Living proof of a last-resort treatment
Freda Dolores Sanchez was terrified. She was 13 years old and very sick with pneumonia in the hospital. This was in the tiny railroad town of Belen, N.M. in 1949. The prognosis was bad. A priest had been called in to perform last rites. But somebody new had just moved to Belen, a stranger full of new ideas. That person was Dr. A.W. Llewelyn. One of those ideas was the use of a new drug called penicillin. The drug was discovered just 20 years before and wasn’t used on humans until 1941. Towards the end of World War II, the drug was provided to troops, but it wasn’t available for civilian use in the U.S. until 1945. News traveled slowly back then, especially to small towns in New Mexico.
Dr. Llewelyn persuaded Freda’s family to try this new drug as a last resort. I am living proof that the treatment worked, because nine years later, Freda, who was married to Ernest Paul Clinton in January of 1958, gave birth to me in November of 1958. The doctor that delivered me inside that same Belen, N.M., hospital was none other than A.W. Llewelyn, saver of lives and future generations.
My mom passed away this past November at the age of 86, 73 years after that terrifying hospital stay and 64 years after bringing me into this world. Rest in peace, Mom.
Michael Clinton, Longmont
Longmont has a need and a desire for a performing arts center
Currently Longmont has no center for the performing arts. We are surrounded by communities with opportunities for entertainment. Longmont is the “hole in the middle.”
There are residents — old timers and new arrivals — in Longmont who are unaware that there is a wealth and history of performing ensembles who make their home here. The Longmont Symphony (57 years), the Longmont Chorale (86 years), a ballet company, a concert band, a men’s chorus, a youth symphony, plus countless individual artists.
The Stewart Auditorium, with its 250 seats, is one of Longmont’s jewels. It is perfect for small intimate gatherings for chamber music, lectures or films. Its stage will not accommodate a full-size orchestra or ballet.
This community raised $75,000 to help pay for the Johnson feasibility study to determine if such a facility was possible, or even needed, in Longmont. This study concluded in March of 2021 that there is indeed a need and a desire for such a center in Longmont.
Why must we drive miles away from home to find our entertainment? Why not avoid the journey and keep our dollars here at home and benefit our own economy? The National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis have shown that the arts employ millions of workers and generate billions of dollars for the nation’s economy. They provide monetary benefits to the restaurants, businesses, and shops in a community.
Music is the world’s universal language. It knows no cultural borders, language barriers, or even species distinctions. It touches us all on a primeval level. It sustains our spirits in times of grief and joy. Longmont is a growing and progressive city. We need to fill the “hole in the middle.”
Judith Watson, Longmont
