Calhan man killed in crash devoted energy to county fair

Calhan's Dan Vetrano, a longtime businessman and volunteer for the El Paso County 4-H Club, died in a traffic crash early Sunday in Elbert County.

Vetrano, 45, was known to eastern El Paso County residents as a tireless supporter of the El Paso County Fair, held each summer in Calhan. Friends said Tuesday that Vetrano was generous with his time and resources.

"If he saw anybody who was in trouble or needed a hand, he never stopped to think about what it would cost him to help them, he just automatically helped," said Monica Deines-Henderson, chairwoman of the Fair Advisory Board.

Vetrano died when the truck he was driving drifted off Elbert County Road 69 in Sunday's early hours. The truck flipped, and Vetrano was thrown out. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the Colorado State Patrol. An official from the Elbert County Coroner's Office pronounced him dead at the scene. He is survived by his wife and five children. Family members couldn't be reached Tuesday.

Vetrano owned Same Day Haulin' Inc. and Dan's Trash Service. The Same Day Haulin' business had a humble beginning, according to an account on the company's Web page.

"The 1985 beginning was a beat up, old 1972 Chevy pickup with a flatbed and no side boards venturing from house to house to remove unwanted items," it says.

The Calhan-based company bought bigger trucks and hired several employees. In May 2007, Vetrano started Dan's Trash Service to serve communities such as Calhan, Elbert, Elizabeth, Simla and Yoder. The company was the first on the eastern plains to offer recycling, Deines-Henderson said.

Vetrano played an important role in a June 2006 effort to clean up about 10,000 tires that had accumulated on a property in Ramah, a town about 44 miles northeast of Colorado Springs, when he arranged for trucks and trailers to haul them to a recycling company.

Vetrano was also known for his ornery streak. He sometimes clashed with other fair volunteers over how the event should be run. In 2003, he spoke out in favor of the fair's management staff even while other advisory board members leveled criticism. Sue Crozier, another fair volunteer who was friendly with Vetrano but not always on his side, said his commitment to the fair and 4-H participants was clear.

"He was always the first one to step up. If something needed done, he'd do it," Crozier said. "If somebody asked for something, Dan would say ‘We can do that.'"