History of the Larkspur Sentinel (formerly Perry Park Sentinel) 

Lee Stubblefield’s company, Colorado Western was the original developer of this area.  That company had been publishing a newsletter called PANORAMA. When Colorado Western dissolved, some residents saw a need for a printed communication.  Long-time resident, Sue Armstrong, along with Joyce Vaage and Jean Glasser started the Perry Park Sentinel in about 1977.  Sponsored by the J. Pickoff Realty Company, there were no ads. The paper consisted of two mimeographed sheets, and the staff and volunteers went door-to-door dropping it in people’s mailboxes.  

By 1980, Caryl Edgar and Sally Maguire had taken up the task.  A subscription cost $10/year!  In 1984,  George Sewell was on the Perry Park Metropolitan Board, and the Sewells’ son, John, was studying journalism in high school.  John volunteered and was the editor for two years, until he left for the U.S. Naval Academy.  John initiated many positive changes for the Sentinel: the paper was typeset for the first time, giving it a far more professional appearance.  Advertising was included, which paid for the cost of typesetting and printing.  A postal mailing license enabled the U.S. mail carrier to replace hand-delivery.  Photography was another innovation; the first edition with photos was August 1985, featuring photos of the 4th of July parade.  Distribution was expanded to include Perry Park East as well as Perry Park Ranch.  

The reporting style also changed.  Previously, the paper merely published a summary of the official minutes from the Perry Park Water and Sanitation District Board and Perry Park Metropolitan Board meetings.  John changed that and actually attended those meetings and reported on them.  

The Perry Park Sentinel then became the responsibility of Lori Wells and Esther Marie Capps, followed by Dana Buss who took it over for a few months, before passing it on to Danna Hamling.  When Danna and her husband were transferred out of state, Sally Maguire, Dru Anderson, and Nancy Aitken volunteered to take over for the year Danna would be gone.  When the Hamlings returned, Danna no longer had time for the Sentinel, and Sally and Nancy had finished their one-year commitment, so Dru became the editor for the next seven years during which she started her column, Picks and Pans.  At this point, approx.1992, the Sentinel subscription had risen to $77/year for non-residents.  Dru wisely recruited Karen Dale, a former professor of English, who was editor of the Sentinel for MANY years.  

Under Karen’s fine direction, the Perry Park Sentinel was professionally typeset and printed.  Diane Jauch, the advertising and business manager from 1991 until 2020, continued even when she moved out of the area. When the post office expanded its routes from two to five, the Sentinel staff had to make a decision:  either cover those mail routes, or hand address copies and send them first class to the residents of Perry Park Ranch, Perry Park East, Sage Port, Sterling Pointe, and Meribel Village (did you ever hear of that one?)  So, until going digital a few years ago, the Sentinel was distributed through 4 of the post offices routes – 1800 copies per issue – as far north as Tomah Road and as far south as the Douglas County line.  East to West, it covered the area from I-25 to the forest service boundary.

The Sentinel started out costing $1 per issue including postage, and grew to about $4,000 per issue including printing and postage, before it went digital.  The advertisers, fortunately, realized that they reach people through the Sentinel that they’d never reach otherwise.  And there was a big response from readers who would send a check now and then to help with the costs – sometimes for $5, sometimes for $100.  

After 20 years as the editor, Karen Dale passed away in January of 2020, and the Perry Park Sentinel was put to bed with the December 2019 issue.  With no one in line to take over, a new volunteer editor, Margot Patterson, published the first issue of the new Larkspur Sentinel in May 2020.  With a focus on the whole community of Larkspur, the publication is still released monthly (except for January), distributed via Facebook, and the email list has been housed by the Perry Park Metro District.  With the launch of this website, interested readers can sign up to receive email notifications directly from the Larkspur Sentinel.   

Additional Note: The Perry Park Directory was a sort of stepchild of the Sentinel.  It served as a great resource for local residents.  Caryl Edgar was instrumental in starting it. Directories were sold for $15/copy to cover production costs and included an alphabetical listing of residents as well as a listing by streets – plus local area information, names of service personnel in the area and advertisements!  It’s possible that a Larkspur Directory may happen in the next few years depending upon community interest.