AFS — Gone But Not Forgoten

I was at Dostal Alley last week when
a well-informed source told me that Al
Frei had sold AFS to Martin Marietta.
We rushed to get a short story in last
week’s  WR-C . This week, we have the
interview; it is somewhat bittersweet for
residents of both Clear Creek and Gilpin
counties. We named AFS “Business of the
Year” in 2022 because of their community
generosity for church and school dona-
tions of aggregate.

While he is thanking all of us, we need to
be thanking him.

EDITORIAL ………………………………………………… 303-906-9902

For the past 30 years I’ve been driving
up and down Clear Creek Canyon and
watching the gravel trucks thunder by
down the canyon. I always looked at those
trucks with pride in American industry.

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LEGALS/PUBLIC NOTICES ………………………… 303-906-9902

SUBSCRIPTIONS ………………. 303-906-9902 or 303-773-8313

They were hauling badly needed ag-
gregate for new home and office buildings
along the front range.

Colorado has been booming for the past
50 years but has always been known as a
“boom and bust” state. The Rocky Moun-
tains were cold with granite mountains
that gave up their minerals grudgingly
with hard rock miners tearing at their
hillside souls. A few made fortunes, and
sweat was lost by many. The mountain
towns came alive with tourism when the
ski boom began.

Along with their strong environmen-
tal efforts of running a clean operation,
they buy millions of gallons of water
from Central City. When you drive in
front of the quarry, they constantly spray
U.S. Highway 6 for dust and dirt. They
have reclaimed acres of quarry digs with
new topsoil, planted grass, and returned
hillsides to a natural state. The mountain
sheep love the place.

Horace Tabor made his money by selling
shovels and mining supplies in Leadville.
AFS has turned gravel into gold, but it
took 60 years of hard labor to produce a
fortune for the well-deserving family.

Along with the quarry, the Frei family
owns additional trails in both counties,
allowing open trails and public use on pri-
vate lands. They have been good citizens
for 60 years. It is a happy ending for them
from a “rocky start,” so to speak.

Al Frei is a very humble man; I’ve never
seen him, but on one occasion, wear-
ing anything but blue jeans, a vest, and a
flannel shirt, with soiled work boots, and
he always drove his white pickup. I saw
him at the Idaho Springs Elks Lodge in
December, volunteering with his daughter
and dog at the non-profit holiday market.
He always seems to be in a cordial mood
and very down to earth. I hope he can stay
friendly, always looking out for others.
With new wealth, he will have many new
friends.

I have become a friend of Al, who has
sponsored our “Looking Back” history
column, undoubtedly the most popular
feature in the 162-year-old newspaper, the
oldest newspaper left standing in Colo-
rado. When it became time to renew his
ad for 2024 last month, Al hung his head
in his office and said, “I have some disap-
pointing news for you, Bob; I won’t be
renewing my ad because I’m selling the
company,” at the end of the month after I
quickly asked, When?

Wherever life leads him, he can be proud
of his years of toil in the gravel pits of the
Rocky Mountains for himself and his great
family. Founder father Albert Frei can be
very proud of his sons.

He did buy a “Thank You” ad in the
newspaper with the exclusive interview
that begins on the front page and jumps to
the center pages of this week’s  WR-C .

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