Evergreen Park and Recreation District announced a candlelight tribute will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday at Evergreen High School’s football field to honor Idledale resident Greg Henika, .
Henika was a retired special education teacher and worked at Evergreen High School for 30 years, Evergreen Park and Recreation District’s marketing manager Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt said.
“Students had come forward and said they really wanted to do something for him — that is sort of where this idea was born,” she said.
Hamm-Greenawalt said people wishing to attend the tribute should bring their own candles and prepare to arrive early, as traffic can often get congested near the high school. They anticipate enough parking between the lots at the high school, Wulf Recreation Center and nearby Wilmot Elementary, but if necessary a shuttle will be added and overflow parking will be directed to Alderfer Three Sisters Park.
Some members of the community proposed holding a vigil at Evergreen Lake in Sunday night, suggesting people line the trail surrounding the lake. The idea was posted in a Evergreen Colorado Neighbors and Friends Facebook group, and Hamm-Greenawalt posted a message discouraging it.
“Blue Spruce Kiwanis and EPRD support this idea, but the lake trail at night is not safe, and we don’t want anyone to be hurt. We also want the disabled people whom Greg loved to be able to attend,” Greenwalt posted on the page.
Members of Blue Spruce Kiwanis and the rec district met Friday to organize a safer, more accessible alternative.
Henika, 67, founded the Blue Spruce Kiwanis Evergreen Lake Ice Golf Tournament. He was in an enclosed all-terrain vehicle equipped with a plow clearing snow from the lake’s ice in preparation for the tournament when the vehicle fell through. He was in the water for approximately 35 minutes before emergency responders could remove him. Henika was flown by a Flight For Life helicopter to a Denver hospital, where he died.
The ice golf tournament scheduled for this weekend, which was to benefit the Blue Spruce Aktion Club for adults with developmental disabilities, has been cancelled.
Ice skating at Evergreen Lake was also cancelled Thursday and Friday, Hamm-Greenawalt said, though the ice thickness of 16 inches measured well above the 10-inch minimum for skating. She said the lake will reopen Saturday but may close early if warmer weather deteriorates ice conditions.
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JosieKlemaier
Candlelight tribute to Greg Henika
When: 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25
Where: Evergreen High School football field, 29300 Buffalo Park Road, Evergreen; additional parking at Wulf Recreation Center, 5300 South Olive Road, and Wilmont Elementary, 5124 South Hatch Drive
Attendees are asked to bring their own candles and arrive early in anticipation of heavy traffic
