Colter named citizen of year in Red Feather

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

During the annual Fire Days celebration in Red Feather Lakes over the Labor Day weekend, the Red Feather Lakes Volunteer Fire Department named Marilyn Colter citizen of the year.

Her nomination, made jointly by The Mountain Gals and the Red Feather Lakes Community Library, commended Colter for her decade as library director, from 1995 to 2005.

The nomination pointed to Colter's many accomplishments during her tenure, including garnering state and national recognition for the library. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation featured the Red Feather Lakes Library as a role model during two national workshops in 2004.

The nomination pointed out that the grand opening and dedication of the expanded library on Aug. 27 was largely due to her vision of what the library could become, not only in terms of increased area, but as a place for the community to come together with offerings for all generations, including special programs for children, artists and writers, and services for visiting as well as resident patrons through expansion of media and technological services.

Colter said it was both a surprise and a privilege to be singled out for such an honor by her fellow citizens.

During the same awards ceremony, Pat Carlson, who had been the administrative assistant for the library until July, was named firefighter of the year by her peers in the fire department.