Everyday Estes

The Pet Association has been the local human society in Estes Park for 50 years. For 30 of those years, Carolyn Fairbanks has been loving and placing pets in good homes. Since she died in February, her longtime friend and volunteer, Crystal, has been keeping the association running. Crystal is on the show today this week to fill us in on what the Pet Association does for our animals and our community.

Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PetAssociationofEP. They need volunteers!

Wendy and Jan moved to Estes in January 2020 and experienced about six weeks of normal before the pandemic hit. They’re new residents to Estes Park but not new to Estes Park at all. Wendy has been coming here for over 50 years and Jan has been living in Estes for about 35 years, pinching himself now every morning when he wakes up and realizes that he lives here now. Their house is decked out with furnishings from stores all over town -- it's like a cabin designer showcase, as you can see illustrated with the greeting over their mantle. We hope you enjoy getting to know them a bit more.

Rick met Val their sophomore year of high school and knew he "needed to lock this one down." Val made him wait and they married when she was 21. Counting high school, they have been together 38 years, sharpening one another and taking turns living the dream. Their daughter goes to college this year, so they will be busy franchising You Need Pie and starting a new donut shop! This will be a fun one, kicking off our February series of love stories in Estes Park. 

Did you know that the same company, Delaware North, owns both the Ridgeline Hotel and Trendz, an upscale shop on Elkhorn? Walt moved to Estes Park to run the Ridgeline in the middle of the pandemic, having previously worked at several other Delaware North properties. Learn a little bit about Walt, where he comes from and how Estes Park compares to other gateway towns and national parks he has had the pleasure to experience throughout his career.

Courtney is the new Mental Health Coordinator at the Estes Park School District. She comes from Texas, which is a vote of confidence in our book right off the bat. It's a delight to have her expertise and her passion serving our kids and our community. Mental wellness is so important for our students right now, thanks for all you do, Courtney. You can reach her at courtney_carroll@psdr3.k12.co.us.

Michael has been the artistic talent behind Catch the Glow for 11 of the 13 years it’s been running. This year when a pandemic forced us to get creative about how to celebrate Christmas, Michael pulled a rabbit out of a hat and created a beautiful stationary parade of lights at the fairgrounds. He didn’t do it alone. He gives lots of credit to Rob Hinkle for campaigning to make this happen and a crew of supporters who run the details. The invaluable float team workers include Aimee Sawlaw, Rod Williams and Chris Biniek! There’s still one weekend left, December 5th, 6th and 7th. You don’t want to miss it.

If you love authentic Mexican food or hanker for a margarita, you might know Ericka as the owner of Chelitos on Elkhorn Ave., or the Carniceria & Mexican Market on Dunraven St. She's soon to be the owner of a third business on West Elkhorn selling street tacos! You might know that she has three children and that her youngest, a precocious two-year old named America, follows her to work like she owns the place. You might know that she used to work for Crisis Advocates, that she sells real estate and volunteers selflessly, but I'll be you didn't know she used to practice law in Mexico before she came to America. 

Join our conversation and get the inside scoop on Ericka Santana.

If you know Rachel, you know she coordinates public relations for our town’s destination marketing organization — Visit Estes Park. She works with magazines to write stories about our town and manages media relationships, providing a valuable resource for our tourism economy. What you may not know about Rachel is that she's a volunteer firefighter! Hear the full story here.

What you didn't know about Nick Molle ....

... before he was a video producer, Nick was a songwriter. 

Listen to his story.