The Pikes Peak community is invited to join Team RWB-Colorado Springs and Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center for the Great American Christmas Ruck March supporting Toys for Tots, Saturday Dec 15 at noon. Bring a new, unwrapped toy (or more than one) and join the fun. Event starts in Bear Creek Park and leads to Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center.

The event includes 4.8-mile and 2-mile routes. Supporters are also welcome to bring toys directly to the finish line at Mt. Carmel, 530 Communication Circle. No sign-up required. Questions: john.reyes@teamrwb.org

Media are invited to attend the new Peterson AFB dental clinic ribbon cutting Dec. 18.

The 16,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art LEED Gold certified clinic contains 19 ambidextrous treatment rooms, all facing the mountains, as well as a central instrument processing center, a designated area to perform oral surgery, and laboratory space with in-lab computer-assisted design technology which allows staff to expedite the creation of dental prostheses.

Additionally, the building is heated and cooled by an energy-conserving geothermal well field consisting of 27 wells, each 400 feet deep. The water that circulates out of these wells maintains a constant 60 degrees, which can be used for both cooling and heating.

The $17 million facility is expected to see 15,000 patients annually. The building was constructed by Gilbane Building Company through an Army Corps of Engineers contract.

The new facility will ensure military members are deployment ready by providing state-of-the-art dental health care. The clinic is one of a 10-building medical campus geographically distributed across three military installations providing healthcare and mission-readiness support for more than 25,000 active duty, retired and family member Department of Defense beneficiaries of the 21st Space Wing, 50th Space Wing, and Colorado Springs community.

See attached document.

See attached document.

On December 13, Penrose Elementary students in Ms. Evers’ kindergarten class will walk to Village 7 Presbyterian Church, 4040 Nonchalant Circle South, at 9:15 a.m., pulling wagons and cargo that carry all of the water and socks they have collected. They will meet the representatives from the church, Springs Rescue Mission, and possibly the Marian House. 

On December 14, One Nation will go to Penrose Elementary, 4285 S. Nonchalant Circle, to collect hats, mittens, and toys to deliver to a reservation in North Dakota. 

The media is invited to attend both of these events.

The Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education will hold a board meeting on Wednesday, December 12, 6:30 p.m. The consent/action items on this agenda include:

• Contract Award: New District-Wide Telephone System
• Contract Award: District-Wide Student Workstations and One-to-One High School Laptops
• Resolution 2019-16: Mill Levy Rates Component Certification

To view the agenda, go to the Board of Education webpage, hover over meetings, and select BoardDocs Public Site. The December 12 agenda is featured.

Media is invited to the celebration – expecting 400 attendees

For years, Silver Key has worked with the Colorado Springs community to brighten the holidays for seniors age 60+.

Community businesses donate food, gifts and volunteers to help Silver Key provide a client holiday party at the Colorado Springs City Auditorium on Wednesday, December 12 from 1:30 pm to 3 pm. Silver Key senior clients were required to make reservations and 400 people are expected to attend the event.

Through the generous support of organizations to this year's Giving Tree, seniors will receive a gift and enjoy refreshments and entertainment. T. Rowe Price employees and French class students at Cheyenne Mountain Junior High have again played a key role in the celebration by providing homemade gingerbread houses which will be used as centerpieces and become door prizes for guests to take home. Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit this year and help attendees have fun with karaoke.

"This event gets better every year and has become a tradition that our seniors look forward to for months as the holidays can be a particularly lonely time for them" said Patricia Ellis, President and CEO of Silver Key.

For more information about the event or to arrange an interview, please contact Laurie Onstott at 719-884-2321, or email at lonstott@silverkey.org.

About Silver Key:

Silver Key Senior Services was founded in 1970 to improve the quality of life for area nursing home residents. Today, Silver Key’s mission has broadened to provide more than 7,000 seniors annually with a wide variety of services, including Silver Key Connections Café, Silver Key Home Delivered Meals including Meals on Wheels, Silver Key Reserve & Ride transportation services, and vital Senior Assistance services including government food program distribution. To learn more about Silver Key and volunteer opportunities, visit www.silverkey.org.