Ouch

Hey everyone.  There's a new sheriff in town.  And he hates rednecks.  And he really, really hates privileged white people who keep voting themselves new privileged white people statues for later, wiser generations to topple.

Trustee MacAlpine:

Although there is little we agree upon politically, I trust you, as a former reference librarian at a major university, recognize the importance of accurate historic information, including, at a basic level, the correct spelling of first and last names. You would probably not appreciate being remembered 50 years down the line as Estes Park trustee "Barbara MacAlpone" [sic].

Recently, an ad hoc committee in town has been formed to honor the contribution of women to Estes Park's history, a proposal the board favored unanimously, and which I champion wholeheartedly.  Indeed, I was one of the few people arguing forcefully against the permanent removal of the memorial blue spruce trees (if they were diseased, they could have been replaced) in Bond Park, two of which honored early Estes Park pioneer women.

One of the proposed honorees in the current project, Ruby Marden, had her name added to the list of candidates as "Ruby Marsden" [sic].  Ruby Marden is a particular favorite of mine in the modern era of Estes Park's difference makers - every project she took on was a success, and most of what she produced to promote the town she loved, she gave away free of charge.  Not just the "Vacationland", which she started on her own in 1951, but also a "Where to Stay" guide published yearly, which gave names and locations of all available hotels, lodges, and cabin camps in the area.  She even published a pamphlet of daily temperatures recorded in Estes Park, because potential residents always expressed concern about it being too cold in the winters.

We had a free program a few years back on the history of "Vacationland" and Mr. and Mrs. Marden, which was well attended, but apparently not by anyone on the current committee.  Hence the "innocent" mistake, but we had another such "innocent" mistake with the last project not vetted by the entire population, and are now stuck with a pika named for an individual accused in later life of child molestation.  Although he was found innocent, the other individual accused was found guilty, so it is difficult to tease out who was actually telling the truth, and who benefited from a power structure favoring men who declared the accuser was lying before an all-male jury.

I wrote to the mayor pro-tem last week asking for this spelling error to be corrected, and haven't seen anything in my email or the town board emails to indicate he has had a chance to read or act on this request.  I am back in Maine and Massachusetts currently, unearthing more examples of F.O. Stanley's written opinions on immigrants and race, so you will likely see or have a chance to interact via video conference with the town board prior to me.  Please rectify this mistake if possible before the vote takes place.  We all know the historian laureate's favorite, Eleanor James Hondius, is going to be the likely winner, and that is a logical choice, since her son is still making contributions to our local history, but I would hope at least for a level playing field and correct spellings of everyone's names on the candidate list, so that people who wanted to do additional research would at least have a fighting chance to find out more information on line.