Sat., May 2, from 1-3pm, Redstone Museum, 4th and High St., free parking infront (school parking lot) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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1 ~~~~~~~~YOU ARE INVITED~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW Permanent Exhibit/Display at Lyons Redstone Museum Honoring those Historians that Preserved Lyons History Sat., May 2, from 1-3pm, Redstone Museum, 4th and High St., free parking infront (school parking lot) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over 40 years, a small handful of people in Lyons collected information about Lyons ' history. They found that not a lot was written in the official archives, and they had to go and search out locals to get their stories. The Lyons Historical Society, in cooperation with the Lyons Tourism committee, will be presenting a program that will honor these local authors and historians Saturday, May 2, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lyons Redstone Museum. ======================== Speakers include author Diane Goode Benedict, author of numerous history books in the Front Range Historian LaVern Johnson, Historical Society president will be honored for her LIFETIME OF HISTORY PRESERVATION Achievements Also, film maker, author and historian Kathleen Spring. Plus stories and speeches from absent historians: Frank Weaver, Al Pace, Denise Berg, and Dorothy Paxton. Each will receive a Certificate of Appreciation, and an exhibit with their likeness and story will be permanently installed in the museum. ========================= This is the first of five Saturday events happening during May History Month. Go to for more information. Future Programs include "Tales of Lyons Businesses over

2 the past 100 Years May 16" "Updating Flood Stories Exhibit, May 23" "Shindig! with live old-time music, pot luck, silent auction, and actors" ========================== ==Beginning in 1981, Frank Weaver started to gather what information he could, along with getting handwritten letters from residents, who still lived here or who had moved away. He asked for old photographs and any other documents they could find of their ancestors. ==The Lyons Historical Society continued gathering information after his death. ==The research was picked up about 20 years later by Denise V. Berg, "The Welch Resort; a Hidden Treasure of Boulder County == The information was split into two books, with the "Double Gateway" (2009) stating the Town's history in the 1900s, and "Piecing a Town Together" (2010) stating the family histories. The books are available at the Lyons Redstone Museum or by ing lavern921@aol.com. ==The earlier years of Lyons was covered by two other local authors. Diane Goode Benedict. Diane researched Lyons cemetery files and funeral home records and published the Lyons burial list in a pamphlet form. ==She gathered large volumes of information at that time, and ended up publishing it in "Birth of a Quarry Town " (2002). She went on to publish numerous other books about towns in the Front Range. ==The story of Lyons sandstone quarries was a big enough subject to warrant a book and documentary film. Two people

3 began to gather information directly from the local old-time quarry families. == Alfred Pace, a Longmont resident, researched and wrote articles on the history of Lyons for the "Old Lyons Recorder," Al and Kathleen Spring video taped oral histories of the quarry families, and he published a book based on the tales gathered and some additional research "A History of the Lyons Sandstone Quarries" (2006) == Kathleen Spring formed the Lyons History Video Project. Over a 13 year period, she recorded approximately 60 interviews of Lyons pioneer families. It is the goal of the Historical Society to raise money this year to finish the transcribing of the oral histories and publish them in a book, for easier research. Donations can be sent to Lyons History Video Project, P. O. Box 274, Lyons Or write LyonsHistory@yahoo.com. == DVD HISTORY: as the Lyons History Video Project, and produced a documentary film, "Our Stone Gathers Moss, Lyons Sandstone Quarry History." It chronicled the history of Lyons through the stories of the quarry community. In addition, the Video Project produced a film on the geology of the area, including aerial views of the town. It featured the curator of geology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, explaining the nature of Lyons ' stone while standing in the Brodie/Murphy/Boone quarry. Both documentaries are available at the Redstone Museum. ==ORAL HISTORY Both during Frank Weaver's time, when he collected handwritten memories of local people, to the video interviews gathered in the 1990s, the oral histories filled a big gap in the Town's pioneer history, and the quarry industry

4 narrative. By interviewing individuals who had not heard what the other people were saying, the facts each said could be compared without prejudice. It resulted in confirmed stories about how the sandstone industry developed in Lyons, and the courage and creativity of the people who built it. ==LAVERN JOHNSON Lavern Johnson became the president of the Lyons Historical Society in 1975, and the director of the Redstone Museum. Both as a Pioneer family member and as a director of the Historical Society, she had a keen interest in joining or starting crusades over the years to save the Town's history, character, schools, and its historic buildings. She headed a Historic Society effort to raise money to publish books about Lyons by putting on weekend garage sales for six years. Over an eight year period, two major restorations of the exterior of the museum building were done, by her raising more than $200,000 in grants, donations and fundraisers. LaVern will be awarded the Lyons Lifetime History Preservation award. She has written a social column for the Lyons Recorder since October 1983, chronicling the residents' lives, events and businesses of the town. LaVern volunteers both independently and with other groups, working for decades on the Town's Parks & Recreation committee and as a Town Board Trustee. In addition she won six prestigious awards from across the state for dedication and integrity in her volunteer work. HISTORICAL BUILDINGS What would Lyons be without its impressive, unique sandstone buildings? Residents and visitors alike are in

5 constant admiration of the beauty of the red stone, unique to our area. Over the years, some of the Town's most important buildings stood to be tinkered with or destroyed. Fortunately, a swell of locals took on the challenge to save the buildings. ==In 1973, the Lyons Historical Society was formed to save the old train depot which was to be moved block by block to Colorado Springs. Today it is the town's library. ==In 1970s the town's old schoolhouse, built in 1881, was destined for the wrecker s ball but was saved by the Historic Society, and is now the town's history museum. ==Honored: The Lyons Historic Society's first president, Dorothy Paxton, and the current president LaVern McConnell Johnson ==The Town has 14 buildings on the National Historic register, including the train depot and the schoolhouse. About half of them are private houses, made of sandstone, in the downtown area. Others are mainly shops in the downtown area. A walking tour will go on May 16, after the day's Program. **ALL BOOKS AND DVDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT THE MUSEUM** contact Kathleen Spring (303) for more information; or go to ; Museum (303) LaVern Johnson (303) lavern921@aol.com