West Side Recorder Volume 6 No 6

              WEST SIDE RECORDER
Founded May, 1964
Office:   465 Galapago St.
Denver, Colo. 80204
Telephones: 534-4408
or 266-1445
Sponsored by
WESTSIDE ACTION
MINISTRY
Member Churches:
First Avenue Presbyterian
First Bethany Lutheran
First Mennonite
Inner City Parish
St. Elizabeth's Catholic
St. John's Lutheran
St. Joseph's Catholic
Wesley United Methodist
Editor This Issue: Barbara Karr
Staff This Issue: Leona Partney,
Barbara Baker
Contributors This Issue: Mary-
lou Morgan, Elsa Gruen, Don
Schierling, Margaret Bargas,
Jim Romero, Waldo Benavidez,
Betty Sepulveda, P. L. Olson,
Betty Jo Rule, Arnold Blom-
quist, Manya Seferi.
Advertising and Distribution
Manager: Ruperto Guedea, Jr.
Mailing Crew: Frank and Muriel
Gumma, Mary Jane Garcia.
General Coordinator: Pat (Mrs.
Charles) Geddes.
Amigos
Of the Recorder
Every issue of the West
Side Recorder is mailed specially to more than 400 persons living or working outside
the West Side but having some
particular interest in this area.
Former residents, the mayor,
the president and dean of Metro State College, the superintendent of schools, representatives of Catholic Charities and
the archbishop's office, Protestant leaders, agency staff
__ members, former teachers,
welfare and health and police
and city government officials
—many, many different people are on the Recorder mailing list.
All this is done without
charge, because the West Side
Is an important part of Denver and the Recorder is its
newspaper, the best calendar
and record and report you can
get about the West Side.
There are two ways for
each one of you to show your
appreciation.
• You can write a note with
your comments, questions, even your complaints.
• You can write a check,
or fold some legal green slips
into the envelope with or without the note. We honestly cannot keep going without help
from West Siders and their
friends—this paper really Isf
the West Side's.
• The Recorder receives
news, ads, letters, money, pictures, and all other contributions most gratefully at 465
Galapago St., Denver 80204.
The Greatest
Paper Carriers
The Mennonites and the
Methodists, members of St.
Joseph's parish and St. Elizabeth's parish, and any number
of unaffiliated West Siders
deserve a big vote of thanks
from all West Side residents
for their work delivering the
West (Side Recorder every
month. If you don't get your
own copy at your own doorway every month, please call
266-1445 right away. Extra
copies are available at Byers
Neighborhood library, West
Seventh Avenue and Santa Fe
Drive.
What we're waiting for now
Is a platoon of Presbyterians,
a league of Lutherans, and
some support from St. Cate-
jan's to help on paper distribution, and, as noted above, response from readers beyond
the West Side.
West Side
Calendar
Mon., Oct. 27—West Side Improvement Association Districts 8 and 10, election and
discussion, Wesley United
Methodist Church, 465 Gala-
pagio, 7:30 p.m.
Every Wednesday—Week-day Bible Schoo 1, kindergarten
through sixth grade, First
Avenue Presbyterian Church,
120 West First, 3:30-4:40 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 29—West High School
PTA board meeting, WHS Social Room, 9 a.m.
Thurs., Oct 30—Feature film,
"War Hunt," West High
School auditorium, 7 p.m. Free
to public.
—West Side public meeting on
Auraria bond issue election,
etc., St. Joseph's Catholic
Church, West Seventh and
Galapago, 7:30 p.m. Sponsored
by West Side Improvement Association.
Every Saturday—Drop-in recreation for young people, Auraria
Community Center, 1212 Mariposa, beginning 9 a.m.
Every Sunday—Children's story
hour, Main Denver Public Library, 1357 Broadway, 3 p.m.
Mon., Nov. 3—West Side Improvement Association District
5, election and discussion,
Mennonite Youth Center, 430
West Ninth, 7:30 p.m.
Tues., Nov 4—City-wide election
on bond issue for Auraria site,
7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Wed., Nov Sh-West High School
PTA general meeting on vocational education, WHS social
room, 7:30 p.m.
Tues., Nov. 11—Deadline for
news articles for Nov. 22 issue of West Side Recorder.
Send to 465 Galapago.
—West Side Improvement Association board meeting, Auraria Community Center, 1212
Mariposa, 7:30 p.m.
Thurs., Nov. 13—Feature Film
"Lonely Are the Brave," West
High School auditorium, 7
p.m. Free to public.
Sat., Nov. 15—Mariachi Mass
filmed for television, St. Cajetan's Catholic Church, 9th
and Lawrence, 5 p.m. Public
welcome.
Mon., Nov. 17—Westside Action
Ministry, St. Elizabeth's, 11th
and Curtis, 7:30 p.m.
Tues., Nov. 25—Dr. George E.
Sweazey, moderator United
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.,
speaks, First Avenue Presbyterian Church, 120 West First,
8 p.m.
Amigos
Of the West Side?
Is it true that non-residents
do most of the damage to Lincoln Park and the pool? Who
breaks windows and bottles, or
drops cans and paper on the
streets, or leaves toys and
shoes and old car parts around
the West Side?
A letter was written to the
editor of the daily newspaper
not long ago — signed with a
Spanish name. The writer
said, in part:,
"All Spanish people aren't
bad—just a few . . . What's
with these Mexicans in the
Lincoln Park area? Why do
they engage in such filth, corruption, immorality, vandalism and crime? Why don't
they have any decent standards and respect? Why have
all the public buildings in the
park been written all over?
Why did the kids keep throwing rocks and bottles and glass
in the pool? Why (did) teenagers push a truck into the
pool?"
There are a lot of answers
to all that—one is that the
writer had his eyes shut tight
to all the neat homes, all the
flower beds, all the parts of the
West Side that are pleasant
and in good order. The letter
also telle us something else:
that West Siders should keep
Auraria Campus: Bad tor West Side
By Waldo Benavidez
Chairman, The Committee To Preserve the West Side Community
Urban Renewal is coming to the West Side under the
guise of a higher education complex which is supposed to be
a godsend to the Chicano community. Once again the poor
are asked to make just one more sacrifice for the benefit of
mankind.
Granted we all can see a need for higher education; but
at what expense to the West Siders? Let's take a realistic
step-by-step look at this small sacrifice.
The Auraria site for the college complex is bounded toy Speer
Boulevard on the east side, 6th and Wazee Streets on the west and
north, and Colfax on the south. Within these boundaries are
some of our most cherished institutions, namely, St. Cajetan's
Church and school, St. Elizabeth's Church and school, and Ave
Maria Clinic.   There also are many families that live in the site.
Urban Renewal claims there are 100 families in the area
amounting to about 400 people. We believe there are more. By
simply taking a trip to the Denver Election Commission one finds
that there are 264 registered voters as of May 29, 1969, which
would mean adults over 21 years old. Considering the number of
adults that are not registered to vote and considering the many
children, a figure of abut 800 to 1,000 people would be more realistic. Keeping in mind the critical shortage of low-income housing
in Denver and the reluctance of City Council to allow the Catholic
Archdiocese to build more, we ask: Where do these people go?
The answer of the Urban Renewal Authority to the problem is:
Pass the bond issue; then we will worry about the people.
Another we'11-worry-about-it-later problem is St. Cajetan's
Church and School. St. Cajetan's Church is an ingrained part of
our history and culture.
It is the national church of the Spanish surnamed people in
Denver. There is no room for St. Cajetan's in the plan for a college complex, we are told. But maybe if the people holler loud
enough we might reserve it as a historical site! Never mind the
service in Spanish on Sundays; forget about the confessions in
Spanish; who cares about baptisms, weddings, and confirmations?
St. Cajetan's might better serve the tourist for picture-taking. The
students at St. Cajetan's School will have to fit in somewhere else;
after all, we can't stop progress. Ave Maria clinic also will be
lost to the demolition ball but everyone can go to the West Side
Neighborhood Center on Federal Boulevard if President Nixon
doesn't decide to cut off the funds.
Another important factor which the Urban Renewal Authority
has deliberately failed to mention is the impact of the proposed
college on the West Side area south of Colfax. In all the beautiful
pictures and studies that are shown, mo mention is made of what
will happen to the low-income families who will have to compete
against students for housing. Everyone knows that where there
is a college there is a college community, especially where there
are as many as 40,000-60,000 students. This community certainly
will not be Chicano. Because many West Siders rent from absentee landlords, the people with families will be pushed out to make
room for students who can pay more than families if they share a
house. Where will a person on a limited income go, since we
know there is no low income housing available?
Another myth the Urban Renewal Authority is making noise
about is that the college complex is being built in Auraria so
that Chicanos will have an easy opportunity to attend. Aside
from the fact there will be no Chicano community m the JWest
Side once the college community develops, it is important to realize that a closed-door policy may go into effect at any time. In
spite of recent reassurances to the contrary, these requirements
can be changed in the future. There is no way of guaranteeing
the continuation of an open-door policy. If the door is "closed," a
student must be in the upper two-thirds of his class in order to be
admitted.
The real reason Auraria was chosen is to boost the downtown
economy. As was stated in a recent article in the Rocky Mountain News, the residents.of Auraria spend only $500,000 per year
downtown, but students will spend $5 million or more. In other
words, if you are too poor to spend money downtown, you have to
move and make room for those that do have the money to spend.
We are not opposed to education. We simply feel that under
the circumstances am alternate site with the least amount of human removal can and should be considered. Therefore we encourage every voter to vote against the bond issue on Nov. 4.
their eyes open for who does
do all the things the writer
says. If people living in the
West Side and their kids take
good care of the park and the
streets and their own homes,
and if residents watch to see
just who DOES do the damage,
the West Side will have the
best protection it can get. People from all over use the
parks, but first of all the parka
belong to the neighborhoods
they're in and their condition
shows how the neighborhood
people feel about them. What
you do, what you let your kids
do, how you take care of the
area you live in—this Is what
makes the writer correct or
not correct as to who does the
damage.
Mariachi Mass Nov. 15
To Be Televised Later
Interested West Siders are invited to attend a Mariachi Mass
at St. Catejan's Catholic Church,
Ninth and Lawrence Streets, at
5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Mass will be filmed for
later showing on television by
KLZ on Channel 7. Father Pete
Garcia of St. Catejan's said the
Mass would fulfill Sunday obligation.
One-Third of
Residents Elect
Action Council
About 33 per cent of eiligible
voters on the West Side voted
for new members of the West
Side Action Council during the
election Oct. 10 and 11. The bad
snow storm cut down the turnout, but the use of a mobile unit
for a voting booth helped get
more participation from neighborhood people.
Vista Volunteers and Regis
College students drove the mobile unit door-to-door on the
West Side during the storm to
help get voters out. The volunteers and students also served
as election judges.
There were enough candidates
to fill all but three council seats.
There was a vacant candidacy in
the area north of West Colfax
Ave. and west of the railroad
tracks, and there were two vacant candidacies in the areas between Speer Boulevard and
Broadway, south of West Colfax
Avenue.
Council members to fill these
three seats will be elected by
the other members at their first
meeting some time soon—the
date has not been set. They also
will choose up to four at-large
members from Target Area E
which is served by the West
Side Action Center.
Three agency members were
elected to the new Council by
the outgoing Action Council in
September. They are Don Schierling of the Westside Action Ministry, John Doyle of the West
Side schools, and George Chavez
representing business.
The West Side Action Council
planned to spend this Saturday
(Oct. 25) at Glen Isle with former members for orientation meetings, discussion of policies, and
making plans for the future.
Members of the new Council
and the number of votes they
received are:
Karen Vigil of 1241 Tenth St.,
37; Frances L. Cook of 1021
Champa St., 27; Amelia Alvara-
do of 1151 Galapago St., 246;
Sherewood C. Clark of Centro
Cultural at 935 West llth Ave.,
187; Wilma Dabrowski of 1115
Inca St., 188; Gilbert Martinez
executive director of Centro Cultural, 266; Alfonso Marquez of
833 Elati St., 242; Fred Mestes
of 1049 Santa Fe Dr., 254.
Also Mary L. Benevidez of
1464 Navajo St., 206; Alberta
Crespin of 1467 Navajo St., 392;
Manuel Joe Martinez of 1369
Navajo St., 185; Salley Martinez
of 1369 Navajo St., 515; Vidilia
Medrano of 1448 Navajo St., 209;
Carol S. Quintana of 1251 Lipan
St., 217; Tomasita Martinez of
138 West llth Ave., 59; Tomas
R. Archuleta of 860 West Third
Ave., 287; Mark P. Jaramillo of
238 Bannock St., 259; Vera Lucero of 526 Kalamath St., 199;
Paul Martinez of 357 Delaware
StM 259; Priscilla Sandoval of
426 Cherokee St., 292; and De-
lores Trujillo of 424 Cherokee
St., 334.
Youth members elected by 16-
to-18-year-old West Siders are
Carlos Perez of 1154 Kalamath
St., who got 98 votes, and Leonard T. Vigil of 1318 Navajo St.,
who got 74 votes.
Page 2—WIST SIDE RECORDER, October, 1969
First Avenue Presbyteries
120 West First Avenue
Rev. A. J. Blomquist, Pastor
Sunday School—9:45 am
Classes for all ages.
Morning Worship—11:00 ajm.
Sunday Evening Gospel Service and
Age  Group  Fellowship Meetings
—7 p.m.
Wednedsay   Bible   Study  and  Prayer
—7:30 p.m.
Jeaus said, By thia shall all men fato*
that you ara my diaciplea if you &>*•
one another.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO THESE
SERVICES
Thanking All of You for Your Kind Welcome.
"West Denver Community Church
of God In Christ" (Holiness)
668 INCA AT 7th AVE.
WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR SERVICES.
Sunday School  10:00 A.M.
Morning Worship *... 12 Noon
Youth Services 6:30 P.M.
Tuesdays  8:00 P.M.
Fridays   8:00  P.M.
LARASA HEADSTART - DAILY, M0N.-FRI.
Pastor — P. H. Porter
Tel. 266-3149      266-2048