Last summer my wife and I moved to Colorado full-time from Maryland. After spending 30 years moving up and down the west coast, followed by 30 years on the east coast, finding Winter Park was not difficult. We were drawn here by family and our desire to enjoy Colorado’s great outdoors.

I worked many years in the newspaper business, starting in L.A. with the parent company of the LA Times and ending up at The Baltimore Sun, one of the oldest papers still around. I worked in Denver because the parent company also owned the Denver Post and Jeppesen Sanderson.

While always on the business side of newspapers, I have been blessed to be tangentially involved in some amazing, award-winning stories such as the 1996 articles on “Slavery in the Sudan” (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/keyword/slavery-in-sudan), which created a firestorm with Louis Farrakhan when the reporters returned to the US and their story was published. Other stories were fun, such as Cal Ripken’s breaking of Lou Gehrig’s longest consecutive game record (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/cal-ripken-jr/bs-sp-2131-memories-0906-20150905-story.html). We managed to publish a special edition for fans leaving the ballpark that night, and even made a video that contrasted the progress of the game with putting together the special edition.  

For the last 15 years I’ve worked (and still work) overseas, primarily in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. I’ve worked with USA companies, universities and organizations to help them operate outside the US. I believe that many US companies have great products that sell well here, but not internationally. When working with new companies the first step is always to learn about them and their products. Always interesting, even if we’d don’t move forward.

So that’s my story in a nutshell. I want to know, and share, stories about you, Winter Park and this amazing County. In the relatively short time I’ve been here, I’ve learned that the history of this County is rich, interesting and ever changing. And the mix of people here, whether old timers, newbies (like me) or weekenders/tourists add to that history every day.

Stories like one long time County resident, known to his friends at the Fraser Lions Club as “Rocket Man”, who is applying his science background to enrich the STEM program at the Middle School. And yes, he’s shooting off rockets to introduce math, engineering and technology to young students (as well as a few of the older generation). On occasion I hope to write about how current issues and how they intersect with the deep history of Grand County. Winter Park has been “found” by the outside world and change is already upon us.

With the support of the Winter Park Times, I plan to cover your stories bi-monthly. If you have stories about history in Winter Park and Grand County, please let me know. This is my new home. Learning its history and getting to know its people will be a fascinating journey, and one I hope to share with the readers of the Winter Park Times.

If you have stories about Winter Park or Grad County you think readers would enjoy, please email me at bbarwick@gmail.com