Thursday, March 28

The Crestone Eagle is a nonprofit monthly newspaper serving Crestone and the San Luis Valley

Who We Are

Who We Are: Jessica Forman – In reverent apprenticeship with the land

By Gussie Fauntleroy Almost none of the creative interests that Jessica Forman is weaving together and offering to the world were evident early in her life: a passion for herbalism and other paths to wellness, intuitive communication with ancient ancestors, storytelling, poetry and other forms of writing, and teaching young children to be good humans — all these threads emerged over time. They arose in particular through travel and absorbing the ways of other cultures, through addressing her own health, and through motherhood. Now 39 and reflecting on the place where she grew up — the semi-affluent suburban environment of Irvine,...

Morgaine Faust: Preparing for the worst, expecting the best

By Gussie Fauntleroy. A young girl who grew up watching her father perform magic tricks on stage could become cynical, knowing how the seeming magic was achieved. Or she could become someone who sees all of life as filled with wonder, mystery, and real magic. Morgaine Faust is the second kind of person. “I’ve always believed in magic, I’ve always believed anything is possible, and nothing surprised me,” she said, sitting in the meditation loft of her mountain foothills home in the Baca. The serene, light-filled space represents an affirmation of her belief that through implausible twists of fate, the...

Who We Are: Michael DiMartino: Promoting full-spectrum regenerative design

By Gussie Fauntleroy For seven years in the small community of Nevada City, California, Michael DiMartino ran what he called The Hub. It was a “community resilience center” that provided an event space, offices, a speakers series, and a video/audio broadcast studio where DiMartino produced and hosted the Golden Road Show on radio and television from 2012 to 2020. Each of The Hub’s offerings reinforced what he sees as a critical and necessary way forward for addressing the world’s increasingly complex and serious issues.  DiMartino calls the approach “full spectrum regenerative design.” Like the name of his former center in California,...

Who We Are: Burt Wadman: Expressing and supporting human potential through architecture

By Gussie Fauntleroy Burt Wadman was a very inquisitive 5-year-old when a friend who lived next door in rural Long Island, New York, decided he wanted a small playhouse. The boy’s older brother agreed to build it. The night after the floor platform was in place, Burt couldn’t sleep. As hard as he tried, he could not figure out what would make the walls stay up. He tried standing up a 2x4 board, but it kept falling over. But then he watched, fascinated, as the older boy framed the walls. Looking back from the vantage point of an 82-year-old architect, Burt...

Who We Are: Cynthia Nielsen: A water being finds healing for herself and others

By Gussie Fauntleroy. After Cynthia Nielsen did Watsu, or aquatic bodywork, on a client in a Valley View Hot Springs pool not long ago, the woman told her, “I feel like I went to mermaid school.” She added that massage in water made her feel like a baby, with no separation between herself and the liquid environment.  It was a fitting testimonial for a therapist for whom being in and around water has been central to her life for as long as she can remember. For the past 12 years this has included Cynthia’s role as therapy coordinator at Valley View,...

Nick Nevares: Community leader, giver, organizer always there for others

Editor’s note: Who We Are will return next month.  By Karen Barbee. He can’t help himself.  He simply must follow his heart, saying “if there are people who need help, we can find those who are able to help.”  This man lives from the foundation that a community takes care of its own, that when we come together to do right by each other there will be enough.   He is a connector, finding those who can help and asking directly for that help; finding those who need help and giving it his all to find the resources that will help them...

Who We Are: Eden Elderberry: Embraced by community

By Gussie Fauntleroy The event took no more than a few, horrifying seconds to unfold, but it changed everything in Eden Elderberry and her partner Leah Garcia’s life. It led them to seriously reconsider their priorities, and eventually brought them to Crestone. It happened on a moonless night near the small Ohio city where Eden grew up and where she and Leah, young adults at the time, were living. Eden was driving a 4-wheeler and Leah was on the seat behind her when they suddenly emerged from a wooded track into the brightness of a streetlight where the track met a...

Who We Are: Leighton Burt: Finding a very big world in a small town 

Leighton Burt has lived in Crestone/Baca a year and it’s still a marvel to him that this place, which feels like the home he always wanted, was here all the time, just an hour from where he grew up. His parents own and run Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa, and the family spent time hiking in the mountains next to Crestone when Leighton was a boy. But rumors about the town, about cults, religious zealots, lawlessness, and dangerous drifters, swirled around the southern end of the San Luis Valley. When night began to fall, the family was always sure...

Morgaine Faust: Preparing for the worst, expecting the best

By Gussie Fauntleroy. A young girl who grew up watching her father perform magic tricks...

Who We Are: Michael DiMartino: Promoting full-spectrum regenerative design

By Gussie Fauntleroy For seven years in the small community of Nevada City, California, Michael...

Who We Are: Burt Wadman: Expressing and supporting human potential through architecture

By Gussie Fauntleroy Burt Wadman was a very inquisitive 5-year-old when a friend who lived...

Who We Are: Cynthia Nielsen: A water being finds healing for herself and others

By Gussie Fauntleroy. After Cynthia Nielsen did Watsu, or aquatic bodywork, on a client in...

Nick Nevares: Community leader, giver, organizer always there for others

Editor’s note: Who We Are will return next month.  By Karen Barbee. He can’t help himself. ...

Who We Are: Eden Elderberry: Embraced by community

By Gussie Fauntleroy The event took no more than a few, horrifying seconds to unfold,...

Who We Are: Leighton Burt: Finding a very big world in a small town 

Leighton Burt has lived in Crestone/Baca a year and it’s still a marvel to...

Who We Are: Nicteha Cohen: walking a healing path of beauty

The grand vision evolving in Nicteha Cohen’s mind and heart is something that could...

Who We Are: Peter Anderson: Exploring the “scripture of place”

For many years Peter Anderson wasn’t sure whether his earliest recollection was real or...

Who We Are: Trevor Hollyer—Working hard for a positive future

Growing up as a city kid in a working class neighborhood of Worcester, Mass.,Trevor...

Who We Are: Kizzen Laki

If Kizzen Laki had any interest in journalism as a teen, her South Side...

Who We Are: Chelsea Braden

At 18, Chelsea Braden moved to Mexico to help open a restaurant with the...

Who We Are: Janet Woodman – At home in a pocket of heaven

Janet Woodman remembers staring intently out the train window every day during one section...
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