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Ghost Town
In NorthernColorado
LongsPeak 
PioneerClimbers
Outlaws
In EarlyColorado
Skiing
SteamboatSprings
 
Ski TownUSA
SteamboatSprings
FamousRodeoBronc
NorthColorado
MountainGirl
Ida McNally
CoverPicture:SkierBilly Kidd
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The Senior
November 2009
Local Attractions • Scenic Places • History • Money • Health • News
 
2• November 2009 • The Senior Voice
 By Stephen Clifton, Director Social Security Office, Greeley
I
f you’re planning on retiring some-time early in the 2010, now is thetime to apply for Social Security benefits. The most convenient wayto apply is online at www.socialsecurity.gov/applyonline.Before you start your application,we recommend you get an estimate of your retirement benefit. This you cando at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.The Retirement Estimator uses your  personal employment history to esti-mate your retirement benefit. It alsowill help you to answer some of thequestions on the retirement application.You can use the online applica-tion to apply for Social Securityretirement or spouses benefits if youare at least 61 years and 9 monthsold; want to start your benefits in thenext four months; and live in theUnited States.Before filing online for retire-ment, we suggest you have thefollowing information on hand: Your 
Social Security
 By B.J. Nikkel Colorado State Representative
M
y summer and fall flew by as Iconcluded a series of twentytown hall meetings around my district.As your State Representative, Itake my job very seriously. One of mygoals is to be accessible and availableto you the taxpayers. I am working to put people, not government, first.Irresponsible government does notserve the people. Raising taxes duringa recession or economic downturn has been catastrophic for many people inour state who were already sufferingeconomic woes. There were 57 billswith “fees” (taxes) attached lastsession.I hear daily from Coloradans whoare angry about the car tax that forcedhigher rates on vehicle registrations,as well as forcing unfair, indisputableand expensive late fees. I votedagainst this “back-door” method of taxation.Some common sense solutions Iwill support are to repeal the car taxand also restore the majority party’srepeal of the Senior HomesteadProperty Tax Exemption, which hasseriously hurt many seniors. Frankly,I find that repeal unconscionable.I’ll co-sponsor legislation allowingColoradans to purchase insurance plans across state lines to give ythemchoice. If you need a minimal, inex- pensive plan and we don’t have it inColorado, you should be allowed to purchase it in another state.We should implement an auto-matic hiring freeze when theeconomy shrinks. Our governor grewgovernment by 4,400 employees inthree years; 1400 were hired in themidst of a hiring freeze as “excep-tions.” When you and I must tightenour belts, the government should, too.I believe in growing futures, notgovernment. Excessive fees, taxes,regulation and mandates on peopleand small businesses have seriouslyhurt Coloradans who are alreadystruggling to make ends meet in thesetough economic times.
You can email me at Rep.Nikkel @gmail.com or call at 970-663-3506 
.
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date and place of birth and SocialSecurity number; your bank or finan-cial institution’s routing transitnumber and the account number for direct deposit of your benefits; theamount of money earned last year and this year.If you are filing for benefits in themonths of September throughDecember, you also will need to esti-mate next year’s earnings; the nameand address of your employer(s) for this year and last year; the beginningand ending dates of any active U.S.military service you had before 1968;the name, Social Security number and date of birth or age of your current spouse and any former spouse.You also should know the datesand places of marriage and dates of divorce or death (if appropriate); andhave a copy of your Social SecurityStatement.
Even if you don’t have all theinformation we need, you shouldgo ahead and apply. We will contactyou later if we need information.
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State Legislation
Understanding Medicare isn’t rocketscience. It’s much harder than that.
 You need some qualified Medicare advice. Our specialists can help.
Not only do we make the process more understandable, with our Medicareplans you won’t find any surprises or hidden
out-of-pocket
costs. What’smore, Rocky Mountain Health Plans is proud to announce a new $0 premiumplan with free preventive care. Even a worldwide travel benefit. We’ll explaineverything in plain English. Call us at 888-251-1330
or TTY 800-704-6370.To request more information:
www.coloradomedicareinfo.comwww.rmhp.org
Rocky Mountain Health Plans is a not-for-profit, Colorado-based health plan with a Medicare contract and a Medicareapproved Part D sponsor. Medicare & Medigap plans areavailable for people with Medicare, regardless of their age.
 
CMS S5860 H0602_4031001 • MCAd153 •
©
 
2009
 
The Senior Voice • November 2009 • 3
 Published Locally Since 1980
 VOL. 29, NO. 12
970-229-9204Email: Lambdin@frii.com www.theseniorvoice.net
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
The Senior Voice 
newspaper has beenpublished locally the first of each monthsince 1980 for residents age 50-plus.
 ADVERTISING
 Ad deadline is 20th of month.For rates, call 970-229-9204;email Lambdin@frii.comor see theseniorvoice.net.
 Wolfgang Lambdin Advertising Director/Editor Fort Collins, Colorado(970) 229-9204Lambdin@frii.com
SALES OFFICES:
Ft. Collins and Loveland(970) 229-9204Greeley (970) 454-3789
EDITORIAL DEADLINE
 Announcements and stories must bereceived by the 10th of the month.; ads by the 20th of the month.
READER INFORMATION
Subscriptions $48 a year.
The Senior Voice 
 welcomes readers' lettersand contributions.
The Senior Voice 
assumesno responsibility for damaged or lost mate-rial submitted by readers.
© Copyright 2009
The Senior Voice 
EDITORIAL OFFICE:
1471 Front Nine DriveFort Collins, CO 80525(970) 223-9271email thevoice@frii.com www.theseniorvoice.net
No material may be reproduced by any means without permission of the SeniorVoice.
Dr. William and Peggy LambdinFounders, 1980
By Bill Lambdin
S
teamboat Springs is called SkiTown USA for several reasons. Ithas produced more Olympic ski teammembers than any other city in thenation.It is where competitive skiingbegan in Colorado when CarlHowelsen built the first ski jumpthere in 1913. And its ski businesswas developed by local people whohad a passion for skiing seldom foundelsewhere. Norwegian ski champion CarlHowelsen was working as a stonemason in Denver when he discoveredthe champagne powder of Steamboatin 1913.He helped the local people in thequiet, little ranching town realize thatthey lived in a skier’s paradise,teaching them that they could domore with those long wooden boardsthan ski to school or to the pasture.Howelsen’s ski jump became sowell known that it attracted cham-pions from everywhere. Ragnar Omtvedt set a world record jump on itand told the people of Steamboat:“You have the fastest course in theworld here...There is no reason why(skiing) cannot be made a big thingfor Colorado.”A few years later, a young localrancher, Jim Temple, had become anavid skier and decided to build someski runs on Storm Mountain.It wasn’t easy starting a ski area inthis small, isolated town. Outsiderssaid it would never make it—toodifficult to get to and too rural in itsatmosphere.But outsiders were wrong. Theisolation appealed to many skiers,who liked the Western atmosphereand the idea of a ski area overlookinga beautiful ranch valley.And the townspeople were deter-mined to make it work. During onedry winter, hundreds of them shov-eled snow onto the ski runs fromdrifts along the trees to get the skiarea open.It was reminiscent of the spirit F.M.Light & Sons showed during the GreatDepression. Established in 1905, F.M.Light & Sons is Steamboat’s oldestretail business. You see their yellowsigns along the highway, and their store is still downtown.When the Lights’ business facedfailure during the Depression, theyloaded their saddles, jeans andStetsons in a Model-T Ford and droveto ranches throughout the area. If thecustomers wouldn’t come to them,they would go to the customers.Steamboat did much the samewhen the town sent its best skiers tocompetitions around the world— Buddy Werner, Skeeter Werner,Moose Barrows and many others.Through them, Steamboat’s reputationas a ski town grew.The Werners were an especially popular family. Hazie’s restaurant thatsits atop the gondola at MountWerner was named for Hazie Werner,the mother of three Olympic skiers:Buddy, Loris and their sister Gladys(Skeeter).The Werner family settled on anearby ranch in 1941 and first lived ina log cabin with a sod roof. The chil-dren trained at Howelsen Hill wheretheir mother sometimes sold hot dogs.Later the Werner family becamevery successful. Buddy was a three-time Olympian, national giant slalomchampion and North Americancombined champion. Loris was alsoan Olympian.Skeeter won the North AmericanSki Championship in 1955, was theyoungest member of the U.S. NationalSki Team, an Olympian, and founder of the Steamboat Ski School.
Carl Howelsen, who built the first professional ski jump in Coloradoat Steamboat Springs. Colorado Historical Society.
Buddy Werner was killed in anavalanche in Switzerland in 1964. After that, Steamboat’s ski mountain wasrenamed Mount Werner in his honor.Writer John Rolfe Burroughsremembered when Buddy Werner  became the first American to achieverecognition from the great skiers of Europe:“No European had really ever taken an American skier seriouslyuntil the day in 1958 when Werner stood at the top of the Hahnenkammdown-hill course peering into a fogthat blotted out the run...A teammatecalled ‘good luck.’“Buddy jabbed in his ski poles, pulled himself in mid-air into his char-acteristic streamlined crouch and almostinstantly vanished into the murk.“Far below, the Austrian spectatorswaited, staring into the fog...Suddenlyout of the mists rocketed Werner. Hecarved a magnificent steep last schussthat held the crowd breathless andthen swept across the finish line...Hehad broken the record.”Steamboat remembers people likethat. ________________ 
COVER PICTURE: Billy Kidd, one of Steamboat’s best known skiers yearsago. Photo courtesy Steamboat Chamber Resort Association.
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Steamboat: Ski Town USA
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