DID YOU KNOW
Remember when?
State Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, sponsored a joint resolution passed last week to make John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” the co-official state song along with the current one “Where the Columbines Grow.” Last week, the Aspen singer’s song became the state’s second official tune.
Ten years ago, then-Rep. Hagedorn, Rep. Gary McPherson, R-Aurora, and Sen. Ben Alexander, R-Montrose, were busy designating another state symbol: the state tartan.
House Joint Resolution 97-1016 stated that many Coloradans of Scottish, Irish and other Celtic descent made significant contributions to the development and cultural richness of Colorado.
According to the resolution, July 1 had been previously designated as “Tartan Day” and the people of Colorado should have an official tartan to wear on that day.
To encourage others to vote for the resolution, McPherson showed up at the statehouse in traditional Scottish dress, wearing a specific plaid that had been designed for Colorado. The colors signified the purple Rocky Mountains and the blue and white state flower, the columbine.
To officially register a tartan in the International Association of Tartan Studies, legislative action must first be taken.
The House unanimously passed the resolution.
Sources: Colorado State archives; Denver Post archives; Colorado General Assembly
My kind of contender
State Rep. Terrance Carroll, shown at left, found a lot to admire in Sunday’s visit from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate.
“He reminds me of myself,” the Denver Democrat joked.
Carroll didn’t elaborate on whether he recognized his own good looks, his politics or both in the junior senator from Illinois.
Defender of the budget
Budget writers and budget raiders beware: David Skaggs, Colorado’s higher education commissioner, says his experience as a Marine in Vietnam helped prepare him for his new job.
“I’m still waiting for my first instance of hand-to-hand combat,” Skaggs said, “but I’m ready.”
Can we quote you on that?
“I didn’t mean to be redundant again.”
– Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton
