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MOUNTAIN PARKS ELECTRIC, INC.

Mountain Parks Electric stands for many things. To me, the common thread among them is that they are all meaningful and include everything from light at the flip of a switch to being a good corporate citizen. But it’s even more than that. “Concern for the Community” is one of our guiding principles. Personally, I find almost nothing easier to stand behind.

One way MPE demonstrates this concern is by providing op-portunities for local youth, like our annual energy-related essay contest. Open to qualifying juniors and seniors throughout our service territory, the contest winner receives an all-expenses-paid, weeklong trip to our nation’s capital. This year’s winner is West Grand High School’s Morgan Jones, who submitted a video essay detailing practical energy-conservation tips at home and at school. In case you’re curious, we posted a clip of her winning video on MPE’s Facebook page. Check it out.

This spring, Morgan will join other contest winners from across the country to learn about the electric industry and to get a firsthand view of how our federal government works. Plus, she’ll get to tour historical sites, museums and government buildings. The runner-up in the contest, also from West Grand High School, is Jayden Edson. He won a weeklong stay at Youth Leadership Camp in Clark, Colorado. There, he will hone his problem-solving and leadership skills while learning about not-for-profit electric providers like MPE.

This is also the time of the year when MPE awards college and vocational scholarships to high school seniors. MPE’s indepen-dently-appointed selection committee will award scholarships totaling $24,000. These scholarships are primarily funded by the MPE Education Trust (with additional contributions from Tri-State Generation and Transmission and Basin Electric, our power suppliers), which is capitalized with unclaimed patronage refunds.

And MPE’s investment in our local youth doesn’t stop there. MPE provides judges and trophies for science fairs at the elemen-tary schools in Granby and Fraser, East Grand Middle School and West Grand High School. Additionally, each year MPE supports 4-H and FFA students at the Middle Park Fair and North Park Fair. In North Park, we sponsor the Round Robin Competition, where students demonstrate their skills in showing various breeds of livestock. And at both fairs, MPE purchases a steer at the auc-tion. The meat is then processed and given away in quarters at MPE’s annual meeting prize drawing. That’s one good reason for you to attend our annual meeting on May 12 at our headquarters building in Granby.

I’m still not done.Since 1999, MPE has sponsored the Fifth Quarter after Middle Park home football games. The Fifth Quarter provides a safe environment for students (at MPE’s headquarters in Granby) after the game. Typically, the event draws more than 150 people. MPE employees and their spouses serve students (and, in many cases, their parents too) hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks. Afterward, most of us who volunteer go home and hit the pillow. It’s way past our bedtime by 10 p.m. MPE also partners with local Rotary and parent groups to sponsor similar events at West Grand and North Park.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one last thing: MPE’s involve-ment with the Mountain Family Center’s Tote Program. Each week, local students in need receive a backpack filled with food items to sustain them through the weekend when school is not in session. Believe it or not, this program has grown to 525 partici-pants. The need in the community is real. And MPE is a proud sponsor. [Andrew Leach, ACCT 1027152]

We all can make a difference, of course, in big and small ways. But being part of an organization like MPE that supports the com-munity is something that I think we can all take pride in.

Tom Sifers

BY TOM SIFERS || GENERAL MANAGER

Concern for the Community

Titan is Richard Rayburn’s best friend. Titan knows more folks around Grand Lake than Richard does. He loves cold and snow. 

Owner: Richard Rayburn(Email your dog photo to: tsifers@mpei.com)

PET OF THE MONTH

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WAYS TO $AVE in March

by Lindsay McCannAssistant Billing Supervisor

S P R I N G F O R W A R DThis year daylight saving time will begin at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 11. In addition to changing your clocks to an hour ahead, it’s a good time to help keep things running efficiently if you also:• Clean the oven• Clean the coils on your refrigerator • Replace or clean filters in your home• Vacuum out the lint in and behind your dryer

Happy Spring!

What Time of Year Do the Deer Turn into Elk?

YYes. People really ask when the deer turn into elk. According to Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber Director Catherine Ross, more than one out-of-state visitor has asked what is affectionately referred to as “the deer question.” Sometimes, they also want to know what time of day the moose will be released (as though the chamber has one caged in its office). At this, Ross chuckles but assures MPE readers that the chamber answers each visitor ques-tion with dignity and grace. During MPE’s brief interview with Ross, it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to business, which, in the case of the chamber, is really all about new busi-ness development and fun. Here’s what she had to say:

Q. What’s new at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce?A. A lot. We are thrilled to be welcoming new businesses to the area. As far as events go, this summer the Rendezvous Events Center will be hosting three new music events — one country, one mainstream and another Jam Band festival. This summer, we will be hosting the Haute Route again and one more major biking event. Visitor center renovations are also in the works. Plus, with the help of our public and private partners, we plan to refresh the chamber’s brand, hopefully in time for the 2018-2019 ski season. Right now our slogan is “Colorado’s Favorite Play-ground.” We’re looking to re-brand to have a louder voice in the recreational marketplace. [Cale Smiley, ACCT 1026428]

Q. With all the new development in the area, what do you foresee for the town of Winter Park?A. More full-time and part-time residents. More visitors at-tending our events and activities. More people discovering for themselves how special this place we call home truly is.

Q. What surprises first-time visitors to Winter Park? A. They are, of course, initially blown away by our backdrop here in the Rocky Mountains. But after just a short time here, they express surprise over the town’s hospitality — that they are treated like locals, not out-of-towners. And they are also sur-prised by the value we offer. Many are shocked that we provide music events and snow sleds in the town park at no cost. Our primary goal at the chamber is for people to come to the Winter Park/Fraser Valley and leave having experienced something memorable. And, although we have no control over it, if they are lucky, they might even see a real-live deer, an elk or a moose.

BY ROB TAYLOR || MANAGER OF COMMUNICATIONS

… and other questions for Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber Director Catherine Ross

Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber of Commerce board (left to right): Eric Mason, Chris Bettey, Bill Wengert, Katherine Mowrey, Jeff Davidson, Peggy Smith, Kristy Meyer, Tim Hartmann, Tom Carey and Liz Agostin.

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NAME: Chef Josh Keen RESTAURANT: Fontenot’s Seafood & Grill 78336 U.S. Highway 40, Winter Park Monday - Friday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday & Sunday: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. www.fontenotswp.com SPECIALTY: Seafood, steak and Cajun cuisine and now serving

breakfast on the weekends

S P OT L I G H T

Chef Josh’s hollandaise sauce recipe: www.mpei.com/ccl_bonus_features

Cooking Tip for MPE ReadersWhen making hollandaise sauce, avoid scrambling the eggs by using a double boiler

on low to medium heat.

Chef Josh Keen with a plate of Southern Benedict

On Her Way to D.C.On His Way to

Youth Leadership CampA big congratulations to West Grand High School’s Morgan Jones, winner of MPE’s Washington D.C. Youth Tour. The time and effort Morgan put into her energy-conservation video truly impressed. As the contest winner, this spring Morgan will head to our na-tion’s capital (compliments of MPE), joining high school juniors and seniors from across the United States who will visit monu-ments, meet legislators and learn about the electric industry.

Congratulations to West Grand High School's Jayden Edson. Jayden won second place in MPE's recent essay contest. His entry about energy efficiency in space exploration was exceptional. For placing second, Jayden will head to Youth Leadership Camp in Clark, Colorado this summer, joining other high school juniors and seniors to partake in leadership training exercises and learn about the electric industry.

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[Mountain Parks Electric]

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Once Upon a Time, in Search of a Clean Room …

LLarry Bacon took the circuitous route from Winter Park to Grand Lake. In the 1970s, Bacon and his wife, Mary, called the other Winter Park home — the one in Florida, not Colorado. Despite the abundance of surf and sun there, a nagging void grew within them. Only 40 miles from the Atlantic Coast, they craved something that unspoiled beaches could not provide. They longed for the mountains, and to see elk and moose in the wild.

The Bacons first traveled to north central Colorado in the summer of 1976 on their honeymoon. Rocky Mountain National Park made their itinerary. “We immediately fell in love with the park,” Larry says. “The vistas, the wildlife, the clean, fresh, pine-scented air. To us, it was noth-ing short of heaven.” But back then, the magic stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center at the west entrance. The Bacons saw no need to continue west on Highway 34 since they were lodging in Estes Park and were unaware that Grand Lake was actually a town, not just a lake. [Joe Castillo, ACCT 1017926]

“I’d like to tell you that fate led us to the other side of the mountain,” Larry says, “but that wouldn’t be accurate. The truth is, it was poor customer service.” During a subsequent visit to the area, the Bacons found themselves in an Estes Park rental cottage lobby twice within 10 minutes of their arrival — to report that their room wasn’t clean. “The owner threw the cash I had just given to him back at me and told me to get off of his property."

With no other lodging options available in Estes Park, in search of a bed for the night, the Bacons drove over RMNP’s 11,796-foot summit and made their way beyond the park’s west entrance for the first time. Not long afterward, they found a room with a view — a clean one — at the Lone Eagle Lodge in Grand Lake. “We were so taken by the beauty of our surround-ings and the western town feel that we never stayed on the east side of the park again. Grand Lake became our Colorado home away from home.”

Numerous visits to Grand Lake and RMNP followed. The Bacons eventu-ally purchased a Soda Springs Ranch condo in 2003. Upon retirement in May that year, they arrived at the condo for their first magical summer and were greeted by a moose and her two calves. In January 2006, they became full-time residents, leaving Winter Park, Florida, for good, and immediately plugged into the community, volunteering at RMNP at the Holzwarth Historic Site and at the Winter Park Resort National Sports Center for the Disabled ski program and serving on the board for Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre and the Rotary Club.

Before moving, during a trip to Grand Lake in 1997, Larry recalls at-tending the Grand Lake Rotary annual pancake breakfast fundraiser. Ironical-ly, he’s now in charge of planning and

coordinating that same event, now in its 44th year. Today, Larry seemingly knows everything there is to know

about the Grand Lake Rotary. He’ll tell you that its origins date back to 1951 and the infamous Johnnie Holzwarth, proprietor of the Never Summer Ranch, was once president of Grand Lake Rotary in 1966. As part of a larger organization, Rotary Inter-national is one of over 35,000 clubs worldwide. The Grand Lake chapter raises over $40,000 annually from bingo in the town park, pancake breakfasts and the duck derby race. Most of the funds are earmarked for local causes. The balance is used to help support three international projects in Nepal, Bosnia and Uganda.

Sadly, in 2013, Mary Bacon passed away. Larry remained in Grand Lake.

“Although I’m a Florida native, Grand Lake feels like home,” Larry says. “This community offers so much. Initially, Mary and I were drawn to the area — like many others — because of the magic of nature and Rocky Mountain National Park. But after living here for 11 years, I can tell you that the real magic in Grand Lake is the people.”

People like Larry and Mary Bacon.

BY ROB TAYLOR || MANAGER OF COMMUNICATIONS

If you find your name in this magazine, contact Mountain Parks Electric to receive a $5 credit on your power bill. Winners must contact MPE within one month of the date of issue.

FIND YOUR NAME • WIN $5

Larry and Mary Bacon volunteer at Rocky Mountain National Park in 2006.

FIND US ON THE WEBMountain Parks Electric, Inc. online at mpei.com

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