North Pole Craft Fair raises funds for Tri-Lakes Cares

This year’s Monument Hill Kiwanis club-sponsored North Pole Craft Fair drew 1,301 to the Grace Best Education Center in downtown Monument. They shopped from 63 vendors. The Cookie Walk sold 119 dozen Christmas cookies which netted $682 for Tri-Lakes Cares. Additionally, Tri-Lakes Cares received $1,476 in cash donations as well as 638 pounds of food, toys and games. These donations will have a significant impact on the families that Tri-Lakes Cares serves.

The club also received donations for “4 Kidz Sports” which included a variety of gently used sporting equipment. All proceeds from booth fees help the club fund a variety of Lewis-Palmer School District 38 programs and scholarships.

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Education updates

Patrick Kenny, of Monument, was awarded gold stars in recognition for academic achievement at The Citadel, Charleston, S.C., during the spring 2022 semester. Gold stars are awarded to cadets and students at The Citadel who achieved a 3.7 grade point average or higher. Cadets and students who achieve gold star recognition are also placed on The Citadel’s dean’s list. Those cadets may wear gold stars on their uniforms throughout the semester following their academic achievement.

Daniel Shapiro, of Colorado Springs, was named to The Citadel’s spring 2022 dean’s list. The dean’s list is a recognition given to cadets and students who are registered for 12 or more semester hours and whose grade point average is 3.20 or higher. Cadets who are named to the dean’s list receive a medal, which is worn on their uniform during the semester following their academic achievement.

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Family-Friendly ‘Hometown Christmas’ set for Saturday

“A Hometown Christmas” family-friendly celebration, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 at Black Forest Community Center, 12539 Black Forest Road, will feature holiday music from Monument band Ashtonz, home-prepared foods, crafts for kids and a visit from St. Nick. The event is sponsored by Timberview Animal Hospital, Sweetwater Flower Market, My Door Company, Black Forest Foods and Café and Wesley Owens Coffee. Admission is $18 for adults, $9 for kids 12 and under. Go to HometownChristmas2022.eventbrite.com or call 719-649-0058.

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Pikes Peak Ranger District conducts thinning around Monument Fire Center facility

Areas around the Monument Fire Center facility, located three miles west of Monument in the Pikes Peak Ranger District of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, closed Nov. 28 for a fuels treatment project, according to a USDA news release. Closed areas include National Forest System Trail 715. The Forest Service Order and map can be found at fs.usda.gov/alerts/psicc/alerts-notices (2022-16 Monument Fire Center Area Closure).

The goal of this project is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, create fuel breaks in strategic locations, and restore a more complex vegetation structure to improve forest health, watersheds, and wildlife habitat. Crews will utilize hand-thinning techniques and large mulching equipment. The project will protect ponderosa pine islands and large oak trees and remove ladder fuels, such as Gambel Oak and other woody brush, to encourage pine regeneration.