Staff Profile: Peggy Graham

I am a new reporter for the Left Hand Valley Courier after responding to their ad. Although I do not have any reporting experience, I am a retired professional civil engineer who has spent many hours writing technical documents over my career, so I will try not to bore you.

I moved to a farm outside of Lyons, Colorado in 1968 with my family and have resided in Colorado the entire time. Although I grew up outside of Lyons, Colorado, I did not attend school in Lyons and consequently graduated from Niwot High School (NHS) in 1976 when it was half its current size. My class was the third class to graduate as the school opened to students in January 1973. After graduating from NHS, I then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering in 1981. I moved away from Boulder County for approximately 23 years, returning in 1999 and have been here since.

I currently reside on a small farm east of Niwot with my husband and two beautiful german shepherds, Anya and Petra. If you drive along Niwot Road east, you may see them racing cars inside our fenced front yard. They are not chasing but racing and enjoy cars versus runners and bicyclists as they are too slow and boring. We raise hay irrigating with our new water reel, have multiple flower beds and two bee hives. Besides our four-legged critters we have four grown sons with three residing on the Front Range and one in Dolores, Colorado.

My focus for reporting will include a monthly transportation update regarding activities within our community, review of local irrigation practices, means and methods, and interviews with the farming families. The St. Vrain Valley has changed much in the last 50 years, but we still have a very vibrant and robust agricultural sector, which has expanded to include our local organic farms. It will be an honor to participate in this endeavor.