I want to first acknowledge the White family of Falcon ó Heather White and her children, Bruce, age 16; Megan, age 15, and Scott, age 12. I want to extend my deepest sympathy to Gordon White, the husband and father of these four people who were killed in a car crash June 16 in Wyoming. His losses are unfathomable to me. I did not know the Whites, but the reality is that they were part of this community; we are part of this community; and I and many others cannot help but think about this tragedy. All I can think of is to say, ìI am so sorry, Mr. White, for your loss.îThe children attended Woodmen Hills Elementary, Falcon Middle School and Falcon High School.Falcon School District 49 has had a year of tremendous losses. The leaders in D 49 have been unwavering in their support and guidance for the staff, students and families. There are many Facebook sites available to express your grief for the family.As we approach the Fourth of July, itís also hard not to think about the lives lost to ensure that all Americans maintain their freedoms. I am speaking of our military men and women. Mark Stoller has done a great job covering aspects of post traumatic stress disorder in an article this month. Also, in his column, he highlights an organization in the Springs, comprised of veterans, that is providing service dogs to veterans with PTSD. The group offers an interesting and unique approach to the training of service dogs.On an upbeat note, we are extremely happy to welcome Bill Radford to our team. Bill is a longtime journalist in the area and lives in Falcon with his wife, Margaret, and a slew of animals. Bill will be writing a column for us every month ó Prairie Life ó be sure and check it out. This month, he covers a crabby rooster and what to do with animals panicked by fireworks. Bill will also be picking up other articles as needed.Janice Tollini debuts her book review. She will be writing book reviews, rotating every other month with Robin Widmar. This month, the book review takes a new twist with a ìstudyî of a non-fiction self-awareness book.July is a busy month for travel, and lots of people are visiting Colorado. Lately, there have been a lot of car accidents ó some deadly. Please be aware of other drivers and keep your eyes on the road. Stay safe this summer; and enjoy it, because itís going fast!See you in August!– MichelleCORRECTIONS from the editor: In Juneís issues, a couple of mistakes were noted by our readers. First, in an article by Jeff Bowles ìPig roast successfulî in the News Briefs section, this sentence appeared, The Sons of the American Legion includes relatives and decedents of former Ö . Of course, the correct spelling should have been descendants. This editor should have caught that! My apologies to the military members we referenced.Second, in the front page article on Colorado water woes, ìScotch is for drinking, water is for fighting,î well, you might be able to figure out what was wrong with that headline. As a longtime Falcon resident pointed out, itís ìWhisky is for drinking, water is for fighting.î Whiskey being the key word! Apologies again!
