Have you ever purchased a wonderful-looking container of strawberries from the grocery store, only to find those shiny, bright red berries are mere tasteless imposters? Or perhaps you’ve tried one of those little seedless personal watermelons on sale in February. You did all the tests—looked for the yellow “field spot,” felt its weightiness in your hand, and noted a slight softness at the stem. It’s a nice, ripe watermelon! Then you got home, cut into it, and discovered that your beautiful fruit produced what can only be described as crunchy water. How disappointing!

As Erin Dreistadt, owner of Aspen Moon Farm in Hygiene said, that tasteless February watermelon went through an epic and very unnatural journey to get to your local grocery store. It’s a journey that sapped that watermelon of its natural flavor and character. It was likely picked from its vine way too early and to keep it looking good on its adventure, the watermelon may have been sprayed with a protective coating to maintain its shine and color. Then, it was shipped in dark containers over great distances. After traveling thousands of miles and reaching its destination here in Colorado, it waited in a warehouse before finally making it into the produce section of a massive grocery store, where a weary 3:00 am produce stocker carefully placed it in a marketing-optimized display.

From seed to table, that watermelon had been expertly engineered and managed—not for taste or quality, but for production efficiency, distribution, and “shelf appeal”—all for the purpose of presenting the unsuspecting consumer with a picture of a manufactured idea of a “quality” watermelon, shined up and free of dirt. The fact that the watermelon tastes bad is not surprising. The fact that it even made it to the end of this voyage looking good is an impressive feat of modern commerce with one goal in mind: the final sale at the check-out counter. According to calculations by Gemini, a single two-pound seedless watermelon from Honduras requires almost a pound of carbon emissions (nearly half its own weight) to reach the Lafayette Walmart produce section.

There’s another way to go about this but it requires you, the consumer, to take ownership, put thought into your food-buying approach, and adjust your expectations. A century ago, the average Coloradan would not have been able to find a February watermelon at their local market simply because it wasn’t in season. The very idea would have been preposterous. A commitment to buying and eating local requires a “table rotation” approach that leverages the availability of locally produced foods well-suited for our ecology and climate.

Dreistadt educated me on much of this while walking around Aspen Moon Farm on a recent 80-degree late-March day. She pulled a single radish from the ground for me—a one-step distribution network of exactly five feet from the dirt at my shoes directly to my mouth. And it was the best radish I’ve ever eaten. Starting in April each year, Aspen Moon opens their own farmstand at 7940 Hygiene Road. They can also be found at the Boulder County Farmers Market.

Sustainable, Ethical, and Local

What does it mean for a producer to be sustainable, ethical, and local? For Dreistadt, who has been running Aspen Moon for seventeen years, sustainable agriculture goes a step beyond organic farming to embrace the concepts of regenerative and biodynamic farming.

“Biodynamic agriculture is a spiritual science,” said Dreistadt. “It takes into account that there’s a lot about nature that we don’t understand, and so we first observe.” As Dreistadt handed me a piece of fresh spinach to try, she explained that by utilizing an active microbial system, they grow crops that are stronger, taste better, and have more nutritional value.

According to the Aspen Moon website, biodynamic agriculture moves beyond the soil chemistry focus that drives most modern agriculture and re-incorporates ecologically natural processes into crop production. This involves the use of microbial-based compost, cover crops, and crop rotations based on a four-phase calendar revolving around “leaf, root, flower, and fruit.”

“We’ve been applying biodynamic preps to our entire property for over 14 years, and each year we continue to see an increase in the vibrancy of the land and the crops,” they state on their website.

This part of Boulder County is within what can be considered a “peri-urban” environment, which is ideal for local, sustainable, and ethical agriculture. Boulder County’s historic land zoning laws have created a mixed agricultural and open-space greenbelt surrounding the county’s communities. Combine that with a highly educated, socially and environmentally conscious community, and you have a strong—albeit high-cost—market for local farming. A drive along the back roads of northeast Boulder County reveals a healthy scattering of small working farms with their greenhouses and, oftentimes, self-serve farmstands.

Along 63rd Street, just northwest of Niwot, lies the Treehouse Farm Collective. Here, a small group of independent farmers collectively leases a beautiful piece of agricultural land surrounded on three sides by Boulder County Open Space. They combine resources here to offer the community a range of high-quality products. It represents another model of how sustainable, ethical, and local agriculture can work. Like Aspen Moon, the Treehouse Farm Collective operates its own public farmstand, open daily from April through November.

I walked the grounds with Helen Skiba, owner of Artemis Flower Farm, accompanied by “Elder,” an Icelandic Sheepdog. Skiba described an interesting background that took her from English literature and poetry to working with indigenous tea farmers in Ecuador, followed by a tenure at Aspen Moon, and finally to co-owning Artemis Flower Farm with her husband, Nelson Esseveld.

Skiba looked the part of a local cut-flower farmer in her wide-brimmed hat. She and her flower studio exude an aura of local authenticity—a refreshing reminder that such places still exist amidst the mass corporate production that surrounds us. As consumers, we still have choices if we seek them.

It’s not necessarily a dream job, however, as Skiba explained the stresses of making a business like this work. Often those stresses come in the form of financial and climate uncertainties, which are particularly concerning in this very warm and dry year. Expanding on the concept of biodynamic farming, Skiba explained the basics of cover crops and no-till practices that focus on ecosystem-based agriculture.

“We incorporate a lot of cover crops, making sure something is always growing and giving carbon back to the soil,” said Skiba. Looking out over one of her flower plots, she explained that cover cropping ensures there is always a root system in the soil, as opposed to a fallow field which is mostly devoid of organic material. “We think of our farm as a place where we learn from the creatures already here,” said Skiba.

It’s the collective land-lease approach that opens the door to financial viability at Treehouse. “Just the fact of being in a collective allows us to afford organic practices,” said Skiba. “And, because we are able to afford the land by leasing, we can support a more human-sustainable business practice.”

Skiba’s statement about human-sustainable practices speaks to the ethics of the operation, especially when applied both to employees and the community. A local farm must be able to support local wages, which is a challenge but an important consideration. As for the community, Skiba’s message is simple: “I’d love for people to just know that there are local cut flowers, and people deserve to have them.”

Bypassing the Big Box Store

I mentioned to Dreistadt my suspicion that the barrier to entry for many consumers is driven by a perceived inconvenience. One major advantage of big agriculture is that their massive marketing and distribution systems make it easy for the average busy consumer to use the grocery store as a one-stop shop. Local growers can never compete with that convenience. As consumers, we must adjust our approach to meet them halfway.

Dreistadt suggested two solutions. First, start small. Don’t try to replace your entire food system all at once. Start with one thing, then another. Over time, you can convert an increasing percentage of your purchasing to local producers.

Second, embrace the seasonality. Instead of insisting on tomatoes in May, look for snap peas and spinach. In late fall, switch gears from short-term shopping to winter stocking by focusing on durable produce that can take you through the winter until those snap peas return in spring.

Looking at it another way, try to pretend you’re back in 1926 and your only option is the local farmer and what they can offer at any given time. Instead of going to the store with a recipe, go to the market with an open mind and build your meals around what’s available. After all, wouldn’t you rather eat the best radish you’ve ever had than the worst watermelon? When Colorado’s true watermelon season arrives in late summer, you’ll appreciate that delicious, local flavor more than ever.

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The post The New Farmers: Supporting Sustainable, Ethical, and Local Agriculture appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In the high prairie of southern Wyoming, just west of Cheyenne, a glass-fronted building houses one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Named “Derecho” by a Wyoming middle schooler, this house-sized machine can process every document in the Library of Congress faster than a human can blink.

Derecho “thinks” at a rate of twenty quadrillion calculations per second. But Derecho isn’t reading books in the Library of Congress. It has a more specific mission. Derecho is there to help us understand and predict the Earth’s weather and climate, taking in and analyzing massive volumes of input data from the Earth’s many weather-influencing systems and events. 

For instance, it could  calculate how smoke particles from a fire in western Colorado may interact with ice crystals in a Front Range thunderstorm to determine the likelihood of a hailstorm. It can analyze and visualize the patterns of “sub meso-scale” ocean eddies (little swirls in the ocean just a few kilometers wide) across the entire Pacific Ocean to simulate rates of oceanic carbon absorption. 

Derecho is just one part of the scientific infrastructure overseen by the Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Recently, the Trump administration has signaled the possible dismantling or relocating of NCAR. The center is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent federal agency that reports directly to the Executive Office of the President.

While the political motivations behind such a move warrant their own investigation, this article delves into NCAR’s inherent value in its current form and the impracticality of its relocation.

“Science thrives when politicians, Democrat or Republican, stay out of it,” said Dr. Roger Pielke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder. 

Dr. Pielke is a former NCAR scientist, founder of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR), and a longtime Fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). He took the time to speak with me while traveling in Australia. 

As Dr. Pielke explained, while NCAR is primarily funded by the NSF, it is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), a consortium of about 130 North American colleges and Universities. Two of those universities sit at NCAR’s doorstep: the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. Both universities are among the best in the nation for weather related research. 

The Trump administration has argued that research institutions like NCAR should be relocated from “elite” coastal or mountain locations to the “industrial heartland.” But NCAR didn’t land in Boulder arbitrarily. It sits at the center of one of the densest concentrations of atmospheric and environmental science in the country — and moving it would sever those connections entirely.

Within a roughly 50-mile radius, NCAR neighbors:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder
• The Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL) in Boulder. They monitor global carbon dioxide levels    
• Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder. They are the nation’s source for alerts on solar flares and magnetic storms     
• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder in partnership with CU  
• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) in Fort Collins in partnership with CSU
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden
• National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) just south of Boulder

Furthermore, the combination of top universities and infrastructure means that the Front Range  arguably harbors the highest concentration of atmospheric science talent in the world. 

NCAR employs over 800 people in the Boulder area, many of whom would likely choose not to relocate to an “industrial heartland,” due to the likely smaller  talent pool for this kind of specialized knowledge . Consequently, moving NCAR’s headquarters would likely trigger a major “brain drain” in a highly complex, data-heavy discipline.

There is precedent for this. In 2019 two U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies were moved from Washington D.C. to Kansas City. In that instance approximately 75% of the impacted workforce chose to resign or retire rather than move. While the reduction in staff through “forced attrition” may have been part of the goal, the result was a substantial set-back to the progress and effectiveness of these agencies. 

One of the reasons why it’s important that NCAR remains on the leading edge of global atmospheric research is because of international competition in the sciences. “There is a need in the U.S.,” said Dr. Pielke “to ‘up the game’ in weather prediction.” Attempting to decommission or relocate NCAR would substantially reduce America’s global competitiveness in weather and climate science precisely at a time when accelerating scientific advancements are most needed. “The view from thirty-thousand feet is that any scientific institution can be improved upon,” said Dr. Pielke, “but what the Trump Administration is doing is not helping that.” 

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado. Designed by architect I. M. Pei with landscaping by Dan Kiley. Photo: Daderot, September 2005 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Furthermore, the combination of top universities and infrastructure means that the Front Range  arguably harbors the highest concentration of atmospheric science talent in the world. 

NCAR employs over 800 people in the Boulder area, many of whom would likely choose not to relocate to an “industrial heartland,” due to the likely smaller  talent pool for this kind of specialized knowledge . Consequently, moving NCAR’s headquarters would likely trigger a major “brain drain” in a highly complex, data-heavy discipline.

There is precedent for this. In 2019 two U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies were moved from Washington D.C. to Kansas City. In that instance approximately 75% of the impacted workforce chose to resign or retire rather than move. While the reduction in staff through “forced attrition” may have been part of the goal, the result was a substantial set-back to the progress and effectiveness of these agencies. 

One of the reasons why it’s important that NCAR remains on the leading edge of global atmospheric research is because of international competition in the sciences. “There is a need in the U.S.,” said Dr. Pielke “to ‘up the game’ in weather prediction.” Attempting to decommission or relocate NCAR would substantially reduce America’s global competitiveness in weather and climate science precisely at a time when accelerating scientific advancements are most needed. “The view from thirty-thousand feet is that any scientific institution can be improved upon,” said Dr. Pielke, “but what the Trump Administration is doing is not helping that.” 

The competition is, in fact, strong. In Europe, NCAR’s equivalent is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). It is an intergovernmental organization supported by 35 nations and widely considered the leader in global numeric weather prediction. 

The Europeans utilize a multinational cluster of supercomputers that is more scalable and powerful than Derecho or the operational U.S. forecasting systems, Cactus and Dogwood, which operate out of Arizona and Virginia, respectively. When fully utilized, the European supercomputers can outpace Derecho, Cactus, and Dogwood multiple times over, partly by leveraging Finland’s LUMI system. LUMI by itself is currently the world’s fifth most powerful supercomputer with a peak performance of 380 sustained petaflops (compared to Derecho’s 20 petaflops). 

LUMI is being utilized for the European Commission’s Destination Earth (or DestinE) Initiative, an ambitious plan to create a complete digital twin of the Earth and all of its “systems” by 2030. Europe’s digital twin Earth will bring the scale of their geographic modeling down to 1 kilometer which will allow for the real-time simulation of individual clouds and urban heat islands among other very granular weather features. 

On the other side of the planet lies China and its own very ambitious equivalent to NCAR, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), a division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). China’s equivalent to NCAR and ECMWF is their Earth System Numerical Simulator Facility, or EarthLab, opened in Beijing in 2021. Its goal is similar to Europe’s DestinE platform—to simulate the atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere (ice), and biosphere of the Earth as a single unit. 

These global competitors are well-organized, highly funded, and poised to race ahead of American atmospheric science innovation should we let politics blow headwinds into our progress. American innovation has long been rooted in world-leading scientific research. Losing our competitive edge in atmospheric science research may shift the focus of innovation to other world regions. Those competing regions will then gain the economic opportunities that always follow scientific discovery and innovation.

What NCAR Means to Those Who Rely On It

Kody Wilson is a Colorado-based independent meteorologist. His Facebook page, Denver & Front Range Weather, now has over a half-million followers, myself included. By going independent, Wilson is able to provide the depth and nuance to weather forecasting that traditional news station meteorologists just can’t match with a 5-minute weather segment on the evening news. Wilson’s large local following is a testament to his work ethic and the simultaneously entertaining and educational ways he presents our complicated weather. 

It’s also a testament to the fact that people love to talk about the weather. A weather event is often at the center of extraordinary life experiences—both good and bad. Perhaps it was the Christmas Eve Blizzard of ’82, or the Limon tornado, or Hurricane Andrew, or some other weather experience, but just about everyone can point to a weather-related event in their lives that impacted them in a major way. 

For some of us, these weather-related experiences lead to a lifetime career in meteorology. Wilson explained to me how, as a middle school aged kid, “a powerful microburst hit our home and farm in eastern Oregon. The damage was so intense we initially thought a tornado had come through. One hundred-year-old cottonwood trees were ripped out of the ground. The roof of our calving shed was torn off and thrown across the yard. Two by fours were driven into a storage freezer in our shop.” 

“Moments like those didn’t scare me away from the weather,” Wilson said “They deepened my curiosity and strengthened the path I already felt called to follow.” 

NCAR has been instrumental in Wilson’s career. “Many of the models, datasets, and forecasting tools I rely on, including advancements in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) system, originate from NCAR’s research,” Wilson said. “Their work turns complex atmospheric science into usable guidance, and my role is to translate that guidance into clear, real-time information that helps communities make decisions… In that sense, NCAR provides part of the scientific backbone, and I carry that science across the finish line into the real world where it protects lives and supports local communities.” 

I asked Wilson what he thinks NCAR’s value is to Colorado: “NCAR isn’t just a building in Boulder, it’s one of the engines behind the tools meteorologists rely on every day to help protect lives [and] property… across Colorado and beyond,” Wilson said. “It also supports major research investment into the state, making it a tangible asset for Colorado taxpayers. Dismantling NCAR would be a costly step backward, not just for science, but for public safety, economic resilience, and the future of weather preparedness in the West.” 

Climate researchers from the NCAR preparing for the ARCTAS mission.

As I write this, Dr. Scott Denning, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, is on a ship somewhere in the Indian Ocean teaching undergrads in a “Semester at Sea” program. He was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions about NCAR and how it relates to his life work. 

Early in his career, Dr. Denning worked closely with the late Dr. William Gray, CSU’s pioneering hurricane scientist. The fact that the world’s foremost hurricane scientist operated from a university about as far as one can get from the ocean is a testament to the value of CSU’s proximity to the atmospheric research facilities in Colorado’s Front Range, like NCAR. 

“He was a warm, funny, brilliant man,” said Dr. Denning of Dr. Gray. “And he was my friend and neighbor.” According to Dr. Denning, Dr. Gray had “worked out the structure and function of these storms based on his own personal field work before anybody had ever seen a satellite image of a hurricane!” Dr. Gray’s pioneering pencil-and-paper theoretical work was complemented by NCAR’s tools in data and airborne instrument measurements to create a legacy of hurricane forecasting and modeling that persists to this day. 

Dr. Denning, of course, has his own long history in working with NCAR. “I’ve worked closely with both land-surface modeling and biogeochemistry groups [at NCAR] for decades,” said Dr. Denning. “It’s been just fantastic to collaborate ‘right down the road’ for all these years! Great people, great facilities, and a concentration of expertise that’s just unmatched anywhere in the world.” 

“The new frontiers [at NCAR],” said Dr. Denning, “include fusion of satellite remote sensing, numerical modeling, and AI. I’m especially interested in how these new tools relate to the study of the fate and transport of atmospheric CO2.” I asked Dr. Denning why Colorado’s Front Range is the ideal location for NCAR, and his response reinforces my research: “The Front Range is a great place for NCAR and its work because of the tremendous concentration of scientific work here: NOAA, the USDA, the USGS, and our great universities and people.” 

Show more 11:46 PM View of Boulder, Colorado from the NCAR mesa, southwest of the city. Photo: Laurascudder, December 1999 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Clearly there is a passionate community here in Colorado and around the world for atmospheric science. But, some of it can seem a little abstract. The idea of creating an Earth digital twin or the ability to simulate a single cloud may not seem like they have much everyday use. But NCAR’s historical value has often been found in common-sense solutions to big problems. 

“Climate change is important,” said Dr. Pielke, “but it’s really a small part of NCAR’s portfolio. Much of what NCAR does has practical applications.” 

Improvements to Air Travel Safety 

These days we don’t hear much about airplane crashes caused by strong winds, but that wasn’t always the case. Prior to the 1990s, low-level wind events—specifically wind shear and microbursts–were the leading cause of major U.S. airline accidents, including a Delta flight in 1985 that crashed while attempting to land in Dallas due to a sudden microburst, killing 137 people. 

This and other weather-related crashes prompted NCAR scientists to lead field studies that resulted in the creation of new detection systems like the Low Level Wind Sheer Alert System (LLWAS). As a result of this work, airports around the world now have a perimeter of low-level wind detection devices and specialized radar systems that detect surface-level winds and immediately alert cockpits to threats. Since 1995 there have been zero major U.S. airline crashes caused by microbursts, and only one (Little Rock, 1999) where wind shear was a contributing factor. These NCAR-led solutions have saved thousands of lives and made air travel substantially safer in recent years. 

NCAR’s work towards aviation safety continues today as they are currently working with the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to outfit aircraft with turbulence-detection devices that automatically report and feed into air traffic control alert and communication systems. Without this solution, pilots are asked to voluntarily report turbulence to air traffic controllers, a slow and ineffective system. The new automated detection system for turbulence will utilize the “big data” of thousands of simultaneous airborne flights to model flight path turbulence risk, giving air crews better real-time information on turbulence and alternative flight paths to find smoother air. This could save the aviation industry tens of millions of dollars annually by avoiding turbulence-related damage, injuries, and delays. 

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA’s DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Innovations in Wildfire Detection and Mitigation 

The practical contributions of NCAR go well beyond low level wind detection. In the early 2000s, NCAR developed the Coupled Atmosphere Wildland Fire Environment (CAWFE). Large wildfires create their own weather. This model allows meteorologists and on-location firefighting agencies to better predict fire behavior, improving firefighting strategies and public safety measures. This technology contributes to the smoke forecasting we’ve seen in recent years where forest fires in Canada, for example, create bad air quality in New York. 

A visitor to the NCAR facility in Wyoming, where Derecho resides, offers the opportunity to see first-hand the wildfire modeling that massive supercomputing can accomplish. Right there in the visitor area you can watch a precise simulation of the behavior of the December 2021 Marshall Fire as it jumped and spread into the northern Denver metro suburbs by hurricane-force chinook winds. 

The future of fire weather science through NCAR involves AI applications that can accelerate mitigation and firefighting responses through real-time simulations of fire behavior that take into account micro-scale inputs like low-level winds, urban street topology, and the impact of “ember storms” that can ignite new spot fires across highways and fields. 

Agriculture

Two of the most compelling recent initiatives from NCAR combine weather and climate science with tangential interests like agriculture and disease prevention. For agriculture, NCAR is working on a program called CropSmart, a digital twin solution presented pragmatically as a decision-making tool for sustainable agriculture. The modest nature of that description hides a very sophisticated technology-centered solution for vastly improving the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production, one of the planet’s most impactful systems on climate and the human condition. 

CropSmart will provide growers with an end-to-end application and web-based tool for planning and decision making based on the digital simulation of their land combined with the inputs of local precipitation, soil conditions, and irrigation flows. 

Disease Prevention 

The mosquito is the deadliest animal on Earth. It kills almost a million people every year by transmitting disease. The prevalence and spread of disease-bearing mosquitos is heavily influenced by climate and weather patterns. 

NCAR has helped pioneer modeling systems that predict where and to what extent mosquito outbreaks will occur so that public health officials and municipalities can proactively mitigate or reduce the risk to their communities, saving lives and improving overall public health.

Balloon launch at Super Science Saturday, Mesa Lab, NCAR. Photo: C. Calvin / UCAR, November 2018 (CC BY-NC 4.0)

These are just a few examples of the practical value that NCAR has produced over the last several decades. Rapidly advancing power in raw computing combined with near-term opportunities to apply AI-based solutions, has created an opportunity for the atmospheric sciences to have an enormous positive impact on the future of humanity and the Earth in the coming years and decades. 

Relocating or dismantling NCAR would fracture the powerful scientific brain trust built in Colorado over the last several decades. Such fragmentation would stifle American innovation, ceding our competitive advantage to Europe and China while degrading the safety and resilience of our local communities.

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The post Why NCAR is in Colorado and Why It Must Stay appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

When kids use AI to cheat, are they gaming the system or are they ahead of the curve?

In January 2023 the New York City Department of Education banned its million-plus student body from using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence “chatbot” that can perform a wide range of tasks such as long-form writing and artwork. Having taken a look at its capabilities after the release of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022 and seeing the potential for large-scale cheating and other negative impacts on student education, the NYC DOE prohibited its use for school work of any kind.

Who could blame it? Generative artificial intelligence had just broken through a major societal, even human evolutionary, barrier. When Silicon Valley’s OpenAI publicly launched ChatGPT 3.5, the world was introduced to the beginning of true artificial intelligence — machines that could read and write in plain language as well as, or better than, most humans. The immediate implications across all societal sectors were profound, perhaps especially so in education. Kids could now make AI do their homework for them, and they didn’t even have to forfeit their lunch money.

Just five days after the launch of ChatGPT 3.5, a million people had used it. In one month, the number of users bloomed to 57 million. The capabilities of this new AI were astonishing. It was far more robust than a Google search. This was a new digital “intelligence” that could create long-form, human-like responses from plain-language instructions (called prompts).

And, it was just the beginning. New releases from ChatGPT and its competitors, like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot, are rolled out every few months, each one seeming to have exponentially greater capabilities than the last. In little more than two years since ChatGPT 3.5, we’ve moved quickly from text-based AI to astoundingly sophisticated image and video generation. AI can already read, write, compute, and illustrate better (and far faster) than most humans. It can read and summarize a full-length novel in seconds, write code in minutes that would take a person months, describe images, create short animated films, and, yes, write convincing academic research papers. All you have to do is give it conversational instructions and maybe feed it some source material.

Banning students’ use of AI is a head-in-the-sand reaction. As with the public launch of the World Wide Web in 1991, the Rubicon has been crossed. Artificial intelligence has landed on humanity. Now, as its advancements continue to accelerate, resistance to the rise of AI is futile. Adaptation is paramount.

When ChatGPT 3.5 was released in late 2022, the immediate concern for educators and parents alike was its potential use for cheating. But cheating was only a single drop in the ocean of questions about AI’s impact on education, the foundational bedrock of human endeavor. At a deeper level, the advent of generative AI was a profound game changer for education, whether educators were ready for it or not.

Not all school districts took such drastic measures as New York. The administrators of Boulder Valley School District, here in Colorado, decided on a more observational approach. Lynn Gershman, BVSD’s director of Academic Services, described the district’s approach to me over a Google Meet session. Also participating in the discussion was Randy Barber, BVSD’s chief communications officer.

“Our leadership said, ‘No, let’s see what this is and see what happens,’” said Gershman. “How can we use the power of AI to educational advantage?”

I was intrigued by this more measured and optimistic perspective (in contrast to the New York ban), but I didn’t want to move past the problem of AI as a cheat buddy just yet. I asked Gershman if they had quantified the rate of AI-based cheating. She said it was difficult to measure, but in general, “if we give them (students) an app to cheat, they’re going to cheat.” 

That seemed to answer the question well enough. Yes, kids are using AI to cheat. But, Gershman guided me to think more deeply about the subject, even about the very definition of cheating. Perhaps the student who seeks to make an AI chatbot do their work for them is not really cheating, but simply more savvy at using the technology available at their fingertips. The better question may be whether or not that “cheating” student is learning the subject matter and becoming more prepared for life in a brave new AI-driven world. That “cheating” student may be the one racing ahead of our antiquated thinking. To use a metaphor, maybe that “cheating” student is learning code while the student next to them is still stuck on Latin. Which student is more prepared for the future?

Gershman’s perspective seemed to be that trying to fight AI-based cheating head-on is a losing battle. “AI checkers don’t work,” she said. Gershman and her colleagues at BVSDD were more interested in adaptation — how to harness the power of AI for the benefit of educators and students alike.

With this approach in mind, BVSD decided to purchase access to an education-based AI platform called MagicSchool, a Denver-based start-up founded by a former teacher and principal. As BVSD COO Randy Barber explained to me, the purchase of MagicSchool was a way for the district to simultaneously embrace the power of AI while also controlling it within a “walled garden.”

Gershman provided a quick virtual demo of MagicSchool for me. I immediately realized its potential as a powerful educational tool when, in less than a minute, MagicSchool created a scientific rubric for a 6th grade-level science assignment all based on a few simple prompts from Gershman. The system generated in seconds what would have taken a human teacher an hour or more to write manually. Any teacher can relate to the drudgery of out-of-classroom prepwork. If an AI system can do that heavy lifting, it can free up more of the teacher’s time and energy to focus on the human art of teaching and make the professional life of a teacher more rewarding in the process.

This capability, however, does not relieve the teacher of the need for a critical review of the AI-produced material. AI can, and often does, get it wrong, a phenomenon known in the AI industry as “hallucination.” Just as students must not rely entirely on AI to do their work for them, teachers must validate the output of AI systems to ensure accuracy and intent.

As the demonstration showed, MagicSchool is designed for both teachers and students. For teachers, it’s like having a teaching assistant with superpowers. Teachers can use the tool to quickly create lesson plans, devise educational games, create scenario-based discussion starters, and so much more. It can also be used to quickly customize learning approaches for different students within the same classroom, opening up new opportunities to reach individual students in ways that are most effective for them.

“It’s the teachers who are embracing AI that make it exciting,” said Gershman. “We have a middle school art teacher who taught her students to use AI to create wraps for skateboards,” said Gershman. “A language arts teacher is asking kids to use AI to generate sentence starters (to help the writing process).” My own daughter is a prolific young writer of fantasy fiction, which I encourage, and she, too, has used AI, not to write for her, but to generate ideas. These are examples of how teachers and students alike can use AI to enhance teaching and learning and make it more interesting and effective. The idea is to control it and use it as just another tool rather than to fear it and futilely try to prohibit its use.

According to Gershman, the students only access MagicSchool when the teachers make it available, thereby controlling when and how it is used. As with the teacher portal, students have access to a whole matrix of tailored AI applications within the system, such as an AI tutor, which Gershman said has been particularly effective.

This sounds wonderful for the controlled classroom environment, but it doesn’t solve the issue of independent cheating on homework. Out-of-classroom work takes an increasingly larger share of a student’s efforts as they advance into high school. In higher education, where classroom attendance is often optional, the opportunities to use AI to cheat only increase. Once students are off-campus with access to personal computing devices and the internet, educational institutions lose much of that walled-garden control.

It will be the responsibility of educators to “AI proof” their methods, as Gershman put it. The balancing act is to figure out how to leverage the power of AI to improve education while ensuring that AI is not a replacement for knowledge gain and critical thinking. “The tension is,” Gershman told me, “How do we help teachers modify their practice to ensure their students are still learning?”

There are practical methods for this. The classroom is an equalizer where AI can be put aside while the teacher engages the class in discussion. The old tried-and-true pop quiz is another method. The point is to ensure that students not only learn new material but can also demonstrate its application in real-world scenarios, all under the guidance of a skilled educator. Students in this type of learning environment will quickly understand that using AI to do their work for them can be an embarrassing trap when called upon in the classroom by the teacher to expand on their AI-written essay.

As AI continues to advance, and in many cases supplant human-centric problem-solving, students may question the point of learning in general. This may sound absurd, but the idea that intellectual learning itself is becoming obsolete is a real consideration. I asked Gershman and Barber if they thought literacy itself was at risk of obsolescence. It may seem like a silly question, but when machines can read and write for us, what’s the point of doing it ourselves, besides perhaps the simple enjoyment of the creative process of reading and writing?

Barber and Gershman suggested that AI may actually enhance the importance of human literacy. The temptation of allowing machines to do our reading and writing for us may be a dangerous gamble. “It’s a conceptual leap,” said Barber, “for kids to learn how to read, write, and do basic math.” These foundational skills are about far more than being able to read a book, write a letter, or figure out how many carwashes you need to sell to fund your spring break trip. 

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the foundational skills that shape developing brains into powerhouses of intellect and emotion. The brain is a thinking muscle that needs exercise to thrive. Without the stimuli of reading and writing, our bulbs will get dim very quickly. If social media is brain rot, using AI as a replacement for basic literacy skills will be like mental rigor mortis. To put it another way, humans need literacy as a foundation of complex problem-solving and critical thinking. In the age of AI, it’s likely that emotional analysis and critical thinking skills will be elevated in importance, not diminished. When we are presented with a blurring line between the artificial and real worlds, critical thinking and adaptiveness become paramount. Ensuring that we teach those skills goes back to our educators—teachers and parents included.

New York City skyline, United Nation headquarters over the East River, Manhattan, Midtown at day time, NYC, USA. Technologies and education concept.

New York City Schools Reverse Course

Four months after the ban on ChatGPT, New York City Public Schools changed its policy, recognizing the new reality that “our students are participating in and will work in a world where understanding generative AI is crucial,” stated David C. Banks, the chancellor of New York City Public Schools as reported in Chalkbeat’s First Person: ChatGPT caught NYC schools off guard. Now, we’re determined to embrace its potential.

In his message, Banks wrote, “The knee-jerk fear and risk overlooked the potential of generative AI to support students and teachers… Our nation is potentially on the brink of a significant societal shift driven by generative artificial intelligence. We must make sure that this technology’s benefits are equitably distributed to prevent further widening of socioeconomic gaps in our country… We will also ensure that our students are supported by AI’s opportunities and prepared for the jobs of today and the future.”

The perspective expressed here by Banks represents the same acknowledgement that the leadership of BVSD recognized earlier: Generative AI has arrived. It will play a significant role in our world and our lives from this point forward. Educators should recognize this reality and work towards its ethical integration into our educational systems and methods rather than a fear-based exclusion to the future detriment of our youth.

Heading blindly into the future with confidence

The accelerating advancement of technology, and AI in particular, is shortening the event horizon by which we can plan for the future. Let’s break that statement down a little. In past generations we could be relatively well assured that what our children learned in school would be applicable to the real world in their adult lives. Any societal event so profound as to fundamentally change how humanity operates was too distant to be overly concerned with in the classroom. We could see clearly enough the general lay of the land ahead of us. 

This is no longer the case. Our world may be so profoundly changed by AI within a single generation that it is quickly becoming impossible for adults to confidently prepare children for a future that is now hidden beyond that rapidly nearing event horizon. Our view of the lay of the land ahead of us suddenly has limited range, and we are racing into the void with no brakes.

Gershman recognizes the rapidity with which technology is changing the scene. When I asked her if BVSD had a long-term plan for AI, she said, “I don’t know how you can. Tech is changing too quickly to have policies. We have [evolving] guidelines.” This is a practical realization of the nature of the challenges and opportunities that AI is presenting. 

But this should not be mistaken for a wait-and-see approach. Gershman and other leaders in education are being proactive about understanding AI, its impact on education, and how to adapt to and, as she says, leverage its power for the better. Gershman served on a committee for the Colorado Education Initiative to create state AI guidelines, resulting in a document called the Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education.

Using ChatGPT 4.0 to Summarize the Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education

It’s a lengthy document, so I decided to have ChatGPT summarize it for me. After uploading the document, my prompt was, “Can you write a 100-150-word summary of this document with six to 10 key bullet points?”

ChatGPT 4.0’s response to my request, as follows, was returned in less than ten seconds:

:
The Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education provides guidance for integrating artificial intelligence into teaching and learning across the state’s public schools. Developed collaboratively by over 100 educators, students, and policy leaders, the roadmap emphasizes AI’s potential to enhance learning experiences, support equity, and prepare students for future careers. It calls for thoughtful implementation guided by ethical standards, transparency, and community engagement. Key recommendations include updating graduation requirements to include AI literacy, supporting educators with professional development, and ensuring equitable access to AI tools and infrastructure. The roadmap promotes principles over rigid policies, encouraging flexibility in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Key Bullet Points:

• Developed by Colorado educators, students, and leaders over seven months
• Emphasizes AI’s role in personalizing and enhancing teaching and learning
• Prioritizes ethical AI use, transparency, and student data privacy
• Supports AI literacy as a core skill for future readiness
• Recommends equitable access to AI tools, especially for underserved communities
• Encourages ongoing teacher training and professional support
• Advocates stakeholder engagement and local control in policy development
• Highlights the need for continual review and adaptation of AI practices
• Includes practical tools like evaluation checklists and equity strategies
• Calls for collaboration across districts and state-level organizations

That’s not too bad, but I was hoping for some more specific information on the use of AI to cheat, so I wrote a follow-up prompt to that effect: “Thanks, can you pinpoint and summarize any parts of the document that address the use of AI by students to cheat?”

Another few seconds, and the response came:

Yes, the roadmap addresses concerns about AI-enabled cheating primarily in the context of ethical use and academic integrity. Here are the key points summarized from the document

1. Ethical Considerations and Cheating Concerns

• Educator concern: A top concern among teachers is that students might misuse AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to complete assignments dishonestly (p. 16).

• Reality check: The document notes that AI detection tools are already becoming ineffective as AI advances.

• Recommended response: Instead of relying on detection tools, schools should:

• Teach students responsible AI use.

• Incorporate AI ethics into conduct policies.

• Guide students to reflect on their learning and skill development, encouraging integrity.

2. Academic Integrity and Responsible Use

• The roadmap encourages rethinking academic integrity policies:

• Focus less on punishment and more on clear definitions of plagiarism in the AI era (p. 19).

• Educate students on how to use AI productively and verify its outputs.

• Emphasize student understanding and transparency, rather than banning AI outright.

3. Student and Family Engagement

• Schools are urged to communicate openly with families about:

• What AI is and how it’s being used in schools.

• Guidelines for appropriate student use.

• The roadmap suggests student-involved acceptable use frameworks to help prevent misuse.

Bottom Line:
Rather than prohibiting AI outright, the roadmap favors education, guidance, and trust to prevent cheating and encourage responsible, ethical use of AI by students.

The subject of this article was narrow–focusing on the risk of students using AI to cheat on their schoolwork. But, my research and discussion with my sources quickly revealed a much bigger question: When machines can read, write, create, and compute for us, what’s the point of education in general, at least the way we think of it? 

In pondering this question I’m reminded of how profoundly technology has already changed our lives, and yet we continue to adapt with it. If we were to take a little journey back in time to the mid-1800’s, we would notice that the most valuable skills of the time are rarely learned by our youth today–such things as the proper way to rotate crops, or horse care. The most valuable skills of today would not be imaginable to the agrarian people of the mid-1800s. 

Adapting to technology in education is nothing new. What is new is the pace of it, which brings me back to my event horizon analogy and how accelerating technological change is blinding our view into the future. Gershman and Barber presented an optimistic and enthusiastic perspective. But, the technological fog just off the bow of our human ship makes me uneasy. It seems to me that the most valuable skills we can teach our children are those of adaptability and critical thinking. In the age of artificial intelligence, our kids will need to learn how to keep their feet planted in reality.

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The post Artificial Intelligence in School: Chatbots or cheatbots? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

It is easy to forget that, as Coloradoans, we live in one of the most envied states in the nation. A lack of saltwater notwithstanding, our state abounds in natural beauty and fascinating Western history. We get to live in one of America’s prime destinations, where the roof of the Rocky Mountains harbors world-class ski mountains and many of America’s most iconic and beautiful mountain towns. People from many eastern states dream for a lifetime of getting the chance to spend just a few days in the wonderland that is our backyard.

With such a scenic bounty at our doorstep, it’s easy to take it for granted. We’ve seen the Flatirons and the Maroon Bells; driven Trail Ridge Road and the Pikes Peak Highway; and visited most of the famous mountain ski towns. Now what? Well, we just need to look a little closer because, in the obscurity behind the hype of these iconic locations are layers upon layers of incredible “staycation” opportunities that even many long-time residents of Colorado may not be familiar with or have thought about as destinations.

Here are just a handful of those less obvious staycation ideas that might remind you of all the discoveries still to be made in our big and beautiful state if we’re willing to look a little closer.

Cortez and the Canyons of the Ancients

Colorado’s written history covers only a tiny blip of time in the long march of ancient human habitation. Around the time of the Chinese Song Dynasty, about a thousand years ago, Puebloan peoples were building extraordinary stone structures by hand among sandstone cliffs in the southwestern part of Colorado. Mesa Verde National Park represents some of the best preserved of these dwellings, but I’m focused on an area on the other side of Cortez from the famous national park. In a seemingly empty high desert expanse to the northwest of Cortez, extending to the Utah state line, there is a vast and contorted canyonscape called Canyons of the Ancients. It is here, and not the much more compact Mesa Verde, where there exists the greatest concentration of archeological sites in all of North America.

You read that correctly. Colorado’s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is one of the nation’s newest national park system units. This gold mine of ancient native history and desert scenery went remarkably unrecognized and unprotected until the year 2000 when President Clinton used the Antiquities Act and designated it as a very large 176,000 acre national monument.

According to the National Park Service there are over 8,000 documented archeological sites here. But, remarkably, they believe there are over 22,000 additional undocumented sites within the monument, from stone granaries, to lookouts, to dwellings, to still undiscovered petroglyphs. They are not easy to find or get to, and it should remain that way. If you have an adventurous nature and some outdoor exploration skills, a sense of true discovery still awaits here. Be sure to respect what you find and leave it undisturbed, as these are not only historic, but also sacred.

St. Elmo and Tincup – Ghosts of the High Road

In 2018, there was somewhat of an uproar about people calling Tincup a “ghost town.” It seems the three year-round residents wanted to correct the record. There is a similar mystery on the other side of the high Sawatch Mountains to the east of Tincup in the historic mining town of St. Elmo.

Do people live there year-round or not?

It’s hard to confirm one way or another. Regardless, these two high country places were once both thriving mining centers of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 residents at their near simultaneous peaks in the late 1800s.

This history is common across Colorado’s mountains—of booming mining towns sprang up overnight to thousands of residents only to collapse into oblivion within a generation. Many of them disappeared into true “ghost towns,” their existence betrayed only by a few deteriorating old cabins and mine leavings. Some of them were rejuvenated into ski resorts or county seats. And still others, like St. Elmo and Tincup, hung onto a delicate thread of existence on the edge of oblivion, preserved only by the tenacity of a few stubborn old timers and then later a few wandering new-age hermits looking for a place to hide from a crazy world.

One thing cannot be denied: these old relics of the gold and silver mining eras are fascinating and set in stunningly beautiful locations. You need to own or rent a high-clearance four-by-four vehicle to link St. Elmo to Tincup over the tundra of Tincup Pass. At over 12,100 feet, the pass is one of Colorado’s highest and most beautiful.

On the east end is St. Elmo, a long drive up a back road from the Buena Vista area, reachable by a standard car. This gorgeous approach will take you right between two of Colorado’s fourteeners—Mounts Princeton and Antero. In St. Elmo, you’ll find a very well-preserved set of old cabins and storefronts and a couple of operating businesses in the summer, one of which will sell you a little bag of seeds for a couple of bucks.

The seeds are for a gang of overweight ground squirrels and chipmunks who live in a woodpile across the street and will eat out of your hand. Normally, feeding wildlife is a bad idea, but these particular critters are too corrupted for that to matter anymore. They waddle around scarfing seeds from the hands of giggling kids (and some adults) every day in summer and sleep off their extra fat in winter. Not a bad life.

From St. Elmo with your 4X4 you are likely to find yourself among a convoy of other off-roaders. You continue up and over the Sawatch Mountains on this rough road that, in the early 1900s, was considered a state highway. You’ll drop down the other side of the Continental Divide eventually to St. Elmo’s ghost twin, Tincup.

The town was originally incorporated as Virginia City, but that name was already taken elsewhere, which confused the postal service. It was then renamed Tincup because the first prospector to discover gold in the area was an 18-year-old kid who brought back his loot in a tin cup.

Despite its quaint name, Tincup was very much the outlaw town in its day. The Marshall was shot dead in 1882, and his replacement was shot down the next year in 1883. Back then the town was similar in population to present-day Buena Vista, complete with hotels, schools, many saloons and all the other trappings of a late nineteenth-century western mining town at over 10,000 feet in the Rockies.

Today, Tincup is much quieter, nicer, and likely prettier as the forest continues to regenerate along the formerly stripped hillsides, and much of the mountainous territory around Tincup (and St. Elmo) is now protected wilderness and national forest land. Indeed, these twin pseudo ghost towns are set in one of Colorado’s most beautiful corners

 Colfax Tourist Marathon

Colfax has quite a reputation. Its nickname is “the longest, wickedest street in America.” Longest is a fact. Colfax avenue is indeed the longest continuous city street in America at 26.5 miles, just beating the distance of a marathon.

Now, here’s an idea for a staycation that may really seem “out there.” But let’s turn away for a moment from those beautiful mountains to the west and look into the gritty underworld of Denver’s urban core. Colfax Avenue is Denver’s original Main Street. It cuts a swath across the entire city, from Aurora, in the east, to the edge of Golden in the west. Along much of this line a battle is taking place between Colfax’s seedy and gritty past, and more recent attempts at “upscaling” and rejuvenation. But as they say “Colfax is gonna Colfax.”

Despite its scary reputation, some of it very much deserved, there are gems to be found along these historic 26.5 miles if you’re the immersive urban tourist type, or just want to perhaps get out of your comfort zone. But, be prepared, you will see some “stuff” along the way.

The idea here is an urban slow marathon—an irregular multi-day journey along the entire length of America’s longest street and its nearby hoods. Keep your head on a swivel, seek discomfort, keep an open mind, and you might just have a blast.

The potential haunts and sights are way too numerous to list here, so we’ll stick with just a handful, rapid-fire style (and not necessarily in geographic order): Check out some vinyl at Twist and Shout, an old school record store. Catch a band at the Bluebird Theater and then follow it up with some punk at Lion’s Lair. Take a four-block side-trip north on the west side of the city to Sloans Lake Park. Find weird and cool outdoor art along the green line of 40 West Arts. Roll some strikes at the old school Holiday Bowling and Billiards. And, of course, love it or hate it, you can’t consider a Colfax tour complete without a dinner (or at least a famous sopapilla) at Casa Bonita.

Whether you are new to Colorado and looking to find a unique place to “staycation,” or a long-time resident searching for some new haunts, Colorado truly has many options close to home. The three examples here are just a sample of the wonderful secrets our state still harbors. So, get out there and explore your own beautiful back yard!

The post Staycations: Unexpected Historical Gems of Colorado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

There is a paradox in the quest to find the best stargazing towns in Colorado: in the age of artificial light even a small town’s electric glow can blot out the brilliance of the night sky. Light pollution obliterates the view of the Milky Way from eighty percent of American backyards and porches. To find the darkest skies available, we must leave town and get into the wide-open spaces.

My task was to identify those Colorado towns that are isolated enough for the starriest skies to be visible from just past the last stop sign, but big enough to offer the traveler basic accommodations. 

My search for the darkest skies began with the glow of a computer screen. The interactive light pollution map places the layers of the Bortle scale over the Earth. Without going full astro-nerd, the Bortle scale categorizes the darkness of the night sky into classes. A Bortle Class 1 is the darkest, found only in the most remote places, where, under the right conditions, the Milky Way can cast a shadow. A Bortle Class 9 is an inner city sky where no stars are visible. Erie, Colorado is a Class 5. In our search for the best stargazing towns we are looking for reasonable access to Bortle Class 1 or 2 areas.

nightsky at Dinosaur National Monument, photo by Dan Duriscoe via National Park Service

Maybell

The northwest corner of Colorado offers one of the few Bortle Class 1 areas in the state that is reasonably accessible by paved road — lonely Highway 318. Here sits the tiny town of Maybell, the smallest of our five towns with a population of 76. Maybell has one old time gas station and an RV park. There are no other towns within 30 miles of Maybell in any direction.

Winters in Maybell can get brutally cold. In February 1985, Maybell recorded a low temperature of 61 below, the state record, and the fourth coldest state record in the country. Even Minnesota has never been that cold.

The most vivid night sky I’ve ever seen was during a night sleeping under the stars at the base Vermillion Falls, 48 lonely miles to the west of Maybell. From my cot, snug in my sleeping bag, I gazed at that star-filled sky for hours with the rush of that waterfall in the darkness — a magical experience.

Just to the west of Vermillion Falls, the road will take you to the east edge of Dinosaur National Monument, itself a great place for stargazing. But for the darkest skies in the area, take one of the dirt roads leading north towards Wyoming. This is the stomping grounds of a herd of wild horses that still roam these hills like ghosts of the Old West. There is a free Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campground in beautiful Irish Canyon where Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid once hid from the law.

Mount Zirkel Wilderness, photo by Jeremy White via uncover colorado

Walden

To the east from Maybell and across a mountain range lies the small ranching community of Walden, population 606. Walden is nestled in North Park where the headwaters of the North Platte River flow north into Wyoming. Walden is a ranching and cowboy town — low on tacky tourist attractions, but high on western authenticity. It’s also a moose haven with the giant beasts often seen in the area.

For the best stars, head north from town by road towards Wyoming, or west by trail, into the Mount Zirkel Wilderness. To the east of Walden, Highway 14 passes through a long stretch of Bortle Class 2 territory which extends even to the east of the Continental Divide into the upper Cache La Poudre River canyon. Here we find the closest Bortle Class 2 skies to the Front Range metropolis.

dark night skies near the town of Nucla, photo by Derick Wilson via Darksky.org

Nucla and Naturita

You may have never heard of these twin towns, but they happen to be Colorado’s newest official dark sky communities. Nucla and Naturita, population 585 and 485 respectively, are located part way between Telluride, Colorado and Moab, Utah in an area where the Rockies transition into western red desert.

This area was used in the mid-20th Century for uranium mining to fuel our nuclear arsenal, but the name “Nucla” is coincidental. The town was founded as a utopian cooperative decades before the A-Bomb was constructed. The founder considered the new settlement to be the economic “nucleus” of the area and thereby named it Nucla.

In 2021 the twin towns became dark sky communities, which is an official designation granted by Dark Sky International, a global organization that works with communities to reduce light pollution by advocating for and funding dark sky-friendly lighting.

A community does not have to sit within a dark sky area to qualify as a dark sky community. The goal is to reduce light pollution where it exists. But, in the case of Nucla and Naturita, these towns happen to be located in one of Colorado’s most expansive dark sky regions — the southern half of the Western Slope. The underrated canyonlands to the west of these towns along Highway 141 in either direction will take you into Bortle Class 1 territory within some beautiful desert landscapes.

Milky Way above silver cliff, photo by Scott Dankoff via Darkskyscolorado.org

Westcliffe and Silver Cliff 

Steve McAllister, Acting Director of the Smokey Jack Observatory near Westcliffe, CO, moved to the area years ago partly because of its dark night skies. He’s an amateur astronomer. Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, population 435 and 609 respectively, were the first towns in Colorado to pursue and achieve official dark sky community status nearly 10 years ago.

As McAllister explained to me, the late Suzanne Jack (aka Smokey Jack) noticed through the years that the stars in the area had become less vibrant compared to the way they shined in her youth. She decided to do something about it. Through her advocacy, not only did these towns become official dark sky communities, but the Smokey Jack Observatory was constructed in her honor.

These ranching communities in southern Colorado’s beautiful Wet Mountain Valley have come to embrace this idea as one that preserves the sense of remoteness that locals treasure while also drawing visitors to the area to help keep the local businesses going. In town, there is now a “planet walk” which is a walkable scale of our solar system with interpretive signage.

This area has a reputation for strange phenomena appearing in the sky over the stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains. When I asked about that, McAllister said he had not personally seen anything unexplainable. I told him of the time my daughter and I were climbing the Great Sand Dunes at night (an annual tradition) when we heard a low rumbling sound followed by two uniform flashes of light coming from the direction of Westcliffe, like a huge jet engine followed by enormous spotlights. “The military does conduct exercises in this area, sometimes at night,” said McAllister.

There have been many stories of UFO sightings and unexplained lights in the sky from this area. But regardless of what aliens or secret government aircraft might be lurking in these skies, the star viewing from the Wet Mountain Valley is phenomenal because of a combination of dark skies and the gorgeous backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

As McAllister told me, come to Westcliffe and Silver Cliff for the mountains, but stay for the stars. Either way, you won’t be disappointed in visiting this out-of-the-way but highly under-rated part of Colorado’s high country.

It was from McAllister that I learned some new things about stargazing. “The best time to see the Milky Way,” he said “is from late June to August” when the earth is tilted towards the center of the galaxy from our vantage point in one of the galaxy’s outer bands. We also discussed the effect that the moon and atmospheric conditions have on stargazing. The brightest light in the sky is the moon. You’ll want to time your stargazing for when the moon is busy on the other side of Earth by looking up the moonrise and moonset times for your destination.

I can attest to how much the moon impacts star viewing with a personal experience in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park years ago. I had gotten myself stranded shirtless and shoeless on the wrong side of the Green River during a solo kayak expedition down the Green River. There I was, doing twenty-minute sessions of calisthenics on a rock ledge at night to stave off hypothermia like some sort of alien dancing around on a strange planet. For half the night a nearly full moon lit up the canyon in a monochrome silver glow. The moonlight was beautifully bright and I could see everything almost as if it was daytime.

When that moon finally floated behind the canyon rim the sky exploded with stars! The Milky Way appeared like a white tapestry over the canyon. For as bright as the moon made the canyon before, now I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face and those formerly silver canyon walls became black voids below what seemed like a billion points of light arcing from one rim to the other.

I endured the night and was given a lift back to the other side of the river the next morning by a party in a canoe. But I’ll never forget seeing those stars that night with all the time in the world to contemplate my place in the universe and the unanswerable questions that viewing the starry night sky inevitably brings to mind.

The border between New Mexico and Oklahoma, Doug Geiling

Springfield

The darkest skies in all of Colorado are not found above the Western Slope, or deep inside a high-country wilderness. There is a little-appreciated corner of Colorado, right along the New Mexico state line where tendrils of the Rocky Mountains extend eastward in the form of pinion pine-topped mesas and little hidden canyons clear into Oklahoma’s panhandle. It is here, in the extreme southeastern part of our state, where the darkest skies are to be found. I convinced my middle school-aged daughter to join me on a road trip to this blank spot on the map and hopefully experience the most stunning night sky available in our region.

Springfield, Colorado, population 1,325, is a town that needs some love. It has a gorgeous city park with an enormous water tower. But for a town of over 1,000 residents it was remarkably quiet for a Saturday evening, and it seemed that half of Main Street’s storefronts were boarded up.

I was ghosted by the mayor of Springfield who previously agreed to meet with me, but didn’t answer or return my calls when we arrived. We got a laugh out of that and, after a dinner at Springfield’s only open restaurant, we headed for the remote tri-state boundary between Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It’s a surprisingly scenic spot at sunset requiring a journey of many miles down a series of dirt roads through a checkerboard of private ranchland and parcels of the Comanche National Grassland.

Our late-night destination was the tiny hamlet of Branson, Colorado, population 57, situated just two miles north of the New Mexico state line somewhere a long way east of Trinidad and a longer way west of Springfield. Branson has no services, but I found a rental cottage operated by Jodi Doherty, a teacher at the local K-12 school.

Doherty spoke with me the next day about the history of this unique and little-known corner of Colorado. Her husband, she said, is a fifth generation Coloradan with a family history going back almost to the time of the Goodnight-Loving cattle drive which came through this area a century and a half earlier and was dramatized in the 1980s TV series “Lonesome Dove.” I learned from Doherty that there are other people who have come to stay at her wonderful little guesthouse just to see the brightest stars around.

But to get to the absolute darkest night skies available in Colorado, we had to double back to the east to a place even multi-generational locals have never heard of called Jesus Mesa. Access is on the New Mexico side, but the mesa extends north into Colorado. On this mostly dirt road drive, we met not a single other vehicle. A breakdown here would have meant an overnight in the car and a long wait the next day to flag down the first local rancher to come through on that lonely road.

Arriving at midnight just a short walk from the state line we thought luck was on our side. Cloudy skies from evening storms earlier were finally clearing just in time for the stars to shine bright. We stepped out of the car into the blackness between a cholla cactus and a pinion pine, looked up to the night sky… and saw a scattering of stars and no sign of the Milky Way. It was a bust. The one condition that did not line up for us was particulate matter in the lower atmosphere kicked up by high winds during the previous day. It was enough to turn our Bortle Class 1 sky into the equivalent of about a Bortle Class 5, similar to what we see on a clear night in east Boulder County.

It just wasn’t meant to be on this trip. But that’s why we seek these places. The elusiveness of the greatest sights on Earth are part of what makes the pursuit of them so alluring — and so rewarding when “the stars align.”

And when the stars don’t align, we remind ourselves of the old adage that the journey is the destination. We go and we do these things for the experience, the adventure, for the wonderful unexpected moments, and for the time we spend with the loved ones we travel with.

“Most people from Colorado have no clue about this area,” said Doherty. As we spoke, she told me of the school where she helps teach a senior class of just eight kids, of the multi-denominational church where my daughter and I noticed everyone seemed to meet on that windy Sunday morning, about how her husband is both the town pastor and “tech guy.”

She spoke of how often they’ve sold gas out of their garage to strangers who have under-estimated the distances between services in this most remote part of the state. Doherty never mentioned that Branson, Colorado, and her husband Brad, were in the national news recently for one of those uniquely uplifting small-town American stories. Do yourself a favor and search YouTube for “A Football Field of Dreams.” You won’t be disappointed.

No, we didn’t get to see the best stars this time. But the next day I watched my daughter smile while standing in the wind on the rim of an extinct volcano in New Mexico as she looked out over the great open space of this amazing western land. We would not have gone to Capulin Volcano if we did not decide to search for the stars at Jesus Mesa. These are the moments that remind us of why we explore.

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The post When the Stars Align appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Is a low fat or low carbohydrate diet better? Is paleo a fad or the real deal? Can I still eat whole grains without getting a leaky gut? Should I take a calcium supplement? How do I get enough Omega-3 fatty acids? Do I really need to fork over double the price for organic blueberries? Is it really necessary to kill myself with high intensity interval training five days a week? What about free weights vs. machines, or cross-fit versus team sports, or running vs. swimming?

These are the questions that might cause anxiety-induced night sweats if you dare to delve into the alligator pits of health and wellness advice. The information space on this subject is a mess—a minefield of contradictions and confusion infused with corporate influence and the biased perspectives of health gurus like Chuck Norris selling their scientifically tested elixirs guaranteed to bring us all health and longevity if only we buy and subscribe to their new fountain of youth.

These rabbit holes of contradiction and confusion are too easy to get trapped in only to give up and take the easy out of fast food and couch surfing. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I have drawn from my own health journey and in-depth interviews with three local experts to boil down the confusion into some universal truths. In this article you will find no moneyed influence, no biased attachment to agenda-based scientific studies, and no new age tricks or fountain of youth nonsense. And, let me spoil the plot a little bit early: It’s not that complicated.

Asking the Wrong Questions and the Importance of Nature

Let’s start by dispelling the question in the title. The ongoing debate between low carbohydrate and low fat diets is an exercise in futility. You can find reputable scientific studies and their associated health guru advocates to support either perspective. The problem is that it’s very much the wrong question to ask.

When I interviewed my three expert sources for this article, I asked a different question: What are the basic universal truths of health and wellness that apply to all of us? Their answers had absolutely nothing to do with finding the right mix of carbs and fats.

Mike Aguilar is the owner of Start Fresh Fitness and is a registered dietitian and multi-certified personal trainer. He is passionate about his craft and, as I write this, is still inundating my inbox with profound thoughts and advice on health and fitness. His universal foundational principles took me a bit by surprise. Expecting him to start with eliminating added sugar and processed foods (which I will get to later in the article), Aguilar said “water, sleep, and exposure to nature.”

Now, most of us know that sleep, hydration, and getting outside are important. But, what is the connection to nutrition and diet? “These things have a big impact on how we process food,” Aguilar told me. “More stress leads to poor eating habits. Bad sleep contributes to poor digestion.”

Aguilar encouraged me to think of the human body as its own ecosystem. Nature ecologists know that a healthy ecosystem consists of interrelated components and processes. When aspects of an ecosystem are removed or degraded, it causes ecological damage or even system failure.

In the human body, the equivalent of ecological damage can take the form of inflammation, metabolic disorders, obesity, and other chronic ailments. Addressing, or preventing, these degradations of our biological ecosystems requires a holistic perspective, starting not with what we eat, but with more fundamental aspects of how we exist. Things as simple as learning how to breathe more deeply and deliberately, or walking through the trees, or seeking real social interaction.

Aguilar explained that we humans are wired to move when we are stressed. But in the sedentary life that many of us live, our most stressful moments often come at times when movement is restricted, like sitting in traffic, or stuck in a cubicle with a boss breathing down our neck. This lack of a stress outlet can then lead to inflammation and pain, which can then lead to depression, which can result in stress eating. It’s a vicious cycle.

When it comes to food, Aguilar suggests a mindset change to be more deliberate with the entire food consumption process. Make the process of buying, preparing, cooking, eating, and cleaning up a deliberately prioritized and joyful part of the day. Revel in the healthy food choices we have and then relish the process and the nourishment gained. Creating a habit of prioritizing this as a lifestyle choice will make it easier to focus on healthy choices and to reject the quick fix, which is often the less healthy option.

“It’s amazing how many clients I’ve had,” said Aguilar, “who struggle to carve out a dedicated 20 or 30 minutes to eat without stress or distraction.” This is not just about making healthier food choices. Our stress levels when we eat, according to Aguilar, influence how we process what we eat. “You can’t rest and digest your food when you are eating in a fight or flight mode.” Stress eating, or eating in a stressful environment, actually increases fat storage and indigestion regardless of what it is that we are eating.

Food Responses and Blood Sugar

Dana Sowards is a nutrition consultant, board certified sports dietitian, and owner of adashofdana.us, a performance nutrition website and business. When I spoke with Dana, the enthusiasm and commitment to her profession were apparent.

I asked Sowards the same question as I asked Aguilar: What are the universal principles of a healthy lifestyle that can apply to everyone? “I love this topic,” Sowards said, “because there is so much noise out there.”

“It’s really pretty simple,” said Sowards. “It’s about tuning into what makes us feel our best.” Okay, that is a simple concept, but I sensed that the complication comes with the execution. As we discussed this I recalled Aguilar’s advice of being more deliberate with our food consumption. Here Sowards focused more on being more deliberate with our food responses. How did you feel after dinner? How did you sleep that night? Do you have regular digestion processes?

This does seem like a bit of common sense. But how often do we really take the time to think about how the last meal made us feel physically and mentally? How often do we evaluate our energy levels and sleep patterns in association with what and when we eat? Rather than starting with a specific regimen, Sowards suggests a process of experimentation and observation.

Getting into more specifics, Sowards suggests that the single most important clinical indicator of dietary and metabolic health is blood sugar. And, more specifically, it’s the extent to which our blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day. “How we manage blood sugar,” Sowards said, “is the center of our metabolic health.” It has less to do with the ratio of carbs to fats and much more to do with the quality of the carbs and fats we ingest. “If we have drastic swings in blood sugar,” Sowards said, “the fall on the other end [of the sugar high] causes a craving for more sugar.” And we are back to another vicious cycle.

How do we smooth over our blood sugar peaks and valleys? This is where the quality of our food comes into play, and here again, we find some simple universal truths that apply to everyone. First, we should minimize added sugar and highly processed foods.

The Importance of Whole Foods

Erik Hansen is a holistic health, wellness, and performance coach and owner of Enliveenergy.com. His answer to my question was a simple but profound one-liner: “Whole foods will always be our best food choice,” said Hansen.

This tied into where Sowards was going with choosing the right foods to regulate blood sugar. But, what, exactly, are whole foods? “A whole food is exactly how it comes from nature,” said Hansen. “Processed foods will always create a nutritional deficiency. Nature never isolates anything.”

“But buying whole foods is more difficult and expensive, isn’t it?” I asked. Hansen wasn’t having that. “Is it really easier to buy fast food?” He challenged. “Highly processed foods create an emotion in us,” Hansen said. “There is an art and science [used in the food industry] to create a flavor-addictive, or hyper-palatable food profile.”

This brings us once again back to Aguilar’s advice, reiterated by both Sowards and Hansen, of being more in tune and deliberate with our relationship to food. Part of this, as Hansen clarified, is about breaking away from the influence and emotions that are created by the billions of research and development dollars that processed food companies and fast food chains pour into creating the most addictive products—a little more sugar there, just the right crispy texture there, and some catchy brand marketing to tie it all together. Did you ever see a great advertisement for a bowl of mixed greens?

If we, as individuals, make a conscious decision to be more deliberate in our relationship with food, we make it easier to break away from the temptation of target-marketed and hyper-palatable processed food products. If, as Sowards suggested, we pay closer attention to how the food we eat makes us feel, sleep, and poop, we will reprogram our relationship with food in a way that will allow us to crave what’s good for us.

The Basics of Nutrition

All foods that we eat are made up of three macronutrients which are fats, carbohydrates, and protein. We cannot survive without consuming at least some of all three. When it comes to fats and carbs, there are healthy and unhealthy options. Like Erik Hansen advised, whole foods are always better than processed foods. Added sugar, for example, is pure carbohydrate, but it’s a simple carbohydrate with little nutritional value. Similarly, trans fat is an industrially processed fat which is terrible for us. But the high fat content of an avocado or a fillet of salmon is very good for us.

In general, Dana Sowards advised me that it’s better to not try to minimize fat or carbs, but to balance them. However, a highly active athlete who burns a lot of calories might benefit by favoring a slightly higher carbohydrate intake while a more sedentary person should actually favor a slightly lower carbohydrate intake and higher healthy fat consumption. This may seem a bit counterintuitive after decades of bad information promoting so-called “low fat” diets, but know that eating fat doesn’t mean getting fat. Eating too much sugar (a simple carbohydrate) is more likely to cause unhealthy or unwanted weight gain.

Getting enough protein is important, and a good rule of thumb if you want to measure it is to consume about one gram of protein per pound of your body weight per day. Opinions do differ on this one, but consider that given the same overall calorie intake, if you consume less protein, you will be consuming more fats or carbs or both. You cannot escape the triple constraint of the three macros. If you cut back on one, you will add more of another. A good approach for the average person is to balance them out rather than try to minimize any of them.

Beyond the three macronutrients, nutrition quickly gets very complicated. There are the micronutrients, amino acids, gut bacteria, supplements, glycemic index, sodium, and on and on and on. These are often the areas that generate raging debates among health professionals and self-proclaimed gurus with conflicting scientific studies and sometimes dubious influences. We will not delve into this here and will close with a reminder that 90% of the battle is in the simple universal truths of living healthy. Eat whole foods. Minimize added sugar and ultra-processed foods. Make food preparation and consumption a deliberate part of your day, as Mike Aguilar said. Get enough sleep. Walk and move. And get outside.

Exercise vs. Movement

You may have noticed that I have not even mentioned exercise. This is deliberate. Too many people start with “working out” and look at their nutrition profile as an afterthought. Here I can speak to my own health journey a bit because I made the same mistake in my 30s after receiving a gut punch from a doctor about having “borderline high” cholesterol and being told I could “stand to lose a few pounds.”

I was a skinny cross-country runner in high school who could drink a six-pack of sugary soda every day and eat a steady diet of frozen chicken nuggets or Taco Bell. This might work okay when you’re eighteen, but it catches up to you when you’re approaching thirty. To get back in shape I took to running again—first a mile, then before long a regular 5k. Other than slightly improving my endurance, it did little good.

Fast forward to age forty, another doctor, and another concern about “borderline high cholesterol.” This doctor, however, was a paleo diet fanatic and gave me a bunch of paleo propaganda. She said she thought I could get my cholesterol down through diet and didn’t even mention exercise.

I didn’t buy fully into the paleo cult, but it did send me down a multi-month path of self-learning about nutrition. I learned how wrong the old food pyramid was. I learned about macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs), micronutrients, amino acids, metabolic health, and the like.

I eliminated sugary drinks and minimized added sugars and ultra-processed foods. Within weeks, I dropped the persistent extra ten pounds and reduced my cholesterol levels back down to normal. But better than that, I felt ten years younger—more agile, more active, more energized. All without even lifting a dumbbell or lacing up running shoes.

The moral of that story is, to live a healthy lifestyle, start with what you eat, not with what you can lift. As the saying goes “abs are made in the kitchen.” What we eat and how we eat heavily influences how we benefit from exercise, not the other way around.

So, what do our three health gurus say about exercise? Here again there was a consistent theme of simplicity. Let’s start, first of all, by calling it “movement,” not exercise. Think about how a human being moved during the course of a day about 15 thousand years ago. That human probably would have done a good amount of walking and maybe a little light running (rarely a sprint). They would have been carrying something, reaching up or out for some things and bending down to the ground for others. And they probably threw and caught something during the day.

How does that translate to our modern lives? The good news is that replicating this natural movement does not require killing yourself in a gym six days a week unless you are training for something specific like a strongman competition or triathlon. For the average person who just wants to feel better and be healthier, this is about moving naturally—walking, reaching, bending, throwing.

“All we need to do is move naturally,” said Hansen. “Exercise machines do not move naturally.” According to Aguilar, “walking is crazy under-rated.” According to Sowards, “walking is one of the best ways to regulate blood sugar.”

The message here is that most of the benefits of exercise (or movement) come with the easier stuff, like walking. Sowards also recommends “gentle movements like Yoga—something that teaches you to slow down.” While slowing down to exercise may seem counterintuitive, it should also be a bit of a relief to know that you don’t have to “hit the gym” with the bros to see who can lift more, or “max out your heart rate” in a high intensity interval. Those things certainly can refine and improve your athletic prowess if you want to go there, but they are not the place to start for general health and wellbeing. Start by going for a walk and then think about what Aguilar would call “natural patterns of movement.” Think about that stone age human and the way they would have moved throughout the day and do things to mimic that.

Motivation to Move

What about motivation? Isn’t that the biggest challenge for many of us? I know it is for me. Sowards reminded me of something I already knew, which is that, once you start, you’re done. She suggests that all you have to do is commit to that first ten minutes of activity. Even if you only do that ten minutes, you’re still better off than the same ten minutes on the couch watching “The Voice.” But, Sowards told me she finds that most of the time when people start with ten minutes, then they find it much easier to keep moving for more.

This is certainly true for me. The hardest step is the first one. Take action. Groan and complain while doing it if you have to, but take the action, and your mind and body will thank you soon enough.

I would like to come back to one of the first pieces of advice offered by Aguilar as one of the universal principles of good health, and that is exposure to nature. This is about much more than Vitamin D (although that is important). Immersion in nature has enormous benefits both physically and mentally.

There is a reason that most of us have images of nature or wildlife as our screensavers. Our modern lifestyles and technologies are ripping us away from our connection to nature. Like Aguilar’s advice to be more conscious with food, we should also be more deliberately aware of our natural surroundings—the trees, the sky, the flowers, the snow, the rain, the views, the bugs, and all the rest. When you go for that walk, don’t just put your head down and charge ahead. Walk with deliberate awareness of and appreciation for the natural surroundings. Try to walk over grass or dirt if you can. Look around you—at the clouds, the sun, the moon, and notice the breeze in the air, or the bird that just flew by. Use the parks and open spaces available nearby and be grateful for the gifts of nature. And come back inside renewed and calmed by your experience.

So, who did win the debate between low carb and low fat diets? The answer is neither. According to my sources, we should not be trying to minimize either carbs or fats. We should instead be trying to eat healthy carbs and healthy fats, along with sufficient protein.

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The post Who Won the Low Carb vs. Low Fat Diet Debate? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Early in former President Trump’s term, he had a big idea to prevent undocumented immigrants from crossing the southern border, and it was not a wall.

“I want a big, deep moat!” He exclaimed to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson. According to Miles Taylor, Nielson’s Chief of Staff, Trump explained that he wanted this moat filled with snakes and alligators to, as Taylor put it, “eat people alive if they fell into it.”

This bizarre exchange was described by Taylor in his book Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump, a book I have read and highly recommend. But be warned– it is horrifying.

The snake and alligator-infested moat would be one of Trump’s many “bad idea bonfires,” and Taylor and his colleagues would find themselves repeatedly trying to extinguish them using various tactics of distraction, delay, or compromise.

In another disturbing example, according to Taylor, Trump frequently expressed confusion over why he could not simply order federal law enforcement officers to use violence against migrants or Black Lives Matter protesters. This account has been corroborated by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who quoted Trump as saying, “can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something.”

Distracting Trump from doing horrible things to people was exhausting work that would ultimately lead to Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, describing Trump in this way:

John Kelly during his time in the white house. Photo credit: Boston Globe

“He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life,” – former Trump Administration Chief of Staff John Kelly

Like his colleagues, Miles Taylor joined the Trump Administration as a believer—a Trump supporter willing to go to political war for this unconventional firebrand. Trump was shaking up the American political landscape in ways that engendered a fanatical following among a large swath of the conservative American electorate, and Taylor was eager to be a part of the movement.

But, like many of his colleagues, Taylor experienced on the inside a funhouse mirrored terror mansion of chaos led by an aspiring strongman with no regard for democratic principles, governing standards, or basic human decency. As a result of this experience, Taylor did something extraordinarily bold.

Photo Credit: New York Times

In 2018 he wrote an anonymous New York Times op-ed titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The subtitle of this shocking article read: “I work for the president, but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

The op-ed sent President Trump into a rage as he vowed to root out the mole in his midst. The hunt was unsuccessful. Taylor revealed himself as “Anonymous” when he resigned his position in the Trump Administration more than two years later, in October 2020. For months afterward, Taylor endured relentless death threats and harassment.

One may read into Taylor’s action an act of treason. A White House insider actively working against the will of the President and Commander in Chief? And therein lies the heart of exactly why a demagogue like Donald Trump is so incredibly dangerous for the future of American democracy. It reveals that the strength of our democracy lies purely in the hearts and minds of the men and women whom we entrust to lead our nation as elected representatives.

We may have a constitution, but the reality is that it isn’t worth anything unless our elected representatives carry out their democratic duties in good faith and in alignment with constitutional principles.  Our democracy rests on a foundation, not of a document, but of a set of unwritten principles and traditions voluntarily adhered to by those who we, the people, entrust with enormous power and responsibility.

George Washington, our first president, set the standard for one of those principles—respect for the peaceful transfer of power. It is a sacred obligation that, after almost two and a half centuries, was shattered by Donald Trump’s failure to concede a lost election and his systematic attempts to unconstitutionally overturn its results to keep himself in power, including the incitement of a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

This historical context brings us to the reason why Project 2025 presents a profound danger to the future of America. While the media has mainly focused on the many draconian policy ideas within the document, they are largely failing to articulate that the greater danger is that Project 2025 is a playbook for removing the guardrails from a second Trump presidency—one that he has already stated will be driven by retribution in a second term of vengeance and political targeting.

The first three words in the 930-page Project 2025 document are “We want you!!”

Published in early 2023 voluntarily by the Heritage Foundation, a long-standing conservative political think tank, Project 2025 is a call to arms. It is a recruitment tool to create a standing army-in-waiting of MAGA loyalists who will be ready, eager, and specifically trained to fill the ranks of the civil service (what Trump calls the “deep state”) to carry out the orders of the next Trump presidency without question or hesitation. These institutions harbor great powers within them that, if used against the American people at the behest of a vengeful president, can destroy our republic and our democracy as we know it from within.

The primary objective of Project 2025, therefore, is not about draconian policy ideas like abolishing the Department of Education. It is about turning the management of the traditionally non-partisan civil service into a cabal of MAGA loyalists who will act on political rather than professional directives.

The Project 2025 document explicitly states that the “next conservative president” must be willing to grab extraordinary executive powers so that he can then “hand the power back to the people” once the federal government has been overhauled to match the vision of MAGA.

This is an egregiously dangerous perspective when their favored candidate already tried once to overthrow the American government after losing an election. Do they really think that, once power is grabbed through their playbook, Trump would behave like Washington and not like Orban or Mussolini?

The authors of Project 2025 must know that Trump is no Washington, which is why the document is so sinister in nature. The logical conclusion is that the Project 2025 authors want an authoritarian Trump who will steamroll over our democracy to achieve their objectives of “making America great again” by their definition only.

After all, the current Heritage Foundation President, Kevin Roberts, recently stated on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that “we are in the process of the second American revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it.”

The main mechanism of this so-called “revolution” is the planned overhauling of the administrative state, replacing career civil servants with political loyalists. This goal is explicitly stated on pages 20 and 21 of Project 2025:

“…the new administration must fill its ranks with political appointees.”

“When it comes to ensuring that freedom can flourish, nothing is more important than deconstructing the centralized administrative state. Political appointees who are answerable to the President and have decision-making authority in the executive branch are key to this essential task. The next Administration must not cede such authority to non-partisan “experts.”

This recruitment drive for loyalists is so core to the Project 2025 agenda that it is represented as one of its four main pillars, specifically stated in the document as “a personnel database.”

Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, has claimed “We are building a pipeline of conservative talent that is ready to step into key roles and implement our vision for America.”

Former head of Project 2025 Paul Dans claimed “We have a database with over 10,000 people from all walks of life entering into this, aspiring to serve. We want people who’ve been canceled, who’ve figuratively given blood for the movement. These are mums who’ve challenged school boards. These are people who’ve stood up in their companies and said, ‘Enough with [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and the whole woke agenda.’”

Many of these recruits are people who have filled out the vetting questionnaire on Project2025.org — political loyalists rather than the non-partisan experts who have traditionally filled the ranks of the civil service since the late 1800s.

The century-and-a-half long tradition of filling federal government positions with non-partisan experts is one of those unwritten foundational principles that has kept our democracy intact. Past presidents going back at least to Grover Cleveland have understood and largely adhered to the necessity of keeping political influence out of the day-to-day responsibilities of civil servants ranging from EPA environmental scientists to FBI investigators.

Project 2025’s brazen call to reverse this tradition and suggest that these career positions be qualified, not by experience and training in their field, but by a loyalty test to the MAGA movement, is dangerous. It becomes profoundly alarming if the occupant of the oval office has already stated and demonstrated anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies, and has already tried once before to overturn the will of the people.

Overhauling the civil service (i.e., “deep state”) with political loyalists would require firing and replacing tens of thousands of federal government employees. Most of these jobs typically carry over from one administration to the next. So how would the next Trump carry out this hostile takeover?

There is a plan for that, and it was already enacted once by Trump at the end of his last term. In October 2020, anticipating re-election the next month, Trump signed an executive order instituting “Schedule F,” which created a new employment category for federal employees that gives the president the authority to directly hire and fire vastly larger numbers of federal employees to the tune of many tens of thousands.

This order was immediately rescinded by President Biden upon his taking office in 2021, like putting a risen demon back into the earth. But there is no question that Trump would re-institute this order probably on day one of his presidency—one of the many “dictator-for-a-day” orders he may sign on January 21, 2025.

Trump would likely use the power of the executive order to push through an agenda that would have no chance in the legislative chambers. This possible landslide of executive orders would need to be implemented by the thousands of civil servants in the various federal agencies involved. Schedule F creates the mechanism for the next MAGA president to stuff the executive branch with loyalists who, rather than preventing the president from doing horrible things, would likely carry out his vengeful orders.

And this is where the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity comes in, supercharging this danger to alarming levels. Prior to this decision, Project 2025’s playbook for MAGA authoritarianism was still a road full of rocks and potholes. The conservative super-majority Supreme Court just paved that road over with a red carpeted conveyor belt for the first American dictator to ride into unchecked power.

Photo credit: Adam Szuscik via Unsplash

For almost two hundred and fifty years, the American people lived under the belief that no American, even the president, was above the law. The U.S. Supreme Court in Trump vs. The United States changed that overnight in what many legal scholars have called one of the most misguided and dangerous rulings in its entire history. Their ruling largely grants the U.S. president broad immunity from prosecution for anything arbitrarily deemed an “official act.”

While this ruling caused a prosecutorial delay in the January 6th-related cases against Trump (Federal and State of Georgia), it may not insulate him from conviction in those cases as federal prosecutors argue that his actions were undertaken as a candidate for office, not as president, and therefore cannot be considered “official acts” of the president. The merits of that argument, however, are untested under the new presidential immunity powers granted by the Supreme Court.

The danger, however, lies in a future President Trump who may seek to legally insulate his directives by declaring them official presidential acts. Furthermore, the Supreme Court explicitly protected the president from prosecution over any interaction between the president and the Department of Justice, opening the door wide open for targeted prosecution of political opponents or extrajudicial crackdowns on U.S. Citizens under easily fabricated emergency powers such as the Insurrection Act

The Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity arguably throws a wet blanket on any future Trump Administration insiders who may still be left trying to hold up the now rickety guardrails against his criminality if for no other reason than to protect their own skin.

Combine that with a president’s broad power of the pardon, including the preemptive pardon, and you have a wide-open path for the next (and even current) president to do almost whatever he or she wants with little fear or threat of future prosecution.

When Trump distances himself from Project 2025, he is playing a game the media is buying into by focusing on the policy proposals in the document. Trump does not care about those policy ideas. He can refute and disown them for political cover. What Trump is interested in from Project 2025 is the playbook for a power grab and its pre-vetted loyalist political army-in-waiting so that he can punish his political enemies and carry out his often horrible and immoral ideas without obstruction (i.e., “just shoot them in the legs or something.”)

Make no mistake; if Trump is re-elected, he absolutely has a clear path to dictatorship, cut wide open by the playbook that is Project 2025 and the legal cover that this conservative Supreme Court just unleashed.

Many frustrated Americans may relish the idea of a Trump dictatorship to relieve their problems and perceived grievances. For almost a decade the MAGA movement has stoked and reinforced the fear and anger of their followers. They are angry because they are told they should be. They are fearful because they are told they need to be. They are hateful because they are told it’s okay to be.

But modern history is fraught with examples of this foolishness. When democracy is undermined by a vengeful demagogue who plays on the people’s fear, anger, and hatred, it ends badly for everyone. Only a few decades ago authoritarian regimes, whether fascist or communist, in Europe and elsewhere promised grand authoritarian solutions (and retribution for trumped up grievances), but ended in the horrific destruction of whole societies, genocides, and wars of annihilation.

It would be hyperbolic to conclude with certainty that a second Trump Administration will lead us into such horrific turmoil. But it would be equally naive to assume that we can take another giant step onto that slippery slide of fascism and assume we will be able to arrest our accelerating descent towards its terrifying destinations.

Project 2025 is a playbook that gives extraordinary powers to the presidency in the foolish expectation that the president who benefits from that power would then voluntarily dilute it again. That is the dangerous plan.

The reality is that a vengeful and aging President Trump will likely use those powers, newly unhindered through the installation of an army of pre-vetted political loyalists operating under the cover of a preemptive pardon and the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision, to potentially unleash an American presidential fury that could send the nation into a dark vault of political chaos and even violence.

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor was not speaking in hyperbolic terms in her rebuttal to the catastrophic presidential immunity decision when she wrote, “with fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

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The post Project 2025: Red Carpet to American Autocracy appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Here in America, the automobile is far more than a means of transportation. Our cars are vehicles of personal freedom to go where we want when we want. When we get behind that wheel and wake up the power of two or three hundred horses under the hood, the open road beckons and an enormous nation full of possibilities becomes accessible on our terms. As the common metaphor goes, “We are in the driver’s seat,” when we sit in that position looking out through the windshield, we take control of our destination and our journey. To control our own destiny is the American way, and the automobile is a symbol of our bold independence. To put it simply, we love our cars.

We love our cars so much that the automobile has long been one of the classic icons of American life. The type of vehicle we drive is often a statement of style, culture, or politics. The full-size pickup truck and the sports coup convey very different statements of cultural and personal preferences and values, neither good nor bad, but distinct. On our highways and city streets, these different styles mostly coexist but do not intermingle.

Enter the great American car show, a community event of enduring appeal for more than a century. What’s the appeal? To gain more insight I called up my long-time friend and car show enthusiast Keal Vigil. 

“For me, it’s just enjoying the camaraderie,” said Vigil. Vigil has always been particularly interested in muscle cars of the 1960s and he currently owns a 1962 Ford Galaxie. He works on it enough to keep it running but isn’t fanatical about restoration like some enthusiasts. As a freelance photographer who likes autos, car shows are the perfect opportunity to blend two different interests. Many of the striking images in this article are Vigil’s work.

Vigil told me that car show people come from all walks of life. You get people who are into everything from muscle cars to trucks and vintage classics to new models. But, in general, the car owners at the shows all appreciate what the other styles bring to the lot. It occurred to me while speaking with my friend that the car show is one of those perfect venues where differences that might otherwise be cause for division fade into the background, making room for humanity and community to shine. We need more of that these days.

I attended a car show in the small town of Howard, Colorado, near Salida. The town had recently lost one of its long-time residents, Stan Francis, who was a local legend for his lifetime of work restoring old classics, some of which date back to the 1910s. The peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains provided a scenic backdrop for the shined up 1950s-era pick-ups and 1960s classic muscle cars.

But one specimen really caught my eye — something a little different. It was a 1967 silver Sunbeam Tiger Mark II. This was no big muscle car but rather a sleek looking convertible two-seater with elegantly rounded contours.

Standing next to his car in a Hawaiian shirt was Jerry Scavezze. While I briefly spoke with Scavezze at the show in Howard, I was able to catch up with him again over the phone to get the whole story. Back in the 1980s Scavezze saw a classified advertisement for this rare car and flew out to San Diego to take a look. “I bought it in thirteen boxes of parts and spent the next four or five years putting it together,” said Scavezze.

The story of the Sunbeam Tiger Mark II is a saga worthy of its own article. It involves famous custom car designer Carroll Shelby, wealthy British owner of Sunbeam Lord Rootes, Chrysler’s acquisition of Sunbeam, and a decision by Chrysler to kill the Mark II project due to embarrassment at having a Ford engine in a Chrysler product. The result, as Scavezze explained to me, was a strange vehicle of which only 533 were ever made. It was built with Standard American hardware in the drive train and metric hardware for the body. Restoring this mishmash of a vehicle out of 13 boxes of parts in a time with no internet and no manual to study was, as Scavezze told me, “a pain in the ass, honestly. It took weeks to figure out a single part sometimes.”

But it was clearly a labor of love, and the finished product attracts a lot of interest at the car shows Scavezze attends. “I did a car show up in Boulder at the Shelby Car Museum last year,” said Scavezze. “They put my car next to a bunch of really fast Mustangs. It was the only Sunbeam Tiger Mark II there.”

Scavezze believes that restored cars should be driven, and he can be seen in and around Salida with his rare Sunbeam. “I drive down the street and get kids asking me ‘What the hell is this?’” At car shows Scavezze, like Vigil, enjoys the camaraderie of “Just talking to other gearheads about their cars.” And, like Vigil, it doesn’t really matter to him what style, era, or make the cars are. “I just love cars,” Scavezze said. “I like a totally restored 1932 Model A and equally love the modern hot rods.”

After meeting Scavezze in Howard, it’s apparent that he also loves talking to people about his car and the remarkable story behind it. That’s the essence of the great American car show and why its appeal is so timeless. It is just people talking to each other in person about something they are passionate about. And, when it comes to finding a common interest, there is no better one for Americans than our cars.

The post Car Shows appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Black cowboys and cowgirls were common in the old west. Their stories deserve a closer look.

I gloried in the danger, and the wild and free life of the plains

-Nat Love, Black cowboy of the old American West.

The sixteen year-old cowboy rode into the searing West Texas desert alongside a group of more experienced men. He had just been hired on after proving he could ride a mean horse named “Good Eye.” Before long an angry sky appeared, purple fell to the ground with rain and bolts of lightning. The tenderfoot and the men he rode with were pelted with falling chunks of ice. When the storm cleared the battered riders were attacked by a hundred Indians defending their land. The young cowboy watched the man next to him get killed, froze in fear for a moment, then began to fire his pistol at their attackers.

This was Nat Love’s initiation into frontier life. As a Black cowboy he would lead one of the most remarkable lives of any old west American, documented in his autobiography written in 1907 while working as a Pullman porter for the railroad in Denver.
We know the iconic Hollywood-glorified names of the old west: Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill Kody, and many others. These well-known men typically have one thing in common other than being frontiersmen, and that’s the fact that they were white.
Despite the whitewashing of the West by Hollywood and historians, about one out of every four cowboys were Black. In the old West before the railroads took over, there were about 8,000 Black cowboys working the range.

The names of most of these people will never be known, but some of them became legends whose achievements and adventures were too remarkable to be erased from history. In recent years these legendary Black cowboys and cowgirls have comeback into focus as historians and a new generation of Hollywood directors are recognizing their rightful place in American history.

For every Wyatt Earp there was a Bass Reeves, a Black lawman who some believe was the real inspiration behind The Lone Ranger. For every Billy the Kid there was an Isom Dart, a mysterious Black horse rustler who played both sides of the law and paid the ultimate price for it when a regulator gunned him down near Brown’s Hole in northwest Colorado.

What is a cowboy?

The answer isn’t as clear as it might seem. The cowboy is certainly an iconic American symbol, but they represent different things to different people. For some they are the quintessential American —quietly independent, fiercely loyal to those they care about, and an often-misunderstood person of integrity and grit. For others the cowboy is a colonizer who blazed a trail of destruction and murder in the American West, killing Indians and stealing their land. Cowboys were both lawmen and outlaws— sometimes simultaneously. Some working cowboys became movie stars, as their mystique created a demand among the public for their tales of the frontier. The cowboy could also be a farmer, or even a politician if he wore a big enough hat and belt buckle to look the part. And does a cowboy really have to be a man? What about the cowgirl and her place in history?

The American cowboy in our mythos is a composite of all these characters. But the one commonality that runs through this mosaic is the epitome of a free person who — whether good, bad, or ugly — makes their own decisions.

Perhaps that was, and still is, the ultimate appeal for the Black American cowboy. After the end of the Civil War and the promise of freedom came the heartbreaking disappointment of Reconstruction in the South. Instead of gaining equality, the formerly enslaved were met with a virulently racist opposition to their freedom. Many formerly enslaved Blacks sought to escape repression by heading north, others looked instead to the Western frontier where the land was vast.

In many cases this move to the west by southern Blacks was involuntary. “You can find individual stories of Black families that were forced from their land,” said Terri Gentry, Engagement Manager for Black Communities at the Black American West Museum in Denver. According to Gentry, Ida B. Wells and Benjamin Singleton were influential in encouraging and organizing Black southerners to venture west to escape the oppression of the Reconstruction-era south. As a result, thousands of Black people and families, called “exodusters,” migrated west to found new settlements on the high plains and Rocky Mountains.

It should be acknowledged that, as Black Southerners migrated west to escape oppression, they took part, consciously or not, in the displacement and subjugation of Native Americans. Black cowboys were a participant in what history has all too often called the “winning of the West.” This terminology minimizes the magnitude of what befell the Native Americans — the genocide of a complex network of indigenous societies who had lived upon this land for hundreds of generations.

The Black cowboy, however, was not part of an empowered class. Although he participated in the displacement of Native Americans from their rightful homelands, he did so primarily in a struggle to survive a disadvantaged life.

The majority of the exodusters settled in Oklahoma and Kansas, but Colorado was home to at least twenty-five Black settlements. The most well-known of them in Colorado was Dearfield, but there was also a place called The Dry, now the location of the town of Manzanola east of Pueblo.

The Black cowboys were a subset of the exodusters. They were often formerly enslaved men, and sometimes women, who were skilled with horses and cattle. Faced with limited opportunities, they sought to scratch out a living from the hard bedrock of an often cruel and unforgiving society.

Ranching outfits during that time needed people willing to endure extreme hardship and they couldn’t always afford to let prejudices get in the way of their ambitions. If a Black man with some riding or roping skills was willing to take the risks and brave the elements, he could get hired into an outfit. Others sought not to join a cattle ranching outfit, but to strike out completely on their own.

The original cowboy.

The very term “cowboy” was a racist label at the time. In the late 1800s the white cowboys were called “cowhands” while the racially derogatory term “boy” was applied to the Black cowhands doing the same or similar work. The Black cowhands, then, became the original “cowboys.”.

Most cowboys of all races — there were many Hispanic cowboys as well as a few Asian and Native Americans as well — were not entirely independent operators. Unlike the perception of the lone rider, they typically had bosses and worked for moneyed interests. Most of these cowboys never made a name for themselves. They did drudgery work on the range, rarely seeking or receiving much recognition. Many died in a lonely ditch or on a sun-bleached hillside somewhere without so much as a funeral. Others were lucky enough to survive and adapt to changing times, finding employment with railroads or mines, or scratching out a living as a farmer.

But there were a few whose exploits made it into the historical record, and among those few were Black Americans like Bose Ikard. Ikard, who was born into slavery and ventured west after the end of the Civil War, was hired as a top hand by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. He was so skilled and dependable that he quickly became a third equal partner, if not financially, at least while out on the range.
The three partners and friends blazed a new trail that would bring thousands of head of cattle from Texas to new markets between 1866 and 1871, first in eastern New Mexico, and eventually through most of Colorado.

Eastern New Mexico is a no-man’s-land in American geography. It is a place that exists on the boundaries between defined regions but is as vast as two Portugals. It is where high plains grasses intermingle with cactus beneath distant forest-topped mesas and peaks – pieces of the prairie, desert, and mountains mix together in a landscape that’s hard to define.

It is a harsh and unforgiving place. Freak winter blizzards turn the tan landscape into a white wind-whipped expanse. Spring superstorms blacken the horizon and threaten violence with no cover. In summer the land cracks under a big, brutal sun, and water becomes scarce in every direction.

Cattle can smell water from many miles away, and after having been driven for days across a hot and waterless land, they can break into a panicked run. When a stampede breaks out, the cowboy’s life becomes hell. He must ride relentlessly to corral the animals for hours or days on end. Should he get careless and find himself in the path of hundreds of thirst-crazed thousand-pound hoofed beasts there will be nothing left of him but a blood streak in the dirt and little bits of flesh and bone.

Such was the danger of Bose Ikard’s life on the trail where he dealt fearlessly with cattle stampedes, hostile Indians, brutal storms, and the heavy burden of life on the brink of survival. By the time the trio’s five-year cattle-driving adventures ended in 1871 Oliver Loving would be killed in an Indian attack and Ikard would save Charles Goodnight’s life more than once. The Goodnight-Loving cattle drive would never have succeeded without Bose Ikard.

If there is a man of the old west who most closely fits the mold of the idealized American cowboy, it’s Bose Ikard. Memorialized by his business partner and lifelong friend Charles Goodnight, Ikard was as tough as they come with impenetrable integrity, fierce loyalty, and uncommon bravery. He was the epitome of true grit.

Cowboys and Hollywood.

The adventurous exploits of Goodnight, Ikard, and Loving were the inspiration behind the 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurty, and the subsequent TV miniseries of the same name. The fictional character Josh Deets corresponds with Ikard, played in the TV miniseries by Danny Glover, a role that introduced many Americans to Black cowboys in the West. More recent westerns have highlighted the fictional roles of Black cowboys, such as Morgan Freeman in “The Unforgiven” and Jamie Fox in both “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight” — filmed in Telluride. Most recently, “The Harder They Fall” featured an all-Black cast in a fictional drama that uses the real names of Black cowboys and cowgirls including Nat Love and Stagecoach Mary.

In “The Harder They Fall,” Stagecoach Mary, played by Zazie Beetz, is an attractive saloon owner and burlesque performer with a brutal penchant for murder. There is nothing remotely historically accurate about it, but the film was never intended as a true story. What’s notable about this film is the use of the real names of Black icons, and its all-Black main cast. This is quite a reversal from the decades of primarily white male cowboy actors like John Wayne and Gene Autry.

Stagecoach Mary was indeed a real person, and her true story is remarkable. Born into slavery in the 1830s, Mary Fields was thirty-two when the Civil War ended, and she found herself a free woman. She was a big lady, six feet tall and over 200 pounds, with a brusque demeanor and a liking for whisky and cigars.

In her 50s Fields finally found her Shangri La in Cascade, Montana after reuniting with her best friend and former employer who was a catholic nun. She hung with the boys in the local saloons, drinking, smoking, and playing cards,establishing a reputation as a barroom brawler — said to have knocked many men out cold with one punch — and even participated in a duel. At the age of 62 she was hired as a U.S. postal service mail carrie. She was only the second woman in America and the first Black woman to hold such a perilous job.
Fields was made for the job, and until the age of 71, Stagecoach Mary braved Montana blizzards, fended off wolf packs, and defended cargo from robbers with her pistol. When snow became too deep for her horses to pull the carriage, she strapped on a pair of snowshoes, hoisted the mail bag over her powerful shoulder, and completed the delivery on foot. She never lost a single letter.

By the time Mary retired she was a living legend among her community. The town of Cascade loved “Black Mary” as they affectionately called her. When her house burned down, they built her a new one. When the state of Montana passed a law barring women from entering saloons, Cascade’s mayor passed an exception for her. The local baseball team took her with them to road games as an honorary member of the team. Behind that tough exterior was a generous and loving person who brought bouquets of flowers from her own garden to the games as gifts for any player who hit a home run.

The feeling of freedom.

As the West was tamed and railroads killed the cattle drive, the American cowboy changed with the times. By the beginning of the 20th Century, some cowboys parlayed the skills they learned on the range and became rodeo performers. Here, too, we find legendary Black cowboys like steer wrestler Jessie Stahl and bulldogger Bill Picket.

Picket is arguably the most skilled rodeo performer of all time. What made Picket famous was a stunt of his own invention that is truly hard to believe — bulldogging. The name comes from the behavior of English bulldogs that were bred and trained to bite the upper lip of a bull to subdue the animal. Bill Picket would jump onto the back of an enraged bull from his horse, grab it by the horns, and then position himself face-to-face with the beast. He would then bite into the fatty snot-coated upper lip of the bull, stunning the animal into submission.

One of Bill Picket’s riding partners was none other than the famous cowboy-turned actor Will Rogers. They performed all over the United States and even abroad, drawing crowds of tens of thousands at arenas like Madison Square Garden.

After decades of being forgotten, the American Black cowboy — and cowgirl — is making a cultural comeback.

An example of this trend is the emergence of a group of young Black men in California who call themselves the ‘Cowboys of Compton.” They ride their horses through Compton’s urban jungle, drawing the attention and admiration of passersby, some of whom may not have considered that Black men were real cowboys more than a century ago, and there are still Black cowboys today.

It occurred to me that there is a commonality between these young men and the cowboys of the old west that goes deeper than their horsemanship skills and their cowboy style. It is best stated by a Compton Cowboy featured in the YouTube documentary “Real Black Cowboys” : “When people see us in the community riding seven, ten deep, cars will literally stop. I’ve seen cops or the hardest gangsters and they always tend to loosen up. It changes their mind frame.”

When Bose Ikard and Nat Love rode the high plains with their white compatriots, they became relatable to each other, connected in a bond that was a shared experience of hardship, danger, and, as Nat Love would have said, glory. The reason Stagecoach Mary was so loved was not just because she gave people flowers from her garden, it was because she and the white men she brawled, wagered, and drank with in the saloon shared a relatability of experience in a western land on the margins of life and death.

There is, perhaps, no figure in American history that is more iconically American than the cowboy. To learn, and to understand, that the cowboy life was not just part of the white man’s world but was a shared experience across racial distinctions can help create a relatability that breaks down unnecessary barriers. It can help anchor us to a commonality of our history, one that includes the bad with the good, but one with shared experiences that can be embraced.

I asked Terri Gentry for her opinion on why the idea of the Black cowboy seems to be resonating with some urban Black youth today. The visibility of the Black American cowboy in our media and in our history books “opens the door for another perspective on what freedom means,” said Gentry. “They can see them doing all this stuff out on the open plains, under the stars. It’s a new perspective for what it means to be free.”

Many years ago, there lived strong men who roamed the prairies of the land.
They searched by day and watched by night to protect their cattle the best they can.
They fought side-by-side, many of them died, but nobody ever told me, there were Black cowboys.
That was yesterday, but this is what’s happening today, there are still many hard ridin’ Black cowboys.
They fought side-by-side and many of them died, yet nobody ever told me there were Black cowboys.
But history may show what the whole world needs to know, there are still many hard ridin’ Black cowboys.

-Poem about the Black cowboy by Albert Franks as shown in the documentary “Real Black Cowboys:”

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The post The Black Cowboys of Colorado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In Nevada’s monstrous Lake Mead Reservoir, the term “dead pool” has a dual meaning. For hydrologists, dead pool represents a catastrophically low water level in a reservoir below which the water can no longer pass through the outlet works of the dam or produce electricity. Dead pool in Lake Mead might also relate to the hundreds of human bodies concealed within its depths, some of them Las Vegas mob hits, most of them unrecovered drowning victims. In recent years Lake Mead’s water level has plummeted alarmingly towards dead pool and, as it does so, has exposed human remains along new shorelines.

Lake Mead currently sports a giant white “bathtub” ring indicating the newly exposed land. When the lake reached its lowest level in 2022, the ring was nearly 200 vertical feet, and the reservoir held only 30% of its capacity. Apocalyptic predictions of the reservoir’s doom flooded the national media. Should Lake Mead reach dead pool, tens of millions of Americans would lose power, water faucets would run dry in many cities, and hundreds of thousands of acres of some of America’s most important agricultural land would dry up.

The water level has since risen about 30 feet because of a lucky break. The southern Rockies had an epic snow year in 2023 and unleashed a monster runoff which helped replenish the Colorado River Basin including Lake Mead. But one very good snow year cannot reverse a multi-decade megadrought, and demand for Colorado River water continues to grow year by year. It’s been decades since the river flowed regularly into the ocean. All of its water is now used up before it gets to the sea. In northern Mexico, south of the Arizona border, what used to be a vast wetland delta full of wildlife has turned into a dusty wasteland. Demand for the river system’s water continues to grow while the megadrought in the Southwest marches on in the near future harbors a potential water catastrophe.

Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, USA. The Colorado river behind the dam, surrounding by red rocks, desert, and mountain.

A river by any other name

The official source of any river is mostly an arbitrary designation based on the happenstance of geographic naming. Both the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers, for example, have official sources that make little logical sense. A river, if viewed from above, resembles a giant leafless tree with ever smaller branches extending in all directions throughout the river’s basin in a fractal pattern. A river like the Colorado does not have a single source; rather it has hundreds of thousands of them throughout its vast drainage basin spread out over thousands of miles.

However, if we were to consider a river’s most logical single source to be the point on the river system that is the farthest from its mouth in river miles, then the source of the Colorado River is in west-central Wyoming where the Green River begins, not in the Colorado Mountains. The Green and Colorado Rivers merge in the middle of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Upstream from there, the Green is more than twice as long as the upper Colorado River branch. Had the entire river been named the Green — which it almost was — then its official source would most certainly be in Wyoming, not Colorado. Similarly, the source of the Mississippi should be the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana instead of its officially recognized source in Minnesota, which is hundreds of river miles closer to the Gulf of Mexico than it is the start of the Missouri.

Where does the water come from?

Some of the water that fills Lake Mead starts as snowmelt high up in the Never Summer Mountain Range near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Even up there where the Colorado River system is nothing more than a series of tiny mountain creeks, we begin to consume its waters. The first users of the Colorado’s water are you, me, and the rest of our neighbors here in the cities of the Front Range.

Unless you are on a well system, when you turn on your water faucet you are probably consuming water that was brought to you through a tunnel under the Continental Divide from the headwaters of the Colorado River. There are eight such water diversions from the Western Slope to the Front Range, the biggest of which is the Big Thompson Project. There is also the Grand Ditch, the Moffat Tunnel, the Roberts Tunnel, the Continental Hoosier System, the Homestake Project, the Twin Lakes Tunnel, and the Fry-Ark Project which provides water for Colorado Springs. Collectively they transfer almost a half million acre-feet of water annually from the Western Slope to the Front Range, all from the Colorado River’s headwater streams including the Eagle, Fryingpan, Roaring Fork, Blue, and Fraser Rivers.

The longest of these tunnels is the Alva B. Adams at 13.1 miles long and 10 feet wide, part of the Big Thompson Project. It passes right under the middle of Rocky Mountain National Park and emerges near the aptly named East Portal Campground.

dam on the South Platte River in northern Colorado below Denver, late fall scenery

Why don’t we just use the water from the South Platte? The reason is that 80% of Colorado’s population lives east of the Continental Divide while 80% of the state’s natural water supply flows west of the divide. Add to that the needs of Colorado’s thirsty Eastern Plains farms, and you have a mismatch between the location of water demand and the location of most of the water supply. The South Platte River just isn’t big enough.

This is a scenario that plays out in similar ways along the entire length of the Colorado River into northern Mexico. Along the river’s course, there are no large cities on or near its banks. The cities, Indian tribes, desert farms, and golf courses that depend on the river’s waters are scattered throughout this sparse land from the Pacific Coast to the High Plains. Forty million people use Colorado River water, most of them residing in cities far too large for their arid environments. And while the South Platte River isn’t big enough to meet the demand of the Front Range, the larger Colorado River is no longer big enough to meet the water demands of all seven states in its basin plus northern Mexico.

Mighty demand on the mighty Colorado

We think of the Colorado River as one of North America’s largest, and in terms of the geographic size of its basin, that’s true. It drains a vast area from northern Wyoming south to Mexico and from eastern California west to a thousand-plus-mile stretch of the Rocky Mountains. But in terms of water volume or discharge, the Colorado River is surprisingly small.

Thirty-six rivers in the United States carry more natural water than the Colorado River. The Mississippi carries 27 times the amount. The Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest is about 13 times larger by volume. The Yukon? Ten times larger. Even the lowly Mobile River, which is only 72 miles long, carries three times the amount of water compared to the Colorado River. We are expecting a lot from a river that is far smaller by volume than most of us realize and highly susceptible to climate changes, natural and man-made alike.

Human-caused climate change is widely believed to be a contributing factor to the current stress on the Colorado River Basin, but it is only one of many compounding variables. This is a land where even natural climate change is believed by many experts to be the primary cause of the rise and fall of whole civilizations. The climate and geological record show that megadroughts lasting several decades or more are normal here. The current megadrought is about 23 years running and coincides with significant population growth in the Southwest. It’s possible that it may turn around soon. We can hope that the big winter of 2023 — and thankfully another healthy snow year in 2024 — represents the beginning of a turning point into a wetter trend. If that happens, we will have gotten very lucky. Or it may just be a blip in a drought that has another century or more to go, for even megadroughts have wet years within them. Nobody knows which way it will go. Therefore, we must adapt and plan for the worst-case scenario.

Studying the ancient human artifacts and geologic strata of the area can unlock secrets of the past that can help us plan for the future. According to the book “Where the Water Goes” by David Owen, around the year 600 A.D., the Hohokam people “built and maintained what was then one of the world’s largest and most advanced irrigation systems in what’s now southern Arizona.”

This ancient agricultural society “diverted water from two Colorado River tributaries, the Gila and the Salt, and fed it into extensive networks of canals and ditches, with which they irrigated tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land roughly where metropolitan Phoenix is today,” wrote Owen. “Then, around 1450, the Hohokam and their complex agricultural society disappeared.” No one knows definitively why the society vanished, but one theory is that the cumulative effects of irrigation on the soil caused massive crop failures because of dissolved salts that leached into the soil and groundwater over the centuries, ultimately killing the harvest.

If that’s the correct theory, it demonstrates the importance of adaptation to changing conditions, which is exactly the kind of thing we are facing now in the same region. And, again, the needed adaptation likely must look to agriculture as the single most important contributing factor. The urban demand for the Colorado River’s water is dwarfed by the agricultural production of the area. California’s Imperial Valley sees less than three inches of annual rainfall, and yet it is an enormous producer of year-round produce, including 85% of America’s winter harvest from leafy greens to citrus fruits. The Imperial Valley alone receives an annual allotment of 3.8 million acre-feet of water from the river, which is about what the entire state of Colorado receives and a full 1.5 million acre-feet more than the entire state of Arizona.

Despite popular belief and convenient assumptions due to its proximity to Lake Mead, Las Vegas is only a minor contributor to the pressure on the Colorado River Basin. In fact, Las Vegas represents an exemplary example of urban water management headed in the right direction. Three quarters of a million more people live in the Las Vegas area now compared to just 20 years ago, but during that same period, the city has managed to reduce its water consumption by a staggering 30% or more, mostly through practical laws and incentives.

As admirable as Las Vegas’ water policies have been, the reality is that urban water management, no matter how successful, can only make a small dent in the problem. Desert golf courses and casino fountains make for easy scapegoats, but it is irrigation-based agriculture that is by far the largest draw of Colorado River water. Food production along with the multi-decade megadrought is why Lake Mead is falling and threatening to reach the dreaded dead pool level.

Who owns the water?

Water rights law is extremely complicated, and in the West, it can seem to make little sense in some cases. Unlike most of the world, even in the eastern United States, western water rights are based on the principle of “prior appropriation.” In layperson’s terms, this means that the first person to use the water has first rights to the amount of water they use regardless of where they are.

In the Colorado River Basin, the “law of the river,” as they say, was established over 100 years ago in the Colorado River Compact. This legal agreement divides the seven states in the basin into two halves, the upper basin and the lower basin. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico are in the upper basin. California, Arizona, and Nevada make up the lower basin. One of the long-standing issues is that most of the water comes from the upper basin, but most of the consumption demand is in the lower basin, and this misalignment is getting bigger. The Colorado River also flows into northern Mexico before its mouth at the Gulf of California, so Mexico also has a small portion of the water rights. The Colorado River Compact gives each basin 50% of the U.S. rights to the water, but the upper basin states have never used their full legal allotment, even in the driest of years.

How can it be that the upper basin never uses its full legal allotment, and yet all the water in the river is used before it reaches the sea? The reason is called “paper water.” When the Colorado River Compact was written, it was based on years of historically higher than average flows in the early 1900s. Because of this, the total legal distribution of the river’s water is more than the real water that flows in the basin today. In short, the water is over-allocated.

The result is diminishing water levels in Lakes Mead and Powell as the “bank” of saved water in the reservoirs is depleted more than snowmelt each spring can replace. This also results in a river that is used up completely before it reaches the sea, creating an ecological chain reaction in Mexico and the Gulf of California as a once vast wetland delta has literally turned to dust.

Despite the difficult circumstances, there are reasons to be hopeful that the Colorado River water crisis can be mitigated to avoid a disaster, even if the megadrought persists and snowbirds keep moving to the desert to play golf. Doing so will require seven states and the federal government, specifically the Bureau of Reclamation within the Department of the Interior, to work together. In today’s political environment that might seem challenging, but the process is already moving. The Inflation Reduction Act and the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill include a combined $14.5 billion to “enhance the West’s resilience to drought, the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation’s history.” That money will be supplemented by state-level investments from the seven basin states.

Another positive is that, ultimately, the federal government has the final authority. States’s rights advocates may not like the sound of that, but river systems cross state and national boundaries and a central point of authority is a necessity when it comes to interstate commerce and resources, especially one as critical as this.

Long-term initiatives from 2027 onward are yet to be confirmed, but in general, there are supply-side and demand-side opportunities that likely need to be pursued together. Supply management is about increasing the amount of water available to meet growing demand. Demand management is about using that water more efficiently to reduce consumption. In both cases, there are many things that can be done with a combination of infrastructure investment, education, a focus on more sustainable practices, and political will. This must all be achieved while simultaneously limiting the impact on the ecosystems within the basin and, hopefully, restoring past damage.

After decades of little to no Colorado River water reaching the ocean, a “pulse” of 100 thousand acre-feet of water was released from the last impoundment in Mexico in 2014. For nearly two months the river flowed once again all the way to the Gulf of California, and the dry delta immediately sprang to life with greenery as astounded ecologists measured the resiliency of nature.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area – Low Water Level on Colorado River Reservoir Shoreline – Drought, Water Rights

Lake Mead may never again reach full pool unless there is a major decades-long shift to a wetter climate, but it does not ever have to reach dead pool either, even if the megadrought continues. There are many things that can and likely will be done in the years to come to ensure the lasting health of the Colorado River system and the well-being of all that depend on it.

The example set by the city of Las Vegas gives us hope that it is possible to achieve similar results on a much larger scale. Agriculture can be made much more efficient through incentivizing the planting of less thirsty crops. Untapped water tables can be utilized in places to relieve pressure on the comparatively little surface water. New technologies can be deployed to reduce waste and improve efficiency.

Regardless of the specific solutions, changes must be made for a sustainable Colorado River Basin, and some of those changes might impact us right here in the Front Range as the first consumers of Colorado River water. The alternative of dead pool is not an option.

The post The Colorado River Water Emergency appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

New Work Standards New Tech, and New Products Make This Dream a Reality

For decades office workers of America have convinced themselves that fighting traffic five days a week to sit in a cubicle farm was somehow a fulfilling and rewarding existence.

But a global pandemic necessitating a remote work revolution combined with innovations in off-grid power and mobile connectivity have enlightened us. We’ve snapped out of our stupor to recognize a basic trait of humanity, that we humans were born to move, to run, to explore. Many of us are also over the false dream of a big house and the big chores and stresses that come with it.

Enter the van lifers and the tiny home dwellers who value the simplicity of smaller living and the freedom of mobility. Once the territory of eccentric nomads and outcasts, this lifestyle has suddenly become the envy of many who now seek to downsize their footprint and maybe even put it on wheels. With cottage industries catering to mobility and efficiency, making this transition has never been more attainable. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Van life doesn’t have to involve a van. It could also be a towed camper, a converted school bus (called a “schoolie”), or even, as a friend of mine has done, a pimped-out bread delivery truck. Whatever your chosen home on wheels looks like the key is efficiency. Break it down into essential systems: First comes power and communication, then cooking and eating, then hygiene and comfort. Here are some cool product ideas for each system to get you going.

Solar power has come a long way, and a portable solar panel connected to your battery is the way to go. There are many options depending on your power needs, but for a small rig, start your search with this 100 watt upgradable solar starter kit from Renogy.

Starlink RV

As far as connectivity goes, this is highly dependent on your needs. If you need high speed and reliability for multiple devices simultaneously consider springing for Starlink RV starting at $150 per month. If you just need a single device at a time and enough bandwidth for basic internet needs like email and browsing, the personal hotspot off of your smartphone may be all you need. Many van lifers recommend Visible by Verizon, starting at $25 per month for unlimited usage on their 5G network nationwide.

Omnia stove-top oven

Any respectable van lifer loves the challenge of efficient cooking and eating, and there is a galaxy of innovative products out there to choose from. One of the coolest is the Swedish made Omnia stove-top oven. A real oven is usually the territory of larger RVs, but many smaller homes on wheels do have a small stovetop. With the Omnia the dream of roadside baking is reality.

NEMO Helio Pressure Shower

Often the biggest hang-up to taking the plunge into van life revolves around comfort and particularly hygiene. A weekend of camping is one 

thing, but a life on the road is another and most of us aren’t too keen on developing the odors and looks of cave people. Fear not, a solar heated portable shower can be a rejuvenating life safer. A good mid-range option is the NEMO Helio Pressure Shower.

For those looking for a fixed place to call home in a small footprint, tiny homes are all about efficient use of space. It’s not just about minimizing the amount of stuff in your tiny home, it’s also

about finding ways to combine uses and spaces. Maybe it’s a fold-down wall bed or adding outdoor living comforts to expand your livable space. Whatever it is, there are few things in life more satisfying than a truly cozy nook that feels just right for you. Here are some ideas to get started.

Two of the bulkiest items in a home are the refrigerator and the coffee table. Why not combine them? Consider as smart coffee table with refrigerator drawers and built-in USB charging. Another bulky appliance that is often the first casualty of tiny spaces is the clothes washing machine. But there is a compromise solution. It’s called the countertop washer—a portable common-sense approach to washing small loads of laundry in a small space. The Drop! Compact Countertop Washing Machine and Spinner is affordable, simple, and doesn’t require its own room.

If you’ve been noodling a life on the road or finding your little hobbit abode somewhere beautiful there’s never been a better time to make the change as mobile communication, off-grid power, and cottage industry products make the open road or a tiny home a reality.

The post Van Life and Tiny Homes appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Eldorado Springs – Portal to the Mountains

Billion-year-old stone rises vertically over the green-tinted waters of a mountain stream. Red-barked ponderosa pines that smell of vanilla drape the steep slopes between the rocky ramparts. As the sun tracks behind the clifftops, the canyon floor often remains shady while the rock walls above illuminate in brilliant sunshine. The texture and contrasting light of this place can be stunning.

This is Eldorado Canyon just to the south of Boulder. Nowhere else in the Front Range features a more abrupt transition between the mountains and the bright white immensity of the high plains, a place the settlers used to call the Great American Desert.

There is a village at the point where South Boulder Creek spills out from the canyon and onto the plains. Some call this place “hippy canyon” for its reputation as an eclectic non-conformist community. Its official name is Eldorado Springs, an unincorporated town of about 560 people.

Over a century ago Eldorado Springs was a much livelier place than it is today. In the early 1900s up to 40,000 people a day would visit to experience the natural mineral springs and the resort that was developed around them, created originally by Frank Fowler. There were three hotels there including the Crags which burned to the ground in 1912. When the original Eldorado Resort opened, its spring-fed swimming pool was said to be the largest in the nation. In 1916 future President Dwight Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie celebrated their honeymoon at Eldorado Resort.

Eldorado Springs attracted adventure seekers from its beginning. From 1906 to 1948 local daredevil Ivy Baldwin walked a high wire that was strung up between the canyon walls. Never using a safety net, Baldwin would walk the wire some 600 feet above the bottom out to the middle, stop and do a headstand on the wire, and then walk the rest of the way to the other side. He performed his last high wire act at the age of 82.

In the 1950s the canyon began to attract a new type of adventurer, the rock climbers. Known then as “marmots,” the climbers soon began to place fixed routes up the sheer walls of the canyon. The now world-renowned climbing destination of Eldorado Canyon features hundreds of known climbing routes with names like The Evictor, The Naked Edge, and Must’ve Been High. The canyon’s rock walls have been scaled by many of the nation’s legendary climbers including Tommy Caldwell, Lynn Hill, and Alex Honnold.

The canyon was designated a Colorado state park in 1978, and it’s not just for climbers. The narrow park road ends at the west end of the canyon where the landscape opens up and the stream flows gently by. It’s a wonderful place for a picnic or a short hike. If you visit the state park, don’t forget to stop and take a stroll through Eldorado Springs itself where you might stumble upon an open-air sculpture garden and other quirky sights. Bring a water jug and a couple bucks to fill it with pure Eldorado Springs water. Then take a dip in the recently renovated historic swimming pool. All of this makes for one of Boulder County’s most rewarding summer afternoons, right on the edge of the mountains.

The now world-renowned climbing destination of Eldorado Canyon features hundreds of known climbing routes with names like The Evictor, The Naked Edge, and Must’ve Been High.

Gunbarrel, Hygiene, and Niwot – The Center of the Universe

On a sunny spring day a very long time ago, a lone scout stood atop a treeless hill. From there she could see for days in every direction except over the high mountains to the west. Those mountains were clothed in rivers of alpine ice above forested foothills. There were real glaciers in those mountains back then — the kind that carve valleys out of rock.

The high plains to the east of these ice-bound mountains were cooler and drier than they are today. It was a well-watered desert. The glacial-melt rivers flowing into this dry land from the mountains were probably much larger than today’s creeks and occasionally brought enormous floods that altered the landscape by moving massive amounts of sediment around.

The scout, standing atop this hill, was looking for a beast large enough to feed her clan for weeks — a mammoth or perhaps a giant land sloth. She was also wary of predators larger and fiercer than anything known to modern man like cats with six-inch fangs and bears twice as large as a grizzly.

This hill is known today as Haystack Mountain, and it was likely a place of high importance for humans in this area for thousands of years because of its unique topography as a solitary vantage point. Many archeological artifacts have been found near Haystack Mountain, including a stunning 13,000-year-old cache unearthed recently from the backyard of a north Boulder home. The 300-foot hill is a geologic remnant of Tabletop Mountain, a broad mesa to its northwest. The St. Vrain River carved away a piece of the mesa. Wind and water shaped the orphaned chunk of land into a cone that now stands like an oddball over the high plains between Boulder and Longmont.

The Arapaho Tribe called the little mountain Nenestce, meaning “the standing alone mountain.” Like our Clovis-era scout who climbed the hill looking for a mammoth, Arapaho hunters in the early 1800s would have used its summit for a bird’s eye view of any nearby bison herds. Given Nenestce’s importance to the Arapaho as a camp, it is possible — though not known — that a future Arapaho chief was born near this mountain around the year 1825. His name would be Niwot, meaning Left Hand.

Niwot had two siblings, a brother named Neva, and an older sister named Mahom who married John Poisal, a white trapper. Poisal and his Arapaho in-laws taught each other their native languages during a brief period of time when peaceful coexistence between the Arapaho and encroaching pioneers may have still seemed attainable. But a series of converging events and an imperialist-oriented young nation would soon smash that fleeting dream. The Arapaho and other Native American tribes of the area would be overrun, treaties would be broken, and their land and livelihoods would be stolen from them.

The massive land grab of the Mexican-American War opened up enormous territory for settlement expansion to the west and southwest. The first settler waves went through or around Colorado. First the Mormons headed to Utah as they fled persecution in the Midwest, then a wave of gold seekers set their sights on California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. But when gold was discovered in Colorado in 1858, a tectonic clash of civilizations began along the Front Range as this wave of settlers intended to stay.

Many archeological artifacts have been found near Haystack Mountain, including a stunning 13,000-year-old cache unearthed recently from the backyard of a north Boulder home.

As the pioneer horde descended on his people’s land, the English-speaking and pacifist Chief Niwot and his brother Neva were pulled into the eye of this storm. They both became reluctant statesmen forced to help their people navigate through a growing catastrophe. While Niwot is the more recognized and historically documented of the two brothers, it was Neva who traveled all the way to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Lincoln in 1863.

Neva and other Native American delegates received a sympathetic ear from the president. But their long journey east yielded little substance as their plight was overshadowed by the nation’s existential struggle in the Civil War. A little more than a year after Neva’s trip to Washington, his brother Niwot would be dead, a victim of a horrific massacre at Sand Creek southeast of Denver, led by a U.S. colonel and supported by Colorado’s territorial governor.

Aggrieved and likely enraged by the massacre and the killing of his brother, Neva finally gave up on the whites and, at least for a time, took up arms to fight alongside his young warriors across the contested plains. There seems to be no known historical record of Neva’s fate after that, but we know that he never accepted reservation life. According to Donlyn Arbuthnot, whose family was among the first whites to settle in the Haystack Mountain area, Arapaho people would return to Haystack Mountain at times well into the 1880s and even the 1890s. It is plausible that Neva, as an elderly man, may have been amongst them. As Arbuthnot told me, Haystack Mountain — Nenestce — “was an important place for them.”

Arbothnot showed me the meticulous family history binders she had compiled as we sat near the fireplace at Lafayette’s East Simpson Coffee Company. There are of course the Arbuthnots, but there are also the Baders, the Coes, and the Hills, all part of Donlyn Arbuthnot’s family lineage, all of them instrumental in the settlement of the area around Haystack Mountain and the emergence of the communities of Niwot, Hygiene, and Gunbarrel. It’s hard to know where to start with this rich background, but I like the story of Donlyn’s great-great grandfather J. George Bader.

One fine day in Iowa in the summer of 1866, Union war veteran J. George Bader, his wife Mary, their daughter, and a son prepared to embark on a life-changing journey westward. Bader marched through Georgia with General Sherman late in 1864. Perhaps even then he dreamt of a future life near the Rocky Mountains for as he marched with the Union Army, he collected some apple seeds along the way.

Back in Iowa the wounded soldier placed those apple seeds carefully in the pockets of his trousers. Together, the Baders climbed into their wagon and set forth to chase the dream that was the American frontier. In addition to his apple seeds, J. George Bader put a live beehive in the wagon, which made it all the way to Colorado. It seems he had an idealistic expectation of apple pie and honey in a new land, as far away as possible from the horrors of a war that still tormented his soul.

After a long overland journey, J. George Bader reunited with a brother in the hills above Boulder. Nicholas Bader had arrived in 1860 looking for gold, and by the time his brother arrived, he was one of the first official landowners in what would become Boulder County. His land was near Haystack Mountain.

Mary Bader
Arbuthnot and children

In the 1880s Mary Bader, J. George Bader’s daughter who traveled with him to the frontier as a child, taught at the school her father built near Haystack Mountain. During good weather Mary would open the schoolhouse windows and leave homemade marshmallows for the Arapaho who would often stop by and listen to her lessons. One morning she found a beautifully beaded pistol sheath that the Arapaho made and left for her at the school as a gift.

Arbuthnot also told me that a group of Arapaho, possibly led by the mysterious Neva although not confirmed, once looked after Mary Bader’s young daughters when she and her older sons became unexpectedly snowbound in the foothills above Boulder.

Relations between the settlers and the Indigenous peoples of this land were far more varied than we often recognize, and instances of compassion and kindness are often overshadowed by the tragic events and trends of history.

To me, these wonderful stories help remind us that the official historical record can create an overly simplistic perspective of a past that was much more nuanced. Relations between the settlers and the Indigenous peoples of this land were far more varied than we often recognize, and instances of compassion and kindness are often overshadowed by the tragic events and trends of history.

The Bader brothers were not the first of Donlyn Arbuthnot’s forbears to arrive in Colorado. In June of 1859 Carson Arbuthnot, also a great-great grandfather of Donlyn’s, arrived from Iowa with his wife and four sons. They, too, set their sights on the land around Haystack Mountain as a home base but spent many weeks at a time in the mountains above Boulder prospecting for gold. Carson Arbuthnot became the first sheriff of Gold Hill, one of Colorado’s first mining settlements and today a national historic landmark.

Donlyn Arbuthnot acknowledges the role her family played in the displacement of Native Americans. But, as we have already seen, history is always more complicated than convenient judgements of right versus wrong and black or white. The story of Carson Arbuthnot and his sons provides a fascinating example of the complexity and nuance of history as well as the range of human nature.

Arbuthnot told me that her great-great grandfather Carson was horrified by the Sand Creek Massacre and did not at all approve of it. But three of his own sons — Donlyn’s great grandfathers — represent the full spectrum of pioneer sentiment at the time. “I call them the good, the bad, and the ugly,” said Arbuthnot. “My great grandfather William was the good because he tried to reason with Nichols — Chivington’s Boulder-based deputy — to not attack the Indians. The bad was Samuel because he supplied the army with horses and food. And James was the ugly because he participated in the massacre.”

Farmers in Niwot

Kinetic clashes like the massacre at Sand Creek were a manifestation of a much more systemic civilizational incompatibility between the pioneers and the Native Americans. “It’s not just things like the Sand Creek Massacre that were deadly to them,” said Arbuthnot. “Fencing was just as much of a problem.” As Arbuthnot explained, the pioneers who wanted to qualify for land ownership would typically use fencing to mark property boundaries. This created, in a few short years, a patchwork of fenced off land that was suddenly restrictive to Native Americans whose way of life depended on overland movement over great distances as they flowed with the free-ranging migration of the bison herds.

Another major disruption was irrigation. Arbuthnot’s forebears were expert ditch diggers who brought an Iowa farming know-how to the parched prairie. In this regard they were quite innovative. By the late 1860s their focus turned from mining towards agricultural expansion, and for that they needed more water than little Left Hand Creek could provide. So, the Arbuthnot brothers — the good, the bad, and the ugly — trekked up into the mountains and managed to find a place where the headwaters of the South St. Vrain River could be diverted into Left Hand Creek. There they dug a diversion and captured the St. Vrain’s waters.

Longmont area settlers woke up one day and noticed that their river had suddenly lost most of its water. So, they went upstream to investigate. When they found the diversion high in the Front Range foothills, they promptly blew it up with dynamite, restoring the St. Vrain to its natural flow. The Arbuthnots, of course, noticed their creek drop back down to prior levels, so off they went back up to the mountains to rebuild the diversion, except this time they left a sentinel as they knew the Longmont folks would be back again. Sure enough, the Longmont people trekked back into the hills. When they encountered the sentinel, a brief gunfight erupted before cooler heads prevailed, and the parties decided to take the matter to court.

The court decided in favor of the Arbuthnots on the basis that the Longmont settlers were not actively using the water in the St. Vrain. As Boulder resident and retired economist for the American Aid Program Joe Stepanek told me, this decision helped set the precedent for “western” water rights law in the entire western part of the U.S. which diverged from the typical “riparian” water rights used in much of the world, including the eastern U.S. With riparian water law “if you own the land, you own the water,” said Stepanek. Western water law is based on the concept of prior appropriation. In the Wild West this allowed settlers to, as Stepanek put it, “take water by gunpoint,” which is precisely what happened at the Arbuthnot’s diversion when their armed sentinel protected it from dynamite-toting Longmont settlers.

More than a century and a half later that diversion is still there, although it has since been reinforced with concrete. It is managed by the Left Hand Ditch Company, a non-profit that provides water to shareholders in the Niwot area.

The steel horse arrived in the 1870s. The settlement of Niwot, like Broomfield to the south, was born as a railroad hub centered around a new train depot on the Colorado Central Railroad from Boulder to Cheyenne. We have Porter T. Hinman and Ambrose S. Murray to thank for the confusing diagonal orientation of Niwot as they platted the community along the direction of the tracks.

The steel horse arrived in the 1870s. The settlement of Niwot, like Broomfield to the south, was born as a railroad hub centered around a new train depot on the Colorado Central Railroad from Boulder to Cheyenne.

By the dawn of the 20th century, the railroad was used to haul a new cash crop, the sugar beet. According to Arbuthnot, the Coe family, also her ancestors, first brought sugar beets to the area to help feed livestock before it later became a commodity for human consumption. The Coe family land was located where IBM eventually built their campus near Gunbarrel. When they sold some of that land before IBM existed, it went for one cent per acre.

As the area’s sugar beet industry grew, an earthen ramp was built near the train tracks in Niwot which was used to dump sugar beets into the cargo cars. This place was referred to as the “beet dump.” If anyone is thinking of opening a dive bar in Niwot, The Beet Dump would be a fantastic name with historical significance!

A few miles north of Haystack Mountain a different kind of settlement was established at a place the original settlers called Pella, or Pella Crossing. This is where Donlyn Arbuthnot finds her mother’s side of her local family history. Arbuthnot’s great grandmother Sarah Virginia Hill had tuberculosis and came west for the clean air and the sanatorium opened here by local Mennonites in 1882. Hill died six months after her arrival. The young, now-orphaned son she brought with her remained in the area, raised by the Hake family on land that would later become Baseline Reservoir near Louisville.

Niwot history storytelling

At some point Pella became known as Hygiene because of the Mennonite sanatorium. “It’s just always been a quaint, nice little town,” said Arbuthnot. Until recently Hygiene was also the home of the official world’s largest plains cottonwood tree. Until it died of old age in 2012, the tree was locally known as “The Gentle Giant,” and it once took a whole class of third graders holding hands to stretch all the way around its 36-foot-circumference trunk.

The Gentle Giant may have been planted by one of Hygiene’s early settlers as the plains cottonwood is a fast-growing and short-lived species that rarely lives more than 150 years. Arbuthnot explained to me how the early settlers would uproot cottonwood saplings from the Platte River watershed to the east on their westward journeys so that they could plant them in their nearly treeless new lands. Today we are accustomed to cottonwood-lined byways and leafy neighborhoods, but in the 1860s there were very few trees in these high plains. Next time you drive the backroads in our area, take note that most of the cottonwood trees you see are likely the progeny of saplings hauled by wagon and planted by the hands of frontier pioneers.

According to Arbuthnot it was one of those rare trees that inspired the peculiar name of the community of Gunbarrel. Local soldiers would train their guns on a lone tree in the distance from their elevated position, and the place became known as Gunbarrel.

Today, Gunbarrel is a quiet community developed in part as a result of the building of IBM’s large campus nearby. Perhaps the finest views of the Front Range are from the elevated land in and around Gunbarrel.

Relations between the settlers and the Indigenous peoples of this land were far more varied than we often recognize, and instances of compassion and kindness are often overshadowed by the tragic events and trends of history.

The 1920s and 1930s were a time of growing pains and social upheaval. The Ku Klux Klan emerged in the 1920s to target Catholics and minorities in a time of diversification as farming and mining labor drew in newcomers from around the world. Arbuthnot said that the Klan once burned a cross on the top of Haystack Mountain, and although I could not verify this in the historical record, it is plausible since cross burnings were common during this time.

Niwot Museum

As the Klan fell out of favor, prohibition arose. It is said that Boulder’s sheriff used to stash bootleg liquor in a cave at White Rocks near Gunbarrel. According to Arbuthnot, the longest-running unsolved murder in Boulder County involves a sheriff deputy who may have been killed by the same sheriff to prevent the do-gooding deputy from exposing his bootlegging operation.

By mid-century these places in between were feeling the growth around them as Boulder and Longmont expanded into small cities, freeways were built, and tech companies moved in, creating a more diverse economy. But, unlike the larger towns and cities around them, the settlements of Eldorado Springs, Niwot, Hygiene, and Gunbarrel have remained the “places in between” that help complete the unique character of our region.

Although it is now less visible due to the cottonwoods descended from pioneer hands and the modern leafy neighborhoods that followed them, Nenestce (Haystack Mountain) still remains. A 105-acre parcel of land that includes the mountain itself is currently on the market for a cool $10.5 million. After learning of the hill’s historical and indigenous significance, it seems that this land would be a good candidate for acquisition as a Boulder County Open Space. It would be wonderful to see it preserved and honored as the unique and sacred landmark that it truly has been for thousands of years — the constant center of the universe in this land of change.

COVER PHOTO: Dustin Doskocil

Photos Provided by the Carnegie Library for Local History, Denver Public Library Special Collections, Greeley History Museum, Longmont Museum, and USGS Historical Mining Photographs

The post The Places in Between appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY FOR LOCAL HISTORY, DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, GREELEY HISTORY MISEUM, LONGMONT MUSEUM, AND USGS HISTORICAL MINING PHOTOGRAPHS

Fruit Orchards, Broomcorn, and 1950s American Boomtowns

In 1945, as American war veterans returned home from the Second World War, Denver was a small and compact agricultural hub. Many of these war veterans had fond memories of training in Colorado before shipping off to fight in Europe or the Pacific. When the Allies won the war, more than a few of the young veterans chose the Queen City to establish the dream of a solid, middle-class American life. The coming boom would soon create a housing shortage.

At that time the north edge of Denver was around 48th Street. Lakeside Amusement Park, near 44th Street and Sheridan Boulevard was on the outskirts of town with neighborhoods to its south and fields to its north. Far away to the northwest was the burgeoning university town of Boulder, where 28th Street was still a gravel road. The Denver-Boulder Turnpike would not open as a toll road for another seven years. Motorists who made the trek to Boulder from Denver — often as tourist daytrippers — would take Highway 287 north up Federal and Old Wadsworth Boulevards and then make a sharp westerly cut over to Boulder on Highway 7 at the World War I Pillars in Lafayette.

By 1945 Lafayette and its immediate neighbors like Louisville and Erie had already existed for many decades as coal mining towns. Between these coal towns in the north and the northern edge of Denver near 48th Street, some 25 miles to the south was mostly a no man’s land of prairie with some large fruit orchards and dryland farms scattered about. There was little natural water in this open expanse and not much to attract development except for wide open space with the Rocky Mountains as backdrop to the west.

1895. Westminster College, now Pillar of Fire Church Harry Rhoads behind steering wheel

But open space is exactly what was needed as the explosive growth of the 1950s approached. A booming metropolitan area required new housing for a rising middle class of people with disposable incomes interested in a two-car garage and a yard for the kids and the dog. Corporate real estate development companies stepped in to fill this demand, not just with houses, but with whole planned communities complete with schools, churches, and shopping.

That is how Northglenn, my home town, and Thornton came into existence. In 1962 Life Magazine named Northglenn America’s “most perfectly planned community” courtesy of the gray-suited businessmen of Perl-Mack Company. The company built its 3,000-home, full-service community called “North Glenn” in 1959, right out of a 280-acre prairie field near what would later become the intersection of Interstate 25 and 104th Avenue.

A few years before “North Glenn” was built, a little to the south was the planned community of Thornton on 400 acres near 88th and Washington Streets. Thornton, named after Colorado’s then governor Daniel Thornton and built by developer Sam Hoffman, emerged from the fields in 1954 and was incorporated as a city in 1956.

19 Jan. 1952. Governor Thornton at Denver-Boulder turnpike ribbon cutting.

Westminster and Broomfield date back to the late 1800s as unincorporated communities with homestead settler roots from the Gold Rush era. But these rural villages also grew into modern Denver suburbs through similar corporate-planned communities in the 1950s. In Westminster and Broomfield the construction of the Denver-Boulder Turnpike and the opening of the nuclear weapons facility Rocky Flats, both in 1952, were major employment and development draws. Such began the long march of suburban sprawl that, by the turn of the century, would ultimately merge the north Denver suburbs with the growing town of Boulder to the northwest.

Before there was a Westminster, there were fields of apple and cherry trees planted by the earliest pioneer settlers to the area. The ocean of spring blossoms in those days must have been a glorious sight against a backdrop of snowy peaks to the west.

To see some evidence of this past, take a little trip next September to the Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge near 80th and Kipling Streets. It’s a wonderful little oasis of nature in the midst of suburbia. As you walk the gentle gravel trails along the banks of the reed-filled ponds with croaking frogs, you will notice many large apple trees in the adjacent fields. That time of year it’s likely that their branches will sag with thousands of ripe apples, the ground below covered in fallen fruit.

The apple and plum trees at Two Ponds are very old. They are relics of this area’s history as a major fruit-growing center. Today’s Shaw Heights neighborhood in Westminster, for example, used to be a large apple and cherry orchard that operated continuously between the 1890s and 1938. This and other area orchards were large enough to justify a railroad spur in 1881 to haul off the many tons of apples and cherries to grocers all across America.

1963. St. Stephens Lutheran Church being built in Northglenn, Colo

The center of this fruit farming life began in 1870 when homesteader Pleasant DeSpain built a home on 160 acres near present day Lowell Boulevard and 76th Street. DeSpain may have been the first to grow fruit trees in the area, and the operation he and his five sons built attracted a small growing community that became known as DeSpain Junction. DeSpain’s great-great grandson who shares the same name was born in Denver in 1943 and is a renowned author, children’s picture-book storyteller, and world traveler. He earned high accolades for his signature children’s book, “Old Joe and the Carpenter”; wrote an adventure travel memoir titled, “Vagabond Tales, In Search of Light and Life”; and produced a weekly children’s storytelling television show called, “Pleasant Journeys” that ran in Seattle for five years in the 1970s. This earned him the honorary title of “Seattle’s Resident Storyteller.” He is quite an interesting individual.

In 1911 a developer named C.J. Harris bought much of the land in and around DeSpain Junction and subdivided it into smaller fruit orchard lots. The new town was incorporated and named Harris. As locals in the growing community thought about the future of their town, some of them dreamed up a plan to create a university so fine that it would be considered the “Princeton of the West.”

Westminster University was a short-lived venture after each and every one of its male Presbyterian students shipped off to serve in the Great War in 1917. The young university never reopened, but the grand castle-like structure made from Colorado red sandstone remains, now privately owned by the Pillar of Fire Methodist Church.

Although I personally think “Pleasant DeSpain” would have made for a more unique name, “Westminster” is what stuck. Westminster’s population in 1950 at the dawn of its development boom was just 1,686. By 1960, with the Turnpike and Rocky Flats completed, it was home to 14,000 residents. Today more than 111,000 people live in Westminster making it one of Colorado’s ten largest incorporated cities.

It should be recognized that the city of Westminster today sits atop a location where there is strong evidence of a semi-permanent Arapaho Tribe encampment. This is thought to have been near Gregory Hill at present day 80th Street and Federal Boulevard. Human habitation in this area goes back at least 14,000 years. It is thought that the corridor where the High Plains meets the Rocky Mountains was used as an annual migration circuit by archaic peoples who would spend summers hunting in the high country and winters sheltering on the adjacent plains.

More recent Indigenous peoples acquired horses from the Spaniards who ventured into the area from the south. These later tribes roamed far and wide on horseback over the Great Plains following herds of bison on which they depended for food, shelter, and tools.

1886-1901. Adolph Zhang Family

By the time Pleasant DeSpain had settled in present-day Westminster in 1870, the Indigenous peoples of the area had largely and tragically been marginalized and removed. Their populations were greatly diminished, their livelihoods were stripped away, and their homelands were stolen. Survivors of this apocalypse were forced onto reservations far away.

The fruit orchard business extended for miles to the north of present-day Westminster. In 1885 Adolph Zang acquired 4,000 acres at present-day 120th Street and Wadsworth Boulevard to grow fruit trees and breed horses. By the time Mr. Zang arrived in the area, the U.S. Postal Service had already set up a remote post office nearby what they called Broomfield after the broomcorn that grew well in the area. Not a food crop, broomcorn is a stiff-stemmed sorghum that was used for the bristles on brooms. It is still used today as craft material for wreaths and other such decorative items.

1995. Adolph Zhang’s (Orchard Farmer’s) House

From its very beginning Broomfield was a crossroads town for both rail and wheel. The Old Cherokee Trail, the main stagecoach route, passed through it, later to be replaced by Highway 287 up Old Wadsworth. Tracks for the Denver-to-Cheyenne Colorado Central Railroad passed through the location in 1873 before it was even settled, and several other rail lines were added in the late 1800s.

The Denver area’s original “light rail” electric commuter train opened in 1908. Known as the Kite Route, this electric rail line ran between Denver and Boulder, through Broomfield, and then towards the coal towns to the east. At its height the electric Kite Route offered 27 stops. The company that operated the train built a depot with associated community services at the corner of 120th and Wadsworth. This depot still stands today as the preserved Broomfield Depot Museum.

1983 Oct. 15. Nearly 15,000 people encircled the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant to protest the nuclear arms race.

By this time the little community of Broomfield had taken root and was even home to the Broomfield Cheese Factory. But the population was stagnant at around 100 residents until the 1950s. Like the other north metro communities, the 1950s brought explosive growth. The Turnpike Land Company bought the Zang property in 1955 to develop a planned community they called the City by the Turnpike. It was a massive undertaking designed for 20,000 residents that ultimately became known as Broomfield Heights.

With the opening of the Denver-Boulder Turnpike and Rocky Flats and the resulting housing boom, Broomfield was on its way from its farming and transportation crossroads roots to becoming the modern suburban city and tech industry hub of 75,000 residents that we know today. The growing city had the unfortunate distinction of being part of four different counties, each with its own laws and regulations. Broomfield solved this challenge at the turn of the century by forming its own county to become the city and county of Broomfield, a unique distinction it shares with the city and county of Denver and just a handful of other city-counties in America.

Growing Together

By 1968 the young cities of Northglenn, Thornton, Westminster, and Broomfield were all well established. But they were still isolated communities surrounded by open space on all sides, even to the south towards Denver. 1968 was the year my parents, Linda and Phil Geiling, moved to Colorado from Florida. Mom was a teacher and Dad a child school psychologist. The retired snowbirds moving down to Florida at the time had little interest in paying more taxes to fund their education system, so my parents went looking for greener pastures and ended up in Colorado. They bought a piece of land in Broomfield, way outside of the city at the time, to build a home. They gave up on that idea within a year, sold the parcel of land, and bought a California-style house on a half acre off of 99th and Huron Streets in Northglenn for $29,000.

I was born in 1974, and this was the house I grew up in until I left for college in 1993. I would learn through researching this article that it must have been among the first houses built in Northglenn, although not part of the original planned community off of 104th.

1908. Men boarding train

My earliest real memories are from around 1980. By then the neighborhood had filled in. When my parents first bought the house in 1969, the neighborhood was only half built, and the view to the west was mostly open space. I asked my mom where she perceived the “edge of the city” was back then. She zeroed in on 84th Avenue, but the edge of the city wasn’t that clear as there was still a lot of undeveloped land even south from there.

“I remember driving along 84th,” she said. “Looking south there were still many open fields between 84th and Denver. There wasn’t much at all to the north of 104th. Huron was a dirt road north from there.” She recalled that the Red Lobster may have been the first business to appear on 104th Avenue to the west of Huron, and then the car dealerships followed in a few years. By around 1980, “The area was pretty much built out,” she said.

Before speaking with my mom for this article, I never realized how quickly my hometown grew in just the decade before I was born. There was literally nothing there but fields in 1959 and by 1979 Northglenn and Thornton were fully developed suburbs.

For me, it was a great place to grow up. On clear days when the notorious Denver brown cloud was cleared by fresh winds, we could see the downtown Denver skyline to the south from the house. The “big city” seemed a world away then, even though it was only nine miles. On my street my older brother and I had many friends our age, and the adults all knew each other well, even becoming long-time friends.

1929-1939. Farming equipment in use.

In speaking with my mom, I recalled the fun all the kids would have sledding down our steep street on snow days or weekends on the old-time runner sleds we had. To my amusement my mom told me that the neighborhood adults would often take their turn on the sleds at night after we kids went to bed. And apparently, unbeknownst to me, when my dad followed behind at a distance while we went trick-or-treating, as a joke, he would knock on the same doors we just left with a mug in his hand for “trick-or-drinking,” ending up with a toxic stew of various beers and liquors in that mug for his loot.

This was 1980s suburban life America, when crime was high but most people didn’t worry too much about it because the news of it wasn’t blasted 24 hours a day. We rode our bikes in the summer up to Webster Lake or Croke Drive Reservoir to catch bluegills or south to the field that was near Thornton Parkway where there were a series of sweet dirt jumps we called the “tip-ups.” Helmets were never worn, and curfew was “dark.” On many summer nights after dark the neighborhood kids would often gather at one house or another for wild games of kick-the-can. I would go to bed mosquito-bitten and exhausted but ready to do it all over again with all my friends the next day.

The innocence of the 1980s passed, and with a new decade I became a Northglenn High School Norseman in 1990. My circle of friends came from a mostly lower middle-class background. We were about half white kids and half Hispanic. My Hispanic friends were all multi-generation Americans who spoke no Spanish whatsoever, which was often the source of good-natured jokes. Mostly we didn’t pay any attention to superficial differences. We were just friends — and still are to this day.

1963. Librarians work in Thornton.

Still, things always change, and the 1990s brought significant cultural shifts. Urban gang culture encroached into the North Metro communities, especially Northglenn and Thornton. High crime rates and drug abuse entered our awareness at a time when new driver’s licenses and beater cars gave us the ultimate freedom to learn our boundaries, sometimes the hard way.

One of my friends had an old Chevy Chevette hatchback that he bought somewhere for $200. He could make it backfire on command, and it finally died one day when the gear shifter broke off in his hand. On snowy nights we would take turns towing each other on snow tubes down Thornton’s residential streets. On other nights we would take joyrides north where most of the roads north of 120th, like Huron, turned to dirt. From there we would sometimes turn off the roads straight into the fields to flush out rabbits just for fun. Many weekend nights were spent cruising “Westy Mall,” not having any clue what we were looking for or how to find it, but somehow wanting to be there with our friends doing nothing in particular but hanging out trying to look cool nonetheless.

1964. HELP (Helpful Extra Library People) volunteers work in the Adams County Library bookmobile, in Northglenn, Colorado

In those days Thornton’s new Horizon High School, built in 1988 way up north off of 136th Avenue, was where the snobs went — “rich” suburban kids with nice new cars living in nice new houses on the edge of the city. Holly Street, near Horizon High, now a busy, four-lane suburban thoroughfare, was a dirt road on which we would gun our engines up to 60 mph, kicking up plumes of dust just because we could.

Things change. My 12-year-old daughter will probably attend Horizon High as she will be a freshman in two short years. By then the school will be 37 years old, 12 years older than Northglenn High was when I entered high school. And, I still think of Horizon as the “new” school!

Reflecting on my research and recollections for this article, I am struck by how recent all of this history is and by how dramatic the changes and growth have been in just a few short decades. As the edge of suburbia continues to push north, now past Lafayette and Erie and into the Tri-Towns of Frederick, Firestone, and Dacono, I wonder what the destiny is of the North Metro suburbs where I grew up.

My mom and dad sold the house in Northglenn in 1998 to follow a retirement dream and move to the mountains, finding a new home outside of Salida. After my dad passed away in 2014, my mom decided to find a second home in the Denver area. She found a quiet little house in Old Town Erie in 2015. I asked her if she felt there were similarities between Erie in 2015 and Northglenn in 1968. Was it a bit of a return to those first days in Colorado when they moved to the edge of the city to a place undergoing rapid growth? “I did notice similarities,” she said. “Moving to Erie in 2015 was a lot like moving to Northglenn in 1968.”

And time marches on.

The post The Model Cities of No Man’s Land appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

HISTORICAL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY FOR LOCAL HISTORY, DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, GREELEY HISTORY MUSEUM, LONGMONT MUSEUM, AND USGS HISTORICAL MINING PHOTOGRAPHS.

The year 1864 was full of monumental events and circumstances in American history. Most commonly we understand 1864 as the culminating year of the American Civil War. It was the year when Union forces finally broke the back of the Confederacy. It was the year of General Grant’s wilderness campaign in Virginia and General Sherman’s march on Atlanta. It was also the year of President Lincoln’s reelection less than six months before he would become the first American president to be assassinated.

The new Colorado Territory in 1864 must have seemed well removed from these great societal upheavals far to the east. But in nature as well as in history everything is connected. The distraction of the Civil War left the infant territory, crazed with gold fever and inundated with new pioneering settlers, with insufficient direction and leadership. Men like barely literate Colonel John Chivington, who had no business holding positions of influence and leadership, nevertheless rose to prominence within the power vacuum and lawlessness that was Colorado’s frontier.

August 1, 1938. St. Theresa Church in Frederick, Colorado

Gold was discovered in Colorado in 1858, and then the Homestead Act of 1862 gave hordes of primarily white settlers visions of riches and freedoms to be found in the empty West. Except the West was not actually empty when their convoys of horse-covered wagons thundered over the prairies. Various societies of Native Americans had been living and traveling through Colorado’s high plains and mountains for thousands of years.

The Plains Indians relied on the enormous herds of bison for all aspects of their livelihoods: food, shelter, tools, clothing. A single bison herd could be so large that one could not see from one end to another, a heaving sea of undulating fur and thumping hooves on dirt from horizon to horizon.

Native American leaders like Chief Niwot (Left Hand) of the Southern Arapaho understood the tragic mathematics of the situation. His people had already undergone a population collapse. The westward-moving frontier brought an invisible shockwave in the form of infectious diseases that devastated Native populations even before most whites arrived on the scene. With the territory thinned by diseases, the pioneer horde followed, never exhausting, always growing. Masses of gold seekers and homesteaders moved into the area, treaties were broken, land was taken, and the bison the Native Americans depended on were annihilated by the millions — all in a few short years.

By 1864 the Native leaders were losing control of their warriors as the prospect of starvation brought increasing anger and desperation. That year escalating attacks and reprisals erupted between pioneers and Native Americans in what is known today as the Colorado War. This culminated in the Sand Creek Massacre southeast of Denver. There, in late November of 1864, just weeks after the reelection of President Lincoln far to the east, around 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples, mostly children, women, and elderly men, were senselessly slaughtered and mutilated by the ignoramus Chivington and his men. The massacre was carried out with the full support and direction of Colorado’s territorial Governor John Evans who viewed the Native Americans as little more than obstacles in his way to amassing the great fortune that was his life’s goal.

1920-1930. Undated views of Rocky Mountain Fuel Company’s Columbine coal mine showing mine buildings, company houses, an overview of the company town, and railroad tracks washed out by a flood.

Most of the white settlers who arrived in this ancient land were not part of a powerful elite but were instead opportunists with meager means willing to throw their life’s lot into a new and exciting land. It would be unfair and inaccurate, however, to paint all white settlers with the same brush, either positive or negative. Each settler who came west in search of a better life was an individual human being who brought their own values, dreams, and aspirations with them. As in all societies a full spectrum of behaviors could be observed among the settlers, from the violent and lawless to the altruistic and compassionate. But many of them simply found themselves caught up in the whirlwind of greater forces they had little control over.

The McKissick brothers (Thomas, John, and William) were early settlers in what we now call Colorado’s Carbon Valley. In that fateful year of 1864, the brothers joined the ranks of a militia called the St. Vrain Valley Home Guard. The militia constructed a sod fort near present-day St. Vrain State Park called Fort Junction, so named because it was located near the confluence of Boulder Creek and the St. Vrain River. The purpose of the fort was to defend against real or imagined threats of attack from area Native Americans. In August of 1864 word of an impending attack spread throughout the land. and area settlers congregated in the new fort to await a conflict that never materialized.

Two of the McKissick brothers, John and Thomas, would become early Weld County sheriffs (in 1865 and 1867). By that time, it was becoming known that the land they settled was blessed, not with the yellow metal that brought so many to the area, but with a black rock that would power much of the growing Front Range area for decades to come.

The McKissick coal mine opened in 1872, one of the earliest commercial coal mines in the state. The Carbon Valley brackets the eastern end of a vast coal seam that extends in an arc from the base of the Rockies near Superior, through the coal towns of Louisville, Lafayette, and Erie, and ending in what today we call the Tri-Town area of Frederick, Firestone, and Dacono.

2003. Frederick City Hall: Built in 1907, it served as the city hall for several years. In 1974 a new structure was built and the old town hall building was moved to the city park and renovated as the Miner’s Memorial Museum.

Big growth, small towns

On a map the three towns are stacked one atop the other, Dacono at the bottom in the south, then Frederick in the middle, and Firestone, the largest of the three, capping the northern end. All three towns were officially founded in 1907 or 1908.

Firestone, in the north, is named after Ohioan Jacob H. Firestone who founded the Firestone Coal and Land Company but never resided in the town (or anywhere in Colorado for that matter). Frederick, in the middle, was platted by three sisters who named the town for their father,  Frederick A. Clark, who owned the land that became the town. Dacono, in the south, was named by one of its founders, Charles Baum, who used the first two letters of the first names of three women: Daisy, Cora, and Nora (Da-Co-No). Daisy was Baum’s wife, but his relationship to the other two ladies is unconfirmed. It is speculated that they may have been Daisy’s sisters or friends.

Like the town of Louisville to the southwest, many Italian immigrants worked the coal mines of the Carbon Valley. Back then these were small towns built specifically to support the mines. There were five long-standing coal mines in Frederick alone, operating well into the 1940s.

Even in the early 20th century, these three towns were overshadowed by bigger and faster-growing neighbors. To the west and northeast were the colony towns of Longmont and Greeley, and to the south was the growing center of regional commerce, Denver.

There is little in this area to attract large-scale settlement other than resource extraction. Carbon Valley is not actually a valley. This is a flatland as nondescript as any other part of Colorado’s Great Plains. The town centers are near, but not on, the waterways of the St. Vrain River, Boulder Creek, and the South Platte River. While irrigated water could help turn the prairie into crop production, the soil is relatively poor and the climatic conditions somewhat harsh. Here is an open, windy, and stark environment where the lushness of the Rockies is visible to the west but just far enough away to remind of their distance. When the first settlers looked upon this land, few, if any, trees cast shade over the scorching prairie in the summer or provided shelter from wind-driven wintertime storms. These towns came into being for one reason and that reason was coal.

1939. Fort Junction dedication: The monument was erected by the Frederick, Firestone, Dacono Lions Club and the Rinn Community as a memorial to the sod enclosure built by the pioneers of the area during the Indian “troubles.”

New Connections

The coal mining history of the Tri-Towns follows a similar pattern to the other coal mining towns to their southwest. A day in the life of a Tri-Town coal miner was tough and dangerous. Miners often dropped down the shafts before sun-up and emerged after sun-down, six days a week, to toil in an unhealthy underworld of lung-damaging coal dust and creaking support timbers. Gruesome accidents like cave-ins, explosions, or runaway two-ton coal carts were a constant menace weighing on the mind of every miner who descended into the darkness with his pick and a lunch pail.

Labor laws, at least in the early days, were virtually non-existent, and worker strikes demanding better pay and conditions were often put down with brutal indifference by both the mining companies and state authorities. For more than a half-century throughout the Northern Colorado Coal Field, from the Marshall Mesa to Firestone, the coal miner and his family were in a constant struggle with a life where his wage was just enough to put food on the table but never enough to bring his family out of poverty and danger.

This was also seasonal work as the coal mines typically operated in winter. Coal miners who swung their picks at black rocks underground in winter often toiled under a hot prairie sun in sugar beet fields in the summer, the cash crop of the time.

The Northern Colorado Coal Field was typically mined within a few hundred feet of the surface, but far below the coal field in western Weld County, underneath thousands of feet of ancient bedrock, is a massive reserve of oil and natural gas. As the coal mining industry declined by the middle of the 20th century, oil and gas extraction accelerated.

1973. Miners entering the Lincoln Mine

In those days the towns of the Carbon Valley were still tiny, isolated communities. Interstate 25 had yet to be constructed, and no one needed to transit through the Tri-Towns to get anywhere else. Oil and gas exploration and extraction was relatively far removed from the views and homes of Front Range citizens who, at the time, typically resided much farther south or west.

The construction of Interstate 25 began to change that situation. In 1958 the first stretch of the new interstate, called the Valley Highway (still a favorite term used by old school traffic reporters), was constructed through Denver. It ran for 11 miles between Evans Avenue in the south and 48th Avenue in the north. More sections were added from there. Next came the stretch through Pueblo, then Colorado Springs. In 1961 the arrow-straight 14-mile section called the “Longmont Area” was completed between Highway 7 to the south and Highway 66 to the north.

This brought the new interstate highway within about two miles to the west of the Tri-Towns and set the stage for the future explosive growth to come. In the early 1960s these towns were still far removed from the encroachment of the Denver metropolitan area to the south or Longmont to the west. It would have been difficult for locals at the time to imagine that within 50 years their small towns would become bedroom communities of a city expanding like an amoeba to envelop them into its vast array of quiet suburbs.

One of the early business establishments that capitalized on the new interstate highway was a biker bar and beer garden opened in 1985 called Jerry D’s, named after its original owner Jerry Denovellis. Jerry D’s achieved local iconic status as a biker stop and local hangout before temporarily closing under new ownership. The restaurant is being revived, however, as new owner Brad Linkus, who also owns IMI Motorsports in Dacono, seeks to restore and re-launch it soon as Jerry D’s 2.0.

1966. Ceremonies marking completion of paving of Frederick, Colorado’s entire 4.5 mile street system

Developing lands

The growth boom finally hit the Tri-Towns at the turn of the century, now among the fastest growing communities in Colorado. In 1990 the three towns had a combined population of just over 4,500 residents. Today almost 44,000 people call these towns home with Firestone and Frederick each at over 18,000 and Dacono nearly 7,000. The growth will continue as new housing developments merge with other new developments in Erie to the south and Longmont to the west.

What was once an out-of-the-way location on the way to nowhere is now prime real estate for commuters in all directions. Downtown Denver is a reasonable 25 miles south, a straight shot down I-25, while Longmont is a 12-mile jaunt to the west, and Greeley is a 30-mile, lightly trafficked drive through the prairie to the northeast. While soaring real estate has priced many middle-class buyers out of locations to the south and west, the Tri-Towns has become a haven for those wanting the peace and quiet of the suburbs within an affordable price range.

The new housing developments have brought new controversy as well. Oil and natural gas wells that were once far removed from the backyard grills and trampolines of suburbanites far to the south and west are now located within and near residential areas. The wells did not move nor did the long-standing extraction ownership rights to them —  the housing developments moved in around them. Simultaneous to the growth in housing, increased pressure to extract domestic fossil fuels and generally favorable economic conditions to do so created a clash between the interests of new residents and old industry as new fracking operations popped up just when real estate agents planned open houses for the new homes within eyesight and earshot of the fracking rigs. The controversy came to a head tragically in April 2017 when a residential home exploded, taking the lives of two residents. The explosion was caused by leakage from gas lines from a nearby well that were cut during home construction.

2008. An oil pump sits in a field as a thunderstorm blows through the town of Dacono.

These opposing interests continue with relentless growth. Like Erie just to the southwest, the Frederick, Firestone, and Dacono now seek a renewed focus to maintain their small-town identities while managing explosive suburban housing growth. It all hinges on the small downtown districts of each of them. The town of Frederick, for example, recently rebranded its image, choosing the perhaps somewhat vague slogan, “Built on what matters.” And, in Firestone, residents celebrated the town’s centennial in 2009 with the unveiling of its Centennial Clock and time capsule, containing mementos that will be revealed in 2059.

Time marches on as they say, and by 2059 there will have been many more changes and events, some foreseen while others will be surprises. It is likely that, by that time, the entire area will have been swallowed up by the Denver-Boulder-Longmont-Greeley amoeba with suburban houses stretching far and wide, interspersed with the green spaces that will exist only by design. The overtaking of the once vast and windswept prairie by a relentlessly advancing human population will have been mostly complete by then, at least in this area. Perhaps by then the oil and gas extraction will have followed the decline of the coal industry a century before it as we continue a century-plus transition from dirty to clean energy.

But growth in this area is inevitable, and our look back at history can help us focus on how that growth can be managed well, with thoughtfulness and respect for those who came before us and who built these towns on what matters.

The post Frederick, Firestone, and Dacono: Building on what matters appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

YS paired together nearly 50 restaurants to create several different multi-course tasting experiences – with a twist!

When we decided to pair together 10 different tastings across BOCO and the North Metro, enlist 10 writers, coordinate numerous chefs, and bring along photographers, we initially thought we may have bit off more than we could chew. With dogged determination, a flurry of scheduling, and plenty of incredible options across the area, it all came together more perfectly than we initially imagined. What resulted was a culinary journey taking us through a three course meal with drink pairings to boot.

Each menu was organized around a main dish or ingredient — from corn to beef loins, from fresh seafood to smoky cocktails — taking us on an indulgent trip across counties. Follow in the footsteps of this extraordinary collaboration or simply live vicariously through the descriptions and photos of some of our favorite spots to eat, drink, and simply enjoy what our area has to offer. We were blown away by what local chefs and mixologists prepared, and cannot wait to share it with you.

Pairing #1

BY: Deb Cameron

This tasting slate was custom designed to show the bounty and abundance available from chefs, winemakers, and mixologists at the top of their game in Boulder. While I was never surprised with the caliber of each piece of the meal, I was delighted by something else — how chefs connected with corn, one of the supporting ingredients in the featured dish.

I look forward to corn each summer, and I’m currently growing heirloom varieties in my garden. In this pairing, corn purée was the base for scallops and pork belly, toasted corn was a key component of the artisanal mezcal in my cocktail, and popcorn as part of panna cotta in my dessert. The wine selections complemented the flavors and ingredients while the appetizer contrasted the sweetness of the corn with vivid, dramatic flavors.

Toasted Popcorn Panna Cotta with Plums held by Andrea Uzarowski of Süti. Photo by Judi Morell

Roots | Longmont – Papri chaat
“India is all about roadside snacks, and I’m representing only one, which is very popular in the northern part of India. It’s one of my favorite street snacks,” said Chef Madhoo of Roots, which has recently taken over the Dickens Opera House space on Main Street in Old Town Longmont and also operates a predominant catering presence in the state. She prepared a snack consisting of 12 components: spiced garbanzo beans seasoned with peppers, turmeric and roasted peppers, sweet and spicy tamarind, chopped cilantro, yogurt, mint chutney, fried garbanzo bean made in house from noodles, papri puffed crackers. After tasting, the spice of the flavors popped first, followed by the creaminess of the yogurt, freshness of the mint, and the crunch of the garbanzo beans. Light and satisfying, it made an exciting entry into the rest of the meal.

Farow | Niwot – Artisanal corn-based mezcal cocktail
Since opening two years ago, Farow has received a lot of attention for its commitment to creatively using hyper-local fresh and delicious ingredients. There are even hopes that Farow may be in contention for a green Michelin star, to be announced later this fall. While we love the restaurant’s approach to food, we’re also paying attention to its bar program. Mixologists Johnnie Adair and Noah Elkind have recently been asked to showcase their work in the Flor de Caña Most Sustainable Bartender challenge, as well as at the semifinals of the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience in San Francisco. Their creation for our challenge was made with mezcal infused with roasted corn. The drink was then rimmed with a brick-red lime pepper that was reminiscent of Tajín. Bright and beautiful in cut glass, it was possible to taste the corn in the drink, which contrasted with the lime and slight burn from the alcohol. The drink was the perfect choice, with spice that blends with both the main course and the heat in the appetizer.

SALT | Boulder – Pan-seared sea scallops and pork belly
As one of the highlights of SALT’s dinner menu, this dish is decadent and rich — what you’d expect from generous servings of scallop and thick, toast-sized portions of pork belly. The corn purée made a satisfying platform for both flavors and complemented the vegetables, including green beans, red peppers, and spinach. I requested some bread to sop up every last drop. I suggest you do the same.

Bookcliff Vineyards | Boulder and Palisade – 2022 Rosé and 2022 Syrah
Bookcliff has been at the forefront of Colorado-based winemaking for years. Providing options for two wines — either the rosé or the syrah, both of them matched with the main dish in different ways: The lighter rosé played much better with the seafood, offset the corn, and complemented the flavors of the dessert. The darker syrah made magic with the richer, smokier pork belly flavors. We don’t suggest anyone choose between them. Enjoy both if you can.

Toasted Popcorn Panna Cotta with Plums from Süti. Photo by Judi Morell

Süti & Co. | Boulder – Toasted popcorn panna cotta with plums
Andrea Uzarowski dove into this challenge, creating a complex but still light dessert that included corn panna cotta matched with plum, pistachio, and cacao nibs all dressed with bright edible flowers. The combination worked — the richness of the panna cotta acting as a call back to the corn, pork belly, and scallops in the main dish. But the bright plum with a hint of rich cacao, was a perfect finish to the meal.

Pairing #2

BY: Deb Cameron

It’s always exciting to explore options that are available in my hometown. I moved to Erie about six years ago and since then have delighted in watching how the food scene has evolved. For this challenge, I was able to access almost all of the locations on the list by foot or bike, except for Rumbo 52, which was just a short drive away. The proximity of this amount of community, entertainment, and culinary variety is one of the draws of the town. Area family and friends agree.

Ceviche from Rumbo 52. Photo by Paul Guise

Rumbo 52 Cochina and Cantina | Frederick – Ceviche Tuna Tartare
The appetizer was provided by chef and restaurant owner Fausto Felix who has shown a talent for bringing authentic Mexican and Latin American fare to the area. His most recent venture combines a location that previously housed both a diner and an Italian spot into a beautiful and comfortable destination for Latin American cuisine. His ceviche tuna tartare makes a fitting companion to Piripi’s seafood paella. It includes fresh yellow tuna, serrano peppers, grape tomatoes, shaved tomatillos, and mandarin orange in a light chipotle mayo. It was spicy but didn’t burn your tastebuds.

Smokin’ Scotsman & Green Tea dual cocktails from Erie Social Club. Photo by Paul Guise

Erie Social Club | Erie – Smokin Scotsman & Green Tea Cocktail
Erie Social Club also provided the cocktail, something which they gave so much thought to that they couldn’t decide between two of them, so they provided both. The first we tasted was a Smokin’ Scotsman, made with scotch whiskey, simple syrup, lemon, and rosemary. The smoke, in this case, came from charred lemon and rosemary on top of the drink. As it was being charred, it imbued the area within the glass with the heady campfire aroma that quickly reminded me of the fires under the paella, particularly the smoked sausages in Piripi’s mixta version. Alternately, the Green Tea Cocktail was made with housemade green tea, vodka, lavender simple syrup, and lemon. It’s the brightness that I could see pairing with either the vegetarian or seafood versions.

Paella from Piripi. Photo by Deborah Cameron

Piripi | Erie – Paella
Paella is luxurious, satisfying, and flavorful. It’s also not made quickly. Piripi’s chef owner Hugo Meyer told us it can take up to four days to prepare for paella nights at the restaurant, where they serve seafood, vegetarian, and mixta variations on the first Monday of each month. This rice dish is made better with high-quality ingredients including specialty grains, high-quality saffron, and the best seafood or meats possible. My favorite part of any paella is the socarrat, the caramelization of the rice at the bottom of the dish that occurs if the rice isn’t over stirred. It’s chewy, savory, and incredibly satisfying. To me, it’s the gold at the end of a pan of goodness, and Piripi’s is reliable.

Columna Albarino wine from Erie Social Club

Erie Social Club | Erie – Columna Albarino
The Spanish albarino suggested by Erie Social Club had a mineral quality that bartender Kelly Rahm felt would match well with the paella. She shared that this wine was grown in the Rias Baixas region of Spain, which is more inland, and it lent an earthiness to the wine. There was a lemony quality that made it an especially good choice to pair with paella. What was in the glass tasted rich, complex, and interesting. It not only held its own against the food, in turn, the food enhanced the flavors of the wine.

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake from Stacy’s Kitchen. Photo by Kenneth Wajda

Stacy’s Kitchen | Erie – Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
I first heard about Stacy Gustafson online when her social media fans besieged her with orders for decadent pies at holiday time, so it was great news to hear that she had opened her own shop on Cheeseman Street. For this pairing, she made one of her signature desserts, a cinnamon roll cheesecake which is often featured at the shop. The cheesecake was as rich as I had expected, but the crunch of the cinnamon filling stood out. The texture and richness held its own rather than being lost in the cheesecake’s creaminess. With the body of the cheesecake and the richness of the flavor combinations, this is every bit a statement end to the challenge meal.

Pairing #3

BY: Chris Curtis

Lobster Ravioli from Boulder Cork. Photo by Chris Curtis

The Boulder Cork | Boulder – Lobster Ravioli
Perfecting the art of indulgence since 1969, walking into The Boulder Cork feels like entering your best friend’s house. An intricate floor plan of rooms, exposed beams, and antique furniture all contribute to the atmosphere while the friendly staff made me feel like a regular. With thirty years of experience behind every dish, the chef sent out the lobster ravioli appetizer. I didn’t need to know much more than lobster for my anticipation to soar, but hand roll them in house made pasta, cover them with sun dried tomatoes and fresh herbs from the restaurant’s very own on-site garden, and I knew I would be hooked. The fresh herbs provided texture to the dish and the pasta arrived at a perfect al dente. I could easily see and taste that my night of indulgence just set sail for this long anticipated evening.

The Boulder Cork | Boulder – The Last Ferry
The bar at The Boulder Cork draws your eyes right to it when you walk through the doors. Dark wood juxtaposed against a well lit backsplash of carefully laid cream colored flagstone, beckons you to come to it and sit for a moment. The masterful mixologist indulged my request for a cocktail to pair with my incredible lobster ravioli appetizer and what arrived at my table couldn’t have been more perfect. Made with a base of Drumshanbo slow distilled gunpowder Irish gin, lime, lemon sorbet, prosecco, a hint of maple, and basil from the on-site garden, this citrusy delight brought a bright, flowery nose that balanced out the rich lobster ravioli. Aptly named The Last Ferry as a nod to the coast, I found myself amused that this last ferry kicked off my evening of indulgence in a bubbly way.

Heirloom Tomato and Beef Loin from Bramble & Hare. Photo by Chris Curtis

Bramble & Hare | Boulder – Heirloom tomato and beef loin
Opening the front door of Bramble and Hare I’m met by black curtains hiding the interior of the restaurant which, when pulled aside, creates the effect of going down a rabbit hole. Dark wood and warm lighting reveal intimate tables and I’m quick to notice faux pelts adorning the backs of some of the chairs. Knowing that Bramble and Hare runs a four hundred and twenty-five acre farm just outside of Boulder makes my mind race as to what delight awaits me. Much to my enjoyment, a dish created around heirloom tomatoes, quite possibly picked that very day based on how they tasted, arrived. My eyes and nose could hardly process all that awaited me. Creamy polenta, braised celery, sautéed kale, beef loin, parmesan cheese crackers, and a side of marinated tomatoes composed this textural masterpiece. Acidic, creamy, light and rich all at once, I no sooner blinked and it was gone.

Élevé from Snowy Peaks Winery. Photo by Chris Curtis

Snowy Peaks Winery | Estes Park – Élevé
Offering award-winning, hand crafted wines made from Colorado grown grapes, Erik and Candice Mohr endeavor to bring a taste of Colorado to your glass. To enhance my heirloom tomato and beef loin entrée, I found myself sipping on Élevé, a blend of Syrah, Petite Syrah, and Mourvedre. It definitely lived up to its name, being high in flavor, complexity, and indulgence. A hopeless fan of red blends, I enjoyed the boldness and spice of the Syrahs while at the same time appreciating the dark berry flavors of the Mourvedre. I imagined it shaking hands with the beef loin and joyfully tussling a bit with the acidity of the fresh heirloom tomatoes, all tempered by the polenta and parmesan crackers. Snowy Peaks now lives on my list of wineries to try and I can’t wait to see what more they have to offer.

Sticky Toffee Pudding from Jill’s Restaurant and Bistro. Photo by Chris Curtis

Jill’s Restaurant and Bistro | Boulder – Sticky toffee pudding
Hurtling towards an indulgent food induced nap, Jill’s Restaurant and Bistro, located in the St. Julien Hotel and Spa and an easy walk from my main course restaurant, perked me right up! Tall ceilings, bright lights, and that bustling bistro vibe all came together to energize me. What awaited me made all my dessert dreams come true. Sticky Toffee Pudding. I’ve always been fascinated by this dessert because what appears on the surface to be so simple, reveals itself to be a complex process. A classic British dessert, it’s made with chopped dates and toffee sauce. A light sponge, a perfect bake, and a balance of flavors form the base of the desert. It’s then smothered in a caramel sauce and Jill’s tops theirs with a creamy whiskey brickle ice cream. What sets this treat apart, however, can be found in the very tiny and crunchy garnish that brings an additional and delightful texture to the dish. A perfect end to an incredible evening. 

Pairing #4

BY: Sam Gilstrap

Familiar flavors came together in unexpected ways to present a fresh take on a family meal reminiscent of Italy. The main course was Cimini’s Pesto Crusted Salmon, with everything else catered around that flavor profile.Fresh tastes of pesto, strong cheese, and a surprising desert all made for a fantastic culinary journey you should recreate on your own.

Burrata from Jax Fish House. Photo by Sam Gilstrap

Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar | Boulder – Burrata
From their Charred Spanish Octopus with a lovely light tomato and red pepper confit to the Fried New England Calamari with sensational lime aioli to the Ahi Tuna Poke with serrano spice and fun mouth feel, the starter options at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar are to be savored — especially this writer’s personal favorite, the Burrata. This version closes the summer with English pea gremolata and hibiscus reduction that synced up perfectly with the Pesto Crusted Salmon. The richness of these flavors is inspiring, especially as the smooth and creamy burrata cheese ties everything together atop a crispy pasta cracker! Hurry and try it before fall comes and the Burrata changes with the season.

Snowy Peaks Winery | Estes Park –  Mourvèdre
Mourvèdres make excellent pairings with strong cheeses – like burrata – or fatty meats – such as salmon. Snowy Peaks’ Mourvèdre is no exception. At first whiff, the cherry jam and spices take you to the vineyards of the Rhône. While this wine may be a bit more boozier than most, the bright berries, especially alongside the Pesto Crusted Salmon, hide that booziness and highlight the light pepper finish. There is a leathery quality to the tannins, which provide a rapturous mouth feel without distracting from the elevated tastes surrounding you. By the end you may even discover the lovely earthy notes of vanilla and chocolate. If you typically lean towards Cabernet Sauvignon, you’ll find a friend in Snowy Peaks Winery’s Mourvèdre.

Pesto-crusted Salmon from Cimmini’s. Photo by Sam Gilstrap

Cimmini’s Italian Restaurant | Niwot – Pesto Crusted Salmon
The familiar elegance of Cimmini’s Italian Restaurant in Niwot makes for a relaxing and savory experience. With the Pesto Crusted Salmon at the helm of this main course, you are presented with a decadent slice of familiar comfort. The salmon flakes perfectly with just a touch of a fork and almost melts in your mouth. A piquant pesto cream is generously applied to the outside of a sheet-baked cut of salmon covered with a crunchy breading. The texture alone reminds me of home. Couple that with buttered asparagus spears resting on angel hair pasta, and the whole course sings. The craft behind building community through food is at the forefront of Cimmini’s mission. And makes this an excellent spot to visit regularly for a family dinner experience.

Reposado Old Fashioned from Dry Land Distillers. Photo by Sam Gilstrap

Dry Land Distillers | Longmont – Reposado Old Fashioned
With rich and savory dishes, one must cleanse the palate with more earthy tones. Dry Land Distillers in Longmont and their Cactus Reposado Old Fashioned does just the trick. At first sip, a sweetness greets the tongue, and soon the back of the throat is caressed by peaty overtones. With an eco-conscious focus at Dry Land, our desire to return to the earth is never more evident than in this cocktail. You want something spirit forward to cut through and elevate the velvety pesto and cheese already seducing your taste buds, but you also want something that grounds you. The knowledge and craft demonstrated by the staff here and Dry Land’s Cactus is that stabilizing force.

Landline Doughnuts | Longmont – Palisade Peach Donut
For dessert I hope you saved room for light, melt-in-your-mouth donuts! But not just any donuts, no sir. These are made with potatoes, which makes them fluffier than Landline’s counterparts. This donut in particular has a lovely cream cheese frosting that provides a delicate tang opposite the juicy Palisade peaches that adorn this confection like a noble crown. It is indeed the perfect cap to an excellent meal, and the OZO Coffee Company cold brew gives a little lift to get you home in spite of the food coma. These meals and pairings reminded me of my past and the importance food and drink have played in those memories. Here at Landline Doughnuts, that reverie is not out of place. Their donuts are a vehicle to a happier place in time in your life and remind you to call mom.

Pairing #5

BY: William Underhill

Lafayette offered a complete culinary adventure filled with surprising pies, perfectly poured wines and great ambience. Everything was based around the impeccable Pork Tenderloin from Community Supper Club. Every chef and mixologist was able to create a compliment to this tender, melt-in-your-mouth dish. Beginning and ending with pastry showed the versatility of what you can bake, whether its sweet or savory.

NZ Ground Beef Pie from Tip Top Savory Pies. Photo by William Underhill

Tip Top Savory Pies – | Lafayette – NZ Ground Beef Pie
I started my day of culinary touring around Lafayette at Tip Top, who had prepared a wonderful savory pie to pair with the entree we planned to indulge in later. I  was excited, as, like many of the restaurants in Lafayette, I  had always heard wonderful things about Tip Top and eagerly wanted to know more. After I sat down at the solitary plastic table just in front of the counter, I  dug in and nearly lost myself in the food. I was expecting charming little pies with simple flavors and a decent crust. What I got, however, exceeded expectations tenfold. The NZ Ground Beef Pie is a rich, saucy, deeply savory pie with a shatteringly crisp, buttery crust. The ground beef filling is incredible on its own, similar to the filling one might find in a sloppy joe but with more delicate flavors, a little less sweetness, and more pronounced tomato notes. I  intended to talk a bit as we ate, but found myself nearly unable to speak  as I  became engrossed in the deceptively small pies.  I did not expect to leave as full and happy as I  did, and I can confidently say that Tip Top is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever dined at.

Marzen Beer from Liquid Mechanics. Photo by William Underhill

Liquid Mechanics Brewery Co. | Lafayette – Marzen Beer
Walking in from the parking lot, with the hot sun on my back, I was able to see just how seriously Liquid Mechanics take their craft. There were barrels up to the windows, stacked alongside all sorts of brewery equipment that I couldn’t identify. For pairing with the pork tenderloin from Community Supper Club, they chose a Marzen, an Oktoberfest, or sometimes simply called a ‘Fest’ beer, with a rich, subtle sweetness that contrasted beautifully with the saltiness and slight bitterness of Community’s excellent dish. Though I myself have not had much beer before, the Marzen from Liquid Mechanics is so good that my inexperience posed no obstacle to my enjoyment. It is, as said before, slightly sweet and a bit caramely, light on the palate, and easy and refreshing to drink.

Pork Tenderloin from Community Supper Club. Photo by William Underhill

Community Supper Club | Lafayette – Pork Tenderloin
I sat down at Community Supper Club after a long day of dining at restaurants all around Lafayette and somehow felt immediately welcome. The lights were cool and calming, and our server was extraordinarily kind and accommodating. I indulged in some of the best food I  had ever eaten. The pork tenderloin, chosen for me by Community’s Culinary Coordinator JV Hernandez, is a harmonious symphony of textures and flavors, with perfectly tender pork and potatoes delicately balanced with crunchy chips, sour-yet-sweet cherries, and sprigs of parsley. When  I finished my meal  my energy had somehow gone from a bit tired, weary after a long day, to energized and happy, a testament to the quality of our food here.

True Story Pinot Noir from /pôr/ wine house. Photo by William Underhill

/pôr/ wine house | Louisville – True Story Pinot Noir by William Snowden
Last, I took the bus to /pôr/ wine house in Louisville, spying it’s wonderful decor out of a cloudy plastic window. Even from my questionably clean bus seat, I was able to tell that /pôr/ was a wonderful place — the sort of chic, modern restaurant that comes to mind whenever one thinks of date night or any sort of celebratory dinner. Of their absolutely incredible selection of wines and liquors, the one served to me — William Snowden’s True Story Pinot Noir — is absolutely delightful, sweet, and refreshing. It was a perfect contrast to the pork tenderloin from Community. Not only is the wine itself delightful but so is the story behind it. As I drank, the owner of /pôr/ told me how the name, True Story, is a reference to Mr. Snowden’s boisterous nature. He’s the sort of person to introduce all sorts of tales with, “True story, but ….” /pôr/ is a delightful establishment, with all sorts of liquors that, just like the one I enjoyed, are great to taste and rich with interesting stories.

Peach Palisade from Button Rock. Photo by William Underhill

Button Rock Bakery | Lafayette – Peach Palisade
Next, I headed over to Button Rock Bakery, a quaint restaurant that had prepared a desert to pair with the other dishes. Walking in, I  saw counters of  impeccably decorated cakes near the front entrance, the smell of baked pastries wafting over to us from the rest of the restaurant. The food at Button Rock not only smells and looks incredible, but has a taste to match. They  feature a whole variety of rich, sweet, comforting baked goods prepared with the utmost care. Among these is the Peach Palisade, an almost unbelievable dish: layers of thick, crunchy pastry balanced atop layers of cream and semi-frozen peaches, with cream and jam on the side. The dish presents a wonderful textural and flavor contrast, the crispness of the pastry pairing perfectly with the smooth creaminess of the filling, and sweetness with just a little bit of tart from the jam.

Pairing #6

BY: Rona Goody

Unwinding after a hot afternoon full of Boulder summer fun calls for complex yet uplifting tastes to mirror the area’s diverse recreational offerings, perfect for Mediterranean-themed cuisine. Whether you’ve been parasailing over the foothills or strolling Pearl Street after helping your youngest set up their first-year dorm room, Boulder’s culinary creatives are ready for you.

Steak & Raisin Dolmas from Spruce Farm & Fish. Photo by Kenneth Wajda

Spruce Farm &  Fish | Boulder – Steak & Raisin Dolmas
Next, head up to the Boulderado’s ground-level Spruce Farm & Fish for a totally different atmosphere. Need a spot for a career-changing dinner meeting? Yes! Looking for a place to relax with old friends? Also yes! The Steak & Raisin Dolmas are an ancient Mediterranean dish reconceptualized by veteran chef Mike Thom, one of Boulder’s most experienced local experts in delish. Thom’s dolmas are a revelation, very herb- and fruit-forward, with a light and refreshing take on tzatziki. You may or may not be able to go back to your favorite conventional deli dolmades after this, because Thom’s are in a class apart, but luckily, the recipe is available below!

Chameroon from License No. 1. Photo by Kenneth Wajda

License No. 1 | Boulder – Chameroon
First stop: the classic yet cutting-edge Hotel Boulderado, built in 1909, for a Hemingway masterpiece of a cocktail by head bartender Jonathan Morse at the swanky downstairs bar, License No. 1. The Chameroon (pronounced with a “k” sound), a riff on the Martinez and named for a cigar wrapper style, has a bouquet that whets the appetite. With ingredients such as Turkish tobacco bitters, the apple-based brandy known as Calvados, and Chamomile-infused gin, its finely balanced, long-lasting hints of earth, spice, and fruit engage every sense on the palate. You’ll want to take your time, not least because of the exquisite web of tastes connecting the Chameroon with the evening’s appetizer and main dish.

Lamb Shank from Gemini. Photo by Kenneth Wajda

Gemini | Boulder – Lamb Shank
Just as the sun begins to set, walk west along the mall to Gemini for one of the finest yet down-to-earth dining experiences you’ve had in a long time. Perfect for a special date or for taking the family out for no particular reason, everything about Gemini is infused with clear intentions. From its care in selecting local ingredients, to its ethically sourced wine list, a meal at the family-owned and -operated Gemini feels great, ethically and gastronomically. As the warm shadows lengthen in the sunset and you soak in the sounds of musicians and kids playing on the mall, treat yourself to a symphony: an osso bucco–style crosscut of mellow lamb shank harmonized with some tart Western Slope cherries, delicately roasted carrots, the groundedness of walnuts, and a subtle surprise of cilantro. This is an entree you will not want to end.

Redstone Meadery | Boulder –  Traditional Mountain Honey Wine
Yet, nothing lasts forever, which is why you will have already purchased a bottle from master brewer David Myers’s Redstone Meadery for a combination nightcap and dessert aperitif! Try the Rum Barrel Aged Traditional Mountain Honey Wine, a new addition to Redstone Meadery’s extensive list of handcrafted meads, both honey wines and nectars. With this drink, Redstone has taken its distinctive barrel-aging in a new direction by aging its award-winning Traditional Mountain Honey Wine in rum barrels. Come for the notes of tropical fruit at the front of your palate at first sip, and stay for the warm and spicy tones in the middle, all sustained by an atmosphere of oaky rum. An experience for the ages, in the comfort of your own abode.

Pairing #7

BY: Tony Firestine

The culinary landscape of Longmont and the surrounding areas has grown exponentially in the past few years. Visiting five area restaurants/bars in a single afternoon was the challenge, and I was up for the task at hand. Ready to indulge, I put on my loose pants and headed north. What I discovered were just a handful of the culinary gems that the Longmont area has to offer.

Pomegranate Salad from Raglin.

Raglin Market | Boulder – Pomegranate Salad
After taking a brief detour off the Diagonal Highway on the way to Longmont, I land in Boulder’s neighboring Gunbarrel, and my first stop on the tour d’indulgence is Raglin Market. This is where the team behind Boulder’s French cuisine staple, Mateo, serve up fresh salads, sandwiches, and snacks for lunch and happy hour in a comfortable fast-casual setting alongside a handful of artfully curated classic cocktails, old-world wine selections, and local craft beer. Raglin’s Pomegranate Salad starts the expedition off right with a bright display of farm fresh ingredients, all on a bed of freshly harvested greens from Esoterra Culinary Garden. Raglin does their best to source both produce and meat within 50 miles of the restaurant. The pomegranate seeds burst and intermingle with the pepperiness of raw red onion and the brittle crunch of candied pecans. Specks of lush feta cheese dot the dish and even out the array of vivid flavors.

Bada Bing Cocktail from West Side Tavern.

West Side Tavern | Longmont – Bada Bing Cocktail
Longmont’s West Side Tavern is the perfect definition of a gastropub: an eclectic menu in a lively and unique setting rounded out by an awe-inspiring spirits list and a crew of bartenders to mix you just the right cocktail. Raglin’s pomegranate salad needed bright and piquant flavors to work alongside it for a faultless pairing, and West Side’s Bada Bing cocktail did not disappoint. A base of vodka is married to a lavish cherry balsamic shrub, rosemary syrup, and topped with a flamed rosemary garnish. Take a sip before the smoke settles. The sprig of rosemary is still crackling, and you get the combination of bold scarlet fruit and campfire aroma. If you tend to go for the brown stuff, the colossal whiskey selection is sublime and stays under lock and key in an old curio adjacent to the bar.

Bistro Steak from Sugarbeet.

Sugarbeet | Longmont – Bistro Steak
Located in Old Town Longmont, Sugarbeet has become an institution over the more than a decade and a half it’s been a beacon of modern American cuisine. The current owners took over about seven years ago and continue in the tradition of high-quality cuisine in a welcoming atmosphere. Their Bistro Steak is the perfect centerpiece of my indulgence journey; an elevated take on the classic steak frites. The plate is lined with tender baby kale and dollops of sauce Colbert, enriched with egg yolk and demi-glace similar to a hollandaise. The shoulder tender steak is rich and succulent and cooked perfectly to your liking; I went for medium rare. The pommes paillasson are grated and pressed, formed and cut into frites, fried in duck fat until crisp on the outside and unctuous on the inside, and topped with a light grating of truffled pecorino cheese, which adds a subtle earthiness to the dish. With a divine and creative kitchen, the hospitality needs to match the food, and Sugarbeet does this well; co-owner Ari Kara greets guests from behind the bar and remembers recurring guests by name. Regular appellation-focused wine dinners are a highlight for Sugarbeet’s perfect amalgamation of warmth, creativity, and celebration of artisan food and drink.

Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano from Küper Wine Bar.

Küper Wine Bar | Longmont – Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano
Wine from every part of the world goes into the diverse and distinctive selection at Küper Wine Bar. Owners Doug and Julie Oldfield curate a cozy space where you can lounge over nibbles and discover all that the world of wine has to offer. We found the consummate pairing for Sugarbeet’s Bistro Steak in Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano, an appellation from southern Tuscany vinified 100% from the Sangiovese grape. The mouth-watering acidity and bright red fruit notes cut into the rich sauce, and the rustic character of the wine matches the savory and succulent quality of the steak. This wine also drinks great on its own. If you’re feeling adventurous, build your own charcuterie board to go along with your wine flight. Or, join one of two tiers of their wine club where membership includes invites to private and exclusive events.

Raspberry Cheesecake from Longmont Bakery.

Longmont Bakery | Longmont – Raspberry Cheesecake
Who doesn’t deserve a decadent treat every now and again (and again)? Longmont Bakery has been a mecca of everything sweet and indulgent in Longmont for the past two years, and the owners bring decades of baking experience to the table. I found a slice of their silky cheesecake to be the perfect ending to my indulgent excursion. This little bit of heaven is both fluffy and rich, topped with a vivid raspberry swirl and airy whipped cream. The cases are filled with pastries every day: eclairs, cannoli, cream puffs, cookies, macaroons, and too many flavors of cake slices to mention. Order ahead and have them create a custom celebration cake with the perfect design or have them bake the perfect pie for your holiday festivities. They not only deal in the sugary side of things, but they bake more than a dozen types of bread on site, supplying a few local restaurants and serving sandwiches on their fresh loaves for the lunchtime crowd.

Pairing #8

BY: Cristina Trapani-Scott

There are so many wonderful restaurants in Boulder County. Choosing one can be difficult, but perhaps there’s no need to make a choice. On a recent weekend I took a culinary journey — one progressive dinner, five great Boulder County spots.

Garlic Mojo Baked Crackerjax Oysters from The Post. Photo by Cristina Trapani-Scott

The Post | Boulder – Garlic Mojo Baked Crackerjax Oysters
I must admit, while I’ve had my fair share of oysters, I’ve had nothing quite like the Garlic Mojo Baked Crackerjax Oysters at The Post. They are less oysters and more silky-smooth bites of heaven on a half shell. It’s no wonder these were featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” They made a perfect start to my Boulder County culinary crawl.  According to manager Garrett Parsell, the oysters are brought in daily from the Chesapeake Bay area to ensure their freshness. What I loved about these was not only how fresh they tasted but how their smooth texture allowed the light lime and garlic of the mojo to have their moment. Toasted breadcrumbs topped each half shell, adding a garlic butter crunch that left me savoring the dish for a while after.

Kneebone Pils from Cellar West. Photo by Cristina Trapani-Scott

Cellar West Artisan Ales | Lafayette – Kneebone Pils
With a beautiful open space and a friendly staff, Cellar West is a great spot to get a cold lager to pair with any of The Post appetizers, especially the oysters. Founder and brewer Zach Nichols suggested the Kneebone Pils, the brewery’s flagship pilsner, as a pairing. What a perfect choice. I was immediately taken by the flavor, the spicy bitterness rounded out by a refreshing splash of honey. It balanced well with the garlic and lime of the oysters. Eric Eckhart, who is on staff at the brewery, said Kneebone is a classic German pilsner, one of the closest to a traditional pilsner he has tasted in a long time. He said this is one of his go-to beers, and he always keeps cans of it in his fridge when it’s available. Nichols founded the brewery in 2016 with his wife, Rachel, in a garage space in Boulder. They opened their Lafayette location two years later. Kneebone Pils speaks to that location, as it is named after the Kneebone Open Space nearby. This particular pilsner definitely exhilarates my palate, and I’ll also be snagging some to keep in my fridge.

Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma, and Saag Paneer from Taj Mahal III. Photo by Kenneth Wajda

Taj Mahal III | Louisville – Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma, and Saag Paneer
If the constant flow of regulars coming on a Friday night isn’t proof enough that this is some of the best Indian food around, then trust me — it absolutely is. The thick classic curry sauce in the chicken korma was like a blanket of savory goodness on my tongue. The coriander and cumin balanced to give the dish a hint of sweetness at the end of each delicious bite, and the chicken was tender and packed full of flavor. How about that tikka masala? I’m a sucker for garlic and thick creamy tomato sauce. This definitely was a savory delight with more of that tender chicken, but I kept coming back to the creamy saag paneer with the pillowy house-made cheese. Never has spinach melted in my mouth so deliciously. Finally, I’m a dipper, and there was nothing better than dipping the perfectly crisp garlic naan in each of these wonderful dishes. It’s easy to see why people come back time and time again for these popular plates.

Orin Swift Locations New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from R Gallery + Wine Bar. Photo by Cristina Trapani-Scott

R Gallery + Wine Bar | Boulder – Orin Swift Locations New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
This is the perfect place to find yourself post-entree in a progressive food crawl. Owner Rob Lantz curates his wine and beer with the care he gives to the artwork in his gallery. He also has a wonderful way of knowing specifically which wines will pair with all kinds of foods. In my case, he thoughtfully paired my classic Indian main dish with a fresh and clean sauvignon blanc. This was the perfect choice with its light hint of grapefruit and essence of grass. The flavors balanced well with the creamy savory dishes I’d enjoyed. Lantz said that, in his experience, this particular wine not only enhances the flavors of the food, but it elevates it. I understood clearly what he meant after my first sip. The Orin Swift Locations wines are created by David Phinney, one of Lantz’s favorite wine makers. The grapes for this come from the Marlboro region of New Zealand, which is known for its sauvignon blanc wines. “This wine has more meat and substance than a lot of sauv blancs from that region,” Lantz said. “This one, in particular, is a step above, in my opinion.” I am sure to return for another glass soon.

Dessert Bento from Japango. Photo by Cristina Trapani-Scott

Japango | Boulder – Dessert Bento
Capping off my progressive crawl with a Dessert Bento at Japango felt like the perfect ending to my journey. After all the delicious food and drinks I’d taken in, I was ready for something sweet and light, and Japango delivered. The dessert bento offered a beautiful array of small and light sweet treats starting with the Akuma Cake, a devil’s food cake topped with Glacier’s sea salt ice cream drizzled with fudge and caramel and garnished with a savory sesame brittle. This was perhaps the most decadent part of the box but small enough to satisfy me without overwhelming me. The Thin Mint Truffles combined the creamy richness of a dark chocolate truffle with the sharp cool mint of those familiar cookies we all know and love. The box also came with a choice of different-flavored mochi from Mochidoki, including green tea, strawberry, habanero chocolate, black pepper, and lychee. I got the green tea, and it was my last refreshing bite of the crawl. The light sweet tea, the cool cream, and the tender rice dough made for a perfect ending to the perfectly delicious restaurant pairings.

Pairing #9

BY: C.R. Dallas

Out-of-this-world appetizers to down-to-earth comfort food, these flavors speak to the breadth of what Boulder County has to offer. Citrus, smoke, butter, and cream, this procession of ingredients was a symphony of flavors trumpetting atop a deep bassline of comfort and satisfaction — with ambiance to boot.

Moroccan Grilled Zucchini from Outworld Brewing. Photo by Dallas Dorman

Outworld Brewing | Longmont – Moroccan Grilled Zucchini
Outworld Brewing crash landed into the brewpub scene in early 2020, though hip creatives will find them anything but alien. Boasting a cantina-style private lounge, cosplaying customers, a science fiction book club, and an array of meals and microbrews that would make even a Vulcan blush with excitement, Outworld brings an experiential and collaborative flair to their dining experience. And flair is exactly what this appetizer had: The Moroccan Grilled Zucchini kicked off the challenge with a bang. A thick, lengthwise filet of zucchini marinated in balsamic vinaigrette atop a bed of creamy hummus, topped with chermoula, toasted garlic, ginger crisps, pepitas, and sweet pickled serranos had a delightfully firm and flavorful body sizzling with the complex flavors of citrus and acid, sweetness and spice, all with a smoky finish. The bright flavors cascading over the palate anew and complex — with every bite, a firework.

The ‘R’ in Squash from Spirit Hounds. Photo by Dallas Dorman

Spirit Hounds Distillers | Lyons – The ‘R’ in Squash
Spirit Hounds’ bright-eyed and bushy-tailed approach to fine spirits is immediately apparent in the waitstaff’s radiant smiles and the “doghouse”’s irreverently rustic decor. From the barrel top tables, the prominently displayed pride flag, to the bare barnwood bar and copper pot still, the tasting room is a modern saloon where everyone is treated like a local. Their pairing to the Moroccan Grilled Zucchini was a delightfully autumnal and earthy whisky cocktail, The ‘R’ in Squash, which grounded the firecracker dish acting as a smooth, delicately sweet palate cleanser. An herbal, citrus perfume leads the cocktail — with a curt nod to the chermoula preceding it — into a refreshing procession of pumpkin, maple, and honey. Notes of cocoa in the whisky are accentuated by the nutty flavor of walnut essence.

Combo Platter from Kalita Grill. Photo by Dallas Dorman

Kalita Grill | Boulder – Combo Platter
Kalita Grill is family owned, and they cook like family. Owner and Chef Armin Madoyan believes food is at the heart of community, and appropriately, his dish is the heart of this challenge. And, you can taste the love. The meat, both the chicken and the gyro, are succulent, savory — qualities accentuated by Kalita’s made-from-scratch rustic hummus. The tzatziki sauce leads each bite with a flutter of refreshing creamy cucumber that the hummus finishes with a richly nutty and vaguely bitter concomitant. The meal feels like a hug from a beloved relative even before you try the plush pita bread, which adds a buttery, satisfying bite, tying together the whole dish. Kalita Grill may be in the business of food, but they’re serving comfort.

Élevé Blanc from Snowy Peaks Winery. Photo by Dallas Dorman

Snowy Peaks Winery | Estes Park – Élevé Blanc
Snowy Peaks Winery has all the charm of a hike during a Colorado sunrise. Their tasting room is vibrantly yellow, lined with quaint artisanal offerings for the wine lover or local fan. Easy smiles line the bar as the knowledgeable staff selects our final pairing: 2022 Élevé Blanc, a delicate but complex network of flavors, at once refreshing the palette and echoing our procession of dishes and cocktails. It is a dry white but not without a hint of sweetness hiding after an initial citrusy punch that cuts through the rich flavors of this bespoke meal without contradicting them. The wine expands over the palate, lingering with the aromatic sweetness of apricot and wildflowers which begs the next bite or sip.

Cherry Cheesecake from Cherry’s Cheesecake & Delights. Photo by Dallas Dorman

Cherry’s Cheesecake & Delights | Erie – Cherry Cheesecake
Cherry’s Cheesecakes and Delights may be lauded from the NFL to The White House, but Cherry’s star power shines brightest locally: through her customer’s smiles. From the first bite, I couldn’t help smiling myself. Cherry’s cheesecakes are pure joy. Sold in single serving cups with over 170 signature flavors, cheesecake lovers — even those who are vegan or gluten free — will never want to leave. Her classic Cherry Cheesecake paired excellently in this challenge. Cherry’s cheesecake is a delightfully airy subversion of a typically heavy dessert: the feathery whipped cream, saccharine cherries, silken cheesecake, and rich, buttery crust all sang in harmony, no element of the cake outshining the other. The crust was surprisingly crisp, adding a nice textural bite to the smoothness of the cake and the juicy emphatic pop of the cherries.

Pairing #10

BY: Doug Geiling

A Pearl Street gem, an auto shop-turned hipster vibe pizza joint, a refreshing distillery, and a cozy neighborhood haunt team up for a delicious BoCo culinary adventure. Our editor is in Provence, France at this very moment, the region full of fresh fruits, seafood, and pastas that inspired some of the dishes in this feast.

Mateo | Boulder – Poulet Frites
Inspired by the Provence region of Mediterranean France and “slightly Americanized,” chef and restaurant owner Matthew Jansen calls this dish his “tried and true — something you could eat every day.” Indeed, after one bite I knew I would be back for more as a customer. The chicken, creatively prepared, is essentially flash seared and then slow baked. It is served over a beurre fondue with a mixed green salad in sherry vinaigrette and hand-cut, salted French fries. It’s the crispy-seared chicken with the tangy fondue that made this dish for me. It is absolutely delicious and simultaneously unpretentious. It is also Mateo’s signature dish and a local favorite. It’s comfort food you can be proud of. And it fits the Pearl Street ambience perfectly. Inside the restaurant Mateo presents a cozy, welcoming atmosphere imbibed with a sense of serious quality, just like the signature dish they are known for.

Photo by Kenneth Wajda

Mateo | Boulder – Contratto Sparkling White
My server Griffin said this is all he ever drinks. Whether that’s really true or not, I understand why. This is the Alta Langa Metodo Classico Pas Dosé Millesimato, vintage 2019 sparkling white. Do I know what all that means? Heck no, but in the words of Thomas Haden Church in the wine-based comedy Sideways, it tastes pretty good to me! That’s an understatement. It is fragrant and refreshing like a summer breeze over a Mediterranean orchard, and the bubbles are lively, like the Pearl Street bustle just outside my window at Mateo. Indeed, this wine hails from the Italian Piedmont which borders the French Provence region that inspired Mateo’s signature chicken dish, the Poulet Frites. It is a match meant to be.

Barchetta Pizza | Boulder – Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Chef Jesse Jensen must have checked the weather forecast because the Curry Butternut Squash Soup he served me was perfect for a rare cool and rainy August afternoon in downtown Boulder. Just as I delved into my amazing soup, the rain picked up as if on cue, dappling the abundant windows of this spacious corner eatery. For just a moment I thought I was in New York City in October. I’m thinking that the secret to this amazing dish must be the slow-cooked caramelization (30 minutes!) and topping of roasted nuts. It was the perfect blend of creamy texture, subtle curry flavor, and nutty goodness. The word Barchetta, Jesse explained, is slang for a little sports car or boat. Indeed, this corner hangout used to be an auto shop, and the old garage doors were retained for its throw-back décor. Bob’s Burgers reruns played on the television. “This is a cartoon bar, not a sports bar,” Jesse happily explained before showing off his wife’s amazing cartoon-themed artwork on the wall.

Abbott & Wallace Distilling | Longmont –  Rosé Dawson Cocktail
Inspired by the French 75, slightly fruity but not overly sweet. This is how Abbott & Wallace’s Steph Young described their Rosé Dawson, a perfect match for Mateo’s main dish. For some reason this tasty concoction reminded me of a perfect summer day. It is made with Alpine Dry Gin with lemon rosemary simple syrup topped with a sparkling dry rosé and finished with a garnish of rosemary and a couple slices of fresh strawberry. Friends John Abbott and H.K. Wallace were beer guys who fell in love with distilling a few years ago. Their wonderful establishment rests on a quiet Longmont corner a few blocks west of Main Street. It is open and airy but tastefully adorned with DIY salvaged materials like the giant “swamp pad” wooden beams hanging from the ceiling. As Steph described from behind the bar, they pride themselves on quality and source their grains locally, specifically from two Colorado farms. The enthusiasm and care with which they run this business is as refreshing as their Rosé Dawson, like a crisp sunny day in late September on the Front Range.

West Side Tavern | Longmont – Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake
There are places that claim to be neighborhood haunts, and then there are the rare gems that really are such places. I accidentally passed this restaurant because I saw nothing but houses, and then I realized that one of those houses was the West Side Tavern. Inside is a mix of quirky décor and deep texture of brick walls and dark wood tables. The walls are decorated with wine racks, totem poles, and a giant picture of an Easter Island head (I think). Hanging over the bar is a tiny human skeleton riding a stuffed snowy owl. My kind of place. Pastry chef Carie Sorensen whipped up a traditional strawberry rhubarb-swirled and layered cheesecake topped with a drizzle of chocolate ganache and garnished with fresh strawberry slices. I am a tough customer with cheesecake, but this one was just about perfect — not too rich but with flavor for miles. I polished off the dessert even though I told myself repeatedly not to eat the whole thing. I couldn’t help it. As I left, very satisfied and impressed, I took a closer look at the beautiful leafy side patio and noticed the tiki bar. A tiki bar in the middle of a quiet west Longmont hood? Oh, how I wished I lived closer to this place, like in the house next door.

The post The Challenge | Indulgence Issue 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Historical photos provided by the Carnegie Library for Local History & Boulder Historic Society

Landscape shaped by water

There is a certain clarity of sound early in the morning. Each step I take brings a satisfying crunch as my foot strikes the dirt trail. It’s dawn, and I’m hiking up the hill at Rabbit Mountain Open Space on the edge of Lyons, Colorado.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch today. Tropical Storm Harold has tossed his remnants all the way up into the Colorado Rockies from the Gulf of Mexico. The expected rain has yet to arrive, but the cloud deck is building.

A curious deer watches me pass on the trail in the Rabbit Mountain Open Space near Lyons. Photo by Doug Geiling

Summer mornings in the Front Range are usually clear and sharp. The approaching weather gives the landscape a softer look. It is beautiful, nevertheless. But the coming rain brings worry. Almost ten years ago to the day a massive flood hammered Colorado’s Front Range and foothills communities, including beautiful Lyons. No one here likes seeing a flash flood watch in their weather forecast.

As I climb higher the trail leads me through an open prairie slope into a forest of stunted ponderosa pines amongst mountain mahogany and gamma grass. A deer watches me pass, and a cottontail rabbit scurries under a bush.

Upon reaching the crest of the ridge, I stand on a topographical anomaly. An ancient fault line has created an east-west angled ridge here that juts out into the plains from the predominantly north-south orientation of the Rocky Mountains. The resulting views up and down the Front Range are second to none. To the south I can make out the graceful outline of Pikes Peak, a crow’s flight of over 100 miles away. To the north is a sweeping view up the edge of the northern Front Range clear into the open rangelands of Wyoming. The mountains seem to crash onto the plains like waves on a beach, and I’m a spectator from the shore.

An interpretive sign along the trail tells of the ancient use of this location by those who came before us. Many stone artifacts have been found in the area. Hundreds of generations of people over thousands of years have traveled here, camped here, and lived here. An indigenous hunter standing atop this ridge on a clear day 300 years ago could spot a bison herd or an unwelcome raiding party anywhere within a three-day’s ride to the north, east, and south. Countless communities have likely sheltered or wintered here for millennia as the south-facing slope blocked the northeasterly winds driving the stinging snows of Front Range blizzards.

The landscape around Lyons can resemble the western slope of Colorado with its dry mesas and slanted bands of colorful sandstone rock layers. That sandstone is what makes the history of Lyons unique amongst Colorado communities. While other towns in the area were formed from gold, silver, and coal mining, Lyons was, and still is, a sandstone quarry town. In fact, the geologic “Lyons formation,” is named after the town, not the other way around.

A quarter of a billion years ago, at the dawn of the dinosaur age, there were quartz sand dunes here. This sand was compressed and solidified by subsequent sediment deposition. Millions of years of mountain building then exposed the layer as it was pushed up and then eroded by wind and water. These processes formed a stone with natural fracture points resulting in flat layers with varying thickness called flagstone.

The first humans to make use of the flagstone were archaic Native Americans who used it for building material as early as 6,500 years ago. In more recent times immigrants from the east, mostly European in origin, industrialized the extraction of the stone starting in the late 1800s. The beautiful rose-colored Lyons sandstone, said to be the hardest sandstone in the world, has been used all over the planet including in historic buildings in the town of Lyons itself and many of the University of Colorado Boulder’s iconic stone structures. Some of New York City’s famous brownstone row houses are built of Lyons sandstone, shipped there by rail on the Denver, Utah, and Pacific Railroad.

Lyons, true locals

Back in Lyons from my morning hike, I venture into the Barking Dog Café on Main Street for a coffee and a Wi-Fi connection. They are busy, and it seems most of the customers know each other. A group of about eight sit around a large table in the middle. They look like a made-for-TV version of small town neighbors.

A quarry near Lyons, some with men at work cutting stone. Photographer: Mabel Downer Durning

The group chats a bit nervously about the weather forecast. “It’s supposed to rain a lot today,” says one. “No, last I checked it was only a thirty percent chance now,” an older man replies hopefully. They laugh a bit when another of them playfully points out the rain drops already appearing on the storefront window. Then there is a bit of silent contemplation before the topic of conversation shifts to recent wildlife sightings. The flood of 2013 is most certainly on their minds, but no one speaks directly of it. This is a town that has fully rebuilt from that devastating event and surely does not want a repeat.

“Lyons feels like the anti-Estes Park.” This is how I introduce myself to the owner of the Barking Dog working behind the counter when the crowd thins. “It’s more of a locals’ town, isn’t it?” I ask. He seems to agree with my observations. When I mention the large group that had since left, he says, “We agree on almost nothing, but we all make it work.” I get the sense that he knows them all as friends.

Indeed, Lyons is a locals’ town through and through. It is the proudly overlooked foothills gateway to the two canyons that lead to America’s fourth most visited national park and the internationally known mountain resort community of Estes Park. In fact, in the early days of Rocky Mountain National Park, Lyons was known specifically as the “Double Gateway to the Rockies.” There was even a giant arch over the road proclaiming it as such right about where the Barking Dog Café is located.

The arch is gone now, but the town still serves as a gateway to the northern Front Range high country. In my youth I passed through Lyons many times on my way to trout fishing spots on one of the forks of the St. Vrain River. At the west end of town, Main Street splits. Go left on Highway 7 for the South St. Vrain or turn right up Highway 36 for the river’s north fork. Either way gets you to Estes Park. Either way takes you through those canyons that flooded in 2013 exactly ten years ago.

1894 or 1895. Views of Lyons taken after a flood

The flood

The 2013 flood was caused by a 1,000-year rain event as up to 18 inches of rain fell over a couple of days in the foothills. That’s a full year’s precipitation for this area. All that water had to flow downhill, and in the mountains the downhills are steep, and the valleys are narrow. This created a funneling effect as the sheets of rainwater careened down the mountain sides too quickly for the ground to absorb. The water flowed from all directions into the constriction of the canyons. Inside the canyons, walls of accelerating water and debris roared out to the plains carrying trees, boulders, pieces of roadway, and houses.

The double gateway from Lyons into the Rockies turned into a double-barreled water cannon. The flood roared into the town from two directions like converging tsunamis. Stream flows are measured in cubic feet per second (cfs). At the peak of the 2013 flood, the St. Vrain in Lyons reached a historical record 24,000 cfs. For perspective, its normal flow in mid-September is about 50 cfs. Nearly 500 times the normal volume of water and its accompanying debris unloaded on Lyons. Massive cottonwood trees were thrust down the canyon like toothpicks. Truck-sized boulders were dislodged from the earth and rolled around like the bowling balls of the gods. 

The town was devastated. The National Guard evacuated residents on September 12, and many of those living in the canyons above town were plucked away to safety in Chinook helicopters. Shortly after the flood I tried to visit Lyons, but the National Guard was only allowing residents in, for good reason. All the town’s services and utilities were wiped out, many people’s homes were lost, and the town was a disaster area.

At the peak of the 2013 flood, the St. Vrain in Lyons reached a historical record 24,000 cfs. For perspective, its normal flow in mid-September is about 50 cfs.

Weeks after the flood I was able to make it to the mountain hamlet of Glen Haven, near Estes Park, after temporary road repairs were made to one of the canyons. Glen Haven looked destroyed, but what I remember most was a car perched in a tree about 15 feet off the ground. It was hard to believe that the tiny little brook that flowed through Glen Haven had exploded into the roiling whitewater deluge that pushed a car up into a tree.

To the people of Lyons and surrounding flood-damaged communities, the flood of 2013 must have seemed like a biblical event. Even the very courses of these streams were permanently altered by the flood, dramatically so in some areas. But when considered through the long lens of geologic time, floods like these, and much bigger ones, are commonplace in those canyons. They have happened many thousands of times over millions of years.

These types of floods are, in fact, the reason those canyons even exist. It takes massive volumes of fast-moving water to carve them, to dislodge those truck-sized boulders from one place and deposit them in another, to scour an inch or two at a time from sandstone ledges, and to push tons of debris and sediment downriver and into the plains like a behemoth excavator. These floods are, indeed, the reason why the Lyons sandstone formation is exposed on those canyon walls and therefore the reason why the town of Lyons came to be. All things in nature are connected.

1939. Lyons to Estes Park North St. Vrain Highway dedication

Founding Lyons

It’s mid-morning now, and I walk out of the Barking Dog Café into light rainfall. The sky is darker, the clouds are lower. The air has an unusual humidity and thickness to it, betraying its Gulf of Mexico origins. Harold’s final haymaker is arriving as expected. Will he conjure up more floods?

I walk into the Lyons Redstone Museum situated a block north of the Barking Dog on High Street. This was the original one-room schoolhouse built in 1881 using locally quarried sandstone of course. A second floor was added in 1895 and an addition to the ground floor in 1902. The Lyons School held classes for nearly a century until finally closing its doors to students in 1977 when construction of a larger school was completed.

The school’s — now museum’s — second story is a wood frame structure that sits atop the sturdy sandstone-based first floor. This created a bit of a shaky experience during the notorious winds that can crash down into Lyons from the mountains to the west. The swaying of the building could be so bad that school was sometimes canceled because of wind. While many Colorado kids hope for a “snow day,” the kids of Lyons enjoyed “wind days” off from school! The museum stands today as one of the oldest surviving original buildings in Lyons.

2013. Lyons Redstone Museum, formerly the Lyons School. Photo: Doug Geiling

Inside the museum is a surprisingly extensive collection of historical books and exhibits. It operates on voluntary donations, and it’s well worth a visit. The land for the original Lyon’s school was provided by the town’s founders, Edward and Adeline Lyon of Connecticut. Like many arrivals from the east during that era, the Lyons came west on the advice of a doctor as it was thought that the clean air of the Rockies was an elixir for various health ailments caused by “bad air” in eastern U.S. cities at the time.

There were earlier European-American settlers to the land that would become Lyons. They arrived in the early 1860s as either disappointed gold prospectors or homesteaders. But even before them there was the occasional mountain man who ventured into the canyons above Lyons to trap beaver in the early 1800s.

One such adventurer was the son of a French aristocrat who became a Mexican citizen named Ceran St. Vrain. St. Vrain formed the “St. Vrain” half of the Bent-St. Vrain Company that established and ran the famous Bent’s Fort in eastern Colorado. Their northern trading outpost, Fort St. Vrain, was located on the South Platte River in northeast Colorado at the confluence of a large tributary flowing in from the west. The tributary would later be named the St. Vrain River.

By the time the town of Lyons was founded in 1881, the fur trapping days were long gone, and America was well into its Gilded Age of early heavy industry and railroad barons. But, around this time, Lyons became known as a tourist destination as Denverites and others boarded shiny new trains to the Double Gateway to the Rockies to spend a day or a week in leisure. Through the early 1900s several health resorts sprang up in the St. Vrain Canyons. And the picturesque mountain enclave of Estes Park beckoned to the west, made globally famous by the blockbuster memoir of Englishwoman adventure travel writer Isabella Bird — A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.

Old Stone Congregational Church. Photo by Dustin Doskocil

1977. Frank Weaver, Lyons historian, standing in front of the Old Stone Congregational Church; now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Constructing and rebuilding

The cement industry arrived in 1910 and, for a time, destroyed the sandstone quarry business. But sandstone was soon revived, focusing more on the decorative landscaping material that it remains famous for to this day. Since the middle of the 20th century, Lyons has been overshadowed by its larger Front Range neighbors, Boulder and Longmont and its more touristy cousin to the west, Estes Park. But perhaps that is all for the better as it seems to be comfortable in this role. As a Front Range native, I’ve always appreciated the mere existence of Lyons. It is unique among Front Range towns and cities for its history, its low-key character, and its geology.

I step out of the Lyons Redstone Museum into a driving rain. Harold has landed his punch. The wind has picked up, and the rain soaks me in sheets. This is not like the typical brief afternoon summer storm in the Rockies. The rain is hard but not accompanied by lightning bolts and thunder booms. I worry about this weather as I drive east away from town. Will there really be a repeat of 2013 almost ten years to the day?

No. Like an over-the-hill boxer, Harold’s haymaker turned out to be a glancing blow. The heaviest of the rain stayed well east of the mountains, and the anticipated floods did not materialize.

In 2013, as the people of Lyons surveyed a devastated town, they knew their town would never be the same. They knew it would come back better. And it has. On the one-year anniversary of the 2013 floods, the town of Lyons held a series of celebrations. At that time, they still faced several more years of recovery efforts. But the celebrations were for their resilience, hope, and optimism. It was for their determination to build the town back, not to what it was, but to what it could be — something even better, even stronger. And, ten years on, they’ve done just that. Lyons may have been knocked backwards by a wall of water, but the town’s residents have proven they are as rock solid as Lyons sandstone.

The Muffler Man

The giant cowboy with a pitchfork on the cover of this issue is a piece of kitschy Americana from the 1960s. He is one of a few dozen original “muffler men” still standing around the country and one of only two in Colorado, with the other in Greeley. Muffler men were made by the International Fiberglass Company out of California and were commissioned by roadside businesses wanting to draw the attention of curious passersby. They are known generically as “muffler men” because some were built for muffler and tire companies. But the first one, a “Paul Bunyan” held an ax and promoted the Paul Bunyan Café along Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Others held, or still hold, giant hot dogs, burgers, frosty beer mugs, or simply stand with outstretched forearms like the one in Greeley. The one just outside of Lyons holding the pitchfork, located on a private residence, is colloquially known as “Ranch Cowboy.”

The post Lyons: Rock Solid appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Historical photos provided by the Carnegie Library for Local History, Denver Public Library, and Louisville History Museum

Forged by fire and stone

There is a place where the wind eats the snow. The air is pressurized over the top of a colossal mountain range we call the Rockies before it is released down the other side. Wind gusts violently careen through the pine-forested foothills and crash out onto a land ocean we know as the Great Plains.

It’s the Chinook. This warm winter wind can bring the force of a hurricane down onto the flatlands. It uproots trees, stirs up dust storms, and sends backyard trampolines flying. It can also snap live power lines and breathe life into the dimmest of embers.

On December 30, 2021 the conditions aligned in this environment to create an almost unthinkable catastrophe. An exceptionally dry early winter had turned the grasses of Colorado’s High Plains into brittle tinder. On that late December day, wind gusts were clocked at up to 115 mph at the edge of the Rockies. Multiple ignition points were activated by the winds. Spot fires lit up like blinking Christmas lights and then erupted into wind-driven hell vortexes. Fire crews had no chance to stop the blaze, which seemed to erupt everywhere all at once.

As the winds gusted and shifted, embers darted to new targets, jumping over some homes and businesses only to set others ablaze. Heroic first responders frantically evacuated citizens with only minutes to spare. Some residents took to driving through fields ahead of approaching walls of flame and smoke.

When snow finally blanketed the smoldering neighborhoods the next day, over a thousand homes and seven businesses were burned to the ground. Two people lost their lives. The Marshall Fire was the most destructive in the history of Colorado. Almost all the losses were sustained in the beautiful Colorado towns of Louisville and Superior.

Both Boulder County towns are routinely ranked as among the best places to live in America by various media outlets. In fact, Louisville is a two-time No. 1 best place to live by Money Magazine and has made the top 10 list multiple times.

December 30, 2021. Louisville. Photo: Patrick Kramer of the Longmont Fire Department

But these towns have not always been the serene suburban havens they’ve become. When the aftermath of the Marshall Fire was still smoldering, some residents speculated that coal was to blame. After all, it was known that there was another fire burning in the area at the time — an underground cauldron continuously smoldering for over 100 years. Near Superior, under the Marshall Mesa, ground temperatures have been measured at over 200 degrees Fahrenheit from the simmering coal underneath the surface. The underground fire is a relic of why these towns even exist.

Seventy million years ago the land where Louisville and Superior sit today was not the semi-arid high plain beautifully situated at the base of a big mountain range. Back then dinosaurs waded through the waters of a giant tropical swamp. Over the eons all that plant matter had to go somewhere, and it ended up pressurized into a layer of soft black rock. This formed the Northern Colorado Coal Field.

The first prospectors to arrive in Colorado were seeking gold in the late 1850s. But, as they moved through the area looking for the yellow metal or related business opportunities, some of the keener observers noticed outcroppings of black rock, surface coal, on the plains north of Denver and east of Boulder. In an arc that roughly follows the course of the aptly named Coal Creek, a series of coal mining towns sprang up. Near the edge of the mountains was Superior, and just east of Superior would be Louisville.

Coal mining provided the catalyst for railroad construction in the area, which in turn accelerated the volume of coal extraction as the railroads not only ran on coal but were used to haul massive quantities of the black rock to wherever it was needed. Indeed, these new Boulder County coal towns, like Louisville and Superior, would for a time provide the growing Denver area with most of its power.

Fifteen miners with their lunch buckets. Third from left in second row is Peter Johnson. (Donor: Ralph Johnson, of Louisville)

But the human history of this area does not start with coal. Nor does it start with gold, or even with the first white explorers who traversed these plains and mountains from the east in the early 1800s, or the Spaniards who ventured into the area from the south with their horses two centuries earlier. People had already been here for hundreds of generations, the earliest of which hunted the woolly mammoth and feared the sabre toothed tiger. The area that is Louisville and Superior today was likely inhabited for at least thousands of years during the winter because the proximity to the mountains provided a slightly milder and more sheltered micro-climate compared to places farther east or west.

More recent Indigenous peoples include the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne. While the Utes and their direct ancestors had been in the area for centuries, the Arapaho and Cheyenne were newcomers in the early 1800s having previously been displaced from their Upper Midwest homelands by the westward expansion of European Americans from the east.

The horde of pioneers and fortune seekers from the east did not just settle a land already occupied, they transformed it as if terraforming a new planet. In 1820 Colorado’s high plain was part of a vast American Serengeti teeming with millions of bison upon which the Plains Indians depended. The landscape was a vast rolling ocean of grasses crisscrossed by precious prairie riverways lined with cottonwoods. The enormous prairie was backdropped in the west by the rampart of a vast mountain range, its glacial valleys, and high peaks known only to its indigenous inhabitants.

1912. Native American (Ute) men and children ride on horseback as part of the marking ceremony for Ute Pass Trail, El Paso County, Colorado.

By 1870, just a half century later, the bison were rapidly disappearing, felled by the hundreds of thousands by pioneers seeking fortune rather than sustenance from the land. Rivers were diverted, damned, and irrigated. Great fields were cultivated. Domesticated herbivores were a poor replacement for the depleted bison — the newcomers mowed down prairie grass like thousand-pound locusts. The mountains and prairies were hollowed out by people obsessed with finding black, yellow, and silver stones. The horse-drawn wagon was replaced by the steel horse belching its black smoke and bringing ever more people from the east. The Native Americans were forced from their suddenly defiled range into reservations to the north and south.

When seen through the eyes of the Plains Indian, the period from 1820 to 1870 was an apocalypse. For the newcomers, the West meant opportunity and not just for Americans. Titans of the Gilded Age industry needed bodies to extract their fortunes for them, and they often looked abroad for their labor. Many of Louisville’s early coal miners came from Italy, eventually forming large prominent immigrant families.

I spoke with Ron Buffo, a Louisville native and retired high school social studies teacher born in 1953. Buffo spun a fascinating family history for me that begins with his great grandfather Michele — pronounced MeeKAYla — Buffo. A Colorado coal mine offered him and his brother Giacomo jobs and a paid trip across an ocean a continent away from home. After the long journey Michele hopped off the train and looked around at a foreign land that bore little resemblance to his northern Italian homeland. As someone with mining experience, he knew the work would be hard and the pay little, but he also knew it was better than anything he could get in Italy at the time.

Michele Buffo worked in the Louisville mines for five years before he was able to bring his wife to Colorado to join him. They had two sons, Dominic and Baptiste. Dominic dropped out of school at the age of thirteen to work in the mine with his father. In those days the mining companies paid the miner by the ton, not the hour, and an able-bodied son could increase the load and the income for the family. School was of lesser importance than the chance to get ahead financially.

1909. Photo of the Miners Trading Company building which was demolished due to coal mining subsidence, and once stood on the site of 701 Main Street.

Dominic Buffo’s coal mining career ended after 31 years with a gruesome accident in 1944. While working the conveyor belt on the tipple of Erie’s Columbine Mine, his right glove was snagged in the machinery, violently yanking his body forward. Dominic threw his weight back to avoid getting pulled over the top to an almost certain death, but the force of the conveyor belt ripped his right arm off at the shoulder.

Dominic was loaded into a basket and taken on a grueling 45-minute ride to the nearest full-service hospital in Boulder, nearly bleeding to death en route. His life was saved, but a blood clot formed in his head causing him to lose his ability to speak for the rest of his life. He also developed black lung disease from his years of breathing in coal dust almost every day since age thirteen. Dominic lived in Louisville for another 31 years after the accident, passing away in 1975 at age 75.  “I tell you what,” said his grandson Ron, “he was a strong old man.”

Before the accident Dominic was a lifelong member of the United Mine Workers of America fighting, like many coal miners of his day, for better pay and working conditions. He followed in the footsteps of his father Michele, an ardent union man himself. In fact, Michele and his other son Baptiste, Ron’s great uncle, participated in the Hecla Mine conflict of 1914 when gunfire erupted between the union men and state government forces. 

The striking miners, according to Buffo, were fearful of a repeat of the Ludlow Massacre in Southern Colorado — they knew it was the same Third Colorado Cavalry that attacked Ludlow that was headed up to Hecla. The union handed out hundreds of rifles to the striking miners. Hours of gunfire ensued with remarkably few injuries. Ron Buffo still has the rifle that his great uncle used at Hecla.

Dominic Buffo. Photo provided by Ron Buffo

It was during this time that, according to Buffo, the state government placed a trigger-happy machine gunner at Hecla who had a habit of randomly firing into the town of Louisville. One night Buffo’s great grandfather Michele went to use the outhouse when a bullet zipped through and grazed the top of his hand. When I asked if they reported the incident to the police, I knew the answer before it came. What would have been the point? “The government supported that kind of thing back then,” said Buffo.

Just before dawn on January 20th 1936 an underground explosion rocked Monarch Mine #2 just south of Louisville. Something ignited the combustible air and uncovered coal dust, eight coal miners perished. The body of Joe Jaramillo was never recovered and he rests to this day somewhere directly beneath the Flatiron Crossing Mall. The loss of Jaramillo compelled his fourteen-year-old son, Joe Jr., to go to work in the mines at age 14 to support his family. Joe Jr. would live the rest of his life as a coal miner with an interlude as a soldier and prisoner of war in World War II. He was among the final shift of miners to close down Erie’s Eagle Mine for good in 1978. Joe Jr.,  like so many coal miners, suffered from black lung disease. He died of a heart attack just three months after his retirement.

Ron Buffo reflected on the dangerous work and labor violence of those years experienced by his family and others. “Thank goodness I didn’t have to work in a damned coal mine,” said Buffo.

After his grandfather’s accident in 1944, Buffo’s grandmother was forced to find work and became one of the first people hired at Rocky Flats. Coal mining was in decline by that time and many out-of-work miners found jobs there as well. As if the risk of black lung disease weren’t enough, now they would face cancer-causing radiation, unbeknownst to them at the time. “My father and brother both died of cancer as a result of radioactive exposure from Rocky Flats,” said Buffo.

1909. Two barbers with chairs ready for customers. The photographer’s image is reflected in the mirror.

With a strong Italian heritage comes the rumors and stereotypes of organized crime, but there seems to be little evidence of much of this in Louisville. According to Buffo, there was a small Italian Mafia presence operating out of North Denver. Buffo recalls “during the 60s and 70s if you drove down Main Street (Louisville) you’d sometimes see five or six brand new Cadillacs parked out front of a pool hall. Those weren’t people from Louisville,” said Buffo. 

Legends of bootlegging tunnels underneath Old Town Louisville from the Prohibition era have mostly been either debunked or unproven. However, according to Gigi Young at the Louisville Historical Museum, the Prohibition era did produce some interesting bootlegging schemes in Louisville including a giant hidden underground still.

The nature of Louisville and Superior continued to evolve in the post World War era as coal mining was replaced by a more diversified economy in a growing Denver-Boulder metropolitan area. Buffo graduated from Louisville High in 1971. When I asked him about those days, I could feel the sense of excitement and nostalgia come through the phone. This was Louisville’s classic Americana era when homecoming and football games against Lafayette High School were the big thing.

It took the Louisville kids weeks to collect enough scrap wood for the homecoming bonfire, a tradition that would never fly today. Reflecting on this, Buffo said, “They once took Old Man Ferrari’s outhouse and put it on top of the pyre.” During football games, “a couple thousand people would show up,” said Buffo. “It was a lot of fun.”

Superior? It’s a strange name for a town. Located a little to the southwest of Louisville, the town of Superior was originated by a farmer, Charles Hake, who settled on the land around 1860. He knew of the exposed coal seam on his land, but it wasn’t until 1892 that he partnered with Jim Hood to drop the first coal mine shaft. The resulting mine called The Industrial would operate for the next 53 years and extract four million tons of coal from the earth.

1923-1925: Photographs of the Industrial Coal Mine coal camp near Superior, showing among other things the company housing and the company casino; also members of the Morgan and Gibby families.

Although the town of Superior was incorporated in 1904 only a few hundred residents called Superior home for almost the next century. Then the 1990s came and Superior exploded like a coal mine blast, booming to over 12,000 residents by the turn of the Millenium.

Chandy Ghosh and her husband were one of the early residents of Superior’s beautiful Rock Creek subdivision. Originally hailing from Calcutta, India, Ghosh came to New Mexico on a full ride scholarship in 1987, got a job in Denver at US West, and moved to Superior for the “superior schools” in the late 1990s.

Ghosh described for me a real life American dream. She became a successful telecommunications executive and found the perfect home with her husband in Superior with an unobstructed view of the mountains and a friendly community. “Twenty-five years later, I still feel blessed that we got this spot,” said Ghosh.

I asked Ghosh what she thinks about Superior’s growth. She remembered in the early years how the city lights would end on her commute home from downtown Denver near Westminster Mall and then it was pitch black. “Now, you can’t tell where Denver ends and Superior starts,” said Ghosh.

Ghosh is more than okay with the growth. “The schools and the views brought us here,” she said. “But, I’m really more of a city girl.” Ghosh believes that Superior is growing into an independent town with its own identity. “I’m loving Superior right now,” she said.

But on December 30, 2021 they nearly lost their dream home. In fact, it’s almost a miracle that they didn’t. “We smelled the smoke before we saw the fire,” she said. “Then I looked up and saw huge flames across the street, and at that moment someone started banging on our front door.” It was the fire marshall and they needed to go immediately.

Harper’s Lake. Photo: Dustin Doskocil

They only had time to grab passports before racing out the door. “We thought there was no way the house would survive,” said Ghosh. “But the next morning some friends snuck into the neighborhood and told us ‘your house is still standing!’” Somehow the flames parted. It burned the houses one block over on both sides of their street, but not theirs. Such was the erratic nature of the Marshall Fire.

The Marshall Fire did not break these communities. Not even close. They are quietly rebuilding. These towns were forged by hardy families. They had men (and often boys) who swung pick axes at black rocks six days a week and paid the price for their toil to build better lives for their descendants. They had women who endured the low income and constant worry about their mining husbands and sons.  

I know from speaking with Ron Buffo that he takes great pride in the example that his forebears set, and in the communities they helped build. Like Buffo said, we all should be glad that we don’t have to work in a damned coal mine.

Despite the Marshall Fire, Louisville and Superior remain among the best places in America to live. It is not just the great views and great schools. There’s something particularly wonderful about this area that we can’t quite put our finger on. Perhaps it’s simply superior.

The post Louisville and Superior: Surviving the Elements appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Historic Photography: Boulder Public Library, Carnegie Library for Local History, Donald C. Kemp Collection

Four historic mining towns on the edge of the Rockies survive booms, busts, blizzards, and tourists.

Nederland: From miners to frozen grandfathers

In 1864 young pioneer Sam Conger was hunting in the high country above the new settlement of Boulder when he spotted a strange rock. Conger took the stone home to Central City where it sat in a friend’s barn until someone told him in 1869 that it was silver ore. He immediately staked his claim and named it Caribou. It would be the largest silver ore deposit ever to be found in Colorado.

Within five years Caribou exploded to 3,000 residents. At 10,000 feet high and tucked up against the easternmost extent of the Continental Divide, it was one of the coldest and windiest mining towns in America. Despite the conditions the hardy prospectors built a real town there with a school, hotels, and even a roller skating rink.

The glory of Caribou was short-lived. Silver crashed in the 1890s, and a series of fires swept through the town in the early 1900s. In the ensuing decades the winter wind and snow took what was left and not even a ghost town remains of it.

But a tiny stage stop far down the hill would outlast Caribou by more than a century. Today we call it Nederland. With a population of about 1,500 people, “Ned” is now the big city of the four remaining Boulder County mountain towns.

Photo: Dustin Doskocil

On a recent sunny day in May my friend Lisa and I took a road trip through the four towns of Nederland, Ward, Gold Hill, and Jamestown. We descended into Nederland from the south on one of Colorado’s most scenic roads, the Peak to Peak Highway.

After stopping at Blue Owl Books on the edge of town for ice cream, we headed across the road to a place of whimsical joy — the Carousel of Happiness. The story of the carousel begins in a war. An American soldier in Vietnam carried with him a music box to sooth his nerves. The tinny tunes emanating from that box took the soldier’s mind away from the bombs and guns of war and brought to him a vision of laughing children riding a carousel in a mountain meadow.

After the war the soldier, Scott Harrison, brought his vision to life when he found an old 1910 carousel frame and mechanism in a Utah warehouse and moved it to Nederland in 1986. For the next 26 years Harrison personally carved all the wooden animals, many of which are time capsules containing old mementos. Around the carousel, if you look carefully, you might see the little fairies that watch from above. There is also the “somewhere else wall” and its portal to another dimension. A ticket to ride is just $3.

Near the Carousel of Happiness, a dirt trail follows Middle Boulder Creek through Chipeta Park and down to Barker Reservoir. Chipeta was the wife of the Ute Chief Ouray and herself a tribal leader. The land that Nederland rests on today is thought to have been a crossroads of successive ancient cultures, including Chipeta’s Utes. The meadow now at the bottom of Barker Reservoir was likely used for thousands of years as a base for hunting, trade, and transit between the plains and the mountains.

Nederland’s first non-indigenous settler was Nathan Brown who built his cabin in that same meadow in 1864. From that foothold came Brown’s Mountain House, an inn for hunters and prospectors. As the small settlement grew it became known variously as Brown’s Crossing, Brownsville, and Middle Boulder. The tiny town was renamed Nederland in 1874.

Nederland, 1898

After Caribou collapsed and a brief gold mining run at nearby Eldora came and went, a third boom would launch Nederland into its true mining heyday. This time it was tungsten, discovered by the same Sam Conger who first found silver in the area decades earlier. Tungsten is a metal used to harden steel which was needed in World War I. In 1916, Nederland’s population shot up to 3,000, double its current size.

As the war wound down, the bust cycle returned, and by 1920 only 200 Nederland residents remained. Nederland would hang on as a sleepy ranching and tourist town until the next boom cycle in the 1960s. This time it wasn’t miners but hippies who brought the town back to life.

In the late 1960s Boulder, Colorado had become one of America’s counterculture havens. Inevitably this brought “longhairs” up into the nearby mountains where they clashed with residents, many of whom viewed them as unwelcome invaders. Longtime Nederland area resident Holly Widdowfield told me, “We hippies were moving in, and there was a lot of tension between us and the older residents. The 1970s was a lot rougher in Nederland than it is today.”

A subset of these newcomers was the so-called Serenity, Tranquility, and Peace (STP) Family. The historical narrative describes them as a hygienically challenged cult of troublemakers. One STP member, Guy “Deputy Dawg” Gaughnor, was murdered by Nederland police marshal Renner Forbes, a crime that remained unsolved until Forbes’ confession in 1997. Former STP member David “Midget Jesse” Ansberry tried to avenge the murder of his friend by attempting, and failing, to blow up the Nederland police station in 2015.

In the early 1970s, music producer James Guercio purchased the 4,000-acre Caribou Ranch in the hills above town and turned its barn into one of America’s finest recording studios. With his music industry connections, Guercio attracted top singers and bands to the ranch starting with Colorado resident Joe Walsh.

Caribou Ranch Recording Studio: Music producer James Guercio turned Caribou Ranch barn into one of America’s finest recording studios.

The list of big names who recorded at Caribou during its 12-year run is incredible. Elton John recorded three full albums there, including, of course, “Caribou.” There was Dan Fogelberg, who also lived in Nederland for a time. Steven Stills recorded there and had a home in Gold Hill. There was Chicago; Earth, Wind & Fire; John Denver; U2; Stevie Nicks; Stevie Wonder; Jerry Lee Lewis; Tom Petty; Amy Grant; Billy Joel; Michael Jackson; and many others. Even John Lennon stopped by to record backing vocals for Elton John’s cover of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Local Nederland residents often enjoyed impromptu encounters with the era’s biggest rock stars at the Pioneer Inn. Old timer and current Rollinsville resident Geno Kennedy, author of Welcome to the Mountains – Now Behave!, told me of times sitting next to Robert Plant at the inn. He also proclaimed the truth in the urban legend that Steven Stills once got tossed through the front window. A fire severely damaged the recording studio’s control room in 1984. By that time the heyday of the Caribou Ranch studio had passed. It was never reopened as a recording studio, and ownership of the ranch passed to new hands.

Nederland would soon return to fame in an unexpected way. In 1995 a big stir broke loose in town when local resident and Norwegian citizen Aud Bauge, upon being evicted from her home, expressed her concern that the frozen body on her property might thaw. A frenzy ensued, and it was revealed that Aud’s son and former Nederland resident Trygve, a cryogenics and life extension fanatic, had been keeping his frozen grandfather, Bredo Morstoel, on dry ice in a shed.

After much deliberation, the town passed a law against storing frozen bodies on private property. But Grandpa, as Bredo became known, was “grandfathered” in. He could stay, but someone would have to keep him on ice. Opinions on the matter shifted, and the people of Nederland accepted the frozen dead guy and created an annual festival in his honor.

Frozen Dead Guy Days exploded in popularity over the years with its frozen turkey bowling, coffin races, and polar bear plunges. Having outgrown Nederland’s capacity, the festival moved to Estes Park in 2023 after a run of twenty years. Bredo Morstoel’s frozen body remains in his Tuff Shed in the hills above Nederland.

Frozen Dead Guy Days: The festival moved to Estes Park in 2023 after a run of twenty years.

Welcome to Ward! Now get out!

Some people say that if you’re too strange for Boulder, you end up in Nederland, and if Nederland isn’t weird enough for you, there’s always Ward. This town is a mystery to many people. There’s a vague understanding that it’s a different kind of place — reclusive, perhaps even hostile, to outsiders. Despite dozens of visits to Nederland over the years as a Colorado native, I had never been to Ward.

After driving north from Nederland a few miles and a thousand feet higher in elevation, we turned off the highway to Ward and dropped steeply into a slice of Appalachia. Most of Ward sits in a sort of bowl that looks a bit like a West Virginia holler. The numerous junk cars strategically placed along the main road act as tourist repellant. It’s clearly a deliberate strategy.

Not sufficiently repelled, we parked the car below a wood carving of a demon with red eyes and walked up to some sort of general store. Stepping over a lazy unleashed dog, I tepidly opened the door. Behind the counter was a man wearing a beaver pelt hat who greeted us with no words and a narrow-eyed stare. We bought two coffees from his co-worker, a slightly more chipper fellow, as a peace offering.

Damian Strider Stevens. Photo by Doug Geiling.

The beaver pelt-hatted man was Damian Strider Stevens, and I felt fortunate to have met him as he claimed he was probably the only person in Ward who would be willing to speak on the record. He spun many tales of a different kind of life in Ward. Stevens is a coppersmith, sword fighting instructor, and children’s book author. He told us there’s a leash law in Ward, but only for pigs, and it’s illegal to own a billiard hall if your name is Steve.

Ward’s population has hovered around 125 residents, give or take, for the last half century, but it was once one of Colorado’s most successful and long-lasting mining districts. During most of its first half century it was home to more than a thousand people with a full-service business district. Founded in 1861 Ward also predates both Nederland, and the now vanished Caribou, by several years.

In a story all too common in these mining towns, a devastating wind-whipped fire swirled through the “Ward bowl” in January of 1900, and the town never recovered. Mining dwindled leaving residents with little reason to stay in this harsh and high locale. One notable visitor during this era was famed artist Georgia O’Keefe, who took the scenic Switzerland Trail to the town in 1917 and painted several landscapes, including the surviving oil painting “Church Bell, Ward.”

Downtown Ward. Photo by Doug Geiling.

During World War II, Ward’s population dropped to just four people. A few hardy loners hung around and kept Ward from becoming a ghost town until it was rediscovered in the 1960s by some of the same hippies who came to Nederland.

Stevens spent part of his early childhood in Ward and then returned as a young man almost thirty years ago. When I asked why he returned to Ward he said, “There’s this weird word people don’t understand. It’s called freedom. That’s why we chose Ward.”

The freedom of Ward is defined by its resistance to the societal mores of the world. It’s a last bastion of counterculture utopian dreams. The people of Ward seem to understand that to hold on to that dream, however watered down it may become over time, requires a certain open hostility to the influences of outsiders. Those junk cars lining the road, dogs wandering around off leash, and lack of attractions are all part of a deliberate strategy to make Ward seem like an unappealing place.

Ward residents do not like publicity, and yet here I am putting them on the printed page. But no story on Boulder County’s mountain communities would be complete without including Ward. Its story must be told, but the interests of the people of Ward must also be respected. Ward is not a tourist attraction. There is no place to stay in town, nothing to do, and it’s not very scenic in its Appalachian-like bowl with streets full of junk cars. Ward’s beauty is in the knowledge that a place like this still exists in a homogenizing world.

Watermelon propane. Photo by Doug Geiling.

Gold Hill and Jamestown: The fires and the floods of time

Just south of Ward we turned east off the Peak to Peak Highway onto the gravel Gold Hill Road. It’s a lovely backcountry drive through pine, aspen, and mountain meadows. In a few minutes we arrived at the west end of Gold Hill.

With no paved roads in or out and its historic log structures, Gold Hill looks the part of a western mining town. It is the oldest mining town in Colorado, founded in 1859 after gold was discovered nearby. Gold Hill generally follows the same boom-and-bust history of other Colorado mining towns. At its peak in the late 1800s it housed around 1,500 residents. Just under 200 people call it home today.

The town was sustained during the quiet days of the first half of the 20th century in part as a retreat. The Bluebird Lodge, originally built in 1872, was acquired by a group of women in 1920 who called themselves the Bluebirds. They built the Gold Hill Inn next door in 1924, and for the next three decades the “by and for women” retreat thrived.

The Gold Hill Inn is now owned by brothers Brian and Chris Finn who took over the business from their parents, Barbara and Frank, in the early 1980s. According to Brian Finn, his “crazy adventurous” parents borrowed $12,000 in 1962, purchased the inn, and opened the restaurant that still operates today.

“Since the inn was so unique, it got a lot of press,” said Finn. Before long it became a favorite haunt for visitors from IBM and the University of Colorado. Around the time that Brian and Chris Finn took over the inn, the family owned a free range donkey named Twinkles who would greet visitors on arrival. One such visitor was Second Lady Joan Mondale. Town residents doubled over in laughter as Mondale’s secret service men were visibly nervous over the approaching donkey. But Mondale was delighted, gave Twinkles a scratch behind the ears, and all was good. Twinkles now has a signature drink at the inn.

Lynn Walker, owner of the Colorado Mountain Ranch kids’ day camp, has been a Gold Hill resident since 1970. The camp, originally a homestead potato farm, has been in operation since 1947 when Walker’s parents-in-law acquired the property. Every summer, kids are bussed up from the flatlands for horseback riding, roping, animal care, western art, and many other activities in the idyllic mountain setting.

In the early days of Gold Hill the original town site was mostly destroyed by a wildfire. It nearly happened again in 2011. As Finn described it, “That day was not looking good. But then the winds kind of shifted, and this huge plane came in and dropped a slurry line on the south end of Gold Hill.” It was a very close call. According to Finn, the flames came so close to some of the homes that their windows melted. Although Gold Hill was saved, Walker’s camp lost a number of structures. “It was a team of guys from Ward (volunteer firefighters) who got us up and running again,” said Walker.

One of the guests at the Gold Hill Inn was Second Lady Joan Mondale.

“Is it me, or is this road surprisingly steep?” I asked Lisa while downshifting. One mile and 750 vertical feet later Lickskillet Road spit us out onto the paved Left Hand Canyon Drive. Lickskillet is a backdoor route between Gold Hill and Jamestown. According to Walker, the miner who lived at the bottom had a mule that would lick his skillet, hence the name. I learned later that it is the steepest county road in America with grades approaching 20%.

A bear on a sign greeted us at the edge of Jamestown, established in 1883, population 254. The story is, by now, familiar. Gold was discovered here, and a mining town was started, originally known as “Jimtown.” There was the boom and the bust. The settlement somehow hung onto existence and remains today as a quaint, secluded mountain hamlet a fraction of its peak size from over 100 years prior.

The lowest of the four towns at just under 7,000 feet, Jamestown offers the pleasantness of a lower foothills environment. The historic Jamestown Mercantile, right off the sleepy main road, is the perfect place to stop for a meal and, if you’re lucky, some live music.

In its lower streamside location Jamestown has been subject to several catastrophic flash floods. Much of the town was destroyed by a flood in 1894 and again in 1969 when residents were stranded for ten days. The most recent of the floods was in 2013, a well-known disaster to many current Coloradans.

The pursuit of authenticity

Forces of nature often clash in the mountain towns of Boulder County where the Great Plains meet the Rockies. Extraordinary weather events, both awe-inspiring and dangerous, dot the historical record. The world record 24-hour snowfall was recorded near Ward in April 1921 when over six feet of snow fell in one day. A 2003 blizzard dumped between five and eight feet of snow on these towns. The Ward bowl in the dead of winter may as well be the Arctic on some days as sub-zero air is whipped around by biting winter winds. Warmer Chinook winds commonly exceed 100 miles per hour as they crash down from the Great Divide. The lost town of Caribou was said to be the birthplace of the wind. Summer forest fires and flash floods are a seasonal threat, as the residents of Gold Hill and Jamestown know all too well.

The world record 24-hour snowfall was recorded near Ward in April 1921 when over six feet of snow fell in one day.

Full-time residents of these towns accept and embrace these hardships. It’s part of the price to pay for living a mountain life. For visitors, a summer day along the dirt streets in Gold Hill or in Ned’s Chipeta Park can be heaven. But a February spent in the Ward bowl is a different beast. It’s understandable that long-time residents demand they be the ones to determine how life should be lived at 9,000 feet.

As Geno Kennedy told me, “We want to be heard, but we don’t want a lot of attention.” There’s an important message in that statement. It represents the pursuit of authenticity, the preservation of a lifestyle uncontrolled by planning commissions, homeowners associations, and tacky tourist attractions. The Boulder County mountain towns are places not to be changed or made better but simply to be acknowledged for their uniqueness and character.

Each generation of mountain towners will establish their own authenticity, but it must be theirs to create.

The post The Mountain Towns appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Exploding in popularity, accessible, and cheap, disc golf offers a great way to get outside and have some fun.

You are at the park or a campsite with friends, someone has an old cheap frisbee with some random company’s logo on it. Tossing it back and forth is fun for a while, but with a few beers involved you start thinking of something a little more challenging. Your buddy says, “Hey, I bet I could hit that tree trunk over there.” The challenge is on, and the next thing you know you’re a roving band of maniacs trying to hit things from a distance.

As far as I can tell, this is how disc golf was invented. But, like agriculture, it seems to have emerged spontaneously in many different places and is more ancient than we think.

The act of throwing something for the hell of it seems to be an urge innate to humans. In the animal kingdom humans are slow, weak, and clumsy with little armor. We make up for this with superior ingenuity — we used our brains to transfer energy to objects. Then we innovated, as humans tend to do, to chucking spears. Soon came bows and arrows, catapults, firearms, and warheads. It’s all basically just hurling a rock at a target.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the first game of disc golf occurred thousands of years ago with flat pieces of tree bark or tanned animal hide discs. It may be one of our most ancient forms of recreation.

But, to become an organized sport complete with sponsored professional athletes, it needed a catalyst. That happened in 1966 when “Steady” Ed Headrick, an employee at Wham-O, observed the fun people would have tossing a flat plastic lid around as it would glide through the air. He patented the first flying disc branded as the Frisbee.

The popularity of the Wham-O Frisbee took off. It was in 1970 that some of the first known organized disc golf competitions began in Rochester, New York. The advent of the frisbee caused an evolution into informal disc golf competitions. That group of friends from New York seized on an opportunity and, in 1974, organized the National City of Rochester Disc Golf Championship.

From left to right: a putter, mid-range, and driver

After that first tournament in Rochester, Headrick, known as “the father of disc golf,” went on to invent and patent the disc golf pole hole in 1975. Disc golf’s popularity grew slowly but steadily. Within a couple of decades professional disc golfers would gain sponsorship contracts from disc manufacturers. The best of the professionals today can make a good living playing the sport.

Other than tossing around thrift store frisbees at campsites and a failed attempt to teach my fat Corgi how to catch one, I have no experience playing disc golf. I once tried to learn traditional golf, which was pretty much a disaster. So, with those experiences in mind I met up with Mitch Sonderfan, a local former pro disc golfer at Erie’s Coal Creek Disc Golf Course.

At one time Sonderfan was ranked as high as 33rd in the world. He has been away from competing for a while, but it was clear to me that his interest in the sport was still there.

The first thing that surprised me was the number of different discs an experienced player will carry. It’s a lot like regular golf where you have a range of clubs for different situations and distances. In fact, even the terminology is the same. There are putters, drivers, and mid-range discs.

Just like traditional golf, disc golfers carry a special bag for their discs, and some professionals even have caddies. A typical disc golfer might have a dozen or so discs, but Sonderfan explained that you only need one to get started. Preferably it should at least be a regulation disc and not that chewed up old thrift store frisbee.

I remarked about the surprising number of people out on the course, and Sonderfan said it was actually a slow day. As Sonderfan explained it, when COVID-19 hit, disc golf exploded. It is played outside, is easily accessible, just about anyone can play it regardless of age or physical condition, and it’s cheap. Recreational etiquette, unlike traditional golf, which can be very specific and stuffy, is simple — don’t hit someone with your disc.

After our quick introduction I was eager to give it a go. We sauntered over to the first tee, and Sonderfan went up to demonstrate a classic backhand toss. His driver sailed smooth and straight, about 200 feet or so. It was a nice approach.

Mitch Sonderfan tosses a driver.

My turn. My throw was abysmal. I wanted to throw it flat, like Sonderfan had just demonstrated. The result was a disaster. All that curving and unnecessary height resulted in a toss that traveled farther to the left than it did forward. Let’s just say I could have thrown a football farther and with a lot more accuracy.

Several bad throws later, we made it to the hole.

Sonderfan made an incredible throw that I thought for a moment might be an ace. His driver settled just a few feet to the left of the basket. He seemed quite pleased with it.

Now it was my turn again. Sonderfan reminded me not to try to throw it as hard as I could. So, I slowed it down, concentrated on keeping my disc level. It was like a dream. My driver sailed from my hand, low and tight, no wobble, its trajectory dead on to the target.

I thanked Sonderfan for his time and instruction. Perhaps other disc golf courses were different, but here I sensed no pretension.

I liked all of that. The simplicity and carefree nature of it all was refreshing. And, then there was that one almost perfect throw right at the end when everything just clicked. It was probably luck. But it hooked me in, and I spent part of that evening price checking discs and bags.

The post Disc Golf appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Historic photography provided by Colorado University Digital Library (CUDL) from the Joseph Sturtevant, James F. Willard and Charles F. Snow galleries.

The people of the sky

Around 1825, on the vast expanse of plains east of the Rocky Mountains, a baby boy was born. His parents soon noticed his tendency to reach for dried buffalo meat with his left hand, so they named him Niwot, or Left Hand. Left Hand’s people called themselves the Hinono’ei, which means “Our people.” Their allies, the Cheyenne, called them Hitanwo’iv, or “People of the sky.” Today they are called the Arapaho.

Left Hand stood over six feet tall with a muscular build as a young man. He had a gift for learning languages. In addition to several other native languages, Left Hand became a fluent English speaker, learning from the mountain men that his people traded with. His mind was geared towards reason and compromise over conflict. His patience was legendary.

By the mid-1840s Left Hand and his people had entered an apocalypse that threatened their survival. The trickle of lone whites who ventured their way across Arapaho land in the year of Left Hand’s birth had become a horde that grew exponentially. The whites brought with them invisible death in the form of diseases that Left Hand’s people had no immunity against. By 1850 the Southern Arapaho had lost two-thirds of their people to disease.

While the Arapaho dwindled in numbers, so did the bison from which their existence depended. Pioneers and soldiers laid waste to the prairie and its natural bounty, killing the bison by the millions.

When gold was discovered on the edge of Colorado’s mountains in 1858, the whites who flooded into the territory no longer passed through but came to stay. Their numbers exploded. While many of these new settlers were decent people with good intentions, there were also many outlaws, scoundrels, and greedy fortune-seekers who would double-cross any friend or foe to get a leg up in a lawless country.

Sand Creek Massacre. Painting by Robert Lindneaux

Left Hand, now a young chief, understood the power dynamics of the situation. He knew his people lacked the numbers to expel the white horde by force. Many of his young warriors failed to understand this or didn’t care. Left Hand worked as hard to keep his warriors at bay as he did in his tireless efforts to negotiate with his white counterparts.

By 1858 Left Hand knew his people’s survival depended on transformation. It was far from his desired choice, but he was a realist who knew that the white man was here to stay.

Two Days in November

After a long journey east to investigate if farming would work for his people, Left Hand and his family, to great dismay, found a group of gold prospectors encamped on his traditional winter grounds at the opening of Boulder Canyon.

After much deliberation among his band, Left Hand allowed the miners to stay that winter so long as they agreed to leave come spring. The miners agreed, but within three months broke their word. When they struck gold in the hills above their camp, they immediately founded the new city of Boulder right on top of the land of Left Hand’s people. Likely disgusted, Left Hand moved his winter lodge north.

Things worsened from there as Left Hand and his compatriots tried to manage a fruitless engagement with a revolving door of white misfits in Denver with varying degrees of competence and inconsistent objectives. The whites in Denver suffered from a lack of clear direction as their outpost was a world away from Washington, which would soon become distracted with a bloody civil war.

By 1863 Left Hand’s people began to starve with the bison disappearing rapidly. He briefly lost control of some of his warriors who unleashed a series of attacks on the settlers. They killed and scalped several dozen men and took women and children captive. While their bounty from these raids may have provided some temporary rations, in the long run, as Left Hand feared, it would be their undoing.

Camp Weld Conference

These attacks gave Colorado Territorial Governor John Evans and his lead military man, Colonel John Chivington, the pretext they wanted to, as they put it, “chastise” the Indians. Evans was a smart but corrupt businessman who viewed the Indians as nothing more than obstacles in his path to greater wealth. Chivington was a complete ignoramus, but what he lacked in brains and humanity he made up for with brute force.

While Evans continued to deceive and confuse the chiefs, Chivington raised a local militia including “Company D” from Boulder. In the fall of 1864, the Cheyenne and Arapaho were essentially tricked into congregating many of their people into a camp at Sand Creek where they were told they would receive much needed government annuities before winter set in. The chiefs really had little choice but to show up if they wanted to save many of their people from starvation that winter.

As the Indians arrived by the hundreds in late November, Chivington marched his nearly thousand-strong militia out of Denver to the southeast. The militia fell upon the Indian camp at dawn on November 29, 1864 with a sickening fury, first firing into the bodies of Cheyenne women who had just risen to prepare the camp for the day.

When gunfire erupted, some of the men frantically emerged waving white and American flags. They must have thought it was a horrible mistake and urgently tried to deescalate the situation. Despite this, Chivington and most of his men — some did refuse to engage — continued to fire. It is said that the legendary Cheyenne Chief White Antelope simply stood with his arms folded in front of him singing the Cheyenne death song.

The slaughter went on for six hours, with soldiers using knives to dispatch anyone their firearms had not killed. When the bodies stopped moving, Chivington and his men were still unsatisfied, so they mutilated them, moving from one to another, cutting off body parts to take back to Denver as trophies.

Records still vary, but between 150 and 250 people would lay dead, many of them children, very few of them warriors. Left Hand was inside the camp with his family when it came under attack. There is no account of his own actions during the massacre, but his wife and children were all killed. It is believed that Left Hand was severely wounded but was carried away from the camp by some of his men in the night only to die a short time later. The great Native American Arapaho chief was only about forty years of age.

Sandstone sculpture of Chief Left Hand at 9th and Canyon. Photo by Doug Geiling

Sand Creek was not in any way a warrior camp, and everyone involved knew it. What happened was a despicable act of deliberate mass murder against the most innocent and helpless of people, those seeking relief from famine, who had already been subject to the slow brutalization of having their very livelihoods stripped away from them.

While Chivington and Evans had their share of supporters, most people in the nation were disgusted and horrified by the massacre. Three separate congressional investigations all concluded the attack to be entirely unjustified and abhorrent. Evans was forced to resign his governorship and Chivington was relieved of military command, but neither of these two were criminally prosecuted despite the protestations of many — native and white alike.

The massacre would finally cause the remaining chiefs to give up on the whites. They would be engaged in a guerilla war for the next two decades, the remainder of their people ultimately pushed into reservations in Oklahoma and Wyoming where many of their descendants remain today.

George Bent and Magpie, a Sand Creek Massacre Survivor

Emergence

Tom Aikens and his group of gold miners who betrayed Left Hand at the mouth of Boulder Canyon in 1859 founded the city of Boulder. That winter, as Left Hand moved his camp north, the miners plotted out 4,000 lots on Left Hand’s land and put them up for sale. Boulder’s growth was slow at first, but it gradually established itself along Pearl Street as a typical western mining town.

The University of Colorado opened to an initial class of 47 students in 1877 with the construction of the iconic Old Main as the first lecture hall. At the time, Old Main was like a lost castle plopped onto the high prairie. In an early sign of Boulder’s coming progressivism, the university hired a woman, Mary Rippon, as one of its first professors.

A group of Texans brought the Chautauqua movement to Boulder in 1898. “Chautauquas” were open forums and speeches on intellectually stimulating ideas, like an early version of a TED Talk. In an alternative history, one could easily imagine an elderly Left Hand holding court there among his white friends after achieving a lasting peace.

During this era, several former Black slaves or their children moved west and settled in Boulder. Oliver Toussant Jackson, son of former slaves from Ohio, bought a nearby farm, built a home, and started two restaurants in Boulder before founding the all-Black Colorado settlement of Dearfield.

By the First World War, Boulder had successfully completed its transformation from gold mining into a blossoming university town mostly characterized by free thinkers and new ideas. The town did have its turn with the Klan in the 1920s. That was an unfortunate episode of Colorado’s history and sadly not unique to Boulder.

The Beautiful Haven

Isabella Bird was a pioneering 19th century adventure travel writer. The Englishwoman came through Boulder at age 42 in 1873, was unimpressed with the infant dusty town at the time, and headed up the hill to Estes Park. There she met and became smitten with one-eyed outlaw Jim Nugent. Together, they climbed to the summit of Longs Peak via the classic Keyhole route.

Bird’s collection of letters from her Colorado trip was published in 1879 as “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.” It was an instant best seller. It was also a tourist draw, helping to make Boulder the first gateway to the Colorado Rockies in a new American West.

In the early to mid-1900s tourists would stop on the way up the canyon to gander at the Perfect Spruce, a gigantic tree with a symmetrical shape standing near the far bank of Boulder Creek. Images from a hundred years ago show the enormous tree standing perhaps 200 feet, towering above the less perfect trees around it. It stood until the 1990s. By then it was no longer an attraction as its perfect shape had long deteriorated due to old age before it finally fell.

So fascinated was I with the idea of this tree that I went looking for its fallen husk, wading through the icy April water of Boulder Creek like a madman, stomping over snow covered ground up and down the streamside. I never found it, but I haven’t given up on the idea that its massive carcass may still lay somewhere in the brush.

Athletic Field. Courtesy of the J. Raymond Brackett Photograph Collection

From an early date, the people of Boulder recognized the value of their city’s natural beauty, and they would implement at times controversial policies to maintain a balance between the city’s development and the integrity of its natural surroundings. As locals know well, these policies in recent years have helped make Boulder real estate some of the most expensive in the West.

I discussed this with long-time Boulder resident Tom Fowler, of Fowler Real Estate Group. Fowler moved to Boulder as an infant with his family in 1955. After arriving in town Fowler’s father opened their real estate office on a dirt road that became 28th Street. Fowler described how the flow of traffic on the Boulder-Denver Turnpike has reversed with more commuters now driving into Boulder in the mornings from Denver.

Athletic Field. Courtesy of the J. Raymond Brackett Photograph Collection

The Emerald City

Bob Ditlow and Billy Hoke don’t know each other, but they have remarkably similar stories. Both grew up in military families and, for different reasons, found themselves in Boulder in the late 1960s, a time and place of incredible energy and change. I spoke with Hoke at his business, The Boulder Drum Shop. His easygoing and welcoming vibe seemed nostalgic as a customer tested out a drum set behind me.

Hoke moved to Boulder in 1969 from Aspen and landed in the middle of the city’s music scene. “One of the first things I did when I moved here is I got on the Rolling Stones crew as stage security for a show up in Fort Collins,” he said. “I went up there and Mick (Jagger) took me under his wing and made me smoke hash with him for a couple hours.” Hoke went on to reminisce about playing drums with Todd from Big Head Todd and the Monsters or getting the chance to do some session work at the Caribou Ranch Recording Studio up in Nederland. During our conversation, Hoke rattled off numerous big-name musicians who have, at one time or another, called Boulder home, like Joe Walsh, Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, Michael Clarke of The Byrds, and others.

The Hale Science Building was built from 1890 to 1894 and was one of the first buildings on the Boulder campus. Courtesy of J. Raymond Brackett Photograph Collection

Ditlow first moved to Boulder from Colorado Springs in the fall of 1968 as a freshman music major at the University of Colorado. Arriving on the CU campus was a culture shock for Ditlow who grew up the son of an army sergeant. But Ditlow was, and still claims to be, just a “kid chasing windmills.” The following is how Ditlow described his first day at CU:

“We got past the engineering building, and there was this guy on a literal soap box in a white sheet preaching about the end of times. Then we walked up to Norlin Library, and there must have been a hundred people in a lotus position. Now, my parents were freaking out, but I’m thinking this is the ‘Emerald City.’ Then we walked up to The Hill across Broadway, and we saw all the Hare Krishnas in their orange outfits. I’m lovin’ it! This is a different world. It was amazing. This is where I belong.”

By the start of the 21st century Boulder had fully blossomed into the scientific, technological, media, and cultural hub that it remains today. The city of Boulder’s history is far too robust to attempt to cover in this one article. There are multitudes of historical topics to delve further into, some of which I haven’t even touched on here. For better or worse, the city has come light years from its first days as a rough frontier mining town. But, for all this achievement, generational transformation, and growth, I don’t think these really define the essence of Boulder, Colorado.

Party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. Courtesy of Charles F. Snow Photographs

In the Spirit of Left Hand

What I keep coming back to is this: The crossing of the people. Perhaps more than any other city in all of Colorado, the uniqueness of Boulder’s history is about its repeated confluence of different groups of people and the ideas that come with them. Whether it be Left Hand and the gold miners, the hippies and the cowboys, rock stars and college students, Boulder is truly a people’s crossing.

Boulder Creek near Left Hand’s winter camp. Photo by Doug Geiling

I recently visited Left Hand’s traditional winter grounds at the mouth of Boulder Creek Canyon, now the People’s Crossing Park. As I walked up the trail over a small rock outcropping, a broad meadow came into view below me, concealed by a ridge of red sandstone spires and cloaked in a ring of ponderosa pines. It would have been an ideal winter camp. As I continued up the path with fresh spring snow on the pine branches, a late afternoon burst of sunshine suddenly broke through the clouds, illuminating the white and red landscape.

I crested the hill and a view down to the entire city of Boulder unfolded before me. I could see the University of Colorado, Broadway and Pearl Streets, and the tree-lined old neighborhoods around town. I went back in time in my mind and envisioned a band of Arapaho riding up towards the edge of the mountains across the open plain. I pictured a few ramshackle miner shops and saloons on a dusty Pearl Street. Then came the early tourists, first in horse-drawn carriages, then in Model T’s, as they headed into the mouth of the canyon to see Boulder Falls. As the town continued to grow in my mind, I saw an isolated dirt road in the distance — old 28th Street. A growing city now, I saw and heard the year 1969, the vibrancy and the cultural change happening in real time.

But somewhere around 1990 the dramatic changes slowed in my mind. Where does it go from here? Standing there looking over the city of Boulder, I recalled earlier that day, reading about the recent name change of this place from Settler’s Park to The People’s Crossing. And in that story, there was an image taken just this past March of white Boulder residents and Native Americans, all standing and smiling together.

And as I recalled that image, it was then that I sensed a Left Hand resting gently on my shoulder.

The post Boulder: Crossroads of the People appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Erie has long been defined by its rural past and as the town grows, will need to draw from its history to maintain its authenticity.

Two Trappers

Charlie Liley had a dangerous job in 1897. He was a trapper in an Erie, Colorado coal mine. For hours on end, day after day, he sat alone in the blackness of an earthen underworld. His job was simple — to open and close big wooden trap doors to let fresh air through the mine when the mules came through with their loads. It was dangerous work. Runaway coal carts were death machines, and cave-ins were a constant threat. But the trapper’s boredom and loneliness were the worst part. Solitary confinement in the pitch black could play cruel games on a man’s mind. Except Charlie was no man. He was just a 10-year-old boy.

This was America’s Gilded Age when barons of heavy industry steamrolled the dignity of the less fortunate. By the time Charlie became a coal mine trapper, Erie was already one of Colorado’s most important coal mining towns. It was a rough place then. If one were to venture up the hill east of town for a birds-eye view in 1897, they would have seen a small dusty town surrounded by coal mine tipples in every direction.

The first coal miner in Erie is said to be fur trapper and mountain man Jim Baker. He was a friend of Kit Carson, John C. “Pathfinder” Frémont, and Jim Bridger, legendary names of the pre-gold rush fur trapping era. Baker once had part of his face chewed off by a grizzly bear he killed.

Coal Miner Memorial: Photo: Doug Geiling

Relations between the mountain men and Native Americans were complicated, and Baker’s life was certainly an example of that. Baker was a part of the vanguard of white explorers from the East who represented unwanted encroachment upon native lands in the West. But he also adopted native ways, learning several Native American languages. Like the tribes he interacted with, he fought both against and with Native Americans depending on his alliances and interests. He once rescued a Shoshone chief’s daughter, named Marina, from Blackfoot captivity and then married her. In marriage he adopted the Shoshone lifestyle and was given the name “Red-Haired Shoshone” by his allied tribe.

As the fur trade withered Baker briefly tried his hand at coal mining. In 1858 Baker’s Bank was a small slope mine on the west bank of Coal Creek near present-day Old Town Erie. The effort proved unprofitable within a year, and Baker moved on to other ventures.

Baker’s Bank notwithstanding, the discovery of coal in Erie was officially documented in 1866. By this time the growing settlement was unofficially known as Coal Park. More settlers arrived near the end of the decade just to the northwest in an area called Canfield. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes were known to have camped along Coal Creek in what is now Erie at times. But by 1870 the crushing wave of white settlers and the repressive government policies that supported them had largely forced the Native Americans onto less desirable lands farther south.

In 1874 the town of Erie was founded by a group of men including Richard van Valkenburg. Van Valkenburg named the town after Erie, Pennsylvania, his former home. By 1874 the new town was already well entrenched as an up-and-coming coal mining epicenter in the massive Northern Colorado Coal Field.

Photo courtesy of Erie Historical Society

By this time Erie had already scored a railroad connection. A rail spur from Brighton to Erie called the Boulder Valley Railway greatly accelerated the capacity of coal transportation. With this rail link in place, new coal mines began to sprout like weeds. More rail connections followed quickly including a narrow-gauge line carrying coal and passengers along today’s 119th Street from Canfield to Longmont. This train was nicknamed Longmont’s “Baby Railroad.”

By 1890 the Baby Railroad was replaced with the standard-gauge Burlington and re-routed along Erie’s High Street as part of a line from Denver to Lyons. The Burlington intersected with the Union Pacific near the south end of High Street. A train depot was built near the intersection still known today by some locals as either “the thirteen trees” or “the witching trees.” The depot is no longer in its original location, but it still stands today, having been saved and moved a couple hundred yards to the southwest by a local homeowner. You can see the small white structure directly east and across the road from County Line Lumber.

If you’ve ever wondered why Old Town Erie has that wonderful linear open space along High Street, it’s because that was the old Burlington rail line. The train ran well into the 1980s, and the tracks were finally pulled in 1990, a run of almost a full century.

Trains ran through Erie for nearly a century beginning in the early coal mining days. Photo courtesy of Erie Community Library

Machine Gun on the Tower

Northern Colorado coal mining was dangerous, back-breaking work. In Erie’s early coal mining days mine managers and their wealthy owners and financiers, like the Rockefellers, treated miners and their families like cordwood. Their practices were sometimes called industrial slavery. The coal miner was routinely cheated, brutalized, and dehumanized. Pay was barely a living wage at best, and often they were paid in company-issued currency called scrip that could only be used to buy overpriced goods at the company store. The average coal miner worked 12-14 hours a day and yet could never get ahead. As in the lyrics of the song “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford, the coal miner was stuck in a life where each day he loaded sixteen tons only to get “another day older and deeper in debt.”

Company towns sprang up at the larger mines to offer miners and their families affordable housing but in effect turned them into de facto labor camp prisoners. At Erie’s Columbine Mine near today’s landfill, the company town was named Serene. James B. Stull wrote in “A Brief History of Erie Colorado,” “It was a collection of dirty company houses surrounded by a barricade of barbed wire. It was illuminated at night by a large searchlight that was installed on the mine tipple.”

The result of these conditions was predictable. Frequent labor strikes broke out as miners organized to demand a modicum of dignity and fair treatment. Often this resulted in violence. Strikes were put down with brutal force and indifference by an alliance between mining interests and government authorities. State militias and troopers full of men eager to draw blood were often called up to intimidate striking miners and their families.

Company towns sprang up at the larger mines to offer miners and their families affordable housing but in effect turned them into de facto labor camp prisoners.

In November of 1927 the searchlight on the Columbine Mine’s tipple was accompanied by a machine gun. Miners were on strike again throughout the Northern Colorado Coal Field, and tensions were rising daily as a coal shortage loomed at the start of winter. Striking miners had children who attended the company school at Serene inside the gates. They would protest and agitate while taking their kids to and from school. These daily marches were often led by Elizabeth Baranek, the 5-foot-two-inch, 44-year-old wife of miner Joe Baranek, and mother of 16 kids with a 17th on the way.

The powder keg finally exploded at dawn on November 21, 1927. On that morning plain-clothed militia men, armed to the teeth, refused to let striking miners inside the gates of Serene. Strike leader Adam Bell, a “wobbly” from the International Workers of the World (IWW), was pulled over the top of the fence and beaten. Mrs. Baranek, carrying her unborn 17th child, broke through the gate and tried to shield Bell with an American flag only to be beaten herself.

When the protesters then surged, gunfire erupted into the crowd of several hundred. The massacre left six dead and 60 wounded. Erie’s doctor, James Bixler, is credited with saving the lives of many of the injured.

From left to right, the Erie “old timers” are Linette Ballew, Shavonne Blades, Dan Wendzel, Lois Joyce, Barry “Wildman” Snyder, Sherri Bond, Dan Hoback

Time Vortex

After the Columbine Mine massacre, progress was made in the labor movement under the leadership of Josephine Roche, a mining company insider who was sympathetic to the plight of the miner. By this time, however, Erie was reaching its coal mining peak. 

As the Great Depression settled over the land, Erie coal mining began its long decline, gradually replaced by oil and gas drilling. During the Depression some down-and-out families took to residing in caves and dugouts on the banks of Coal Creek. But coal mining work continued through the industry’s long decline, and for those fortunate enough to maintain employment, labor conditions improved.

Ralph Castro, a coal miner’s son, was born in Erie in 1938 and still lives in his childhood Old Town home on Holbrook Street. “My dad worked at several different mines and wound up at the Eagle.” Castro’s father, Mike, was active in the United Mine Workers Union. In those later years “wages got better and better.” According to Castro, his father was able to make a respectable living as a miner during and after the Second World War.

Castro graduated high school in 1957 in a class of eight kids. He remembers childhood in Erie as an easy going time. “We never thought about getting into trouble,” he said. “We all kept our noses clean.”

“We never thought about getting into trouble. We all kept our noses clean.”

Castro and long-time Erie resident Dan Wendzel are neighbors. Wendzel’s father, Joe, was also a coal miner. For thirty years Joe worked the mines in and around town, developing black lung disease later in life. Wendzel graduated from high school in Erie in a class of just 14 kids in 1964. As surrounding towns like Longmont began to attract new industries that spawned growth and new housing developments, Erie became a lost town in the middle of nothing on the way to nowhere. Groceries and supplies required trips north to Longmont. Water was trucked in from Lyons because Erie’s water was so terrible, nobody would drink it.

Many people still heated their homes with coal in those years. As a teenager Wendzel would drive a pickup truck to the still-operating Eagle Mine and purchase coal by weight. Pollution from coal burning was terrible at times. Wendzel told me that, on some winter days, the coal smoke would settle over town so thickly that he couldn’t see the houses through the smoke while driving into town from the hills to the east.

While Erie offered bad water, bad air, and not much for kids to do, life back then, as Wendzel described it, was authentic and simple. There was little league baseball and bike rides on dirt roads with fishing poles in hand to Erie Lake for bluegills and the occasional bass. There was also the pastime of watching the trains come and go right through town.

As a kid Wendzel lived right on the Burlington line on High Street. “You could feel the house shake when the train passed,” he said. In those days the train was still powered by steam engine. Because the Burlington and the Union Pacific crossed tracks just south of town, the train conductor was required to stop the entire train right in town on each passing to avoid collisions. “The train would head north early in the morning and come back about dusk, hauling coal one way and sugar beets the other,” said Wendzel.

“You could feel the house shake when the train passed. The train would head north early in the morning and come back about dusk, hauling coal one way and sugar beets the other.”

Lois Joyce moved to Erie in 1978, the same year the last coal load came out of the Eagle Mine ending Erie’s remarkable 120-year coal mining run starting with Baker’s Bank. She, too, remembers her house on High Street shaking when that train rolled by. “If I stood in my kitchen when that train came, it looked like it would slice the house down,” she said.

Joyce had many great stories about Erie’s small town cops. She recalled being neighbors with one of the officers whose cruiser frequently broke down. She would often hear him banging around under the hood to get it running again before his shift started. Joyce also remembers the neighborhood kids roaming free at age 6 or 7. If they didn’t come home on time, all the neighbors knew they would be down by the creek getting muddy and catching crawdads.

Both Joyce and long-time Erie resident Eva Kalemenis told me that Erie still had an operator-assisted telephone system until almost 1990, and they both reminisced about how bad the mud and dust could get in Old Town before the streets were finally paved in 1999. Kalemenis first moved to Old Town Erie in 1986, purchasing one of Erie’s oldest historic homes built in 1884. “The place was really a wreck,” she said, “but we loved it.”

Shavonne Blades, owner of Yellow Scene Magazine, moved to town in 1992 and worked as a bartender at the divey Erie Inn, now award-winning 24 Carrot Bistro, for several years. Over coffees at Fox Dog on Briggs, Blades described a 1990s Erie as a town caught in a time vortex. Except for Briggs and Cheeseman, all the streets were still dirt, and Briggs Street bars served professional drunks and locals with nicknames like “Crazy Glenn,” “Kentucky Bob,” and still current Erie resident Barry “Wildman” Snyder. Then there was “Old Grumpy Floyd” who used to ride his horse, not just to the bar, but into it. Floyd’s horse would hang out on the dance floor until Floyd was ready to leave and ride back home.

Barry “Wildman” Snyder is known as “Big Wheel Barry”. He used to lead the homecoming parade on an old-time penny farthing bicycle.

Barry “Wildman” Snyder still lives in Erie. He is also known as “Big Wheel Barry” because he used to lead the homecoming parade on an old-time penny farthing bicycle. “Barry was always the hit of the parade on that penny farthing,” said Blades.

From Fox Dog I walked with Blades the block-and-a-half to go visit with Snyder at his home. We walked through a yard decorated with old Studebakers that he likes to work on. Stepping inside the door, a man with a ZZ Top beard greeted us, and I was transported into a fascinating home full of model cars and fruit sticker art. Besides the big wheel bicycle, Snyder is also known for his works of art made from the little stickers they put on fruit. After the tour of his house and artwork, as we were leaving, Snyder remarked that he “tends to like stuff that isn’t normal.” But the twinkle in his eye said so much more as he showed me the rare British motorcycle he’s working on.

Linette Ballew was five years old in 1976 when her family moved to a piece of land over an old coal mine just northeast of Erie. She graduated high school in a class of 54 kids in 1989, moved away, and then came back home in 1997.

Through her words, Ballew painted a beautiful picture of the Erie of her youth — one where all the main roads to and from Erie were still dirt and the tall blinking weather tower always pointed the way back home. Times were certainly different then. “I had friends who would jump the train to Longmont and hitchhike back to Erie,” said Ballew. Erie residents today often identify where they live by the name of their neighborhood. When Ballew was growing up in Erie there were no neighborhood names. Instead, there was Beer Can Hill, Chicken City, and Dead Man’s Curve. Everyone in town knew where these places were.

Sherry Bond shared similar sentiments from her short time in Erie’s Airpark subdivision in the mid-1980s. Like Ballew, she too moved away only to come back many years later. She remembers the drive into Erie on a gravel Highway 7 from I-25. With the mountains as backdrop, she said you could see only three things down that westbound gravel road: Old Town Lafayette, Old Town Erie, and the Erie Airport in between. In recalling life in the Erie Airpark neighborhood, Bond remembered the airplane that was converted into the beloved Strawberries restaurant, now gone.

Perhaps the most fitting story from 1980s and 1990s Erie is the one about Jake: Jake was a grumpy Yellow Lab who ran for mayor in 1994. He enjoyed a shot or two of butterscotch schnapps from the bar.

That town that was caught in a time vortex in the 1990s with its dirt streets, horses in bars, and dogs running for mayor suddenly exploded on the scene.

From Podunk to Little Big Town

If you live in Erie today, you likely know the basics of the rest of the story. That town that was caught in a time vortex in the 1990s with its dirt streets, horses in bars, and dogs running for mayor suddenly exploded on the scene. A location that was once a Front Range void, a forgotten backwater from the heyday of coal mining, became prime real estate as the Denver metropolitan area grew north.

In the 2000s growth hit Erie like a bomb and hasn’t slowed since. After taking more than 100 years for Erie’s population to go from 600 to 1,200 around 1990, it rocketed to 6,600 by 2000; 18,000 in 2010; and over 30,000 in 2020.

This growth is not slowing down anytime soon. Erie Trustee Dan Hoback told me that Erie’s population will double again to more than 60,000 residents in the next 10 to 15 years. Open land in Erie from I-25 to Highway 287 and from Highway 52 down to Highway 7 is filling up with row upon row of suburban houses and supporting retail and business development. Erie High School’s student population of about 1,800 seems almost absurd considering Linette Ballew’s 1989 graduating class of just 54 kids was not that long ago.

Mount Pleasant cemetery with vistas of the mountains is the oldest existing historic place in Erie. Photo by Doug Geiling

According to Hoback the availability of large amounts of land with easy access to Boulder and Denver has made Erie the bullseye for North Metro housing development. Prior to about 2000 Erie was perhaps a bit too far away and off the beaten path to attract much development. But, as the Denver metropolitan area expanded northward and expensive housing in and near Boulder priced the average home buyer out of that market, Erie transitioned from small town to boomtown.

And yet, Erie remains a great place to live by most accounts. As does Longmont, which experienced similar expansion forty years ago and has grown into an admirable small Front Range city. We do lose the innocence of our small old towns when they grow into small cities, but we can also gain much through the process.

I asked each of the Erie “old timers” I interviewed how Erie can maintain its core appeal through its explosive growth. The answers were basically all the same: Old Town. Keep the historic character of Erie’s Old Town, and the town will maintain its tether to its historic roots.

Kalemenis hopes that Erie doesn’t try to change too much of the quirkiness and character of Old Town. “I don’t want everything to look like eye candy,” she said. When I asked Ballew how Erie can maintain its character she quickly said, “I hope they never take the Erie Town Fair from Old Town.” Blades is advocating for the new Town Center to be developed with the look and feel of Old Town in mind. “I really hope it looks like this,” she said gesturing out the window of Fox Dog Coffee out to Briggs Street.

For a town that, until the 2000s was a tiny, dirt-street, coal mining relic that even many Denver area natives like me never even knew existed, Erie has a remarkably rich and interesting history. There is so much more that could not fit into this brief journey through time: the Erie Raceway, the junkyard with all the VW Beetles, the hot air balloons, Biscuit Days, the history of the Airpark, the Wise Homestead, the fracking controversy, the multiple Coal Creek floods, and so much more.

Can it be done? Can Erie continue to grow like this and simultaneously maintain its historical character? Can it be the little big town we all want it to be? We think so. But it hinges on one thing: Old Town.

History of Erie

The post Erie – Little Big Town appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Immigrant groups converge in the high plains to build an American legacy in the shadow of an ancient culture.

The mountain, the ancients, and the colony

The best views of Longs Peak are unquestionably from in and around the city of Longmont. The prominent mountain is like a snowflake in that it never looks the same twice. It can glow pink from a rising summer sun or shine in bright white under a fresh snowfall and a cobalt March sky.

Most of the mountain that is visible from Longmont is not Longs Peak at all but its slightly shorter and less-appreciated twin Mount Meeker. Meeker, just 84 feet short of “fourteener” fame, is like a jealous little sister. She stands in front of Longs as if trying to capture the spotlight from her more striking sibling. But the prominent summit of Longs is always there with its dramatic Diamond Face peaking just over Meeker’s broad left shoulder.

The mountain is named after Stephen Harriman Long who led one of America’s first scientific expeditions into Colorado’s high plains and mountains in 1820. Before Long’s expedition the Arapaho Tribe called the twin summits Neníisótoyóú’u, which means “The Two Guides.” As one travels north or south along the base of the Front Range, the shifting orientation of the twin summits of Neníisótoyóú’u can provide the traveler with a reliable navigational reference, like a terrestrial North Star.

Sometime before 14,000 BC: First human presence in the Colorado area.

According to Elliott West, author of “The Contested Plains,” Native Americans traveled from south to north along the Front Range corridor for thousands of years, likely using The Two Guides for navigation. In a great counterclockwise annual migration, people traveled towards the north along the face of the Rockies each spring before turning west into high elevation summer hunting grounds. With summer’s bounty in tow the people would descend back down into the sheltered valleys along the base of the mountains each fall where they would wait out the winter and do it all over again come spring.

900 – 1350 AD: Pueblo culture in four corners region reaches its zenith.

This annual circuit likely began long before the rise of the great first civilizations half a world away and persisted as Near East empires rose and fell and Chinese dynasties came and went. After hundreds of generations this way of life was finally disrupted with the arrival of Europeans.

When this new European way of life crashed upon these plains and mountains like an avalanche, The Two Guides continued to provide a navigational and inspirational beacon for newcomers arriving from the east by horse and carriage.

About 1500 AD: Migrations across North America caused by European colonial intrusion.

1864 AD: U.S. Army commits the Sand Creek massacre, killing about 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people.

Longmont, which combines the name Long with the French word for mountain, mont, was founded as a pseudo-utopian colony in 1871. The Chicago-Colorado Colony was more pragmatic than utopian. Participants purchased ownership shares in the colony, and the funds were used to purchase 60,000 acres of fertile soil along the St. Vrain River just a few miles east of the Rockies. The founding members, according to Longmont Museum curator Erik Mason, were early progressives and philanthropists. While the colony venture itself went bankrupt, the settlement was established, and the town of Longmont had begun as an agricultural center in the growing Front Range area.

1871 AD: Longmont founded by the Chicago-Colorado Colony.

From the Russian steppe to the high plains

Unbeknownst to the town’s founders, the seeds of much of Longmont’s future heritage were planted in another colony a century earlier on the other side of the planet. This earlier colony was in Russia’s Volga Steppe, a land that shares a similar climate and landscape to Colorado’s High Plains. It is a semi-arid prairie with cold winters and warm summers.

Russia’s ruler, Catherine the Great, a Prussian, was scheming to bring Russia into the European fold — her empire offered enormous lands to be exploited. In the mid-18th century the German states were ravaged by relentless war and religious conflict. Many Germans sought to escape this for opportunities elsewhere, and Catherine the Great made them an offer that was hard to refuse — a new land full of opportunity and freedom. Catherine the Great issued two manifestos that opened Russia’s doors to anyone who wanted to settle there. Thirty thousand people, many of them German, took her up on the offer, and the first Volga German colony was established in 1764.

1880 AD: Approximate arrival of the first Volga Germans to the Longmont area.

This eastward migration of people seeking land, opportunity, and freedom has undeniable parallels to westward expansion in America one century later. But, in the case of the Volga Germans, the good times did not last. Gradual Russification eroded away the freedoms that were promised to the settlers. By the second half of the 19th century a new promised land emerged, this time in the other direction, all the way across an ocean: America.

Longmont must have reminded the Volga Germans of home — a treeless high plain with fertile soil in the shadow of the mountains. The Volga Germans brought large families and a strong work ethic that was forged through generations of hard living on the Russian steppe. They were the perfect labor pool for a burgeoning sugar beet industry. To the Anglo-American farmers before them, the Volga Germans were of lower class, at least in the beginning, as were the Japanese and Latino laborers who would come to work alongside them.

Tree removal in 1911. Courtesy of Longmont Museum.

Over time, though, the Volga Germans assimilated into American society, no doubt helped by their physical resemblance to their Anglo forebearers. They gradually gained land ownership and diversified their involvement into a growing community. The Volga Germans were looked upon with suspicion during World War I, but by World War II they had assimilated into American ways so thoroughly that they were no longer viewed as German immigrants but simply as Americans.

During World War II German (and Italian) prisoners of war were brought to Longmont to work the farms as labor was short due to the war effort. These prisoners were housed in a barracks on Third Avenue and Kimbark Street. According to Mason, the Volga Germans of Longmont brought the prisoners ethnic German food, perhaps recognizing from their own history how ordinary people can be swept up into the war games of egotistical rulers.

1943 AD: German POW camp opens.

It is said that the Volga Germans adopted the slogan “arbeit macht das Leben süß,” which means “work makes life sweet.” That saying was more literal than its intention, as their labor not only helped make life sweet for themselves but literally brought sweetness into the cupboards of American households as they helped build the sugar beet industry in Longmont.

Towering compassion

In south Longmont’s Kanemoto Park there stands a towering structure that might seem a bit unusual. A five-story Japanese pagoda rises over the peaceful park. Each of its five levels has a meaning and taken together, they form the essence of compassion.

A plaque near the base of the tower explains the meaning of each of the five levels. The first is love, the foundation of all compassion. The second level signifies empathy. The plaque reads: “Your happiness is my happiness. Your sadness is my sadness. I feel your pain. I feel your joy.” The third level is understanding, and here we find our collective responsibility to understand the interconnectedness of humanity. We are all as one. The fourth is gratitude for all things. At the top level is the virtue of giving selflessly of oneself: “As I give myself to others,” the plaque reads, “strangely enough, I find myself and I find real happiness.”

The Tower of Compassion was built 50 years ago as a wonderful gift to the Longmont community by the Kanemoto family. Theirs is a remarkable story of the American Dream and an example and reminder of what true patriotism really means. Their story is also one of gratitude for a community that never wavered in its support for their family, even, and perhaps especially, during World War II.

The Kanemoto family. The adults in the picture are Goroku and Setsuno, Ken’s grandparents and 1st generation immigrants. The kids are siblings Jim (Ken’s father), George, and Faith from left to right.

Ken Kanemoto welcomed me into his real estate business office in south Longmont. “The family farm was right here where we are sitting right now,” beamed Kanemoto. “And that house right over there is where I grew up,” he said pointing through his office window.

Ken is the grandson of Hiroshima native Goroku Kanemoto. Goroku first immigrated from Japan to Mexico and worked in railroads there, but he jumped off a northbound train in Denver in 1908 to try his hand at farm work. He decided to stick around. An arranged marriage with a young lady named Setsuno, also from Hiroshima, led to a family. As was common for the time, the young couple gave their three children western names: Jim, George, and Faith. 

Goroku died in a car accident in 1935, but the three siblings took what he started and built a proud legacy. Jim was Ken’s father. “Dad was kind of the ideas guy,” he said. “He was active in a lot of different things.” This included serving as the president of the Buddhist Church of America and traveling to Japan with the governor for the dedication of Colorado’s Japanese sister state, Yamagata.

We looked through some of his collection of old newspaper clippings on a cluttered desk. A large-framed article about the Tower of Compassion hung prominently on the wall. “You know, I think the Tower was the only Japanese pagoda in America outside of San Francisco when it was built,” he said.

1972 AD: Tower of Compassion constructed.

Kanemoto discussed his family history with pride and reminiscence. The family farm ultimately became the Southmoor Park neighborhood. When the Kanemotos donated some of the land to Longmont, it was made into Kanemoto Park. In 1973 the Tower of Compassion was commissioned by Jim, a gift of gratitude to the people of Longmont for their support and friendship over the years. The cherry trees near the tower were donated from Japan.

There were other Japanese families in and around Longmont in the early 1900s. By World War II the area was something of a refuge for Japanese Americans avoiding internment in other parts of the country. Colorado’s governor at the time, Ralph Carr, was the only Western governor to oppose Japanese internment. As a result, Colorado’s Japanese residents were spared that inhumane treatment.

The Tanakas arrived in the area in the 1920s, first near Canfield in Erie and then expanding towards Longmont. Longmont residents of the 1960s through the 1980s will likely remember Tanaka Farms. I listened to Carol Bowman Tanaka and her cousin Nancy Tanaka discuss old times and family stories. “We were the largest family-owned irrigated farm in the nation,” said Nancy. “Twenty semi-loads of veggies went out every day,” added Carol. “We had nationwide distribution.”

Their fondest memories, however, seemed to focus more on the local life and the community they grew up with. All the kids, as many as twelve at one point, worked the produce stand near Lookout Road and Highway 287. The two cousins laughed as they remembered the “cabbage wagons.” These were trucks loaded high with cabbages just picked from their fields. Locals learned that, if they came out and followed the cabbage wagon down the road, a few heads of free cabbage would tumble down into the street.

Like the Kanemoto Family, the Tanakas always felt supported by the community. They remember the small town of old Longmont. “I miss the neighborly sense of community,” said Carol.

A five-story Japanese pagoda rises over the peaceful park. Each of its five levels has a meaning and taken together, they form the essence of compassion.

Earning the stripes

When Goroku Kanemoto stepped off that northbound train onto Colorado soil in 1908, he would have likely been accompanied by Latino migrants with the same idea. By 1909 Colorado was the largest sugar-producing state in the U.S., and the Great Western Sugar Company was dominant in Northeast Colorado.

World War I accelerated Latino migration into Colorado. They filled a void left by the slowdown in European immigration while simultaneously fulfilling labor demand in an industrializing western U.S.

1903 AD: First sugar factory opens, creating new industry.

The Great Western Sugar Company actively recruited Latino Americans from New Mexico and Mexicans during this time to fuel their growing enterprise. World War I, therefore, represents the shift from primarily European to Hispanic agricultural labor in the Longmont area.

This was not always a smooth transition. A diversifying community was met in the 1920s by the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in eastern Colorado — including Longmont. The Klan’s influence may have been in part a violently racist reaction to changing demographics — their support did not last. In 1927 Longmont’s Klan-dominated city council was entirely voted out of office. A Klan-supported scheme to construct the Chimney Rock Dam on the North Fork of the St. Vrain River was scrapped, and, according to Mason, 7,000 sacks of cement that were procured to build the dam were put to good use: They were used in the first paving of Longmont’s Main Street!

1925 AD: Klu Klux Klan takes over Longmont City Council, voted out in 1927.

During the Great Depression many of the Latino migrants who came to work the fields during the agricultural boom of the 1910s and 1920s were pressured to move “back to Mexico” including U.S.-born, Spanish-speaking citizens from the Southwest. By this time, however, most of these community members had put roots down and made Longmont and its surroundings their home despite the overt racism they experienced.

When the Second World War commenced, many Latino citizens signed up to fight for America. “That was a big change then,” said Mason. “They would come back from the war and, instead of accepting discrimination, started to form groups to demand their rights.” In 1945 Alex Gonzales opened Longmont’s first Latino-owned restaurant, City Café. By the 1960s, some overt racial discrimination faded away, but implicit and structural racism remained an issue that Longmont’s Latino residents would continue to grapple with.

In 1980 a Longmont police officer shot and killed two Latino men in an event that shook this still small community. The details of the shooting are for another story, but the outcome may be an example of how a community and a police force can work together to create something positive out of a tragedy. Soon after the shooting, community members formed an organization called El Comité (The Committee), which continues to do good work today nearly 43 years later. “It was not perfect,” said Mason, “but there was a willingness on the part of the police and city leadership to build bridges.”

El Comité’s executive director, Donna Lovato, agrees with Mason’s perspective. “El Comité was formed out of tragedy but grew out of opportunity,” she said. El Comité was created to work in partnership with both the Latino community and the Longmont Police Department. “Every new police officer is required to set up a meeting with El Comité,” said Lovato. “They have to meet with me.”

1980 AD: Two young Latinos shot and killed by Longmont police officer, El Comité founded.

Over the years El Comité has expanded its community involvement and now offers services like citizenship processing and organizes community events. “It has become a trusted agency in the community,” said Lovato. “People come to El Comité before they go to the police.”

El Comité published a book in the 1970s titled “We Came to Stay” that was recently revised into a second edition called “We, Too, Came to Stay.” The book is available at El Comité’s office at 55 Kimbark Str. and at some local book stores in town. On Aug. 14, 2020 Governor Jared Polis formally recognized the valuable work and positive example that El Comité has provided for Longmont and the state of Colorado.

From serving proudly in the Second World War to setting a strong leadership example for the city through tragedy, Longmont’s Latino community has more than “earned their stripes.”

Longmont Main Street from 300 block looking south (1900 to 1920). Courtesy of Longmont Museum.

From sugar beets to airplanes and tech geeks

In 1962 Longmont was awarded the location of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center. However it was a few years prior when an aviation disaster briefly put Longmont in the national spotlight.

At 7:03 pm on Nov. 1, 1955, a commercial airplane exploded over east Longmont, killing all 44 people on board. It was no accident. FBI investigators soon determined that one Jack Gilbert Graham had taken out a life insurance policy on his mother, Daisie E. King. He placed 25 sticks of dynamite attached to a battery and a timer in her checked luggage. He was executed in the gas chamber in 1957.

1955 AD: United Airlines Flight 629 bombing occurs over the city.

In 1965 Big Blue entered the picture. IBM built its large plant halfway between Longmont and Boulder, drawing simultaneously from the research and educational center of the University of Colorado at Boulder and a growing and relatively cheap labor pool in Longmont. Longmont’s population doubled from 1960 to 1970 and then nearly doubled again from 1970 to 1980 to a population of over 42,000. In a sign of changing times, the Great Western Sugar Factory finally shut down in 1977.

I spoke with Longmont native Pam Maestas, a descendent of the Volga German Schlagal family. Maestas was born in Longmont in 1957 and remembers it as a small town where “we were able to walk to school from the first grade.”

“Mom met Dad dragging Main in Longmont,” said Maestas. Cruising Main Street is an American pastime best suited for small towns, and by the turn of the millennium Longmont would outgrow this as well. Downtown Longmont, according to Maestas, has “become more artsy now.”

Despite the changes and growth, Maestas is still proud of her hometown. “I’m just proud of my heritage,” she said, “and in spite of everything I’m still loyal to Longmont.”

In 2021 Longmont celebrated its 150th anniversary and reached 100,000 residents. It is certainly no longer a small town. It must now learn how to become a small city. Although many might nostalgically hold on to its commendable past, Longmont’s more recent history has proven that its diverse community can flourish in changing times.

2021 AD: 150th anniversary.

Kathy Partridge grew up at the Lykens Gulch Farm Commune just to the west of town. She remembers when Longmont was a small town and misses the days when Longmont life was slower and quieter. But, even with the growth and change, she is proud of her town. “I think Longmont is the best city in the county in so many ways,” said Partridge.

It’s hard to argue with that sentiment given Longmont’s rich and unique history and legacy. This town that is now growing into a small city is still surrounded by farmland, at least for now. Those stunning views of The Two Guides are still there. And the Tower of Compassion, now celebrating its 50th year, still stands as a reminder that Longmont, Colorado is a community to be proud of.

The post Longmont – Life Made Sweet appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

A local community working group is formally recommending to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) that the World War One Pillars currently located at Nine Mile Corner be relocated to a small area approximately 150 feet to the northeast of their current location. The recommendation places the future location of both pillars on the northwest corner of the U.S. Highway 287 and U.S. Highway 7 (Arapahoe Road) intersection. The recommended new location will place the two pillars in close proximity to each other with both pillars facing southeast towards the intersection. The recommendation proposes that the new location be landscaped to incorporate many of the original design elements of the Road of Remembrance Gateway site (known locally as “The Pillars”). The working group, led by the Boulder Rotary Club, American Legion, and Daughters of the American Revolution, conducted a fifteen-month review which considered approximately two dozen alternatives and locations, and held four public hearings to gauge public sentiment.

The World War One Pillars were constructed in 1928 as part of the planned Road of Remembrance development along Arapahoe Road between Nine Mile Corner and Boulder. The original pillars were accompanied by a captured World War One German cannon. The cannon was removed and scrapped in the early 1970s after having been severely damaged by car accidents. Due to earlier development and expansion of the intersection in 1980, the north pillar was moved farther north, toppling over in the process. The pillar was re-built at that time in its new location. Now, additional development of Nine Mile Corner includes plans to reconfigure the intersection once again necessitating the working group’s review and recommendation to save the pillars by relocating them.

The south pillar contains a time capsule from its original construction, the contents of which are expected to be revealed when the pillars are moved to their new home.

Read the letter of recommendation here.

The post Pillars Mitigation Working Group – Recommendation to CDOT and SHPO to Relocate WWI Pillars appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

EC = East County | B = Boulder

Restaurants

Overall

EC – 24 Carrot: The title for Best Overall Restaurant has been a battle for the last few years between two great Erie Restaurants: 24 Carrot and Piripi. This year 24 Carrot takes the crown and Piripi comes in runner-up. Twenty years ago, who knew Erie would be the hub of exceptional dining? Runner-up: Piripi

B – Frasca: Inspired by the beauty of the Julian Alps and the warm community traditions of northern Italy, Frasca just brings it. This place has won so many James Beard awards it’s almost ridiculous. Frasca is a powerhouse in Boulder making a well-deserved national name for itself with outstanding food, quality wine, and impeccable service. Runner-up: Oak on 14th

Contemporary

EC – Sugarbeet: Get your reservations in order because everyone loves Longmont’s Sugarbeet. This is a top quality experience with a varied and mouth-watering menu. Start with the beet-cured salmon appetizer, move to a main course of gochujang-glazed pork ribs, and end the night with a slice of key lime pie. Don’t forget a Beetropolis cocktail to go with a most inspiring dinner.

B – SALT the Bistro: We have watched Bradford Heap start out in this county and grow to being one of the top chefs in the state. SALT proves why he continues to take the title of Readers’ Choice Best of year after year.

Cheap Eats

EC – Cosmo’s: The pizza king of Lafayette, Colorado, Cosmo’s is a mainstay for folks looking to enjoy a late night in with a pizza or calzone. We appreciate these affordable pies and the late hours are perfect for parties and study sessions that run long. Locals also swear by their signature spicy ranch dipping sauce, a midwestern classic. Runner-up: Biscuits at Mike’s

B – Illegal Pete’s; Runner-up: Cosmo’s

Bread

EC & B – Moxie: The bread is made with love. That’s why it is so good. From the legacy of its founder to the spirit of the team carrying that forward, Moxie has always been about the love of community and the foods we put in our bodies. Runner-up EC: Babettes | Runner-up B: Great Harvest

Newcomer

EC – Jeannot’s Patisserie & Bistro: Wait. Stop everything. Lafayette has a French restaurant that sources its ingredients locally and handcrafts just about everything they serve? We challenge you to even finish reading this blurb before madly storming out the door to go try this little piece of France in Colorado. Reviews are off the chain. Oh, and yes there is a patio. Runner-up: Farow

B – Gemini: Here’s a bit of Barcelona on Pearl Street. Seasonally guided menus, sustainably sourced ingredients, Spanish-inspired ambience. It sounds amazing and readers agree, awarding Gemini with the best Boulder newcomer choice. This Boulder newbie gets shockingly good reviews like this one from Yelp: “transcendent dining experience unrivaled by anything outside of the Iberian peninsula.” Wow! Runner up: Rooted Craft Kitchen

Bagel

EC – Big Daddy Bagels: With Moe’s expansion into East County they give everyone a run for their money, but with 20 years under their belts serving us EC’ers, Big Daddy takes the throne again this year. Runner-up: Moe’s Broadway Bagels

B – Moe’s Broadway Bagels: Every year, every best-of in town, since the beginning of time! Everyone loves a Moe’s Broadway bagel. It must be the authenticity. This is a family-run place started by a true New Yorker who came to Boulder looking for the mountains. Runner-up: Big Daddy Bagels

BBQ

EC – Georgia Boys: If you want a great bagel, find a New Yorker. But if you want the best barbecue in town, find a Georgia boy. They don’t have employees, they have an extended family and they love to offer great slow-cooked food with Southern hospitality. So get yerself over to Georgia Boys for a Tennessee sticky pig and some cauliflower wings. Runner-up: Lulu’s

B – KT’S: It’s Memphis style y’all. No, we’re not talking about Elvis and his weird peanut butter sandwiches. We’re talkin’ Memphis style barbecue at KT’s, a family run barbecue joint going on 30 years running. KT’s is slow-cooked and authentically local just like their hickory-smoked pork ribs. Runner-up: West End Tavern

Breakfast Burrito

EC – Santiago’s: You can get it smothered or you can get it “deluxed.” The meat is chef’s choice and you can’t go wrong with a breakfast burrito from Santiago’s. It’s authentic, made fresh, and if you like it spicy, Santiago’s can make it kick, and they have been for 23 years winning every single year we have published. Runner-up: Taco Wagon

B – Blackbelly: We are not sure what the “o.g.” really stands for, but Blackbelly’s o.g. breakfast burrito is surely the original gangster of breakfast burritos. Everyone loves a good breakfast burrito, but the best breakfast burrito in Boulder is a must before your next ride up Boulder Canyon. Runner-up: Santos

Bakery

EC – Button Rock Bakery: Our favorite Saturday morning is a trip to Lafayette for our essential goods at Jax and then headed right next door for the truly essential goods. Button Rock Bakery delivers the divine we need in our lives to sustain this world. Runner-up: Jeannot’s Patisserie & Bistro

B – Lucky’s Bakehouse: Community-inspired, freshmade, daily small batches. That’s the name of the game at Lucky’s Bakehouse. From gluten-free to sugar-filled and everything in-between, Lucky’s does not disappoint. Runner-up: Shamanes

Coffee House

EC – East Simpson: This is more than a coffee shop. It’s a neighborhood party! From live music, a collective atmosphere, and a funky old house, East Simpson has created a community gathering place that also happens to serve great coffee. Runner-up: MECO

B – OZO: The name is cool and the coffee is top notch. From seed to cup, Ozo brings it with the coffee game. It’s not just the quality, it’s also sustainably and ethically sourced. And for you backpackers out there, they now offer instant coffee packets for the pack! Runner-up: Laughing Goat

Brunch

EC – Tangerine; Runner-up: 24 Carrot

B – Greenbriar: Sunday brunch at the Greenbriar Inn might just be the best thing you can do on one of those perfectly clear summer mornings in Boulder. Bring a blanket and order it picnic style to enjoy by their pond or on the cabin lawn. Plus they have beignets! Runner-up: Tangerine

Breakfast & Brunch

EC & B – Tangerine: Lafayette, Longmont or Boulder, Tangerine is the quintessential perfect breakfast stop, never disappointing, always delighting. It’s why year after year, they continue to win the title of Best Breakfast and this year, Best Brunch. Breakfast EC Runner-up: Morning Glory | Breakfast B Runner-up: Lucile’s

Burger

EC – Waterloo: You know those “God Bless Johnny Cash” bumper stickers you see around here? Yeah, those come from the Waterloo, and that’s the vibe you’ll get at this awesome Old Town Louisville joint. So walk the line to Waterloo friends. And, yes, the burgers are the best in East County. Runner-up: 24 Carrot

B – The Sink: This year The Sink is celebrating their 100th year On the Hill. What would we do without them here to satisfy us with their amazing pizzas, funky atmosphere and of course, the best damn burger around. Be sure to follow them on the socials for all their 100 year festivities. Runner-up: Mountain Sun/Southern Sun

Dessert

EC – Button Rock Bakery: Pies and Cakes, oh my! For the decade that Button Rock Bakery has been serving us scrumptious treats, there has never been something that didn’t meet the divine standard. Button Rock Bakery is quite possibly the most perfect place on earth—or at least in Boulder County. Runner-up: Eats & Sweets

B – Piece Love & Chocolate: Situated on Pearl Street, Piece Love & Chocolate blends classy chocolatiering with just a dash of Wonka-esque whimsy. Locals can’t get enough of their fancier fare like French macarons served alongside wild concoctions like beer-flavored truffles and potato chip chocolate bars. Runner-up: Boulder Baked

Gluten-Free

EC – Button Rock; Runner-up: Cavegirl Coffee

B – Flower Child: They don’t have avocado toast, they have a Crushed Avocado Toast. They don’t have a noodle bowl, they have a Glow Bowl. It is gluten-free but most definitely not flavor-free. With locally-sourced ingredients and made-from-scratch creations, Flower Child is the best in Boulder for vegan, vegetarian, and paleo options. Runner-up: Fresh Thymes (farewell thee)

Colorado-Based Chain & Sandwich

EC & B – Snarf’s: When we met Jimmy 25+ years ago, we thought he was crazy opening up his sandwich shop in one of the funkiest locations in Boulder. But we quickly were one of the people standing in line for his toasted heaven. Today, Jimmy reigns supreme as a home-grown favorite. He’s still doing good things for his community, too. Sandwich EC Runner-up: Eats & Sweets | Sandwich B Runner-up: Organic Sandwich Co.

Patio

EC – Pumphouse: Built in the style of a vintage fire station, the Pumphouse sports a lively ambiance and a menu as diverse as it is delicious. But the actual claim to fame is the beer. Pumphouse sports a litany of microbrews made in-house. Opened in May 1966, the Pumphouse was a pioneer in Longmont introducing the first brewpub. While its food is only surpassed by its home-brewed beers, they also offer Longmont the largest outdoor dining patio, where locals gather to take in all the sights and sounds of the city. Runner-up: Rocky Mountain Tap & Garden

B – TIE – Greenbriar: If you’re looking for a bit of elegance in your next outing, there are few who have done it better since 1967. Surrounded by fields of beautifully curated greenery, enjoy a sophisticated night out of our famous Sunday brunch on Boulder’s best patio. This repeat winner is taking home the top nod for Best Patio again this year. There is a reason this Boulder legacy has been serving us for 55 years and still remains the choice of locals. However, this year Boulder’s best patio is tied with…

B – TIE – Chautauqua: The Chautauqua has been a Colorado tradition since 1898, and for good reason. The delicious food, historical tours, and down-home ambiance calls to the days of the wild frontier. But where it really shines is the patio view from the Dining Hall. From here a delicious, rustic meal can nourish your body while the view of Colorado’s forests and mountain range nourishes your soul. Runner-up: West End Tavern

Lunch/Seafood/Chef

EC – Piripi (Chef – Hugo Meyer): We met Hugo and Victoria at an Erie Chamber meeting years ago before they opened Piripi. They had just moved to town and told us of their plans to open a fine dining restaurant with a world-class chef at the helm. Our publisher, having lived in Erie for over 30 years, remembers the dirt roads, and had no idea what was in store. Today, Piripi is not just one of her favorite restaurants, but it is one that should be everyone’s favorites in Boulder County. Chef Hugo’s perfection he calls our meal is worth the drive no matter where you live. Lunch Runner-up: Eat at Community | Seafood Runner-up: Casian | Chef Runner-up: Kevin Kidd – 24 Carrot

Lunch

B – Brasserie Ten Ten: After over two years of closed doors, Brasserie Ten Ten demonstrates that good food is worth the wait. COVID completely changed the restaurant industry, forcing owners Joe and Peg Romano to shutter their three iconic spots, Ten Ten included. Re-open now for only a few months, try the Prixe Fixe menu for a taste of French luxury. Runner-up: Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse

Sushi/Japanese

EC – Sakura: Reviews consistently praise Sakura as the top spot for quality fish, traditional sauces, and attention to detail, but still crafting the not-so-traditional rolls so many of us crave. Around since 1998, call ahead for the daily special since the freshest fish will rotate regularly here. Runner-up: Button Rock

B – Japango: Master chef Yukiji Iwasa has been preparing the sushi for this Pearl Street classic for over 20 years – that hasn’t changed – but what is new is Japango is now donating portions of proceeds from Thursday nights to go towards Rise Against Suicide, an organization helping youth mental health. More than just sushi, Japango is an institution. Runner-up: Hapa

Seafood

EC – Piripi; Runner-up: Casian Seafood

B – Jax Fish House: Colorado may seem like one of the furthest places from the sea (both horizontally AND vertically) but that hasn’t stopped it from being home to one of the best seafood restaurants in the country. Diners can enjoy fresh oysters, grilled octopus, and a bevy of other deep-sea delectables paired with inventive cocktails like the Almond Joy Martini. Jax has enjoyed its top spot every year since the Best of the West first began, and it’s not hard to see why. Runner-up: Spruce Farm & Fish

Pizza

EC – Rosalee’s: Rosalee’s Pizza prides itself on its welcoming “neighborhood” atmosphere and west-coast approach to pizza making. And we can’t get enough. Rosalee’s owes its number-one spot to its ingredients and welcoming attitude. Everything is lovingly crafted, unpretentious, and made so that the technique and ingredients truly shine. It’s everything a pizza should be. Runner-up: Cosmo’s

B – TIE – The Sink and Cosmo’s; Runner-up: Pizzeria Locale

Steak

EC – 740 Front: As one of Colorado’s oldest taverns, 740 Front has all the turn-of-the-century class you could possibly ask for with just a dash of speakeasy grit (courtesy of a bullet hole in their bart able courtesy of a bootlegera shootout.) And to go with its wide selection of wines, beers, and craft cocktails is what might just be the best damn steak in the state. We still dream about those dry-aged cuts. Runner-up: Sugarbeet

B – Cork: “Local fresh ingredients shouldn’t be special; it should be assumed.” These are the founding tenets of Chef Jim Smailer of Boulder Cork. And his ethos is found in every item on this classy bistro’s menu, namely, its signature cut steaks. While the bistro is a bit on the pricy side, Boulder Cork made its place on the list thanks to its prime rib, with homemade jus and horseradish cream sauce. Runner-up: 316 Steakhouse

Chinese

EC – Ting’s Place: Thirty-two years ago our Publisher moved back to Colorado after being away for several years. As soon as she discovered Ting’s it became a house favorite. It still is 30 years later. Runner-up: Colorado Wok

B – Zoe MaMa: The settings, the seats, and the flavors are just what you would expect from a street food stand in China, complete with recipes from generations back. Zoe MaMa, like all great street food, is constantly packed so arrive early and see why they again won best Chinese food in Boulder. Runner-up: China Gourmet

Thai

EC – Busaba: Named after the Thai word meaning “flower,” Busaba is a rare and beautiful find in Louisville’s culinary scene. In keeping with its namesake, Busaba is a perennial classic that has served up a delicious and exotic menu in a slick, modern venue for over ten years. We personally recommend the spring rolls with a bit of spicy peanut sauce. Runner-up: Anchan Thai

B – Aloy Thai: Aloy Thai conveys the feeling of being invited to a family dinner by a close friend. The warm and friendly service and a homey atmosphere of this family-run business leave most Boulder residents with a feeling of cozy nostalgia for a place never visited. Aloy Thai’s menu is more than just an exotic meal. It’s a reminder that no matter what culture you’re from, a warm meal shared with friendly faces can make anyone feel at home. Runner-up: Busaba

Vietnamese

EC – Pho Cafe: EC’s reigning champion of Vietnamese soups has returned! Like its titular dish, the Pho Cafe is warm and welcoming with tons of local flavor mixed in. The beef Pho, a deliciously savory and flavorful soup filled with rice noodles and thin slices of delicious beef, is a perfect pick-me-up all year ‘round. Runner-up: Viet Kitchen

B – Chez Thuy: Chez Thuy has been a Boulder institution for nearly thirty years. And the head chef, Miss Thuy herself, has been blending French and Chinese cooking techniques to amplify the classic flavors of Vietnamese home cooking. Runner-up: Boulder Pho

Hot Dog

EC – Marco’s Hot Dogs: Year after year, Marco’s wins this category. Four words: bacon-wrapped, hot-dogs. The are simply the best. Runner-up: Dugout

B – Mustard’s Last Stand: With over 40 years of experience, Mustard’s Last Stand has earned its place as a Colorado classic. No one else comes close to competing with their fully-loaded Chicago-style hot dogs and hefty Polish sausages. With a litany of toppings, fries, and plenty of beer, Mustard’s Last Stand truly is the best at the wurst. Runner-up: Freddie’s Hot Dog Stand

Taco

EC – TeoCalli Cocina: At TeoCalli, the word of the day is authenticity. Everything on the menu can trace its lineage back to traditional Oaxacan cuisine, but with a creative twist that elevates these classic dishes to a level that can only be described as artistry wrapped in a corn tortilla. Runner-up: Jefe’s

B – T/aco: Fine dining is great and all, but sometimes you and your friends just want to relax, knock back a few drinks, and enjoy a nice, hearty meal. If you’re looking for a relaxed taqueria, T/aco is the place for you. The casual eatery has dozens of delicious, fresh-made tacos with fillings ranging from duck to Mexican-style pork belly. T/aco is even pet-friendly, providing a separate menu for your dog! Runner-up: McDevitt’s Taco Supply

Healthy Meal

EC – Morning Glory: For something light and healthy that doesn’t sacrifice flavor for wholesomeness, Morning Glory is the best place to be. But the food isn’t the only thing nourishing about this little diner. The positive, welcoming and progressive attitude of its staff is the perfect way to start your day. Bear in mind that healthy doesn’t mean vegetarian, carnivores will find plenty of deliciously meaty meals to sink their teeth into. Runner-up: Cavegirl Coffee

B – Fresh Thymes: It is great sadness that we are writing this Reader’s Favorite pick for Best Healthy Meal in Boulder, as Fresh Thymes closed their doors in December. It was not because business wasn’t thriving, it was. It came down to doing business in Boulder according to the owner. After securing the empty coffeeshop next door for expansion, two years later, Fresh Thymes had still not been able to move in to the new location due to permits being delayed by the City itself. We will miss Fresh Thymes as we were a regular as well. Runner-up: Flower Child

Chef

B – Daniel Asher of River and Woods: Established by world-class chef Daniel Asher and inspired by Colorado’s natural beauty, River and Woods brings the tastes of the great outdoors to the table. Every meal uses local ingredients and techniques inspired by camping trips and barbecues. Enjoy local cheeses and foraged berries, tuck into slow-cooked pulled pork, and cap your night off by roasting homemade marshmallows for s’mores. Runner-up: Chris Cunningham – The Sink

Chocolaterie

EC – Chocolaterie Stam: Chocolaterie Stam has been one of the country’s premium chocolatiers for over one hundred years. And it shows. While its chocolates are a touch pricey, the velvety richness of its candies makes it all worthwhile. If you really want to go all out and treat someone special (or yourself) you can’t go wrong with a Stam “Jewel Box” of chocolates. Runner-up: Robin’s Chocolates

B – Piece Love & Chocolate: Situated on Pearl Street, Piece Love & Chocolate blends classy chocolatiering with just a dash of Wonka-esque whimsy. Locals can’t get enough of their fancier fare like french macarons served alongside wild concoctions like beer-flavored truffles and potato chip chocolate bars. Runner-up: Lift Truffles

Green Chili/Mexican/Margarita

EC & B – Efrain’s: With multiple awards, Efrain’s is that familiar institution that brings familiarity and connection to the community. For over 30 years they have been serving up great Mexican in the same location. If you haven’t discovered why they have been winning all these years, maybe it’s time you should. Efrain’s Boulder is the brother of Efrain’s Lafayette. They recently moved into a new location after 20+ years in a hidden corner of Boulder, but they took their Grandma’s recipes with them. It’s why they are a Boulder favorite all these years. When you head in be sure to order one of their famous margaritas, there are more than 6 to choose from. Green Chili EC Runner-up: Santiago’s | Green Chili B Runner-up: Verde | Mexican B Runner-up: Centro Latin Kitchen | Margarita B Runner-up: Dana Faulk Query

Indian

EC – Taj Mahal: There is Indian food, there is good Indian food, and then there is great Indian food. Louisville’s Taj Mahal is in the great category. The atmosphere is delightful, the flavors are delectable, and the menu is bountiful. The Taj Mahal is second to naan. Runner-up: Flavor of India

B – Sherpas: The menu offers a bit of India, Nepal, and Tibet, but a lot of authentic Himalayan influence. This wonderful place is run by real Sherpas. Chef Jangbu Sherpa has summited Everest ten times! The atmosphere is perfection–a cozy neighborhood haunt on the edge of the Rockies with a leafy patio for your Sherpa Chai and Dhal-Baht. Runner-up: The Taj

Italian

EC – Parma Trattoria: What’s that you say? A mozzarella bar? Yes, a mozzarella bar! With cheeses imported directly from Italy. These are the things that have given Parma Trattoria a very strong showing over its ten years in Louisville. This place has become a community favorite and a known top Denver Metro Italian restaurant. Runner-up: Zucca

B – Pasta Jay’s: You know when a place looks like a set on the Sopranos, it’s damn good Italian food. In fact, it’s food fit for a king! That’s what owner Pasta Jay Elowsky says and Boulder agrees. For 30 years strong family-owned Pasta Jays has been a beloved Boulder institution. Runner-up: Carelli’s

Mexican

EC – TeoCalli Cocina: At TeoCalli Cocina, corn is life. And this is authentic Mexican cooking in the heart of Lafayette. Here you will find delectable dishes like the De Birria short rib tacos and the Adobo Tuna. Polish it off with a Dulce de Calabaza dessert and a Volcan tequila. Runner-up: Old Santa Fe Grill

Celebrity Picks

Christian Hee, Marketing Director at Z2 Entertainment: Christian’s favorite spots revolve around meetings. Depending on the time of day, you’ll find her either at Ozo, or Trident. Her morning go-to is Ozo, known for their down-to-earth staff and fantastic beans. If you catch her in the evening, you’ll see her at Trident Cafe, a combo bookstore and coffee shop where you’re just as likely to find writers plucking away at their keyboards. “I love getting a nice, hot pot of herbal tea and then browsing for books,” Hee shared with us.

Daniel Rodriguez, Singer-Songwriter: Where does Daniel Rodriguez, singer-songwriter and former founding member of Elephant Revival, go on a night out in Boulder? “If I’m looking for a jukebox and some pool tables, the Sundown Saloon is a great place to ‘dive’ into.” Once it’s time to grab a bite, Avanti is his preferred stop. “It’s like they parked seven food trucks inside one establishment,” he said, making us hungry.

Rosen, of Mr. Mota: Southern Sun Pub & Brewery means it’s time for wings. “They have amazing food, great beer, and they have a lot of live music!” Rosen enthusiastically shared. And for entertainment, look no further than Art of Zeb, “some of the coolest art I’ve ever seen.”

John Tayer, Boulder Chamber of Commerce: You can catch John out for a run on the Big Bluestem Open Space Trail or maybe enjoying a round at the Harlow Platts Disc Golf Course. It’s not all sport and exercise though; he also enjoys a beer at the many local brewpubs Boulder has.

Bhavna Chhabra, Site Manager for Google: “The new anemone trail is good for kids,” Chhabra said. For a meal afterwards, it’s gotta be chicken and beer at the Post Brewery. As for music and dancing? Velvet elk and then Avanti.

Giovanni Ruscitti, Managing & Founding Partner of Berg, Hill, Greenleaf and Ruscitti Law Firm: Giovanni loves a Saturday spent at the Boulder Farmer’s Market. French toast at the Village Coffee Shop, lunch at Chiri’s Momo Delight, and dinner at Il Pastaio would be his ideal meal lineup. He’s also a live music fan. “Listening to great music at venues like Macky Auditorium, Boulder Theater and BOCO Cider. I’m hitting on all time high this month taking in a half dozen shows,” he said.

Drinks

Bar

EC – Erie Social Club: Who knew Erie was cool? We remember the days of the horse in the bar in the dirt road town. Not anymore! Erie is host to several amazing restaurants and now a club we can call our own. ESC is THE place to be whether it’s for yoga in the morning, bingo, or a Saturday night of dancing. The facility is fantastic and you can also rent it for your own party. Runner-up: Rocky Mountain Tap & Garden

B – Corner Bar: Enjoy drinks and live music on the bar’s patio or sample the truffle fries that thankfully remain on The Corner Bar’s new expanded menu. This stately yet comfortable spot is just a block off the Pearl Street Mall. First timers, be sure to check out the hotel lobby. Runner-up: Sundown Saloon

Brewery

EC – Liquid Mechanics: A small, award-winning neighborhood craft brewery founded by three former bio/pharma tech pros, Liquid Mechanics aims to connect to the community through beer. The tasting room offers classics such as Lucid AF IPA along with specialty small batch beers. Grab some grub for your suds from the nightly food trucks or Martino’s Pizza. Runner-up: Left Hand

B – Avery: Watch Avery’s award-winning beer being brewed on its production floor before sampling five-ounce tasters or pints from a wide variety of tap offerings. The beertenders are passionate about sharing their extensive knowledge of the Avery product line. Enjoy on the dog-friendly patio or grab a six-pack or growler-to-go. Runner-up: Mountain Sun

Bloody Mary

EC – Lucile’s: Lucile’s Famous Bloody Marys rep the same “corner of Creole culture” as the breakfasts that have been served in this converted pale yellow house since 1997. Enjoy with their impressive garnish onsite or take home one of their new Bloody Mary kits! Bloody Marys are a great way to start the day at Lucile’s, or bring one of their new Bloody Mary kits to your Super Bowl party! Runner-up: Eat at Community

B – Foolish Craig’s: You can choose from the basil lemon or ghost chili-infused vodkas if you care for a twist on Craig’s Signature Bloody Mary. The quirky and relaxed atmosphere located directly on The Pearl Street Mall makes for an ideal place to people watch. Runner-up: The Buff

Happy Hour

EC – The Post Chicken and Beer: This happy hour is small in duration (it’s literally just one hour long) but big on deals. The brined and buttermilked all-natural humanely-raised chicken is dipped in gluten-free flour before fried to golden perfection. It’s the perfect accompaniment for any of their award-winning craft brews. Probably why they won Best Happy Hour this year, too. Runner-up: William Oliver’s

B – Corner Bar: Carving out a happy hour spot at Boulder’s overall BOW bar can be a challenge as it fills up quickly after it starts at 3. Maybe it’s the $3 cup of corn chowder or $4 draft beer that’s offered until six, either way they snag their second Best of the West award of the year. It’s also convenient for pre-concert meetups before heading to Chautauqua. Runner-up: Jungle

Margarita

EC – Jefe’s: Sean Gafner is the chef and owner of this incredibly popular Mexican fusion spot that purchases many ingredients from local ranchers and farmers nearby. Enjoy a margarita flight, pitcher, or just the classic cocktail made the right way – with real ingredients. No marg mix here. Runner-up: West Side Tavern

Distillery

EC – Spirit Hound: These single-barrel whiskies are made from Colorado-grown ingredients such as grains from the San Luis Valley and aged a minimum of two years in charred American oak barrels being bottled. Head distiller Craig Engelhorn and his partners built much of the distillation equipment themselves to achieve the right flavor and purity. Runner-up: Abbot & Wallace

B – Vapor: Free tours at this micro-distillery end with a sampling of Vapor’s hand-made, award-winning small batch spirits. Try the Ginskey, gin aged in oak barrels to infuse color and flavor found in whisky or buy a bottle of the Love Your Neighbor Limited Edition Whiskey distilled and support Marshall Fire rebuilding efforts. Runner-up: DV8 (Deviant Spirits)

Bartender/Mixologist

EC – Jennifer Shillington – 24 Carrot Bistro: A repeat winner from last year, Shilington honed her mixology skills at top New York City eateries before moving to Colorado to raise her family. Now she’s back behind the bar at 24 Carrot Bistro, serving up creative cocktails such as Live and Let Chai (made with bourbon and chai liqueur) or the weekly bartender’s choice. Runner-up: Brittany Bartlett – now Rocky Mountain Tap & Garden, formerly Eat! Food & Drink

B – Laureal Boston – Bitter Bar: Boston says she enjoys meeting friends old and new at the unpretentious Bitter Bar, where she aims to help customers unwind by creating cocktails with “complex flavors that delight the spirit and open the mind.” Runner-up: Matthew Jansen – Mateo

Liquor Store

EC – County Line Wine & Spirits: With regular inventory updates, there’s always something new to try at County Line. And there’s typically plenty of opportunities to do so as County Line hosts several tasting events every week. Though smaller in size than some of its competition, the store still has a great selection and continues to offer curbside service. Runner-up: Atlas Valley Purveyors

B – Hazel’s: Known for its helpful staff, bright atmosphere and wide open aisles and of course its incredible selection of wine, beer, spirits, cigars, and specialty foods, Hazel’s is often at the top of best liquor store lists. Runner-up: North Boulder Liquor

Wine Shop

EC – Atlas Valley: Come for the wine but beware you might also leave with cheese, gifts, or any of the other selection of local goods that might catch your fancy. The wine staff is happy to help you pick out the perfect local, domestic or import for the occasion. Runner-up: Wyatt’s Wet Goods

B – Hazel’s: From the 1940s pinup feel of their website, to the wide selection of over 15,000 products, to the prices that beat nearly everyone else, Hazel’s keeps winning awards. Consistently voted Boulder’s Best Liquor Store, they also have a diverse selection of wines, propelling them to a Best of the West victory as well. Runner-up: Boulder Wine Merchant

Winery

EC – Bookcliff Winery: This family-owned Colorado vineyard and winery offers tours and tastings at its Boulder tasting room. Bookcliff uses 100% Colorado-grown grapes from its vineyard in Palisade, which are cultivated using sustainable practices that eliminate the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Runner-up: Vinnie Fera

Sports

Bike Shop

EC – Louisville Cyclery: Louisville Cyclery has been an integral part of the community for over four decades. The oldest bike shop in the Boulder area, they saw the impacts of the Marshall Fire firsthand and decided to do something about it – fixing up donated bikes for those affected. If you’ve ever needed your bike repaired or a new bike, chances are you came here, showing why they’ve again won Best Bike Shop.

B – University Bikes: University Bikes again claims the top of the mountain, both on the trail and in the awards categories. They’ve won every single year we have had Best of the West, and as far as we know every other Boulder Best of in town, and they are back in the top spot once again.

Ski Shop

EC & B – Crystal Ski Shop: Crystal Ski Shop is another one of those area institutions having geared people up since 1976. Here’s the kicker: they are still locally owned. Justin Burger took the reins when the original owner retired after having worked there all through high school. So when we say locally owned, we mean it! But what makes them a favorite is the service. You know you are shopping locally because of it.

Sporting Goods

EC – Jax Outdoor Gear: Jax’s nine locations across Colorado officially became an employee-owned business as of one year ago. Tracing their roots back to the 1950s Jax not only offers sporting equipment but a full-on experience with food and places to test your gear, continuing the tradition of holding the top spot for Best of the West.

B – Neptune Mountaineering: Neptune Mountaineering holds a nostalgic place in many climbers’ hearts. Around for over 50 years, it has served as a gathering point and museum for mountaineers looking to explore more of their sport. It changed hands not too long ago, but the community spirit persists. You can also catch a lecture on climbing safety while checking out the museum collection in between buying new gear.

Golf Course

EC – Indian Peaks

B – Lake Valley

Gym

B – YMCA: Who hasn’t heard of the YMCA? An absolute institution, the local YMCA is known for providing the community with access to fitness and recreational activities for decades. Members of the public initially come for these services, but stay for the attentive staff, multiple membership types and a wide range of amenities, including child care. The thoughtful approach to YMCA continues to make it a top choice for those in our communities exploring fitness.

Rec Center

EC – Bob Burger: Bob Burger Recreation Center contains all the equipment and room of other centers but has an obtainable price point. The center maintains outdoor jacuzzis for an outdoor soak, and is minutes away from Lafayette’s finest museums, parks, and restaurants. It is a great stop for an outing with your entire family or simply to workout.

B – North Boulder Rec: North Boulder Rec Center remains easily accessible from public transportation offering all the amenities of other recreation centers. The University Memorial Center on CU Boulder’s campus is a ten minute ride to the Center’s front doors on the SKIP going Northbound. Students can easily utilize their bus pass obtained through the University for a hassle-free trip to the gym.

Ski Resort (Day Trip)

Eldora: Have a half an hour? If so, you can be in Eldora for a day of skiing. The resort contains terrain for skiers of all levels and typically hosts short wait times for tickets and lifts. The short drive makes the resort accessible from anywhere within the Denver Metropolitan area looking to become more active for many winters to come.

Ski Resort (Overnight)

Steamboat Springs: Ski Town USA, Steamboat Springs, is located nearly four hours from the city making it the perfect overnight adventure for the family. The proximity of the resort gives you access to a mountain town with shops, restaurants, and other activities. People also boast about the resort’s terrain and powder. You don’t know how to ski? No worries, the world class instructors will have you confidently making your way down the mountain sharing their love with the sport along the way.

Martial Arts

EC – Bennetts Karate: The Bennett family has taken pride in providing martial arts training to families in Lafayette since 1996. Owner and operator Richard Bennett and his family have traveled extensively to Okinawa and Japan to learn from the masters so they can teach you the art of Uechi Ryu and Kubudo authentically. This local dojo invites anyone interested to come experience culture and tradition in a rich, local environment.

B – Tran’s Martial Arts: Allison and Greg Zolun, owners of Tran’s Martial Arts, take fitness to the next level with programs primarily offered in Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. The dojo welcomes people of all ages, backgrounds, and they are welcomed with respect. This is a place of community where the only objective is reaching your goals and testing your limits.

Yoga Studio

EC – Soul Tree: When forced to close due to fire damage, Soul Tree continued to serve the community by hosting sessions in the park and offering online classes. Today, Soul Tree continues to advocate for those impacted by the fires by spreading their message of love to a rebuilding community. The studio maintains a healing space for those interested in taking your passion for yoga beyond physical ability and into mental rejuvenation.

B – Little Yoga Studio: Run by femmes, Little Yoga Studio has affordable options in-person and online, so you can fit yoga into your schedule anytime. Owner Kelly Elle Kenworthy is committed to the empowerment of people through yoga, and has hired instructors with just as much passion for your growth. The studio is devoted to making its walls safe for any person willing to take an explorative journey into the practice of yoga.

Pilates Studio

EC – Rocky Mountain Pilates: Do you find fitness spaces unapproachable? Rocky Mountain Pilates provides a calm, welcoming environment to increase your confidence in the studio. The instructors foster a judgment-free zone where they accommodate movements and intensity to match your desired outcome based on your own abilities. You can focus on learning techniques of pilates and yoga at your own comfort level.

B – The Pilates Center: The Pilate Center’s founders, Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Siegel, have been retaining the integrity of Joseph Pilates’ revolutionary vision for health and exercise in Boulder county since the 1990s. To fulfill the Taylor Sisters’ mission to heal the world, TPC offers courses to become a certified instructor with a direct lineage to Joseph Pilates himself.

Entertainment

Local Celebrity

EC – Bicycle Man of Erie: Is it the iconic beard? The Facebook videos? Or the fact that he offers free flat tire changes and has transparent pricing up on the website? Pick the reason, they all add up to a Local Celebrity award for the Bicycle Man of Erie!

B – Zoe Rogers: Zoe Rogers’ recognition in Boulder reminds fans the importance of giving a voice to women in an industry that is predominately male. Rogers observed the lack of female comedians and determined to make a change. As a founder of Boulder Comedy, Rogers has created a space outside the busy city and an opportunity for aspiring female comedians. The community benefits, as the shows provide a wide range of comedians no matter their gender.

Fair or Festival

EC – Lafayette Music Festival: For all the years we have lived here, we never thought we would say, “Did you make it to Lafayette’s music festival?” YS was proud to sponsor the inaugural Lafayette Music Festival. Five stages and a wide range of bands to listen to. We look forward to supporting it again this year, it was definitely that good. Runner-up: Lafayette Peach Festival

B – Boulder Creek Festival: For over three decades now the Boulder Creek Fest has defined the beginning of summer. Revitalized in 1998 by dedicated citizen Chris Bailey, it has been a fixture ever since. The festival adds a fourth day this year, growing in size and popularity, again taking the top spot in the Best of the West entertainment category. Parking is always crowded; try taking the bus into the festival this year to support the hundreds of artists who will visually and musically keep you entertained. Runner-up: Boulder Comedy Festival

Live Music Venue

EC – Nissi’s: Did you catch the October 2022 cover of YS? That was the new Nissi’s we featured. After years of serving East County with live music, the pandemic shut Nissi’s down in their original location. Imagine our surprise to see them open in their new location, bigger, badder and better than ever before. Nissi’s brings a first-class venue to our backyard and is showcasing great local music. Lafayette has become the place to be. Runner-up: The Muse

B – Boulder Theater: Inside its walls resides countless nights of incredible music from some of the most prestigious names. Bands from The Pixies to Gregg Allman have played here. Since 1906, Boulder Theater has been a treasure to our community, and we are grateful the ownership thinks so, too. Thanks for giving us another year of the music that makes our lives better. Runner-up: R Gallery Wine & Bar

Gallery

EC – pARTiculars: This co-op of local artists still offering free art classes for those affected by the Marshall Fire, pARTiculars is Lafayette’s top art market for not only buying a new piece but also learning how to craft them yourself. Building a community the right way, check out their featured artists of the month on their social media, or in person by stopping by the galleries yourself. Runner-up: Firehouse Art Gallery

B – BMOCA: BMOCA is celebrating 50 years of providing a space for significant art and artists from regional to international. Installations are always something to behold and a membership pass is a great way to continue to support this local icon, along with the votes for being the Best Museum. Runner-up: R Gallery Wine & Bar

Theater Company

EC – Coal Creek Theater Co.: Watching murder mysteries at home on Netflix is fine but Coal Creek Theater has an entire year’s worth of suspenseful plays to see during their upcoming 2023 “Killer Season”. Themed years, playwright competitions, and showcases help explain why they are the top theater this year, and have been an East County artistic fixture since 1990. Runner-up: Back Story Theater

B – Local Theater Company: Despite the name drawing generic Google search results, Local Theater is anything but. Keeping the American writing tradition alive, they are the only Colorado venue to exclusively show world premieres – every play is brand new. Offering a writing workshop to budding young artists, specializing in new American plays, and now in their 12th season, come audition for or watch an original show. They have two productions per year so plan accordingly. Runner-up: Butterfly Effect Theater Co (BETC)

Stage

EC – Nissi’s

B – eTown: Recognized as a “cultural contributor” when inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, eTown is founded on the simple yet oft-forgotten ideals of universal connectivity through music. The twist is that every show is accompanied by an in-depth conversation about things that matter – like politics or the environment. The solar powered hall broadcasts nationally and has hosted over 1,000 artists on their programs over the decades they have been around.

Arcade

EC – Quarters: It’s Saturday night, you’re holding a glass of your favorite brew in one hand and a skee ball on the other. After its grand opening, Quarters is a new destination that adds to the night life in East County, Colorado. The growth of arcade bars brings excitement to members online to revisit an activity left in childhood. Runner-up: Tilt!

B – Press Play: Part college bar, part arcade, this is the place to come if you want to drink and play video games without any kids running around underfoot. Closed on Mondays but with events every other night of the week, come let off some steam by smashing your friend in packman then taking a shot.

Museum

EC – Longmont Museum: Over the last 30 years Boulder County has seen tremendous changes to it’s population and towns. (Which is one of the reasons we are featuring them for our cover this year.) One of our first sources to cover the History of BOCO was the expertise at Longmont Museum. From live music, to indigenous exhibits, summer camps and discovery days, we are lucky to have the tremendous community hub. We’re glad our readers think so too. Runner-up: Lafayette History Museum

B – Museum of Boulder: This year YS is featuring the People’s History of BOCO, by featuring a different town each month. The Museum of Boulder is naturally a first stop for our writer to learn about the history of Boulder. While the MOB includes a gallery to house world-class traveling exhibits, an interactive Google Garage maker space and a separate children’s museum for our youngest visitors. Currently, they are featuring Black History of Boulder, but coming up is their famous Brewing the New West, because beer is as much a part of Boulder as its history. Runner-up: University of Colorado Natural History Museum

Pumpkin Patch

Anderson Farms: Pumpkin patches, fire pits, and… haunted houses. Not a plot in a Halloween movie but an experience discussed by locals who visit Anderson Farms. Of course, a trip to a farm isn’t complete without a corn maze, but don’t forget a map if getting lost isn’t part of your plans. Runner-up: Miller Farm

Health & Beauty

Day Spa

EC – Sunflower: When you’re wilted and worn, this spa gets you back to blooming. Try their incredible HydraFacials. They are the only spa that includes treatment for the sun damage-prone V-Neck area. Staff regularly is retrained to optimize each step of their one-of-a-kind service, resulting in skin that glows after treatment.

B – St. Julien: Offering world-class treatments in the heart of Boulder, this spa is known for delivering royal treatment. With impeccable customer service from booking to departure, this is everything a luxury spa should be. Indulge in all the amenities, including a sauna, steam room, and lounge with seasonal fruit-infused water, tea, and light snacks. Be sure to try the granola!

Facial

EC – Smooth Intentions: With a client base built on referrals from happy patrons, Smooth Intentions pairs 21 years of experience with locally sourced natural products to create a haven of relaxation and self-care. The trademark 75-minute custom facials focus on keeping skin clear and healthy to help all clients leave with a confident glow.

B – Leah Nickie Aesthetics: This is a facial that gives your skin what it needs! Leah only uses cruelty and paraben-free products that feature nurturing botanical and marine elements. Products are only selected after discussing skin concerns and a skin analysis under a magnifying lamp.

Salon

EC – Bevy Salon: Haircuts are a science at Bevy Salon. As an example, they are trained on not one but two cutting and styling techniques for curls—most places only choose one—and take the time to figure out which technique will best complement their client’s curl. This dedication to staying up to date on the latest and best techniques ensures that all clients get the look they crave, whether you have curly or straight hair.

B – Salon Fifty4Thirty: This woman-owned salon is named for Boulder’s elevation and is praised for their friendly inviting hometown atmosphere. Their stylists focus on fostering self-care for all their clients while making their hair look incredibly fabulous. Lean into your hustle and feel great about yourself at this amazing salon!

Barber

EC – Woodward Barbers: First-time clients visit Woodward Barbers for a great cut at a good price. They return for the retro vibe with just the right modern twists, stylists who are experts at their craft, and a just plain cool atmosphere. With over 490 google reviews at 5/5 stars, you can’t go wrong.

B – Hennepin Barbers: When you need a shave or style with a killer view you can’t go wrong with scheduling here. Clients rave about the amazing views of the Flatirons from each chair, the adorable shop dog Ru, and love leaving with a new style that’s (almost) as impressive as the view they enjoyed while getting it.

Massage

EC – Apex Massage and Recovery Lab: Apex focuses on massage for people whose muscles need more than light pressure and relaxing music. They want to get your body back to its top performance state, no matter if you’re hurting from a marathon or a weekend of gardening. With a rugged and stylish interior, this massage is anything but generic.

B – Siam Sensations: This is the only authentic Thai-owned massage spa in Colorado. Most of the therapists were even trained in Thailand, which is why they’ve won before! Thai massage is different. Therapists dynamically move their clients’ bodies to relieve pain. They also offer reflexology treatments that find and fix circulation problems in the body. This is holistic healing at its best.

Manicure/Pedicure

EC – Allure Nail Bar: Allure is your go-to for last-minute nail needs. They are a walk-in-friendly salon that will get your nails back to fabulous in no time. They offer manicures and pedicures – including gel polish options – and nail extensions including acrylics, silk wraps, and liquid gel nails.

B – J Lounge: J Lounge is the queen of healthy nail care! Their salon only uses two nail polish brands free of toxic ingredients like formaldehyde. Their pedicures are done without jetted tubs—the leading culprit of salon nail infections even with sanitization—and instead use beautiful porcelain basins with detoxing soaks featuring essential oils.

Medi Spa

EC – TIE – Sunflower Spa: While Sunflower Spa won two categories this year, this is not their first year winning. In fact, they have won over a dozen times. It might be because of the luxurious treatments in a beautiful spa setting, it might be because they have superb aestheticians and doctor on staff, but it might just be because they are in fact the best way to get away when you need one.

EC – TIE – Valar Aesthetics: With his quirky sense of humor, Dr. Bauer always makes his clients feel comfortable. When he looks at you he doesn’t see a face that needs “improving” he sees your natural beauty that you want to shine just a little longer. As a business he proudly supports our LGBTQ community, while being smartly conservative with our faces.

B – Boulder Plastic Surgery: Boulder Plastic Surgery is an ally to the trans and nonbinary communities. Our looks impact how the world treats us and how we see ourselves. Dr. Rouch offers gender-affirming procedures and ensures that all of his clients’ health needs (physical, mental, and emotional) are accounted for during their journey to reach their desired outcomes.

Chiropractor

EC – Chiropractic Center of Erie & Longmont: Our publisher has been seeing Dr. Dave since his days in Boulder (long before YS). He continually wins our Readers Choice because in her words, “the best hands in town.” But the Chiropractic Center of Erie and Longmont is about much more than adjustment, each treatment is coupled with deep tissue and nerve work, giving a full medical treatment to the situation.

B – Chiro Now: Chiro Now is the place to go when you can no longer stand that nasty crick in your neck. In 2015 Dr. Katcher returned to his home state after finishing his training at Palmer College–the first and largest training ground for chiropracty–2013. He’s worked with Olympic athletes, and is an expert at treating clients of all ages.

Veterinarian

EC – Jasper Animal Hospital: If you read our Chocolate, Donuts and Dogs article in June 2022, you will know BOCO is losing many of their small town vets to corporate buyouts. Jasper is one of the last of the locally owned and has been our favorite because of their caring touch for 20 years.

B – Arapahoe Animal Hospital: Members of the community for over 68 years, Arapahoe Animal Hospital cares for animals of all kinds every day of the week with day and evening hours. For over five decades, they have proven their veterinary excellence by being accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. Only 15% of vets are members!

Medical Center

EC – BCH Erie/Lafayette: For over 100 years BCH has been the place for healthcare in Boulder County. The Erie/Lafayette Medical center opened in 2019 to provide access to their world class care in East County. They care for people of all ages and offer everything needed to stay healthy, including an Urgent Care if you need stitches!

Medical Center & Hospital

B – BCH Boulder: BCH continues their winning streak for excellent patient care. People of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations praise BCH for caring for them as individuals and not numbers. They are able to adapt to our needs because they are a nonprofit owned by the community. Their many locations makes care efficient, effective, and easy to access. This is Boulder’s hospital. After CU Medical School moved its hospital to Denver, BCH opened as a community nonprofit hospital in 1922 and has cared for the community every day since. Recognized nationally for excellence in everything from stroke care to maternity care, you are in good hands at BCH.

Hospital

EC – Good Samaritan: I’ve had many family members treated at Good Sam, and it’s a beautiful hospital. Every staff member is focused on providing the highest quality of care for all of their patients and their families. The nursing staff is Magnet Certified for excellence (less than 10% of hospitals have this distinction!).

Dentist

EC – Greg Keene – Keene Smiles: Like Vets, Dentists are also getting bought up by big corporations. Thank goodness we still have Dr Keene. His down-toearth personality, exceptional staff and local vibe make his office one of the best, but his expertise is what makes it even better.

B – Rachel Barone – Gunbarrel Dental Center: Dr. Barone knows most people have anxiety about the dentist. She works hard with her team to foster an environment of compassion for her patients. Many find that they no longer fear visiting the dentist after becoming her patient!

Doctor

EC – Dr. Brad Brown and Dr. Sara Schuster – Strive: Dr. Brown and Dr. Schuster were fed up with insurance companies dictating how much time they had with patients. The solution? Strive – where patients pay a monthly fee instead of dealing with insurance, and all their healthcare needs are focused around them. It’s usually much cheaper, and your doctor is always only a text away!

B – Dr. Voss – Boulder Ortho: Doctors either have good bedside personalities or they don’t. Dr Voss has the BEST bedside but as a surgeon he is pretty well-known too, often called in for flight-to-life situations.

Tattoo

EC – Auspicious Ink: Atmosphere is key for creating art. Since 2008 Auspicious Ink has been honored to create high quality fully custom-curated body art for the community. Their studio is always spotless and filled to the brim with positive vibes. Their goal is to connect, collaborate and care for each human who enters their shop.

B – TIE – Rising Tide: Founded in 2005 as a one-man shop, Rising Tide has evolved into a multi-function space where both tattoo art and fine art (think canvases) can be enjoyed. They host both permanent and traveling artists in their studio. You’re sure to find something that suits your skin–or walls!

B – TIE – Boulder Ink: This is the oldest tattoo parlor in Boulder and a past winner! Today they host 5 artists with over 75 years of combined experience and are specialists in the American Classic style and large-scale traditional Japanese bodysuits. They always welcome visitors to hang out and check out portfolios even if there isn’t an imminent plan to get ink.

Shopping

Show Store

EC – Browns Shoe Fit: Service-oriented, charming store in historic Longmont has served the region since 1946. Huge selection of shoes, generations of local shoppers have gone to Browns for everything from running/walking shoes to flip flops. Runner-up: My Savings Grace

B – Pedestrian: A perennial winner. There are two locations of this family-owned business in Boulder, including on the Pearl Street Mall. Richard Polk founded this store back in the 70s and actually started it by selling Birkenstocks out of his van. This family-owned and run charming shop has an enormous selection of name brand footwear including Birkenstock and Chaco. The company supports nonprofits and local events: truly walking the talk. Runner-up: Shoe Fly

Eyewear

EC – Carbon Valley Eye Care: When Dr. Berger told us he was merging his practice with a partner and they were building the largest Center in the North Metro offering eyecare specialties like no other, we thought he might be crazy. But it turns out he knew exactly what he was doing as did Dr. Koditek. Carbon Valley Eye has a great selection of frames, but it is their expertise and specialities that make them stand out. We can see why readers keep voting them the best.

B – Envision: Patients love this practice for its wide range of services and large selection of glasses. Doctor-owned with friendly, attentive service. Post-op care for procedures like cataract surgery and more common care for contact fittings and eyeglass options. Online reviews are fantastic as well, confirming why they were voted Best of the West.

Jewelry

EC – Anspach’s Jewelry; Runner-up: Eric Olson

B – Angie Star: For a city with a rather famous reputation for expensive items, jewelry can actually come at many price points. Angie Star specializes in hand-crafted jewelry, much of it unique and custom-made… If you have gold or diamond jewelry that is collecting dust, the jewelers can apply the price of your old piece as a credit toward something new. Runner-up: Art & Soul

Fashion Boutique for Women

EC – Ivy Rose: It’s so exciting to be able to write about all the cool that has come to East County. Along with restaurants and stages we now have fashion. Ivy Rose has been affordably pairing us with the outfits that look best with their personalized shopping experience for 5 years now. It’s why they keep winning Best Fashion. Runner-up: Due South

B – Kama: While often overused as a term for fashion, Kama the store truly embodies what karma the word conjures up. Picture flowy dresses and tops, denim with embroidered flowers and beaded necklaces. Runner-up: Barbara & CO

Men’s Clothing

EC – Acme Fine Goods: Harkening back to Louisville’s rugged founding days, Acme is also named after a long running coal mine in the area. Whether you yourself are a grizzled outdoorsman or simply someone looking for an aesthetic that conveys images of pioneer Colorado, this is the spot.

B – Weekends: Staff is friendly and helpful when needed, but a bit stand-offish, perfect for men who don’t want to be followed around while they browse for clothes. Don’t want to browse? Shoppers can schedule a private appointment with a stylist.

Consignment Clothing

EC – Found Underground: Brightly lit, cozy shop with ample choices, particularly a large selection of jeans and bags. Consignments are selected by required appointments only and are only on the floor for a select amount of time.

B – Rags: If there is a teen or young adult (or young at heart) in your life, you’ve probably already heard about Rags. Top brands move fast. A destination for shoppers looking for a sustainable way to reuse and recycle. Rags includes top names like Chanel and Fendi. After six weeks, the entire floor is cleared of items guaranteeing a steady rotation of bags.

Shopping District/Center

EC – Downtown Lafayette: The shift from a rather sleepy downtown to a truly charming district with a small-town feel over the past decade has been nothing short of remarkable. Shoppers and diners will definitely run into acquaintances here, but it’s not a “see or be seen” type of district. Very down-to-Earth.

B – Pearl Street Mall in Boulder: It’s hard to believe closing the mall to car traffic was ever controversial. Worth it. Fresh, seasonal flowers cheer up the often-crowded mall most months of the year. Pro tip: Grab a meal or a cup of coffee before heading into Peppercorn, where one can browse cookbooks, hot sauces, linens, and gifts for hours.

Bookstore

EC – Read Queen: Owners Barbra Huntting and Deirdre Appelhans run and operate this woman-owned business, which sells new and used books. Come for the books (a surprisingly large selection given the unassuming modest looking storefront) and stay for the tea.

B – Boulder Bookstore: Follow them on Insta, where you will find events, the staff in ugly holiday sweaters, and the massive gathering of children in front of the store at the annual Munchkin parade. Along with author signings and a wide selection of books, it’s clear why Boulder Bookstore takes the top spot.

Florist

EC – Lafayette Florist: Oh, the service. The old school way of running a plant and flower shop: Shoppers will leave with everything they were seeking, and a million things they didn’t know they needed or wanted. Local delivery is available but the store is a riot of color. Large and spacious, filled with flowers and plants and pots and everything one needs.

B – Sturtz & Copeland: So pretty that flower fans will want to get married every week just to see what their florists can create. Houseplants tend to be long-lasting (depending on how green one’s thumbs are) and very fresh.

Kid’s Store

EC – Pitter Patter in Lafayette: The very definition of “shopping small.” Goods for babies through tweens, mostly clothes. If one has a child, or wants to give a gift to a child they love, Pitter Patter offers unique and interesting choices.

B – Childish Things: Start saying to consignment items for children, most of whom grow out of their gorgeous goodies faster than parents can say “I need to start saving for college.” Also offers new items. Tons of toys featuring Melissa and Doug and used Cabbage Patch dolls that may have mom or dad headed there for themselves. From Yelp: “I absolutely LOVE this place. It is quite impressive how vast the selection is. And how well intact everything is. I always find absolute gems. And I love to consign here.”

Gift Shop

EC – Purple Poppy: Even if the store looks small on the outside of its strip mall location, anything a gift-giver wants will be here. Kitchen towels, jewelry, soaps, and pots of jam. Amusing socks, local honey and a large selection of tea.

B – Sweet Ruckus in Boulder: Reviews from shoppers are very high, but its own social is a little lackluster — but who cares? Much more fun to browse in person anyway. Home goods and body care items are just a short set of offerings from this tidy shop in Boulder. Great, creative cards and paper goods. Very affordable.

Natural Goods

Vitamin Cottage: Oh, what to say? This is not your grandma’s hippie grocer — though they have all those goods as well. Rebranded as Natural Grocers years ago, most people still refer to it as Vitamin Cottage. Bulk foods, organic produce, meat (yes, they went there), vitamins and supplements and anything else you can think of. Buy some wheat berries. Pick up a sandwich. Get some pet food and paper towels.

Musical Instruments

EC – Monkton Guitars: Many fond memories of jamming on guitars, trying out new styles, and discovering a hidden gem of an instrument have been formed here at Monkton Guitars. Dave Williams’ love of vintage instruments led him to create a brick-and-mortar Monkton Guitars in Broomfield after decades of successful online-only sales. Its location has helped preserve some of the classic charm of a neighborhood guitar shop, something every budding young rock star needs.

B – Woodsongs: The music industry has transformed radically over the last 50 years but Woodsongs Instruments, Boulder’s longest running music store, has endured. From the soft-rocking 70s to today, (yes the 70s were 50 years ago!) the sound of choice may have shifted but the place to try out, buy, and care for your instrument is steadfast and beloved in the community, consistently voted as our Best of the West winner, Woodsongs.

Pet Supply

EC – Struttin Pup: Healthy food is the key to feeling well, even in animals. When your pup (or other pet) isn’t quite struttin’ their stuff, it may be time to take them to get a free wellness consultation at Struttin Pup. The hands-on and caring staff will guide you and your beloved pet back to their normal self, which is a huge reason why Boulder County loves them. Plus they only carry natural antibiotic free food.

B – PC’S Pantry: Who says a pantry full of nutritious food and fun treats is only for humans? Not PC’s Pantry, winner of multiple past Best of the West awards, with Mary Lee’s establishment again making an appearance this year. They’ve been around longer than Best of the West has, showing that compassion and quality make a huge impact for pet lovers.

Cannabis

EC – Igadi: Rewards programs aren’t the most exciting thing in the world, unless we’re talking discounts on bud. Igadi’s attempt to demystify the cannabis growing and producing process has helped show both the science and art that goes into crafting quality cannabis products even if the selection is limited to what they produce in-house.

B – Terrapin Care Station: If you’re planning to let your inspiration flow before seeing the Dead & Co. on their final tour, you need to stock up here. Founded in Boulder in 2009, reviews consistently mention quality concentrates as well as friendly budtenders with a great vibe. Terrapin does more than provide a high, they support the The Color of Cannabis and Entrepreneurship for All organization working on racial justice in the industry.

Quilting

A Quilter’s Corner: Even after 23 years of Best of the West awards we still find room for new categories. Introducing our inaugural quilting winner: A Quilter’s Corner. Many of us picked up hobbies over the past few years and A Quilter’s Corner is a well-established place for a variety of materials, classes, and even sewing machines to get you going.

Record Store

EC – Absolute Vinyl: Doug Gaddy is a veritable encyclopedia of music knowledge. With over 12,000 vintage records and facts to go along with each, Absolute Vinyl is Longmont’s ultimate resource for music enthusiasts. For those of us that believe the 50s – 80s were the height of music, this is your home.

B – Paradise Found Records: Another first for this year’s categories: Record Store. Obviously reports of vinyl’s death have been greatly exaggerated – BOCO has 5 record stores now. Paradise Found is Bart’s, rebranded, with owner Will Paradise moving the location back to Pearl Street – where Bart’s was originally first located. Owner Will personally visits the homes of people selling their records to find selections for his very popular downtown shop, which is always abuzz.

Neighborhood & Home Services

Neighborhood

EC – Old Town Louisville: Escape the metro bustle and connect with your small town roots in Old Town Louisville. A lot of character is packed into those five blocks including onehundred- year-old historical buildings, over one hundred businesses, pubs and a museum.

B – Old Town Boulder: There’s nothing like challenging capitalism through a neighborhood dedicated to its local artists. The grassroots cultivated, non-profit NoBo Art District hosts first Friday self-guided art tours, artist exhibits in local businesses, a community art event calendar and a local studio listing webpage.

Consignment Furniture

EC – Fabulous Finds Upscale Consignment Longmont: Find a new couch that will sit well with you at Fabulous Finds Upscale Consignment. For the few fashion-forward Coloradoans not rocking the lumberjack REI look, Fabulous Finds also sells upscale, consigned clothing brands including Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

B – Amazing Garage Sale Boulder: Trying to be the envy of your hipster friends? Find a stylish mid-century modern furniture piece at the Amazing Garage Sale, which is open daily. Peruse their furniture selection from home on their website.

Furniture

EC – Danish Furniture Longmont: Looking to get your ex’s furniture out of your house? Danish Furniture consigns furniture from the community. Along with their selection of consigned furniture, they also sell a collection of new Stressless Brand furniture and offer design services.

B – Arhaus Boulder: With incredibly wholesome values, Arhaus furniture is made from discarded materials like old mango trees that don’t produce fruit and recycled copper. Profits benefit community organizations like Habitat for Humanity and American Forests.

Home Furnishing

EC – Lottie Lane Erie: Born out of a local realtor’s COVID passion project, Lottie Lane features modern, heirloom pieces to decorate your home that encourage enjoying time at home with people you love.

B – Boulder Furniture Arts: Run by a small group of classically trained craftspeople, Boulder Furniture Arts takes the custom approach to making furniture from drafting to assembly. It’s proud to be one of Boulder’s oldest businesses.

Home Improvement

EC – Jax Lafayette Farm & Ranch: Jax is a yearly fan favorite with its large selection of gear designed for any Colorado adventure. The staff is friendly and helpful and can get you set up with tools for jobs as large as ranching or as little as gardening.

B – McGuckin Hardware: Feel empowered to start that home project you’ve been putting off with a trip to fan favorite McGuckin Hardware. Their excellent customer care inspires and helps customers accomplish their home project dreams along with providing miscellaneous services like lamp repair and blade sharpening.

Landscaper

EC – Outdoor Craftsmen: Outdoor Craftsmen brings eastern zen and western structure to your backyard inspired by a clean, modern take on formal English gardens. Whether it’s a seasonal cleanup or a backyard renovation, Outdoor Craftsmen cultivates your outdoor space dreams.

B – Ecoscape: If you dig sustainability, Ecoscape cares for the land through eco-friendly landscaping practices. Certified by Partners for a Clean Environment, Ecoscape offers both landscape services and broader stewardship projects like native revegetation and ecological forest management.

Realtor

EC – Brie Fowler at the Fowler Group: Having a sunflower as a symbol is perfect for the Fowler Group because working with Brie’s sunny personality makes buying a home so much brighter. They even hand out sunflower starter packs for your garden. The Fowler Group has been working with the community since 1960. Long before all the new houses were built. As a third-generation Realtor in the family and a multi-year winner of Best of the West, Brie Fowler and the Fowler Group know BOCO houses better than anyone else. 

B – TIE – Goodacre Group of milehimodern: Goodacre Group of milehimodern is the area’s oldest locally owned and operated real estate company and prides itself on being the local expert on the complex Boulder housing market.

B – TIE – Paul Dart: We can’t think of a kinder person to have won this year. Paul Dart’s soft-spoken nature makes working with him feel comfortable. But don’t let that kindly approach fool you. He is a pro at selling houses. Maybe that is why he proves a good realtor is a good friend.

Plumber

EC – Colorado Green Plumbing Longmont: Colorado Green Plumbing Longmont leaves out the sales pitch and provides knowledgeable technicians to help with plumbing needs. Colorado Green Plumbing offers a free plumbing inspection and low interest financing options.

B – Jim Needham Services: With over 30 years of experience in the Denver area, Jim Needham solves your plumbing needs quickly and without any additional service call fees and prompt, same-day service.

Contractor

EC – Cornerstone Homes: With press nods from New York Times to Boulder County Home & Garden, Cornerstone Homes are third-generation builders who have been building their craft for 20 years. Healthy relationships with clients are the foundation of their work to create living spaces that reflect individual needs.

B – Melton Design Build: A rare feat in the design build world is keeping on schedule and budget with no surprises. Melton Design Build offers clear and consistent communication and a clear timeline while building high quality homes.

Tree Service

EC – Reinholt: With the mission of protecting people and trees alike, Reinholt is a small family business offering tree care in Boulder County with an emphasis on safety and high quality work.

B – Berkelhammer: Fred Berkelhammer has been in Boulder County trees for over 30 years. As a top-rated arborist no one knows Colorado trees like Berkelhammer. But what makes this local organization even better is their desire to make the world a better, greener place.

Education

Place to Play with the Kids

EC – Wow! Museum: This multi-award-winning museum can add another Best of the West to its illustrious list. The museum uses a system of exploration, experimentation, and repetition to create curious learners looking to further explore their world. The Forest of Lights exhibit encourages children, of all abilities, to play in an environment designed by local occupational therapists for sensory exploration. At a low price, Wow! Museum is a great way to help your child become an engaged member of the Lafayette community.

B – Chautauqua: Want to spend more time outside? Nature and history collide at Chautauqua. It is a one of a kind place bridging the gap between the outdoors and education. The park is a place to be active in nature and learn about native plants in the onsite gardens or the history of its historical buildings.

Music School

EC – School of Rock: Sure you can play the hell out of your instrument at home, but what about getting on stage in front of a roaring crowd? School of Rock will teach you how to be a true performer. The Front Range possesses a vivid music scene where students at School of Rock get a taste of what it’s like to be a professional musician. Shift from genre to genre to find your passion, and you may find yourself rocking Colorado’s music scene.

B – The Lesson Studio: Owner and creator, Gary Gutierrez, creates a safe environment where music truly is for everyone. From vocal training to learning the viola, The Lesson Studio has more than a few options to get your student exploring music. The studio was created with one goal in mind: sharing your love for music. The approach of personalizing lessons with applicable practice techniques is designed to ensure the success of all students, so they can share music as a self-assured, creative person.

Summer Camp

EC – School of Rock: For a second year, School of Rock summer camps have won Yellow Scene’s “Best of the West.” It is no wonder School of Rock has been a consistent top pick for Colorado families. The school offers year round camps for musicians of all ages and abilities. Traditional camps solely focus on playing, but School of Rock incorporates confidence building to create self-assured artists on and off stage. Multiple locations mean you won’t have to drive all over town. Your time is a valued character at a reasonable price.

B – Renaissance Adventures: For the third year, parents chose Renaissance Adventures as the Best of the West summer camp for children of all ages. The camps develop skills of empathy and reasoning all while maintaining a creative, safe environment for your child to explore the benefits of experiential learning. The Adventure Quest program is built on this method. It uses exciting plots to engage its participants to navigate through difficult challenges and decisions with support.

Public School

EC – Pioneer Bilingual Lafayette: La Escuela Bilingue Pioneer es un BVSD leader in providing bilingual education for students. El mundo está cambiando. Pioneer Bilingual has a scientifically backed approach to help your student become proficient in another language. Read the reviews. Students love the atmosphere; parents love the approach, it’s why they keep winning.

B – Fairview: It’s not just our readers who voted Fairview the top highschool in BOCO, numerous national publications rank them as one of the best high schools not only in Colorado, but nationally. Known for its academic excellence and college preparedness they take 2023’s top position.

Private School

EC – Dawson School: Dawson School has served our community since 1970 with a mission focused on developing creative students with extensive problem-solving skills. Students and parents alike love the small class sizes. On average, each classroom only has 15 students, and is best exemplified in the Senior Honor Ceremony where the faculty recognizes each graduating student. Faculty and educators take this time to share stories or recognize students’ accomplishments at Dawson. The connections students make with their educators are long lasting and highly valued. It is a small school with a big emphasis on community.

B – Jarrow Montessori: Jarrow Montessori has been in the community for over 50 years providing a certified American Montessori education. The Montessori approach understands that each student’s development comes at their own pace and offers tools to formulate their own concepts Jarrow consistently shows parents their dedication to giving students a well-rounded education that goes beyond the white board.

Professional Services & People

Auto Repair

EC – Stan’s: Since 1984 Stan’s has been providing import and domestic auto and even RV repair in Loveland. Customers love the service they get from Stan and the crew, who continuously go above and beyond for their people. While Stan’s has won Best of the West, just about every year since YS began, their long commitment to community coupled with their trustworthy services has made them a local’s favorite year after year. Be sure to drive by the shop for their famous inspirational message on their sign.

B – Hoshi: Hoshi rarely advertises. Why would they when so many people share the word on this local Boulder repair shop that’s been around for 32 years? Winning Best of the West awards certainly helps, too. Honesty pays off. It’s pretty rare to find an auto shop with positive reviews but they pull it off.

Attorney

EC – Catherine Brown: Catherine has been helping folks with immigration for over 20 years. She has helped countless people make Colorado their home, sometimes even pro bono for those in need. According to reviews, Catherine’s clients feel respected, valued, and supported, like their case matters and she truly wants them to be her Colorado neighbor.

B – Barre M. Sakol, P.C.: Let’s be real, few people want to consult an attorney. Usually that means something is going very wrong. Barre uses his 30 years of experience to help demystify the process and guide you through the legal world so fraught with complications. The legal process can be difficult but your lawyer shouldn’t be.

Bank

Elevations Credit Union: As a nonprofit credit union, Elevations is able to represent the values of the people they serve far more than a typical corporate bank can (or will). This shows in their incredible community contributions ranging from setting up scholarships to community events and education, like “Get Off Your Donkey”, a presentation about wellness for people with desk jobs, a benefit bicycle donation drive, and informational finance workshops in Spanish. They have also been serving Boulder County residents so long they even have customers who still have a 3-digit account!

Auto Sales

B – Fowler Auto: Fowler Auto has grown from state to state across the South and Midwest, keeping a reputation for going above and beyond for its customers throughout its decades-long history. Even if you prefer to avoid dealership service, our readers love the service department at Fowler.

Non-Profit

EC – Sister Carmen: Sister Carmen has been there for everyone in need since 1978 and has distributed over a million pounds of food and household items, and over a million dollars in housing assistance with transparency, respect, and an open heart for all who come to them. The thrift shop is a great way to support this beloved community treasure and get yourself something fun.

B – Community Foundation: Boulder’s Community Foundation is not just for people, but all aspects of living. They hold dear concerns for the environment, as we have seen how the environment impacts people. Over the last year, they have been working steadily with other organizations to help those impacted by the Marshall Fire. They work to build stronger communities, through health, education, and leadership programs, in addition to charitable funding.

Politician

Joe Neguse: Congressman Joe Neguse takes the BOW vote from Polis this year! His dedication to veterans, equity, conservation, climate, education, and civil rights are deeply appreciated by the community. At only 31 years old, Joe Neguse was one of the youngest cabinet members ever to serve. Not only this, but his accomplishments and achievements are a long list of impressive feats, especially for a person of his age, beginning with graduating summa cum laude from the University of Colorado- Boulder.

Artist

EC – Wira Babiak: The art of Wira Babiak’s landscapes have a special essence. She does gorgeous paintings of the Colorado prairies that capture the raw spirit of East County. She is a multimedia artist with major talent across the board and has even brought the stunning fragile beauty of Ukrainian eggs to our area communities. As a Ukrainian immigrant, she is now using her art to benefit humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

B – Adderly Art: Adderly Grant-Lord’s vibrant pinks, blues, and yellows lift the spirit and echo of love. Her soul shines through her work, encouraging you to see, find, and feel true beauty. Her pieces in the Black Futures in Art: We’re Not Just History collection is a spectacular depiction of hope and vitality. As a Carribean-born artist with a background in fashion and art, she knows how to make colors pop and create divine aesthetics.

The post Best of the West 2023: Readers Choice appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Beginnings

A blanket of January snow buries many of the small gravestones. The taller memorials stand over the snow in gray or black marble. Thick evergreen tree trunks rise like pillars throughout the cemetery. The names reveal perhaps a surprising diversity in the town’s early residents. Hispanic, Eastern European, English, Greek, Japanese.

A prominent memorial commands attention, so I walk carefully between the graves, the snow crunching under my feet, until I stand before it to read the inscription:

“Lest we forget. At dawn on November 21, 1927, six union miners were killed at the Columbine Mine fighting for a living wage and a measure of human dignity. Five are buried here.”

Photo courtesy of Doug Geiling

Coal. It is the reason Lafayette exists. Seventy million years ago the land on which the Lafayette Cemetery was built, where I stand, was under a shallow inland sea. A great swamp formed. Tropical plants grew and died in the swamp, sending their remains drifting down to the bottom over eons to form a thick black muck. Under pressure, as the Rockies lifted, the muck hardened to become the Northern Colorado Coal Field. This energy reserve powered most of the Denver area for decades, and Lafayette was the epicenter of northern Colorado’s coal industry.

Those who exploited these coal deposits beginning in the late 1800s were preceded by hundreds of generations of others who used this land. Imagine a twelve-foot length of rope laid out in a straight line. Each foot of the rope represents one thousand years. The coal miners show up only about an inch from the end. Indigenous peoples account for the other eleven feet and eleven inches of the timeline. One of the earliest of these, the Clovis culture, took down massive beasts. A railroad crew in 1932 unearthed a pile of hunted mammoth bones near Greeley carbon dated to nearly 13 thousand years ago. A site near Rock Creek on the south edge of Lafayette was occupied six thousand years ago.

The Native Americans that the white man first met here were Cheyenne and Arapahoe. But they, too, were relative newcomers to the Front Range. The Cheyenne and Arapahoe had reinvented their way of life to suit the high plains environment after being forced to move west from their Great Lakes homeland due to European settlement in the previous century. Just as they arrived in the Front Range area, from points north and east, the first European fur trappers also appeared. Chief Niwot (which means Left Hand) already spoke English when he encountered the first gold prospectors at the mouth of Boulder Canyon in 1858.

The common story is that the Indians and the mountain men coexisted relatively well. Both survived off the land, were in tune with natural cues, and were reliant on reading the mercurial seasons. These interactions are romanticized by Americans but seen very differently by the tribes whose land they were encroaching on. Many tribes were relative newcomers to this area as well, surviving as hunter-gatherers due to necessity rather than choice.

Other interpretations see the mountain men as the first wave of colonizers, paving the way for further American expansion into lands already occupied. Agriculturalists from successful societies suddenly forced into a nomadic lifestyle by disease and disruption differ drastically from the early tendrils of entrepreneurial colonialism that were mountain men.

Everything changed drastically when gold brought hordes of prospectors and their hangers-on to the area in the late 1850s. By 1864 the mostly white settlers outnumbered the Cheyenne and Arapahoe by at least three-to-one. What happened during that time was disgraceful. It started with broken promises, progressed into coercing the Cheyenne and Arapahoe into ever smaller and less desirable territory, and culminated in wanton slaughter at Sand Creek where approximately 200 Native Americans, mostly women and children, were murdered by a 700-strong militia out of Denver. Among the dead was the ever conciliatory Left Hand.

Photo courtesy of Doug Geiling

As I walk through the cemetery, I try to imagine this place in 1864. There would have been no gravestones or structures and probably no trees. I envision an expanse of dry grass with low rolling hills extending for miles in every direction — high prairie. To the west is a clear view of the Rockies. In the foreground is a wagon road where 111th Street is today. This is the Cherokee Trail, and it passed right through what would later become Lafayette.

I imagine the earthy thumps of hooves on dirt, faint at first, building into a rumble as a six-horse team rides up from the south pulling a Wells Fargo coach. The party is headed north to Cheyenne. They would have recently passed through one of two stage stops not far to the south. I head that way from the cemetery.

From the Centaur Village neighborhood, I walk east on ice and mud along the beautiful Coal Creek Greenway. Just before the wide path reaches Highway 287 a spur trail breaks off to the right and crosses the creek on a footbridge. Here I find a historical marker for the “Old Laramie Trail Crossing.” I walk down to the snow-covered bank, leafless winter cottonwoods all around. The unfrozen creek pools into a dark swirl at my feet. I imagine in 1864 a group of tired and dirty travelers bent over the creekside at this very spot to wash sweat-stained clothing. By the time they arrive here they have already come a great distance for many weeks across a monstrous prairie wilderness under nothing but horse and foot power.

Photo courtesy of Doug Geiling

Photo courtesy of Doug Geiling

Just up the hill from the crossing is another historical marker near three big cottonwoods. It’s the old Waneka Stage Stop. Before moving his operation to the stage stop, Adolf (sometimes spelled Adolph) Waneka built a small cabin in 1861 near the bank of Coal Creek in what is now south Louisville. Although records are conflicting, some historical information suggests that he may have lived in a small cave near the creek until his cabin was ready. Waneka’s descendants are still in the area to this day, and every July 4th Lafayette residents celebrate their independence at Lafayette’s Waneka Lake.

In 1864, the future founder of the town of Lafayette would have been just a couple miles to the south at Rock Creek. Lafayette and Mary Miller, young twenty-somethings and pioneers from Iowa, set up a stage stop and tavern there. Unlike most of the other Lafayettes, Fayettevilles, and Fayettes scattered around the country, Lafayette, Colorado is not named after the French fellow who helped Washington win the American Revolution. The town is named for Lafayette Miller, or just “Lafe” to his friends and family.

Lafe, however, did not found the town of Lafayette. He drank himself to death (most likely) in 1878 at the age of 38. The real dynamo of that partnership in marriage was his wife, Mary. She was just nineteen years old when she ventured into the vast western wilderness of the Colorado Territory, chasing a dream born out of the 1862 Homestead Act.

When Lafe died, he left Mary with their six kids. Along with her brother, James Foote, Mary started many local ventures. In 1888 Mary subdivided her land, sold off the lots, often directly to other women at deep discounts versus the men, and the town of Lafayette was formed. Learning of massive coal deposits under her land, she worked smart deals with coal mining interests creating the passive income of royalties on the extracted coal. She became the first woman in America to head up a bank. She started Lafayette’s first school and hired its first teacher. Likely because of her husband’s alcohol addiction, Mary was a prohibitionist and made Lafayette a dry town everywhere east of Public Road, a rule that remarkably stood until the early 1980s.

The First 40 Years

Coal mining began in Lafayette in 1888 with the opening of the Simpson Mine in the southeast part of present-day Old Town Lafayette. The various coal mines in the area excavated a massive honeycomb of shafts, passages, and underground rooms. Walk around Old Town Lafayette, and you will be walking over places where, just a few decades ago, subterranean men in canvas hats and oil headlamps moved about like moles through a dangerous underworld of creaking mine timbers and wafting coal dust.

The life of a coal miner in those days was often brutal. The companies that owned the mines cared little for the wellbeing of the miners. In those days the predominant perspective of the mine owners was that, if a miner didn’t like the job, he was free to quit. The problem with this is that swinging a coal miner’s pick was often the only game around for a roughneck with a family of mouths to feed and few marketable skills. The mining companies knew this and put the miners into a de facto state of slavery, often paying them in scrip (fake money) that could only be spent at the company store. They offered them housing in the company town (The one at the Columbine Mine was ironically named “Serene.”) for which the miners became indebted to pay the rent.

Photo courtesy of Lafayette Library

The working conditions were dangerous — inhumane even. Since most coal mining was done in the winter, Sunday was truly “sun day” for miners. On all other days of the week, they would drop underground before sun-up and not emerge until after sun-down, never feeling the sun on their faces until Sunday just to do it all over again week after week. The miners also only got paid for actual mining work. If they needed to secure a bulging beam so their skull wouldn’t get crushed in a collapse, they were not paid for that work. This led to horrible accidents in the mines as desperate miners were loath to spend time on unpaid labor, called “dead work.”

These conditions inevitably led to revolt. Strikes broke out regularly which were often suppressed with brutal indifference to the miners by both the mining companies and the local and state authorities.

I learned a lot about Lafayette’s nationally instrumental coal mining labor movement from two great local historians and published authors, Nicholas Bernhard and Dr. Leigh Campbell-Hale. Bernhard wrote the historical novel “November in America,” and Dr. Campbell-Hale is the author of the 2023 book “Remembering Ludlow but Forgetting the Columbine: The Colorado Coal Strike of 1927-1928.”

Dr. Campbell-Hale is a coal miner’s daughter from the mines of Arkansas. Unlike in Arkansas, according to Dr. Campbell-Hale, Lafayette coal mining depended largely on immigrant miners. First, they came primarily from England and Wales. Then, in the 1910s and 1920s, a second wave arrived, often as strike-breakers, from all over the world — Eastern Europe, Mexico, Greece, Japan, and many other places.

Photo courtesy of Lafayette Library

In the 1910s and 1920s the town of Lafayette was filled with tension during strikes as clashes erupted between strikers and strike breakers (called scabs). In one such account, described in Doug Conorroe’s book “Lost Lafayette,” a great gun fight erupted between the two groups in east Lafayette in 1913. Apparently, while miners may be good with a pickaxe, they are terrible shots. Over one thousand rounds were fired, and the only fatality was a single horse.

It was during this time that Lafayette was also put on the map, literally. Before Eisenhower’s Interstate Highways, and even before Route 66, there was the Lincoln Highway. It was the first transcontinental automobile route. Thanks to the then recent designation of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915, local lobbyists convinced the Feds to route a south-to-north spur of the highway from Denver to Cheyenne right through Lafayette. It followed the same general route as the Old Cherokee Trail, right up 111th St. past the Lafayette Cemetery.

The combination of World War I and the route of the old Lincoln Highway resulted in the construction of the World War I pillars at Nine Mile Corner in 1928. It was part patriotic remembrance and part marketing scheme by the citizens of Boulder to encourage more traffic to turn left at this gateway and go to Boulder instead of Longmont. The pillars are a historical site, and they are under threat from development. They will likely need to be moved soon, and the Boulder Rotary Club is leading an effort to organize that work. At a recent town forum on the project it was confirmed that there is a time capsule in the south pillar. Legend has it that a live toad was placed in it. When the pillars are moved and restored, the contents of the time capsule will be revealed. Hopefully, it will not be a mummified toad.

Photo courtesy of Doug Geiling

As the World War I pillars went up, so did the burning crosses. Throughout much of the 1920s and into the 1930s the Ku Klux Klan menaced minorities and Catholics in Lafayette and the state of Colorado. On July 4, 1923, the fireworks show in town was a burning cross on a hill just east of Lafayette. Extensive local Klan membership included William Lafayette Miller, Mary Miller’s grandson, who once led a Klan parade from the saddle of a white horse through downtown Lafayette. In the mid-1920s most of Lafayette’s city council, volunteer firefighters, teachers, school board members, and Mayor Lee Baker were members of the Klan, as was Colorado governor Clarence Morley.

On November 21, 1927, six miners on strike were killed by gunfire from state rangers in plain clothes as violence erupted at the gates of Erie’s Columbine Mine. Dozens of others were injured. But out of this tragedy came progress. Shortly after the massacre, Josephine Roche took over majority ownership of the mine and implemented some of the most progressive labor policies of the time. This set an example for other heavy industries to follow. After running for Colorado governor in 1934 Roche served in Franklin Roosevelt’s cabinet as the second woman in American history to hold a cabinet level position.

The Last 100 Years

By the 1930s, coal was in decline with natural gas taking its place. The Great Depression and then World War II did not allow the town to relax from the trauma of its coal mining heyday. Coal mining continued into the 1950s before petering out completely. By then Lafayette had become a sleepy hub for local agriculture and a bedroom community for a growing Denver-Boulder metropolitan area.

Jerry Morrell, founder and owner of long-time local business Morrell Printing and President of the Lafayette Historical Society remembers what Lafayette was like when he first moved to town in the mid-1960s. In those days, if you lived in Lafayette, you did your business there. You got your groceries, did your banking, and bought your appliances right in town. High school kids cruised up and down Public Road on weekends. “It was American Graffiti,” said Morrell. Instead of a Mel’s Diner there was an A&W. It was classic mid-20th-Century Americana.

By then Lafayette had become a sleepy hub for local agriculture and a bedroom community for a growing Denver-Boulder metropolitan area.

One of the culminating local events of this era was the epic rivalry between Lafayette and Louisville High Schools. As Morrell described it, they had to stop football games between the two schools due to the fights, not between the students, but between the parents. In 1968 some kids from Lafayette prematurely burned down the bonfire pyre at Louisville High School. Louisville kids retaliated by setting fire to the press tower at Lafayette High.

Then things changed. Malls and big grocery stores went up in surrounding communities, and local stores closed up shop. Centaurus High School was built in 1973, mixing the student population and ending the rivalry. Downtown Lafayette became a place that you drove through to get somewhere else. “Nobody walked up and down Public Road in the 1980s,” said Morrell. “No one had any reason to.”

Morrell recognizes the similarities between the new vitality of today’s Lafayette and that of the 1960s, although the nature of it is different. Back then Lafayette was a town of necessity. You went to town because that’s just where business was done and where local life happened. Now it’s a town of choice. We go to Old Town for the atmosphere and a sense of nostalgia, choosing that local, small-town experience over the suburban big-box sprawl down the highway.

Long-time resident Bill Gougler moved to town in 1979, recruited by Storage Tech which was building offices on Lafayette’s west side. I learned from Gougler that, in the 1980s, the west side of Lafayette was a boomtown. People were moving in to fill new jobs in the burgeoning tech scene of the 1980s and housing developments like Indian Peaks were going up. But the boom was bypassing downtown Lafayette as Louisville arguably benefited more from Lafayette’s west side growth.

As I was speaking with the very enthusiastic Mr. Gougler, his wife Barb jumped on the phone to tell me about the origins of what became the world’s largest annual oatmeal festival. Started in 1996, the Lafayette Oatmeal Festival was just a crazy idea to get people back into downtown Lafayette, and it arguably worked.

Back then Lafayette was a town of necessity. You went to town because that’s just where business was done and where local life happened.

In the 1990s there was concern in the town that the Highway 287 bypass would hurt the town’s economy by directing thru-traffic away from Public Road. According to Gougler the bypass was a blessing because it allowed downtown Lafayette to become a bonafide destination. Before the bypass, Public Road was just an exhaust-choked thoroughfare as motorists squeezed through town to get somewhere else but never having any reason to consider stopping in Lafayette.

Lafayette’s current mayor and Angevine Middle School teacher, J.D. Mangat, was born in Lafayette just twenty-seven years ago, the son of Indian immigrants. Mangat told me that, despite popular belief, Lafayette is not currently experiencing high levels of population growth like it did in the 1990s through the early 2000s. Now it is growing inwardly, figuring out what it really wants to become.

Mayor Mangat was proud to point out that “Lafayette currently has the most diverse city council in the history of Boulder County.” Reflecting on that comment I thought it to be a perfect closing to this brief journey through the town’s history. Lafayette is originally a town of immigrants who came here to find a life, but through their struggles, they built a legacy. Like the high school kids who used to cruise down Public Road, Lafayette is a town that is now coming of age. Like the mayor said, it’s time for the town to grow internally, to leverage its rich legacy, and finally come into its own.

The post Lafayette: Out of the Coal Dust appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

As ageism in the workplace persists, major demographic shifts will force employers to rethink the value of an older workforce that isn’t ready to hang it up, or able to.

Pulitzer and Nobel prize winning author Pearl S. Buck once said that “to find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” Another great writer by the name of Mark Twain is credited with saying that “age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

The latter half of our lives is said to be a time of getting things right. We spend our youth figuring out how to live so that we can spend our seasoned years enjoying life. And many people believe that a big part of enjoying life is finding purpose and knowing that you’re doing something valuable.

Purpose later in life, of course, looks different for everyone. But that’s the blessing of aging. By the time we are nearing a traditional retirement age, many of us are fully discovering what is truly important to us and what brings us joy and fulfillment. With a little luck we find ourselves in a position to pursue these things, perhaps even as a second career.

For many older people, that pursuit of purpose involves some form of employment. Retirement isn’t what it used to be. Many people are staying healthier for longer. When we are in our 60s and still going strong, there’s no reason to stop chasing dreams and finding a purpose for decades to come.

This also might be the perfect time for a new chapter. The kids are grown up and on their own, financial options are often more accessible, and we’ve had the time to think about what we really want to do with the rest of our lives. For many older Americans, the thought of spending the golden years in a rocking chair just doesn’t cut it. We still want to be in the arena, not watching from the booth.

Lisa Jensen, program manager at Workforce Boulder County, confirms this. “Older adults want to be engaged in the world in a meaningful way,” she says. “And a lot of older people are very enthusiastic about it.”

However, getting back into the job market at 65+ can be intimidating. Things have changed dramatically in the internet age, and older job seekers can feel overwhelmed by this. It can seem easier for someone of the younger generations to navigate today’s job seeking landscape because they have come of age in the current technological environment. For someone who may not have submitted a resume in 20 or 30 years, it can seem like a whole new world out there. Add to that the reality that age discrimination is real. At 65 or older, how does one convince an employer that they are right for a job that might typically go to someone in their 20s or 30s at half the salary?

Workforce Boulder County is there to help with this. Jensen advises that the situation is a two-way street. While employers should consider the unique benefits and value that an older employee can bring to the table, older job seekers should also go about it with the right mindset.

Many older job seekers can legitimately claim a wealth of knowledge and skill. While it is important to highlight that, Jensen advises that older job seekers and employees should also be willing and eager to learn with an open mind from their younger colleagues. If you are an older job applicant, chances are that the person interviewing you for a job will be younger, possibly significantly so. A good approach to ease any age concerns is to subtly convey an eagerness to learn from others while offering the balance of more experienced insight. Jensen believes this can be a killer strategy.

Updating hard skills is also a great idea, and this is easier to do now than ever once we know where to look. To help with that, Workforce Boulder offers extensive skills training options funded by ten grants for retraining programs. Their offices also offer free on-site access to LinkedIn training courses. Many of these courses come with valuable credentials that can be displayed on LinkedIn profiles and resumes. These don’t have to be time-consuming undertakings as many LinkedIn courses and other similar options are surprisingly efficient.

When it comes time to apply for a position, as we all know, we must have that polished resume in hand. Workforce Boulder can help here as well. Jensen recommends that older job hunters put some thought into how to target their resume for the desired position. A laundry list of all the jobs you’ve had in 35 years is probably less effective than a one- to two-page narrative that tells your unique story and highlights why you are perfect for the job.

On the other side of the two-way street is the employer. Age discrimination in the workplace has been recognized for decades, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 put workers aged 40 and over in a protected discrimination class. But workplace age discrimination and ageism are difficult to prove, and the law alone is not enough to counter the more subtle cultural biases ingrained in our workplaces.

Janine Vanderburg is the director of Changing the Narrative Colorado, an anti-ageism advocacy and awareness organization. Her team digs deep into the issue of ageism in America, and Vanderburg has personally led 42 workshops on this subject across the state since 2018. Vanderburg and her team are convinced that many employers are missing a major opportunity by undervaluing older workers and applicants.

“We need to educate employers on what they are missing out on,” said Vanderburg. To that end, her team created a presentation called “A Business Case for Older Employees.” The idea is to focus less on the legal issues and more on the business opportunity. Vanderburg said this is an easy sell once she is in the door. “When we educate employers about the business case, most of them get it.” Nevertheless, the preference for “younger” talent persists. “In the workplace there is a belief that younger is better,” said Vanderburg.

These biases permeate through our working culture in more ways than one. Ageism in the workplace can be overt, but more often it is subtle. Vanderburg explained to me three categories of ageism: institutional, interpersonal, and internalized.

The institutional aspect involves specific policies or actions that result in ageist decision making. One example is the practice of expecting job applicants to state the date of college graduation which circumvents laws that prohibit employers from asking for a birth date. Changing the Narrative Colorado is lobbying to update the law to prohibit requiring a graduation date.

Interpersonal ageism is more subtle and could be found in the exclusion of older employees from meetings or comments that allude to someone approaching retirement regardless of whether said employee wants to retire. These put-downs are often unintentional but damaging nevertheless.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

The third category, internalized, is found in self-deprecating discussion about one’s own age. It seems older employees sometimes feel the need to play along with subtle allusions to their age in a no-harm-done kind of water cooler banter. This should sound familiar to most people who work in an office environment where it is common to hear older employees making light of their own advanced age. These comments may seem disarming, but they can contribute to reinforcing the institutional and interpersonal ageism that can result in real discriminatory consequences.

These nuances are part of the education that Vanderburg and her team at Changing the Narrative Colorado seek to convey during their presentations. But Vanderburg also believes that the younger-is-better mindset is not sustainable in our current and future economy because of demographic changes. Birth rates are low, and people are living healthier for longer than ever before. At the same time the Baby Boom generation is now reaching peak retirement age. This is all contributing to a labor shortage that is likely to persist and intensify.

In 1960 the United States had a young population with a large cohort entering the labor market and a much smaller number of people over 65 drawing pensions and social security. The predicted demographic curve a century later, in 2060, is dramatically different. Our current wave of retiring baby boomers will not be replaced with equivalent numbers by the smaller generations following their footsteps. As a result we are heading into an era where the elders make up a large part of the population.

This has substantial implications for our society. Under current traditions where people generally retire between their mid-50s and mid-60s this demographic shift would put enormous pressure on the economy and social safety net. Essentially, fewer wage-earning and tax-paying workers would have to provide the revenue base to meet the growing needs of an enormous retired class. These demographics alone force us to re-think what it means to retire. As Vanderburg told me, “America is aging, and no one will be able to fill a talent pipeline with only younger workers.”

Despite this looming challenge that is already beginning to impact our economy, ageism in the workplace is still prevalent. A 2018 ProPublica and Urban Institute study found that half of older American workers are pushed into retirement before they are ready. This includes people who got laid off as well as those who report being nudged out the door in other ways. When these not-ready-to-retire workers then try to get back into the labor market, they are often surprised by the difficulty in finding comparable employment. These people are often at the pinnacle of a career with more skills and experience than their younger competitors. But the study showed that only one in 10 of them are able to return to their prior earning level.

A 2020 AARP study indicated that 78% of older employees say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Dishearteningly, this is the highest percentage since AARP began tracking this metric in 2003. When Resume Builder surveyed 800 hiring managers, four in 10 admitted to age bias when reviewing applicants.

This must change. Our economy will be unable to tolerate the continuation of age discrimination in the workplace. We will go from pushing older workers out the door to begging them to come back. The time to change the narrative and find ways to embrace older workers is now. It is a huge opportunity all around for the economy, employers, and especially for older Americans who want to stay in the arena as we live longer, healthier lives.

The post Hired at 65! appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Boulder Police Oversight Panel Meetings
This December 15th, 2022 City Council meeting is to appoint the new Panel.

In 2014, Boulder residents shut down 28th St. to protest Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson’s killing of Black teenager Michael Brown. They formed a large circle in the middle of the intersection and held their hands up high in the “hands up, don’t shoot” posture.

These Boulder citizens had gathered around a cause many of them had the privilege to ignore given Boulder’s majority-white demographic. It also caused the community to look inward at its own policing. The resulting increased scrutiny has led Boulder down a path of self-reckoning. It seems there is much more to be done, however.

“That was kind of the first time I saw that people in Boulder were getting activated over issues of race, and policing, and killing of Black and Brown people,” said NAACP Boulder County Branch’s Criminal Justice Chair, and Attorney, Darren O’Connor. “I started to see how [the] police reacted. At first they were supportive, and this is sort of a pattern with policing: they’re supportive of the First Amendment, but as soon as you push any sort of boundaries, such as shutting down a road, they start to show their true colors.”

But there were some disturbing incidents related to the Boulder Police Department’s handling of some of the protesters. According to O’Connor, a car ran over a young Latino protester’s foot. When the young man came to the police for assistance he was mistakenly arrested for a warrant that belonged to an older white man. A Black protester who came to aid the injured Latino protester was also arrested.

Although Black people represent only about one percent of Boulder’s population, they account for six percent of total arrests. Latino people make up about 13 percent of the county’s population. Latinos make up 22 percent of all criminal defendants according to a study by the Vera Institute of Justice, whereas white people make up 78 percent of the county’s population and 72 percent of total criminal defendants. Possible racial disparity in Boulder County’s policing is part of a larger concern about overall police conduct, policy, and oversight.

During the protest, O’Connor and others went to the police station only to find that the first arrested protester had been “snuck out the back” and driven back downtown, according to O’Connor.

“To me, that was showing that they were aware of their culpability of having unlawfully arrested this guy,” O’Connor said. “They were worried about people getting upset, so they released him and snuck him out.”

Seth Franco

More recently Boulder has paid out several settlements to victims of police misconduct as reported extensively by Shay Castle of the Boulder Beat. In 2021 Boulder was ordered to pay $3.41 million to the family of Seth Franco, who was on probation for assaulting an officer. Police visited Franco for a welfare check due to suicidal comments he made during his job at Dushanbe Teahouse. Franco cried when officers immediately arrested him instead of addressing his mental health concerns. Franco reported being mentally troubled by the initial and subsequent arrests and later committed suicide.

“As usual, the police department makes no admission of guilt, even though they lost that case,” O’Connor said. “They just never admit that they could have done things differently.”

Most recently, Boulder City Council agreed to pay Coleman Stewart $1.3 million in July 2022 for a 2014 incident. Stewart ran from a cab after arguing with the driver over the small fare. Police officers followed him home and shot Stewart twice. After initially being convicted of menacing, Stewart was later exonerated on appeal based in part on questionable testimony by the officers involved, as reported by Westword.

Zayd Atkinson

In 2019 Boulder Police Officer John Smyly made himself nationally famous when he accosted Black Naropa University student Zayd Atkinson while he was picking up trash around his home, ending in a $125,000 settlement to Atkinson. Former Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa retired shortly after the Zayd Atkinson incident and was replaced by Chief Maris Herold.

“She gets touted all the time as a progressive police chief doing great things, but in reality, she’s opposing actual legislation and [supporting] policy that we know is the most harmful about policing,” O’Connor said.

Chief Maris Herold

For example, Herold publicly opposed Senate Bill SB21-062 by testifying at the State Capitol. The bill aims to curb pretrial incarceration for minor crimes. Before a trial, those with financial resources can be bailed out, leaving less wealthy people stuck with the ramifications of losing their jobs and homes while spending time in jail.

“Chief Herold of Boulder, without any permission from staff or counsel, went down to Denver to the legislature and spoke at a committee to say how bad [Senate Bill SB21-062] was,” O’Connor said.

Herold also proposed that a Boulder Police Officer be allowed to work part-time for the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, with approval from City Council. This is an issue because of the context of racial discrimination and unequal policing. Community distrust stems from historical and present issues with the FBI. The city moved forward with Boulder Police working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force despite the opposition of the 25 community members who attended the public hearing.

“If you look at the history of the FBI they’ve been a very anti-Black organization that is known to [have] organized the murder of Fred Hampton from the Black Panthers,” O’Connor said. “Communities of color and other marginalized communities showed up unanimously to say they were against partnering with the FBI, and [the City Council] still [approved a Boulder Police Officer’s work with the FBI]. It was never about what the community wanted. It’s always about getting more access to tools to direct the powerful policing system against the very people they claim they’re protecting.”

In 2005 the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado released documents confirming that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Denver was targeting and harassing peaceful activists.

“To have the FBI going after people like that is not acceptable, and certainly we don’t need to create volunteers from our police force to be part of an organization that behaves like that,” O’Connor said. “The FBI claims they stopped the illegal practices, but there was no punishment. They thought it was OK until they got caught.”

Recently leaked FBI documents reveal the FBI surveils what they call Black Identity Extremists, which the Bureau asserted are likely to target law enforcement officers. The ACLU filed a lawsuit, and the FBI admitted there wasn’t a threat from these organizations to warrant the dangerous rhetoric.

According to O’Connor, for local people of color, this is akin “to be[ing] told by white politicians, and a white chief of police that they know what’s in their best interest and what they consider is in the Black community’s best interest is to work with the historically and presently racist organization that spies on them.”

Boulder police oversight panel

In 2020 following the wrongful executions of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police, coupled with the other local incidents involving Boulder police described in this article, Boulder finalized Ordinance 8430. The ordinance established the Office of the Independent Police Monitor and the Boulder Police Oversight Panel.

Two years to the day from the panel’s founding, board member Martha Wilson resigned in protest over lack of transparency and an organizational structure that had the fox guarding the henhouse.

Martha Wilson

“For nearly the last two years, the limitations of the current ordinance have constrained the Police Oversight Panel to a key-sized amount of information sharing with the public as seen in the contents of the 2021 annual report,” Wilson wrote in her official resignation letter sent to YS. “On the two-year anniversary of the ordinance’s adoption, that key-sized sliver of information was reduced further to the size of a pin, and I, Martha R. Wilson, resigned in protest.”

Wilson stated that a recent misconduct investigation opened internally against a BPD detective with “a large number” of open complaints that have not been investigated was a direct reason for her resignation. The oversight panel conducted its own investigation and recommended that the detective and four supervising and managing officers involved be terminated. The department instead settled on small suspensions that lasted less than a week. Wilson believes this is nowhere near the appropriate misconduct action level.

During the Dec. 8, 2022, Police Oversight Panel meeting, which is open to the public, O’Connor quoted Boulder City communication manager Shannon Aulabaugh’s recent statement defending Chief Herold’s decision to go against the panel’s recommendation for officers committing serious policy violations: “disciplinary action of the police is intended to be corrective rather than punitive.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if people that were arrested were treated this way as well?” O’Connor asked.

Conflicts of interest

The fox that was guarding the henhouse in this situation was the Office of the Independent Police Monitor. Until Sept. 2022, that position was held by Joey Lipari. According to the ordinance, the police monitor trains the Police Oversight Panel.

But according to O’Connor, “He (Joey Lipari) was very close with the chief of police, and the police union talked about how great they were. [He] just seemed never to meet a police officer he didn’t want to defend. You have the police monitor who’s also supposed to be independent, who’s anything but, training the Police Oversight Panel telling them what they can’t do, and then the Police Oversight Panel is supposed to do oversight of the police monitor.”

Furthermore, the BPD and the oversight panel have been advised by the same attorney, Teresa Tate, since October 2021. We reached out to Tate for comment on how the city attorney handles the potential conflict of interest between the two parties it represents and did not receive a response.

O’Connor also strongly encouraged the panel to seek legal advice from attorneys who are independent of the city: “The conflict of interest [of] being advised by the same attorneys that defend the police has been evident for some time,” O’Connor said. “This arrangement appears to be leading to you all having your voices silenced. Most importantly, I’d like to encourage the community to be at the table for training on police oversight models and to revise the city ordinance from police oversight in Boulder. These revision efforts need to be public, transparent, and inclusive.”

To bring these points home succinctly, O’Connor urged the panel before his two minutes of speaking time ran out at the meeting: “Building friendships with the police is not your job and creates an appearance of a lack of independence. I encourage you to build relationships with the community and not the cops you oversee.”

Revising the ordinance

New panelists are being onboarded now as part of the revision process. Wilson now works outside of the panel with community members to revise the ordinance. She hopes that, in addition to community input, she can collaborate with members of the Boulder Police Officers Association and people working for the city. (We could not find a website for the Boulder Police Officers Association but they did release this statement in 2020:

“Every officer at the Boulder Police Department was appalled at George Floyd’s death. It was a horrific act and the exact opposite of what good police officers do,” Bliley wrote. “The idea that those who swore to protect and serve would act in such a way is particularly horrifying to those of us who strive daily to support, defend and enforce the laws of Colorado.”

While the Boulder Police Officers’ Association acknowledges the existence of racism and is not “blind to its corrosive influence,” Bliley wrote, “we soundly reject the idea that law enforcement should be judged by the actions of the worst examples of our profession.”

“The Boulder Police Department is well ahead of many of our peer agencies when it comes to training and policies that deal with bias,” he wrote, claiming that the department, several years ago, already adopted almost all of the policies and requirements outlined by Senate Bill 20-217.

Like other members of the panel, Wilson represents the everyday people of Boulder. She is an activist, a caseworker, and former social worker for the State of Colorado until 2022.

“I’m hoping that in my decision to give up my vote, I can not only speak out but really, really hone in on gathering the public to help rewrite that Ordinance [8430] in a very quick turnaround so that next month, when the new panelists come on board, they actually get to do the things that were envisioned for this panel to do,” Wilson told YS.

YS reached out to other members of the panel who addressed Wilson’s resignation. “We have new panelists coming on very soon,” current panelist Hadasa Villalobos said during the Dec. 8 open meeting in regard to Wilson’s resignation and the Panel’s plans moving forward. “Timing just worked out that we brought on new people. As far as her reasons, we definitely all agree that there are major gaps and are hoping that we can help to address those gaps. We look forward to working with Martha on helping us in the future and any other members of the public that would like to join.”

The new panelists are slated to be approved at this Thursday’s City Council Meeting on Dec. 15 when their names will be announced, according to an email sent to YS from Leonard.

Transparency

In addition to the apparent conflicts of interest, the panel also was fraught with a lack of transparency, according to Wilson. Wilson believes that restricting information allows the BPD to conceal from the public many facts pertaining to its internal operations.

“There has to be a very clear understanding that minimizing [public information sharing] for the comfort of the person who did the harm is wrong,” Wilson said. “The people and the impacted community members need always to take priority. That needs to be clear because [BPD’s] mission is to protect and serve. If they’re not doing that, that needs to be made available in a way that people can understand the gravity and impact.”

According to Wilson, there was also a systemic lack of committed support for the objectives of the panel. “We were routinely reminded that anything we said could be used against us,” Wilson said. “We were told that it was optional whether or not the city attorney would defend us should we be sued. That exact wording felt very much like suppression at the time.”

Wilson felt that serving on the panel was performative if only half of the intended work could be accomplished due to the limitations of the ordinance, the conflicts of interest, and the lack of transparency.

“Whenever people are standing up against large systems, there’s a lot of fear,” Wilson said. “But this panel was literally designed to help provide civilian input and present accountability to law enforcement, to keep that pipeline open to the public, because we are the public.”

City of Boulder’s response

We reached out to the Boulder Police Department and the City of Boulder for comments on the settlement cases referenced in this article as well as the issues related to the oversight panel, including Wilson’s resignation in protest.

While we did not get answers to all of our inquiries, the City of Boulder provided this statement:

The City of Boulder values transparency as well as the oversight that was envisioned with the creation of the Police Oversight Panel. The recent disagreement about discipline in a particular case, as well as the resignation of Martha Wilson, has demonstrated the need for further community conversation.

There is currently a level of confidentiality that panel members are required to uphold in relation to cases they review. This limits what the panel, collectively, and individual members can disclose about specific situations. The Boulder Police Department, however, has released information about the recent case and will continue to do so in upcoming weeks on a schedule that recognizes the officers’ due process rights.

We anticipate having a meaningful discussion in early 2023 that will revisit the issue of roles and what panel members can share publicly. We welcome robust discourse around these questions. All perspectives on them are welcomed.

You are correct that the City of Boulder has agreed to settlements in some police-related lawsuits, including those you cite. When a city chooses a settlement, this usually reflects a risk assessment about the likelihood of success in litigation as well as potential penalties. The city did not accept fault in either of the lawsuits filed by the family of Seth Franco and Coleman Stewart, so we do not agree with the characterization that misconduct occurred.

As for any potential conflict, per the City Charter, the City Attorney’s Office is charged with representing the city organization and all entities within that organization, including boards and commissions, working groups and panels. The office is accustomed to identifying when a conflict may exist and takes measures to address that.

Lastly, our communications staff list is current and correct. My team provides media support on weekends for emergencies and breaking news but does not have capacity to monitor or respond to interview requests for ongoing matters outside of typical business hours.

Sarah Huntley

Communication and Engagement Director

City of Boulder

Going forward

O’Connor remembers when he was just a person concerned with the rights of people experiencing homelessness due to the housing crisis in 2008, which disproportionately affected people of color. Now he says he has no choice but to see the racism persisting around him today.

“I just think that our city of Boulder would be so much better if, for example, when a complaint comes in, instead of just turning it over to attorneys to just defend, defend, defend, our city council members could be included in the decision making, and maybe be able to look at a complaint and think, ‘Gosh, this really isn’t the police force that we want,” O’Connor said.

“Instead of saying we didn’t do anything wrong and defending against it, delve into making things better, which would be a big shift in the model of policing. For Boulder congratulating itself on being so progressive, our city attorney’s office and our police are no better than any other police force when they’re called out for violating civil rights. They dig in, say that they did nothing wrong and fight, fight, fight to maintain the status quo of what they’re doing. That’s not progressive.”

Wilson’s resignation does not mean she’s done fighting for police reform in Boulder. She is one of the contenders for the police monitor position.

“I think more people should actually share when they’ve applied to things because a lot of time the sentiment in Boulder, in particular in the workforce, has been, ‘Well we don’t have people of color applying,’” Wilson said. “I know that’s not true because I definitely apply to a variety of things.”

Wilson thinks some Black applicants are getting screened out before they get an interview when applying for jobs in Boulder, so she wants to make her running for the monitor position clear to the public.

Wilson is inspired by the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote: “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find a voice in a whisper.”

The post Two years after the Boulder Police Oversight Panel’s conception, the City of Boulder is still failing to hold the Boulder Police Department accountable to the standards of its community, Resulting in Boulder Police Oversight Panel Member, Martha Wilson Resigning in Protest appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

Local independent businesses help define the soul of our communities as they face off against big money and power from giant corporations and private equity firms. How do they make it work?

Back in the late ‘90s in the waning days of Seattle’s grunge rock era, I once walked by the storefront of a little coffee shop on Seattle’s First Hill. Out front was a chalk sign board with a note: “Every corporate cup poured makes baby Jesus cry.” I remember feeling a twinge of annoyance or guilt upon reading that sign, possibly fueled by the fact that I may have had a venti vanilla latte from Starbucks in my hand. Damn it!

By that time, Starbucks was blowing up as a corporate brand competing with mom and pop coffee joints all over the planet. But the original Starbucks store was once itself an independent small business, opening its doors in 1971 to sell Peet’s gourmet coffee beans across the street from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. 

Starbucks is a story of extraordinary corporate success. But has it been a human success?

The same year Starbucks opened, another coffee house called Village Coffee Shop opened its doors in Boulder. Entering Village Coffee Shop is like being teleported into an old Georgia diner. There’s a basic open-view kitchen, a customer counter with a row of red vinyl upholstered stools, and a tiny dining area of small booths. It is intimate, divey, and charming. And the French toast is the best I’ve ever had.

Village Coffee is owned by Shanna Henkel. Hers is the classic story of the long-time waitress who buys the joint. Chuck Taylor opened Village Coffee in 1971 and ran it for 31 years before finally selling it to Shanna, his favorite waitress, over 20 years ago.

Shanna describes Village Coffee as “890 square feet of reality surrounded by Boulder.” I can’t think of a better description. Shanna said she and her husband Ryan have made only two changes: They switched from canned to fresh mushrooms and added Cholula Hot Sauce. That’s it. Other than that, Shanna says the place is exactly as it’s always been, a neighborhood fixture for more than 50 years running. Shanna and Ryan run the restaurant seven days a week, week-in and week-out, and never get burnt out.

“I love my job,” she said. “I have so much fun going to work every day.”

The secret to Shanna’s work happiness is that she doesn’t go to work every day to wait tables, make great food, or even run a business. Those are the responsibilities of the job. Shanna goes to work each day to build relationships. Many of her customers are long-time regulars.

Shanna is passionate about maintaining the soul of Village Coffee Shop. Over the last couple decades, she has witnessed Boulder lose many of its other dive joints as they have been bought out and converted into “fancy pants” restaurants.

That won’t happen any time soon with Village Coffee. When I asked her about expansion, the answer came before I finished the question.

“Absolutely no expansion, never,“ she said. “Because I can’t be in two places at once.”

It’s harder to build those relationships when you can’t be present. Village Coffee competes successfully with corporate and chain restaurants by simply staying true to those community values it has always had. Its authentic character can never be matched from a distant corporate office. That’s the secret sauce.

Speaking of the importance of the soul of a business, Hap (short for Happy) Cameron, owner of Happy Cones, New Zealand style ice cream, is a very interesting guy. When Hap was in his early 20s, he embarked on an audacious life goal — to live and work on every continent. Over nine years, Hap worked an amazing variety of jobs all over the world. He taught English in South Korea, climbed on oil rigs in Northern Canada, and started up a bike shop in the Namib Desert. And that’s just a sample. You can read all about Hap’s odyssey in his book, “Hap Working the World.”

During his travels Hap met a Colorado girl in Mexico and fell in love, eventually bringing him and his new family to our community. Like Shanna at Village Coffee, Hap loves making people happy through service. Serendipity happened when he learned his old neighbor back in New Zealand had invented an ice cream-making contraption. It’s a table-top machine that mixes frozen fruit with sweet cream into a delightfully refreshing blend.

Hap brought that machine to Colorado and launched Happy Cones with a single food service truck in 2015. He still runs the truck, which you might just see on a warm summer day in and around Broomfield, Westminster, or Thornton. He now also has two fixed locations: one in Edgewater near Sloan’s Lake and the other in Golden. He recently considered a third location in Westminster but decided to slow it down for now, focusing on “getting better, not bigger.”

Aside from the joy of making people happy through service, Hap values the freedom of choice that running a small business affords him.

“I get to breathe my own personality into it,” he said. “I’m free to take the risks I want to take. There are no corporate roadblocks preventing this.” 

Hap often leverages his business for social causes he believes in. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Hap got together with some of his employees and concocted a limited-time specialty ice cream. All proceeds of the new flavor went to Planned Parenthood.

Hap also values the opportunity his business affords him to help his employees in their own life journeys. “I think of Happy Cones as a vehicle to help people self actualize.”

It’s not all serious business. During a snowstorm last year, Hap ran an impromptu social media promotion: First person to show up and do a shirtless snow angel in front of the store would get four free pints of ice cream. A hollering shirtless guy soon emerged from the neighborhood and rolled around bare-chested in the snow, his prize personally handed to him by Hap Cameron.

I picked up on similar themes when I spoke with Rosemary Girard Bieker, owner of Longmont’s Ivy Rose, a women’s boutique clothing store offering on-trend clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Rosemary was just wrapping up her promotional work for her business’s five-year anniversary, a major milestone.

Rosemary opened Ivy Rose after visiting a similar business in Grand Junction and noticing a dearth of independent small retailers in Longmont at the time. Having been a personal shopper for fifteen years, her experience lined up with the timing and circumstances, so she took the plunge into business ownership.

Ivy Rose’s value system is about “helping people look their best,” and she tells her staff every day that “no task is ever more important than the person walking through the door.”

Rosemary views her competition in the area not so much as competitors but as participants in an ecosystem, each having their place in serving their customers’ needs. This is part of the secret to her success. She’s filling a niche in the community, not forcing her business to be anything that she doesn’t want it to be. Like with Village Coffee Shop and Happy Cones, customers appreciate that natural authenticity.

After speaking with all of these amazing  small business owners, I realized that none of them discussed their success in financial terms. Financial success for them is a by-product of the professional fulfillment they get out of becoming a part of the local business community.

Small business owners like Shanna, Hap, and Rosemary have the freedom to run their shops the way they want without the bureaucratic labyrinth of a corporate structure. That ownership freedom can give small businesses a competitive edge as customers and the community sense the difference. It can pay off financially for the business, emotionally for the business owner and their employees, and beneficially for the communities they serve. Expand that to a macro level, and it’s clear how important small businesses are to the well-being of the nation as a whole.

Any advanced economy requires large enterprises to bring the economies of scale that are needed to drive innovation and solve big problems. But small independent businesses have an equally important role in our society — it’s important to ensure that they have a leg to stand on in the face of big corporate money and power.

Contrary to a small independent business, a large corporation’s shareholders are the owners of the company, and they expect financial performance above all else. This creates pressure on the corporation’s leadership to deliver short-term, quarter-to-quarter financial results. This can often be at odds with desirable longer-term business development ideas and values that work to serve the needs of a community.

Too much emphasis on short-term profits can sometimes have disturbing consequences, especially in certain industries like health services. A recent New Yorker article titled, “When Private Equity Takes Over a Nursing Home,” by Yasmin Rafiei, revealed a horror story of neglect at the altar of a singular focus on profit making. As reported in the article, a once-beloved elder care facility run as a non-profit by a group of nuns was acquired by a private equity firm. The firm increased the patient load while decreasing staff levels creating a cascading collapse in the quality of care. Perhaps the balance sheet looked good, but the human results were tragic.

I was introduced to that heartbreaking article by Dr. Michael Koditek of Carbon Valley Eye Care, an independent optometry practice in Frederick. Dr. Koditek and his business partner Dr. Jeff Berger described the recent trend of private equity firms buying up local independent optometry practices.

“These private equity-owned firms try to squeeze every last penny that they can out of them,” said Dr. Berger. “They know that they can put any mediocre eye doctor in and, as long as the machine works, they can get by.”

Dr. Berger is no mediocre eye doctor. He successfully diagnosed and then corrected, through vision therapy, my daughter’s eye tracking problem. Around age six she had perfect 20/20 vision, but her eyes weren’t in sync. This can result in learning challenges. Imagine trying to read a book when the letters are dancing around on the pages. A few weeks of fun, game-based vision therapy corrected the issue, and I’m proud to say that my daughter is now a prolific reader and scores high in reading comprehension. I’m convinced this would not have been possible without the vision therapy she received as a first grader.

“I’m not aware of any other optometry practice in the area that offers vision therapy,” said Dr. Berger. 

As more optometrists are absorbed into corporate or private equity-ownership structures, their incentives become increasingly profit-driven first, service and quality-driven second. Important services like vision therapy are on the chopping block when private equity firms focus on improving “business efficiencies” for their investors.

Dr. Berger explained that private equity firms make above-appraisal offers on acquisition bids. With this unfair buying power advantage, the neighbor down the street who wants to buy a business gets priced out. And it’s hard for the seller nearing retirement to pass up those big dollars.

The doctors are onto something. Last year private equity investment activity smashed records. According to the latest Bain Private Equity Report, global buyout activity reached $1.1 trillion in 2021, beating the previous record (2006) by an astounding 40%. “PE firms raised bigger funds, made larger deals and came to market more frequently.”

This trend seems to be caused by an increasing wealth disparity in America, short-term capital infusions related to pandemic stimulus, and the demographic shift caused by retiring baby boomers looking to sell their businesses. According to Bloomberg News, as of October, 2021, the richest 1% of Americans, for the first time, held more wealth than the entire middle class combined. 

Wealthy people look for places to put their money, and private equity investment is a rich person’s game, off limits to 99% of us. To invest in a private equity firm, one must be an “accredited” investor who can plunk down between $250,000 and $25 million. These firms then use those wealthy investor dollars to acquire non-corporate-owned business entities. Once acquired, they focus on improving “business efficiencies,” jargon for cost cutting to increase profit margins. Under these priorities the doctor can’t spend as much time in consultation with the patient, or take the time and expense to gain additional training, or invest in better equipment. Profit margins increase, but quality suffers. The wealthy investor wins, but the local community loses.

On top of the growing wealth gap, global monetary stimulus injections during COVID-19 provided an accelerant that is driving strong volumes of business buyout transactions. And this is all happening right as the baby boom generation reaches peak retirement numbers. Retirement-age optometrists are looking for an exit, and now is the perfect time to sell if you’re riding off into the sunset.

The negative by-products of this trend are that local communities lose the character and quality of their small businesses, local services are at risk of being gutted in the interest of margins, and your neighbor down the street who has some savings and wants to buy a local business gets priced out of the market by big money firms.

The following graphic from Lionpoint Group illustrates the substantial increase in private equity activity in 2021:

During the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, a rapidly industrializing America witnessed the ruthlessness with which unchecked corporate interests can steamroll the well-being of workers, their families, and their communities. It became apparent that, if left unchecked, this could lead to a tyranny where economic power would be concentrated into the hands of the very few at the expense of the freedom and dignity of the many. Legislation ensued, such as the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission to even the playing field, keep competition alive, and begin to establish and protect the rights of working citizens.

Could too much economic power in the hands of private equity firms have a similar, if less visible, impact on our communities?

Dr. Koditek is cautiously hopeful that, in the long run, the pendulum will swing back in the other direction. Consumers who experience declining quality of service will gravitate back towards the remaining independent businesses. Supporting this theory is the fact that private equity investors typically look for a 4–7-year investment cycle. That relatively short-term focus can give encouragement to independent practices with long-term values. 

A greater awareness of this trend in our community can encourage us to patronize independent businesses. And this brings us full circle to Boulder, Colorado where, in 1998, the nation’s first so-called Independent Business Alliance was formed. The alliance was born out of a concern about the growth of business chains at the expense of independent, locally owned businesses. Their model was adopted all across the country and has since become the national American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).

AMIBA’s website (amiba.net) offers a wealth of information on how to identify and support independently owned local businesses. They also have a business search function. I tested it out by entering “optometrists,” selecting Frederick for the city. The search returned one result: Dr. Michael Koditek of Carbon Valley Eye Care.

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