Long strange trip
Boulder Weekly reflects on its first 30 years and what the future holds
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CONTENTS 01.25.2024 SCAN THE QR CODE FOR A PLAYLIST OF 30 SONGS FROM 1994 — THE YEAR THAT BIRTHED BOULDER WEEKLY
12 Courtesy: Carnegie Library for Local History
09 EDITOR’S
NOTE Happy
14 NEWS
birthday, Boulder Weekly!
One of the oldest buildings in Boulder turns 150
BY SHAY CASTLE
BY WILL MATUSKA
12 NEWS How
16 NEWS
North Boulder went from Dogpatch to arts district — and kept its renegade spirit alive
19 NEWS
Boulder futurists on the 30 years ahead BY KAYLEE HARTER
25 THEATER
Boulder County residents reflect on their changing towns BY READERS
BDT Stage closes the curtain on nearly half a century of local dinner theater
LIKE YOU
BY TONI TRESCA
BY SHAY CASTLE
DEPARTMENTS 06 OPINION
The home health care crisis
23 MUSIC
Buck Meek of Big Thief on the ‘taboo’ of happiness
32 ASTROLOGY For best results, be unnatural
33 SAVAGE LOVE Ditch your dirty boyfriend
28 EVENTS
35 NIBBLES
31 FILM
38 WEED
Where to go and what to do
CU’s International Film Series returns for another semester
BOULDER WEEKLY
Back to (food) school
Cali protects pot smokers at work. Will Colo follow?
A Boulder Institution. “I’ve been going to Twig for almost 5 years now and can confidently say I never have to look for another salon. Beautiful space right on Pearl, friendly staff, the most comfortable sinks I’ve ever laid my head in and the quality of cut and color is fantastic.” Monday-Friday 8a-8p Saturday 8a-6p Sunday Closed
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www.twighairsalon.com JANUARY 25, 2024
5
COMMENTARY JANUARY 25, 2024
Volume 31, Number 23 PUBLISHER: Francis Zankowski
ED ITOR IAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff INTERN: Lauren Hill COVER: City of Boulder CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca, Jenn Ochs
SAL ES AN D M AR KETIN G MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Holden Hauke SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar
PR OD U C TION CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman
C IR C U L ATION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer
OPINION
BU SIN ESS OFFIC E
HELP WANTED
As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.
BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo
The home health system is struggling BY JENN OCHS
T
he nationwide shortage of direct care workers has caused a crisis in the home health system. Five years ago, I transitioned from living in a nursing home to living independently in the community. In order to do so, I must rely on services provided by caregivers through home health. Caregivers cover many jobs and are known by many names: personal attendant, professional care provider, direct care worker, caregiver and homemaker to name a few. 6
JANUARY 25, 2024
In order to live in my own apartment, my caregiver provides care eight hours a week Monday through Friday. My care worker does my laundry, fills my humidifiers (I do live in Boulder) and performs other various housekeeping. Some people rely on caregivers to get out of bed and need them to help get bathed and dressed each day. Many care workers also go grocery shopping for their clients. Basically, any activity that requires two people to perform or is impossible for someone with a disability to perform can
be a task that requires a caregiver. I’ve even had caregivers help me with therapy. They would help me use a walker while making sure I didn’t fall. While I use a wheelchair, I can walk with assistance. I don’t have balance so walking alone can be dangerous. Ever since the pandemic, there has been a shortage of direct care workers. In the summer of 2022, my caregiver fell ill. The home health agency couldn’t find a replacement. I went for two months without care. My family and friends stepped up to help as
690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80305 Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. ©2024 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved. Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@boulderweekly. com). Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.
BOULDER WEEKLY
OPINION much as they could. Every day, I would call the home health agency hoping they found a replacement for me. Not knowing each day if I had help was scary and stressful, not to mention incredibly dangerous. I am a fall risk, and I have a feeding tube because I’m unable to swallow. Living alone is very isolating. Without daily visits from a caregiver, I was alone most of the time. In the fall of 2023, I moved to a new apartment and started with a new home health agency. I didn’t have a caregiver for the first two weeks at my new place. While challenging, I also felt empowered. I learned that I was capable of doing daily household chores, but I was exhausted. I found that while learning how capable I was, I still needed help. I have lived in my new apartment for five months and have been without care three separate times. Each time my caregiver called out sick, I would ask the home health agency for a backup. The agency told me that no one wants to be hired as a backup and that they try to have other staff fill in, but they don’t have enough people. I am very active in trying to fix the home health crisis. I’m a member of various direct care worker action groups and sit on the newly formed direct care workforce stabilization board that is governed by Colorado’s Department of Labor. Sadly, the crisis has only gotten worse. With the aging of the baby boomer generation, we are seeing an increasing older population that
requires many more caregivers than ever before. The home health industry has also been corrupted by Medicaid fraud, misinformation and isolation. Care work is usually paid for through Medicaid. Care management agencies determine how many hours of care a client qualifies for under Medicaid’s Home and CommunityBased Services waivers. Case management agencies then provide the care workers depending on the stateapproved waiver. Medicaid funds go directly to the agencies, and they set the salaries for direct care workers. Care workers receive low wages with little to no benefits. Care workers don’t receive paid time off or sick pay. Since care workers are in people’s homes, they are often isolated from other direct care workers. The combination of these variables has caused a mass exodus from the home health industry. In addition to providing physical help, direct care workers also fill an emotional need for both the worker and the client. I have developed several personal relationships with my own caregivers, friendships that I treasure. Just today, I told my caregiver how she had been the only human contact that I had all week. She told me that one of her other clients simply asks her to cook and eat dinner with her. The client entertains her caregiver by sharing her life stories. Can you imagine being paid to eat and listen to stories? Thankfully, direct care workers are uniting. A group called Colorado Care
Workers Unite (CCWU) lobbied throughout the 2023 legislative session to create a direct care worker standards board. Now for the first time ever, workers, agencies, clients, government representatives and disability advocates are coming together to set industry norms that will improve the home health system for everyone. You too can help, simply by raising awareness. The direct care profession is relatively unknown. Any able-bodied individual can be a direct care worker. The job is perfect for stay-at-home mothers who have become empty nesters or retirees who are looking for a second career. College students can make excellent caregivers. Many family members provide care for loved ones with disabilities. Medicaid will pay family members to provide care to
family members who qualify. Exciting work is being done to create career advancement opportunities and uniform training within the direct care worker industry. This will improve pay and create benefits for direct care workers. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please contact a case management agency and begin a rewarding career as a direct care worker. People like me are desperate for help. Jenn Ochs lives in Boulder and enjoys listening to music, podcasts and audiobooks while painting or drawing. She is a disability rights advocate and a graduate from Baylor University in Texas, which is where she realized that Boulder is the best place to live.
February 2 - 4, 2024
BOULDER WEEKLY
JANUARY 25, 2024
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OUR NEXT 30 YEARS Boulder Weekly has been serving local journalism since 1993 BY SHAY CASTLE
B
oulder Weekly published its first edition in 1993. But we weren’t “official” until 1994, at least in the eyes of the state. Boulder Weekly incorporated as a business on June 2, 1994. That makes this our 30th anniversary. A lot has changed in that time. The funding model for local journalism has all but collapsed and is only now being rebuilt through the hard work and ingenuity of new founders and journalists. We are smaller than we used to be, in both the number of staff and the thickness of the paper. The names behind the news have changed, too. Our longest-tenured reporter has 18 months at Boulder Weekly under their belt. I’m the newest: I’ve been here for less than 1% of the paper’s history. But the important stuff — like producing one-of-a-kind, 100% independent journalism — is unchanged. As it says on the front of every edition, “Free every Thursday for 30 years.” That’s true — we haven’t missed one yet. Owner and founder Stew Sallo is still at the helm, making us truly local. As for what the future holds, I’m interested in bringing new voices into the paper, covering things we haven’t before and expanding the community
WANTED: YOUR MEMORIES.
What’s your history with Boulder Weekly? Tell us about your favorite stories or covers — or maybe our most memorable mistakes. Photos welcome, too! We’ll feature reader recollections throughout the year. Send ’em to editorial@boulderweekly.com
conversation. I hope to usher in an area of unprecedented reader engagement and news by you, for you. You can help shape Boulder Weekly over the next 30 years by letting us know what you think. My inbox is always open: scastle@boulderweekly. com As for this issue, the theme is change. We’ve got stories from the past, present and future for you, from all over Boulder County: • How North Boulder went from Dogpatch to arts district but kept its renegade spirit alive • A historic Boulder building turns 150 as the school it once housed celebrates its golden anniversary • From Lyons to Nederland, Boulder County residents reflect on their changing towns • Meet the minds of the Boulder Future Salon And it’s not just the news section. Our arts and culture writers delved into the 15th anniversary of Longmont’s Absolute Vinyl (running in next week’s paper) and the death of dinner theater in Boulder.
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NEWS
‘RENEGADE SPIRIT’ From farmland to art hub, North Boulder is the face of a changing city BY SHAY CASTLE
B
“
oulder’s last frontier,” declared a 1985 article in the Daily Camera’s Sunday Focus magazine. It was a multi-page spread all about what we know today as North Boulder: dozens of stories and photos detailing the “rural” and “freewheeling spirit” of this “world within a world.” The area along North Broadway, from Iris Avenue to U.S. 36, was “a realm of contrasts and contradictions,” reporter Kurt Chandler wrote, “intimate yet secretive, often coarse, sometimes refined, and never predictable.” North Boulder of yesteryear was filled with the strange and unusual. The Bustop, a strip club, sat next to an RV storage facility/massage parlor called The Flamingo. Colorado National Guard troops worked on a seven-acre active Army base. The roads were unpaved, backyards full of donkeys, rabbits, roosters and all manners of livestock. Today, the Army base is a just-completed apartment complex. The Bus Stop is now affordable rentals. Farms and fields are mostly gone, at least on the west side of 36, and the homes
being built at Jay and 26th, reported as costA 1937 view of a sign over Broadway, north of Linden, reading “Welcome to Boulder. Free information at Chamber of ing $80,000 at the time Commerce office, 13th & Spruce.” The sign hung from a pipe that was part of the irrigation system. Visible in a circa of the ’85 article, are 1960 aerial photo, the sign was possibly removed in the mid-1960s. Courtesy: Carnegie Library for Local History now worth 10 times that. Perhaps no neighborhood represents north and east as Boulder looks to actilocation was Easy Rider; today, a street vate its 500-acre planning reserve. the metamorphosis of Boulder better in the neighborhood is named after it. Through it all, North Boulder has than its northern edge. Even its geoThe drive-in closed in the 1980s, been able to retain some of the gritty, graphic boundaries are fluid: Twenty according to various Daily Camera independent spirit of days gone by, years ago, North Boulder was the area accounts, and the field — still dotted even as residents embrace change in a with speakers mounted on car-window surrounding North Boulder Park and the Ideal Marketplace, near the old hos- way other parts of Boulder traditionally height wooden posts — sat fallow until haven’t. pital on Broadway between Alpine and the early 2000s when it became the “It’s growing and evolving on a daily Balsam. Now, that’s Old North Boulder. mixed-use Holiday neighborhood. basis,” says Aaron Brockett, Boulder’s Today’s North Boulder used to be Nonprofit housing authority Boulder mayor and proud North Boulder resicalled North North Boulder or, someHousing Partners orchestrated the dent. “Think of a kaleidoscope: There’s times, The Dogpatch. redevelopment; Holiday has among the The evolution is not complete. A long- always some beautiful pattern, then you highest concentrations of rent-capped move it around, and there’s something promised library branch will open later units in the city. new and different.” this year. Trailers at one of the area’s While the former drive-in was still an two mobile home parks are slowly being empty lot, a young couple from replaced with fixed-foundation, ultraConnecticut, visiting family in ‘DREAM OF DECADES’ environmentally friendly homes. The Cheyenne, took their one spare day For a microcosm of Boulder’s transforBoulder Museum of Contemporary Art and drove down to Boulder to learn mation over the years, consider the (BMoCA) hopes to relocate to NoBo, about a planned co-housing community Holiday neighborhood. It began life in anchoring what will become a 1953 as the Holiday Drive-in Theater. In that would become Wild Sage. They 100,000-square-foot cultural campus. attended a meeting and did some 1969, the drive-in moved from its origiEven more housing is in the works research before deciding to buy a nal home at 28th and Colorado, travelalong Broadway, and there’s potential house not only sight unseen, but ing four miles up U.S. 36 to Lee Hill for development across U.S. 36 to the unbuilt. Road. The first film to play at the new
An aerial view over north Boulder (left), believed to date circa 1938-1947, shows Old North Boulder, with Sunset Hill at the bottom and Casey Junior High School (now Casey Middle, 1301 High St.) to the west of the hill. Courtesy: Carnegie Library for Local History. An aerial view of Boulder’s northern foothills (right). Linden Drive snakes along the bottom left, and Wonderland Lake is visible in the center right. Courtesy: City of Boulder.
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JANUARY 25, 2024
BOULDER WEEKLY
NEWS The family was Brockett’s. Today, he is one of North Boulder’s biggest cheerleaders. “It’s not a place that’s static,” Brockett says. “There are lots of people walking their dogs and such, people are generally friendly and happy to meet each other. We have a lot of lovely third places” — spaces that aren’t work or home where people gather, like coffee shops, parks and public plazas. He’s looking forward to one more third place: the North Boulder library, on track for a June opening. It will be that community’s “first public building,” according to library director David Farnan. A northern branch has been discussed since the City started planning for NoBo’s future in the late 1980s. “It’s the dream of decades,” Brockett says. “Part of my plan for my retirement years is to walk over there on a regular basis and grab the newspaper off the shelf. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time in that branch.” Demand for library services has always been high in North Boulder, according to Farnan. A corner library has been operational since 2014, occupying just 576 square feet at 4600 Broadway. “When we opened in 2014,” Farnan wrote via email, “the community literally checked out all of the books in less than a week. We bought more, and the community cleaned them out a second time. It took us a month or two before we found the right balance.”
‘RENEGADE SPIRIT’
Other public amenities will soon enhance NoBo’s offerings. The 3.5-mile bike, hike and horse-friendly North Sky Trail connecting Foothills Park to Joder Ranch will open this year. Violet Park, now an overgrown field, will become Boulder’s newest neighborhood park in 2025. The most ambitious plan is for the aforementioned creative campus, future home to BMoCA. As Boulder’s official arts district, it was important that the area be anchored by “a cultural institution,” says Andrew Ghadimi, something that wasn’t “commercially driven.” Ghadimi was part of a group of property and business owners pushing the idea of a business improvement district before the pandemic made the idea of BOULDER WEEKLY
more property taxes unpalatable. He Camera coverage. In the 1990s, endowns the site where the cultural camless headlines were generated during a pus will go — and “about 40% of the years-long battle to create Boulder’s land on the west side of Broadway,” first subcommunity plan. It has guided which “hasn’t transformed at the same development there ever since. pace as the city.” “There are people who were on That means Ghadimi may have more council then who hate North Boulder to say over the future of North Boulder this day,” says Lisa Morzel. She was in than any other individual. Preservation the thick of citizen efforts to shape the is top of mind: He envisions incorporatplan, advocacy that led to her own ing Carniceria La Zacatecana at 4483 decade-spanning stint on City Council. Broadway into the new cultural camMorzel recalls the early days of the pus. plan: “People were out with pitchforks: “It’s the only market that far up in the ‘We don’t want the city, we don’t want neighborhood,” he says. “And it also your streetlights, we don’t want your caters to the Latinx community. NoBo codes, we don’t want anything.’ The has the largest population of Latinx City came up and [tried] to city-fy us. [people] in Boulder.” East of Broadway, We would just scream them down.” from Lee Hill Drive to Iris Ave, onePushback to today’s development quarter of residents are Hispanic, according to census data. He also wants to save the warehouses at the northernmost end of Broadway, where his business’ offices are. As available industrial space has been redeveloped The Holiday Drive-in marquee, just visible in this picture and rents are pushed higher, from the Holiday neighborhood, was declared a local histhe area — dubbed Emerald toric landmark in 2002. Courtesy: Boulder Housing Partners City by tenants, after Ghadimi’s property management company — has become a hub has been quieter. The library went in for artists and the creative community. without much of a fight (although some Art gallery The Crowd Collective immediate neighbors weren’t happy). rents there. So does the Boulder Although it’s still early, BMoCA has Metalsmithing Association. Drum received overwhelmingly positive feedMountain and The Photo Center have back so far, according to deputy direcspaces where they teach music and tor Gwen Burak. photography, respectively; Drum The creative campus “is creating Mountain has a recording space, too. essentially a more walkable neighborAtrévete, an upcycled and recycled hood by adding all these amenities,” clothing brand, and outdoor gear conBurak theorizes, possibly forestalling signment shop Boulder Sports Recycler opposition. Ghadimi believes the differare mere steps away from each other. ence is what people are fighting for. “That is the heart of the arts commu“I often think, what are people trying nity,” Ghadimi says. “I really appreciate to preserve? And it’s the value of their the informal nature that North Boulder single-family home,” he says. “In North still has, a close-knit community of Boulder, you have this group of small kooky people that want to do somebusiness [owners] that don’t even live thing weird. in Boulder. A lot of the art tenants came “There’s this weird renegade spirit to Boulder because of this collective of that has kind of been preserved.” friends and artists. “That’s what they’re trying to preserve, in a way that I think other parts ‘A LITTLE MESSY’ of town maybe gave up on.” North Boulder’s legacy of rebellion is Those qualities of community and colwell documented. In the mid-60s, county residents attempted to form their own laboration, along with Ghadimi’s vision, are what drew BMoCA to the area. The city consisting of 4,500 acres north of museum has rented 1750 13th St. from Jay Road, according to archival
the City of Boulder for 48 years. The $1 per year lease is a great deal, financially, but the historic building limits the type of art BMoCA can bring in. “There’s some realness” to North Boulder, Burak says. “It’s a little more organic, and not in the big-O Boulder way. You see less buttoned-up stuff up there” than in other parts of Boulder. “It’s a little messy, and an arts museum should be in the messy.”
‘BY AND FOR THE COMMUNITY’
As in years past, the “messiest” parts of North Boulder aren’t technically in Boulder — Emerald City sits on county land. Ghadimi would like to be added into city limits so he can access municipal water. “We’re on a septic system, and we have to truck in water,” he says. “I can’t plant trees because there’s no water” to keep them alive. The City wants him to annex, too, but building out the necessary infrastructure costs money: in this case, more than $3 million, Ghadimi says. As the landowner, he would have to foot the bill. “I don’t just have $3 million,” he says. “I would have to increase rents. It’s this really confusing thing where we’re trying to help the community but we make it harder for the community to stay there. What’s the point of building things that no one can afford?” Although he hopes to see Broadway “fill in over time” with more services for residents, Mayor Brockett wants the industrial buildings to remain. He believes there’s a case for the “older, low-cost” spaces to qualify as a community benefit, one of the requirements for annexation. “They’re lovely creative spaces,” he says. “They provide a real service to the community that we don’t have in other places in town.” For his part, Ghadimi says he is committed to keeping North Boulder “by and for the community.” He’s bringing back Wapo’s Mexican restaurant, closed since a devastating kitchen fire in 2022. He has kept a pre-pandemic townhome project alive and intends to include studio and housing for artists in the creative campus. “It’s the community that gave us our start,” he says. “We owe it to them.” JANUARY 25, 2024
13
NEWS
OLD SCHOOL One of Boulder’s oldest buildings turns 150 BY WILL MATUSKA
I
t took me a while to notice the building that sits quietly on 19th and Walnut. I walked, biked and jogged past it countless times before the brick Italianate structure with a two-tiered front porch and red door caught my attention. Or maybe it was the contrasting plyboard over the windows, padlocked front door or paint chipping from window sills.
It’s a place that feels like it holds secrets — a history. Boulderite Kate Hise knew the space when it wasn’t as quiet. “I think about it with its teal-painted porch, with the quirkiness of the whole thing, all of us sitting out on the flagstone out in front and knowing that it was such a calm, safe, beautiful space for us,” says Hise, who was a high school student at the September
The current owners of 1902 Walnut St. are “reevaluating” its future. Credit: Will Matuska
September School in 1987. Credit: Boulder Daily Camera
School, a private school that once owned the building. “To see it boarded up and in disrepair is hard.” The building, which is about to turn 150 years old, is estimated to be the 12th-oldest remaining in Boulder, according to a landmark presentation in 2022. It has hosted notable Boulderites over the years and is a designated historic landmark by the City of Boulder. But its disheveled look is the cost of being left unoccupied for the last seven years
— and there currently aren’t any plans for that to change. September School is also in the midst of an anniversary: its 50th. It was founded in 1973 and owned the property at 1902 Walnut from 1977 to 2016. Hise says going to school there in the early ’90s was a unique experience. “You felt like you were walking into a house that you had known forever,” she remembers. Old plastered walls splashed with vibrant colors were interrupted by creaky wood floors. There was a wide staircase leading up to the second level, which had four or five classrooms. Balconies off those rooms gave students space to admire the courtyard’s gardens and lawn sprinkled with mature trees.
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NEWS Some classrooms had couches and chairs. Some were tidy and minimalist. Others held artifacts from travels or hung student art and poetry. Each unique space embodied the spirit of September School’s non-traditional take on education that highlighted relationship-based learning, small classrooms and Socratic teaching styles. “It was like an amalgamation of everybody’s personality in one building,” says Hise, who is now the school’s executive director. Even though September School sold the building in 2016 and moved to new locations at 96 Arapahoe and 525 Canyon, Hise says the two entities are intimately connected. “The experiences we had in that 1902 building became part of the fabric of that building,” says Hise. “I think every person who has been there,
every teacher, every student, is embedded in that space. We all left our imprint and vice versa.”
THE PAST
Notable and wealthy Boulderites have owned the property. Records show the earliest portion was finished by February of 1874 for A.R. Stewart, who operated a grocery store on Pearl Street, served as the Boulder County Treasurer and was involved in the mining industry. In the early days of Boulder, which was founded in 1871, many of the new town’s prominent citizens lived in the Whittier neighborhood. One article from Boulder County News about the building read, “The walls will be laid of the finest brick, and the establishment is altogether, one of the choicest in location, and most thorough in construction.”
The pattern of wealth continued with the following property owner, Eben Smith, who was called the “dean of mining in Colorado” by The Denver Post and Denver Times. He died with an estate of over $1 million in 1908 between Colorado and California, worth an estimated $33.3 million today. Harriet E. Foote owned the property from 1899 to 1921. Foote’s mother, Mary E. Miller, who was known as a “strict Prohibitionist,” helped establish Lafayette as a coal mining town in 1888 and named it after her late husband, DeLafayette Miller. After being converted to an apartment building (the Donaven Apartments) by 1946 and then to the September School in the late 1970s, it was purchased by September Schools 1, LLC in 2016. The company is not affiliated with the school and is partially owned by Michael Bosma. The structure was designated as a historic landmark by the Boulder City Council on Jan. 4, 2022, because of its historical and architectural significance. In addition to preserving and protecting the building, the designation also means certain changes to the structure require a Landmark Alteration Certificate. The City did not respond to multiple interview requests.
THE FUTURE
Not much has happened with the building since the September School left its halls. Boulder’s Planning Board in July 2021 approved redeveloping the property to a 52-bed group home for a resi-
A classroom scene in 1983 with teacher Paul Weidig (left). Credit: Boulder Daily Camera
dential drug rehabilitation facility, but the process fell through after the operating partner backed out. High construction costs and general market conditions also played a role, according to Bosma. He says the company’s ownership is now “reevaluating” the future of the property. “It’s taken longer than we anticipated to get this property redeveloped, but we’re exploring all avenues and we want to move forward with the restoration of this building,” he says. “Our ultimate goal is to create a project that restores that building.” The School and the building are connected in more ways than one — including their futures. Hise says the pandemic hit September School hard. Decreased enrollment is making budgets tighter. She says they lost the community visibility after moving from 1902 Walnut because people associated the school with the building — some even thought the school closed down when they moved locations. When a previous alumni asked if she was interested in leading the school, Hise didn’t hesitate. She still sees herself in the cohort of students that might not fit the norm: artists, singers or maybe “a little quirky.” “Years change, and our trends, our ways that we learn, all of these things change on the outside,” she says. “The essence of September School still is, and I see myself in them and I know they see themselves in me.” The building, like September School, is still full of life. It just needs time for its next iteration.
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NEWS
BACK IN MY DAY... Boulder County residents recount the past and predict the future of their towns BY SHAY CASTLE
B
oulder County has changed a lot over the past three decades. There are almost 100,000 more people than there were in 1994, the year Boulder Weekly came on the scene. We’ve done our best to document this evolving community. But to get the real scoop, we went straight to the experts: residents. Boulder Weekly asked people from across the county to answer these questions about how their towns have changed: What has changed most about your town since you’ve lived there? What has changed the least? What sort of change do you predict for the future? Is there anything in particular you’d like to change that hasn’t yet? Their responses, edited for length and clarity, follow.
LAFAYETTE
Answers by Karen Norback, 37-year resident The size of Lafayette has changed the most. When I moved here, there was no Indian Peaks or South Pointe, no Exempla Hospital or Kaiser Permanente, no Bob Burger Recreation Center, no golf course, no Walmart, King Soopers, Sprouts or Natural
Grocers. The police department and the library were both in City Hall and the fire station was in what is now the WOW Children’s Museum and was all volunteer. Despite the growth in Lafayette and our surrounding communities, we have still managed to hang on to a bit of a rural feel due to our community’s commitment to preserving open space by purchasing land paid for via sales taxes. In survey after survey, our open spaces and wildlife continue to rank as one of the top reasons people love Lafayette. I hope it’s not a prediction, but I worry about gentrification in our Old Town. Too many of the miner’s cottages and outbuildings are disappearing, replaced with much larger houses that seem to fill the entire lot and loom over their neighbors. Although our downtown on Public Road is seeing a lot of new life, I hope it doesn’t lose its funky character and become too high end. We take pride in being an inclusive and diverse community, and I hope we don’t price out many of the people who contribute to that identity.
Mountain People’s Co-op, 30 E. 1st St. in Nederland, pictured Sept. 24, 2018. Credit: Tony Webster
We’ve seen a huge influx in young families moving into Nederland, and a bunch of fresh-faced businesses open as a result. We’ve also noticed the town has shifted a lot from crunchy hippie music town to more outdoor adventure sport/ athletic focused. The constant sunshine and everyone’s desire hasn’t changed! I think the town is going to become a lot more accessible for kids as more people begin raising families here; we’ll see safer sidewalks and more kidfriendly spaces. There are already plans for more preschools and childcare facilities in Town. What I’d love to see is for the town to pass the redevelopment plans that have been proposed for 1st Street — our “Main Street” — because, as a business owner that rents two of the very very old buildings that were built by miners a hundred years ago, I can say for sure that everything would be more functional and efficient in a newer building!
LONGMONT
upgrades. The trail system has gone from disconnected segments to a network of trails across the city; we have a full-service recreation center and a purpose-built museum with an elegant 250-seat auditorium. Downtown has revived and has a variety of restaurants and fun shops. Not long after I came here, Longmont’s population was predicted to be at full build-out at around 100,000. We recently passed that milestone, and growth continues — now more vertical than horizontal. [However] Longmont is still a small enough community that you are likely to see someone you know at a cultural event or the farmer’s market. Longmont remains a very car-oriented community. I’d love to see a stronger transit network, and more emphasis on pedestrian-oriented design, to make Longmont a more walkable place.
ERIE
Answers by Shavonne Blades, publisher of Yellow Scene magazine and resident since 1990 Answers by Audrey Gebhardt, five-year Erie went from 500 homes, 1,200 resident and two-year business owner people, dirt roads, two bars, a few (Decent Bagel, 95 E. 1st St., and churches and one restaurant. It was a Sweet Sue’s, 35 E. 1st St.) forgotten old mining town east of Boulder. My friends in Boulder often didn’t even know where it was. The Hometown Parade used to be no bigger than a block long; now it’s blocks and blocks and blocks. Today, Erie sports a number of four-star restaurants, a farmers market, the streets are paved and the homes expensive. My son’s dad bought his home (Left) The home of Sam Lontine, a miner in Erie, circa 1946. Courtesy: United States National Archive. (Right) A brick two-story building constructed in 1889 in what is now old downtown for $65,000 in 1980. Today, Erie. The first floor originally housed the State Mercantile Company, while the second floor was used by the International Order of Odd Fellows. Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons that house is worth around 16
JANUARY 25, 2024
NEDERLAND
Answers by Erik Mason, 25-year resident and Director of the Longmont Museum Our parks, trails, recreation and cultural facilities have all had major
BOULDER WEEKLY
NEWS them and then rebuilding them. I would like to see replacement homes reflect the architecture of the neighborhood. Old Town still needs to look like Old Town — not Old Town with some twostory, fill-the-lot homes. — Jean Morgan, resident since 1971
916 and 920 Main St. in Louisville are pictured in 1984. Courtesy: Louisville Historical Museum
The buildings at 916 and 920 Main St. in Louisville are the same, but the tenants have changed. Courtesy: Google Streetview
$500,000. I could not afford my own home today. Erie has a median income of $140,000 today. It was close to $30K when I moved here. There are 8,500 homes and the population is 97% white. It used to be close to 30% Hispanic, but when you build 8,000 new homes, it’s gonna change the demographics. Plus, a lot of Old Town people moved away. The town is expected to grow to 70,000 people in the next 7-10 years. We just passed a Home Rule Charter. We are building a Town Center which will bring shopping to the center of town instead of just on the edges. I hope that Erie continues on the path of being a welcoming, inclusive place that looks out for its residents. That we realize our goal of making Erie a welcoming place for all incomes.
SUPERIOR
Answers by Mark Lacis, mayor Superior is growing. We have been building out Downtown Superior, which is adding nearly 1,400 homes, parks, a Main Street with shops and restaurants and community space. It’s a huge project that has been under construction since 2015, and we’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. BOULDER WEEKLY
This year, we’ll welcome our first businesses along Main Street and start to see the area truly come alive. Superior is recovering. Following the devastation of the Marshall Fire, where we lost nearly 400 homes just two years ago, already 40% have been rebuilt and another 35% are under construction. This recovery is moving faster than anyone expected, which is a testament to Superior’s resiliency. Despite its growth and the damage from the Marshall Fire, it’s still a tightknit community with a small-town feel. You can really get to know your neighbors here and the sense of community is strong. Completion of Downtown Superior and the Marshall Fire recovery will be two huge milestones for our Town. We’re also in the midst of drafting a Home Rule Charter which we’ll be voting on this coming November.
LOUISVILLE
My husband got a teaching job at the middle school. We were just coming back from Australia after living there for a year and a half. I live in a cabin that was built by a coal miner in 1942. To me, what’s changed the most is growth and affordability. It’s the out-oftowners buying properties, demolishing
My great-grandparents moved here in the 1880s. They were miners. They came here from England. They lived on Pine and Lafarge. When I was a girl, there were no toilets in the houses in Louisville. You had to use the outhouse. Also, there were no street signs. None of the streets were paved. This is back in ’37 to ’42. The only outside toilet left is at my great-grandfather’s house. The buildings downtown seem to stay the same as they were throughout my early girlhood. We used to have a grocery store downtown on Main Street. The man who owned the property decided he had to have a bank there, which is now empty. I would like that to go back to the way it was, a nice little grocery store. I would like to have the town go back to the way it was. Anything I want to happen in Louisville will not happen. It’s already happened. — Barb Stahr, 70-year resident We no longer have the train whistle whistling in our neighborhood. They took the train whistle away from people like me that have enjoyed it over the years. I could tell the time by the whistle. During WWII, we could tell if a troop train was coming in. My little cousin had a little Army outfit on. They would throw candies and fruit to us. — Barb Hesson, 82-year resident
GUNBARREL
Answers by Kyna Glover, resident since 1988 [What has changed the most is the] increase in traffic and so much less agriculture and livestock in the area. We had few stoplights between our home and Boulder. I could drive into the City of Boulder (I worked on the Pearl Street Mall) in 8-9 minutes. And the speed limit was higher with fewer residential areas. It now takes nearly 20 if you hit the lights just right. I used to pass cattle, llama, bison
and horse farms all along Jay Road. Most of these are gone. The incredible view of the Foothills and higher peaks [has changed the least]. Also the open space surrounding our area with trails and wildlife. We have the feel of a small town. Kids still walk or bike to school. This area has remained amenable to young families as the population turns over. We have an elementary school here and also homes are a bit more affordable than in the City of Boulder. I’m fearful that Boulder will continue to spread upward and outward — higher buildings, more people — without planning for upgrades to the infrastructure.
LYONS
Answers by Jerry Johnson, 34-year resident My mother, LaVern, moved to Lyons with her family when she was 6 months old. She lived in her beloved Town of Lyons for the next 94 years until her passing in May 2022. A few families were able to rebuild their homes after the 2013 flood. Many were not financially able to rebuild, so we permanently lost several long-time families. A vote to build low-income housing on town property a couple of years later was unfortunately voted down. After 10 years, some low-income housing has finally been built after the Town was able to purchase land for its development. Town officials were also able to secure millions of dollars in grant money over the years to help the Town of Lyons recover from the devastating flood of 2013. Volunteer workers from Lyons were helped by many other volunteer organizations throughout the country in rebuilding the Lyons community. Lyons has had many trials and tribulations over the years, but I would not want to live anywhere else! Didn’t see your town on the list? Were there things these folks left out? Email us your own answers, and we’ll add them to the online story: editorial@boulderweekly.com
See more answers online at bit.ly/changing-boco JANUARY 25, 2024
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NEWS
‘LESS SURPRISED BY TOMORROW’ What Boulder-area futurists envision for the years ahead BY KAYLEE HARTER
A
s Boulder Weekly looked back over the past 30 years for our anniversary issue, we wished we had a crystal ball to tell us what the next 30 years would hold. Since we don’t, we caught up with two Boulderarea futurists instead. Wayne Radinsky is the organizer of the Boulder Future Salon, a group that meets a few times a year to discuss the future of everything from artificial intelligence to geopolitics. He’s a software engineer by day and describes being a futurist only as “predicting the future,” but with data and models rather than psychic methods. Trent Fowler, co-organizer of the group, has taken interest in thinking about the future since he was a teen. He became fascinated with AI and eventually became a machine learning engineer. Now, he co-hosts a podcast called Futurati with futurist speaker and award-winning engineer Thomas Frey. “I try to be less surprised by tomorrow by talking to the smartest people I can find,” he says. Here are a few of the many topics on the two futurists’ minds and how they’re thinking about the next 30 years and beyond.
enough to make their presence felt, and they are advancing rapidly. Meanwhile, the shelves at the grocery store are still being stocked by humans.” Fowler says that in his eyes, jobs like content creation, copywriting and marketing are most vulnerable, “where mostly what you’re doing is outputting a lot of text, which does not require all that much of your own personal perspective, and doesn’t require all that much in the way of research.” “I think that it will probably end up
AI AND JOBS
Courtesy: Trent Fowler
When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it was the first time many of us thought seriously about AI. Radinksy has been thinking about AI for more than two decades, but the way it’s changing the labor market came as a surprise — even for some futurists. “The future arrives out of order,” Radinsky wrote in an email. “Twenty or even 10 years ago, it was the common wisdom in the ‘futurist’ community that robots would automate all the ‘routine’ jobs and that the ‘creative’ jobs would be safe. It turns out that we now have AI systems that produce digital art, writing and software code. Maybe not good enough to put all artists, writers and software developers out of work, but BOULDER WEEKLY
coders and copywriters may get their first output from software like ChatGPT, but then “tinker with it” to fit their needs and clean up errors. “I am not predicting, like, 40% unemployment,” he says. “I do think there will be some, but my advice is basically just start using these tools and figuring out how they work and learning how to utilize them effectively.”
AI AND SAFETY
For Fowler, AI safety is top of mind. “If you are dealing with something that is as smart as you or smarter than you are, and it’s pursuing goals that have not been very carefully crafted to take account of human beings and human values, you will end up in a world that is very inhospitable to you because what you will have is something that is maybe smarter than any-
to think that, at least so far, those kinds of worries haven’t panned out. So for me, the labor market is the main thing that I worry about.”
LIFE ON MARS?
Among Fowler’s predictions for the future are another pandemic, a growing threat of ransomware and one thing he sees as a positive — humans landing on Mars in the next 20 or 30 years. “I doubt the very first trip out will be a settlement, but there’s a number of really interesting proposals for what our settlement might look like,” he says. “Many of them focus on building underground because it’s easier to shield the plants and the people in the greenhouses and such from the radiation.” Radinsky is wary of making any big predictions, as he says extrapolating can be problematic since big breakthroughs or diminishing returns on evolving technology can render predictions moot. However, he makes one Boulderarea prediction confidently and with a laugh: “Housing will get more expensive.”
HOW TO THINK LIKE A FUTURIST
being, like, the bottom 30% of programmers, probably the bottom 50% of writers — people who were maybe pretty good, but they’re not in that top bracket,” he says. That job loss will likely be the biggest short-term consequence of the technology — but it isn’t certain, Fowler says. “It plausibly could expand the market enough for written content that it actually doesn’t end up displacing that many people — either because there’s increased demand for their services in other parts of the workflow or because they’ve learned how to use these technologies,” he says. Fowler envisions a world in which
one that’s ever lived and smarter than everyone alive today put together,” he says. Fowler says ChatGPT can be viewed as “something like a warning shot,” as it’s “incredibly powerful,” but “no one understands how it works.” Radinsky sees it a bit differently, though he does think AI could exceed human intelligence in the next 30 years. “People are working very hard to make sure that safety measures are put in,” he says. “For example, if you go to ChatGPT and ask it to, you know, tell you how to design a bioweapon, it won’t help you. So people are addressing those sorts of concerns. So I tend
Radinsky’s basic way of thinking is to form mental models of how the world works and then ask what those models imply about the future if they’re true, and most importantly, be able to update those models quickly. “People tend to err on the model of sticking to what they know rather than updating their mental model of how the world works,” he says. “I try to see what’s going on and look for things that fundamentally change my understanding of how the world works.” Sure, thinking incessantly about the future can be overwhelming (see: AI domination). But for someone who spends their time doing just that, Fowler has a positive outlook. “There’s a tendency among futurists to catastrophize, but I try to be as balanced as possible by looking at the positives as well,” he says. “More than likely we’ll figure it out, so I try not to move too much toward: it’s all going to be amazing or it’s all going to be terrible. Besides that, I just find joy in the day-to-day things.” JANUARY 25, 2024
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MUSIC
LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE Buck Meek breaks down the ‘taboo’ of happiness on earnest new LP BY JEZY J. GRAY
W
hen singer-songwriter Buck Meek signed up for a workshop led by longtime friend and fellow music artist Luke Temple, he found himself faced with a daunting assignment: Build a song on a cliché as if you believed it. Meek didn’t know it at the time, but the exercise of chiseling truth from tired phrases — think “I’d die for you” and “I can’t live without you” — would give way to a creative breakthrough. The process laid groundwork for “Didn’t Know You Then,” the sweetheart centerpiece of the Texas-raised artist’s latest LP Haunted Mountain, released last fall via 4AD. Anchoring his third solo effort outside indie folk-rock juggernaut Big Thief, the straight-ahead love song makes a compelling case for pulling big feelings from simple ideas. “It felt really good to sing, even though I didn’t believe in the lyrics at all. Something about the act of being really open-hearted in a song felt cathartic,” says Meek, whose partner responded well to the early version of the dewey-eyed love song. “So I rewrote the lyrics to something I actually believe in but tried to keep the spirit. That was one of the first songs for the record that gave me some courage to dig a little deeper.” That courage guided Meek, 36, down more unexpected corridors as the writing process continued to unfurl. Embracing an unblinking earnestness that would form the spine of Haunted Mountain, the result is a heart-on-thesleeve slice of sincerity from one of the decade’s most consequential guitarists and songwriters. Fingerprints of his Grammy-nominated, full-time outfit can be found in Meek’s springy folk-rock guitar tone and earthbound sense of cosmic wonder. But here the insulating comfort of the Big Thief collective is stripped away, leaving him alone and unadorned in the frame. BOULDER WEEKLY
“The more I write songs, the more I realize vulnerability is such a powerful resource,” he says. “As a younger songwriter, I was trying to project this identity of poeticism or complexity, trying to build puzzles. It’s so much fun to write songs like that — and I still do — but the older I get, the more it’s about surrendering to simplicity and speaking plainly. I feel like melody sanctifies even the simplest words.” Perhaps the sharpest example of that vulnerability comes on the Side B standout “Lullabies,” where Meek — with the help of singer-songwriter and fellow Texan Jollie Holland, who shares co-writing credits on nearly half a dozen tracks — spins a familiar child’s bedtime tune into a bonafide tearjerker: “Ava crowed, her labor went on for days / eyes glowed, she sang lullabies to slow the pain / ‘Sunshine, my sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.’”
Buck Meek’s third solo album, Haunted Mountain, is out now on LP, CD and major streaming platforms. Courtesy: 4AD
“I was like, ‘This is exactly what I’m not supposed to do. This is just gonna be really cheesy,’” he says of the decision to fold the lyrics of a wellworn lullaby into the vivid world of his musical storytelling. “But it just felt so earnest to imagine a mother singing
Big Thief guitarist Buck Meek performs with support from his brother Dylan Meek at Globe Hall in Denver on Jan. 27. Credit: Shervin Lainez
that to her newborn after a really difficult labor. It’s what the song needed.”
MOTHER NATURE’S SON
When it comes into leaning into his newfound earnestness, Meek says few topics are as tricky to tackle as romantic love. Formerly the baseline concern of most Top 40 hitmakers, the onceubiquitous subject — which has become somewhat gauche in contemporary creative circles — stretches out luxuriously and without apology on his latest album. “The first 50 years or so of recorded popular music were just so rich with romantic love, but with the advent of psychoanalysis and concept of codependence, it has become a bit of a taboo in the arts — for better or worse,” says Meek, whose divorce from Big Thief frontperson Adrianne Lenker set the stage for the album’s 2021 predecessor, Two Saviors. But broaching the minefield of writing about the rosier side of romantic love was only part of the project for Meek on Haunted Mountain. As the album’s title track suggests, these songs also hold space for reverie surrounding the natural world and its many splendors and specters: “All of my life, I’ve been a rounder / traveling across this green land / but now that I live here on this haunted mountain / I know I’m never coming down again.”
“I feel like emotions animate the inanimate, and that’s also true for nature. They can be these talismans representing the emotional experience, but there’s perspective as well, because they’re separate from the body,” says Meek, who has called the Santa Monica Mountains surrounding California’s Topanga Canyon home since his 2018 split with Lenker. “There’s a little bit of space there, which can maybe leave some room for interpretation and create a habitable environment for the listener.” When it comes to the Big Taboo of love, Meek isn’t just concerned with its romantic variety. While the record does in large part map a budding relationship on the heels of a public breakup, he says Haunted Mountain takes an aerial view of the theme and turns it over to see what else might be revealed in the light. “It’s also about reconciling with the work that love requires in all forms,” he says. “That includes romantic love, and also the love of family and friends, and I guess myself as well.”
ON THE BILL: Buck Meek with Dylan Meek. 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, Globe Hall, 483 Logan St., Denver. Sold out.
JANUARY 25, 2024
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THEATER
FINAL CURTAIN Reflections on BDT Stage’s closure after nearly half a century BY TONI TRESCA BDT Stage ended its nearly half-century run in Boulder with a Jan. 14 production of Fiddler on the Roof. Credit: The Creative Agency
A
chapter in Boulder’s cultural history ended Jan. 14 at 12:09 a.m., when the last notes of Fiddler on the Roof reverberated through the BDT Stage hallway. After nearly half a century, the long-running cornerstone of the performing arts community lowered its curtains for the last time, leaving behind a rich legacy and an uncertain future for dinner theaters in Colorado. “Production-wise, we were at the top of our game,” says executive producer Michael J. Duran. “It’s too bad BDT is closing now, but every show closes. We had a good run.” Founded as a 275-seat venue at the corner of 55th Street and Arapahoe Avenue, BDT Stage grew into a local staple, beloved for its engaging productions and intimate setting. Its final year, despite an impressive 95% capacity run since June, was a bittersweet farewell to a cultural staple that launched the careers of actors such as Amy Adams and had weathered nearly five decades of changing tastes and economic pressure. “I was part of the very first acting company here in 1977; it was my very, very first theater job ever,” Duran recalls. “I was a little afraid that because these guys were just starting, it was going to be rough. It was for a
BOULDER WEEKLY
couple of years, and then things just started snowballing and it developed into a wonderful creative force in Boulder. Patrons have grown to expect the best from us, and we’ve always tried to give them our best.” “BDT was Broadway to us,” says Jalyn Webb, the director of marketing and sales at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown, one of Colorado’s last dinner theaters. “Their contribution to Northern Colorado’s arts landscape is staggering, and their legacy needs to be recognized. It makes me happy that they were able to have this final season and leave on their own terms rather than being defeated by COVID.” BDT owners Gene and Judy Bolles agreed to sell the 12,000-square-foot property to Chicago-based Quad Capital Partners for $5.5 million in June 2022. It was the beginning of the end. Producing artistic director Seamus McDonough, whose family history is inextricably linked with BDT, crafted a final season in tribute to the theater’s legacy. “There really are no words to describe the feeling of being able to grow up in this space and having my family as part of this family,” McDonough says. He worked in the theater for 24 years, beginning as a
janitor when he was 14. His father was an original employee, his mother worked in the box office for many years and his siblings did a variety of odd jobs such as bussing tables, wrangling children and working the spotlight. “The main thing that everybody says when they think of BDT from a working perspective is family,” he says. “Our patrons also essentially let us into their families and we let them into ours. We’ve gotten to watch parents become grandparents and kids grow up, and
they saw our kids grow up. It’s been an amazing relationship.” Duran and McDonough’s career highlights include their 2007 collaboration with Jeffrey Nickelson, founder of Shadow Theatre, on Ragtime; White Christmas during the first holiday season after the pandemic in 2021-2022, and the recent staging of McDonough’s passion project, Something Rotten, in 2023 as the company’s only new production during its final season. “The overwhelming sentiment from the folks who have been here for years and years has just been, ‘Thank you,’ and ‘We can’t believe that it’s going away,’” says McDonough. “We’ve had people come in celebrating their anniversary, and they’ll say, ‘We got engaged here,’ or ‘We came on our first date here.’ And there are so many of those stories. We had a woman here last week who is in hospice care, and I get choked up talking about it, but it was her dying wish to see this show, so they brought her over in an ambulance to see Fiddler.”
‘A TOUGH SELL’
Behind the successful productions and the adoration of audiences lay the harsh realities of running a for-profit dinner theater. The shift in consumer tastes and Boulder’s increasing tax rates were critical factors in sealing BDT’s fate. “It’s difficult because we have to pay an admission tax, property tax and sales tax, which means $15 to $20
Ragtime. Credit: BDT Stage
JANUARY 25, 2024
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THEATER
Something Rotten. Credit: The Creative Agency
[from] every ticket goes to those taxes,” says McDonough. “We have to raise our ticket prices, and it gets out of the range of what people can afford. Since we can’t add any more seats to keep ticket prices lower, we are sort of in a conundrum. We had no way to fix that unless Boulder gave us a tax break.” Although Duran says he lobbied Boulder’s City Council to support the theater, he says the City ultimately only helped BDT secure a grant at the beginning of the pandemic. “I went to the City Council and explained our situation,” Duran recalls. “I said, ‘Please come and see what we do,’ because many of the City Council members had never been here. I think maybe one or two of them might have shown up to see what we did, but they didn’t care at that point. …They helped during COVID, so I can’t bad-mouth them too much, but when we produce shows of the caliber we do, it costs money. We have to pay actors and staff.” Editor’s Note: Boulder Weekly reached out to multiple council members for comment, but none recalled this request for financial support from BDT Stage.
HISTORY OF COLORADO’S DINNER THEATERS
BDT Stage’s closure is emblematic of a larger trend affecting dinner theaters across Colorado — economic pressures and changing times and tastes. 26
JANUARY 25, 2024
Fiddler on the Roof. Credit: The Creative Agency
During their heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, dinner theaters were a cultural staple throughout the state. This era saw the rise of venues like The Crystal Palace in Aspen, Country Dinner Playhouse in Greenwood Village and The Wayside Inn in Berthoud, among others. These establishments combined the allure of live performance with the convenience of dining, offering an allencompassing evening out. But the landscape began to shift as consumer preferences changed. The advent of new entertainment options, the rise of digital streaming and the fast-paced nature of modern life gradually diminished the appeal of a five-hour dinner theater experience. “People’s attention spans are shorter,” says McDonough. “It’s hard to have that model for today’s demographic of people who are looking for entertainment.” The economic model of dinner theaters makes them particularly vulnerable. The costs of producing a highquality production combined with the expenses of running a full-service dining operation often resulted in ticket prices that had to be carefully balanced against audience expectations and willingness to pay. “Dinner theater always got a bad rap,” Duran says. “People assume it’s going to be bad theater or bad food. I think we’ve proven them wrong, but it’s still hard to get people to think otherwise.”
The decline was a gradual ebbing away of a once-thriving scene. The closure of iconic venues like The Crystal Palace and The Chuckwagon Dinner Playhouse, and the transformation of others into different forms of entertainment venues, signaled a changing tide. This decline was further accelerated by the economic pressures like rising real estate prices, especially in areas like Boulder that have become increasingly tech-focused. “Dinner theater is a tough sell,” says Scott Moore, who co-owns Longmont’s Jesters Dinner Theatre, the last remaining dinner theater in Boulder County. “There used to be a bigger market for dinner theaters. I heard BDT was struggling before they sold, which surprised me because they are, in my opinion, the Cadillac of local dinner theaters. It’s a shame to see them go.” Although Jesters announced its closure in May 2022, no one came forward to buy the property. “Months went by, the building wasn’t selling and we had a bunch of bills, so we decided to get back on stage and keep things going,” says Moore. “I imagine we will be in a similar situation as BDT: The property will sell, and we will have a certain amount of time to close. We won’t close before the sale of the building closes, but our time is limited. I imagine we’ll be in business for another year and a half to two years.”
‘BDT HAS MADE MY LIFE FULL’
McDonough is in talks with the Museum of Boulder about installing an exhibit to honor BDT’s historic impact on the community. The challenge now is to reimagine this experience for a new generation so that it does not exist solely in a museum. “Someone has to come in and fill the void,” says Duran, who is retiring from theater to paint and travel. “I do not know who, and producing theater is not for the faint of heart. Ross Haley, Duane and Jody Sarbaugh and P. Douglas McLemore were the ones who started this whole thing. They were school teachers, accountants and administrative assistants, and they put this together. It’s just remarkable. They were very brave. “And to Gene and Judy Bolles, who came in and rescued this theater in 2003, my hat goes off to them for keeping us alive this long,” he continues. “They didn’t have to do it — he’s a doctor and she’s a physical therapist — but they did, and they did put their faith in us. I hope that we did them proud and made the theater what they wanted. I can’t thank everyone enough — the staff, crew, our whole acting company and anyone who ever stepped foot in the building. It’s been an amazing journey with these people, and BDT has made my life full.” BOULDER WEEKLY
EVENTS
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Matt flaherty In the Bar
Arkansauce with brandywine and the might Fines
Rootbeer Richie and
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PICTURING THE WEST: OPENING RECEPTION
6-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road. $8
Lionel young duo In the Bar
Deva Yoder In the Bar
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5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, The Tipi Raisers’ Hub, 9849 Isabelle Road, Lafayette. Free
Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, Broomfield Library and Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road. Free
NAGI CIRCLE GATHERING
MILE HIGH YO YO CLUB
Experience the vast beauty of the American West at Longmont Museum’s opening night of Picturing the West: Masterworks of American Landscape Photography. The art-forward evening features live classical music and a cash bar.
Each month, the Tipi Raisers invites the community to its monthly Nagi circle gathering. Join in on this fun, informative get-together that teaches traditional Lakota culture and history, with an honoring ceremony for Lakota elders Ramona White Plume and Ed Iron Cloud.
Think you got what it takes to roll with the big dogs? Looking to polish that pesky trick you just can’t seem to nail? Mile High Yo Yo Club may have just what you need at their three-hour event, taking place at the Broomfield Library this Saturday.
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2-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, Jamestown Mercantile, 108 Main St. $15
10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, Pella Crossing Trailhead, 11600 N. 75th St., Longmont. Free
Rolling Harvest, The Alcapones, Poorfree and Bearhat are getting together for a full afternoon of jamming at the annual Cosmic Winter Wonderfest in Jamestown. Paella will be served alongside cold drinks and plenty of tunes to keep you warm.
This one is a bird watcher’s dream. Trip leader and local birder Carl Starace invites you on a trek to Pella Crossing to observe wintering waterfowl, songbirds like the Townsend’s Solitaire and even some raptors like Merlin and the Rough-legged Hawk.
Bill Mckay In the Bar
Handmade Moments with andy babb and lara elle
$17 + $4
service charge
Lionel young duo In the Bar
The Good Kind
$15 + $4
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Aaron mitchell In the Bar
PASSWORD: COMEDY
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, The Speakeasy, 301 Main St., Longmont. $10 Meg and the old man In the Bar
Dave Watts and Friends
JANUARY 25, 2024
$18 + $4
service charge
Enter through the backdoor, treat yourself to a cocktail and spend the night laughing all the way out of your chair. Password: Comedy is a topsecret evening you didn’t hear about from us, but you’ll be glad you went — $10 is all you have to pay for a fullslate of standup comedy.
COSMIC WINTER WONDERFEST
PELLA CROSSING
BOULDER WEEKLY
EVENTS
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Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, 879 Neon Forest Circle, Longmont. Free
12:30-2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, George Reynolds Branch, 3595 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder. Free
7-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $175
QUEERS AND QUICHE
“Everyone under the rainbow” is welcome to come socialize and nosh during Queers and Quiche. There will be games, food and fun — just bring something for the potluck, and if you’d like to donate to the clothing drive for The Action Center, bring new underwear, gently used blankets or jeans.
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COFFEE & CLASSICS
8-10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, Downtown Boulder, 14th and Pearl Streets. Free Calling all classic European car enthusiasts. Presented by Fuelfed Coffee & Classics, this gathering of automotive aficionados offers a space to share your passion over a steaming cup of Joe in the heart of downtown Boulder.
BOULDER WEEKLY
PUZZLE COMPETITION
Who’s the fastest puzzler of them all? Possibly you. Assemble a two-to-six person team that will be provided an unbuilt jigsaw by Goodfit, and the top performers will win a handcrafted puzzle donated by Boulder’s own Liberty Puzzles.
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HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY LECTURE
7-9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, University of Colorado Boulder, 1720 Pleasant St., Boulder. Free Join guest scholar Dr. Mark Roseman — a distinguished professor of history at Indiana University — for a two-hour lecture, hosted by the CU Boulder Program in Jewish Studies. The title of Monday’s talk is: “How Ordinary Were the Ordinary Men: The Puzzle of Perpetration in the Holocaust.”
INTRODUCTION TO IMPROV
This seven-class course is your chance to take the leap to the stage with teacher and longtime improviser Ian Gibbs. Improv builds confidence, spikes creativity, and acts as a foundation for a variety of performing arts, so get to the Dairy Arts Center and let your ideas fly.
Stressed Out? Think Massage! Call 720.253.4710
All credit cards accepted No text messages
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CREATING WRITING CRITIQUE GROUP
4:30-6:50 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave. Free Head to Boulder Public Library for a constructive critique session that will help you polish your latest draft while making connections with your fellow local writers. Submit your work ahead of time and read other submissions for critique by following the guidelines at bit.ly/BoulderWritersAlliance. JANUARY 25, 2024
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LIVE MUSIC T HU R S D AY, J AN. 2 5 DIZGO WITH 3420. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $18
S UN DAY, J A N . 28
ON THE BILL
LOCO UKULELE JAM. 2 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free
ARKANSAUCE WITH BRANDYWINE AND THE MIGHTY FINES. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $15
XOCHITL AND THE FLOWERS. 3 p.m. Canyon Theatre at the Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Free
JEFF & J.C. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
DENNIS WANEBO. 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
STEVE WEEKS. 6 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Ave., Unit C, Longmont. Free MOUNTAIN DUO. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free ARTHUR S & THE EFFECTS WITH JUNIPER LAMPLIGHT AND ANIMAL ELECTRICITY. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15
FR I D AY, J A N . 2 6 RYAN HUTCHENS. 6 p.m. Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free PAUL SHUPACK. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free CAITLIN ALEXANDER & FRIENDS. 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free THE BAD MAMMA JAMAS. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free TOUBAB KREWE WITH LIONEL YOUNG DUO. 7 p.m. Caribou Room, 55 County Road 128W, Nederland. $15
Gleefully scrambling the boundaries of funk, prog and guitar rock, Boulder’s own Thunderboogie takes the stage for an all-local lineup alongside Denver-based Squeaky Feet and Sqwerv at the Fox Theatre on Jan. 27. Read all about the jam-heavy genre busters ahead of the show by scanning the QR code. See listing for details.
HARLEIGH COLT (OF RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE) WITH PATTY MELTZ AND POLYPHONI. 9 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $15 ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. WITH TENTH MOUNTAIN DIVISION. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $45
SATUR DAY, JAN . 27 CHAMPAGNE DRIP WITH SKINNY LIMBS AND BALEK. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 114th St. $25 SQUEAKY FEET WITH SQWERV AND THUNDERBOOGIE. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15. BW PICK OF THE WEEK
TYLER T. TRIO. 6:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids, 1555 S. Hover St., Longmont. Free JUENEMANN/MCCROSSON DYNAMIC DUO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20 ROOTS OF SOUL. 7 p.m. Superior Community Center, 1500 Coalton Road. Free THE DELTA SONICS WITH DFK AND THE LAB RATS. 7:30 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl, Suite V3A. $15 LIONEL YOUNG DUO. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free FUNK KNUF. 8 p.m. Louisville Underground, 640 Main St. $18
VERTIGO ROAD & FRIENDS. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20
HEAVY DIAMOND RING. 8 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $20
POST/WAR WITH NIGHT FISHING AND TEAM NONEXISTENT. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15
EMO NIGHT BROOKLYN. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15
THE JOE COOL BAND. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free
DUST HONEY WITH MAJOR MOTION PICTURE AND ADDIE TONIC. 5 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $12
ROOTBEER RICHIE WITH THE REVEILLE AND BLEAK MYSTIQUE. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $15 LOS MOCOCHETES WITH LOS ALCOS, BEAR AND THE BEASTS AND SOULS EXTOLLED. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15 30
JANUARY 25, 2024
JOHN MCKAY. 6 p.m. Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free STRANGEBYRDS. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS WITH LINDSAY LOU AND CLAY STREET UNIT. 6:45 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40
SCOTT VON. 4 p.m. Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free DEVA YODER. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free PORRIDGE WITH PEOPLE IN GENERAL, CELLAR SMELLAR AND GLACIERFACE. 5 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $13
M ON DAY, J A N . 29 LOCAL 303 MEETUP (WITH FAST EDDY). 6:30 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. Free
TUE S DAY, J A N . 30 DAVE HONIG. 5 p.m. Roadhouse Boulder Depot, 2366 Junction Place. Free DIGABLE PLANETS WITH KASSA OVERALL. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $41
WE DN E S DAY, J A N . 31 DAVID LAMAR ORGAN TRIO (WEDNESDAY NIGHT SQUARE DANCE). 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont. Free HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF WITH SPECIAL GUEST (TBA). 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $33 BILL MCKAY. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code. BOULDER WEEKLY
FILM
CINEMA SPRINGS ETERNAL CU’s International Film Series returns for another semester BY MICHAEL J. CASEY favorite Robert Zemeckis (April 25-28), a screening of 1921 German silent, The Wildcat, featuring a live performance from the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (May 1) and seven midnight shows, IFS Underground, hosted and curated by CU Cinema Studies student, Jason Shoemaker. For those looking for something the whole family can enjoy, give 2013’s Oscar-nominated Boy and the World (April 3) a shot. It’s terrific. Speaking of Oscars, IFS will feature this year’s nominees in the Animation, Documentary and Live Action short subject categories over two weekends (Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 23-25). It’s an IFS tradition, one of the best around.
Solero Flamenco
Jazz Supper Club Series
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Deborah Stafford & the Night Stalkers
28 2355 30th Street Boulder (303) 440-1002
29 Backcountry Happy Hour
30 details & tickets!
DPS Night with DPS Head of Product
Trivia Night!
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ON SCREEN: International
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Film Series, January through May, CU Boulder. Tickets, times and info at internationalfilmseries.com.
Jazz Supper Club Series
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ou could see Stanley Kubrick’s iconic anti-war film Paths of Glory (Jan. 30). Or maybe you’ll check out Kasi Lemmons’ feature debut Eve’s Bayou on 35 mm (Feb. 3). You could see what this critic considers to be the best movie of 2023, Perfect Days (March 16). Or you could see what a bunch of critics in 2022 deemed the greatest film of all time, Jeanne Dielman (March 10). Or maybe you’ll just find yourself with a free evening and see whatever happens to be playing that night. Whatever you end up seeing, you can’t go wrong at the International Film Series (IFS). Back for another semester of cinematic gems, classic and contemporary, IFS screens through May with dedicated weeks celebrating Black History Month (Feb. 3-14), Women Making Movies (March 6-10) and animation (April 3-7). Additionally, IFS’ spring calendar sports a retrospective of Hollywood
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Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Com10 as part of the International Film Series. Courtesy: Janus Films
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ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Aries author Dani Shapiro has published six novels, three bestselling memoirs, and a host of articles in major magazines. She co-founded a writer’s conference, teaches at top universities and does a regular podcast. We can conclude she is successful. Here’s her secret: She feels that summoning courage is more important than being confident. Taking bold action to accomplish what you want is more crucial than cultivating selfassurance. I propose that in the coming weeks, you apply her principles to your own ambitions.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): I have selected a poem for you to tape on your refrigerator door for the next eight weeks. It’s by 13th-century Zen poet Wu–Men. He wrote: “Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, / a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. / If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.” My wish for you, Libra — which is also my prediction for you — is that you will have extra power to empty your mind of unnecessary things. More than ever, you will be acutely content to focus on the few essentials that appeal to your wild heart and tender soul.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Throughout history, there has never been a culture without religious, mythical and supernatural beliefs. The vast majority of the world’s people have believed in magic and divinity. Does that mean it’s all true and real? Of course not. Nor does it mean that none of it is true and real. Ultrarationalists who dismiss the spiritual life are possessed by hubris. Everything I’ve said here is a prelude to my oracle for you: Some of the events in the next three weeks will be the result of magic and divinity. Your homework is to discern which are and which aren’t.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Psychologist Carl Jung wrote, “Motherlove is one of the most moving and unforgettable memories of our lives, the mysterious root of all growth and change; the love that means homecoming, shelter and the long silence from which everything begins and in which everything ends.” To place yourself in rapt alignment with current cosmic rhythms, Scorpio, you will do whatever’s necessary to get a strong dose of the blessing Jung described. If your own mother isn’t available or is insufficient for this profound immersion, find other maternal sources. Borrow a wise woman elder or immerse yourself in Goddess worship. Be intensely intent on basking in a nurturing glow that welcomes you and loves you exactly as you are and makes you feel deeply at home in the world.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Several wise people have assured me that the pursuit of wealth, power, popularity and happiness isn’t as important as the quest for meaningfulness. If you feel your life story is interesting, rich and full of purpose, you are successful. This will be a featured theme for you in the coming months, Gemini. If you have ever fantasized about your destiny resembling an ancient myth, a revered fairy tale, a thousand-page novel or an epic film, you will get your wish.
ONGRATS! CONGRATS! CONGRATS!
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): “Life as we live it is unaccompanied by signposts,” wrote author Holly Hickler. I disagree with her assessment, especially in regard to your upcoming future. Although you may not encounter literal markers bearing information to guide you, you will encounter metaphorical signals that are clear and strong. Be alert for them, Cancerian. They might not match your expectations about what signposts should be, though, so expand your concepts of how they might appear.
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LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): I wrote a book called Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. Among its main messages: There’s high value in cultivating an attitude that actively looks for the best in life and regards problems as potential opportunities. When I was working on the book, no one needed to hear this advice more than me. Even now, I still have a long way to go before mastering the outlook I call “crafty optimism.” I am still subject to dark thoughts and worried feelings, even though I know the majority of them are irrational or not based on the truth of what’s happening. In other words, I am earnestly trying to learn the very themes I have been called to teach. What’s the equivalent in your life, Leo? Now is an excellent time to upgrade your skill at expressing abilities and understandings you wish everyone had.
FROM PRAIRIE MOUNTAIN MEDIA PrintingPartners Partners Since 2010. Printing Since 2010. Printing Partners Since 2010. FROM PRAIRIE MOUNTAIN FROM PRAIRIE MOUNTAIN MEDIA MEDIA
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VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): In 1951, filmmaker Akira Kurosawa made a movie adapted from The Idiot, a novel by his favorite author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Kurosawa was not yet as famous and influential as we would later become. That’s why he agreed to his studio’s COLORADO’S PREMIER COLD SET PRINTER demand to cut 99 minutes from his original | Tabloids | Magazines | Retail Inserts | Bindery MailBut Service 265-minute|version. this turned out to be OLORADO’S PREMIERNewspapers COLD SET PRINTER a bad idea. Viewers of the film had a hard time understanding the chopped-up story. loids | Magazines | Retail Inserts | Bindery Service 801 | N. Mail 2nd St., Berthoud, CO, 303.834.3934 Most of the critics’ reviews were negative. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, with two 801 N. 2nd St., Berthoud, CO, 303.834.3934 intentions: 1. I encourage you to do minor editing on your labor of love. 2 But don’t agree to anything like the extensive revisions that Kurosawa did.
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JANUARY 25, 2024
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): In a set of famous experiments, physiologist Ivan Pavlov taught dogs to have an automatic response to a particular stimulus. He rang a bell while providing the dogs with food they loved. After a while, the dogs began salivating with hunger simply when they heard the bell, even though no food was offered. Ever since, “Pavlov’s dogs” has been a phrase that refers to the ease with which animals’ instinctual natures can be conditioned. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Pavlov had used cats instead of dogs for his research. Would felines have submitted to such scientific shenanigans? I doubt it. These ruminations are my way of urging you to be more like a cat than a dog in the coming weeks. Resist efforts to train you, tame you or manipulate you into compliance. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Before poet Louise Glück published her first book, Firstborn, it was rejected by 28 publishers. When it finally emerged, she suffered from writer’s block. Her next book didn’t appear until eight years after the first one. Her third book arrived five years later, and her fourth required another five years. Slow going! But here’s the happy ending: By the time she died at age 80, she had published 21 books and won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. By my astrological reckoning, you are now at a phase, in your own development, comparable to the time after Glück’s fourth book: well-primed, fully geared up and ready to make robust progress. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath,” wrote author F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’d like to expand that metaphor and apply it to you, Aquarius. I propose that your best thinking and decision-making in the coming weeks will be like swimming underwater while holding your breath. What I mean is that you’ll get the best results by doing what feels unnatural. You will get yourself in the right mood if you bravely go down below the surface and into the depths and feel your way around. PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): In honor of this pivotal time in your life story, I offer four pronouncements. 1. You can now be released from a history that has repeated itself too often. To expedite this happy shift, indulge in a big cry and laugh about how boring that repeated history has become. 2. You can finish paying off your karmic debt to someone you hurt. How? Change yourself to ensure you won’t ever act that way again. 3. You can better forgive those who wounded you if you forgive yourself for being vulnerable to them. 4. Every time you divest yourself of an illusion, you will clearly see how others’ illusions have been affecting you.
BOULDER WEEKLY
SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE I was seeing this guy for about four months. We were pretty much dating, doing all of the normal boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Everything was going great up until last night when he told me he feels all of these feelings for me, but they don’t mean anything because he’s felt this same way about others, but nothing has ever worked out. He told me that whatever we have “isn’t enough.” I’m not sure what that even means. But last night he also told me that he loves me and yet he still left. I’m so confused. Do you have any insight? — What The Fuck WTF: Here’s some advice for you from one of our specialists: You got dumped — which I think you know — and I’m very sorry about that. Getting dumped sucks, I realize, but most people get over it and you’ll probably get over it, too. And he was either lying about loving you when he broke up with you, which was cruel and disqualifying (you don’t want to date a guy like that), or he was telling the truth about loving you and broke up with you anyway, which was crazy and disqualifying (you don’t want to date a mess like that). Have you ever seen a successful relationship when the sex was difficult from the start? Or even stopped pretty early in the relationship? I have been with my boyfriend since August, and I honestly lost my desire for him early on. He’s a bit of a hoarder and has some self-care and cleanliness issues, which I only realized some way into the relationship. It has killed the sexual vibe for me very early, but I do feel very safe with him, very connected emotionally. Is there hope? Or should we call it friends? — Only Doomed Or Real Shot?
Free
Taste The Difference
I’ve definitely seen relationships succeed despite sex being difficult at the start. But the couples that succeeded in the way you most likely meant had at some point redefined their relationships as companionate. What I haven’t seen much are two people who didn’t share a strong sexual connection at the start manage to create one. And when I have seen that happen, ODORS, there was always some shared interest or dynamic or kink, and the couple focusing on their overlapping interests/dynamics/kinks and on that rock built a good-to-great sex life together. What I found myself wondering as I read your question, ODORS, was why you would wanna make things work with this guy. If he can’t be bothered to bathe and brush his teeth and use a little deodorant when he’s trying to win you, ODORS, he’s not going to make the effort once he’s won you. There may be some underlying mental health issue here that he’s struggling with. You can offer him your friendship and moral support — provided you can spare the emotional bandwidth — but don’t offer him a blowjob. Sucking this guy’s dick would not only be unpleasant for you, ODORS, but it would send the wrong message to him, e.g., that he’s in good enough working order (Proof: he’s getting his dick sucked) and doesn’t need to get help and make changes.
Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love BOULDER WEEKLY
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BACK TO (FOOD) SCHOOL Upgrade your culinary IQ and health with local cooking workshops BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
W
hen I think back to all the stuff I learned in high school and college, it’s no wonder I don’t use much of that knowledge every day. (Sorry about that, calculus. Thanks, Latin.) Some of the most essential wisdom I use daily I acquired the hard way. I know how to cook not because I attended culinary school, but from years spent toiling in hot Boulder restaurant kitchens. (There was a lot of yelling.) There is no question that knowing how to cook intuitively saves me a lot of money and makes it easier to eat healthy — when I feel like it. A much easier path to eating enlightenment can be achieved by taking a class at one of Boulder County’s many cooking schools and businesses. April Stamm, Culinary Director of Boulder’s Food Lab, has seen scores of students have a lightbulb moment during its sociable, hands-on cooking workshops for adults and children. Many students may love Thai or Greek food at restaurants but fear preparing it themselves. “One of the main goals is to bone up on culinary skills that make cooking easier and to really dive into other cultures through food,” Stamm says. “At the end of every class, students taste what they prepared. You can tell they will never forget how to make the dish.” Stamm suggests that true kitchen newbies consider a knife skills class. “It really speeds up cooking and makes it safer,” she says. After that, Stamm recommends a class on fresh herbs. “We can get stuck in a rut only using basil and cilantro and there is a world of fresh herbs available now from farmers and grocery stores.” Boulder County is home to a surprising roster of learning venues. Here’s an alphabetical directory including a handful of upcoming classes.
BOULDER WEEKLY
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts: Boulder professional school offers home cook classes: French Desserts and Pastry (Feb. 3); Taste of Thailand (Feb. 23); PlantCredit: Food Lab based Asian Dumplings (Feb. 28). escoffier.edu Growing Gardens: The Boulder farm Boulder Fruit Rescue: Learn how to help your fruit trees thrive through prun- hosts classes and camps: Front Range Vegetable Gardening 101 (March 7, 9); Irrigation for Home Gardeners (April 6). growinggardens.org Journey Culinary: Longmont cultural cooking school’s classes: Knife Skills (Jan. 24, March 2); Peruvian Cuisine (Feb. 16); Macarons (March 9); Spanish Tapas (March 27). journeyculinary.com OZO Coffee: Boulder-based coffee roastery hosts hands-on classes: Manual Brew Methods for Home (Jan. 14, March 17); Barista Class (Jan. 28, Feb. 25, March 3, March 24, March 31); Advanced Latte Art (Feb. 4, March 10); Intro to Coffee and Cupping (Feb. 18). ozocoffee.com Courtesy: Art of Cheese
ing with experts at Boulder’s Benevolence Orchard (Feb. 3, Feb. 10). fruitrescue.org Boulder Mushroom: Fungi grower Zach Hedstrom teaches classes in mushroom identification and cultivation. boulder mushroom.com Food Lab: Boulder school offers a wide range of hands-on classes: Vegan Valentine’s (Feb. 15); Kids Dumpling Workshop (Feb. 20); Date Night Argentina (March 15); Pho (March 21). foodlabboulder.com
Piece, Love & Chocolate: Boulder shop’s classes include: Truffles and Ganache (Feb. 17); Pie (March 2); Eclairs and Cream Puffs (March 30). pieceloveandchocolate.com Sur La Table: Classes at Boulder cookware store: Lunar New Year Fest (Feb. 2); Pasta Workshop (Feb. 6); Chocolate Workshop (Feb. 9). surla table.com The Art of Cheese: Longmont’s cheesemaking school offers hands-on classes including a goat farm tour: Brie & Camembert (Feb. 25). theartof cheese.com Ginger & Baker: Fort Collins restaurant and bakery has a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen. Classes include: Ukrainian Easter dinner (March 22). gingerandbaker.com Leopold Bros. Distillery: The Denver distillery hosts monthly cocktail/ mixology classes including one on Feb. 8. leopoldbros.com The top 5 tools cooks need: Food Lab’s Stamm says that upgrading cooking skills does come with the need for good tools. Her top five musthave kitchen tools are: 1. A good chef’s knife (and the knowhow to sharpen it) 2. A microplane for grating 3. Kitchen shears 4. A plastic or metal pastry scraper for making baked goods and transferring chopped things from a cutting board 5. An immersion blender — small and easy to use, store and clean JANUARY 25, 2024
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Thank you for Voting Raza Fresa Best Burrito
Boulder County Girl Scout troops are now selling cookies to support their activities. For those who can’t consume the tasty treats, Procter & Gamble has released limited-edition body wash in Girl Scout cookie scents, including my favorite, Thin Mints, only at Target stores. Roots, the restaurant downstairs from Longmont’s Dickens Opera House, has reopened as The Passenger restaurant. Coming attractions: Veteran Italian chef Marco Monnanni will open Bucatino at 1265 S. Public Road in Lafayette, formerly Ting’s Chinese Restaurant. La Catrina Mexican Restaurant is coming to 4800 Baseline Road, Unit E-105, Boulder. Michigan-based Jet’s Pizza will dish Detroit-style pizza at 2609 Pearl St. in Boulder, former longtime home of Salvaggio’s Deli. Parkway Food Hall, 700 Ken Pratt Blvd., will open in May as Longmont’s first food hall.
CULINARY CALENDAR: CONGREGATING CHEFS Feb. 29’s big CineCHEF tasting event during the Boulder International Film Festival at Rembrandt Yard will feature fare from the following chefs: Michael Bertozzi of The Kitchen, Bradford Heap. Credit: Salt Bistro Rich Byers from Jill’s, Gage Hascall-Dove of Blackbelly, Bradford Heap from Salt, Kevin Kidd of 24 Carrot Bistro, Sheila Lucero of Jax Fish House, Jeremy McGinty from River & Woods and Bob Sargent with Savory Cuisines Catering. Tickets: biff1.com/cinechef Local farmers: Do you have 2024 CSA shares available? Details to: nibbles@boulderweekly.com
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“Corporate greed has won again. The lobbyists have paid our politicians, transplants have voted to make our state like their old ones, and Colorado now steps in line to destroy independent small business in favor of the grocery store chains and price club retailers. We’re done folks. Going out of business.” — Facebook post from Longmont’s Three Rivers Wine & Spirits, closed recently at 1020 Ken Pratt Blvd.
John Lehndorff can chiffonade basil, flip eggs without a spatula, make a roux, torch meringue and grow shishitos in his living room window.
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Happy 30tH anniversary Boulder Weekly!
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SMOKE BREAK California protects cannabis users at work BY WILL BRENDZA
E
mployers in the U.S. cannot fire someone for partaking in legal drug or alcohol consumption, so long as it is done off hours and doesn’t affect their performance on the job. Because it remains a federally illegal substance, the same liberty is not extended to cannabis use. Employees who test positive for THC in a work-mandated drug test are often disciplined by their employers and sometimes fired. Job applicants who admit to having used cannabis or test positive for it may not get hired as a result. That is no longer the case in California. As of Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 2188 established protections for workers who use cannabis from being discriminated against by current or prospective employers. As long as someone does not display evidence of active THC in their system on the job, this law protects workers from being fired for off-the-job cannabis use and prevents employers from holding past cannabis use against a potential job candidate as well. Users can sue for damages if they are discriminated against.
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JANUARY 25, 2024
“Testing or threatening to test bodily fluids for cannabis metabolites has been the most common way that employers harass and discriminate against employees who lawfully use cannabis in the privacy of their own
homes,” Dale Gieringer, director for the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), wrote in a statement on the organization’s website. “These new laws will end that practice without impacting workplace safety.” In California, employers will still be able to test for active THC in a person’s system. There are also impairment tests that can be used to judge a person’s sobriety on the job. Assembly Bill 2188 makes it so employers can no longer “discriminate
against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person, if the discrimination is based upon the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace.” Another new bill, Senate Bill 700, prevents California employers from asking about a candidate’s past cannabis use. While many employers in Colorado don’t use drug tests to discriminate against cannabis users, it is still within their legal right to do so. There are no legal protections for workers in Colorado similar to the new laws in California. One was introduced by Rep. Edie Hooton in 2022. The “Prohibit Employer Adverse Action Marijuana Use” bill would have allowed employers to impose restrictions on employee use of medical or retail marijuana, but it would have legally prohibited them from taking any kind of adverse action against their employees or job applicants who used recreational or medical cannabis off the premises and during nonwork hours. Notably, this bill would have also allowed for medical marijuana patients to use cannabis on the job. Hooton’s bill failed in committee. No new legislation has been introduced this session. Meaning for now, in the Centennial State, employers can still fire or discipline their employees for using cannabis at home, off hours away from the job.
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