WEEK OF APRIL 10, 2025
VOLUME 123 | ISSUE 19
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Colorado GOP chooses Horn to hold post as party chair BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN
Spencer Hola, left, a senior at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, was recognized as the 2024 Colorado Civil Air Patrol Cadet of the Year after six COURTESY OF NICOLE HOLA years of service in the national Civil Air Patrol program.
Local teen recognized as Cadet of Year ThunderRidge High School senior has goal to become an officer in the Air Force BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITY
Walking through the hallways of ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, Spencer Hola may seem like an ordinary high school student. But by age 18, he has experienced opportunities many adults only dream of. Spencer is a teenager who is
on a high school varsity swim and dive team, is a USA Triathlon national championship qualifier and is in the International Baccalaureate Diploma program, which is a two-year pre-university curriculum. But he is also a teenager who has flown in a Chinook helicopter, has presented to Congress in Washington D.C., and has been recognized out of more than 1,000 Colorado cadets as the 2024 Colorado Civil Air Patrol Cadet of the Year. “I never thought I would get here,” said Spencer. “It was my
first time being recognized for any sort of award.” In February 2019, Spencer was just a 12 year old who was curious about airplanes, so he joined the Civil Air Patrol program. The Civil Air Patrol operates as the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. It is a federally-chartered nonprofit that works to provide emergency services and disaster relief missions nationwide, as well as offer diverse aviation and ground services, youth development and aerospace education. Cadets can rise to cadet colo-
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nel by completing tasks in leadership, aerospace, fitness and character. Spencer is currently a cadet lieutenant colonel in the Highlander Composite Squadron, which meets at the Highlands Ranch Law Enforcement Training Facility. “The Civil Air Program has played an important role in shaping Spencer into the confident, service-oriented, compassionate leader and young man that he is today,” his mother, Nicole Hola, said.
Brita Horn, a former Routt County treasurer, was elected March 29 to serve as the next chair of the Colorado GOP, vowing to unite the highly fractured party, boost fundraising and show up for candidates as Republicans look to right their wayward ship in 2026. “We have so much division, we have so much distraction,” she told members of the Colorado GOP’s central committee. “Guess what the Democrats are doing right now? They’re winning elections.” Horn, who ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for state treasurer, won 53% of the party chair vote in the second round of voting over former Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine. There were about 440 members of the Colorado GOP casting ballots at the party’s reorganization meeting in Colorado Springs. SEE HORN, P8
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