Lone Cone Legacy Trust announces winners of $26,000 in grants

A rainy evening didn’t dampen the spirits of the 95 people who dined, danced to the music of the Gold Kings, hobnobbed and spent lots of money for worthy causes at the Lone Cone Legacy Trust’s annual Harvest Celebration Dinner held Oct. 10 at The Livery in Norwood.

“I’ve been to a number of these,” said longtime Norwood resident Susie Mansfield, “And this was one of the best ever.”

The big news of the night was that the trust, a permanent, locally-controlled endowment fund, has awarded a record total of $26,000 to 22 area nonprofits and governmental bodies. Many of the grants are focused on programs for young people:

1. Prime Time Early Learning Center for its preschool care $2,500
2. San Miguel Resource Center for help with victims of abuse $2,000
3. The Fresh Foundation’s Kids’ Hot Lunch Program $1,750
4. True North Youth program for its “Norwood Focus” $1,750
5. Uncompahgre Medical Center’s Neighbor to Neighbor program $1,750
6. The Ute Trail Study Club for repairs at the Redvale Community Center $1,700 
7. Hoof and Paw for animal rescue $1,250
8. Lone Cone Library for its summer reading program $1,250
9. Norwood Public Schools for its college, career and cultural trip to Denver for 8th graders $1,250
10. The Pinhead Institute for its Norwood STEAM library and school science programs $1,250
11. The Telluride Chamber Music Association for concerts in Norwood $1,250
12. The San Miguel Basin CSU 4H Council for its “Entrepreneurship 101” program $1,250
13. San Miguel County for the 2027 Basin Fair $1,000
14. SNAK Pak for providing free snacks for Norwood High students $1,000
15. The Norwood Park and Recreation District for “Music on the Mesa” $1,000
16. Thrive Community Health Network for its Skippy Dental Program $1,000
17. The San Miguel Basin Forum for its student newspaper program $800
18. The Town of Norwood for improvements to the community garden $600
19. The Southwest Institute for Resilience for the Norwood Oasis Project $600
20. The Norwood Park and Recreation District for its drinking water project at the Livery $500
21. The Lone Cone Dressage Club for youth lessons $400
22. The Wright Stuff Community Foundation for its youth music program $150

The winners of the grants will be honored and handed their checks at The Livery during a Nov. 9 awards ceremony at 5 p.m.

At the October dinner, funded in part by a $3,000 grant from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, the south wall of the Livery was turned into a bountiful buffet with food provided by the Divide Restaurant, the Dark Sky Café, Clark’s Market, Wild Gals and Blue Grouse Bread. A table overflowing with cupcakes and other baked goods from Deserts by Davina graced the area just in front of The Livery stage. On the north wall, people bid on 50 items donated for the annual silent auction. Their winning bids totaled $4,520.

Then there was the live pie auction. As he has for the last several years, local developer Ken Watt spearheaded the bidding on home-baked pies, running up the totals, spending $5,300 for three pies and then cutting them up for people to share. In all, the pie auction netted $7,150.

“This is amazing,” said Kate Nasse, a visitor from San Francisco. “You’ve got a real community here.”

A lot of people in these parts would agree with that heartily. Over the years, the Lone Cone Legacy Trust has given out about $200,000 in grants. The trust’s permanent endowment stands at $418,000 with an additional fund of almost $500,000 dedicated to building a community swimming pool. Those wishing to donate to the Trust can go online to loneconelegacy.org and look for the “donate now” button.