March 2021
Who is a hero to you and why?
Blane Judson
I think, at least as far as our town is concerned, the biggest heroes are the people on the EMS crew and the fire department crew. They are incredible. They save lives on a daily basis. That's who I would say is top notch on that one!
Nisa Kerr
My Hero, my Dad. When I was little my Dad would feed a homeless couple in our home or on the porch on a regular basis. With my dad, when we went out for fast food burgers he would get an extra if a hungry homeless person was nearby. He normalized giving in such a way that anyone who knows my Dad is changed.
My Dad was a nurse and every year committed to mission work of some kind, in big cities and war torn countries, and in Liberia, Africa many years, adopting/ sponsoring my brother, Martin’s continuing education in the U.S. My Dad became crazed with helping the people of Liberia. They had just come out of a civil war and people were desperate for the basics: water, shelter. He remembers the day he found out how much an acre of land cost and thought, “I could really help.” So he bought land and gave it to local people he believed in. I remember him organizing bake sale fundraisers for drinking water wells to be dug, then buying more land for agriculture. You know the book, 3 Cups of Tea, or the story of the man that planted a tree a day for his whole life and made a whole forest? That’s my Dad.
Today in Liberia, Africa lives Bridges of Hope, where a school, farm, orphanage, and almost-built hospital are thriving. You can get on the website and sponsor a child’s education, make a donation and look at pictures of happy beautiful children. The school is practicing sustainability and planting food forests. Bridges of Hope is now run by a mostly local board of directors, and my Dad at 71 has relaxed a bit. My Dad, my hero has changed lives and helped so many all because he had an idea and worked towards it for a long time.
My Dad taught me: (1) If you can do something for someone, do it! (2) You will never get poor from giving… (3) We can be anything. (4) Be your own hero. (5) Be the reason someone still believes in heroes.
Bridgesofhopewestafrica.com
Jandi Namba
The first person that comes to my mind is Stephen Hawking, who in his early twenties was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, who spent most of his life in a wheelchair, spoke with the aid of a voice box, yet managed to teach as Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, write several books and achieved international prominence as one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, known as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein. I have always admired anyone who has overcome so-called handicaps to better themselves and to help others; through their actions or by being a role model.
Secondly, Edgar Mitchell, Astronaut, who on his return voyage from the moon was so overcome by his view of our beloved planet Earth from outer space, had an epiphany: 'There is a God, there is so much order in outer space, humanity is connected to all that is and what we are capable of becoming.” He then went on to be the founder of IONS, the Institute Of Noetic Sciences, for further studies.
And last, but certainly not least, are our local heroes. Both volunteer Crestone and Baca fire departments, EMTs, and all the volunteers of the Food Bank, Pet Partners, CEOLP, Friends of the Library, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and all the individuals who quietly help others every day in so many ways. THIS is Crestone. This is our way!
Chandri Morales
I will give you three instead of one, but just because together they are called Hermanas Mirabal in Spanish. In English it’s Mirabal Sisters. They are from my country, the Dominican Republic. They were born there while we still had a dictatorship. The president at that time was Rafael Leónidas Trujillo and was one of the biggest dictators we ever had in my country. So they all went together as a family and they all fought against death, against him, until they got killed because of that, because in those times you couldn't even talk about it. They were murdered on November 25, 1960, and because of them, we have made November 25th the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women" which is celebrated globally.
They are known all around the world for being the biggest feminist heroes. One of them, Minerva, even got blocked from the whole society. She went to university and she couldn't have a practice because she was against him and she denied sexual favors to him. And he made her life so difficult that she could never get a job or do anything. But even with all that, they all fought against him.
They are still big feminist icons everywhere. They're feminist heroes who are represented by butterflies, the three of them. And in my country, we even have a whole town called Hermanas Mirabal and we keep their house just as it used to be. Everything. It's still there.
The dictator sent someone to kill them. The women were suffocated and then beaten, and the car was pushed into a ravine to simulate an accident. Patricia Mirabal was thirty-one years old, Minerva was thirty-four years old and María Teresa was twenty-five years old. There were actually four, but one of them was allowed to live because she was not as active as the other ones against the regime, but she died in 2014 at the age of 88.
They're my heroes because they just never gave up and did whatever he wanted them to do. They didn't care if he was going to go against them, against their family; they just fought for what they thought was right. And they did it until death.
Dan Hart
Fred Rogers is a hero of mine. He taught generations of children (and adults) love, self-worth, tolerance, curiosity, patience, laughter, hope, kindness, self-confidence, decency, communication, basic human rights, compromise and so much more. He didn't do it to amass vast personal wealth, and (despite being a Presbyterian Pastor) he didn't do it out of some religious dogma. He did it because it was the right thing to do. He didn't just rest on his laurels either; he fought for it by testifying before Congress to save funding for public broadcasting. He believed it and actually lived it. His lessons and example are timeless.
Shane Chatterton
I believe that Uncle Mary - Mary Lowers - is one of my true heroes because of all the things she does for the community, helping people out in the winter with firewood through Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), the food bank, basically helping people all the time, and with everything in our town, and she's a hugely valuable part of our community. I feel like she does a lot, is very selfless, and that's just kind of how she lives her life on this planet. She makes really good fried chicken.
Mary is really a very wonderful asset to our community. And she helps people. And that's all she does is just help people, which is so important. It's an all-around thing all the time. And the pop-up freebox and the annual NHN garage sale and the NHN phone book. I just think she needs to be recognized for what she does. And she's always been that in our community, for as long as she's been around. So it's hugely important.