by George Gramlich
Lloyd “Rich” Smith moved to Custer County in 2016 when he was promoted to serve as the Troop Commander of Colorado State Patrol Troop 2A. Troop 2A encompasses the four counties of 11th Judicial District; Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Park. Rich retired last week after serving an incredible 20-year career in the Colorado State Patrol.
Rich’s father served in the Air Force and Rich grew up around the U.S. but the family always considered Colorado Springs to be ‘home’. After graduating high school in Oklahoma City, Rich became a volunteer EMT and served 10 years as a volunteer with the Red Cross Disaster Action Team. A significant day in his life was the day of the Oklahoma City bombing that killed and wounded hundreds. Rich was a first responder there and the experience changed his personal vision from helping people after disasters and emergencies to preventing these disasters and emergencies. The final catalyst that got Rich into the law enforcement field was 9/11. Rich applied for the CSP the next day and was hired in 2002 to attend the six-month police academy. Continue reading Thanks For Your Service, Captain Rich →

Ginny Reid, of Westcliffe, CO was a beloved grandmother, mother, wife and sister during her incredible 97 years of life. She passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

Virginia “Ginny” Lucille Reid was born on January 22, 1924, to Oscar and Cora Schwalm. She married Joseph E. Reid in Fort Benjamin, Indiana, on January 10, 1943. She and Joe moved to Custer County in 1972 to settle into their own piece of paradise as ranchers. She loved the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and this valley. Ginny was a member of Hope Lutheran Church in Westcliffe. She was active in numerous community organizations during her life here in the Wet Mountain Valley.

She is survived by two sons, James Catlin Reid of Custer County and
Joseph Charles Reid of Litchfield Park, Arizona. Also surviving are multiple grandchildren, Leslie Reid, Hollie Collins, Christopher Reid, Elizabeth Blackburn, CharlesRobert Reid and three great grandchildren Ainsley, Ethan and Sawyer Blackburn.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, January 27, 2022, at Lange Hall, 312 3rd St. in Westcliffe, at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be at Ula Cemetery in Westcliffe.

Donald Vincent Bishop, 82, a resident of Silver Cliff, passed away on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.

He was born in Logan, New Mexico on December 29, 1938, to Kenneth and Mildred Bishop. He is preceded in death by his parents, sister Ana Lee (Ed) Gonyou, brother Ken E. Bishop, and wife Phyllis Bishop. He married Phyllis “Miss Barrett” on June 19, 1964. They shared 55 years together in marriage and knew how to make those years count. He is survived by his sister-in-law Marge Bishop, two children, Monique (Marek) Mikula and Vincent (Amy) Bishop and three grandchildren Blake, Spencer and Cece. He has many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

Known as Donnie in his youth, he first lived on a big ranch in New Mexico. The Bishops moved to Coaldale, Colorado, where he began his long love of the Rocky Mountains and in particular the Sangre de Cristo mountains and all they have to offer: nature, fishing, hiking, skiing and camping. His dad and mom soon decided to get back to a larger ranch in Burlington, Colorado, where he lived until the 1980s. From the beginning he was a farmer at heart. In elementary school he grew radishes, sold and delivered them to customers by little red wagon.

He graduated from Burlington High School where he was involved with honor choir, track and swimming as a lifeguard. He was unexpectedly surprised to be awarded the Bausch and Lomb science award and was excited to hear that his grandson Blake received the same honor. Don attended one year at Colorado State University in agricultural science. He decided he knew what he wanted to do with the ranch and farm, so he returned to Bishop Ranch for more than 20 years. He served in the Army National Guard and was in officer’s candidate school. He and his brother Ken who owned Burlington Building and Supply built houses together. Brother Ken was like his second dad and he said Donnie, electricians are few and far between, why don’t you get your license. He said alright and became the youngest master electrician in Colorado at the time.
Recently talking about Bishop Ranch, we asked if his dad farmed. Don responded, “No, Dad never wanted to turn dirt.” He loved the farm and animals and raised registered black Angus cattle and ran a sanitary hog operation for over 300 head of hogs, as well as dry land farmed many sections of land mostly for feed. In the 1980s he was honored as a young farmer for water conservation.

Life changed for the better when a new church choir director and music teacher moved to town from Oklahoma. A friend and church board member advised Don that he better fix up and be at choir practice, because the church had just hired a new choir director and she was cute. This began their lifetime love story. He asked Miss Phyllis Barrett out for a coke and a movie and within one month they were engaged with the agreement that he would build Phyllis a home on the farm. One of several that he built her in their life together.

In the late 1970s as a family, Don, Phyllis, kids and friends built the Gothic Arch cabin and placed it on the foundation over a Memorial weekend in Westcliffe, Colorado. People that had been gone over the weekend thought it had been flown in. When farming got more difficult to make a profit and the mantra was “Get bigger or get out,” Don and Phyllis fulfilled Don’s lifetime dream of living in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and Westcliffe to try and make a living.
Don and Phyllis were active in the communities they lived in even when they were on the road. They were very active musicians and members of the United Methodist Church in Burlington, Colorado, and the Community United Methodist Church in Westcliffe, Colorado. Don and Phyllis sang with friends and their children Monique and Vince for many weddings, anniversaries and clubs through the years. Some of their favorite songs were by Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Roger Whittaker and American folk love songs. One of Don’s best and favorite solos was “Danny Boy”.
Don was a member of Lion’s Club in Burlington, Rotary Club in both cities, Kit Carson County Commissioner in the 1970’s, Burlington High School Alumni President, evening DJ for KNAB Radio with Phyllis, Neighborhood Player in theater in Burlington, Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts actor where he played one of his favorite parts as the lead Norman in “On Golden Pond”. He began the Westcliffe Inn motel business, was past President of the Royal Gorge Association of Realtors, an All Aboard Westcliffe Board member and Silver Cliff Trustee. He got his small plane pilot’s license and enjoyed flying the family to see the southern relatives. He also enjoyed building remote control airplanes and flying them and liked flying a double string kite on the beaches of California.
Don’s master electrician license came in handy when they had to change gears from the Westcliffe Inn. They went on the road as he was a project manager and electrician in computer robotics for manufacturing facilities. They got to make more friends all over the United States and had fun seeing it riding their tandem bicycle and golfing. They lived in Alabama, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia and loved it.

Happily, they finally got to return to Westcliffe and enjoy the
Sangre’s again. They toured around to Airstream rallies camping, frequenting hot springs, exploring the southwest, socializing, joke telling, storytelling, geology researching and general solving problems of the world.

When looking in Daddy Don’s wallet, we discovered a newspaper clipping that he carried with his photos of all the family that summarized how we think he looked at and lived life. The newspaper clipping read as follows: “The Quality of Courage” W. Michael Blumenthal, chairman of Unisys, talks about the mistakes made in hiring: In choosing people for top positions you have to try to make sure they have a clear sense of what is right and wrong, a willingness to be truthful, the courage to say what they think and do what they think is right even if the politics militate against that. This is the quality that should really be at the top. I was too often impressed by the intelligence and substantive knowledge of an individual and did not always pay enough attention to the question of how honest, courageous and good a person the individual really was.
Faith in God, Family, Friends, Fellowship, Patriotism, the Wet Mountain Valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains were Don and Phyllis’s joy.

Donald, your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure. May God grant you eternal peace in heaven.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Community United Methodist Church, Westcliffe, CO and/or Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts, Westcliffe, CO.

Press Release by Elect Brandon Schoch for Custer County Sheriff

With current Custer County Sheriff, Shannon Byerly stating that he would not be seeking re-election after serving two terms, Brandon Schoch officially announces his candidacy for the position. Schoch is a US Navy veteran who has lived in this community with his family since 2014. He is currently employed at the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and has served the community for the past eight years.

A Campaign Kick Off Event is scheduled for January 29, 2022, from 2-4 p.m. at the Community Room at Ranchers Roost in downtown Westcliffe. All are encouraged to stop by to meet, ask questions, learn about, and support his campaign for Custer County Sheriff. Petition signatures to place Schoch on the ballot will also be available to sign.
Schoch, a Republican, will serve all citizens following the laws we are governed by, and continue to keep us all safe. “I have been a police officer for over 15 years, with the last 8 serving the Custer County community. I have been a patrol deputy, a detective, and am currently in a leadership role with the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. I have been involved in the training of all the new deputies over my 8 years with the Office. I believe I am the best person for this position having devoted my time, blood, sweat, and tears for this community over the last 8 years, and it has been my honor to do so. As an Honorably Discharged veteran and having raised my family in this community, I take great pride in continuing to passionately serve the wonderful community we share. I have the integrity and grit to do this job and I will always have the community’s best interest at heart.”
Schoch is a man of high integrity, honor, dedication, and a consummate professional. Such attributes are proven by his exemplary service to our county. Please join Brandon Schoch in the Community Room at Ranchers Roost on Saturday, January 29th, 2022 from 2-4 p.m., to lend your support to his campaign for Custer County Sheriff.
Press Release by Elect Brandon Schoch for Custer County Sheriff

Press Release
Despite having mostly dirt roads to drive on, many car enthusiasts are attracted to our valley. Our highways are certainly beautiful driving roads with unparalleled vistas. However, for permanent residents, people who love cars and love to drive feel somewhat isolated from other car enthusiasts. Our summertimeWestcliffe Car Show is a fun event, but what happens to those enthusiasts the rest of the year when they can’t be out and participating in car culture? They feel lonely.
Now car culture has come to the airways on KLZR. Local car enthusiasts can now get a weekly fix of fun car information and
brotherhood/sisterhood feel good vibes by listening to the “Automotive ADHD” radio show Saturdays at 10:15 a.m. Continue reading KLZR Adds Show to Saturday Lineup: “Automotive ADHD” →

Patriot State Radio

240-623-1776  Mark@patriotstateradio.org

By Mark Bunch/Royal Gorge Gun Club President/Chairman Fremont County NRA

Sooo disappointed in what has been going on in our great country that I have decided to launch my own Conservative news outlet podcast called Patriot State Radio. I launched this with two of my Royal Gorge Gun Club Armory instructors, Roy Tittes and John Pruden, known as JP.  Our plan is to follow the great role model of Rush Limbaugh and to tell you, our audience, exactly how things actually are, regardless of whether it is politically correct. It should be obvious by now that I do not have even one politically correct hair fiber on my entire body!

Our first couple of shows have been out for a few weeks now and our audience is quickly growing in size.  For those of you who have tuned into our program already, I thank you for giving us a chance to educate and entertain you.  For those of you who haven’t heard about our new radio show or have not tuned in yet, I would like to personally invite each of you to check us out.  I am confident you will love our programming, as we believe in God, Guns and your right to still live Free.

We will have something for everyone, local, state and national politics, firearms, shooting instruction tips, spiritual messages and live interviews with conservative candidates and conservative politicians like our HD 60 Representative Ron Hanks who is also a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by that squishy milk toast beta male Michael Bennett.  And we will also have our current Republican District Attorney Linda Stanley on our show just to name a couple.

We will have survival discussions and emergency checklist planning sessions and we will look into our great countries history to learn from our past successes and failures. 

Clearly, there aren’t very many conservative news outlets anymore and our conservative values are dying a slow and tortured death because of it.  We need to spread the word and grow our numbers strong so we can resist the certain tyranny of the left while we still are able to do so. 

We will also be demonstrating products and viewers/listeners will be able to call in with their questions and comments.  We will be offering Patriot State Radio listeners 10% off all merchandise including guns, ammo, reloading supplies and anything else of value we have for sale at Lincoln Park Pawn.  We also have special pricing for firearms related training classes for Sentinel readers.

We will have reloading tips and tricks, and some very entertaining and educational skits that call out politically correct policy and wrong-headed thinking that has been poisoning our educational institutions and our healthcare organizations.

Our call-in phone number will be (240) 623-1776 and yes we chose that phone number for our conservative program.  Back to a time when our founding fathers found themselves surrounded by tyrannical and oppressive idiots that wanted to raise their taxes, take away their guns and infringe on all their God given rights and freedoms… Gee, does that sound like history repeating itself to anyone reading this??  LOL

We will also be offering choice advertising slots to community businesses who wish to advertise to our weekly conservative audience.  Each weekly program will air every Friday morning and will remain posted for you to listen to whenever you have time.

Those of you who know me and or have read my conservative articles in the Crusader and Sentinel newspapers, know that I am going to tell you exactly how it is and that is my guarantee to all of you with our brand-new Conservative Patriot State Radio.  Roy, JP and I are going to tell every issue you are concerned with exactly like it is.