—ASPEN CREEK VETERINARY HOSPITAL—

Compassionate care for large and small animals

It’s official! Aspen Creek Veterinary Hospital (formerly Aspen Creek Large Animal Hospital) is now a “one-stop” facility. 

When the animal hospital was established in 2006, it focused on the treatment of large animals: horses, cattle, alpacas, llamas and goats.

“We have now expanded our services to include small-animal treatment. Consequently, large-animal clients can bring in all their family pets for services at one location,” stated Dr. Ashleigh Olds, DVM, owner of the Conifer hospital located at 23605 Oehlmann Park Road.

Dr. Jeff Danielson, DVM of Evergreen recently joined the practice and is providing complete veterinary care to dogs, cats, ferrets, bunnies, mice and pot-bellied pigs.

“I also work with trained animal rehabilitators to treat injuries, trauma and fractures on wildlife creatures, including bats weighing about 35 grams,” said Dr. Danielson.

 But these are not the only things that set this unique animal hospital apart from others. Let’s talk location, location, location. Just two miles off Highway 285 via Pleasant Park Road, the beautiful picturesque drive to the expansive equestrian ranch is sure to calm pet anxiety by the time the front door of the facility is reached.

Housed in a mountain-elegant barn structure with pine-accented walls, Aspen Creek Veterinary Hospital maintains a casual atmosphere and family-style environment complete with television and hot coffee. 

 Aspen Creek Veterinary Hospital serves the mountain communities, the 285 Corridor and nearby Denver area Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, Saturday 8 am to 2 pm  and after hours by appointment.

It is deeply committed to its mission statement, which is: “to provide exceptional, compassionate veterinary care and excellent customer service to conscientious animal owners in the foothill communities and along Denver’s Front Range.”

The hospital features full-service, on-site veterinary treatment and 24-hour emergency assistance.

Further, the facility offers: x-rays and in-house lab work, equine dentistry at the hospital or at your location, on-the-go veterinary services complete with mobile unit x-ray and lab capabilities, and small-animal house calls.

Caring and compassionate life-end procedures are also available in-home for cats and dogs.

Visit the hospital’s website at  www.aspencreeklac.com. Call 303-697-4864 for more information and/or to schedule an appointment.

—BROOKS PLACE TAVERN—

Family-friendly, locally owned sports bar opens in Conifer

Janice and Steve Brooks invite you to the new Brooks Place Tavern opening in September in Conifer Town Center.

Opening in early September, Brooks Place Tavern is the new, locally owned and operated, family-friendly sports bar where you can enjoy quality food, watch any type of game you want and relax on the patio without driving down the hill.

Owners and operators Janice and Steve Brooks have more than 20 years of combined restaurant, customer service and sales experience. Both worked their way through college and graduate school in front-of-the-house restaurant jobs.

The Brooks family had no intention of opening a restaurant. In fact, the idea started out as a bit of a family joke when their 12-year-old son, Cooper, said, “I guess if we ever want to have good food, we’ll just have to open our own restaurant.” They continued to tease about it, but a few years later, it became a reality. “It’s a family thing,” Steve explained. Janice, Steve, Cooper and daughter Kim Brooks invite you to stop in for good food and fun.  

Located in the new Conifer Safeway center, Brooks Place Tavern will offer a menu stocked with appetizers, homemade burgers, entrée salads and sandwiches. A Southwest-influenced menu will feature their signature sandwich of prime rib topped with green chiles and cheese. Kids will love the fun and healthy choices on the kids menu.

Comfy patio seating surrounding a fireplace provides a great place to escape on a date or to soak up the Colorado sun with friends. Inside, the open kitchen allows customers to watch their food being made. Kitchen Manager Joe Ritter has trained under master chefs for over 10 years and is excited to be a part of the team at Brooks Place Tavern.

Grab a seat at the beautiful bar accented with reclaimed pine-beetle wood and watch a game on one of 10 flat screen TVs. Whether it’s the Broncos, Avs or Nuggets, you name it, they’ll have it.

In an effort to support local and state products, the bar features Colorado microbrews, Colorado whiskey and Colorado wines.

Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to close, Brooks Place Tavern offers daily lunch and dinner specials. The daily happy hour from 3 to 6 pm will feature discounts on beer, wine and well drinks, as well as appetizers.

Community-minded and environmentally conscious, Janice and Steve hope Brooks Place Tavern can become a place where Conifer residents and families meet for quality food and good times. Special discounts are offered to teachers, law enforcement officers and firefighters in appreciation of their civil service.

Brooks Place Tavern can be reached at 303-816-1499 or online at www.BrooksPlaceTavern.com.

Check on your pet in webcam suites

Award-winning Evergreen Kennel & Grooming invites you to come by for a tour.

Evergreen Kennel & Grooming, an upscale pet facility, won first place in the Mountain Connection Best Of... Contest in the pets and animals category  for 2010.

“We are honored to be voted No. 1 in our community,” said Anik Egloff, owner of Evergreen Kennel & Grooming. “I want to thank Mountain Connection and the people of Evergreen and surrounding areas.”

Anik, who worked for two years with the nonprofit organization Freedom Service Dogs and is a certified dog trainer, opened Evergreen Kennel & Grooming seven years ago.

“I have a crazy love for dogs and they always put me in a good mood. After working in the dog boarding business for some time, I knew this was the job for me.”

In November 2009, Evergreen Kennel & Grooming remodeled its facility to expand services and offer a more unique and individualized environment for pets. In addition to three outdoor yards and an above-ground pool, the facility also has a new climate-controlled indoor play area and theme oriented suites, some equipped with webcams so “Mom and Dad” can check on their pets while away.

The additional room allows for five to eight hours a day of playtime, added privacy and a place for small dogs and senior dogs that need a safe, more relaxed atmosphere to socialize.

In addition to dog boarding and daycare, Evergreen Kennel & Grooming offers dog and cat grooming services Monday through Friday. Marci Brakel, owner of Paw Spa at Evergreen Kennel & Grooming, has over 19 years of experience as a professional groomer and offers spa treatments such as deep conditioning, hot oil treatments and teeth brushing. 

“Marci, Manager Bambi Huffman and the rest of our staff are amazing. They all have a love for dogs and treat each one as if they were their own,” said Anik. “Our goal is to provide a happy, safe place for pets so owners can be comfortable and not have to worry about their pets while they are gone.”

Evergreen Kennel & Grooming is located at 30596 Bryant Drive in Evergreen.

They encourage you to come by anytime and take a tour of the facility. Office hours are Monday through Saturday 7 am to 6 pm and Sunday 7:30 to 8:30 am and 3 to 5 pm.

“Our passion is dogs. We are continuously working to improve and increase our services and knowledge of canines, so that we may provide the type of environment where dogs can have fun, be safe and just be dogs. Comments and suggestions that customers may have are always encouraged and vital to our success,” Anik said.

Call 303-670-9792 or visit www.ekgdogs.com for information, including dog training ranging from puppy kindergarten to adult behavior classes.    

—EVERGREEN RENTALS—

Rent! Ownership isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

So it is time to start construction on the new deck. You’ve decided to go with treated hardwood and metal spindles with stone caps. The sale cost for the materials combined with your own labor will make the job affordable, with one exception.

There are several power tools that will need to be purchased to complete the job—a circular saw to cut the wood, a chop saw or miter saw for the fitted corners, a mixer for the cement to set the posts, a wet saw to cut the stone, a wheel barrow for hauling dirt and a tamper for packing the ground under the steps.

So…over $2000 worth of tools—tools that will go into storage when the deck is complete, and quite possibly never be used again. There has to be a better way.

At Evergreen Rentals, 30466 Bryant Drive, all of these items can be rented for a mere fraction of the cost of purchasing. Plus, Evergreen Rentals takes the responsibility for the maintenance, so should there be a next time, you will find the tools in working order, and they come with some friendly advice about the best way to use them and possible alternatives.

How many jobs have you put off simply because you don’t own the proper tools and the expense of buying them all at once is prohibitive? Rental is not only less expensive, but less wasteful.

Evergreen Rentals capabilities don’t stop with home improvement projects. “We divide our customer base almost evenly between homeowners, contractors and events,” owner Tim Sandon explained. They rent back hoes, fork lifts, air compressors and all manner of earth moving equipment to contractors doing work in the mountain area, but they also supply power drills, sanders, even a hammer to do-it-yourselfers. They are a one-stop shop for builders on every scale.

From the outside Evergreen Rentals looks like a home for heavy equipment but at least a third of its rental business lies in the area of events, weddings and parties. If you’re having Thanksgiving at your house and you realize your service for 12 isn’t going to cover the crowd, Evergreen Rentals will come to the rescue. It carries dinner, salad and dessert plates, of course. Also linens, stemware, water glasses, flatware, pitchers, warming trays, tables, chairs and pop up canopies. They will deliver them to your house or event venue.

They will accommodate as small a rental need as a couple dozen wine glasses for your book group.

But the convenience doesn’t stop there. When the party is over, rinse everything off and send it back—without the need to find storage space for the items you use only on rare occasions.

“We really are a ‘green’ business in the truest sense of the word,” Tim said. They help spread the cost of construction or party needs over the whole community as items are shared and re-used. And we won’t be throwing all that paper and plastic wear into a landfill.

Contact Evergreen Rentals and 303-674-7924. No waste, no storage or maintenance, less expense—brilliant!