Features

Foothills Park and Recreation golf director Tom Woodard started playing in a junior program at Denver’s City Park at 9 years of age, when instructors correctly recognized a budding golf prodigy.

The family had moved from Midland, Texas, to Denver into a house just two blocks away from the course, where some of the neighborhood kids worked as caddies.

“I just followed them down there,” said Tom Woodard, 56, Foothills’ golf director for the last six years. “It just took off from there.”

 Ronald Hopp

Happy holidays from the Foothills Park & Recreation District! As your community organization providing park and recreational opportunities, Foothills creates activities and events that fulfill current trends or requests from community members. The services we provide are affordable, accessible to everyone and in most cases in your own backyard. 

Robynne Hill played competitive soccer until the age of 12, when she developed a nervous system disorder that causes intense pain in her legs. But four years later, she is thrilled to be part of another competitive sport: sled hockey. 

Now 16, Hill catches a ride from Colorado Springs with her mom for practices and games at The Edge Ice Arena, where she has been playing with the Colorado Avalanche Sled Hockey Team for just over a year. 

Since its completion and dedication in September 2007, the Columbine Memorial has served as a place for the public to reflect on the events of April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School and to honor the victims who lost their lives in the school shootings.

The overall design of the monument on Rebel Hill in Clement Park, with a panoramic view of the Front Range and snowcapped peaks, has stood the test of time. But the grout in the engraved lettering on granite tablets has deteriorated.

By Alison Mahnken

For the Courier

Dachshunds and dunkel and dancing, oh my! These and more were on tap at the Oktoberfest at the Highlands Ranch Town Center on Saturday.

The celebration, presented annually by the Highlands Ranch Cultural Affairs Association, debuted with the tapping of the keg at 2 p.m. and concluded with fireworks in the evening (rescheduled after the July 4 cancellation).

Thirteen years after the tragedy, a father whose son was killed in the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, has written a book about his struggle to come to terms with grief and rise above the horrible events that shattered his family's life.

"Walking in Daniel's Shoes," by Tom Mauser, is a factual and sometimes emotional account by a parent of what happens to a family when a child is murdered.

A dizzying array of dogs leapt and splashed about Sunday during Foothills Park and Recreation’s annual Doggy Dip at Deer Creek and Weaver Hollow pools.

At Deer Creek Pool, more than 100 area pooches eagerly pulled their masters through the gates to get their chance to jump into the drink. Some pooches played under water buckets that intermittently doused them, while others did Phelpsian laps to retrieve floating toys from the end of the lap pool.

Children giggled as dogs of all sizes and shapes leapt into the water and shook off on the pool deck.

Clement Park has gone to the dogs. For one day, anyway.

Foothills Park and Recreation hosted the Total Performance Disc Dogs club during the district’s Summer Concert Series on Friday.

Over a chorus of barking dogs and raucous music, Matt DiAno, a member of Total Performance Disc Dogs, shared what goes into the sport. Total Performance Disc Dogs is a group of dog-loving friends who perform all over Colorado. They specialize in Frisbee performances, but also present agility and herding performances as well.

As a tribute to the spirit of hard-working dogs that unselfishly serve humanity, a Golden Eagle Scout has created a worthy monument on the grounds of the Foothills Animal Shelter.

About 100 people turned out for the unveiling of the bronze service-dog memorial sculpture on June 12 in the courtyard at the shelter near Sixth Avenue and Indiana Street.

After various participants made their remarks, the Boy Scouts gathered around the statue and removed the silver tarp to reveal the bronze replica of a German shepherd by local artist and Rotary member Pat Madison.