30 years ago – June 19, 1987
The recall petition for Black Hawk Mayor Bill Lorenz has been declared invalid. It was learned this week that the recall petition did not meet legal criteria. At the last regular council meeting on June 9, City Clerk and Treasurer Mona Dawkins presented Marko Lah’s completed recall petition for Lorenz to Jim Maloney, City Attorney. Maloney told Dawkins this week the main problem was that many of the signatures on the petition were not dated. Malone will send Dawkins a formal letter on the matter. Dawkins will be returning the petition to Lah. Marko Lah, resident and business owner in Black Hawk, announced the recall against Lorenz in May.
On Saturday, June 20, Central City will hold its 12th annual Lou Bunch Day Festival in honor of the unorthodox, colorful characters that lived and worked in the “House on Gunnels Hill” during the last century. The festival is named in honor of Louisa (Lou) Bunch, the last “madam” of Central City. She arrived in Central City in 1899 to set her “house” on the hill. The closing years of the 19th century brought many changes to Colorado. Public sentiment and the law forced Lou to close her establishment in 1916. It is rumored that she moved to Denver to help care for an ailing Mattie Silks. Lou ran an “orderly” house. The story is told of one night when a local, prominent businessman was having a “night out with the boys.” The party adjourned in the wee hours of the morning to Lou’s place. She welcomed all the merrymakers, with the exception of the businessman. He was severely admonished and turned away, when Lou said, “My house is for the needy and not the greedy.” The day’s festivities will commence with the Grand Arrival of the Visiting Madams and Sporting House Girls at 2:30 p.m. on Main Street in Central City. Shortly thereafter, at 3:00 p.m., the original Bed Races will begin on Main Street.
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