30 years ago – April 21, 1989
Although he earned it himself, it was the efforts of friends that brought the volunteer work of Van Cullar to the attention of President George Bush. For his work, Van Cullar won a Presidential citation. Of the 2,000 names submitted for the awards, only 70 made the final cut and Cullar was among them. Citing the many years he has spent as a volunteer mine rescue worker, Herb and Jeri Bowles noted in their nominating letter that Cullar has also trained many members of the highly acclaimed Gilpin County Search and Rescue Team. A consulting geologist by trade, Cullar is all an emergency medical technician, trained at his own expense. His training in geology and emergency medicine have proven invaluable in mine rescue operations. Entering mine openings in a safety cage, sometimes in an open ore bucket, Cullar has helped rescue victims of accidents, as well as retrieving the bodies of murder victims whose bodies have been dumped in open shafts. Cullar was also praised by Boulder law enforcement and judicial officials for his assistance in solving crimes, locating bodies, and obtaining convictions in cases involving victims who ended up in area mines. While Cullar is delighted to have received the Presidential citation, he is quick to point out that his mine rescue work is part of a team effort. In a sense, he says, the honor is shared by the entire team, acknowledged to be the most capable in this part of the state. Cullar’s volunteer efforts go beyond the mine rescue work he performs. He has also served with the Gilpin County Ambulance Service, as a certified arson investigator with the Central City Volunteer Fire Department, and as a reserve officer on the Central City Police Department.
Dressed in appropriate apparel similar to the original Boston Tea Party, protesters in Gilpin County and neighboring counties made their way to the junction of U.S. Highway 6 and Highway 119 to protest “taxation without representation” and opposition to the proposed reservoir in Clear Creek Canyon. Citizens around Colorado also made their way to other reservoirs and waterways throughout the state protesting Colorado’s non-elected water conservancy district board of directors. Gilpin residents and those from nearby counties wore headbands with feathers for the occasion and tossed loose tea onto the banks of Clear Creek. Many people carried signs advertising their message, “Save Clear Creek Canyon,” to passerby on Highway 119.
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