"Sheridan Celebrates" has been held each year since the city centennial in 1990. There is a theme for each year and a booklet is published containing information about the City of Sheridan, the activities and sponsors for the day, and history. The theme in 1995 was "Family Ties II." In 1995 biographies were included for four Sheridan families.
Hazel Gagnon Shriver's parents, "Mr. & Mrs. Fred Gagnon, came here in March 1946 after they sold their property near Aspen. They purchased a small grocery store at 3010 W. Hampden, "in what is now a second hand store." Mr. & Mrs. Richard Shriver and their three children " Lorraine 6, Clayton 4, and Dick 2 came to Sheridan late June of 1946" from Helper, Utah, "to help operate the store." Richard "Shriver had been employed as a fireman on the D&RG Railroad and during W.W.II had been laid off." They continued to work in the community until the property was sold to "Mr. Ragsdale in 1947." They "purchased a small home at 3460 S. Dale Ct. from Al Dickinson who still resides on S. Clay St."
All the Shriver children "attended Fort Logan grade school; the Principal was Alice [Bodine] Terry ." In 1953 Lorraine Shriver "entered Sheridan High. It was brand new and hadn't been accredited yet. She, as well as many other students, worked hard spiffing up and painting murals so the appearance of the classrooms would impress the accreditation board and it did; they all were so excited about the success of their efforts. Lorraine graduated [high school] in 1958, and the boys followed in 1959 and 1961.
"Lorraine graduated from Loretto Heights with an art major and teaching minor." She served her community by teaching in its schools "Petersburg, Ora Oliver, and Sheridan Middle School. She and her husband, Bill, bought a small store in Cinderella City in 1975 and operated that until January of 1994. They merged with Rienke Brothers and are now in business at 4132 S. Natches Court."
When they arrived in Sheridan, Fort Logan was a busy military installation, "full of service men and their families. When it was closed they [the Army] sold the barracks for $1.00 a piece, but they had to be moved, many areas were recipients of the old buildings. Several were purchased by the Western Bible Institute and" Dick Shriver, the youngest son, "worked out there the summer of '59 helping remodel them for the college campus."
The "oldest son, Clayton, worked at Pinehurst Country Club laying out and seeding the golf course in 1958 or' 59, no turf then!
"During the first few years, Federal did not go past Hampden, only Lowell and Clay St. crossed Bear Creek, until the flood of '65 [1938] took the bridge out on Clay St. and it has never been replaced."
Mrs. Shriver worked on the "PTA" during her children's school years "and was Democratic representative at several state conventions meeting "many of the city officials." She notes that there have "been changes for the better in the fifty years we've lived in this area." They sold their "property on Dale Ct. in 1983, traveled in" an "RV for a year" and resettled in a "mobile home here in South Park [in] the fall of 1984."
Mr. Shriver "enjoys the camaraderie of the folks around
and also finds golf balls in his walks along Bear Creek behind
the Englewood Golf Course, which he cleans and sells to regular
customers." Mrs. Shriver notes that their "children
still live in the Denver area" and they have added "grandchildren"
and "five great grandchildren." to the family and "hope
to enjoy many more years here in this lovely place."
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