History Center: Utilities official discusses hydro plants; reception set for Leland Feitz

A Colorado Springs Utilities official will talk about hydroelectric power from Pikes Peak Friday, Oct. 12 at the Old Colorado City History Center.        Titled “The Manitou & Ruxton Hydro Plants,” the presentation by Chris Thompson will start at 11 a.m. The address is 1 S. 24th St. Historian Leland Feitz (pictured in 2005) will be honored in a reception at the History Center Sunday, Oct. 7. Westside Pioneer photo The cover of the Old Colorado City Historical Society's recently published collection of selected West Word articles. Westside Pioneer photo        Admission is free to Old Colorado City Historical Society (OCCHS), $5 to non-members. Membership prices vary, including $35 for a family for a year.        According to an OCCHS press release, “hydro power has been used in the Pikes Peak Region for 114 years. Chris Thompson of Colorado Springs Utilities has thoroughly researched the Manitou Hydro Plant built in 1905, the Ruxton Hydro Plant built in 1925 and other plants in the area. He will speak on the six hydroelectric power plants that were built on the slopes of Pikes Peak and how they affected the power and water systems of Colorado Springs.”        In other OCCHS news… A reception at the Old Colorado City History Center Sunday, Oct. 7 will honor long-time area author/publisher/historian Leland Feitz.        The event, free and open to his friends and supporters, will be from 1 to 3 p.m. The center is at 1 S. 24th St.        Feitz has been a member and volunteer with the Old Colorado City Historical Society (OCCHS) since 1989 and is the former director of the Cripple Creek District Museum.        “Many OCCHS members are lucky to know Leland Feitz,” writes OCCHS President Sharon Swint in the current edition of the society's West Word publication. “Some of you know him through the many books he has written on Colorado, part of the 'Quick History Series' that introduce young and old alike to various topics on Colorado history. Some might know the wit and wisdom found in his book, 'From 7 to 77… a Memoir of Sorts.' The Old Colorado City Historical Society is giving you an opportunity to meet this extraordinary man by holding a reception in his honor.”        RSVPs are requested at 636-1225. “Remembering West Word” is the title of a new book produced by the OCCHS. Commem-orating 25 years of publication of the OCCHS newsletter, West Word, the book consists of selected historically researched articles that ran in the newsletter over the years, plus one unpublished piece, “a written account of traveling in Colorado in 1861 by Lucy Fosdick, daughter of Henry Fosdick, engineer who surveyed Colorado City in 1859,” according to a write-up in the current edition of the newsletter.        The book editor is OCCHS Treasurer Susie Schorsch, who said she consulted a wide range of readers before deciding which articles to include.        The book will be sold until Thansgiving at the History Center at a pre-publication price of $29; after that it will be $39.        The OCCHS is an all-volunteer non-profit that also owns and maintains the History Center. Westside Pioneer article