A new generation for Crystal Creek

After 33 years of managing Crystal Creek, Chuck and Colleen Vader are hitchin’ their wagon and moving to Missoula, Montana.

Over the years, Chuck and Colleen have dedicated their lives to making sure the property of Crystal Creek, a private homeowners association located 13 miles up Taylor Canyon, is protected and cared for.

Colleen is a coal miner's daughter from Paonia, Colorado. Her first job was picking fruit—cherries, apricots, and thinning peaches.

In the summer of 1981, Chuck walked into the Nugget cafe at the Taylor Park Trading Post, where Colleen was working in between college semesters, and asked Colleen if she’d like to come riding the next day. “Herding cows was our first date,” Colleen said with a jolly laugh.

Chuck’s family has a 146-year heritage in the Gunnison Valley. Originally from Holland, they immigrated from New York and settled in Gunnison in 1881. The Vader family made their living from cattle ranching. They ran cattle through Taylor Canyon in the spring and brought them back through in the fall.

The land Crystal Creek sits on was bought on a mining claim in 1880 by CW Clark. In 1945, a man named Gandy bought it and established a ranch. The Gandy’s owned the land for 30 years before they faced financial hardship and sold a portion of it to Charles Pretty and Perkins Sams from Midland, Texas. Pretty and Sams then divided the land into thirteen lots for building vacation homes.

The topic of second homeowners in the valley is controversial. Chuck and Colleen acknowledge the generous contribution from Crystal Creek’s homeowners to the community. “They just don’t take, they give,” said Colleen.

Most notably, the first owners of Crystal Creek, Charles Pretty and Perkins Sams, were involved in a 1985 campaign called POWER (People Opposing Water Export Raids). It was a campaign against a dam being developed in Union Park, located within Taylor Park, to divert water to Denver. Pretty and Sams were closely associated with the lawyers who fought this case.

Crystal Creek homeowners have donated to the Open Land Conservancy and the Gunnison Arts Center, and have bought livestock from the Cattlemen’s Days 4-H sale. Their generous donations helped fund the construction of the new EMS building and the Taylor Canyon Fire Department building.

Rick, Chuck’s cousin, and his wife, Louis, were the first managers of Crystal Creek, hired on by Pretty and Sams. Charles Pretty met Rick while driving cattle through the canyon. Chuck said Pretty and Sams liked the “cowboy type”— hardworking and honest.

After 13 years of managing Crystal Creek, Rick and Louis decided it was time to move on. At the time, Chuck and Colleen lived in Dove Creek, Colorado, where Colleen taught middle school science and Chuck was a wheat and bean elevator operator. They decided to take a camping trip to Taylor Park for their daughter Kaitie’s birthday. On their way through, they stopped at Crystal Creek to visit with Rick and Louis. Rick and Louis told them Pretty and Sams were looking for new managers and that they filled out an application for them; all they needed to do was sign it.

Thinking they wouldn't get the job, Chuck and Colleen signed the application and got on with their camping trip. A couple of weeks later,, Charles Pretty, called Chuck, offered him and Colleen the job.

Chuck and Colleen reminisced about raising their family at Crystal Creek. Their kids Jenny, Kaitie, and Jason rode snowmobiles and raised livestock. They went tubing down the creek and jumped out of the back of a pickup into snow mounds. They said Crystal Creek gave them a good living.

For the families of Crystal Creek, it is a solace from the southern heat, a place to connect with nature, and kindle family bonds. Many of the families at Crystal Creek have deep roots there. Some, like the Angelo family, have been a part of the HOA since Charles Pretty and Perkins Sams plotted out the land in the 1980s

“For the past 45 years, our families, Ernest and Penny Angelo’s, and Frank and Helen Kisner’s, have been blessed to be part of Crystal Creek on the Taylor River, and for more than three decades that relationship included knowing the Vaders,” said Frank Kisner, a member of the Angelo family.

Chuck and Colleen make you feel like you are family. “Chuck and Colleen always took the time to look after the kids, whether it was Chuck introducing grandchildren to a snow blower that resulted in a grin that you cannot even imagine on the face of a young boy, and for Colleen, sharing the adventures of a chicken coop with a young girl who had never been that close to chickens before,” said Frank

“Mr. Chuck and Ms. Colleen made the place feel like home; they were so intentional about taking care of each cabin, garden, and the surrounding landscape,” added Molly, Frank’s daughter.

Megan and Aaron Lamprecht will be filling Chuck and Colleen’s shoes as the next generation of management at Crystal Creek. Both from the suburbs of Chicago, they know the value of raising their son in a rural area and are looking forward to raising their two-year-old son, Aiden, at Crystal Creek.

“Megan and Aaron were both so personable, kind, and already jumping in to immerse themselves in the work; I anticipate them being really successful. Maybe Aiden will even find himself jumping on trampolines and chasing fish up the creek with my kids as they all get older,” said Molly.

Megan and Aaron previously resided in Paonia, Colorado, where Aaron served as a deputy sheriff in the northern parts of Gunnison County, Somerset, and Marble. At the same time, Megan was a stay at home mom. They both worked for Chuck and Colleen at Crystal Creek for a few seasons.

Megan and Aaron admire Chuck and Colleen and hold them in high regard for the standards they uphold. They expressed their desire and sense of responsibility to fill Chuck and Colleen’s shoes as best they can. They know how vital the crew is to keeping Crystal Creek running and acknowledge that the transition wouldn’t be possible without them.

Chuck and Colleen place a high value on their crew, and their actions support this. They have worked their employees' jobs and understand that no one wants to be taken for granted. They’ll fill your cup with hot coffee and make sure you’re warm after you’ve been out in the rain. They celebrate their crew’s birthdays with silly string wars and enchilada cook-offs. They foster a fair and multicultural workplace, treat their employees with dignity, and show their appreciation. “You know it's been a good summer when we have a good crew. When our crew is happy, we are happy,” they said

There were 50 other applicants contacted by the HOA hiring committee. Much like Chuck and Colleen, Megan and Aaron didn’t think this opportunity would come their way; they are nervous about filling Chuck and Colleen’s shoes. It won’t be easy; there will be a learning curve, but they are set up for success as Chuck and Colleen ease them into the transition.

“There might be a couple of stumbles,” added Aaron, but with a good crew and understanding from the homeowners, the nerves of beginning something new will ease into a steady confidence.

Chuck and Colleen have become ingrained into Crystal Creek’s woodwork. Likewise, Megan and Aaron intend to stay around for the long term, and in time they will become integral to Crystal Creek’s character.

After 33 years, Chuck said, “It’s hard to leave something you’ve built.” In the same breath, Chuck and Colleen are ready for the transition; they will leave their legacy at Crystal Creek as it is handed down to the next generation.