La Jara Consolidated School

The La Jara Consolidated School District Number 1 organized January 25, 1915, for the betterment of rural education. The first consolidated school in the San Luis Valley. Monument erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the William A. Braiden Foundation and by the students and Board of Education of this consolidated school.

1950. Board of Education, John W. Shawcroft, James P. McKelvey, W. S. Mount. County Superintendent of Schools, Fred T. Christensen. Contractor, Erick G. Peterson. Plaque by old train station: Howsam Park. Bob Howsam was born February 28, 1918 in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Lee and Mary, moved the family to La Jara in 1926 to produce honey.

Bob was an All Valley basketball player for the La Jara Wildcats in 1936. He attended the University of Colorado and served in WWII as a Navy test and delivery pilot. He married Janet Johnson in 1939 and they raised two sons, Robert Jr. and Edwin, who were born in Alamosa. Bob, Lee, and his brother Earl bought the Denver Bears in 1947.

The Bears set minor league records annually, even outdrawing several major league teams. Bob brought professional football to Denver in 1959 as a founding member of the American Football League. He sold the Broncos in 1961. Bob was the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals when the team won the World Series in 1964.

He was president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds when the "The Big Red Machine" won two consecutive world series in 1975 and 1976. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004. Although Bob Howsam's career took him far from La Jara, he never forgot his home in the valley, his many friends, and the experiences that helped shape his life.

The Howsam family thanks La Jara Rotary Club for the dedication of this park