“Weekend edition”
Friday, saturday
& sunday
MarCh 21-23, 2014
Vol. 138, No. 58
the Fine Print
MARCH 21-23
~Lenten Fish Fry
FRIDAY (4:30-6:30 p.m.) Holy Trinity Academy will hold a fundraiser Fish Fry
Supper at Holy Family Hall (Soup Kitchen) on
Church St. All proceeds benefit the school.
~Prayer Support Group
FRIDAY (6:30 p.m.) Everyone is invited
to join the prayer support group at the International House of Prayer, 520 W. Baca St.
Refreshments will be served. Information:
719-845-7815.
~Hoehne Alumni Basketball
SATURDAY (9 a.m.) The annual Hoehne
Alumni Basketball Tourney will be at Hoehne
High School. Proceeds benefit the Hoehne
Boy’s Basketball team. Information: Cliff
Santistevan, 859-0801.
~Invasive Tree Training Clinic
SATURDAY (10 a.m.) Free hands-on
training for invasive tree removal (Russian
Olive and Tamarisk) from property will be
held in the City Hall parking lot, 135 Animas
St. Information: Shelly Simmons, 719-3835780 or Karen Wolf, 719-846-9843.
~Philosophy Discussion Group
SATURDAY (12:30 – 2 p.m.) Join this
free discussion group at the Lava Yoga Studio, 828 Arizona. RSVP: 719-846-2325 or
email: www/lavayogastudio.com. Everyone
is welcome.
~Spay/Neuter Clinic
SATURDAY-MONDAY: Call for an appointment for the low cost Spay/Neuter Clinic or stop in for low-cost vaccinations and
microchips on Saturday from 10:30 a.m.-3
p.m. at 224 N. Chestnut St. Information: 719680-2385 or stop by the shelter.
~Holistic Health EXPO
SATURDAY (11 a.m.-5 p.m.) A Holistic
Health & Recreation EXPO will be held at the
Mt. Carmel Community Center. Admission
is free and open to the community. Information: 719-845-4894.
~ Meditation Group
SUNDAY (11 a.m.) You are invited to
experience what meditation can do for you.
This free group meets at the La Quinta Inn on
Toupal Drive. All skills welcome. Information:
Noah Simpson, 719-680-0109 or 224-4304322.
Today’s Quote
“Every man has his secret
sorrows, which the world
knows not; and often times
we call a man cold when he
is only sad.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
MARCH 24
~Holy Trinity Academy
MONDAY (5:30 p.m.) School board
meeting at the school, 613 Prospect St. Information: Andrea Jimenez, 719-846-4522.
~Community Chorale
MONDAY (6:15 p.m.) Rehearsals for the
annual Spring Concert under the direction
of Jireh Thomas are being held at the First
United Methodist Church, 216 Broom St.
Information: 719-846-3720. New members
always welcome, no auditions necessary.
PUBLIC SERVICE
~Calling all Gardeners
Anyone interested in securing a plot in the
Community Garden on Linden Street for the
2014 season should contact Earth Mountain
Farms as soon as possible. Information:
719-680-0215.
~CRCC Scholarships
AVAILABLE NOW: Culebra Range
Community Coalition environmental scholarships are available for graduating senior majoring in any field that will benefit the environment. Contact: Tom Perry at 719-846-8380.
~ArtoCade 2014
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: Anyone
interested in participating in the Cardango
Gala and all other events before and during
the annual ArtoCade Festival please contact
Rodney Wood at 719-334-0087 or artcarfun@yahoo.com.
~Bar NI Grant Fund
MARCH 28 DEADLINE: Applications
are available for a Bar NI Ranch Community
Grant. Information: Tom Perry at 719-8468380.
~Vonna Parsons Scholarship
APRIL 12 DEADLINE: Scholarships
available to high school seniors in the Stonewall Fire Protection District. Information:
Charlie Hislop, 719-868-3660.
~CALL FOR ARTISTS
APRIL 1 & 2 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.) Submissions will be due for the 13th Annual TALAS Art Show at the Corazon Gallery, 149 E.
Main St. Information: 719-680-8596.
~ArtoCade 2014 Workshop
APRIL 1 (6-8 p.m.) A fun program for
anyone interested in “How to Make an Artcar
or Kooky Conveyance” will be held at 149
E. Main St. (next to the Corazon Gallery). Information: Rodney Wood, 719-334-0087 or
artcarfun@yahoo.com.
~Peacock Ball
APRIL 5 (5 p.m.-Midnight) Join in the
11th Annual Peacock Ball to be held at the
Sebastiani Gym on Animas St. Information:
Lucky’s Fetching Finds, 719-846-8578. All
proceeds benefit Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter.
the ChroniCle neWs
~
EDUCATION
TSD No. 1 parts ways with
Superintendent Rodriguez
By Steve Block
The divorce was messy, but the
deal is done. Dr. Manuel Rodriguez
is no longer the superintendent of
Trinidad School District No. One,
as it was announced at Tuesday’s
school board meeting that a separation agreement had been signed
ending Dr. Rodriguez’s employment with the district.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rodriguez will receive a single, lump-sum payment of $90,000
from the school district. A confidentiality clause is included in the
agreement, which reads, in part:
“The Parties agree that the terms
of this Agreement shall be maintained in confidence to the extent
provided by law, and that neither
Dr. Rodriguez nor the board shall
discuss the underlying terms of
the Agreement or allegations giving rise to the dispute.” The agreement further states that the school
district is required to treat the
agreement as a public record under the Colorado Public Records
Act and that the district may comply with that requirement under
the terms of the agreement.
The district gave a copy of the
agreement to The Chronicle-News
on Thursday morning upon request. It also released a brief statement about the agreement, which
reads: “Trinidad School District
No. One and Dr. Manuel Rodriguez have decided to go their separate ways, and in the interest of
moving forward, the district will
have no further comment regarding the issue.”
The agreement brings to a close
the stormy tenure of Rodriguez,
who took over the job on July 1,
2011, after coming to Trinidad
from the Baltimore, Md. County
School District, where he had
served as a middle school superintendent. A school board election
on November 5, 2013 put three new
members on the board, replacing
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
This U-Haul truck was parked in the front yard of Dr. Manuel Rodriguez’s house on Wednesday morning. Rodriguez is
no longer the superintendent of Trinidad School District No. One.
the three former board members
who had given Rodriguez their
strong support.
Rodriguez was placed on paid
administrative leave shortly after
the election, and current Acting
Superintendent George Dasko
replaced him. Rodriguez’s tenure
was marked by a great deal of
turmoil, both in the school district and in the wider Trinidad
community. Many teachers and
staff members retired, were fired
or left for other jobs during that
time. School enrollment declined
dramatically during Rodriguez’s
tenure, partly because of an economic decline in the area, but also
because of the ongoing uproar in
online school next year, a matter
that was informally discussed at
Tuesday’s board meeting. A survey of current and former Trinidad students will be taken to find
out how many would attend an online school sponsored by Trinidad
School District No. One. Dasko
said the district would have to attract at least 25 students to justify
the financial costs of restarting the
online school.
While many people will rejoice at Rodriguez’s leaving and
some may be disappointed, there’s
no question the district long renowned for its Mighty Miner
Pride has some challenging days
ahead.
Trinidad native wins Academy Award for work on ‘Frozen’
By Adam Sperandio
Correspondent
When Jeff Gipson was a college freshman 10 years ago, he was
studying to become an architectural engineer, intending to design
and build extreme-sports parks
around the world. He went on to
help design the Etnies Skate Park
in Lake Forest, Ca. and worked
with the likes of Rod Dyrdek in
the Fantasy Factory. Before he
had even graduated from Trinidad High School in 2003, Gipson
had helped design and construct
the Trinidad Skate Park. He never
in his wildest dreams thought he
eventually would work on a movie
that would go on to win an Academy Award.
“A year ago at this time, I was
just hoping for a job. Now I’m
holding an Academy Award. It’s
pretty mind-blowing and surreal
when you think about it,” mused
Gipson.
The son of a gunsmith father
and a fantastically talented guitarplaying mother, Gipson was part
of the group that won the Academy Award for Best Animated
Feature Film for “Frozen.”
Although he did not attend the
Academy Awards, Gipson did at-
river Call
Purgatoire River Call as of
03/20/2014. Chilii ditch: Priority #7 -- Appropriation date:
04/30/1862.
Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:
Release 0.52 AF
Inflow 45.22 AF -- 22.80 CFS
Evaporation 5.70 AF
Content 17,730 AF
Elevation 6,180.39
Precipitation 0
the district.
Rowdy public demonstrations
blaming Rodriguez and his supporters on the board for all the turmoil became a regular occurrence
here. The protest group Concerned
Citizens And Parents (CPAC) tried
unsuccessfully to have one board
member who supported Rodriguez recalled from office.
Things seem to have settled
down in the district in recent
months, and the new school board
and administration are trying to
handle a difficult financial situation while trying to lure back the
students who have left for online
and other schools. The Trinidad
district may try to restart its own
PURSUING DREAMS
~SUICIDE/CRISIS HOTLINES:
*ADULT HOPE: 800-784-2433
*TEEN: 877-968-8454
*GLB-YOUTH: 866-488-7386
*VET-2-VET: 877-838-2838
“When the world says, ‘Give up!’ Hope
says, ‘Not today!” ~Unknown
Downstream River Call:
Ninemile Canal: 05/10/1887.
50 Cents
trinidad
Colorado
Photos courtesy of Jeff Gipson
Jeff Gipson poses with the Academy Award he won for “Frozen,” which was
named the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2014 Oscars.
Weather WatCh
Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near
56. W-NW wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Night: Mostly
cloudy, with a low around 26. E-SW wind
tend an Oscar-viewing party at
Disney with many of his fellow employees and their families. “When
we won, everyone was cheering
and celebrating. It was an amazing
moment where we all felt so proud
to have been a part of this amazing
team of artists that made the film,”
Gipson said.
He grew up in Trinidad dreaming of becoming an action-sports
star or an artist. He received two
associate degrees from TSJC before graduating from CU Boulder
with a Bachelor’s of Environmental Design in 2008. In 2011, after a
stint working for a company in
San Diego designing skate parks,
Gipson made the decision that he
wanted to open his own architecture firm but lacked the proper
education to do so. Shortly thereafter, he was admitted into the
Master’s Program at CU Denver,
where he completed one semester
before realizing that architecture
wasn’t what he wanted to pursue.
“I talked to my family and friends
to see about this new direction I
wanted to go. They were really
supportive,” said Gipson, who decided to go into digital animation.
“If I didn’t have those people in my
life, I don’t think I would have ever
done this,” he said.
Gipson soon transferred programs and started taking digitalanimation and graphic-arts classes at CU Denver. “It was tough
because I already had a Bachelor’s
degree, so there was no financial
aid. I had to take out super expensive loans just to do it. The most
difficult transition was having to
pick everything up and start brand
new,” said Gipson. “To start a new
career path — I was struggling to
keep going, jumping through all
kinds of hoops. But it was worth it
in the end,” he said. It didn’t take
around 10 mph.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high
near 53. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Night:
A slight chance of rain before 10pm, then
a slight chance of rain and snow between
10pm and midnight, then a slight chance
of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy,
with a low around 23.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of snow
before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near
very long for Jeff to realize that
digital animation was his true passion, not designing skate parks.
While studying how to master
his newfound passion, Gipson
came across several highly coveted internships with Pixar, which
is most famous for the movie franchise “Toy Story,” and with Laika
Entertainment, which specializes
mainly in television commercials
but has also produced the animated feature film “Paranorman.”
“The internship with Pixar
was a program for undergrads
that teaches them the whole layout of doing a movie from start to
finish,” said Gipson. “The internships are super competitive — like
1,000 people go after them. I got one
of the two wildcard spots that are
designated for people who don’t
necessarily have the experience
Continued on Page 2 ...
47. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Night: Partly
cloudy, with a low around 28. West SW
wind around 10 mph.
Monday: A 10 percent chance of rain.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. NW
wind 5 to 10 mph becoming E-NE in the
afternoon. Night: A 10 percent chance of
rain. Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.
E-NE wind 5 to 10 mph becoming W-SW
after midnight.
Page 2 “Weekend Edition” Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 21-23, 2014
62
Memorials
Michael (Randy) Bergamo
The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado
Community
GALA BENEFIT
Annual Peacock Ball shows its colors April 5
David Lee Velasquez
David Lee Velasquez
passed away unexpectedly
at home on March 12, 2014.
Visitation will be Thursday
March 20, 2014 from 3 p.m.
– 6 p.m. at the Comi Chapel.
Rosary will be Thursday
March 20, 2014 at 7 p.m. at
Holy Trinity Church.
Funeral Mass will be
Friday, March 21, 2014 at 1
p.m. at Holy Trinity Church.
Interment will follow at the
Trinidad Catholic Cemetery.
Arrangements made under
the direction of the Comi
Funeral Home.
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
Ed Torres
Ed Torres, age 55, passed
away at Parkview Medical
Center on March 11, 2014.
Funeral Services will be
Friday, March 21, 2014 with
Rosary at 9 a.m. at the Comi
Chapel followed by the
Funeral Mass at 10 a.m. at
Holy Trinity Church.
Private inurnment at a later
date.
Arrangements made under
the direction of the Comi
Funeral Home.
Samuel Kenneth Niccoli
Sam Niccoli was born
March 25, 1936 in Trinidad,
Colorado and entered
eternal rest with God on
March 16th, 2014.
A Celebration of Life will
take place Saturday, March
22 at 1 p.m. at the Weston
Fire Station, 16200 Cty Rd
31.9, Unit 10, Weston, Colo.
81091.
Memorial donations can be
made to the Hunter Safety
Education Program, or the
Stonewall Fire Protection
District, in care of Comi
Funeral Home, PO Box 122,
Trinidad, Colo., 81082.
Arrangements made under
the direction of the Comi
Funeral Home
62
63
Card of Thanks
Trinidad and Las Animas County
have numerous unwanted animals
within their boundaries that need
loving homes. Noah’s Ark Animal
Welfare Association’s board, staff and
volunteers have been working to solve
that problem, but it can’t be done without money. The 11th Annual Peacock
Ball is always a fun and festive event
that raises some of the money needed
to help those animals find their forever homes.
Noah’s Ark finds homes for pets
both in the local area through adoptions and farther afield by transferring some animals to bigger cities. The
shelter found homes for 266 dogs and
409 cats in 2013, while transferring out
195 dogs and 12 cats.
The Peacock Ball will open with
a social hour and a silent auction beginning at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April
5 at Sebastiani Gym. Tickets cost $40
apiece in advance, with a deadline of
March 31, or $50 at the door. Advance
tickets can be purchased at Lucky’s
Fetching Finds, located at 407 N. Commercial St. For more information,
potential attendees should call 719-8468578. And the shelter is also seeking
donations for its silent auction.
Lucky’s Fetching Finds is also the
place to go for tickets for the 50-50 raffle, with the big winner announced at
the ball. Tickets cost $5 apiece or $10
for three tickets, and they’re available
until March 31. Half of the raffle proceeds will benefit Noah’s Ark, while
the remaining 50 percent will go to a
single lucky winner.
The Peacock Ball features a catered
dinner and live music by the popular
band Whiskey Creek, so patrons can
dance until midnight and enjoy casino
games, cash raffles and much more.
Laura Slesarik, manager of Lucky’s
Fetching Finds, said Monday that the
Peacock Ball is the shelter’s biggest
fundraiser of the year. Slesarik said
the shelter always receives a large
number of puppies and kittens in the
spring, so it needs a financial boost as
that time of year approaches.
Corporate tables are available for
the ball, and Slesarik said several organizations have already signed up for
them. A table for four costs $300, and a
table for eight costs $500. Noah’s Ark
printed 250 tickets for the event, and
Slesarik said there are still some tickets available. She urged the community once again to come out in support
of this critical fundraising event.
“This is a chance for us to meet
with the many people who support
Noah’s Ark,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for us to thank them for their
help, explain a little bit about what we
do for homeless animals with the donations they give us and enjoy a great
Trinidad Academy Award winner
Memorials
Michael (Randy) Bergamo
The pain
that you’ve
been feeling
can’t
compare
to the
joy that’s
coming!
Romans 8:18
but have promise or show
potential. When I got that, I
thought, ‘OK, I have a shot
at making it.’”
By 2012, Gipson was
back in school, this time
working on his Master’s
in digital animation while
teaching at Ohio State. “I
took a full-ride Master’s opportunity at OSU. A part of
the stipulation was that I
had to teach a class on digital animation,” said Gipson. “It was cool, and I had
fun, but I felt like I was just
spinning wheels being in
school and not really working. So I floated my résumé
out to a few places.” In 2013,
Jeff received the email that
changed his life. It was Disney, and they were offering
him a residency job in California. “I read the email
and was like, ‘Is this really
happening?’”
So Gipson was soon back
in California, this time
working for Disney. “The
Disney job was a training
thing at first. The first three
months they teach you everything you need to know.
Then they review you,”
said Gipson. “They want to
see what you can do. You
continue working for three
more months, and they review you again. It’s a long
process,” he said. “It was
about a year before I was
able to work on the movie.”
Gipson was on the crew
that controlled the lighting
effects on the movie. “We do
lighting — we add shading
to make things darker, we
add lighting to make things
brighter to make a formal
image. It is a lot of compositing, which is creating
the image. We finished the
movie in late September of
last year. I was really excited when we were done.”
Gipson still works with
the trainees in the Disney
studios, but now he is a
mentor for the new arrivals.
“I had a bunch of reviews;
they came out great. I am a
mentor this year. I help out
the new trainees,” said Gipson. “It’s cool to have the
ball pushed around. I feel
I can show the kids something new.”
Although Gipson may
not be into building skate
parks anymore, it doesn’t
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evening together. Our ultimate goal,
of course, is to get a new shelter facility. We want to thank the many local
businesses and individuals who have
helped us along the way.”
Noah’s Ark started a new partnership recently with the Pikes Peak Humane Society in Colorado Springs to
transfer some animals to that location.
The shelter also established a new
pricing structure called Legacy Adoptions, for those breeds of animals that
are in high demand.
More information about what
Noah’s Ark does for animals and the
many ways people can help through
donations and volunteer work is available at the website noahsarktrinidad.
org.
... Continued from Page 1
stop him from having a
good time. After all, skating
and BMX were the foundation that led him to where
he is today. “I still go out
and skate and surf. I stay
as active as I can. It’s different than home, though.
At home, it is right in front
of you. You have to work
for it here. You take those
kind of things for granted
when you don’t have them
in front of you anymore.”
Speaking of his home
town, Gipson said, “I am
extremely proud to have
grown up in Trinidad, gone
to the public schools, attended Trinidad State Junior College, and to have
been able to contribute to
the community through
my work on the skate park.
It’s those experiences that
shaped who I am today. I
think that growing up in
a small town I sometimes
thought that achieving certain dreams — whether it
be working on movies or
designing skate parks —
was unattainable, because
I lived in a small town in
Southern Colorado, away
from the movie and skate-
board industry. It’s only
now that I can connect the
dots by looking back and
seeing that those types
of challenges gave me a
sense of drive and desire
to achieve my goals even
more.”
After
contemplating
what advice he might give
to high school seniors
who will graduate in a few
months, Gipson said, “I
had one direction. But you
have to follow your heart
and do what you love. Be
open to change. You are going to have good and bad
times, but I didn’t want to
look back and say, ‘I wish I
would have gone for it.’ So
I say go for it! Follow your
heart and don’t be afraid to
fail.”
Gipson is already back
in the studio working on
the next big Disney hit,
“Big Hero 6,” which will
come out sometime this
year. He is tight lipped on
the details of the movie, but
he does not lack confidence
in the project. “I can’t tell
you much about the movie,
except that it’s going to be
awesome,” Gipson said.