of
weather. Listen as thunder speaks about weather facts and fiction under the light of the full moon.
Members free; non-members $5.00
Cost: $5.00
Location: Nature Center
Reservations are required.
To register online, fill out the form below or call 303.693.3621.
https://plainscenter.org/ssl/register.asp?eventnumber=212
Plains Conservation Center
21901 E. Hampden Ave.
Aurora, Colorado 80013
Phone: 303.693.3621 - Fax: 303.693.3379
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
August - Full Moon Walk - Heat Moon
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
7:30 PM To 9:00 PM
Reservations Required
Experience an evening of a different sort as you discover the Cheyenne lifestyle of the early 19th century. Envision using available prairie
resources to survive while playing Cheyenne games, tasting customary foods, listening to stories, and more.
Members free; non-members $5.00.
Cost: $5.00
Location: Nature Center
Reservations are required.
To register online, fill out the form below or call 303.693.3621.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Past Event:
Halloween Tales
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.
DeLaney Farm --- 170 S. Chambers Road Aurora 80017 – Round Barn
All Ages
Meet a good witch, Cerridwen, portrayed by storyteller Erica Sodos, and hear her stories of Halloween fun and fantasy. See some magic,
get a Halloween treat bag, and discover the only round barn in Colorado.
Register with City of Aurora registration desk - 303-326-8650 or www.auroragov.org/recreation
Registration number 124360.
Contact 303-739-6666 for more information.
$7 ($5 Residents)
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Past Event:
Annual Exercise with the dead 2008
with Bicycle Aurora
Cycle into history at Fairmount Cemetery
Held annually in July. Please call to confirm dates & times.
From July 2008:
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.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
More neat Aurora historical facts from www.auroragov.org
* 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.
* In 1921, the U.S. government selected Aurora as the site for Fitzsimons Army Hospital to treat the wounded—especially those affected
by mustard gas and tuberculosis—during World War I.
* In 1929, Colorado's Secretary of State recognized Aurora—with 2,000 residents—as a city, and tax revenues were appropriated for
sewers, roads and fire stations. Most citizens were located just south of Colfax Avenue, an area that is now called Original Aurora.
* During the Great Depression, Colorado’s congressional delegation managed to save Fitzsimons from closure due to cuts in military
expenditures. President Roosevelt later visited Fitzsimons and was so impressed with the facility that he appropriated funds for its
improvement.
* In 1942, the Army Air Corps built Buckley Field, enhancing the military presence in Aurora. This, coupled with the addition of Lowry Field,
resulted in more employment, residents and money for the city.
* In 1947, Buckley Field was renamed Naval Air Station.
* By 1960, Aurora had 50,000 residents. The Naval Air Station is renamed Buckley Air National Guard Base.
* The 1970s were prosperous for Aurora with the city benefiting from new highway construction.
* The 1980s were a time of economic cooling off, as with the rest of Colorado.
* The 1990s ushered in economic prosperity. However, closures of the military bases, which began with the closure of nearby Lowry Air
Force Base, threatened the city's well being.
* In 2000, Aurora’s population had increased to 292,393 residents.
* In 1995, the U.S. Congress targets Fitzsimons for closure. That same year, officials with the City of Aurora, University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center and the University of Colorado Hospital present the U.S. Department of Defense with a plan to reuse the decommissioned
base as a world-class medical campus. The Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority is formed through an intergovernmental agreement.
* In 1998, the first biotech companies move to Fitzsimons.
* In 2000, Buckley Air National Guard Base re-designated as Buckley Air Force Base.
* By October 2004, the 1-square-mile life sciences city at Fitzsimons is home to the University of Colorado Hospital and Health Sciences
Center, Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute, the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building, Research Complex I and Colorado
Bioscience Park Aurora, with more to come.
www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/Visitors/About_Aurora/005079?ssSourceNodeId=871&ssSourceSiteId=621
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