Hello everyone.

I hope everyone's Holidays were as special as mine. We made a conscious effort to focus more on the spiritual and less on the material aspects this year. It was a very special time for all of us.

I want to apologize for the lateness of this newsletter. I've put IAT as a top priority for so long, I was reminded by my girls that they wanted my time too. So I took some well needed time off to be with them. Between that, the Holidays, the flu, and computer troubles I have had little chance to get the newsletter out.

Which leads me to the next thing. As President, I have put a great deal of effort into channeling IAT in the direction that we are going in. There are many more projects as part of that that I would like to focus on. Therefore, as any good leader, Iım finding it necessary to delegate. I need to find a volunteer to take over as the editor of the newsletter. This could be an annual position or for as long as the individual would like. Itıs just becoming impossible for me to do everything. I will hopefully be going back to school soon as well as the new IAT opportunities. So PLEASE!!! LOL!

We are still looking for input into our logo contest. There are a few on the webpage (http://members.aol.com/tybrenn/index.html). Hopefully this will inspire some of you to want to submit a design too. If interested, please send your design to Sandy (tybrenn@aol.com) so she can display it on the page as well. Everyone will get a chance to vote on the final logo.

*************************************************************************************

Quote of the month:

The month's quote is from me this time, it's from one of my favorite songs by Ellen Stapenhorst:

"We're taking our lives in our hands. I am in yours, you are in mine and we're taking our live in our hands. The future will grow from the seeds that we sew today." -Ellen Stapenhorst ©1994, "Taking our Lives"

*************************************************************************************

Fundraisers:

Get those recipes out! It's time to submit them for "Cyber Cookbook - The Sequel". Last year's cookbook was a big success and raised almost $500 for The Hunger Project. Let's make this cookbook an even bigger success. We can do it with your help. Please submit all recipes via e-mail to Sandy (tybrenn@aol.com) and include the word "Recipe" in the subject heading. If the submitted recipes are not your own original recipes, please include a reference to your source. Recipes should be in text format and should be cut-and-pasted into you e-mail message. Please do not attach files. You should also include your name (first is sufficient), your e-mail address, and your location Please let us know if we may include this information in the cookbook along with your recipe. If you would like, you may also include a brief thought, poem, tribute, etc. about John Denver. It will be placed in the cookbook just after your recipe. Price and ordering information will be available in the future.

The Holiday Party was not only a wonderful event, but we managed to raise $250 for Plant-It 2000 through Silent Auction and items for sale. We also raised $75 for the Windstar Land Conservancy through the Silent Auction of the album "Merry Christmas Aspen". Great job everyone!

From Julie in TX: We are giving John Denver fans the opportunity to make a donation in someone's name to the memorial in Austin Texas. Our memorial will be completed next year. We will mail out a card to the recipient stating that "A donation was made in your name to help build the John Denver Memorial at the Nature Center in Austin, Texas." The front of the card will have a beautiful picture of "Ellie" one of the resident hawks at the facility, and the inside will include a sketch of the memorial. The minimum donation is $15.00 by check made out to "John Denver Memorial," should be mailed to:

Include the name and address of the recipient and the name and address of the donor. If you wish the amount donated to be written in the card, say so, otherwise no amount will be mentioned.

*************************************************************************************

Adopt-A-Highway

There is an effort started by Evelyn Pinney and the Colorado Friends of JD to have a national highway cleanup in May 1999. Let's see if we can include all states. Please consider looking into adopting a section of highway, a visibility site, etc. for this coming spring.

*************************************************************************************

Gatherings:

As I already mentioned, the IAT Holiday Party was really wonderful! The food was great and the music was just incredible. It was a combined effort of Val Cooper, Paul Swanton, Kevin Yeargin, and Chris Westfall and others joining in like Pete Baker, Nancy Jurka (yes all the way from CO!!), and myself. Even though we were exhausted at the end, I believe I can speak for all of us involved in the planning, etc that it was well worth it. A great big thanks to Miriam Gross, Sandy Clark and family, Richard Holmes, Val, Paul, Kevin, Chris, Nancy, Pete, Kim Baker, Natalie Yewshenko, Donna Pinto, Claire Bond Smith and the many others who helped out during the course of the day! It was truly a magical time!

*************************************************************************************

Environmental Issues:

INFORMATION ON THE JOHN DENVER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP If you wish to donate to this endowed scholarship in memory of JOHN DENVER, please send a check to :

Please make the check payable to The International Center for Tropical Ecology and under the memo portion of the check, please indicate that this money is to go to the John Denver Endowment Research Scholarship. Each donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be sent back to you. For more information, the website for the International Center for Tropical Ecology is http://ecology.umsl.edu/~biology/icte

*************************************************************************************

Up-Coming Events:

From Val in CA: California Friends of John Denver thought you might be interested in the following group of Northern California concerts sponsored by Singing Skies Foundation started by Mr. George N. Schumer. Here's the scoop: On Saturday, JANUARY 9, Jerry John River (Jerry Kooyman from Delft, Holland) will be featured in a concert at the Unitarian Church, 409 Aquajito Road, Carmel, at 7:30 pm, singing ALL JOHN DENVER SONGS. Accompanying him and also singing a few of her own songs, will be Terre Noble, a local singer/songwriter who has made a locally popular CD. Judy Therrien at jht@universal-net.com will be in charge of the event and can answer questions. On Thursday, JANUARY 14, Jerry will be giving a full concert at the First Unitarian Church, 110 North Third Street, in San Jose, at 7:00 pm. Again, everyone is invited. Becky is in charge; you can contact her at REBECCA.BARBER@roche.com On Saturday, JANUARY 16, (part of MLK long weekend) Jerry will appear with many others in the JOHN DENVER MEMORIAL II concert, which will take place in Larkspur, CA at Ross Valley Masonic Auditorium, 1122 Magnolia Ave, at 7:00 pm, about 40 minutes north of SF. George Schumer can answer questions about the fantastic line-up there that evening: LERM33A@prodigy.com Jerry has won numerous trophies and awards in Nederlands competitions in the last few years, sometimes in conjunction with radio shows. Each November he sings about 25 songs for the members of the Dutch John Denver fan club. Jerry was born on December 29, 1972 in Vlissingen, Nederlands, and lived there for 9 years before moving to Delft to live with his grandparents. When he was 9, his father gave him a guitar; his grandfather, a guitar song book, and ever since, Jerry hasn't stopped playing. In 1986 he discovered John Denver's music while watching TV and hearing John sing "Leaving on a Jet Plane". When he was 18, his grandmother died unexpectedly and he started playing John Denver songs even more, as they were soothing, and he felt he really understood what John wanted to tell people through his songs and Jerry was touched by his music. Jerry's goal in life is to keep alive, John Denver's music and message. Jerry also passionately wants to see a world without war, without nuclear weapons, without hunger, without environmental problems and without pollution, and wants to work hard to spread these messages. Two wonderful people have come forward to lend Jerry two out of the three guitars he will be needing in the States. Extremely careful meticulous Jerry is still looking to borrow a Taylor 12 string, either a 355, a 655, a 555 or an 855, hopefully with Fishman transducer or pick-up. If you can help,?!? please call Judy at (831)373-7780 or email jht@universal-net.com

*************************************************************************************

A Word from Our Reps:

From Sandy in MA (our Webpage Author!): Hi friends, I finally tallied up the results from my poll on radio stations and whether or not they played John Denver's music on October 12th. Out of 28 responses, 19 did not have positive results, but 9 DID!!! The stations that cooperated were in South Bend, Indiana; Vero Beach, Florida; New York City, New York; Canberra, Australia; several in California (including Monterey); Grand Jct, Colorado and Providence, Rhode Island. It may not be the best results, but at least it's a start. To assist Val Cooper in her petition efforts to get JD more air time, I would like to put together a listing of as many radio stations and their e-mail addresses as possible. If you have some stations in your area, could you do me a favor and visit their web sites and then forward their e-mail addresses to me. Don't bother visiting hard rock, classical, etc. Just concern yourselves with those stations that we might have a shot at convincing. After I get all this organized, I will try to post all the e-mail addresses on the IAT web site. Then maybe we can get a campaign going to start re-introducing these stations to John's music. To help you out, you can visit either of these web sites and look for your local stations:

Thanks for your help! Peace, Sandy

From Nancy Jurka of Colorado - a very special poem for the season:

©Nancy Jurka Christmas 1998 Palmer Lake, Colorado

*************************************************************************************

Misc:

"Colors in Time" musical memories of John Denver is the title of the CD Pete Huttlinger and Chris Nole recorded in memory of John. It is currently available through: INSTAR RECORDS P.O. BOX 90244 NASHVILLE, TN. 37209 The price is $15.00 + $1.50 shipping (U.S.A.) Other countries should email for shipping charges. The reviews are extremely good! This is a must have!

This was forwarded to me by Ann Schnitz in DE about "Let This Be A Voice": "Wow!!! No other words can describe it. Last night our local PBS station aired the JD nature special as a highlight of the pledge drive. Wow! John sang several songs correlating to the places that they showed...John's favorite places. Here's a little of what I remember.... They showed wild horses in Wyoming ("Eagles and Horses") they did a couple of spots on Alaska (Alaska and Me, To the Wild Country) and showed footage of the work that John did there in the 70's with the preservation act. They also had much beautiful footage of the lakes, and caribou and mountains where John spent a lot of time...in fact they filmed John and a friend of his just sitting quietly in the middle of a massive herd of caribou. They ended the clip with the very last song that John wrote, but only had recorded on his home recorder (or so they said) called "Return to Yellowstone".* I believe I am remembering all that I've written correctly. You have got to see this if you can. Call your local PBS station for broadcast times. Greg Hager

*Editor's note: He means "Yellowstone, Coming Home". I bought the video myself and absolutely adore it. Itıs one of the best tributes to John Iıve ever seen.

From Judith in PA (an email from Sheila Ridout): I am getting in touch with most of the e-mail numbers I have trying to rally support for Judy Lynn, who is trying to get Starwood recognized as a museum, because we must try to save John's personal effects and possessions. It's not right that they should go to whoever buys Starwood. She wants people to write to John Coulson, the Editor of the Aspen Times newspaper; he says he will take it to the City Council if he gets enough support. The house is otherwise, as Judy Lynn says "...up for grabs and anything that remains in it". We must join together on this one as his privacy must be upheld, despite the fact he left no will, and his awards deserve to be on show, not in the hands of some stranger. The Aspen Historical Society have expressed interest in her idea but at the end of the day it's down to the will of the people. Sincerely, Sheila Ridout

From Karen D'Attilo in CO: "All of My Skies" is a new single release from Ellen Stapenhorst. The song was written by Ellen's brother Steve in appreciation of John Denver, his life and music. Ellen and Steve recorded the song this fall and were joined in the recording by Denny Brooks and Hal Blaine, two of John's long time band mates. Also on the "single" is "Night Sky" written by Ellen and inspired by the Comet Hale-Bopp. "All of My Skies is a splendid acknowledgment of the late, great John Denver. John sang from his heart to your heart. Ellen Stapenhorst does the same. And we are changed in the process." Thomas Crum Co-founder with John Denver of the Windstar Foundation and author of "The magic of Conflict" and "Journey to Center". Many of us have heard and been touched by "All of My Skies" in the last few months, it is now available for purchase at various internet locations: Aiki Works, International Disk, and directly from Ellen Stapenhorst, Box 435 Petaluma, California 94953

From Ann Schnitz in DE: Just got the word -- TNN will be doing a Life and Times show on John that will be on in February!

From Karen in NY: Here is a website address for People Magazines most intriguing people. Although they have already picked the top 25, they are still conducting an on-line poll for the "runners-up" so to speak. My thoughts were possibly to pass this along to other JD fans and have them vote, and maybe we can have John on the list. I felt he belonged on the top 25 because of the legacy he has left, but since he is not on the list, maybe we can get "People" to recognize him and all of his fans. http://www.pathfinder.com/people/sp/intrigue98/poll/index.html

*************************************************************************************

I want to wish you all a very safe and Happy New Year. Happy Birthday John!!! We love you and miss you!!!

Peace to you all, Marcelle

"It's about time we start to make it the dream we've always known." -John Denver