Special Sections - Portrait

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A jack of all trades

If there is a simple explanation for how Steve ErkenBrack’s career path veered off the trial-attorney path and into health insurance, it is this: advocacy. ErkenBrack, who served as Mesa County district attorney before serving as chief ...

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Italian food with a passion

Enzo Favali has the perfect Italian name. You’d think he was born to be the owner and chef of a pizzeria and restaurant. Al contrario. The Canadian-born, Miami-reared Grand Junction resident grew up helping at his father’s ...

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One cartoon at a time

Laughter served Gil Stone well as a boy, one cartoon at a time. The same was true for three decades in law enforcement. In the cubicles of Mesa County law enforcement agencies, don’t be surprised to find Stone’s ...

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For the love of food

Sherri Gregersen remembers her first time cooking. She was 8 years old, and her family was floored. After spending hours in the kitchen, Gregersen served her first from-scratch item to such positive response she was afloat with joy. ...

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A love for hockey & history

Just because he hasn’t been working since he moved to Grand Junction last November, it wouldn’t be fair to accuse Tim Winegard of skating. Except for the fact that he actually has been skating, as often as possible, engaging in ...

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Woman of many trades

A more easily frazzled person would turn green at the sight of Tracy Arledge’s schedule. But the Palisade High School teacher, coordinator of the school’s International Baccalaureate program, cheerleading coach, wife and mother of ...

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A continued success

Teri Cavanagh believes the best ideas are those scrawled on napkins and bank envelopes — whether they gradually develop in the midst of a business lunch or strike suddenly with an employee’s A-ha! moment in the drive-thru. And at ...

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Up, up and away

The last time we caught up with professional climber and guide Vince Anderson was shortly after he and fellow climber Steve House were awarded the prestigious Piolet d’Or mountaineering award for their alpine-style first ascent in 2005 ...

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Broadcast pioneer

It may seem like communication is advancing more rapidly than ever before. But the telecommunications industry is constantly evolving, and broadcast pioneers like retired CNN manager Dan Gannon, now living in Paonia, led the industry. At the ...

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Sewing the seeds of love

The first thing Michelle Cools sewed was a peach plaid scrunchie. She didn’t love the color. She didn’t love the stitches. The reason Cools vividly remembers that fabric-wrapped elastic hairpiece was because it was hers. She made ...

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Pat Mora: Promoted to manager of new City Market store after 30-year career

When the time came to choose a career path, Pat Mora let the practical side of him overrule the fun-seeking one. Fresh out of high school in his native Alamosa, Mora was working as a motorcycle mechanic for the local Kawasaki dealership when ...

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Jermaine Williams: The man on the mic is the voice of the Mavericks

Jermaine Williams works the microphone at athletic events like a natural. Beginning in a low monotone voice he respectfully introduces the opposing team’s starters. Then he flips the switch like he has since he was first handed the ...

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Sadie Conklin: She finds familiarity at the VA Medical Center

Sadie Conklin is a full-time college student with two full-time jobs: one at Grand Junction’s Veterans Administration Medical Center and the other as mother to 3-year-old Sofie. “I don’t sleep, hardly,” Conklin ...

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Julie Diers: She formed Hippie Chicks Hops into a ‘Cinderella Story’

This is a story about a go-getter school marm who bought a little Palisade farm and started to grow beer — or at least one of the ingredients for beer: hops. She had lots of fun friends — and they liked to work on the farm, ...

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Jennifer Walder: She’s living out a childhood dream on stage

When Jennifer Walder grew up, she knew she wanted to be a pilot, a princess or, maybe, European. It didn’t matter that she lived in Longmont. Walder knew she could be everything she ever wanted. All she had to do was act. Walder, 21, ...

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