When my husband and I go out for a drive, we often take CO 285 West and then turn off at the intersection of Parmelee Gulch Road into an area known as Indian Hills. At elevations of 6,800 feet (2072.64 M) to 8,500 feet (2590.8 M), Indian Hills is filled with fragrant ponderosa pines and wildflower-filled meadows. It was once a favorite place for the Native American Ute tribe to live and hunt and then pioneers began to settle there in the 1860s. Mountain vacation cabins were built for Denver residents in the early 1900s and more residents moved to the area and built homes as Colorado's population grew. There were even grandiose plans made by one man to build a "Western White House" for the Presidents of the United States to use on top of a mountain, but it never came about. You can read more about the interesting history of this mountain community at this link.
The Indian Hills Improvement Association was established in 1926 and sponsors community events and historical preservation. The one-room building that had been used as a school from 1923-1949 was purchased and remodeled in 1952 to serve as a Community Center for the residents. It can be rented out for meetings and parties and other events.
On a portion of the property next to the Indian Hills Community Center is an eye-catching turquoise-colored sign where various announcements are made in letters placed by a volunteer named Vince Rozmiarek. He actually constructed the sign for the community center to replace a smaller one. The sign can be seen by every car driving west on the small country road next to it. News and announcements can also be placed for a fee by local residents, such as seen in the congratulatory sign above that I took a photo of one day in researching for this story.
Vince usually changes the sign every three days and one April Fools Day he had the idea to make a joke sign telling residents to slow down as the town was annexed by the town below it and their police were writing tickets. So many people called the Indian Hills Police about this sign --more people than Vince ever thought would pay attention to it-- and he realized on non-announcement days he could keep the humor going!
He began thinking of funny puns and placing them on the sign.
Vince's signs bring a smile to many faces and he's happy that he's brought a bit of joy to all the cars passing by and through all the shared photos.
I'm guessing many of you may have even seen a news story or a social media post with one of his signs in it?
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