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Vigil Family

Chatter

Volume 13 November 2012

“Educación es la luz del mundo”

Education is the light of the world

The Juan de Jesús Vigil Family Foundation is a

501(c) (3) organization established in 2005 by

the descendents of Juan de Jesús Vigil dedicated

to maintaining opportunities for scholarship and

grants to qualified descendants of Juan de Jesús

Vigil.

www.juandejesusvigilfoundation.com

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dear Family and Friends:

I am pleased and proud to report that the recent Juan de Jesús Vigil

Family Foundation Memorial Golf Tournament and Picnic was a

wonderful success, the best ever. I would like to thank the entire

Board of Directors for an outstanding job in helping to make this

activity such a positive experience. This was truly a team effort.

It behooves me to take this opportunity to also extend a special

note of appreciation to Carl Salazar for the leadership, time, and

effort he provided. Jose Pérez was responsible for taking over 200

photos of the event. These photos will provide us with a historical

reference for the future. Finally, a special thanks to Jeff Vigil who

was once again instrumental in acquiring a significant amount of

corporate sponsorships for our Memorial Golf Tournament.

At our last Board Meeting held November 4, 2012, the Board of

Directors has set the date for the next Vigil Family Reunion. The

reunion will be held in Trinidad, Colorado, during the third

weekend of July 2015. The Vigil family has consistently held a

reunion every five years since the first one in Albuquerque, New

Mexico, in 1984.

Between now and 2015, we will schedule two Memorial Golfing

Tournaments in Denver, Colorado. Start planning to join us at our

next one which will be July 20, 2013. Please start collecting and

saving silent auction items and/or door prizes. This will be very

helpful in added support for our scholarship and grant programs.

We recently welcomed two more Board Members, Kalee Salazar,

Louisville, CO and Arsenio Vigil, Trinidad, CO.

Please remember that the educational needs of our young people

continues to grow and grow and we must do everything we can to

help them attain their educational goals and aspirations. This

cannot be done without your help.

Sincerely,

John H. Vigil

Juan De Jesús Vigil

Family Foundation

Board of Directors

2012-2013

Executive Committee

John H. Vigil, President

JoAnn Phillips, Vice President

Mimi Vigil, Secretary

Carl Salazar, Treasurer

Carolyn M. Romero, Member

at Large

Members

Rosemary Salazar

George F. Vigil

Rose Theresa Vigil

Beverly Vigil Sasse

José M. Pérez

Phillip Vigil

Andrea Romero

Arsenio Vigil

Kalee Salazar

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2nd

ANNUAL MEMORIAL GOLF

TOURNAMENT and BBQ

Another Great Success

We had a lot of fun on September 15th

in our

continued effort to promote education in the Juan De

Jesús Vigil Family Foundation.

A total of 64 golfers and a wide variety of volunteers,

most of whom were Board Members, worked together

to achieve this success. What a wonderful treat to

have Joe Apodaca Sr. participate this year. At 95, he

is still giving the youngsters a run for their money.

We added an opportunity for people to be Memorial

Sponsors, honoring the memory of their loved ones

this year. Memorial Sponsors included:

In Memory Of: Sponsor:

Albert Jose Vigil John and Joyce Vigil

Louise Apodaca JoAnn Phillips

Joseph Hattan Lillian Hattan

Fernando and Sinforosa

Vigil Carl and Rosemary Salazar

Jerry Romero Carolyn and Andrea

Romero

Fidel and Celia Odona Vigil Agnes and Jack Birosak

Claudia True Mark True

Joseph Hattan Carolyn and Andrea

Romero

We held a BBQ after the tournament including a silent

auction. This year’s event raised approximately

$4,700 for our Scholarship Fund Family members,

friends of the family, and companies that do business

with family members also participated in the

fundraising. Please join us in thanking the following

people and businesses that sponsored golfers and

donated prizes and items to our silent auction:

Salazar Properties Inc LLC * Hair at the Village *

Carolyn Romero * The Broadlands Golf Course * 91st

East Salon * “B” Fitness * LouAnn Beal * Pierre and

Loretta Lopez * Mimi Vigil * Joan Cordo * Art

Romero* JoAnn Phillips * The Novak Agency * Valley

Produce 8 Colorado Ranchers Dairy Products *

Perlmutter for Congress * Jared Polis Foundation *

Nova Mexican Foods * Compesino Foods * L&T

Properties * Las Placitas Publications* Dave Nugent

Joe Apodaca, Jr (registering), Florida Vigil, JoAnn Phillips,

Rosemary Salazar, Rose Theresa Vigil, Carolyn Romero

Carl Salazar

Melanie Medina, Carlos Valdez and Andrea Romero

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SAVE THE DATE

6TH

VIGILFAMILY REUNION

JULY 17 – 19, 2015

The date has been set so mark your calendars. We will

return to Trinidad, Colorado for our 6th

Vigil Family

Reunion. We need your help to plan this fun event.

We need a Reunion Chair as well as Reunion

Committee members. If you are interested in joining

the planning committee – or have ideas of activities

we should include, please send your

suggestions/contact information to John Vigil at

JHVigil1440@msn.com.

Social Expansion

Decendents of Juan de Jesus is now on Facebook,

keeping you upto date on all the latest news and

events. Share photos, ask questions and meet more of

our fabulous family. Find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/DescendantsOfJuanDeJesusVigil

FOUNDATION UPDATE

NOTE: We recently received a very generous

donation in which you may be interested.

Dear Carolyn,

Each year Wells Fargo Community Support sponsors

an auction. Participating employees donate items to

auction off and select the organization(s) the auction

funds will be donated to. This year, I donated a

variety of purses and unused gift cards I had received

and selected the Juan De Jesus Vigil Foundation to

donate the proceeds to.

I selected your foundation specifically because you

helped my family with their genealogy and because I

wanted to be a part of the good work the foundation

performs by providing scholarships to Vigil family

members. My mother started documenting my Vigil

roots and found information about her 3rd great

grandfather, José Maria Vigil, on the Juan De Jesus

Vigil Foundation website. She talked to you and you

were able to refer her to someone who had

information about our roots. This information allowed

us to document our lineage back to Spain.

Although my relationship to Juan De Jesús Vigil is

too distant to calculate, the Wells Fargo employee

who won the auction, Michelle Gutierrez, is also a

relative of Juan De Jesús Vigil. It is a small world.

Patricia Grigorian

* * * * *

Applications for scholarships and grants can be

downloaded from the Vigil website, or contact John

Vigil at (303) 650-0470 or jhvigil1440@msn.com

Cut-off for the 2013 Scholarship Applications –

4/30/2013

FAMILY NEWS

Rita Vigil (Celedon)

The Archdiocese of Denver notified us that mom (Rita

Vigil) has won the Saint Cecilia Award for her years

of service as a pastoral musician. A mass for her and

one other person plus a little reception will be held

Friday, November 16, 2012 at Most Precious Blood

Catholic Church, Denver, CO 80210. (I-25 and

Colorado Blvd.) Feel free to go to www.archden.org

2005 Reunion in Trinidad, Colorado

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and put St. Cecilia Award in the search box to find out

more information if you are interested.

This is a wonderful honor and only two or three

people receive this award annually. Please join us in

congratulating her and celebrate her years of service.

Markus Vigil (Celedon)

Hi Carolyn,

Our son, Makaeus, just turned one year old. Here is a

photo of him and his daddy.

Thanks again

for all of your

efforts for our

family.

Rich Hattan (Celedon)

Hello everyone. I'm a sophomore at the Northern

Illinois University. I'm majoring in Music Education.

During my first semester of my freshman year, I ran

into an old friend that I had in high school. He told me

about a music fraternity called Phi Mu Alpha. Now

hearing the word "fraternity", I was turned off. When I

looked into it, I found out that musicians like Prince,

the band "Chicago" and famous composers like John

Philip Sosa were in Phi Mu Alpha. Learning this, I

decided to give it a shot. Fast forward a few months,

and I joined Phi Mu Alpha. During my first semester,

I was chosen to be the Social Chair of the fraternity.

Ever since then, I've been in love with Phi Mu Alpha.

Now, I'm Secretary, Alumni Officer, and Social chair

of the fraternity. Next year I'll be running for

President. Phi Mu Alpha, to me, is a getaway. It gets

me away from the stress of school and work. It allows

me to have fun with music.

Me being a music major, there is always a pursuit of

perfection with my instrument. This almost takes the

fun and energy out of music for me.

In early November, Phi Mu Alpha hosted a Fall

recital. I decided to arrange Adele's "Someone Like

You" for the recital. Instead of playing the original

with a piano, I decided to make it my own and

arranged it for my secondary instrument, the Steel

Pans. The Steel Pans are steel drums (Bass, Cellos,

Double Seconds, and Tenor) from Trinidad and

Tobago. What makes this so cool is that it's never

really been done before. Steel Pans have

never accompanied voice before (to my knowledge),

especially in this context. Take a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TKW-HxqfBY

Rich

And from his proud dad and mom…

He composed this for the Steel Pans and wants you all

to see it. He is the tall white guy in the middle (ha

ha).

He said it was hard and is probably the last time he

will do that!

Dennis and I are now (temporarily?) empty

nesters. No kids at home, but we do have our yellow

lab Luke.

We turned Ted's old bedroom into a den/dressing

room. We have an old house with very limited closet

space. It was nice to take over Ted's closet. All the

kids are doing well. Richie is in his second year of

college. We see him at his concerts or at Don's house

(Richie lives 5 minutes from Don Hattan's house). Ted

is teaching music in Champaign, about 2 hours away.

I have gone to one of the football games to watch him

direct the band. We will also be going to his winter

concert.

I had the opportunity to visit Michelle in San

Francisco last May. Hopefully Dennis and I will both

be able to visit her next year. Michelle will be home

for Christmas and New Years. It will have been over

six months since we were all together. Hope all is well

with everyone.

Markus and Makaeus Vigil

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Ted Hattan (Celedon)

Well I finally succeeded in landing a job as a music

teacher. It is at a small Catholic school, which isn't

exactly ideal but it is working out well enough so far.

My only real issue is the lack of a teacher's union and

the small salary that is a result of such. The job itself,

however, is wonderful.

I teach band, choir, group guitar and two percussion

courses. The program is small (there are roughly a

dozen students in choir and fifteen in band, though

only 300 students total at the school) but the students

are very well behaved and talented.

I recently took a handful of them to perform in the

Honor Band. This consists of the most talented

students from each of ten schools who rehearse

together all day and perform a concert in the evening.

It was a great experience for all. My students were

able to work with a much larger ensemble than they

were used to (the Honor Band was about 95 students).

I was able to teach sectionals to the 20 euphonium,

tuba and trombone students. These were my main

instruments in high school and college. We have none

of these instruments being played in my tiny band, so

I nostalgically enjoyed this opportunity.

I am also very busy leading Madrigal rehearsals at the

school. Our dinner/performance is in a few weeks and

I feel that we are nowhere near ready for this.

However, I've seen enough to know that this feeling

exists 99% of the time for all music teachers. I'm sure

the students will

sound wonderful

but I cannot stop

worrying about it.

All my music

groups also have a

Christmas concert

in mid-December,

which is currently

another source of

anxiety. I know it

has only been a

few months, but I

truly love my job.

Hopefully this

leads to many more

years as a happy music teacher.

Things are going well in my personal life as well.

Maintaining a long-distance relationship is rough, but

Stephanie and I are handling it very well. I see her up

by her place every weekend and she comes down to

visit me mid-week sometimes. Alex (her daughter) is

growing up so fast. She will be 2 years old in a month

(she was 10 months old when Stephanie and I met).

She adores me and is finally able to say my name, or

something close to it, which I cheesily find heart-

warming. Stephanie, Alex and I video chat at least

once a week, which helps make the distance seem

much smaller.

I hope this letter finds you all well. If you are in

Illinois, come see our Madrigals perform on

November 30th-December 1st and see our winter

concert on Tuesday, December 11th. Merry Christmas

to all and have a joyous new year.

Rose Theresa Vigil and Jose Pérez (Manuel)

Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the

World for 2012. Last December, Jose made

reservations for a visit and vacation in Peru to meet

his family, friends and spent a week in Cuzco for

our trek to Machu Picchu. I can't even begin to

describe our adventure as one must experience it for

themselves.

"Machu Picchu is a place which cannot be described

in words, but has to be seen and experienced. Its

uniqueness is far beyond your imagination. You must

experience all the beauty that Machu Picchu offers to

believe that

such a

wonder does

exists and is

waiting for

you to

explore it.

Machu

Picchu is

known to be

the most

sacred wonder of the world. The unique views you

will see here will stun and amaze you with its beauty

Richie, Dennis, Michelle,

Eileen, Ted Hattan and Luke, the

dog

Rose Theresa Vigil and Jose Pérez

Rich, Dennis, Michelle, Eileen and

Ted Hattan (and Luke the dog)

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and magnificence. Here you will have an

unforgettable time filled with numerous attractions

and entertainments".

JOHN AND JOYCE VIGIL (Manuel)

50TH

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 2012

John and Joyce Vigil

celebrated their 50th

Wedding Anniversary

on Labor Day,

Monday, September

3, 2012, exactly 50

years after their initial

wedding on Labor Day, September 3, 1962 in Delta,

CO.

The celebration was held and hosted at the popular

wedding facility of Stone Brook Manor, Thornton,

CO. The program included a Vigil/Maes Photo

Display, Power Point Presentation, and a historical

review of the Vigil/Maes family highlights of 50 plus

years.

Cocktails, Buffet Dinner, and Music were provided.

Dr. Don Bruno was the Master of Ceremonies, and

Mrs. Charlene Albin, local pianist, provided the

music. Fr. Mark Franceschinini gave the Dinner and

Anniversary Blessing.

The celebration was sponsored by the children and

grandchildren of John and Joyce: Jacquelyn Vigil,

Jeraldine and James Elliott, Jeffrey Vigil, Tyler,

Carley and Allyson Elliott.

Fun was had by all the family and friends in

attendance.

Lillian R. (Vigil) Hattan (Celedon)

Thank you all for coming to the "Lil is Back"

gathering at Carolyn's. It was so wonderful to see you

all and get reacquainted and reminiscing and

remembering old times. Your taking time out to come

see me was greatly appreciated.

As I made my

way down to

Aguilar and

Trinidad, I made

it a point to visit

as many

homesteads as I

could with

memories and

tears but also laughter. The Trujillo Creek Cemetery

looks great and I tip my hat to all that take care of it.

John, I did see your place with the double wide.

Looks good.

Thanks to Carolyn and Andrea for organizing the

gathering and to the many cooks that made

contributions. Everything was delicious. I hope I can

make the next reunion and see everyone again. Best

wishes to all for the upcoming Holiday Season. Stay

well and happy.

Dorothy McQueen (Celedon)

As the year is ticking by faster and faster, time is

getting away from me. My year started out very badly

as my father, Joe Hattan, was taken ill at the same

time my mother, Lil Hattan, was in the hospital. Mom

recovered but

dad went

downhill from

there and passed

April 19th. It

was a very sad

time for us all.

Mom is hanging

in there and

learning to

make the best of

her new life.

At our household, we have been putting in sewers on

our properties. The whole Florida Keys are

supposed to be have sewers by 2015 and each home

owner is responsible for making it happen. As we live

on cap rock, it has been a very labor intensive job. As

all good hard workers, we persevered and got the job

done! I never want to have to use another jackhammer

John and Joyce Vigil

Lillian Hattan, Andrea and Carolyn

Romero

Bill, Dorothy and Joe McQueen

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LOL.

Bills welding business has been hanging in there and

he loves working for himself. My business has

been off but we are hanging in too. Looking for the

economy to get better for everyone.

My son, Joe, started his own scrap metal business. He

sounds so excited when we talk to him and is doing

well.

Bill's health has been good. He no longer must have

angiograms for his aneurism in his head. Doc says it is

healed. He still has to have yearly MRI's to check on

where he had his brain tumor but so far so good.

We have put our boat back in the water after hurricane

season and are looking forward to spending

many good days being on the water having fun

fishing.

I wish you all Peace and happiness and good

health this next year. Enjoy life, it goes fast.

Julie Apodaca (Celedon)

We had a terrific time using the helicopter adventure

over Colorado Springs that we won at the 2011 Vigil

Golf and BBQ. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

SAD GOOD BYES

Linda Trujillo (Celedon)

Written by Kathy (Trujillo)

My Aunt, Linda Mondragon

(born Trujillo) passed on

August 7, 2012. She was

preceded in death by her

beloved "Bill," (Elias William

Trujillo) in 1993.

Linda was born to Lucia Estrada and Felipe Nerio

Trujillo in September 1924 in Eaton, Colorado. They

had one daughter, Pat, who also preceded her in death

in 1989.

Linda is survived by her two dearly loved

granddaughters, Kelley and Danielle, and 2 great-

grandsons. She is also survived by 11 nieces and

nephews who loved her dearly. Aunt Linda was one

of my biggest genealogy supporters, and was very

excited about going to Colorado in September to see

her family again, and attended several family

reunions. I will miss her greatly!

Crystal Raee Ojeda (Celedon)

CRYSTAL RAEE OJEDA of Littleton, CO was 38

when she passed on . Survived by sons, Jordon and

Daniel Vega, Parents Beverly V. and Ernest J. Ojeda,

Sister, Nicole Ellerman Romero Passed away

peacefully while she was dreaming. May the Lord

hold her close.

EMAIL PLEASE

If you are receiving this newsletter via snail mail and

have an email address, help us save costs. We will

email you a copy.

Linda Trujillo

circa 1970

Turi, Dominic and Julie Apodaca

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We also need your help with updating the mailing list.

If you have moved, or you know people who have not

been receiving our newsletter and should, please let

Carolyn Romero know at 303-514-0620 or

carolyn.romero@comcast.net.

REQUEST FOR MORE

ORAL HISTORIES

Since July 2005, we have obtained the oral histories

for more than 70 people. If you are willing to

participate in this project, please contact Jan Lindgren

at jan@lifesreflections.com or at (303) 980-0432. If

you are not in the Denver area, we can make

arrangements to take your history over the phone.

“Check out my website www.lifesreflections.com to

see what has been written about the Juan de Jesus

family!”

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Rose Theresa Vigil and Jose Pérez

John H. Vigil and Joe Apodaca, Sr.

Carlos Caballo, Justin Tapia, Kalee Salazar, Arthur Apodaca

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Jacob and Jerry Phillips, Joe Apodaca Sr, Joshua Phillips

Dan and Dell Stollsteimer, Henry Martinez and Ricky

Stollsteimer

Morata, Gary Salazar, Ime Salazar, Dave Gover

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VIGIL POETS

Beautiful

By: Turi Apodaca

Beautiful is the soft snow slowly dancing before

pounding against the hard surface.

Beautiful is the frantic search for the first snowflake

disappearing into the cold dry earth.

Beautiful is the enduring digging through the other

side of the snow cave.

Beautiful is even the soft red face people gain from

the cold.

The wind sounding like a constant echo through the

sky.

Beautiful is not het soft cry from the very quaking

loss of someone close.

Beautiful is not the cold loss of a toy, followed by

the pure sadness,

That is the ugly of life…Tornados, Hurricanes,

Terrorist attacks…

Pure sadness is pure ugly.

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

On behalf of the Juan de Jesús Vigil Family Foundation

Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for your

past support and contributions. The demand for

scholarships continues to increase.

The Juan de Jesús Vigil Family

Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3)

organization. Established in 2005 by

the descendants of Juan de Jesús Vigil, the Foundation

honors the name of Juan de Jesús Vigil and promotes our

Vigil family legacy into perpetuity. The Mission for our

Foundation is to promote educational scholarships,

grants to qualified and deserving descendants of Juan de

Jesús Vigil, and to provide support to charitable causes

that will benefit the descendants of Juan De Jesús and

Maria Bustos Vigil. In addition, we provide leadership

opportunities for young people. The Foundation is

governed by a volunteer board of directors that represent

a cross section of our community and who are

committed to making a difference for the educational

success of the Juan de Jesús Vigil descendants.

Please help us by sending your donation to:

Juan de Jesús Vigil Foundation

3072 E. 136th Place

Thornton, CO 80602

Any amount will help and your donation is tax

deductible. Thank you again for your continued support.

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IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline for Scholarship Applications * April 30, 2013

2013 Scholarships Awarded * June 30, 2013

3rd

Annual Vigil Memorial Golf Tournament and BBQ * July 20, 2013

6TH

Juan de Jesus Vigil Family Reunion * July 17 – 19, 2015

Vigil Family Foundation 3068 W 11th Ave. Circle Broomfield, CO 80020