Vaccine Eligibility Expands, Plus Train Rides, Brunch, Music, and the Thoughtful Mr. Berthoud

*Golden Eye Candy – Today is the first day of spring (though this photo was actually taken on April 1, 2012) – click to enlarge*

COVID Updates

31.9% — % of Jeffco residents (16+) who have received either one or both shots – source

NEWS FLASH:
Vaccine Distribution enters new phase. Colorado has entered Phase 1B.4 of the vaccine distribution which opens eligibility up to those 50 years of age and older, as well as many frontline workers in education, food services, agriculture and those 16 – 49 with one high-risk factor. For a complete list of who is eligible in Phase 1B.4, as well as resources for finding and booking a vaccine appointment, visit www.Jeffco.us/covid-vaccine

Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page | Lutheran Medical Center | JCPH Clinic in Arvada (70+ only) | www.vaccinespotter.org/CO/

Jefferson County Public Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center: 303-239-7000 | State Hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day

Golden Testing Sites
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing

Jefferson County Case Summary:
Cases in Jeffco – Thurs: 39,103 | Fri: 39,198 (+95)
Deaths in Jeffco – Thurs: 776 | Fri: 775 (-1) *
Currently Hospitalized in Jeffco – Thurs: 35 | Fri: 29 (-6)
Known Cases in Golden – Tues: 1559 | Thurs: 1589
Recovered Thurs: 37,339 | Fri: 37,427 (+108)
* When the “Deaths” number decreases, it’s usually because they changed a “cause of death” to something other than COVID.

Real World Events

10AM-3PM Saturday Train Rides at the Railroad Museum
10AM-5PM Mountain Side Gear Rental Used Gear Sale
11AM-2PM Brunch at the Rose
11AM-3PM Daytona Open House Weekend at Avalanche Harley

Wild West Walking Tours $5 off with code springahead5

10AM, 1PM, and 4PM Wild West Walking Tour
Use code SPRINGAHEAD5 to get $5 off the normal $25 price for this 2-hour tour.

Live Music:
11AM Live Music @ Avalanche Harley Davidson
2PM Funk It Up @ Wrigley’s Chicago Bar & Grill
5PM Man of 1000 Songs at Golden Moon Speakeasy
8PM Paradise Theatre @ Buffalo Rose

Golden History Moment

portrait of Edward Berthoud — *Portrait of Edward Berthoud – Golden History Museum collection*

154 Years Ago
Engineer Edward Berthoud (as in the town of Berthoud, Berthoud Pass, and Berthoud Hall on the School of Mines campus) wrote hundreds of articles for the Transcript over a period of nearly half a century. The man continually came up with ideas and theories about the world around him, and liked to share them. One of his more memorable ideas involved placing a bright light on Castle Rock and using reflectors and lenses to direct the light into various part of Golden, to light the streets.

The March 20, 1867 Colorado Transcript included Berthoud’s idea for fuel shortages in the mining regions. As soon as white settlers arrived in this area in 1858 they began harvesting the mountain forests for use in building and fuel. By 1867 the mountains were largely treeless (and the plains always had been).

At the same time, the need for trees had never been greater. The mining industry needed timber to shore up mines and to provide housing for miners. Smelters needed tremendous amount of fuel for their smelters. Most industries needed to run steam engines, which had to burn something.

Coal mines along the front range were beginning to produce useful amounts of coal, but there was as yet no way to get it into the mountains–no railroads! Horse-drawn wagons were not a practical, cost-effective way transport coal over long distances.

Berthoud’s idea was for the mountain towns to use peat. He claimed that “our highest mountain valleys…” had “many and extensive deposits of good peat.”

Peat has historically been used as a fuel, though not usually on an industrial scale. Peat is partially decomposed plant matter found under the roots of growing plants. It tends to develop in high-moisture places that include swamps and bogs…that’s why we associate peat fires with Ireland and Scotland.

It seems unlikely that there were “extensive” peat beds in the high mountain valleys of this dry region. That may be why we never heard any more about this idea.

Many thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!