COS Town Tidings #25-288

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🤣 Today’s Chuckle

🌟Local Feature: 🏙️ An Architect’s New Blueprint for Beauty

📰 Fewer Firefighters Coming? 🚒

📰 Detours to Dodge This Week 🚧

📰 October Yard Must-Do List 🍂

📆 Local Events + Concerts, Farmers Markets & Fall Fairs/Festivals

⛅ COS Weather - Warmer, windy with possible PM showers

🌟 Let’s Feature YOUR business!

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Why did the watercolor refuse to be friends with the oil paint?

👉It said, “I don’t mix well with others!” 🤣

🥰 Why We Spotlight Local Businesses

Every Wednesday, we shine a light on the local entrepreneurs who make Colorado Springs vibrant and unique. When you support these featured businesses, you're investing in our neighbors' dreams and helping build a stronger community by creating jobs and keeping our city thriving. 🤗

🏙️ An Architect’s New Blueprint for Beauty

🎨 To design her future, she had to rediscover her past

For decades, they waited. A small collection of watercolor paints, dormant treasures from her teenage years, a time when her world was filled with art. They journeyed with Ivy Ng-Coffey from Hong Kong to India as she built a career as an architect.

Then, in Colorado Springs, settling into life with her husband and watching her sons reach one milestone after another, something shifted. Life wasn't waiting for the buildings she designed to be finished. It was happening right now—in morning laughs, in mountain sunsets, in the quiet moments she'd been too busy to experience. Those familiar paints suddenly called to her with a different promise: not to create monuments that would last forever, but to capture the moments that wouldn't.

It was a return to her first love. Ivy began capturing the intimate beauty of our mountains, creating art that transforms a shared memory into a timeless keepsake—a painting of the very trail where a couple got engaged, a view that feels like home. This sparked her mission: to make art a part of everyone’s daily life, not a luxury for a few.

Her philosophy shines brightest in her stunning calendars. The concept is a brilliant fusion of practicality and beauty: for the investment of a single print, you receive 12 frame-worthy paintings. She even adds a QR code to each month, inviting you to watch a time-lapse of its creation. It’s an act of profound connection, sharing the magic of turning a blank page into a living landscape.

This spirit of giving is the foundation of her Ivywild Studio, named for the neighborhood where she and her family feel truly welcomed. You’ll find her at local school and church fundraisers, choosing venues that give back to the community she loves. Ivy isn’t just painting Colorado’s beauty; she’s inviting you to fill your home with it.

To bring a piece of Ivy’s world into yours, visit IvywildStudio.com and follow her journey on Facebook. Here’s where you can see her work in person.

🎉 Let's celebrate and support our local artists! 👩‍🎨

🍞 Fresh Baked Sourdough breads, pastries 
📍3312 Austin Bluffs (Inside The Cupcake Doctor): 
M-Sat, 9am-6pm & Sun, 10am-2pm
(Seasonal Items Added)

🚒 Fewer Firefighters Coming?

Colorado Springs Fire Department will soon welcome 23 new firefighters from its current academy, but they’ll be the last for a while. Budget reductions in the city’s 2026 plan mean next year’s training academy is off the table, saving roughly $1.1M. City officials say current staffing levels are enough to maintain response times, though crews may take on more overtime.

If funding can be found, a smaller class might still be possible in 2026, but the department is aiming to restart full training in 2027. This isn’t the first pause — the last occurred during the 2008 recession, which led to long-term staffing challenges CSFD hopes to avoid repeating. Full Story

🌡️ Brandy’s Must-Know Tips (updated monthly) - How To 💸 Save on Utilities

🚧 Detours to Dodge This Week

West side drivers faced gridlock this week as construction began on Garden of the Gods Rd near I-25, with traffic reduced to one lane each way through Oct. Many turned to E Rockrimmon as a detour, only to find it also backed up due to paving delays from the Woodmen project.

The City had planned overnight paving, but cold temperatures forced crews to work during the morning commute instead. While paving on Rockrimmon is now finished, weather could still disrupt current overnight projects. If you're commuting from the west side, consider alternatives like South Rockrimmon to the North Nevada exit or Centennial to Fillmore for a smoother ride. Full Story

🎯 The Secret to Financial Confidence You Deserve

🍂 October Yard Must-Do List

Colorado Springs homeowners often need a different approach to fall landscaping than other regions. Oct is a prime time to fertilize your yard—doing so now helps grass store nutrients and green up quickly in spring. If the weather stays warm, keep watering twice a week, and taper down to once a week as it cools. Most importantly, get those sprinklers winterized before we dip too far below freezing, especially in higher elevations. If possible, hire a professional to blow out your system properly and avoid costly damage.

And yes, winter watering is important too—sunny, sloped, or windy areas should be hand-watered once or twice a month. While Water Wise Rules limit sprinkler use before Oct. 15, after that date you’re free to water during the warmer parts of the day to avoid freezing sidewalks.

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🎉 Events Calendar! (More events including FREE, click here)

Have an event to share? Reply and let me know (include link)

📆 Sample Local Events

Weather permitting

• Oct thru 31: Old Colorado City October Strolls

• Oct 15-19, 1-4 PM: 3-Hour Original Colorado Springs Food Tour @1 Tejon St $69-$87

• Oct 15, 6-7:30pm: A.P.P.L.E. Project - Apple Heritage & History in the Pikes Peak Region @ 17 N Spruce St $8

• Oct 17-19, 24-26: First Company Theater Presents, Brigadoon @First United Methodist Church, 420 N Nevada $20

• Oct 17, 7:30pm: Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’® @Pikes Peak Center $58-$75

• Oct 18, 6:30-8pm: Movies Under the Stars - Black Panther @Bristol Brewing FREE

• Oct 22, Noon-2pm: A.P.P.L.E. Project - Apple Preservation Class @ Colorado State University Extension, 17 N Spruce St $60.54

• Oct 25, 6-9pm: Murder Mystery, Game Over @Great Wolf Lodge, 9494 Federal Dr $74.95 (11 tickets left - Halloween Costume Show)

• Oct 25, 7pm-midnight: Salsa Night At Ivywild @ 1604 S Cascade Ave $15 (Early Sale)-$25

• Oct 26, Noon-3pm: Owl Be There Art Class with Renee Darling @Jaks Brewing, 555 Amelia St $75

• Oct 29, 6pm: Secret of Black Forest Bistro Murder Mystery Dinner @6750 Shoup Rd $80

• Nov 1, 7:30pm: The RiP Improv: Artificial Intelligence @The MAT, 1626 S Tejon $17.50

• Nov 8, 8am-noon: Bear Creek Bear Run @Bear Creek Nature Center $20-$65 (Registration open for this fun, family friendly annual event!)

• Nov 8, 7pm: Oxymorons Comedy: Hunger Games Charity Event @Peak Improv Theater, 3440 N Carefree $15 (family friendly)

👩‍🌾 Farmers Markets - Weather permitting

• Oct 15, 10am-5pm: Summer Farmers Market @ Western Museum of Mining & Industry, 225 N Gate Blvd (Last one for the season)

• Oct 15, 3-6:30pm: Colorado Farm and Art Market (CFAM) @Pioneers Museum, 215 S Tejon (Last one for the season)

• Oct 18, 10am-2pm: CFAM: The Margarita at Pine Creek, 7350 Pine Creek Rd (Local produce advertised, Last one for the season)

• Oct 19, 11am-3pm: Southeast Farmer's Market (Food Coalition) @Stompin' Groundz, 2050 Jet Wing Dr (Last one for the season)

• Oct 26, 9am-2pm: COS Sunday Market @Acacia Park, Downtown (Last one for the season)

🎶 Fall Concerts - Weather permitting

• Oct 16, 5-8pm: Jazz: Ricky Sweum trio @Mining Exchange Hotel, 8 S Nevada FREE

• Nov 7 & 8, 7:30pm: COS Philharmonic: Top Gun: Maverick @Pikes Peak Center $58

• Dec 21, 3pm: Pikes Peak Philharmonic: Jazz @ENT Center for the Arts, 5225 N Nevada $14-$20

🍂 Fall Festivals, Fairs & Activities - Weather permitting

• Oct thru 31, Director's Cut: Haunted Lantern Tour @Cave of the Winds $45 (Ages: 13+)

• Oct 17-31 (Fri's 9:30am-2:30pm), (Sat/Sun 9:30-4pm): Pumpkin Fest @Gaither Mountain Blooms, 5210 S Hwy 85 $11.17

• Oct 17-26, 10am-5pm (Every Fri, Sat & Sun): Long Neck Pumpkin Farm @ 7595 California Dr, COS $18

• Oct 17-19, 24-26, 31, 4-8:30pm: Boo at the Zoo @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo $24

• Oct 17, 18 & 24, 5pm: Manitou Ghost Tours @Manitou Springs Heritage Center, 517 Manitou Ave $19.89

• Oct 18, 9am-4pm (Every Sat in Oct), Miner's Pumpkin Patch @ Western Museum of Mining & Industry, 225 North Gate $13

• Oct 18, 11am-3pm: Pumpkin & Pine Market @The Mine - 1808 Woodmoor Dr, Monument

• Oct 18, 11am-4pm: Fall Festival @Cave Of The Winds, Manitou

• Oct 18, Noon-4pm: NWIR Fall Festival @ 4450 Foreign Trade Zone Blvd 80925 FREE

• Oct 19, various times: Legends & Lore of Fairview Cemetery @OCCHS, 1000 South 26th St $18-$21 (Time slots are selling fast)

• Oct 19, 11am-3pm: BARKS & BOOS FALL FEST @ Under the Sun Dog Training and Daycare, 6540 Vincent Dr FREE admission

• Oct 25, 10am-7pm: Emma Crawford Coffin Races @downtown Manitou

• Oct 25, 9:30am-4pm: Pup-Kin Days @Gather Mountain Blooms, 5210 S Hwy 85 $5.72

• Oct 25, Noon-5pm: Spooktacular Saturday @Everyday Girl Adventures, 2506 W Colorado Ave FREE

• Nov 1, 10am-2pm: Everything but the Oink @Rock Ledge Ranch $8

• Nov 14 (10am-5pm), 15 (10am-6pm), 16 (10am-5pm): Colorado Springs Christmas Gift Show @Colorado Springs Event Center, 3960 Palmer Park Blvd $12 (Save $2 through Nov 13)

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