A city of good, friendly and helpful people

This article was originally published in the North Springs Edition

Southwest Airlines recently began providing flight service to Colorado Springs which is a great thing for our city.

During my recent deplaning effort on one of their flights, I overheard a man and women talking. She explained she was visiting Colorado Springs for a wedding, and it was her first trip here. He told her he had moved to the Springs recently. She asked him if he liked living here and he replied, “Yes, I do. The people are good, friendly and helpful.” Not sure if I physically nodded my head upon hearing that response but certainly did so mentally being in full agreement. He said he came here from Atlanta, and the South has always been offered up for their hospitality, so that statement about Colorado Springs carries some weight.

The reply noted above is certainly an accurate description of a couple of people who have recently passed through my purview. First up is John N. Ordahl. I recently met with John to learn his family’s long history with our neighborhood, and to see a historic sign (pictured here) he has that came off a fence adjacent to his home here in Pinecliff. His father, John A. Ordahl and some of his friends purchased a tract of land from an area rancher in the 1960s. John’s father built a home on some of that land in 1972, and John N. lived there into his college years. Building that home in 1972 was done before the creation of Ute Valley Park in 1976, that involved the City of Colorado Springs, developer Dave Sellon, and the Golden Cycle Land Corp. It was before the concentrated development of the Pinecliff neighborhood.

John N. returned to live in Pinecliff, acquiring land from his father, and built his home on that land in 2001. The property is in the very southwest sector of Pinecliff and butts up against Ute Valley Park. In addition to the sign, he retained some pieces of barbed wire and has also discovered a unique fence post and barbed wire support piece that date back to the early 1900s.

The Licensed Preserve was held under the Glen Eyrie Development Co. A quick look into that company did not yield a result but further research and results will be shared here. John has plans to donate this historical sign to the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, a donation which is very timely as our city celebrates its 150th birthday. Many thanks to him for his outreach with this peek into our Pinecliff and Ute Valley Park past.

Another person I wanted to lift up here is area Realtor Alicia Moskal. Alicia moved to Pinecliff in 1995. Recently, through a marketing piece she invested in for distribution to our neighborhood, she made it a point to promote Ute Valley Park. She shared the experiences she and her family have enjoyed in UVP and encouraged others to volunteer their time to help in maintaining the park or to make a monetary donation to help as well. I have never met Alicia but am appreciative for her investing her monies to provide an important message about our neighborhood and our beloved park.

Colorado Springs does have a lot of good, friendly and helpful people and encountering them always makes me want to do more to achieve that status as well. Perhaps it does for you, too.