Life On Capitol Hill 0619

Life On

June 2019 FREE

CAPITOL HILL

MONEY RACE Colfax Marathon helps nonproďŹ t raise funds

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COMMUNITY LEADERS CHUN celebrates 50 years

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ART ON COLFAX New installations celebrate Pride

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STRUCTURED GROWTH Neighborhoods lead the way

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PARKS FOR ALL

Denver announces plan for park tax initiative

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2 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Business Matters

By Kailyn Lamb | klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Business Matters is a monthly column on the changing landscape of business and development in north Denver. If there are any inquiries on new developments in your area, or if you are a local business wishing to highlight an upcoming milestone, email Kailyn Lamb at klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

BUSINESS OPENINGS Tough Mudder Bootcamp Colorado’s first branch of the Tough Mudder Bootcamp gym is hosting a grand opening at its new location on June 8.

The gym is located in the City Park neighborhood at 3805 E. Colfax Ave. Owned by husband and wife Brian and Libby Anglin,Tough Mudder will offer free classes that day at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

According to a news release from the gym, it will donate $5 to the Denver Fire Foundation for every person who attends the grand opening ceremony, up to $500.

Wise Choice Tattoo Removal The laser skin treatment business opened at 190 E. Ninth Ave. in May. Wise Choice Tattoo removal offers a range of skin treatments, including anti-aging, wrinkle and acne scar treatment.

Attimo Winery A Snooze co-founder is building a new business, Attimo Winery, which will be located in the Ballpark neighborhood. According to plans submitted to the city, the new winery will open at 2246 Larimer St., two buildings down from the original Snooze breakfast restaurant.

A website for the winery says “coming harvest 2019.”

Sunday Vinyl The Frasca, Inc. team is bringing a new wine bar to Union Station this fall, according to a news release from the restaurant. Frasca Food and Wine is an Italian restaurant in Boulder.

Frasca’s master sommelier Bobby Stuckey, along with chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson and partner Peter Hoglund, will open Sunday Vinyl at 1803 16th St. The bar is inspired by Stuckey’s love of vinyl records and Europe’s wine bar culture, according to the news release.

The wine bar will be working with Vinyl Me Please, an online company that sells contemporary music on vinyl, to create a music playlist.

Sunday Vinyl will be taking over The Local[ish] Market space. The market opened in July 2017 and closed in late 2018. Frasca also owns Tavernetta, an Italian restaurant near Union Station. Tavernetta is near Sunday Vinyl’s future location.

Owlbear Barbecue After two years, Owlbear Barbecue has opened in the River North neighborhood at 2826 Larimer St. Owlbear started as a food truck inside Finn’s Manor in 2015. Finn’s Manor is a cocktail bar that features several food trucks parked inside.

Permit applications were part of the reason for the delay in opening a brickand-mortar location. Owlbear operated in Finn’s Manor until early 2017. By then, the Larimer Street location had become available.

The restaurant opens at 11 a.m. and runs until the meat is sold out.

Kisbee on the Roof Kisbee on the Roof, a new rooftop bar, opened at the Jacquard Hotel and Rooftop in Cherry Creek in mid-May. The Jacquard is located at 222 Milwaukee St. Cocktails are $15. A selection of beer and wine is also available.

The rooftop at the Jacquard also has a pool and 180-degree views. The bar will also have a small plate menu.

CLOSINGS 1515 Restaurant After nearly 22 years in business, 1515 Restaurant closed on May 31. The restaurant, which had a fine dining menu, opened at 1515 Market St. in 1997. Chef and owner

Gene Tang has decided to retire from the restaurant business.

Tang recently spoke to Life on Capitol Hill for an article talking about Denver Restaurant Week. For more information, go to https://lifeoncaphill.com/stories/eatingyour-way-around-denver,278840.

Women in Kind The co-working space founded for women, by women will be closing June 8. Women in Kind, at 3899 Jackson St., opened in August 2017.

The business had rooms for breastfeeding, as well as a space for childcare.

For a short time, Women in Kind also operated a second co-working space in Cherry Creek at 250 Steele St., but it closed earlier this year.

Crepes `n Crepes Crepes `n Crepes closed two of its three restaurants last month, one in the Lower Highlands and the other near the 16th Street Mall downtown. The restaurant’s third location at Cherry Creek at 2816 E. Third Ave. remains open.

The restaurant first opened as a food cart in 2002. The Cherry Creek location followed two years later. The downtown location opened in 2006, and the Lower Highlands location opened in 2017.

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Life On Capitol Hill 3

June 2019

Business

Tom’s Diner Owners of Tom’s Diner have applied for non-historic status with the city. The process allows residents to decide if they wish to apply for historic status on the building, which would mean it could not be demolished.

The building for Tom’s Diner was built in 1967 and was part of the White Spot chain of diners.

The building is Googie architecture, which is known for its futurist style and is influenced by car culture.

Residents have until June 7 to file an application with the city for historic status. For more information on landmark preservation, go to https://bit.ly/2QmEZzh.

FROM PAGE 2

CHANGES Colorado Sake Co. Colorado Sake Co. is expanding in its building at 3559 Larimer St. Wine & Whey, which shares the building with the sake brewery, will be closing later this summer.

Colorado Sake Co. plans to take over the space, tripling the size of its footprint.

The company makes sake, a Japanese rice wine, which is brewed on site. It opened in September of last year.

Fetch Shop The team behind the pop-up Fetch Markets will open a brickand-mortar retail space June 4 at 1855 Blake St. The pop-up markets have focused on local retailers. For the retail shop, Fetch will rotate brands instead of keeping the same ones in the store at all times, according to a news release.

“The goal of Fetch Shop is to create an evergreen, fresh collection of brands under one roof that, together, reflect a clear sense of place and time,” said Blake Adams, founder of Fetch, in the release.

Yampa Sandwich Co. Formerly Backcountry Delica-

At the end of August Colorado Sake Co. opened in the River North neighborhood. It is a taproom for different Sake flavors made in house. Sake is a Japanese rice wine.

KAILYN LAMB tessan, Yampa Sandwich Co. is a new name for a nearly 20-yearold sandwich company based in Steamboat Springs. The new name came from the Yampa River, which flows through the town.

The sandwich company has five

shops in Colorado, including two in Denver. Yampa is located at 444 17th St. and 1617 Wazee St. The Corner Beet The vegetarian cafe will open a second location in Cherry Creek

later this year. The Corner Beat first opened in Capitol Hill in 2014 at 1401 N. Ogden St. The new location will be at 165 Saint Paul St. It will feature many of the same menu items as the original location.

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In Bloom Saturdays On Saturdays in May, the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District launched a new art project: In Bloom. Chalk artists created temporary drawings throughout the 16-block shopping area, according to a news release from the district. Artists from Denver Chalk Art participated.

“We want the community to rediscover their favorite walkable Denver neighborhood while it’s blooming in springtime,” said interim CEO Jenny Starkey in the release. “Live art demonstrations in new and surprising locations are the perfect way for us to welcome the changing seasons while highlighting the new additions and the local favorites in the area.”

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4 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

INVESTING IN GREEN SPACE

Uptown nonprofit planted trees and wrapped up fundraising last month

By Kailyn Lamb

A

Judy Hopper, the executive director of The Turnverein, sprinkles compost into a hole for a new tree. Hopper said The Turnverein raised PHOTOS BY KAILYN LAMB $1,345 since February for the new green space.

klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

fter several months of raising money, the Turnverein has begun planting trees on the north side of its property to replace a long strip of cracked and crumbling asphalt along East 16th Avenue.

Volunteers from the Turnverein, an historic building at 1570 N. Clarkson St. that is home to several dance groups, and Uptown on the Hill, the area’s Registered Neighborhood Organization, took out the pavement and planted three trees in late April.

The goal, Turnverein excecutive director Judy Hopper said, is to turn the strip of concrete into a green area for people walking through Uptown or waiting for concerts at neighboring Fillmore Auditorium.

The Turnverein nonprofit started in 1865. The nonprofit focuses on dance education, from swing to tango, and is named for clubs that promoted social and physical activity.

Judy Trompeter, president of Uptown on the Hill, also helped with planning. The two organizations set up a Go Fund Me and called the project the Greenverein.

Although the Turnverein has been raising funds since late last year, Hopper said there was more interest in the Greenverein project when spring started.

“During the winter it was kind of slow going and nobody was really into gardening,” she said.

In February, when Life on Capitol Hill first wrote an article about Greenverein, Hopper said the nonprofit had raised about $4,000 (lifeoncaphill.com/stories/waltzinginto-green-space,276292).

Michael Keele spreads soil around a newly planted tree in Uptown. Keele was among the many volunteers who planted three trees in a new green space in front of The Turnverein.

The nonprofit has raised an additional $1,345 since then, Hopper said. The Colorado Cactus and Succulent Society donated $1,000 to the project after one of its members saw volunteers planting the trees in April. Colorado Cactus also donated plants, Hopper said.

Hopper also wants to add a variety of plants in the space, as well as some boulders or large rocks.

The Turnverein has been working with Denver Botanic Gardens for recommendations on local plants that require less water.

“We want to rearrange it so it’s not totally flat,” Hopper said. “We’re definitely going with low maintenance xeriscape plants.”

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Life On Capitol Hill 5

June 2019

F O M ’ E G ‘A IGHT DEL Colfax business organization brings students, community together for Pride art installation

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

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he Colfax community came together last month to bring the stories of Stonewall and Denver Pride streetside as artwork on the district’s 14 utility boxes for traffic lights.

Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, said the organization has put together the art project since 2015. Placing art on the boxes has two benefits: It promotes walkability in the neighborhood and it prevents tagging on the boxes as well, Lacantore said.

“We hit upon something that was relatively simple to pull off,” he said. “It’s a little gem of delight as you’re walking instead of just this sterile metal utility box that probably has

From left, Danie Vigil, Adrienne Norris, Allison Torvik and Vensha McGee pose for a picture after installing a vinyl sticker collage designed by a student from East High School on an electrical box on the corner of East Colfax Avenue and North Lafayette Street on May 11. A group of adult volunteers helped students from the East High School National Arts Honor Society install art in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York CIty, which launched the modern-era fight for LGBTQ rights.

GEOFF ZIEGLER

graffitti on it.”

The Colfax Ave Business Improvement District covers the area from 14th to 16th Avenues and from Grant and Josephine streets.

The first year of the art installations, Locantore said the district ran the event with a contest. Each utility box had a link where

people could go to vote for their favorite. The winner received a cash prize.

Last year, Locantore decided to do things a little differently. His wife, Jill, is executive director of Walk Denver, an advocacy group that promotes pedestrian safety and walkability in the city. Walk Denver received an art

TREASURES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

grant. The couple brought in students from East High School as well as So Gnar Creative Division, a local mural art company. The students created stickers that featured the stories of victims of traffic accidents. So Gnar painted a large mural on a building that depicted people walking across a street. It reads “Streets are for the people.”

The stories were on the sidewalk side of the utility boxes. The street side has a visual art piece.

“Each utility box told the story of one of the victims,” Locantore said. “It’s almost like you have a flipbook with the 14 utility boxes and they can each be their own vignette.”

When scouting the community for a new topic this year, Locantore learned from The Center on Colfax that it was the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that launched the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement.

The Center serves the LGBTQ community of Colorado.

Locantore worked with East High School students again for the installation. And The Center on Colfax brought in Adrienne Norris an artist from Afro Triangle Designs.

The students designed 14 vinyl stickers featuring stories of the LGBTQ community from Colorado, as well as the history of Stonewall.

About 20 volunteers came together on May 11 to place the stickers.

Locantore said he likes to draw ideas from the “riches of the community” in all of the Business Improvement District projects.

Three tattoo artists from Colfax recently created original art pieces for the lightpost banners on Colfax. Capitol Hill and Colfax Avenue have always had strong ties to the LGBTQ community and PrideFest.

“We’ve got a lot of proud Pride history,” he said.

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6 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) executive committee members pose in front of the Tears-McFarlane House on Williams Street in Denver on May 11. CHUN is celebrating its 50th anniversary of planning, preserving and improving Denver’s Capitol Hill community.

GEOFF ZIEGLER

Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods goes back to its roots and celebrates 50 years

By Bruce Goldberg Special to Colorado Community Media

Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) has a lot to celebrate as it looks back at its first 50 years. Now, board members are shifting gears to to make plans for the next half-century — starting with its dramatically improved financial status.

Two years ago, CHUN was $30,000 in the red. Today, CHUN has more than one year of operating expenses — about six figures — in its reserves.

One reason for the improvement: halting the People’s Fair after 47 years. Earlier this year, Team Player Productions, the company CHUN brought in to organize the People’s Fair in 2017, annouced it wouldn’t be running the festival in 2019, and the future of the People’s Fair is unknown. Now, CHUN can take its time to determine the fate of the massive street fair that featured dozens of vendors, restaurants, musical acts and more.

“We’re not going to go back and produce the People’s Fair to the scale that we did in years past,” said Travis Leiker, CHUN board president. “It’s an opportunity for us to completely re-imagine the event.”

That could include finding another event producer or creating a scaled-down festival at a smaller location. CHUN is evaluating such factors as vendor relationships, event production partners and more.

CHUN started the fair in 1972 as a block party. Team Player Productions ran the event in 2017 and 2018, after CHUN handed over the reins. CHUN no longer holds the permit to be in Civic Center Park on the first weekend in June and would need to apply to the city for a permit to hold the event in the future.

50 years of community activism Formed in 1969 by citizens who wanted to stop the proposed conversion of East 11th and 12th avenues into one-way streets, CHUN set as its mission “preserving the past, improving the present and planning for the future.” The organization covers a large portion of central Denver, from East

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER The 270-member Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods has been growing its membership at a record rate. The memberships generate about $16,000 annually. Travis Leiker, president of the CHUN board, said the group is committed to reaching 300 memberships, which would raise that figure to more than $20,000.

benefits include invitations to CHUN events, including neighborhood forums and town hall discussions, and receiving the monthly newsletter called Urban Dweller.

CHUN has three membership levels: business, nonprofit and HOA/other organization, which cost $180 per year; household memberships which are $75 per year; and individual memberships which are $30 per year. Member

CHUN’s board has 38 members – 18 are at large and the others represent specific neighborhoods. The board can have up to 40 members, and there are two vacancies at the moment: Neighborhood 2 in City Park West, and Neighborhood 7 in Congress Park.

Those interested in filling one of the empty seats may contact board secretary Andrea Hamilton at secretary@chundenver.org).

First Avenue to East 22nd Avenue and from Colorado Boulevard to Broadway. It includes Capitol Hill, Cheesman Park, Uptown and City Park West. It is a nonprofit organization, as well as a Registered Neighborhood Organization.

CHUN advocates for what it calls smart, responsible zoning and land use; a livable, walkable city and innovative transportation solutions; preservation of historic landmarks and architectural gems; promotion of community safety; helping the homeless and others in need; and supporting efforts to protect parks, open spaces and community beautification.

“Some of the things we have coming up are trash cleanups all over the neighborhood and holding a gardening class for urban gardening and more,” said Karen Van Haaften, CHUN’s vice president of community engagement.

A strategic planning retreat in March helped CHUN, which currently has 38 board members, focus on priorities as it begins the next 50 years: refine administrative processes and procedures, hire additional administrative and program staff, develop an endowment to ensure that its work continues in perpetuity, focus on retaining board mem-

bers and recruit new ones from diverse backgrounds, and revise the committee structure — including forming one to address climate change and good environmental practices.

“I think there’s going to be some returning to our roots in terms of community engagement, but also enhancing how we do our work and leveraging the various tools that we have available to us to do that work,” Leiker said. “We aim to add to our membership rolls.

“We are focused like a laser on the critical policy issues that are going to face the city in the next 50 years,” he continued. “The city is diversifying, so we have to be inclusive and collaborative with various community partners.”

Sarah Wells of CHUN board’s executive committee added that since the organization is now in a good place financially, the board can start to look at programming that benefits residents.

The organization’s efforts to preserve the 120-year-old Tears-McFarlane house, CHUN’s headquarters at 1290 N. Williams St., also have helped generate revenue for CHUN. The neighborhood group did more than $250,000 in renovations and replacements, including a new water heater, carpet-

ing, boiler repairs, lighting, painting and more. CHUN also filled every office in the building with tenants. The building generated more than $81,000 in revenue in 2018.

“When the city decided it was too expensive to run this house as a community center, we were the logical people for the city to say to, ‘Why don’t you take this over? We’ll give it to you,’” said Richard Wilson, CHUN board treasurer. “We were given this responsibility because we were seen as a responsible organization that could take it on and fulfill its original mission.”

That responsibility can be translated into policy, Wilson said. CHUN works to hold town halls with the public to keep it informed on different development projects and zoning changes. Board members frequently hold votes to see how community members feel about different projects. The city can then better gauge community input, Wilson said.

“It’s the same, I think, with a lot of the community issues that we deal with, whether it’s zoning, licenses or city mandates that they’re considering. CHUN has been a huge organization that they go to, to try to gauge the temperature of the community,” he said.

“That did not come without a lot of hard work and a lot of responsibility on a lot of people’s parts.”

That work is starting to pay off. Memberships at CHUN have continued to increase.

More people involved in the organization will help CHUN bring residents together.

“We’re one of the most urban neighborhoods in the state, so it can be more challenging to bring people together and feel more connected, and to really celebrate a sense of place,” said Georgia Burleson, vice president of membership. “That’s part of what CHUN tries to do with our events and programming.”

Life On Capitol Hill 7

June 2019

G R O W I N G PAINS

Neighborhoods work to bring everyone to the table Organizations don’t reflect diversity; some are working to change that

“This plan will most likely the be the plan until 2040. The next five years are the most important piece of this plan.”

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

W

hen Tim Roberts first became president of the East Colfax Neighborhood Association, he noticed something that didn’t sit well with him. Although East Colfax has a wealth of diversity in the community — from Latin America to Ethiopia and Asia — the people consistently coming to the Registered Neighborhood Organization’s meetings, did not reflect the demographics living there.

“The RNO is absent as far as those communities appearing actively,” Roberts said.

Considering that 40 percent of East Colfax lives below the poverty line and 70 percent are at risk of displacement, Roberts said, it was incredibly important to start bringing all voices to the table.

In a growing city, some residents feel there are few tools at their disposal to create a cushion against the mountain wave of construction. But the city is trying to change that, creating community-based plans to preserve character and move individual neighborhoods into the future.

As the city works on one end, a group of residents, including Roberts, have taken matters into their own hands in the hopes of including everyone.

Creating a plan In 2016, Denver, which counts 75 neighborhoods, started working on the Neighborhood Planning Initiative. Neighborhood plans are meant to help guide the community in creating a list of projects residents want completed. Those could include better park space, a new grocery store or support for local business.

The problem, said JJ Folsom, vice president of Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA), is that 42 percent of Denver’s neighborhoods have no plan to speak of and many others have plans created in the 1980s and ‘90s that are sorely out of date.

With the Neighborhood Planning Initiative, city planners are dividing Denver into neighborhood clusters. For the last two years, PUMA has been working with the city on the plan for the east central region, which includes Uptown, Capitol Hill, City Park, City

JJ Folsom

JJ Folsom introduces the Neighborhood Planning Initiative for the east central area of Denver during a public meeting. The company he works for, Progressive Urban Management Associates, was hired by the city to help create the plan.

KAILYN LAMB Park West, Cheesman Park and Congress Park.

PUMA looked into the economics of those neighborhoods: what businesses are located there, where people are working, and what need exists for affordable housing. The answers to those and other questions started the basis of the East Central Area Plan.

PUMA is also working on the plan for the eastern Denver neighborhoods, which includes South Park Hill, Hale, East Colfax and Montclair. The city is putting out a request for proposals from planning companies for each neighborhood, Folsom said. PUMA will apply for all the neighborhoods, he said, but it particularly wanted to create the east central area plan because its office is located there.

Many staff members working on the project also live in the area.

The company’s process has been to start with research and listen to residents through community open houses. Through online surveys and public comment, PUMA added suggestions and concerns.

ABOUT THE SERIES The second installment of “Growing Pains,” an series exploring development and growth in Denver communities, continues this month with a look at how those elements affect neighborhoods. The first segment in May focused on development citywide and such issues as displacement and what Denver is doing to meet

those challenges. Future installments will explore how development affects business growth, housing affordability and the connection between construction and the economy. If you have a story about how development has affected your life, email Editor Kailyn Lamb at klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

SEE NEIGHBORHOODS, P8

MAKING A NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN

Research and public comment are only part of the process to create a neighborhood plan.

This July, Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA) will release a draft of the East Central Area plan, which will go through a final public comment round. From there, the plan will go to the city Planning Board and eventually be voted on by city council.

JJ Folsom, vice president with PUMA, said the plans for east central Denver and east Denver have followed this same process.

The city will hold a competitive process for each region of Denver neighborhoods, Folsom said.

For the east central plan, PUMA has split projects into a timeline, ones that can be completed in the next five years, and more long-term projects.

Additionally, Folsom said PUMA is including recommendations for implementing the projects, as well as potential sources of funding.

If new technology arrives, or there are other reasons the plans need to change, the city has the ability to do that, Folsom said.

“The plan can kind of evolve,” he said.

Lisa Calderón introduces herself before a panel on ways to bring more diversity into neighborhood groups. The Into the Neighborhood conference focused on relationship building and communication.

COURTESY OF TIM ROBERTS

8 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

G R O W I N G PAINS

Neighborhoods FROM PAGE 7

The plans “go through the planning board and they get adopted by city council. When a developer comes into the city with a proposal for a project, the city will point them to this plan,” Folsom said. “The beauty of this project is it’s community-led.”

The end result, Folsom said, will help give the neighborhood some teeth when it comes to new development going through city council. While Denveright city plans provide an overall plan for development in the city for the next 20 years, neighborhood plans are more specific. If any disagreements exist between the two plans, the neighborhood’s will take precedent, Folsom said.

“It will take the Blueprint Denver recommendations to a greater level,” Folsom said.

“This plan will most likely the be the plan until 2040. The next five years is the most important piece of this plan.”

Blueprint Denver is a specific strategy of dealing with growth within Denver’s neighborhoods, such as keeping building development near transit centers and focusing on design quality to make sure projects fit the context of certain neighborhoods.

Building for everyone Like Roberts, Folsom worried that scheduled meetings would not reach the full demographic of east central Denver. In addition to the planned meetings, PUMA did pop-up meetings to reach people in their daily activities at places like the Carla Madison Recreation Center near City Park.

They went to churches and schools as well.

Roberts said PUMA has received about 1,900 responses from the public and pop-up meetings.

“It’s going to where people are,” Folsom said. “I think we’ve had more input going to people doing these workshops than we have had in these public meetings.”

When Frank Locantore heard the city was putting together the Neighborhood Planning Initiative, he didn’t need a lot of convincing to participate in the planning process. Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, said that for him it’s not a question of whether the east central area will evolve.

Instead, he said, it’s how residents and city officials will decide the kind of evolution.

“I’ve decided to put roots here. I’m going to live and die right here,” Locantore said. “It would be great to be able to give back and participate in the process that will continually help this area to evolve.”

In 2013, when Locantore was president of Uptown on the Hill, he found a copy of the neighborhood’s plan from 1986. At the time, that was no process to update the plan, he said. And many projects in the plan were never completed.

Having the expertise of the city and planning companies such as PUMA has been helpful. But if residents want changes in the way the neighborhood continues to develop, they need to be diligent, Locantore said.

“If we want really big changes,” he said, “they don’t happen overnight.”

But as far as housing goes, Roberts said the city needs to be moving faster. In East Colfax alone, he said he has calculated the need for 1,500 affordable units. But those projects often take a long time to pass city approval and then be built. Meanwhile, the city is losing those people as they move out

Sally Barton writes a note during the public comment event on the east central Neighborhood Planning Initiative. The city is working on final rounds of public comment and will release a draft of the area’s new neighborhood plan in July.

KAILYN LAMB

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the Neighborhood Planning Initiative with the city of Denver, go to https://bit.ly/2EAcysT. The city also has websites for individual area plans, such

as the east central region. Residents can look at the specific plans for that area, and fill out online surveys. To see the East Central Area plan, go to https://bit.ly/2R6dwkg.

Irene Aguilar speaks at the Into the Neighborhood conference on April 6. The conference was organized by Denver residents hoping to bring more diversity into Registered Neighborhood Organizations.

COURTESY OF TIM ROBERTS

Residents from all over Denver attended the Into the Neighborhood conference. In addition to panels and speakers, event organizers included activities to learn more about the people who came to the April meeting.

COURTESY OF TIM ROBERTS because of economic challenges. The city can no longer take an “everything’s good” approach as small batches of affordable housing are approved, Roberts said.

“Everything’s not good, these people are gone. In five years from now they’re out,” he said. “If you really look at what the need is to prevent people from suffering in the immediate present, people right in front of us, it’s not happening.”

After Roberts saw a lack of diversity in his own Registered Neighborhood Organization, he decided to do something about it.

He reached out to other neighborhoods asking if they saw similar problems. Amy Razzaque, the co-president of the Overland Park Neighborhood Association in south Denver responded, and the two began to build a mini-conference called Into the Neighborhood.

“Our conference was more of a listening session to really develop the shared knowledge base, not only around the problems, but also around these things that are happening around the community that

are working,” she said.

One concern that Roberts and Razzaque have is the scant resources available to neighborhood associations. The organizations are meant to give residents tools and a voice when it comes to giving opinions to city officials. But Razzaque said that beyond the ordinance that allows the neighborhood organizations to exist, there’s not much guidance on how to run one.

“Community organizing is not all that intuitive,” Razzaque said.

Trainings may be something that help in learning how to actively involve more residents in neighborhood meetings, she added.

As the child of immigrants who came to the United States from Bangladesh, Razzaque said she is no stranger to the feeling of not belonging despite physically being in a community. Small things such as specialized foods from those communities, or businesses that cater to their needs, can go a long way in making a neighborhood more inclusive.

But more than making everyone feel

welcome, having more voices at the table benefits a city.

Meeting people where they are is often the key, Razzaque said. Providing different language and child care services can also help break down barriers for people who otherwise might not come to meetings. Outside of these barriers, there can also be cultural ones, Roberts said. Some cultures just don’t make a big deal out of neighborhood organizing, he said. That is why building relationships within the community is so important, Razzaque and Roberts said.

Many communities are also often only talked about in the ways that they are vulnerable, Razzaque said. While points of vulnerability are important to note, she said, the diverse perspectives that come with a more diverse community need to be celebrated, too.

“It is so critical to honor and celebrate how much strength and resilience they have, and really honor all the skills that they bring,” she said, “as opposed to taking this deficit-based approach.”

Life On Capitol Hill 9

June 2019

G R O W I N G PAINS

‘Defined by change’

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

F

or Frank Locantore, Colfax Avenue has a special magic: From the music blaring from cars on the street to the smells of food wafting from restaurants, there’s a soundtrack to the famed street.

“There’s a real heartbeat to Colfax,” he said. “Living in this Capitol Hill, Colfax community, you can walk to whatever you want.”

The walkability and amenities were a big part of the reason that Locantore and his wife Jill decided to buy a house one block off of Colfax. The couple has lived in and around the Capitol Hill and Uptown areas for the past 14 years. Both are invested in the future developments of Denver through their jobs. Jill is executive director of Walk Denver, an advocacy group that promotes walking and pedestrian safety in the city. Locantore has been executive director of the Colfax Avenue Business Imporvement District (BID) for the last five years.

His role means he is an active participant in planning meetings, such as the Neighborhood Planning

Initiative for the east central area of Denver, as well as the Rapid Bus Transit plan for Colfax Avenue.

“It continues to be exciting because there’s so much to learn,” he said. “There’s so much that you can have an impact on.”

Business Improvement Districts help augment city services, Locantore said. Mainly, those fall into three categories — clean, safe and friendly, or as Locantore puts it, the “delight” of a particular neighborhood.

Through the Colfax Avenue BID, Locantore and his communications and programs director, Michelle Valleri, created the Colfax Works program. Colfax Works provides jobs to homeless or formerly incarcerated individuals. One of the jobs is to help clean the streets and maintain the area within the BID boundaries. As far as safety goes, the BID has been contemplating pups on patrol programs with people who own dogs. The BID also offers safety training to businesses with the police district.

The “delight” is a little more challenging to define, but the root of it, Locantore said, comes from the people. Keeping a diverse group

on Colfax is crucial when Locantore thinks of future development projects. The personality of those people add greatly to daily living on Colfax. Locantore is also the first to admit Colfax is not an area that has remainded the same for long.

“If you have building design that is an approved design... but only a certain socio-economic type of person can ilve there, what type of character do we have?” he asked. “Colfax has been defined by change.”

When working with the city to help create plans for the neighborhood, as well as the new transit plan along Colfax, Locantore said residents need to keep the street’s future in mind, rather than go back to a Colfax of the past. Forward thinking will help plan for more affordability and better walkability.

For instance, he said, if people want a community that’s more environmentally friendly, they need to be working with the city to advocate for more bike lanes, safer sidewalks and more access to mass transit.

“Tell me the characteristics of the Colfax that you want,” he said, “and let’s figure out how to get to that in the 21st century.”

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10 Life On Capitol Hill

LOCAL

June 2019

VOICES

Accomplishing goals lasts a lifetime

T

wo years ago, I ran the Colfax Half Marathon for the first time. After a small collection of three-mile races and one very muddy six-miler, I felt like I was ready to take on the challenge of running 13.1 miles. I trained for months, building up runs from three miles to six, eight, 10 and, eventually, the dreaded 13. I hated just about every minute of it and said I would never make the leap to marathon.

It was probably the biggest lie I ever told myself.

Once I crossed the finish line at City Park in 2017, my life changed. It was the first time I had set a serious fitness goal for myself and had actually accomplished it. Despite how much I hated training, I couldn’t get over my sense of triumph at running the distance.

FROM THE EDITOR

Kailyn Lamb

Before I had the chance to catch my breath, I was already asking myself: “What’s next?”

I set my sights on the next distance, doubling the miles I had just done — a full marathon.

Setting goals for yourself helps to build confidence. Running a half marathon made me feel like I could do anything. Having a goal also helped me to build focus. I had to keep pushing so I could cross the finish line once again. Keeping that image in my mind helped me when I wanted to just lay down and quit. Literally.

The joke I hear from most people is that training for races means that you start running and you just don’t stop. In reality, running is as much a mental training as it is physical. I’ll be out on a run, doing pretty well, when suddenly the thought “I still have

five miles left,” crosses my mind. For me, ticking down the miles until I’m done is the fastest way to kill motivation.

Marathon training is something else. When you work eight or more hours in a day, finding the time to fit in a 20-mile run is next to impossible. During training, my knees buckled. My emotions ran wild.

I was worried I wouldn’t even make it to the race let alone run another marathon ever again.

Having already run a half marathon was a lifesaver in these moments. When I stopped to think about it and cleared my head, I knew I had already made it halfway. I had done it before and could do it again. If I had the strength to run 13 miles, I SEE LAMB, P11

What will we ‘do better’ after the failure of I-300?

T Rules are rules, even if your fur baby is special QUIET DESPERATION

Craig Marshall Smith

I

will say it from the start: I know how unfair this is to you. I know it’s unfair to you because you’re different.

You’re not like everyone else, and neither is your dog “Rex.” Your dog is better than my dog, that’s all there is to it.

Rules shouldn’t apply to you, but I am going to have to tell you, well, they do.

Those signs about every 100 yards that say, “Dogs must be on a leash,” they apply to your dog too.

I know, I know. You’re special, and something like this cramps your style.

But here’s a narrative: There’s a man in my neighborhood who walks his unleashed dog everywhere, and the dog goes SEE SMITH, P11

Life On

CAPITOL HILL

A publication of

Mailing Address: 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225 Englewood, CO 80110 Phone: 303-566-4100 To subscribe call 303-566-4100 or visit www.lifeoncaphill.com/subscribe

hank you to Denver voters for reelecting me. In July I’ll accept the challenges and powers that come with a final term of official leadership, during a time of great prosperity and inequality.

Further down the ballot was Initiative 300, the “Right to Survive.” The super-majority opposed to camping on public property became evident months before ballots were counted. During my re-election campaign, many asked my position, stating their vote depended on where candidates stood. In response, I shared a detailed essay expressing my frustration with both campaigns’ lack of discussion on the many proven pathways out of homelessness, and described a detailed plan to implement more of those pathways.

Some voters appreciated the nuance, others wished I just said “vote no.” More than 80 percent said no. Now, what does it mean to “do better” and who is responsible for doing it?

Clearly, I and other electeds must do better. See the list below. But for every voter, what will each of us do better? What new ideas or changes will residents be open to?

What additional investments will we support with our private or public dollars? Or, will the post-300 world return to status quo with the opposition slogan long forgotten?

Below are initiatives being led by the city or my council office. We look forward to community support for these initiatives or new community-led ideas to expand pathways out of homelessness.

• “Supportive Housing” moves households out of alleys and parks and into apartments with key, non-threatening services and no time limit. This model is more than 85 percent successful, and Denver’s Housing Fund has $50 million to buy land to build more. For more Councilmember information on Supportive Housing, go to Robin Kniech https://bit.ly/1PV4q8s.

• My office has convened a stakeholder group of neighborhood leaders — folks who have lived in homelessness, service providers and funders to develop a “Neighborhood Engagement Guide.” The guide will help conversations around new Supportive Housing happen earlier, in more meaningful ways for neighbors, with guidance on how to have a civil conversation and on how providers can build strong community relationships.

How will communities welcome these new homes and neighbors?

• We can’t build housing fast enough to meet the full demand, so shelter is life-saving, though not often enough lifechanging. The mayor committed more than $10 million to expand day services to help folks in shelters access housing and $5 million for 400 vouchers to help folks access

GUEST COLUMN

SEE KNIECH, P11

Columnists & Guest Commentaries

JERRY HEALEY President

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager

jhealey@coloradocommunitymedia.com

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ANN MACARI HEALEY Executive Editor

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager

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Email letters to klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

KAILYN LAMB Editor

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Deadline 5 p.m. on the 20th of each month for the following month’s paper.

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Life On Capitol Hill 11

June 2019

Lamb FROM PAGE 10

could push myself to run 13 more.

Once again, I choked back tears as I crossed the finish line after 26.2 miles on Jan. 7, 2018. And I wanted to know what race was next.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of reaching your goals. Although the training was hard, I knew it would all be worth it in the end. In my life, goals have been a way to challenge myself, to see how far I could go.

Kniech FROM PAGE 10

existing apartments.

• We need expanded funding for the services to accompany these strategies. Are taxpayers ready to invest more to implement proven, best-practices?

• I-300 existed because too many live in a gap between shelter and housing. We must have a saner, safer and more sanitary system of interim housing where folks in the gap have access to bathrooms, water and trash services rather than being forced to camp illicitly, impacting both their own quality of life and the community’s. Tiny homes are one solution. This summer I’m

So what is next?

Last month I crossed the finish line once again for the Colfax half. But this time, I shaved exactly one minute off my average pace for the race, running 10-minute miles the whole way. I’ve set my sights on the Boston Marathon, which has a qualifying time for women ages 1834 of 3 hours and 35 minutes. That means I would need to run eight-minute miles during the whole marathon.

For context, I ran my first marathon in 4 hours and 53 minutes, or about 11 minutes per mile. I have my work cut out for me.

But I’ve set a new goal: to run Boston by the time I’m 30, two years from now.

sponsoring ordinances to expand the potential for them. A public meeting will be held on June 5. The meeting will be at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 2015 Glenarm Place, at 6 p.m. For more information on the meeting, go to https://bit.ly/2LJOY2T. We look forward to hearing how you will #CommitToDoBetter for those experiencing homelessness post-300. We all must lead if we’re really going to expand pathways out of homelessness. Please write, call or share ideas via social media. www. denvergov.org/RobinKniech.

Robin Kniech is a councilmember at-large on the Denver City Council. At-large council members represent the city as a whole. She can be reached at kniechatlarge@ denvergov.org.

Smith FROM PAGE 10

wherever it wants. It doesn’t stay by its owner’s side.

It goes into yards, up on porches, over, under, sideways, down.

The owner looks like he is humming a Belafonte song. Everything is a groove.

We have rabbits in the neighborhood: lots and lots of rabbits.

One runs from a bush, and the unleashed dog sees it. There is a pursuit into the street.

We have something else in this neighborhood. It’s near a high school. That means we experience a lot of drivers who have had their licenses for about two weeks, and the speed limit? Well, it’s just a suggestion.

The dog, the rabbit, and Andy Hardy all convene.

That’s one narrative. Here’s another.

Harry and I leave for a walk at exactly the same time that Rex is sniffing at our door.

Rex and Harry meet and greet. Rex is about six times larger than Harry is.

Rex would not be safe. Rex would not be safe from me. I will do whatever I have to do to protect my dog.

There’s another narrative, and it’s the most important one.

Leashing dogs around here is the law.

Laws are broken all the time. Littering?

By the ton? No turn signals? Who really needs to know which way you are going to go next?

I see parents with their small children and dogs walking our block. Mom or dad is mindful of the child, while Snoopy has a field day.

If it’s a financial consideration, and I know times are tough for some of us, you can make a leash out of a piece of rope.

I just checked, and if you have Amazon Prime, they can have a leash on your doorstep, by tomorrow, for around $5.

They come in colors. They come in different lengths. Some are retractable.

Need one? I’ll be happy to get one for you. I really don’t want to take a broom to your dog’s head.

But I will.

There are these hindrances in a life of ease, aren’t there? Most of the signs have something else kind of annoying on them.

They say you’re supposed to pick up after your dog.

That means poop. But, for goodness sake, it’s icky, and not only that: It’s biodegradable.

We have some characters here who pick up after their dogs, and leave the baggies on the greenbelt.

It’s been said before, it no longer seems like many of us know or care if our behavior has an impact on others.

It’s called limitless self-absorption.

(The broom is right by the door.)

Craig Marshall Smith is an artist, educator and Highlands Ranch resident. He can be reached at craigmarshallsmith@ comcast.net.

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12 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

S BUILDING GEARS Z Cycle Shop in Capitol Hill focuses on customer care

By Nancy Profera | Special to Colorado Community Media

Dmitri Rumschlag stands in front of Z Cycle Shop in Capitol Hill. Rumschlag opened the shop last year and works to build relationships with his customers. He also hopes to make biking more accessible to everyone.

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tepping into Z Cycle Shop at 1405 N. Ogden St. is like being transported back in time to when people knew their neighbors, stopped in to say hello and catch up. Here, customers can receive some good old-fashioned advice and face-to-face connection.

“I started my own bike shop because I believe this is an industry that I can make more accessible and fun for people,” said 29-yearold Dmitri Rumschlag, the shop owner.

Z Cycle Shop opened in September 2018 and is picking up steam now that it is spring and everyone wants to be back on their bikes, said Rumschlag, who can be found working on bicycles alongside Manuel “Manny” McCree, a certified master mechanic. Customers have said that the two are a big part of their affection for the place.

One such customer, Adam Coleman, said Rumschlag treats the shop as more than just a business.

“I’ve been to many bike shops and Dmitri is genuine,” said Coleman, who is recieving help from Rumschlag in starting a bike group. “It’s not just a business here, and he’s so friendly.”

Customers can stop in for one-time repairs or become monthly members like Coleman, for ongoing upkeep of their bikes. Members of the shop also have access to stands, tools and consumables like lubricant, bike wash, chain cleaner and rags.

“The most frustrating thing about cycling culture is feeling accepted and like you are not being judged by your setup, how fast you can go or your lack of understanding about the mechanical components,” Rumschlag said. “I like to offer a way for people to become more confident in these aspects by always offering a smile, knowledge or a simple tool if it’s warranted or requested.”

The shop is on the historic Emerson Block in Capitol Hill, which was built in 1894.

And for Rumschlag and McCree, community is key.

“It’s very important to Dmitri,” McCree said. “And that is part of the mission — to really welcome people and be a safe and comfortable space. Bikes bring people together, and here we are doing something good for the Earth too.”

Rumschlag also hopes to do his part toward protecting the planet by refurbishing and selling bikes. He sees “imminent danger to the planet from environmental pollutants.”

Rumschlag grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was raised by a single mom who grew up poor. His mother, Michele Port, joined the U.S. Army as a way out of that life.

She spent 20 years as a member of the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Throughout her career, she did 400 parachute jumps. She also earned two master’s degrees while raising Rumschlag. Port now lives in Highland, Maryland.

Dmitri Rumschlag works on a bike in his shop on Ogden Street in Capitol Hill. In addition to walk-in repairs, customers can become members at Z Cycle Shop, which gives them access to more products at the store.

“Growing up with a military mom was hard. Seeing the stress and watching her work so hard, even on her days off, really showed me what real work looks like,” Rumschlag said. “Money was tight and she pushed me to work and grow and learn to earn. Instead of being given a stipend for basic chores, these were considered a general prerequisite and my duty as a child.”

His mom’s love of motorcycles and bicycles introduced Rumschlag to them early on. He recalls first riding a bike at age two and being thrilled by the experience.

“I remember my first bike-riding experience was at an Army air base and I was popping wheelies over the cracks with a dinky little Huffy,” Rumschlag said. “That memory constantly reminds me that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun.”

Rumschlag had never been west of the Mississippi River when he set off for the west coast on his bicycle. But, after breaking his wrist in Colorado, he needed to take a break to recover. That was six years ago.

In addition to running Z Cycle, Rumschlag has also begun working toward a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

“I have wanted to be an engineer since I was a kid. I had a rough school life and that made it hard for me to feel comfortable in large groups. This drove me to work and tinker and build as a hobby,” Rumschlag said. “I have always had notions of becoming an inventor who creates gadgets and products that help people. The skills I’m learning in engineering school definitely help me in the shop.”

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Life On Capitol Hill 13

June 2019

The low-maintenance

wonder of succulents S ucculents are more popular than ever right now — and with good reason.

Beyond their bizarre and beautiful shapes, textures and forms is the succulent’s utilitarian value. Succulents are some of the lowest maintenance GUEST plants. They save water and thrive in some of the COLUMN hotter, more challenging Nick Daniel spots on a patio or in a yard. Low-maintenance succulents are a must for the gardener who wants bright, colorful plants while saving water and time without sacrificing aesthetics.

Making a succulent container for a yard or patio is an easy way to enjoy these jewels of the plant kingdom. Outlined here is a crash course in creating a beautiful, thriving, low-maintenance conversation piece for your home.

But first, two important considerations: Choose between cold hardy or tender plants.

Don’t mix the two types. One thing to remember is you will need to bring tender plants inside before the first frost to enjoy them in your home for the winter months.

Second, and perhaps most important, do not overwater your containers. Let them dry fully between watering, and you’re good to go.

By using a small wood dowel or a chopstick, it is easy to test for soil moisture at all levels of soil in the container.

To begin, pick a pot. Terracotta bowls are great and allow the soil to dry uniformly.

Glazed pottery is fine as well, but the soil may take longer to dry. If you tend to be an aggressive waterer, start with unglazed terracotta.

Bowl shaped containers are the best for aesthetic and ease, but you’re not limited to them.

Next, pick your plants. Decide between hardy and tender plants, or segregate hardy and tender plants to different pots. Local garden centers have a plethora of choices for great succulents. Choose what stands out to you, but some that I recommend include: Echeveria, aloes, fire sticks and Kalanchoe to get started. Look for tall, medium and short plants to combine. Some of the colorful thin-leafed Dracaena make great complement plants.

Now, it’s time to plant!

Be sure to have a quickly draining soil ready for potting up your plants. Cactus and succulents soil mixes are easily found pre-bagged or you can mix your own, just be sure it’s well draining. Create your succulent arrangement any way you like, trying to include tall, medium and short plants. Water your container thoroughly after planting. After watering, add a top dressing of your choosing to cover the soil. This will aid in water retention, and helping to make water run away from the bases of the plants. You can top dress with anything — some examples are scoria (crushed volcanic rock), glass beads, aquarium rock and polished stones.

As far as maintenance is concerned, it’s time to sit back and relax. Succulents are low maintenance and don’t need a lot of attention.

Cold hardy pots can be kept outside for the winter, but need a somewhat protected location, especially terracotta or thin ceramic pots.

Enjoy your new containers.

Nick Daniel is a horticultural specialist with the Denver Botanic Gardens. He can be reached at horticulture@denverbotanicgardens.org.

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14 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Plan for park access moves forward Denver’s 2A measure generates money to ensure parks are a 10-minute walk away

By A.J. Hecht Special to Colorado Community Media

Last November, Denver voters approved ballot measure 2A, ushering in a new era for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

The measure, passed by a margin of about 60 to 40 percent of residents, will raise the city’s sales tax by a quarter of a percent, with proceeds going to Denver’s parks system. Even with that small increase, the new revenue source will account for $37 million to $41 million in additional funds per year for the department.

That’s a lot of money.

Parks department officials say they know what to do with it.

On May 30, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was scheduled to have a hearing on the 5-Year Plan, which details a long list of projects, some of which have been deferred or delayed because of a lack of funding. The plan will move forward to City Council after the hearing. (The hearing came after this issue went to press. Go to https://bit.ly/2tbUEJP for an update.)

Councilmember Jolon Clark introduced the measure last fall in hopes of providing the department with the resources necessary to reinvigorate the parks system and get those projects back on track.

Having spent a lot of time in the Denver city parks before being elected to council in 2015, Clark said he knew just how bad the department needed the funding.

“I worked for 17 years for a nonprofit organization (the Greenway Foundation) that does a lot of work in our parks. I took kids on field trips to Denver parks along the South Platte River for years and years, so I worked in our parks on a daily basis,” said Clark, who represents District 7, covering the Platt Park, Overland, Ruby Hill neigborhoods. “I got to see, firsthand, all the things that we couldn’t afford to do and how hard we were working to scrape together funds and find grants to do some of the stuff we needed to do.”

Gordon Robertson, the department’s director of park planning, agreed and noted that as the city continues to expand — it’s grown by 20 percent since 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — maintaining the system was only going to get more difficult.

“The reality is that we maintain over $2 billion worth of assets on behalf of the citizens of Denver,” Robertson said. “The ability to take care of them in a really responsible manner wasn’t happening. Our ability to maintain our park system was slowly but surely falling into disrepair.

“And while we were doing a good job of keeping things going, we weren’t able to keep up with the growth of Denver,” he said. “As new residents moved in, new needs were being created, and it was really hard to meet those new needs without the additional funding.”

5-Year Plan plans for future Now, thanks to Denver voters, Robertson and his team have that funding.

As laid out in the 5-Year Plan, available in full at www.denvergov.org, the department will begin a multi-pronged attack to reshape the

Meg Harlow, left, pushes her granddaughter, Vivian Paterson, on the swings at Cheesman Park. department and its offerings.

“We want to extend Denver’s park system’s legacy by taking care of what we have. We’ve been given some amazing parks and parks structures that have been built over the last 100-plus years, so reinvesting in the upkeep of those facilities and parks is critical and is a big part of the story,” Robertson said. “But the other part of the story is extending a new legacy for Denver Parks and Recreation going forward.”

That new legacy, as the plan states, will include the acquisition of new land, more robust and strategic planning efforts, adapting and preparing for a changing climate, expanded outdoor recreation programming, new and improved amenities, and a few signature projects, similar to the products of Mayor Robert Speer’s City Beautiful movement in the early 1900s, like the Cheesman Park Pavilion.

But one of the priorities, Robertson said, is simply creating parks in areas where residents, historically, haven’t had easy or safe access to them. The target is to make sure everyone is within a 10-minute walk from a park, no matter where they live.

“We’ll be working on projects throughout the city where we have a lack of access to parks,” Robertson said. “We have a pretty good map of where neighborhoods are that don’t have a 10-minute walk access to a park and we’ll be focusing on those areas to acquire land and create parks.”

That focus on increased accessibility, Clark said, means every citizen of Denver could feel the effects of the department’s increased budget.

“The entire parks budget last year was around $78-80 million. And this is an infusion of almost $40 million on top of that,” he said.

“This is a game-changer for our parks system, and it will be felt in every nook and cranny of this city.”

“For people who currently live in an area where they don’t have a safe 10-minute walk

Denise, left, and Haley Jennings walk Haley’s dog, Leia, through Washington Park.

Jennings has to walk about a mile to get to the park. to a park, they’re going to get a new park,” he added. “We’re going to close that gap.”

Park access for all ‘has been a dream’ Haley Jennings, who lives in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, could be one of those people.

Jennings walks about a mile to take her dog, Leia, to Washington Park.

“We live in an apartment and we spend a lot of times in parks, so I value it a lot, especially the green areas,” Jennings said. “If you move to Colorado, you’re going to want to live in this type of environment that’s nature-driven. And in apartment living, you don’t get that very often.”

Jennings specifically considered access to parks when she was looking for apartments.

“Living close to a park is important to me,” she said. “But it’s difficult because everyone wants

that, and that’s why it’s super expensive to live around one.”

But if all goes according to plan, the people of Denver won’t have to worry about their proximity to a park anymore, a fact that makes Clark, an architect of the plan, extremely proud.

“I was born and raised (in Denver), four blocks away from Wash Park,” Clark said. “I grew up with Wash Park as my backyard. We spent all summer catching crawdads in the ditch, climbing trees, playing on the playground and riding our bikes around.”

“I love this city,” he said, “and having the opportunity to make sure that there is not a kid born in Denver, not a kid growing up in Denver, that doesn’t have a park like Wash Park that they can safely walk to and use as their backyard has been a dream.”

Life On Capitol Hill 15

June 2019

New food waste pilot program asks restaurants to help Staff Report On May 1, the city started a new pilot food waste program that included nine Denver restaurants as well as composting businesses.

Run by the Denver Department of Health and Environment’s Certifiably Green Denver, the program offers free advising to local businesses that wish to run more sustainably.

Certifiably Green Denver will work directly with restaurants on an as-needed basis.

According to a news release from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, the city chose restaurants for the pilot because the industry is responsible for 25 percent of the food waste here. It is the second highest generator of food waste after households, which generate 41 percent.

The program is part of the Food Action Plan announced by the city of Denver last summer. For more information on the plan, go to https://bit.ly/2M0MTA5.

“Working with restaurants on this makes so much sense because chefs already are trained to create their menus using as much of any given ingredient as possible,” says Susan Re-

naud, community engagement administrator for Certifiably Green Denver, in the release.

“Chefs also are such visible and valuable contributors to our community, and their attention to food waste will help us reach a larger audience.”

The following restaurants are participating: Ale House, Ash’Kara, Bar Dough, The Bindery, Black Eye Coffee, Little Man Ice Cream, Ohana Island Kitchen, Uncle and Wooden Spoon Café & Bakery. Restaurants will be able to participate in waste audits with the city and receive training on food. The next audit will be held on June 24.

Alpine Waste and Recycling and Scraps, a local bike-powered business, will provide composting services to the restaurants.

We Don’t Waste will pick up food donations from the restaurants three times a week during the pilot as well. We Don’t Waste distributes unused food items to nonprofits and food banks throughout Denver.

Life on Capitol Hill wrote about the Food Action Plan in its September 2018 issue, https://lifeoncaphill.com/stories/turning-leftovers-into-meals-for-the-hungry,268886.

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Lakewood Citizens Who (during the late 1960s & early 1970s)

Helped Make Belmar Park Possible Vern Albers Ann Allison Geary Andrews Nora Andrews Glenn Asakawa Ruth Austin John & Kelly Ayers Carolyn, Mary & Marty Bacher Frank, Laura, Renee & Allan Bales Mr. & Mrs. Ray Ball Randy Barnes Barbara Bartell Jerry Bartell Jim Battan Norma Beard Dr. L. David Beckman Karl & Ruth Bell Lynn, Gary & David Bell Izola Berman Louise Best Jackie Billingsley Andy Bishop Mandy & Matt Boroughs Barbara Bosley Bruce & Lenore Brammeier Suzie Brasselero Kirk, Sheila, Ava & Doug Bremer Ruth Brenman Estelle Brown Shirley & John Bubany Joyce Bullard Richard, Sandy & Donald Calahan Harold, Forrest, Heather & A. Capps Caroline Carey Sharon Carr Lary Carlson Donald L. Carpenter Don Carson Judy Carston Barbara Case Brent Chlueter Dave Choate Steve Christinsen Jerry Claussen Maggie Cleemput Dave & Chris Coca Pat Cooke Midge Copley Carol Cozart Kathryn Crabtree Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Cummins Christy & Cory Cummins Kay Czarnecki Joe, Richard & Leslie Daniele Bob Davis Bill & Deron Dilger Marion Ditson Lewis Dorr Warren Dunkin Mary Ann Dozel Barbie Dunn Stephen Earley

Carol Easlow Sharon ElIis Lillian Enns Lisa Evans Pam Exon Mr. & Mrs. Carter Farrar Jo Ann Feder Peter Fieber Greg & Andrea Fernandez Edith Fessler Dr. Carl Flaming Betty Ford Flossie Fortier Don & Barb Freiberg Sandee & Robin Furuta Darrell Gallo Ed Garlry Mr. & Mrs. Emil Geilert Mark Gidley Lela Gilbert W. Gillespie Bob Giltner Glenn Glass Ron Gordon Helen Gorhman Ben Greene Estes B. Griffith Dr. Charles Grosshans Gregg Groves Helen Gryczan Abby Hamilton Helen Hamsby Craig Hanson John Harrison Anita Harshman Gary Heckendor Jim Heese Doug, Pat, Kristen, Tammy & Matt Heifer A Heinrich Bill Henderson Louis Henke Marilyn Henning Dick Hilker Pat Hinkle Mie Hiraki Darryl Hobson Nancy Hogan Micky & Glenda Holt Kevin Hood Mark Hubbard Jim Hubber Bob Hussey Betty & L. L. Jackson Donna Jacobs Fred Johnson Mrs. Wayne Johnson Joe & Cal Johnston Mr. & Mrs. Ted Kalstrom Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Karlin James Katchur Raleigh Kay Kerry Kimht Norman, Beverly, Mary, Ray, Judy & Scott King David, Kathy & Kitty Kleinkopf The Henry Klemer

Family Brian Knight Judy Kolz Dave & Gaye Komara Mr. & Mrs. Emil Krause Alice Kruse Ruth M. Lang Ron Larson Family B. J. LaPlante Caroline Lege Larry & Lou Linden Al Lindholm Dorothy & Jerry Lindquist Maureen Linn Marcie Lloyd George Losasso Jack & Barbara Lopez Barbara Lovelace Ann Luke Pat Lynch CaroI Mackell Stuart MacPhail Myrna Maier Bob Maines Donald Manning Gene R. Marlatt Brad Martinez H. Masonier Mr. & Mrs. Leroy Mellecker Mike Messick Mrs. W. H. McAnally Roger McCoy Joan McCrary Shawn & Scott McLaughlin Casey & Kelly McMinimee Betty Jane Meadows Stacey Metz Reuben, Charles, Shirley, Eric, Brad, Stacy, Vic, Jill & Mark Miller T. Milner Frank Mollner Ben Moore Linda Morton Allen Mullen Joe, Beth, Donna & Karen Musich Gene & Evelyn Neal Elfi & Karl Nelson Karen Newman Beth Nolte Danny O’Dowd Sue Organ H. E. Orndoff Jean Osbaugh F. E. Ospina Ann, Lynn, Bobby & Steve Pape Edwin Park Clay Patton Richard Payne Jane Pecorelli Clifford Pederson John Peel Mr. & Mrs. James Peiffer

Mrs. Wayne Perry Alea Peters Sandi Phillips (Gallegos) Nita Pratt Michelle Reasoner Howard & Cathy Revie Ruth Rhodes Joy Rivers Kelly Robson Jay Rohrer Bill Rosenberg Craig & Marty Russell Cindy Ryan Ella May Sargent Jean Saum Brigitta Schafer Margot Schafer Rick Schemel Susan, Amy & Elizabeth Schmitt Mark Senti Brent Schlueter Jim Schneider Jeff Shaw Linda Shaw CarIene Smail Gaylor, Steve & Mitch Smith Marie Snider Joyce Spears Monica Soan Anne Starner Tim Stone Lois Strohm Carl, Jane, Jeff, Jennifer & Ted Swanson Mim Swartz R. M. Taylor Mr. & Mrs. Jack Thomas Chester, Jean, Kris & Lisa Thompson Paul, Jean & Nordy Thompson Grace Tidball Chris Troudt Dee Dee Urquhart Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Van Male CIair, Mike & Steve Villano Gerri Von Frellick Clay Wade Lloyd Wagner Mr. & Mrs. Bill Webb Chris & Victor Westfall Carol White Deloras Whitlock Ivan L. Widom Dawn Wiest Katherine Wilcox Masbelle, Kristi & Glenice Williams Bill Wilson Walt Wise Dorothy Wisecarver Dieter Wons Ruth Wrench Bob & Opal Wright Doug Yates David & Joan Young John Young

… AND MANY MORE

A FREE copy of “The True Story of How Belmar Park Came Into Existence” is available to each of the above named people (or if deceased, to their spouse, daughter or son) just by asking at the Lakewood Heritage Center, 801 South Yarrow Street. Offer good through 6/30/2019.

16 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Many people watched the Pride Parade on June 17, 2018 from their balconies lining Colfax Avenue. The parade goes from Cheesman Park to Civic Center Park.

FILE PHOTO

The Center on Colfax announces PrideFest lineup The doctor is in the office. And in your neighborhood.

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Staff Report Denver PrideFest is returning for its 44th year, with events starting on June 15 and ending with the parade and festival at Civic Center park on June 16.

This year’s event celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City, which is considered to be the beginning of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement, according to a news release from The Center on Colfax, a nonprofit that works with the LGBTQ community in Colorado.

On June 28, 1969, New York City police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village. The raid led to protests on Christopher Street where the bar is located. A year later the first Christopher Street Liberation Day march was held. Cities around the nation began to hold similar pride events. The first one was held in Denver in 1975.

“This community gathering brought increased energy to the Denver LGBTQ com-

Two Denver education nonprofits announce merger Staff Report

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Schedule appointments online at uchealth.org.

19-MG-2826

munity and one year later, activists moved to form what would become The Center on Colfax,” the news release said.

The Center serves more than 52,000 people in the LGBTQ community annually. PrideFest, a two-day festival in Denver, is produced by The Center. The Pride 5K event will start festivities for PrideFest. The annual parade will start at Cheesman Park at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 16. For a full list of performances and events, go to www. denverpride.org.

Saint Barnabas Episcopal Parish, 1280 Vine St., will have a special liturgy on June 16. The church is also celebrating the Stonewall anniversary. The service will start at 7:45 a.m. and be led by Father Jeffrey Park.

“St. Barnabas has celebrated God’s love in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for over two generations,” read a statement from the church announcing the service. For more information, go to www. stbdenver.org.

Denver Urban Scholars announced last month it would merge with Uptown-based Denver Kids, Inc. Denver Urban Scholars is a nonprofit based in the Cole neighborhood that helps children middle school students find their paths to college or a career. Denver Kids, also a nonprofit, works with students to help them graduate high school.

The merger will be completed in July and the new organization will operate as Denver Kids, Inc., according to a news release from Denver Kids.

The newly combined organization will continue supporting all students enrolled in both programs through academic support, mentoring and case management. Denver Kids serves approximately 1,000 students in more than 150 Denver Public Schools, and Denver Urban Scholars serves more than 500 individuals, which includes students and parents, the release said. Denver Kids will begin serving students in third grade and will continue working with them through post-secondary education. The

nonprofit’s goal is to have all participating students graduate from high school and help student seek opportunities in college or careers.

“This is an exciting opportunity to come together to achieve a mission we both deeply care about: empowering youth to stay anchored to their education, develop fundamental social-emotional skill-building opportunities and graduate high school,” said Denver Kids, Inc. CEO Jim Goebelbecker in the release. “Only good things can come out of the collaboration of two like-minded organizations with similar heart and passion.”

Patrick Byrne, CEO of Denver Urban Scholars, agreed, adding that both organizations are committed to helping students “unlock their own opportunity.” Byrne takes on the role of executive vice president of community relations with Denver Kids.

“This proposed combination creates a new way for us to do more for Denver’s youth while continuing to use mentoring; social, emotional and academic support; and case management that we know leads to better outcomes for our youth,” he said.

Life On Capitol Hill 17

June 2019

Children’s Museum feature takes fun to new heights

By Glenn Wallace gwallace@coloradocommunitymedia.com

A Children’s Museum employee stands at this station at the base of the two 70-foot tube slides — the fastest way to end an excursion up into the Adventure Forest.

GLENN WALLACE

The colorful and towering structure rising above Interstate 25 behind the Children’s Museum has been inspiring wonder in passing commuters for months now — it’s called Adventure Forest.

And now, beginning June 3 when it officially opens, you can climb all around the darn thing, or at least send your youngster scampering up there to explore for you.

Adventure Forest is what the museum describes as “a brilliant, BOLD, 500-foot-long aerial adventure course and immersive art installation.”

The museum’s resident artist Wes Sam-Bruce used nearly every inch of the installation with his artistry. He describes it as: “Part Artist’s Vision, Part Naturalist’s specimen collection, Part mystic’s dream in a desert cave, Part explorer’s travel journal, Part humanist’s community project, Part child’s magnifying glass, Part storyteller’s living metaphor, Part poet’s love letter to the world...”

Whatever adults want to call it, the children who got to explore the ‘forest’ during a recent preview day declared it fun. In 20 minutes of checking out its many features, everyone seemed to be smiling.

The museum’s newest addition has been under construction for more than a year and was being dreamed up as a concept three years ago.

Chris Van Dyken, the museum’s director of exhibits, said Adventure Forest began as two separate concepts — a set of slides and a ropes course — that gradually merged into one and kept growing in scale.

“But even as we planned it,” Dyken said, “I wanted there to be another dimension there.”

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IF YOU GO WHAT: The new Adventure Forest zone at the Children’s Museum Denver Marsico Campus WHERE: 2121 Children’s Museum Drive, Denver WHEN: Grand opening on June 3. It will be open whenever the Joy Park outdoor area of the museum is, weather-dependent.

COST: Included in general admission to the Children’s Museum.

RESTRICTIONS: All climbers must be at least 44 inches or 5 years old to climb. Sturdy, close-toed shoes are recommended.

INFO: mychildsmuseum.org or call 303-433-7444.

That’s when Sam-Bruce began developing a rich backstory to bring the structure to life, and shaping its many decorative elements. He also wrote out a story for the forest, involving many animals of the natural world, humans and their complicated relationship. It is told on a series of 10 story plaques scattered throughout the forest, as well as in secret messages that inquisitive forest-goers can decode.

“This Adventure Forest, that is now alive, took a lot of work, a lot of effort from a lot of people,” said Children’s Museum CEO Mike Yankovich, at the May 16 preview event. He thanked all the donors and project partners, including the anonymous main donor.

Yankovich said that much of the project credit belonged to Van Dyken, who wanted “to take the notion of childhood, what it felt like to climb a tree, what it felt to connect with nature, what it felt like to have an immersive art experience.”

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18 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

drop at a O time

One

Congress Park residents teach about water-wise gardening

By Kailyn Lamb

klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Anne-Charlotte Hoppman mixes soil to add to a hole for a new plant. Hoppman is part of a gardening group in Congress Park that wants to teach residents about using plants that require less watering.

PHOTOS BY KAILYN LAMB

n a dreary Saturday in May, five women stand in the front yard of Anne Miller’s house in Congress Park. The group is consulting a small diagram Miller has drawn, a plan for the socalled hard-to-grow “hell strip” that borders Milwaukee Street.

As the women begin to lay out the potted plants in their future homes, Liz Goehring jokes that in the short time they’ve known each other, they have already started to read each other’s minds.

The group is part of the newly founded Water-Wise Garden Club with Congress Park Neighbors. The hope is to get enough residents together to learn about gardening methods that use less water.

Now that her kids are grown and don’t need a large lawn to play on, Julie Meyers said she and her husband have happily retired their lawn mower. And they are looking forward to planting a more water-conscious garden at their home on Elizabeth Street.

“It’s just such common sense,” Meyers said.

“There’s no reason to have a lawn in Denver.”

Hell strips have earned the nickname because of their difficulty to maintain and need for more water. The idea for the waterwise club started to form after Congress Park residents completed a walking tour of the area last summer to look at neighbors’ yards that already had those type of gardens put in place, Goehring said. The walking tour turned into a workshop series in which Congress Park residents Anne-Charlotte Hoppman and Susan Bardwell helped teach their neighbors about different plants that required less water.

Bardwell is a former landscaper. Hoppman grew up planting vegetables and other plants in her native France. She ran a small farm in Le Mans. She and Bardwell showed residents how to get rid of the grass on their hell strips without pulling it and disturbing the nutrients in the soil.

By placing layers of newspaper on top of the grass and then adding mulch, the soil can also

TO LEARN MORE The Water-Wise Garden Club was started by the Green Team with Congress Park Neighbors. The team plans events and projects throughout the neighborhood, including different challenges for Earth Month in April.

For more information, go to https://www. congressparkneighbors.org/greenteam-2/ .

gain the nutrients of the decomposing grass.

Hoppman’s philosophy is that to get something to grow, you have to give back.

“When you ask the land to give you stuff, you have to give it stuff, too,” she said.

Goehring said the group worked with Denver Water and the Denver Botanic Gardens to learn more about the different kinds of plants that grow well with less water. A landscape that requires little to no irrigation is called a xeriscape garden. Denver Water has resources on its website about xeriscaping. Go to https:// bit.ly/2ExbA0O for more information.

Miller, who volunteered her house for the planting phase of the workshop, wanted to participate to help teach people more about water conservation. She works with the state of Colorado in the Department of Local Affairs doing work with the Colorado Resiliency Office. The purpose of the office is taking action and preparing for different water issues and climate impacts. People can put plants in their yards that are more appropriate for Colorado’s dry climate, she said.

Having a group to plant with has also been helpful when looking at the vast variety of plants, Miller added.

“As we gain in population throughout the state, especially in the Front Range, to conserve water we grow differently,” Miller said.

“It’s this nice kind of peer support, neighborto-neighbor support, folks who had a little more experience to help out the folks like me who may be a little overwhelmed.”

From left, Teresa Palumbo, Anne Miller, Liz Goehring and Julie Meyers from the Congress Park Water-Wise Garden Club start laying out plants at Miller’s home. Miller created a garden layout for the part of her yard that some people call a “hell strip” because of the difficulty of watering there.

June 2019

Life On Capitol Hill 19

Things to Do

Submit calendar listings on our website, coloradocommunitymedia.com, go to the Calendar tab and click “Submit an Event.”

Priority is given to non-profits, low- or no-cost events and locations within our distribution map.

Next Issue Deadline: Thursday, June 20.

EVENTS 6 Questions for the Denver Magic Show 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 6 Denver’s premiere magic show featuring magicians Gregg Tobo and William Rader.

Tickets: $55/$45 The Avenue Grill, 630 E. 17th Ave. denvermagicshow.com Veterans Free Monthly Non-Narcotic Care Pop Up Clinic 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 8 Healing Warriors Program (HWP) offers free non-narcotic clinic therapy for pain and PTS on the 2nd Saturday of the month in Denver at VFW Post 1 for all service members and spouse/partner/parent. Therapies include Acupuncture, CranioSacral Therapy and Healing Touch Therapy. Please bring proof of military service, i.e. DD214 or military ID. VFW Post 1, 841 Santa Fe Drive healingwarriorsprogram.org Hands-On History Family Fun Day 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, June 8 On the second Saturday of each month, families have the opportunity to explore and create their own history, art, and culture through hands-on, immersive activities like adobe brick making, building log cabins, live performances, and role playing in our exhibits.

In June, activities will be themed around wild places in connection with the Wildflowers, Wild Places installation.

Free with admission 303-447-8679 History Colorado Center 1200 Broadway historycolorado.org Writing Place: Homeland in Literature 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 8 The goal of the class is to provide students with the tools needed to create a fully realized and immersive fictional world out of a combination of research, intuition, and family story—with an emphasis on the stories of indigenous women and women of color in Colorado.

303- 620-4933 Center for Colorado Women’s History at Byers-Evans House 1310 Bannock St. historycolorado.org

Pentecost Sunday Jazz Vespers at St. Paul 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 9 An evening worship with readings, a message, and lively jazz in downtown Denver.

Saint Paul Lutheran and Catholic Community of Faith 1600 Grant St. saintpauldenver.com Museum After Dark 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 14 Prepare for the unexpected during this magical evening while supporting the Museum’s mission. Enjoy a delectable strolling dinner, surprising entertainment, and playful science experiences that will delight your senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Cap the evening by dancing the night away with the entire Museum family at the After Dark Soiree.

303-370-6000 Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2001 Colorado Blvd. dmns.org Denver Rose Society Show 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 15 See what it takes to earn a judge’s ribbon at the Rose Show! Enjoy the company of roses by classes, in arrangements, as photography subjects and by their fragrance.

Included with admission. 720-865-3500 Denver Botanic Gardens 1007 York St. botanicgardens. org

Science Riot 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 27 Cheer on local scientists turned comedians as they attempt standup for the first time and wax hilarious about the unique nuances of their work. This one-of-a-kind comedy night for science fans will get you laughing with (and at!) some of the biggest brains in town. Ages 18+. Cash bar.

303-370-6000 Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2001 Colorado Blvd. dmns.org Summer Porch Party 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 28 Summer Porch Party returns this June!

We’re partnering up with Leopold Bros.

Distillery for an evening filled with inspired cocktails, light bites, and a musical performance by a Colorado Symphony small ensemble. In addition to enjoying specialty Leopold Bros. cocktails, all attendees receive tasting samples of the Leopold Bros. portfolio (including over 20 spirits) and light hors d’oeuvres provided by Culinary Indulgence.

10 percent of all bottle sales purchased that night will be donated back to the Colorado Symphony!

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5285 Joliet St. coloradosymphony.org Colorado Women Lecture: Lucile Berkeley Buchanan 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 29

In 1918 Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, becoming its first female African American graduate. Join Polly Bugros McLean, author of “Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family’s Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High,” for a lecture using Jones’s personal story as a lens through which to examine the greater experience of middle-class blacks in the early twentieth century.

303-620-4933 Center for Colorado Women’s History at Byers-Evans House 1310 Bannock St. historycolorado.org Yoga for All Sundays 10 a.m.

Free or donation. Multi-generational and multi-ability class.

720-244-8252 Washington Street Community Center 809 S. Washington St. Baker Historic Neighborhood Association General Meeting 6:30 p.m., second Tuesday of the month.

As always, we will hear from our Community Resource Officer from Denver Police and learn about different items impacting Baker. Come a little early to socialize and meet some fellow Bakerties.

Hirschfeld Tower, 333 W. Ellsworth Ave. bakerneighborhood.org

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The State Historian’s Address: Rethinking Colorado’s Native American Heritage 1 to 2 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.

Monday, June 17 Join our new State Historian, prolific author Tom “Dr. Colorado” Noel, as he reflects on five decades of studying Colorado history and how he’s seen the field rethink the state’s heritage.

In this address he’ll look head-on at historians’ portrayals of American Indian history and at the ways Native Americans have chosen to portray their own past.

Members: $9, Non-members: $11 303-447-8679 History Colorado Center 1200 Broadway historycolorado.org Denver Greek Festival 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, June 21 Eat, drink and dance like a Greek at the 54th annual Denver Greek Festival.

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20 Life On Capitol Hill

Things to Do FROM PAGE 19

East Evans Association Meeting Meets every 4th Tuesday This meeting provides a great opportunity for local businesses to meet, network and raise awareness of what’s happening on the East Evans corridor.

303-671-6639 Panorama Building, 2055 S. Oneida St. Chamberlin Observatory Public Night Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30 p.m.

All public nights start with an informative, multi-media astronomy presentation.

Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for kids and is payable online via PayPal. Reservations are recommended, as nights sell out. Times vary by season.

Observatory Park 2930 E. Warren Ave. denverastro.org/das/public-nights Why Not Wednesday Wednesdays 4 p.m.

We open wines that most stores wouldn’t dare to open. Whether it’s grand cru champagne, cult cabernet or an amazing bottle of Amarone. Find out what the wine of the week is on our website!

303-282-5103 Pearl Wine Company, 1886 S. Pearl St. pearlwinecompany.com Friends and Neighbors (FANS) of Washington Park 6 p.m., second Wednesday of each month Meetings typically include a brief overview

June 2019 of the latest park news and often feature a guest speaker. Check out the website for the topic of the month.

Washington Park Dos Chappell Bath House, 600 S. Marion Parkway fanswashingtonpark.org

CLASSES, LECTURES, FORUMS Sunday Open Meditation 1st Sunday of the month.

Free to the public - all welcome. The Center is open to the public for “drop-in” meditation and contemplative practices, 10 a.m.-noon.

Meditation instruction, 10:30 a.m., Padmasambhava Meditation Center, 1900 S. Cook St. padmasambhavameditationcenter.org English Learning Center Monday-Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. & Wednesday and Thursday 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The English Learning Center, the Evanston Center for Spiritual Wholeness & Healing at 2122 S. Lafayette St., offers affordable day and evening English classes.

For more enrollment info. call 303-420-0172, or contact elcdenver@gmail.com Sunday Open House and Meditation Sundays 10 a.m.

A relaxed and informal Open House in the community room includes information about activities and meditation followed by a discussion and opportunity to meet others.

Shambhala Meditation Center of Denver, 2305 S. Syracuse Way, Ste. 214 denver.shambhala.org

Meditation and Kirtan Tuesdays 6 p.m.

Leave your troubles behind and practice meditation and Kirtan every Tuesday. For more info call Ed. 720-810-9071 854 Pearl St., Denver Denver Laughter Club Meets every Monday except major holidays at St. Barnabas Church. 11:45 a.m.

Call Meredee for more info.

303-877-9086 St. Barnabas Episcopal Church 1280 Vine St. denverlaughs.com Learn to Code Meetup Mondays, 6 p.m.

An open house/study group for anyone, at any level, with any interest in computer programming. No prior knowledge/future commitment needed.

720-865-1706 ideaLAB Community Technology Center DPL Central Library 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway meetup.com/learntocodedenver Belly Dancing Classes Classes held most Mondays, 7 p.m. beginners, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $10 drop-in — Cafe not open.

303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Meditation at Noon Tuesdays, 12 p.m.

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Argentine Tango, Practice and Lessons Every Tuesday 6:45 to 7:45 p.m.

Tango Colorado hosts these low cost Tango lessons, followed by a practice session where dancers can polish the steps they learned, interact with other students and advanced dancers and improve their skills.

303-710-2250 Denver Turnverein Event Center, 1570 Clarkson St. tangocolorado.org/lessons Tuesday Night Blues Tuesdays 7 p.m. intermediate, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $5, Dance 8:30 p.m., $8 ($10-12 with Live Band) 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com

UNNA Monthly Meeting Second Tuesday of the month Evanston Center for Spiritual Wholeness and Healing, 2122 S. Lafayette St. unna.shutterfly.com West Coast Swing Classes Wednesdays, 7 p.m. beginner/intermediate, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $8 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Denver Socrates Cafe Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m.

Join a group that “seek truth by their own lights.” No regular attendance or preparation required. Speak your own mind, then take turns playing Socrates by asking questions.

303-861-1447 Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway meetup.com/Denver-Socrates-Cafe Wednesday Nights Open Stage Wednesdays, 9 p.m.

Open Stage for musicians, comics & magicians. Free, sign up with Host 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Thursday Evening Meditation Thursdays 7 p.m.

Free to the public - all are welcome. Dharma teachings on Buddhist principles by Tibetan meditation master Chhoje Rinpoche (live or video) followed by meditation instruction.

Padmasambhava Meditation Center, 1900 S. Cook St. padmasambhavameditationcenter.org Daybreak Toastmasters Fridays, 7:00 a.m.

Cat got your tongue? Public speaking and more. Call Bob after 6 p.m. Now meeting on the second floor of the building.

720-308-9090 State of Colorado Centennial Building, 1313 Sherman St. daybreaktoastmasters. org Hard Times Meditation Fridays, 2:30 p.m.

Going through a tough time? Developing mindfulness can often help us find new resiliency. Join professional instructor Nancy Nielsen for a supportive mindfulness meditation class that’s free and open to all. 720-865-1111 Denver Public Library: Central branch, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway Happiness Hour Fridays 5:00 p.m.

A short talk and guided relaxing meditation to help increase a peaceful good heart. It is an ideal way to unwind after work and recharge for a great evening ahead. Free.

303-813-9551 KMC Colorado Downtown, 1336 Glenarm Place meditationincolorado.org

Life On Capitol Hill 21

June 2019

www.ColoradoCommunityCareers.com

To Advertise call Ann-Marie 303.566.4070

ameyn@coloradocommunitymedia.com

The Denver Hospice has openings in the metro area Looking for a career in the healthcare industry? You might consider working for with The Denver Hospice, an affiliate of Care Synergy.

Care Synergy provides mission support services for not-for-profit,

community-based hospice and palliative care affiliate organizations serving Colorado’s Front Range.

Care Synergy’s affiliate organizations continue to operate as distinct and independent, not-for-profit

mission-driven hospice and palliative care organizations while working together to share best practices and serve more Coloradans along the Front Range.

With inpatient center located on Lowry Boulevard in Denver, The Colorado Hospice currently has 28 job openings in a variety of areas, ranging from a CAN to a Clinical Team Assistant to an admissions coordinator.

With The Denver Hospice, stability is assured as the agency has a longstanding tradition of providing compassionate, comprehensives

to patients and their families since 1978.

To work with The Denver Hospice, it’s not just about filling out a job application. Part of the application services requires all prospective employees to complete a fourpart assessment, which will help in understanding what makes you unique and drives your happiness and engagement in the workplace.

The assessment usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes.

Learn more about position open with The Denver Hospice by visiting the website at shorturl.at/qxBR9.

To Advertise on this page or for more information contact Ann Marie at 303.566.4070 AMeyn@coloradocommunitymedia.com Check us out online at www.ColoradoCommunityCareers.com

Looking to enhance your leadership and/or nursing career….

Ready to work in a mission-based, non-profit organization whose goal is family/patient focus?

If you answered YES, apply to these position at our affiliate locations.

Director of Clinical Services • Director of Quality, Compliance & Education Clinical Manager • Registered Nurses Competitive Salary • Comprehensive Benefits Package • Tuition Reimbursement • Sign-on Bonus May Apply

To apply for career opportunities, visit:

caresynergynetwork.org/careers/ For information about specific shifts, please contact: Miriam Thomas, Recruiter: mthomas@caresynergynetwork.org

22 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Staff members with disabilities show their skills Owner fights to sustain business at her two restaurants, which has been declining

TO LEARN MORE To learn more about Pizzability and Brewability, call 303-598-0809 or send an email to pizzabilityco@gmail.com.

Laradon, a nonprofit that aids individuals with disabilities in the Denver community, is always looking for new employers who would like to provide work opportunities for individuals in the community with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Roth said.

By Casey Van Divier Special to Colorado Community Media

When Andy Ngovanduc describes his job at Pizzability, he makes his workday sound ideal.

“We just chill and hang out, and we eat the whole day long,” he said. “It’s kind of fun.”

The 21-year-old Denver resident, who has autism, is one of roughly 25 employees at the Cherry Creek restaurant at 250 Steele St. Since opening the restaurant last December, businesswoman Tiffany Fixter has dedicated herself to building a staff of energetic, hardworking individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Fixter, 35, also owns the Brewability Lab at 12455 E. 39th Ave., a brewery with the same goal that opened in 2016.

When Ngovanduc was first hired in January, he worked Fixter one hour per week as Fixter showed him the ropes and helped him adjust to being an employee. Fixter now schedules him to work 15 hours per week between the two stores.

“Our goal is to show the public what’s possible and showcase the abilities that my staff has,” she said.

To get involved with the foundation or to learn more, visit laradon.org.

Tony Saponaro, left, and Andy Ngovanduc behind the counter at Pizzability.

But, after a positive start, Fixter now feels she’s in a fight to keep her businesses alive.

Pizzability and Brewability attracted a fair amount of customers at first, she said, in part

CASEY VAN DIVIER

because of mainstream media covering the stores and videos going viral online. However, the number of customers has started to decline as online conversation about the businesses has faded.

Spreading the word about her businesses has become difficult, she said, now that she must oversee two stores instead of one.

“There’re days that we’re selling one slice,” she said. “We just need customers.”

Finances have been further complicated now that Fixter must move Brewability to a new location.

Mark Polatsek, who manages the property, said the brewery is being removed from its lease because it is a retail business and he feels it does not fit in with other tenants of the property, which is an industrial park.

Despite the challenges, Fixter said she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to help the employees and customers who inspired her to start her businesses.

SEE PIZZABILITY, P24

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Life On Capitol Hill 23

June 2019 Around 20,000 people signed up to participate in races during the Colfax Marathon weekend, said Andrea Dowdy, who is the CEO of the race. Colfax Marathon Partnership also partners with local charity organizations and the event has raised an average of $500,000 the last several years.

EVAN SEMÓN PHOTOGRAPHY

Denver nonprofits Races like the Colfax Marathon help raise awareness for causes

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Crossing the finish line into City Park after running a Colfax race is only half the battle for the 220 participating nonprofits — it’s also a marathon fundraising session.

The nonprofit Colfax Marathon Partnership has been holding the race event in Denver for the last 14 years. But 11 years ago, the organizers started to bring in charity partners for the first time, CEO Andrea Dowdy said.

Under that program, the Colfax Marathon Partnership invites nonprofits of any size to to sign up for free as charity partners. Runners, in turn, can sign up to run for a charity when they register for any of the events, which include a 5K, a 10 mile race, relay races as well as a half and full marathon. The nonprofits also can recruit runners for their cause and set fundraising goals for them.

One such runner, Eric Gutknecht, CEO of Continental Sausage, Inc., uses Colfax as an opportunity to get his whole office raising money for Denver Kids, Inc. Gutknecht is a board member with Denver Kids, a nonprofit which focuses on child education. The company has been participating in the raise for the last five years. This year Continental Sausage put together 12-13 relay teams to run at Colfax, he said. He added that it’s also a good way to bring the office together while also looking at fitness.

Staff at his company enjoy participating as well.

race to fundraise

“They love the experience. It’s good for philanthropy and culture,” Gutknecht said. “It connects my passion for exercise and athletisim to philanthropy.”

Gutknecht said his office starts emailing people about donations for Denver Kids and their Colfax racing teams as early as November each year. He estimated that his office raised between $15,000 and $20,000 for Denver Kids.

The first year Colfax added charity partners, 41 signed up, Dowdy said. Although Colfax tends to work with local organizations, a few national organizations with local offices, such as the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Cancer Association, also joined.

For the past few years, Colfax has been working with about 200 charity partners. In recent years the nonprofits have raised an average of $500,000 each year in total Dowdy said.

“We want to give back to the community as a nonprofit and that’s why we have that opendoor policy,” Dowdy said. “Sometimes its the tiniest charities that raise the most money.”

Megan Monsees, a volunteer with the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, worked with Colfax this year to register runners across several of the event’s races, including the relay and half marathon. Monsees said several of their racers have run the event for the society before, but its also a way to gain new donors.

Huntington’s Disease, which is an inherited condition where nerve cells in the brain break down over time, is rare, Monsees said. Often people participating in the society’s 5K race at Denver’s Central Park in September know someone with the disease. It makes for a smaller pool of donors. This year, about 20,000 runners signed up for Colfax races throughout the weekend of May 18. Being able to raise awareness with those runners from across Colorado is key.

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“With that many people in one place, and that many people that are in for different causes that are important to them, it’s getting that awareness out there,” Monsees said. “You reach a community outside of those directly impacted.”

Organizing a race can also be cost-prohibitive for some nonprofits, Dowdy said. To hold a race, organizers need to apply for an event permit. The city also requires fencing, security, portable bathrooms and cleanup for an event.

“You need a good number of runners to make that work,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that go into your financial model.”

Tagging along with an event that is already planned, such as Colfax, can help ease the burden for some nonprofits. There’s also tiers set up for extra incentives: having at least five

racers in the event gets a nonprofit a free tent in the charity area. More racers also means more opportunities for money. Colfax Marathon Partnership donates $100,000 through the relay event. Winners of the marathon relay pick a charity to donate their prize money to, Dowdy said.

Over the years, Dowdy said she has seen different organizations tackle fundraising at Colfax in different ways. For some, it’s just a fun way to engage with the community and raise awareness for a cause. For other nonprofits its a time to raise funds for their own events and programming.

“You can be creative when you’re looking at opportunities,” Dowdy said. “It’s been really fun over the years to see all the ways people use running.”

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24 Life On Capitol Hill

June 2019

Pizzability FROM PAGE 22

Uplifting community Intent on creating a positive dining experience for customers with disabilities, Fixter has undergone a variety of inclusive endeavors, such as enhancing ADA accessibility, adding braille to written materials and providing weighted utensils for those with limited mobility.

Fixter also spends every workday at one of the two stores, from opening to closing.

“She takes a lot on just so we can be here,” said Tony Saponaro, 28, who works at both restaurants.

For Saponaro, who has a developmental disability and is hearing impaired, these jobs have provided an uplifting community he has never experienced in another job.

“I’ve been around very abusive employers before, at things that no one in their right mind would stay at,” he said. “But it’s the best I had at the time.”

He heard about Brewability from a friend’s parents, who suggested he apply for a position there.

“I just wanted a good person managing me who cared about my safety and cared that I was happy,” he said. “I met Tiffany and I’m like, `I don’t care how hard it is. I like my boss.’ ” “We make sure we’re here to support them,” Fixter said. “I’m still their boss, but there’s that extra level because of what we’re doing.”

Determined to help her employees build life skills, she said she rarely views a challenge as too difficult for them.

“Most people would never consider handing them a butcher knife, but we do,” she

Tony Saponaro, 28, places a pizza in the oven while on the clock at Pizzability. said. “We have safety measures in place that prevent them from getting injured.”

In addition to developing a long list of cooking and cleaning skills, Ngovanduc and Saponaro have forged friendships with coworkers and customers.

“There’s a lot of cool people that come here,” Saponaro said. “Because of the environment we’re at, every once in a while, you just get lucky sometimes.”

Becoming part of the team To build her team of employees, Fixter utilizes several methods, including receiv-

Argonaut Has It!

ing referrals from the parents of prospective workers and partnering with organizations.

One such organization is Laradon, a Denver nonprofit that assists individuals with disabilities as they pursue educational and employment opportunities.

According to Alison Roth, Laradon’s communications manager, the organization serves nearly 7,000 children and adults every year.

“We really like to focus on each individual’s personal goal,” she said.

Through Laradon, several individuals sent in video resumes to Pizzability, where they now work in groups of five every Thursday

CASEY VAN DIVIER

and Friday.

“They absolutely love it,” Roth said. “This is really good training for them.”

Fixter encourages anyone interested in working at the restaurant to come with a great attitude and be prepared to work hard.

“I’m looking for people who are over 21, are outgoing and are willing to do a little bit of everything,” she said.

Saponaro offered similar advice.

“I think if you’re willing to work hard and you’re willing to accept challenges,” he said, “it’s the right place for you.”

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