Central Colorado Humanists

Stammtisch
2021-03-25 16:00 - 18:00, 2021-02-25 16:00 - 18:00, 2021-01-28 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Denver)
Say ‘Hello’ to old friends and meet new ones over good food, drink, and conversation. On the first and fourth Thursday of each month, in Buena Vista and Salida respectively, members and friends of the Central Colorado Humanists gather for an ‘agenda-free’ time of nourishing relationships. We hope to resume Stammtisch as soon as the Pandemic is over!
From Wikipedia: A Stammtisch (German: “regulars’ table”) is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis, and also the usually large, often round table around which the group meets. A Stammtisch is not a structured meeting, but rather a friendly get-together.

CCH Board Meeting
2021-03-11 14:00 - 16:00, 2021-02-11 14:00 - 16:00
The CCH Board meets via zoom on the first Thursday of the month following the 4th of the month. Members are welcome to request a zoom invite and/or are welcome to request a recommendation to the Board in writing to be considered.

CCH Book Club
2021-03-08 17:00, 2021-01-11 17:00 - 19:00
Our CCH Book Club meets bi-monthly on the second Monday of the month normally at 5:00 pm. Book Club is open to members who have joined the Book Club mailing list. Books are on topics of relevance to Humanists. We will be meeting on zoom until the Pandemic is under control.

Sunday Science: The Importance of Sleep, and Brain Diseases
2021-03-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
Speaker: Suzanne Lesage, M.D.
Topic: The Importance of Sleep, and Brain Diseases

Personal Hygiene Products Project
2021-03-03, 2021-02-03, 2021-01-06, 2020-12-02, 2020-11-04, 2020-10-07 | Salida Community Center, 305 F. Street, Salida, CO, 81201, United States
CCH manages and supplies our monthly Personal Hygiene Products Project. On the first Wednesday of each month, we distribute personal hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, and safety razors to those who come to the Community Center to receive their supplemental food boxes. Throughout the month we collect unused personal hygiene items from our travelling members and also purchase new items with donated funds.
For more information, please call the Community Center at 719-539-3351.

Sunday Science: American Indian Lifeways in the San Luis Valley
2021-02-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
Speaker: Mark Mitchell
Topic: American Indian Lifeways in the San Luis Valley
Bio: Dr. Mark D. Mitchell is the Research Director for Paleocultural Research Group, a nonprofit that conducts research, trains students, and educates the public on the archaeology and paleoecology of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Mitchell holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has more than 35 years of experience in archaeological field and laboratory research. His research interests
span the archaeology of two different regions: the Northern Great Plains in central and western North Dakota and the Southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico.
Mitchell’s Southern Rockies research focuses on American Indian land use in the San Luis Valley and adjacent mountains. He is the author of journal articles, book chapters, and monographs on the archaeology of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.
Summary:
The archaeological record of American Indians in the San Luis Valley is a record of hunting and gathering. But the strategies American Indians used to subsist in the valley’s cold-desert environment were not unchanging. Both residents and visitors alike adapted to shifting environmental conditions, transformative technological innovations, demographic changes, and the appearance of European and American colonists and settlers. In this talk, Dr. Mark Mitchell will explore the archaeology of the San Luis Valley, drawing on the results of recent public archaeology projects.
Click here to join this Zoom meeting.

CCH Board Meeting
2021-01-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground

Sunday Science: Pronghorns
2021-01-03 10:00 - 11:00 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
Topic:
Join Matthew for an in-depth investigation and update on one of North America’s most amazing creatures. Learn not only what physical attributes make this animal so unique to North America’s “charismatic megafauna” but also it’s fascinating 40 million year history in the new world.
Bio:
Presenter Matthew Coen has been chasing after pronghorns in Colorado for 20 years. He is a life-long student of natural history, former land manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and his current work is restoring 1400 acres of pronghorn habitat in Chaffee County.
Access ZOOM Presentation: Click Here

Stammtisch
2020-12-24 04:00 - 18:00, 2020-11-26 04:00 - 18:00
Say ‘Hello’ to old friends and meet new ones over good food, drink, and conversation. On the first and fourth Thursday of each month, in Buena Vista and Salida respectively, members and friends of the Central Colorado Humanists gather for an ‘agenda-free’ time of nourishing relationships. We hope to resume Stammtisch when the Pandemic is over!
From Wikipedia: A Stammtisch (German: “regulars’ table”) is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis, and also the usually large, often round table around which the group meets. A Stammtisch is not a structured meeting, but rather a friendly get-together.

Sunday Brunch and Discussion Group
2020-12-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2020-11-15 10:00 - 12:00, 2020-10-18 10:00 - 12:00
CCH members and their guests meet at 10am on the third Sunday of the month to discuss a topic of local or national interest to humanists. The meeting takes the form of a potluck brunch at a member’s home.
The discussion topic and location is announced in advance to our membership, along with sample discussion questions to consider before the meeting if they wish. We hope to resume Sunday Brunch once the Pandemic is over.

Sunday Science EXTRA: Coronavirus and COVID-19
2020-12-20 10:00 - 11:30 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
Speakers: Dr. Lydia Segal and Dr. Pat Duletsky
Topic: Coronavirus and COVID-19
Summary: Dr. Duletsky will present a whirlwind Virology and Immunology 101 for some background in the basics of how SARS-CoV2 works, how our immune system responds., and what the different tests are measuring.
Dr. Segal will be talking about the phases of COVID-19 and what treatments are currently being used for each phase. Then she will move into the topic of vaccines, where we are in mid-December in terms of efficacy, safety, and availability.
Bio:
Lydia S. Segal, MD, MPH. Dr. Segal earned her M.D. at the University of Arizona Medical School and her M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins. She practiced Family Medicine in the Mid-Atlantic States with Kaiser Permanente. She worked in Public Health, both policy and practice in short term overseas assignments. She is retired and now lives full time in Salida.
Pat Duletsky M.D. earned her medical degree from University of California, Davis. She had a full time practice in Frisco, CO for 13 years, then worked in outpatient clinics in the San Luis Valley, Chaffee County, and Summit County. She was a founder of the Chaffee People’s Clinic and was the Summit County Public Health Officer in the late 1990s. She is retired and has lived in Chaffee County since 2003.
We would appreciate you thinking about the questions you would like answered for this talk. We will send out a reminder about a week in advance of the talk and ask for any questions you already know you would like answered. At that time we will send you an email address to send in your questions.
With appreciation,
Pat and Lydia
Access ZOOM Presentation: Click Here

Sunday Science: Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
2020-12-06 10:00 - 11:30 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
Topic: Global Positioning Systems (GPS): The science of how it works, and how to use it outdoors.
Speaker: Bill Sample
Bill has a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management. He worked as an Avionics Systems Engineer for 38 years designing electronics for aircraft and space vehicles. He worked on GPS for aircraft for 25 years beginning with the first units designed for civil aviation in the late 80s. He has made good use of his designs by logging more than 7,000 hours as a pilot. He holds Air Transport and Flight Instructor ratings in single and multiengine aircraft.
Bill rarely misses a mission with Chaffee County Search and Rescue (SAR) South and has been a member of the team for 5 years. He serves on hiking teams, is part of the incident command team rotation, manages the communication equipment, and flies and manages the technical aspects of the SAR drones.
Summary:
Bill will start with a brief history of the U.S. GPS system. He will then present a description of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) which is made up of satellite constellations from six countries, how it works and the coordinate systems they use. Bill will finish with how he uses his favorite GPS App on SAR missions and in support of his outdoor hobbies. There will be topics to stimulate the scientist while being understandable for all.
Access ZOOM Presentation: Click Here

CCH Book Club
2020-11-09 17:00 - 19:00
Our CCH Book Club meets bi-monthly on the second Monday of the month normally at 5:00 pm. Book Club is open to members who have joined the Book Club mailing list. Books are on topics of relevance to Humanists. Our next book is “White Too Long – The legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity” by Robert P. Jones. We will be meeting on zoom until the Pandemic is under control.

Sunday Science: The Decker Fire and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan
2020-11-01 10:00 - 11:30 | Zoom Meeting, Angel of Shavano Campground
November Sunday Science will be presented by Jim Pitts, the District Ranger for the Salida District of the San Isabel National Forest. He will discuss the Decker Fire that occurred near Salida in 2019.
The theme of my discussion will be “Lessons Learned from the Decker Fire”. From modeling fire behavior to weather observations, the science behind fire management decisions is being tested as environmental changes continue. What we learned from the Hayden Pass Fire was applied to the Decker Fire and was shown to be very valuable in forecasting days of increased fire activity. What elements of the Decker Fire will influence the management of the next fire?
Access ZOOM Presentation: Click Here

Stammtisch
2020-09-25 08:00 - 17:00, 2020-09-03 08:00 - 17:00
Say ‘Hello’ to old friends and meet new ones over good food, drink, and conversation. On the first and fourth Thursday of each month, in Buena Vista and Salida respectively, members and friends of the Central Colorado Humanists gather for an ‘agenda-free’ time of nourishing relationships.
From Wikipedia: A Stammtisch (German: “regulars’ table”) is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis, and also the usually large, often round table around which the group meets. A Stammtisch is not a structured meeting, but rather a friendly get-together.

Sunday Brunch and Discussion Group
2020-09-20 10:00 - 12:00
CCH members and their guests meet at 10am on the third Sunday of the month to discuss a topic of local or national interest to humanists. The meeting takes the form of a potluck brunch at a member’s home.
The discussion topic and location is announced in advance to our membership, along with sample discussion questions to consider before the meeting if they wish.

The Ultimate Human Right: The Right to Die on our own terms by Gary Wederspahn
2020-09-06 12:00 - 14:00 | A Church, 419 D Street, Salida, 210 E Sackett Ave, Salida, CO, 81201, United States
This will be an exploration of the topic from cultural, ethical and legal perspectives.
Gary Wederspahn has been an active supporter of the Death-with-Dignity movement, since the 1980s, with the Hemlock Society. He is a board member of Final Exit Network, a leading national right-to-die organization that grew out of the Hemlock Society. As a life-long advocate of civil and human rights internationally and in the United States, he strongly believes that the choice to die on one’s own terms is a basic human right that must be respected and defended. He is personally familiar with end-of-life customs in many cultures. His presentation style is highly interactive, encouraging much discussion and questions and answers.
