Tuesdays are for talking

Leslie Johnson has a great passion for the Saratoga community she calls home. Growing up in Massachusetts, Johnson has a great love for American History that she loves to share and talk about with other members of the community.

Johnson has founded a community meeting group called Tuesday Talks. It is a community group where Saratoga residents get together on Tuesdays. It also allows the community to make new friends and share ideals. Johnson explained how Tuesday Talks all started and the impact that it has on the community of Saratoga.

“Winters here in Saratoga are long and hard sometimes and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened,” Johnson said. “People were closed away from each other so we decided after the doors were open again we asked what can we do to bring the community back together and get to know our fellow citizens a little better than we did on a general basis? “.

Johnson and members of the community came up with Tuesday Talks as its group name. This is the group’s third year which allows the Saratoga community to give their opinion on what they want to see. Johnson said one of the most important subjects at Tuesday Talks is the history of the community ranchers. She explained why ranchers’ history is important and relevant to everyone in the community.

“Lot of our history of our ranchers are dying off and this will give the community an idea on what has happened in the past and what ranches used to belong to each other that are no longer,” Johnson said. “Ranching is a huge part of this community and has changed a lot in the past 50 years. Small ranches have been sold out to big ranches and we are more interested to know who was here first, who did what to make the community what it is and who contributed to our local schools.“

Johnson also said that these Tuesday Talk Meetings were made possible with the help of the Platte Valley Community Center. She gives them credit for making it possible for the community to reach out to each other.

“The Community Center has been good to us,” Johnson said. “They help us with the setup for our guest speakers who have power points or projections that they want to use in the meeting.

On Tuesday, January 30 Dr. Gene Bolles who is a neurosurgeon from Boulder, Colorado, and owns a home in Saratoga will be one of the guest speakers. Dr. Bolles has done worldwide charitable surgeries since retiring from the medical field.

First meeting of the year for Tuesday Talks will take place on January 23. A moment of silence will be held in honor of Sonja Collamer and Mary Pigg who have been major supporters and fixtures of Tuesday Talks. Collamer passed away in October of 2023 and Pigg passed away in August of 2023. If you like more information on what time the meeting will take place you can contact Ms. Johnson at (307) 329-7333.