This Sunday past was a day of contrast for Hey, Spike!

Starting off by attending the Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Dillon with wife Mary, a “preacher’s kid” and a regular there, we heard Rev. Joe Holub.

About half way through the service, the pastor performed a wedding ceremony for popular choir members Jodie Wiedl and Dennis Boyd.

Jodie is author of a poetry book, “Unfading Love: Poems of Grief and Hope,” and works at Vail Summit Orthopaedics, and Dennis is a respected CPA of longstanding, plus he’s a bass guitarist in the jazz quartet Trading Fours.

Among those attending were Alton Scales and wife, Jackie. He is going to be the new president of Aurora Community College after a successful stint as the CEO of our CMC. Alton is the quartet’s drummer.

And just a few of the others witnessing the well-orchestrated ceremony were Dr. Jim and Tina Oberheide, Gil and Susan Smith, Betsy and Don Sather, Nancy and Peer Bjornstad, Phy and Roger Wegner, Mary Faber, Dr. Peter Janes, Susan Juergensmeier, Joe Fassel, Pat Foote, Sandy and Bill Reetz, Sandy and Bill Stolar, Paul and Deb Hage, Len and Sandy Rhodes, and Katie Romanoski.

Then it was a quick drive to Salida to attend the funeral for Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen III, who had been penning his thoughts from the Heart of the Rockies since 1984.

A heart attack a week earlier claimed the 61-year-old, known as a clever wordsmith, not a health nut.

We had been friends since our college newspapering days and both had edited the weekly Summit County Journal, and been Salida Mountain (daily) Mail staffers.

Spotted in the overflow crowd at the First United Methodist Church were Mountain Mail owners Merle and Mary Baranczyk and ex-Post columnist Mike Littwin. Independent filmmaker and burro race champion Curtis Imrie of Buena Vista read the eulogy crafted by Hal Walter, who had worked for Ed on his Colorado Central Magazine. Hal, a Westcliffe rancher, is also a burro racing champ and author.

On the way back up to The Summit, we joined son mfpv, a Monarch ski patroller/EMT and AVA whitewater guide, for an early Father’s Day dinner in Buena Vista.

Meanwhile, along with our “Smiles,” former Copper Ski Patrol directors Chuck “CT” Tolton and Sam Parker are giving encouraging words to John Clauson, the ex-Copper patroller and now assistant snow safety director at Silverton Mountain, who is down in Denver’s Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital battling leukemia and awaiting a bone marrow transplant.

The well-liked patroller is also a guide for Duke Bradford’s AVA rafting.

John and wife Deanna have a 5-year-old son, Kai.

See this Powder mag link for more info on John:

John Clauson is Kicking Cancer

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Elsewhere in the news, we publicly acknowledge the career of Lindy Wilson, who has retired from the Law Offices of Mark Richmond and Fred Sprouse in the Mountainview Center in Frisco.

Old-timers around these parts will recall Lindy and husband Phil owned the Blue River Inn at Farmer’s Korner. Phil later managed the Elks Club.

Congrats to Lindy, who was honored with a “Friends of Lindy” party at the Island Grill in Frisco Bay Marina.

We asked Mark to comment:

“On behalf of my original partner Mike Canning, my current partner Fred Sprouse, and all others who have worked with Lindy Wilson, we were privileged to have such a dedicated, friendly and caring paralegal for 29 great years. Our clients were very lucky to have Lindy assist them, and I think they will also confirm her steady professionalism in assisting them with legal and many other issues. We miss her and know that any future employer here in Summit County will be fortunate.

“We also wish Lindy success in finding that special plot of land to raise real tomatoes, not the store-bought variety, when she is ready for her next challenge.”

Writing from Pebble Beach, Calif., Mike Canning says he “hung up the legal spurs 25 years ago” and has since been “playing the high-end residential brokerage game.”

Mike offers Lindy his best:

“Having employed a few treasured employees over the past 30+ years, Lindy ranks among my all time favorites. She remains an all-time benchmark. Give her my best.”

Miles F. Porter IV, nicknamed “Spike,” a Coloradan since 1949, is an Army veteran, former Climax miner, graduate of Adams State College, and a local since 1982. An award-winning investigative reporter, he and wife Mary E. Staby owned newspapers here for 20 years. Email your social info to milesfporteriv@aol.com