Skip to main content
search
Tag

community

Apr 08
Love0

Mexican American History Project Greeley

By News

Did you know a book has never been written about the history of Mexican Americans in Greeley using their voices, stories, and perspectives? Now, a group is working to change that.

The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area recently sat down with the Mexican American History Project Greeley (MAHPG) to learn more about their work to tell their stories and address this gap in Greeley’s recorded history.

”“Our organization’s goal is to provide a resource book that highlights the history and contributions Mexican Americans have made to Greeley’s success since there is a gap regarding this information in Greeley’s general history. This book will help to give a voice and perspective of Greeley Mexican Americans that is seldom heard and validate our history and contributions in a place we call home.”

Emma Pena-McCleaveProject Coordinator for MAHPG

The book will delve into personal stories of Mexican Americans from Northern Colorado and their long-standing history in Greeley. While Mexican Americans have a longer history in the region, the book will focus on stories from 1920 and later. The goal of this work is to provide young Mexican Americans a strong cultural self-identity while helping to educate the community at large on the contributions and impact Mexican Americans have made on Greeley’s culture, community, and major industries such as the farming, packing plants, construction, and more recently, oil and gas.

The first section of the book will provide a collection of intensive research into historical documents from Greeley about the history and contributions of Mexican Americans in the community. The second half will hold thirty-nine stories from first-hand interviews with Greeley Mexican American residents. Gathered as part of the group’s oral history project, the stories showcase the residents’ perspectives of Greeley’s past, present, and future.

The group hopes to complete the book by April 30, 2025. Once published, MAHPG will distribute sets, English and Spanish, to Weld County schools, libraries, museums, and community centers, providing updated resources about local Mexican American history for school-age students and the community. The book will also be one of the few resources available in Spanish that provides an insight into the past and present of Greeley’s Mexican American community.

Dr. Dierdra Pilch, Weld District 6 Superintendent, was very receptive to the concept of the book stating, “It’s about time.”

While the Mexican American History Project Greeley has come a long way from inception, the group is still in the process of raising money for the publishing and distribution phase of the book.

To learn more about this incredible project, visit Mexican American History Project Greeley – Home (mahpg.org).

Jul 05
Love0

Poudre Heritage Alliance Awards 2022 Community Grants

By News

Poudre Heritage Alliance is excited to support the following projects and activities that celebrate the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area through our community grants program:

 

The Five States of Colorado

For release in 2023, Colorado Humanities and Denver-based HaveyPro Cinema are producing a 90-minute documentary film, The Five States of Colorado. Designed for a wide range of audiences from elementary school-age to adults, the film will address the history and issues within five regions, or “states,” of Colorado to inform, educate, and serve as a basis for community and classroom discussion. Footage will include Learning in Our Watershed programming of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area. Post-production, it will be made available as a free, streaming video or download to every public school and academic library in Colorado.

Poudre River Trail Interpretive Signage

This project includes the design, fabrication, and installation of a new interpretive sign at the recently constructed trailhead at Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley, Colorado.  This wayfinding node incorporates shade for visitor comfort.  The sign includes information on the history of Island Grove Park and the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area in English and Spanish.  The sign also incorporates historic images, illustrations of local plants and wildlife as well as a regional map of the Poudre Trail.

The Year of the River 2022

Wolverine Farm Publick House is hosting a 6-month celebration of the Cache la Poudre River.  This project invites the community to explore the Poudre River through the lens of creative interpretations from a dozen local artists outside and around the Publick House. Throughout the summer the Year of the River celebration will include pub talks, storytelling events, readings, performances and more.

Poudre River Trail-athon

If it’s an adventure you’re looking for this summer, then check out the 2022 Poudre River Trail-athlon. From June 1-August 1, pick up a free Trail-athlon Adventure Kit available at area libraries. In the kit, you will find ten adventure activities to choose from including a trail journal, take-and-make project, a scavenger hunt, biking, hiking, crafting, and more. The more activities you complete, the more points you earn toward prizes. It’s fun for the whole family!

Life Jacket Loaner Station at Horsetooth Reservoir

This program aims to increase life jacket wear during water-based activities by educating the public about the importance of using a life jacket and how to properly wear and use a life jacket. The Drennon’s Dreams Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Stations will provide the public with free use of life jackets on a first-come, first-served basis, while recreating at Horsetooth Reservoir in alignment with Poudre Heritage Alliance’s Play it Safe program.

If you have questions about these projects, grants, or the Poudre Heritage Alliance, contact bbullard@poudreheritage.org.

Jan 15
Love0

Poudre Heritage Alliance Now Accepting 2018 Grant Applications

By News

The Poudre Heritage Alliance (PHA) and the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (CALA) are now accepting 2018 grant applications. Other non-profits, government entities, and small businesses can go online to submit their applications: https://poudreheritage.org/grant-information/. The closing date for applications is March 2, 2018, with award decisions by May 2018. See below for more information about grant projects from 2017:

Historic Windmill Installation: Centennial Village Museum, established as a Centennial-Bicentennial community project in 1976 adjacent to Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley, CO, was designed as a living history site to interpret the architectural and cultural heritage of Greeley, Weld County and northeastern Colorado, The Historic Windmill project would repair and re-install a Steel Eclipse Type WG (worm gear) Fairbanks-Morse and Company windmill that includes a stock tank with a recirculating water system in the High Plains section of the Village. The windmill interprets the delivery of water for domestic use, stock raising, and irrigating crops in the rural irrigated and dryland districts of Weld County. An interpretive panel adjacent to the windmill plus curriculum materials for presentations at the annual spring and fall History festivals at the Village will be developed as a part of this project.

Proving-up House Restoration: Saved from demolition in 2005, the City of Fort Collins moved the historic 1890 James Ross “proving-up” house to storage until an appropriate permanent placement for educational purposes could be found. The only documented proving-up house known to exist in Larimer County, the Ross House has survived for 127 years. The Homestead Act of 1862 was adopted to get vast government lands west of the Mississippi into private hands for settlement and development. The Act mandated homesteaders had to build a small dwelling, live in it, improve the land, and after five years, for an $18 filing fee, they owned that quarter section of land. These houses, sometimes called “claim or filing shanties” often had no foundation and were portable, to be able to “prove-up” other holdings. Last fall, the Ross House was relocated to The Farm at Lee Martinez Park along the Cache la Poudre River in Fort Collins, where it will be restored and interpreted for the enjoyment and education of all citizens.

Nature Rides Program: The Growing Project (TGP) developed a new, educational program that connects youth from The Boys and Girls Club to natural areas in Northwest Fort Collins for activities related to the watershed and local ecology with Growing Project educators and experts. TGP worked with Bike Fort Collins and the Bike Co-op to secure bikes and bicycle education for youth participants to ride from their facilities to the natural areas with TGP staff. Part of programming included occasional service days through a partnership with The City of Fort Collins that involved cleanup efforts in local natural areas and while learning about river health from City experts. Youth were also able to invite family members on these rides.

H20 Today Exhibition: “H2O Today” at the Greeley History Museum dives into what it means to live on a planet where 71 percent of the surface is covered in water, yet less than 3 percent is drinkable. The exhibition highlights the crucial role it plays in daily life through water power, industry, agriculture and home use. The “H2O Today” exhibition is part of the Smithsonian’s Think Water Initiative to raise awareness of water as a critical resource for life through exhibitions, educational resources and public programs. The exhibit runs through May 20, 2018.

***Picture above taken by the Growing Project staff during a Nature Rides program along the Poudre River

Close Menu