March Madness is here, and the NCAA Basketball Tournament begins March 17th! The Stapletonion is hosting its fifth annual Bracket Challenge with lots of great prizes from local businesses.
The brackets won’t be out until March 13th, but you can get a head start by joining today so our group is ready for the madness! Click here, and our group password is: 80238
The Stapletonion Issue 124 comes out the day before the tournament begins, and we will post reminders to get into the contest on our Facebook page, as well as an email blast on Monday, March 14th. There is no fee to enter. First place will get first choice of our list of great prizes, second place next choice, and so on until the prizes are gone. We have so many great prizes this year! Don’t miss your chance to win!
May your bracket not be busted!
2016 Stapletonion Bracket Challenge Prizes
- Stapleton All Sports: Free mutli-sport summer camp
- Amy Marolf Fitness: 21 Day Slim Down and Tone Up Plan ($299 value)
- Mici: Two of the following: 16″ XL Specialty Pizza & Bottle of Italian Wine
- Etais: Two $25 gift cards
- Mu Brewery: Growler and 2 fills ($40 value)
- Chipotle: Two of the following: Dinner for four certificate
- Happy Bakeshop: Build a Happy Cake, 8″ two-layer birthday cake (feeds 25)
- Jim ‘N Nick’s: $50 Gift Card
- Blue Creek: Gift bag with great skin care products
- Berkshire: Two $30 gift cards
- Stapleton Help Desk: Two hours of service ($250 value)
- Kevin Carlson Golf: 1.5 hour golf workshop – $250 value – The winner can invite up to 5 friends.
- Camp Gladiator: One FREE 4 week Camp Gladiator boot camp (valued at $189) with buddy pass
- Stapleton Roasters: Basket of coffee with biscotti from Gateaux ($30 value)
- Your Soul’s Movement: Fitness Bundle. Includes six complementary adult dance or fitness classes ($96 value)
- Smart Space/Coterie: $100 gift card from SmartSpace/Coterie for any or their services
Months after the 
The Rundall family is not unlike many other families in Stapleton. They have working parents, and two young children at home, a four and a two year old. Two years ago, they weighed the pros and cons of whether to get a nanny or take their first child to a child care facility. “We decided we wanted our baby to be comfortable at our home,” said working mother Kelly. “If we couldn’t stay home with him, we at least wanted him to be in our house.” There were other reasons as well. “We liked the idea of having one on one child care,” said father Chris. “The child care facilities we looked at were great, but in the end, appreciated the idea that our child would be cared for by one person.”
Many Residents on Valentia St. have been there for over 10 years, so of course, everyone is aging. But, according to others on his block, no one is aging more rapidly than Kevin Gibbons. “I’ve really started to notice it lately,” said neighbor and friend Darren Bidler. “It’s not just the gray hair. He definitely is getting a lot more wrinkles.” Neighbor Elise Anderson says she has noticed several things as well. “Let’s face it,” said Anderson. “We are all fighting gray hair and wrinkles. But, Kevin seems to be walking old, and talking old. It’s just a lot of things we have all been noticing and talking about.” Bidler acknowledges he doesn’t think Kevin is that old. “I’m pretty sure is only a few years older than me, and I am 41. He definitely looks older than mid 40’s.” Anderson says she thinks outside factors may be playing a part. “He does have two daughters who are approaching teenage years,” said Anderson. “Also, I know he got a promotion a couple years ago and is pretty high up in his company, so I’m sure that has added stress.”
From Gibbon’s view, he isn’t aging that poorly. “I feel pretty good,” said Gibbons, who is 44. “I mean, nothing out of the ordinary. The usual changes a person in their mid-40’s goes through, but I feel pretty good.” Gibbons says he hasn’t noticed any signs of rapid aging over the last couple of years. “To be fair, I see myself almost every day. Now, maybe if I looked at a picture two years ago versus now, I would notice something. But to me, I’m as right as the mail.” Neighbors disagree. “I think he would be a good candidate for some 
Young(er) couples and expecting parents continue to flood into Stapleton. The couples are excited to begin the next phase of their lives. “We know we have some big changes coming, but we are looking forward to them,” said Julie Kohrt, who is seven months pregnant. “Ever since Robert and I started dating, we would talk about having kids, so we knew we would eventually be doing this.” The Kohrts moved from the 
The police training facility located on 21st and Akron across from 
Sofia Harris is like most other girls in her kindergarten class at Bill Roberts Elementary. She enjoys running around with her friends at recess, climbing on the monkey bars, swinging, and all sorts of other fun games. She spends most of her time with a few close friends from her class, but also hangs out with kids from other classes she knows from non-school activities. All of this is very normal, but parents Amanda and Jeff are a little concerned. “When I drop her off at school, she immediately goes and plays with her friend Emma,” said Amanda. “I mean, Emma is a great friend, and a sweet girl, don’t get me wrong. But, everyone knows that Nicholas and Vivian are the two coolest kids in the class. Why isn’t she getting time with them? Is she not cool enough for that group?”
In what has seemed like a lifetime for many