by Mark Smiley | Apr 25, 2016 | Travel
by Megan Carthel
Glendale and Denver residents have been getting Naked and Afraid.
Bree Walker, Glendale resident, was Naked and Afraid in the jungle of Honduras, right along the Conrejal River.
“I got really bored one day and just filled out a paragraph online, and then I guess I qualified to go,” Walker said. “And then, a month later I was on my way.”
When Walker filled out that paragraph, she signed up for Naked and Afraid. It’s a T.V. show designed to put survivalists to the test mentally and physically. Contestants are thrown into remote locations for 21 days with only one item each and no clothes or shoes. They’re left to make their own shelters, hunt and gather their own food. Two strangers meet for the first time and have to survive together — naked.
While being naked was a shock at first to Walker, eventually everything became routine — even feasting on the philodendron fruit which can leave third degree burns along the throat if not picked at the right time.
“It became a daily routine and a lot simpler than we have here,” Walker said. “I loved not having the Internet, and I loved not having a phone, or doing my hair or makeup or anything, or what I am going to wear today.”
Walker and her partner Clarence were in the Honduras jungle during monsoon season and a blood moon, meaning light of any kind was hard to come by. Walker found refuge and sunlight near the river at what she called her “breakfast rock.” To prepare for the show, she ran the dirt trails by Arrowhead barefoot and packed on an extra 17 pounds by eating paleo meals every hour and a half. Those extra pounds didn’t last long — she lost 25 pounds throughout the entire experience. Walker made it 14 out of the 21-day challenge due to hypothermia and a 106-degree fever among other complications.
Walker and Clarence were inserted into the wilderness in late September 2015, just about a month after Walker’s 30th birthday — a present of sorts to herself.
“I think it helped me find myself because turning 30 just made me feel like, do I really know who I am, and what can I really put myself through? What can I really conquer?” Walker said.
Walker discovered her own inner strength, realizing she could do much more than her partner could. After her experience she said she threw away the body shaming and pressure society often puts on women. Her journey in the jungle taught her she was stronger and more independent than she thought, something she wants women and girls to see within themselves.
“Don’t let anybody tell you not to do something. Go try it and find out for yourself because you’re strong enough,” Walker said.
Walker isn’t the only local resident who was strong enough to be naked and afraid. Matt Wright, a Denver resident and survival expert, also went on the show. His episode aired April 24, 2016. Wright’s episode was filmed in Thailand in November 2014. When it came to being afraid, he wasn’t, but when it came to being naked, things were a little different at first.
“You really realize you have nothing to defend yourself,” Wright said.
Both Walker and Wright said being naked made them feel more vulnerable, but any awkwardness quickly dissipated as the focus switched to survival, food, water and shelter.
“When I was out there, the most peaceful thing was that those were the four things I had to worry about. That was it. Yeah, it was tough as heck, but if I was there a little bit longer and would’ve had that warmth, it would’ve just clicked,” Walker said.
And when it comes to the partners?
“It was the hardest forced relationship you could imagine,” Wright said.
The camera and sound crew only film the contestants a few hours each day, and for the remainder of the time, they are completely alone. Wright said his partner became his best friend because she was his only friend. Wright didn’t forget about his girlfriend Brooke back in Denver however. On the show he recorded a proposal to her after reading a special note she sent with him tucked away in his knife. Their wedding is set for late July.
Walker’s partner was a little more distant — they didn’t share a shelter, a first in the show’s history. Her partner refused consolation by Walker when he was frightened in the middle of the night by growling in the jungle — his own stomach growling. While Wright may have been more prepared than his partner was, they worked together to survive, and he gained a new outlook on people.
“[The experience] opened up a huge window where I believe now anybody is capable of anything,” Wright said.
Wright’s outlook on negative situations has changed too, frequently seeing that “it could be worse.” For Walker, being back in the real world made her realize how much everything was about time and that she was born under a wandering star.
Despite hundreds of bug bites, lost weight, infections and hospitalization, Walker and Wright say they would do the show again “in a heartbeat.” Walker’s show will air May 29 on the Discovery Channel.n
by Mark Smiley | Apr 25, 2016 | Glendale City News
GLENDALE, CO – APRIL 9: Glendale Raptors vs Santa Monica at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado on April 9, 2016. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
by Kurt Woock
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
While winter means skiing for many Coloradans, for the the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy (GRRA) it means more rugby, just like spring, summer, and autumn. The first months of 2016 have been filled with teaching and learning across the Denver metro area.
Jenna Anderson is the youth rugby coordinator for the Raptors. When talking with her, her enthusiasm about the benefits rugby holds for positive youth development is unmistakable. One quick glance at her calendar, and one quickly sees the extent of her dedication to sharing all the programming the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy offers.
One recurring entry is the Raptors In The School program. Jenna, along with coaches and players from the Glendale Raptors teams, travels to schools during the day to teach rugby basics during P.E. classes. “We see as many kids as we can fit in,” she said. “So far, we’ve seen about 1,500 kids since the end of January.” She said some students have had some exposure to rugby, including attending games at Infinity Park, but have not had formal instruction in the rules and proper playing techniques. To that end, students aren’t the only ones learning at these events: P.E. teachers also learn about teaching rugby in their classes in order to bring one of the country’s fastest growing team sports to future classes.
For the first time ever, the GRRA also offered a more immersive school experience for students interested in learning more. Students at University Park Elementary were able to sign up for a six-session, after-school rugby program. Look for this opportunity to appear elsewhere in the future.
Middle school students are of particular importance to the GRRA mission. Learning effective and safe techniques from the ground up is easiest at that age. Anderson said that middle school is also a key time to introduce students to the value of developing skills in multiple sports. She said there is a trend of students choosing to “specialize” in a sport, often before they even reach junior high. This specialization comes at the expense of becoming a well-rounded athlete.
The issue is larger than rugby. Although it might seem logical to assume that a student who devotes 20 hours a week to a particular sport will have a leg up over another student who devotes 10 hours to two different sports, the opposite is actually
Glendale Raptors girls Try On Rugby event on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at Infinity Park. Photo by Seth McConnell
more likely. Avoiding specializing too early actually increases the likelihood for success in the sport a student might eventually end up specializing in.
Students who develop skills in more than one sport don’t separate the things they learn in each into silos. Instead, the mental and physical skills they pick up in one sport can be applied to all the others. Think of it as cross pollinating. A football player might become a stronger tackler after learning about tackling in the rugby tradition. A basketball player’s sense of court awareness could develop more deeply after learning how rugby players see the field. The possibilities are endless.
In addition to bringing rugby to schools, the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy has been busy holding events at Infinity Park. A first-of-its-kind tackling clinic took place in early April. Anderson said the clinic will become a part of GRRA’s regular programming.
Raptors coaches, including head coach Andre Snyman, were on hand to teach safe, effective tackling techniques. Two sessions in total were held, one for 8-11-year-old boys and girls and one for 12-18-year-old boys and girls. Anderson said that the clinic attracted coaches and football players in addition to rugby players.
“It doesn’t matter what sports you play,” she said. “Players learn the original styles of tackling with the shoulder and not your head.” She said rugby tackling skills have been embraced by the Seattle Seahawks, among other organizations. She’s also seen kickboxing, soccer, and cross country athletes benefit in various ways.
While some GRRA programs are meant as introductory or beginner programs, Anderson is quick to point out that GRRA offers an incredible opportunity for those looking to make their mark at the game’s highest levels. Raptors head coach Andre Snyman said the ability to work with the Raptors coaches and have access to the country’s premier rugby facility is a one-of-a-kind opportunity top prep students should seriously consider, and one that many have already taken advantage of. He said that beyond physical development, players will leave with a higher rugby I.Q. At GRRA, they’ll learn what it takes to take their game to the next level.
As winter turns to spring, Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy will continue to offer rugby opportunities of all kinds. April meant the beginning of Try League, for K-9 boys and K-8 girls. Anderson is also excited for the girls-only “try-on rugby event.” It’s a girls rugby clinic for those aged 8 to 18, from beginner to advanced. Participants are encouraged to bring a friend with them to play the sport together.
The programs provided by GRRA continue to give Denver’s youth a positive, encouraging environment in which to grow. Thousands have already taken advantage in 2016. And, as the year continues, more and more families will become part of the Raptors family.
by Mark Smiley | Apr 25, 2016 | Feature Story Middle Left
Denver residents have grown used to it. City planners and public relations specialists suddenly appear and announce in one or more neighborhoods that they are gathering “robust public input” for a wonderful new project that will benefit everyone, but especially the poor or semi-poor and/or abused women, kids et al. But time is short and the project must be approved as soon as humanly possible or bad things will happen.
If the lumpenproletariat appear to be raising a ruckus which is reaching the local and alternative media, the story is given to a clueless Denver Post reporter who writes a bland, lifeless piece that generally toes the administration line with a bromide or two thrown to the citizenry. The mayor’s developer friends then go do what they intended to do in the first place. A lawsuit is then filed by outraged citizens in the Denver District Court system where the judges are essentially lifetime bureaucrats dressed in black robes who appear to quake in fear of the corrupt and largely incompetent City Attorney’s Office.
So began the destruction of the open space at “Lowry Vista” and “Hentzell Park” along with another dozen or so citizen rip-offs in favor of the Mayor of Denver Michael Hancock and his developer friends and in particular his handler-in-chief, Oakwood Homes’ CEO Pat Hamill.
Now it’s the Park Hill neighborhood’s turn in the barrel as Denver is proposing to take 30 acres and 280 of 872 trees on City Park Golf course for an all of the sudden 100 year flood crisis project that must be approved immediately or (laughably) irreparable harm will occur to the most vulnerable of Denver’s citizens and neighborhoods.
A 100 year storm water detention pond is a truly ugly thing to behold. All trees and bushes and other vegetation is stripped away other than some limp grasses. The lifeless hole is then filled only for relatively short periods of time when filthy, badly polluted water and trash flow into the hole. The water recedes away while the filth, trash and chemical pollutants remain. The subsequent clean-up is relatively minimal since a new deluge will appear soon enough.
Jamie Price is the outside program director for the “Platte to Park Hill Stormwater” project. The project is, in theory, to help control the stormwater flowing north and west from Fairmount Cemetery down to the Platte River. Of course, Denver is, in fact, in a semi-arid desert area with only 16.38 inches of precipitation a year and thus not a great deal of stormwater to worry about.
Moreover, the real problem is that the existing pipes are too small for today’s increased surface run-off. Those pipelines are not being enlarged so whatever flooding exists will continue on unabated. But that is just not the way to look at it according to Denver’s Department of Public Works that is funding the project with help from CDOT and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District.
Mr. Price declared to Westword that “We get a lot of positive feedback, that this makes total sense.” The City’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer Gretchen Hollrah told a neighborhood organization, “It is my fervent belief that in this project the city is acting as an advocate for neighborhoods to deliver the project as fast as we can to provide stormwater relief.”
The trouble is that the neighborhood rubes have been ripped off by Mayor Hancock and the City Council too many times and they are not quite as easy to fool these days.
No one is ever quite sure whether people like Jamie Price and Gretchen Hollrah affirmatively know that they are lying to us or they simply just don’t care what the truth is. Or maybe they are being conned themselves since the fewer people who really know what’s going on the better and neither appears to be exactly the brightest crayon in the box, notwithstanding, in Price’s case, an engineering degree.
Pro neighborhood Councilman Rafael Espinoza queried why the City of Denver was paying for this since it is CDOT’s responsibility to provide 100 year flood protection. But no answer was forthcoming. Park Hill is represented (if that verb can be used) on the City Council by Albus Brooks. It is said of Mr. Brooks that he need not actually attend Council meetings, but simply have placed in front of his seat a sign declaring, “I enthusiastically support whatever the Mayor says!”
But then who is really behind this land grab? To find out, as Deep Throat told Woodward and Bernstein during the Watergate scandal, simply — “Follow the money.”
The city and state apparatchiks at first claimed that the Platte to Park Hill Stormwater project and massive I-70 expansion were “totally unrelated.” As that became more and more untenable to say with a straight face, it changed to a claim that the two were “related but not inseparable.” Eventually it will be acknowledged that the two are one and the same, but by then it won’t matter and it will be too late for the Park Hill neighborhood and what’s left of the golf course.
The land along the new I-70 corridor will soon become incredibly valua
ble. The massive new concrete areas will cause severe stormwater problems that must be addressed. Detention pond areas are worthless for a developer so they must be pushed upstream into central Denver where public park land can be seized for the eventual enrichment of the few. Who, pray tell, will be the biggest beneficiary? If one had to make a wild guess one could look to the last two words of the third full paragraph above.
— Editorial Board
by Valley Gadfly | Apr 25, 2016 | Valley Gadfly
May symbolizes the transition between spring and summer. It is a noisy month, when new life is bursting forth and birds return to chirp and sing. The delicate pitter patter of a gentle falling rain freshens the air. It is not that unusual, of course, for the glorious roar of a thunderstorm or two to holler across the Cherry Creek Valley.
To stay lean, green and mean — and ahead of the neighbors — this is the month to aerate and fertilize your lawn plus plant potted, balled-and-burlapped trees and shrubs.
Here are our fresh and fragrant choices for shopping, dining and entertainment so you can romp each day in flowering fields filled with magical May moments:
3 Mayday Alert: The loony “Realish Housewives of Cherry Creek” takes the stage at DCPA’s Galleria Theater May 3-22. Show takes on the events making headlines in this once Tony district. Information: 303-893-4100.
3 Buzz over to the Denver Botanic Gardens’ Spring Plant Sale May 6-7, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. to buy pollinator-attracting plans. Information: 720-865-3501.
3 Romp with your dog(s) while enjoying contests, refreshments and demos at Furry Scurry in Wash Park May 7, 9 a.m. Information: 303-751-5772.
3 Race to the Bar Car on Colo. Blvd. May 7, 1-8 p.m. for party hearty fun, Derby Hats, Mint Juleps and Run for the Roses Information: 720-524-8099.
3 Bring the kids and all the kin to enjoy splendid Mother’s Day specials offered May 8 at the Monaco Inn Restaurant. Information: 303-320-1104.
3 Enjoy playing while staying under par by bringing your A-game to the course during May’s National Golf Month. Let the Fit Coaches at Koko FitClub Denver provide the guidance and motivation. Information: 303-872-8380.
3 For action-packed thrills catch the Pacific Rugby Premiership Finals at Infinity Park Stadium May 14, 3-5 p.m. Information: glendaleraptors.com.
3 For a doggone good time catch the Mutts & Models canine fashion show at the Seawell Ballrooom May 21, 6:30 p.m. Information: 303-539-7637.
3 Flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and it’s time to celebrate this gorgeous month during Colorado Corks & Cuisine, May 26. Event is at the 12-acre Four Mile Historic Park, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Sample the fruits of local wineries, distillers, breweries and culinary artists while enjoying entertainment by Swallow Hill Music. Funds support Four Mile’s preservation and education initiatives. Information: 720-865-0800.
This month binds our galaxy together as fans of Star Wars proclaim, “May the 4th be with you!,” a pun on “May the Force be with you!,”penned by author Alan Arnold when chronicling the Empire Strikes Back for Lucas Films. The line has become part of May’s pop culture vernacular. The first six Star Wars movies debuted in May.
This month has a “Full Flower Moon,” also dubbed Mother’s Moon or Milk Moon. Based on May’s Moon’s sign, go fishing May 16-21 and plant May 19-21.
All things seem possible during May. Thus we trust the sun will be shinning on your windowpanes all month. Plus, may your purse always have an extra coin or two. As the Book of Songs suggests, “Sweet May hath come to love us, flowers, trees, their blossoms don; and through the blue heavens above us, the very clouds move on.”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
