HistoriCorps volunteers complete a project at Golden's Boettcher Mansion - #lakewoodnews

Participating on a volunteer project pleases Bobby Joe Evans, who lives in a small town called Fruita on the Western Slope. Preston Niesen of Lakewood is interested in woodworking. And Paul Swanson of Evergreen likes working with his hands.All of them, as well as the other HistoriCorps volunteers, believe the preservation of historic structures is important."It's critical that we save the craftsmanship of those who came before us," said Sue Landreth, a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona.HistoriCorps is a nonprofit organization based in Denver that coordinates with forest services and organizes volunteers to work on historic structures across the U.S.This group of five volunteers, plus a crew leader and project manager, gathered at Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain in Golden April 19-22 to rebuild an arbor.Although the arbor, which was deteriorating, is about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, "it's a pretty small project for us," crew leader Jeremy Spates said.A typical project consists of week-long sessions in which the volunteers camp on site. At Boettcher Mansion, volunteers drove in each of the 4 days.Landreth traveled through the recent snowstorm to work at the mansion."It was 80 (degrees) when I left Scottsdale," she said. "It was a bit of a change."But she didn't mind.Before retiring in August, she started researching "things to do" and found HistoriCorps on Facebook. Boettcher Mansion is her first project. The organization intrigued her so much she recruited her daughter, Brandi, who will be driving in from Chicago, to join her for the next project at Rourke Ranch in the Comanche National Grasslands near La Junta in southeastern Colorado.Evans volunteered on four projects last year. Boettcher Mansion was his first this year. He is excited to go to Northern California in June for a three-week project in Sierra City.Niesen has been doing carpentry work for about 20 years -- everything from roofs to furniture."Preserving history is important for our grandchildren," he said.Swanson agreed, but added that meeting and learning from other volunteers is a big part of the fun."It's wonderful to take people who have never handled a saw or other type of tool, and show them that they can do it," said Bob Fulton, the project supervisor. Fulton, now a resident of Westcliffe, a small town at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado, used to live on Lookout Mountain. So the Boettcher Mansion project was especially important to him.Susan Mickey has only lived in Lakewood for seven months. She lived in Dillon for seven years, but returned to her hometown in Massachusetts for awhile before coming back."But now I'm here for good," she said. "Colorado has so much beauty."Mickey found HistoriCorps through research on the Internet before returning to Colorado. She couldn't wait to start a project."I've seen places get lost -- torn down -- and I've seen them get saved," she said. "Saved is much better."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/HistoriCorps-volunteers-complete-a-project-at-Goldens-Boettcher-Mansion,212193