Amanda Kerrigan

Editors of the Prospector pose with the former Editor-in-Chief of 1949, JoAnne Meury.

JoAnne Meury Garrison was a graduate of MSHS in 1949, back before the high school had even been built, and all students in every grade attended school in the building that is now Manitou Springs Elementary School. She has seen Manitou Springs change from first making a name for itself through the spring water, to what it is today. Garrison came to MSHS to share Manitou Springs history and answer questions from the newspaper staff on Tue. Oct. 17, giving the Prospector a unique opportunity to meet someone who has seen MSHS change a lot over the course of her life. 

In addition to being the Editor-In-Chief of the Prospector, Garrison was also the valedictorian of her graduating class and attended Colorado College on a scholarship. “She was very, very active in anything that was musical, she always participated in all the school plays,” Garrison’s daughter, Jenni Willuhn said. “She was everything but a cheerleader.”

Garrison grew up in the heart of downtown Manitou Springs, first on Lafayette Road, then on Midland Avenue, making for a convenient walk to school everyday. “We had to cross the railroad that came right along below Midland Avenue hauling the gold ore from Cripple Creek to the mill in Old Colorado City,” Garrison said. 

As an editor, Garrison had more responsibility on the newspaper staff than the rest, which gave her an unexpected outcome. “There was a young man who was a junior that year, and I was a senior. He was writing up the basketball stories and football stories. Since I was the editor, I didn’t necessarily have to accept what he wrote,” Garrison said. “He wasn’t very happy with me about that. It ended up when both of us graduated from high school that I married him. He’s the father of my kids.” 

The days of physical newspapers are dwindling, the Prospector looks a lot different than it did 70 years ago. “We had to type everything up on a typewriter and make copies of it, then take it down to the Pikes Peak Bulletin newspaper office, where the editor there was Francis Graham, and she would take our copy of the weekly prospector and typeset it,” Garrison said. The Prospector used to be published this way biweekly.

Garrison’s father worked at the mineral water bottling plant at the bottom of Ute Pass, where he was selling lemonade when he met her mother who had come to Manitou (the name of the town didn’t change to Manitou Springs until 1935, and her father was the one who championed the change) during summers from Kansas to take advantage of the health benefits for asthma. “I grew up in Manitou Springs when the population in the winter was about 300 people,” Garrison said. Manitou Springs was only open Memorial day through Labor day up until around the 1970’s. “During the summer the population of Manitou Springs became about 3000 people.” 

Manitou Springs has changed a lot since then. The current rivals in MSHS are Saint Mary’s and Woodland Park, but Garrison recalls the main rival used to be Cripple Creek. “The reason I remember Cripple Creek the most is because after every game we played with Cripple Creek, the boys would go out and fight after the game,” Garrison said. 

Additionally, sports like basketball were only available to the boys, which they happened to play on the auditorium stage. Many people also wonder why the doors to the elementary school differentiate between boys and girls. “The girls played in one part of the park waiting for the bell to ring and the boys played separately. Boys and girls were more separated, even to the point of which door we came in,” Garrison said. “And part of the reason for that is when coming into the building, the coat closets and restrooms for boys and girls were separate.”

Garrison’s knowledge of Manitou Springs doesn’t just end at the school. She and her family have a wealth of information and pieces of Manitou Springs culture. “The point where The Loop is, the traffic circle, there’s actually a vortex there from Ruxton Creek, Fountain Creek, all those creeks coming together right there,” Willuhn said. “The Indians way back centuries ago, knew about it and came to Manitou for the healing water.” 

Garrison remains highly involved in the community, and even plans to ride in next year’s homecoming parade. “She’s the oldest one around and she’s still on Facebook, and of course, everything that happens with Manitou, she’s a champion of. She’s your biggest cheerleader, 92 years old and 4’8” and your biggest cheerleader,” Willuhn said.