Courier View Pikes Peak
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Pikes Peak 5.8.13
May 8, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtellercountynews.com
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Teller County has Colorado’s smallest dairy Farmstead produces goat cheeses, lotions, soaps By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews. com When someone says the word “dairy,� Teller County does not come to mind. That might be so but there is one state-licensed dairy in the county, Stone Creek Farmstead north of Divide. The farmstead, owned by Bob
and Diane McMillan, is the state’s smallest licensed dairy farm and it has the smallest licensed pasteurizing unit on the market. “It is illegal to sell cheeses made from unpasteurized milk in the United States,� Diane McMillan said. Bob McMillan said the farmstead has 11 goats. “We milk seven goats each day,� he said. “That makes us the state’s smallest commercial dairy by a really wide margin. Each goat provides about 8 gallons of milk at a milking and we produce about 60 pounds of goat cheese and oth-
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herd. “We have two kinds of goats, Nubians and Swiss Oberhaslis,� Bob McMillan said. “Combining their milks makes the best cheese.� He added that part of the farmstead’s mission is education. “Goats have had a lot of bad press over the last few thousands of years,� he said. “We’re trying to dispel those notions. Goats are wonderful, gentle creatures. They’re comical animals.� The goats were recently on “maternity leave� for a few months and milking has just started up again for the summer season. The cheeses made in the Farmstead’s commercial kitchen in-
clude Chevre, Crottin, Bloomy Bleu, classic and applewood smoked Gouda, Cabra el Vino and Camembert. These cheeses are sold onsite but also at the Woodland Park Farmers Market during the summer and at the Mountain Naturals Store, also in Woodland Park. The website, www.stonecreekfarmstead.com, states that some of the goat cheeses are also featured in recipes at The Warehouse Restaurant in Colorado Springs. Besides making and selling goats-milk products, the farmstead also offers classes in cheese making, bread making and soap making. Check out the website for more information.
Packed job fair still reflects local recession effects By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com
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The Aspen Mine Center in Cripple Creek was jam-packed the afternoon of April 30 as 100 people formed a long line hoping to find the source of a paycheck. With 15 businesses to choose from, the potential applicants found a variety of skill demands at the fair sponsored by the Pikes Peak Workforce Center. “There are 100 jobs available here today,� said Bob Gemignani, business specialist for the workforce center. For Kristen Start, who recently graduated with a degree in creative writing and a minor in psychology, the fair was an opportunity to learn about businesses in Teller County. “I have student loans to pay off,� said Start, a new resident from Maine. To pay the bills, Start works as a consultant for Mary Kay cosmetics in addition to selling her crafts in various venues. On the other hand, Courtney Ankrum is caught in a vicious circle. “People won’t hire me because I don’t have any job experience,� she said. “I have a little boy to take care of; I’m just barely making it through.� Another new resident, Domenica Hillgrube, is confident in her skills and hopeful she’ll find a match. “I’ve done it all, medical records, receptionist, secretary, administrative assistant,� she said. Representatives of Camp Alexander in Lake George, Johnathan Bowerman and Denison Wiedman, were hoping to hire an aquatics director and a maintenance person. At Prospect Home Care & Hospice, Christine Faughn, Helping Hands coordinator, and Barb Owings, director of opera-
tions, spent the afternoon talking up the organization to job hopefuls. “We have openings for personal-care providers and people with homemaking skills,� Faughn said. “We also need volunteers.� The timing of the fair is no coincidence. “This is the time casinos are hiring, so that’s why we chose this date,� said Hank Nelson, the workforce center’s coordinator in Cripple Creek. As well, with the expansion of the Cripple Creek & Victor Mining Co., the work done by Ames Construction, both businesses, along with the casinos, attracted dozens of applicants. One of them, Wyatt McClure, learned that he been chosen for a paid internship at the mine. McClure has been accepted at the Colorado School of Mines in the fall. McClure was one of 27 job seekers from the Cripple Creek & Victor High School, all of whom had taken Loyd Mowery’s careerreadiness class. While partaking of the free food at the fair, one of the students was overheard to say, “If I can’t find job, at least I can eat.� For some people in Teller County, the effects of the Great Recession linger on. “We need to do this job fair because it’s been so tough,� said Ted Borden, director of the Community of Caring which hosted the event. “If they haven’t landed a job by now, it’s panic time.� There’s reason to panic. With unemployment in Teller County at 8.7 percent, up .3 percent from December, more than 1,000 people are out of work. The statistics don’t include those who have given up. In El Paso County, with an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, more than 25,000 people are out of work.