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Estes Park, CO Real Estate News

By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! Even with the wintry weather upon us, it's still a great time to put on those snow boots and take a hike here in Estes Park. (might even give you a jump start on a few of those New Year's resolutions...) We not only have great shopping and restaurants here in town, but the most spectacular backyard ever! Lily Lake, located south of Estes Park and north of Allenspark on HWY 7, is a wonderful place for a winter hike...with or without snowshoes. Parking is right off the highway and the trail is level around the small lake with great views of Meeker and Long's Peaks as well as the Mummy Range. Click on this link for more info about Lily Lake and other trails from the Rocky Mountain National Park website... then grab your boots and go!
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By Gerald Mayo, Mr. Estes Park
(Prudential Team Realty)
Here is another one of Buel Porters gifts to Estes Park.  Christmas in Bugville is located in Bond Park, downtown Estes Park.  I can't imagine all of the hours that this man spent cutting out plywood figures, assembling them and painting them.   I know from experience how long it takes to put up one of the less complex displays that he donated to the town.  The amount of time to actually make them and put them up was a huge commitment.  We all get to enjoy the work that Buel did years ago - today.
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By Gerald Mayo, Mr. Estes Park
(Prudential Team Realty)
Buel Porter's Santa Claus has been flying over Estes Park for many years.  For those of you that visit Estes Park on a regular basis you will remember the jolly old guy flying above the library's parking lot.   What a wonderful place Estes Park is, and what a richer place it has been with the gifts that Buel Porter gave to our community, all of its residents and visitors throughout the years.
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By Gerald Mayo, Mr. Estes Park
(Prudential Team Realty)
Buel Porter was a retired Coca Cola sign painter when he arrived in Estes Park, Colorado.  I'm sure that many of you can remember the billboards that lined the highways across our country in the 40's and 50's.  There are a few remaining billboards today, but he technology is significantly different.  In the 40's and 50's there were actual artists that were hired to paint the billboards with real paint.  No paper glued up, or today we have the plastic wrap with the picture on it.  Mr. Porter painted and donated several scenes to the town of Estes Park decades ago, and they are still being displayed today.  I will be showing you more of his work in future articles.  Hope you had a Merry and safe Christmas with your families.  
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park, Colorado! Our family is having a wonderful Christmas Break together...we had fun at the Good Samaritan Village Santa Party, rang the Salvation Army bells together in front of Safeway and had a quiet Christmas at home. Yesterday, we watched Sherlock Holmes together and had lunch, today...sledding at Hidden Valley. The best thing of all is the "together" part! Next "together" thing will be cheering on the Broncos...then the Huskers... We hope you and yours are having a wonderful time together, too! Lisa VonBargen and the Schwarz Boyz
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Happy Holidays from Estes Park! Every year, my company The Yellow Mailbox Real Estate Services, sponsors a Santa Party at the Good Samaritan Village in Estes Park for the assisted living residents. Every year has a theme...this year, director Carey Stevanus came up with the idea of miniature trees, decorations and chocolates. Local sponsors Ace Hardware, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Simply Christmas, Mountain Sage Inn and the Rocky Card helped to make it a huge success! My friends, Paul and Marilyn Saunders, came as Mr. and Mrs. Claus to pass out the gifts with my sons. Even the residents who claimed not to believe in Santa anymore were thrilled to see them! Oratorio Society members Lori Burnham and Bob Gunn were accompained by Ray Young in their perfomance of Christmas favorites s...
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! It has become a tradition around our house (OK, it's MY tradition) to bake white chocolate chip/sun dried cranberry cookies for the holidays and pass them out to those near and dear to us. It started at the boys' elementary school the first year. Everyone loved them and requested them again. The list became a little longer the next year to include a few business friends, both Flash Electric and The Yellow Mailbox Real Estate. A few more cookies were needed the next year for helpers for my Good Samaritan Santa Party, then more customers, then relatives... We are up to 100 dozen a year... 50 lbs of flour, 25 lbs of brown sugar, a case of eggs...a little elbow grease and a lot of love! Here's the recipe: THE YELLOW MAILBOX CHRISTMAS COOKIES: 1 LB. BUTTER, 2C BROW...
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! One of the many things that makes Estes Park a great place to live is Spencer Family Chiropractic. Located in the middle of Estes Park, Drs. Jill and Grant Spencer provide specialized chiropractic care to ages 1-100! Both Jill and Grant are actively involved in the community...they are orchestrating a holiday food drive this year to benefit those less fortunate. Visit their website for more info...or if you need an adjustment from hauling all those holiday packages around!
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! Today on the way back from dropping the boys off at school, I was caught in an "Elk Jam" on Carriage Drive. This is one of those quirky things that makes Estes Park a great place to live...the elk really don't care if you have places to go or things to do...they just keep on being elk. In herds. Big herds. For some reason, they like to stand in the middle of the road and look at cars not going by! Back in Los Angeles, I had a commute that involved more than an hour of traffic to and from work. I'll take an elk jam anyday!
Comments 6
By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! One of the things I really love about Estes Park is our close proximity to the front range communities of Boulder, Ft. Collins and Denver. We are only a 1.5 hour drive to downtown Denver and the Pepsi Center, Invesco Field at Mile High, Coors Field, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Complex. Yesterday, AJ and I had the opportunity to play with the Denver Brass in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Atrium. The Denver Brass sponsors this event every year, and opens the performance up to all brass players, no matter what the age or experience level. It was an absolute BLAST and we were so impressed by the Denver Brass, both in their excellent musicanship and their patience and friendliness to those of us a little less accomplished. For Denver B...
Comments 2
By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! In addition to selling real estate in Estes Park, I am actively involved as a musician and volunteer in the local "music department". We have lots of great events going on this weekend, starting with the "Fantasy Ball" hosted by the historic Stanley Hotel, featuring the "Kings of Swing". On Sunday, the Village Jazz Band and Village Band have their annual Christmas Concert at 7:00 PM at the high school auditorium, followed on Monday by the Estes Park High School Bands, then the Estes Park Middle School Bands on Tuesday. I'm not really sure how Chuck Varilek does it...he either plays or conducts every one of these organizations! Visit the Town of Estes Park's website for full details on all the holiday events this weekend in our lovely mountain town!
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By Gerald Mayo, Mr. Estes Park
(Prudential Team Realty)
We've been in a deepfreeze for the last few days with highs during the day around five degrees.  Today we were blessed with the wind.  I felt like I was living in Nebraska again.   This snow drift suddenly appeared today on our deck after the wind decided to reposition the snow that had been falling for the last three days.  The cold without the wind is pretty bearable with our very low humidity. The wind chills are supposed to be between twenty five and fifty degrees below zero.  I think I'll stay inside.
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! We had the big storm blow through here that went all across the country, closing the University of Nebraska yesterday and putting the entire state of Iowa under a blizzard warning. As a mom of boys, they never cease to amaze me with their intrepid nature...outside playing, digging snow forts and sledding when no grown up would venture outside. I had a few e-mails from out of town listings who wanted me to go check on their places, just to make sure everything was OK in this sub-zero weather. I'm always happy to do that for my sellers, it makes them feel better to have a pair of "local eyes" just in case. Fortunately, the properties I checked on today were all just fine. Now, if my boys would get the school snow day they have been doing the snow dance for...
Comments 2
By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! Here's the scoop on the new portion of the homebuyers' tax credit that applies to "Move Up Buyers" The following rules apply for this tax credit: You need to have lived in your principal residence for 5 out of the last 8 years, you are purchasing a new principal residence, your income is less than $150,000 as and individual and $250,000 as a couple, and the house you are purchasing is less than $800,000. If someone meets these criteria they may be eligible for the $6500 tax credit. The deadline to qualify is that someone needs to be under contract prior to April 30th and close prior to June 30th. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to make a move. As a little icing on the cake, interest rates have remaining remarkably low. Between now and April 30 i...
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By Gerald Mayo, Mr. Estes Park
(Prudential Team Realty)
  Have you ever been by yourself in the mountains in the snow?  It is so quiet you can only hear your own heartbeat.  There is a refreshing peacefulness about it.  For many it is a religious experience.
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! Tonight is the second performance for the Estes Park Oratorio Society's Christmas concert. "The Magnificat" by John Rutter as well as "Five Christmas Carols" is the program this afternoon at 3PM, with a reception to follow. Click on OratorioSocietyofEstesPark.info for all the details. It went great last night, and I expect that this afternoon will be even better!
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! We have our Christmas tree from our forest again this year. We choose a tree that needs to be thinned, so our trees always look a little, shall we say, weird? It always amazes me how we can cut a 12 foot tree out of a group and by the time you look back, you can't even tell a tree was there. The surrounding trees have more water and light and seem to fluff up and fill up the space. Creative forestry, that's what i call it! If you aren't lucky enough to be able to cut trees out of your yard for your holiday decorations, Troop 8 of the Estes Park Boys Scouts will be selling both farm raised and native cut trees in the parking lot of Estes Park Lumber on Highway 7. Stop by and pick one up!  (Address: 400 South Saint Vrain Avenue, Estes Park, Colorado)
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! OK, the headline sounds a little more dramatic than it actually was...After my sons were disappointed that they could actually get the busses started when it was below zero this morning, the high school had a water leak that sent a waterfall down the main staircase of the high school. Naturally, my son was texting me this info as I was in the middle of running the Board of REALTORS meeting... So, my high school student had an unplanned day off school. We took the opportunity to drive down the hill to do a little Christmas shopping for some "Bright Christmas" kids on the Board of REALTORS list. On the way home, the frosty pastel colors on Never Summer Range behind the Estes Park sign coming into town was too much for me to pass up! AJ was a good sport about pos...
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By Lisa VonBargen, Estes Park Real Estate Photographer
(Photography7522)
Greetings from Estes Park! Here at 7522 feet above sea level, we see a lot of extreme weather and some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets. One of my favorite cloud formations is called "Lenticular", or "wave clouds". These form as stable air with a little moisture moves over our mountains. On the downwind side, these stationary clouds form in smooth, lens or saucer shapes. The reason I love these is the stationary part...it makes it a bit easier to drive to a spot with a camera! (I happen to live on the downwind side of a mountain range, too...)
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