1- The Republican, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 CHICOPEE Father: Foster dad dedicated to kids Continued from Page CP22 "These are good kids, some of whom are in terrible situations, offered as well to help people who need guidance, some love, understand the program." and especially stability in their Monteiro said that extensive lives," he said. background checks are made on While the care can be chalapplicants. lenging at times, there are "great Santiago, who currently has rewards," Santiago said, "when three foster sons and an adopted you see improvement in school son living in his Holyoke home, work and attitudes. It is imporbelieves that his ambassador's tant work." job is "very important to the suc- Santiago, who has a grown cess and growth of the pro- son from his marriage, enjoys gram." the challenge offered by the proHis territory embraces Hol- gram and hopes his ambassadoyoke, West Springfield, Aga- rial duties will help to recruit wam, Southwick, Westfield and others into the program. the hilltowns.
"We need people like Hector In spreading the word, Santi- Santiago more people like him ago is making contacts through- because this is so important to out the area with schools, the kids involved and to their fuchurch groups, businesses and ture lives," Monteiro said. raise community awareness of organizations the need for contact the DSS office in Hol- Hector to People with questions may Santiago of the program. yoke at (413) 493-2600. Staff photo by JOHN SUCHOCKI foster children. 1 Ha Imperious mountain sets its own limits 29 PLUS Holyoke ice cream cone dipped wrongside-up in vanilla.
A band of exposed rock just beneath its summit gives it a Cyclopean air, so that it seems to be peering one-eyed down at Quito. I had the sense it had been watching me as I climbed successively higher mountains around it to acclimatize. My research showed that this was the dry season in Ecuador, but no one told me about the wind. It blew harder with each mountain, reaching a climax on Cotopaxi. Imagine standing up in a convertible speeding down the interstate in December.
For hours now, it had been howling past the refuge like an endless string of fighter jets. It never stopped, even for a moment. When I saw Felipe's head- Big a Screen WELCOME TO Drafts TV Del BRIDGE Monte's CAFE Tap The Best 840 Memorial Dr. Chicopee Play Trivia Texas Holden or QBi On The An Network 580-5553 Pizza Chicken Luncheon Buffet All you can eat $5.95 CP23 side, the rocks were glazed with ice, and powder was whipping down the mountain. It took about 15 minutes to reach the car with the wind at our backs.
I had brought one nonessential item on this climb, leaving it under the front seat for when I came down. As I shouted for him to wait, one of my climbing partners opened the door and, quicker than you could draw breath, the wind sucked my beloved Red Sox hat out of the Land Rover. I could only watch as it went flipping and flying over a quarter mile of volcanic sand, sailing at last over the edge of the horizon, claimed by Cotopaxi. Fred Contrada is a staff writer with The Republican. He can be reached at No Health Insurance and Need a Doctor, Dentist or Counselor? Call the HELPLINE 800-272-4232 The Community Access Program can set you up with a Community Health Center today.
Supported by the Covering Kids and Families Coalition trymy 90 01 100 2'7 ed or It Insw dov HOLYOKE with two of his he moment of truth came at 12:14 a.m. I had been lying in my sleeping bag since 6, checking my watch in the dark and listening to the wind roar. Felipe said he would wake us up at midnight for the summit, but that wasn't really necessary. As always, I couldn't sleep the night before a climb. We were in the Refugio Jose Ribas, a climbers' hut perched at 16,000 feet on the side of Volcan Cotopaxi, the second highest mountain in Ecuador.
Already we were higher than any point in the Alps or the Sierras or the Rocky Mountains, and we had another 3,000 feet to go. When we got out of the car some hours before, the wind had practically knocked us off our feet. We hiked head-on into it for an hour to reach the refuge. It was so strong and relentless that I couldn't look up to see where I was going. I thought the stinging on my face was sand until we got inside and found our clothes soaked from the buckshot of rain droplets.
This was my vacation. I had put in countless hours on the Stairmaster in training and set aside a good chunk of my savings, not to mention the mental ED 3004. our cause FRED preparation. CONTRADA The nights spent climbing Cotopaxi in my mind, anticipating the exhaustion of digging my crampons into the snow one step at a time for six hours in the dark, the exhilaration of chucking my ice ax into that last 60-degree slope, the triumph of standing on the crater rim and watching the sun rise over the great volcanoes of Ecuador. Cotopaxi is a strikingly beautiful mountain, on a par with Fuji in Japan and Mount Hood in Oregon.
It has that classic volcano form, like an lamp, I got ready to jam my boots on and put in my contacts, but he had bad news. The wind was manageable, he said, but it was snowing and sleeting outside. The conditions were too dangerous. We'd give it another hour and see. One o'clock came and went.
Downstairs I found Felipe and two other guides talking softly in Spanish by the light of their headlamps and the blue gas burner where they were heating water. No one was leaving the refugio tonight. I hung around for a while but I wasn't really part of their circle, so I drank a cup of tea and went back to bed. The next morning there were little ridges of snow in the bunk room, forced through cracks you couldn't see. Out-.
