Pets: ‘Paw-scars’ for films that humanely treated animals

By Heather Black
American Humane Association
Long before the Oscar winners are announced tonight, several Academy Award-nominated films have already earned an important and respected honor: the “No Animals Were Harmed” disclaimer from the American Humane Association.
American Humane’s Certified Animal Safety Representatives monitor the use of animals on more than 1,000 productions each year. This year, [...]

Calendar: Jan. 31-Feb. 6

This Week
Today
Winter Sprinter
Longmont Recreation Services offers the Winter Sprinter, a swim meet for adults. Swimming distances range from 50 to 500 yards in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley and create your own relays with others the day of the event. Centennial Pool, 1201 Alpine St., Longmont; $20 pre-registered; Jan. 31 at 9 a.m. Details: [...]

Saving swords: Society for Creative Anachronism keeping medieval history alive

By Dylan Otto Krider
For the Ledger
For a group that calls itself the Society of Creative Anachronism, members sure put a lot of time into recreating a yesteryear that’s anachronism free.
Every Tuesday during the winter months, artisans and warriors gather at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont learn the ancient art of candle-making or practice [...]

Extreme silo makeover: Artist finding niche on unusual Longmont ‘canvases’

Don Faast uses a 40- to 60-foot boom to paint silos. Here he works on his first silo project, at Oskar Blues in Longmont, in August 2009.

Could artist Don Faast find a niche as a silo soloist?

After attracting public attention for painting a silo at the intersection of Hover Street and Colo. 119 in the bright, blue, silver and red likeness of an Oskar Blues beer can, Faast was asked to paint sunflowers on a silo in Hygiene. He’s putting the finishing touches on that project now, and already has another Longmont-area commission with an apple orchard west of town.

Events calendar, Jan. 11-16

Sunday

Connecting Threads: Traditional and Contemporary Quilts
Traditional and contemporary quilts are connected through elements common to all forms of quilting: fabrics, fiber, piecing, layering and quilting. Techniques and design link the quilts with a common thread. Traditional quilts from the Longmont Museum’s collection, quilts from a local collector, and art quilts from the Front Range [...]

Drama junkies: Members of Triple Trio love performing

The women walked confidently into the community room at the St. Vrain Manor in Longmont one recent Monday, where a group of about 20 senior residents waited expectantly. The ladies arranged themselves in a line as concertmistress Talise Chandler introduced the group – the Triple Trio – and they all broke into three-part harmony for [...]

CORRECTION: Saturday, Dec. 19 calendar listings

Urban Trader Holiday Fair Trade Marketplace
Urban Trader, a locally owned and operated fair-trade company will host a sale of fair-trade, organic and recycled goods at MoJo’s CoffeeHouse in Lafayette on 12/5 & 12/19 from 9 am to 2 pm. Items such as jewelry, pottery, household items and more from poor communities across the globe will [...]

Healing of America: Journalist, author Reid will speak in Longmont Dec. 21

T.R. Reid, long-time Washington Post writer, started wondering why – and how – all the world’s advanced industrial democracies except one have been able to provide health care for their populations while spending half as much.
The “except one,” of course, is the United States.
Reid became so curious that he set out on a world health-care [...]

Hands on: Guild supports weavers, quilters, felters, even basket makers

Little did Bickell know that one wool spinning class would lead to raising “too many” sheep, three goats and one llama on Maplecroft, her picturesque farm off 75th Street in eastern Boulder County, all in the name of art

Dearly Departed: Longmont’s Day of the Dead celebration one of Colorado’s largest

The Longmont Museum & Cultural Center’s annual Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead – celebration has become one of the largest of its kind in Colorado, drawing some 4,000 people each autumn.