A 70s love story from Casa Bonita

Former cli diver reflects before restaurant reopening

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It was the 1970s: a time when “dinner and a show” could mean just about anything. And Casa Bonita on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood was one of those just-about-anything places.

It could seat up to 1,100 patrons, entertaining them while they waited on their food.

e restaurant, expected to soon reopen following a major renovation by new owners and “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, doubled as a kind of circus back then.

Michael Romero of Denver remembers it all. He was a cli diver and performer at the restaurant from 1975 to 1981. He made $10 an hour — a pretty penny those days — and he was young, and got to do what he loved. Not only that, he found something greater: meeting Dawn, the love of his life, on the cli s he jumped o of.

“She was the rst girl they hired as a diver when they opened up,” Romero said. “She was so beautiful. I thought she was out of my league when I rst met her, even though I was a bit of a stud myself. I saw her on the cli , and apparently she was looking for me, too.”

It was the day after Halloween, 1975. Romero had been a collegiate diver and gymnast at Memphis State University, and was invited to be an entertainer at Casa Bonita based on his reputation. Dawn was a standout diver and gymnast at Arvada West High School, where she coached the men’s diving team after graduating.

Casa Bonita was run by an entertainment manager formerly from the Ringling Bros. Circus, Romero explained, who was a trapeze ier and gymnast, at the time. Funny enough, the manager and Romero had connections in common, leading to his quick hiring.

But when Romero got hired, he said he was expected to do a bit more than diving and gymnastics. During his tenure, he’d have to make some costume changes, too.

“ e original entertainment manager, he and his wife were the typical circus family. ey lived in this big truckmounted camper and they traveled with the circus,” Romero said. “We all had to learn how to juggle re clubs. ere was a gun ght. I was a stuntman as well.” at meant he had to wear cowboy hats and all kinds of out ts. One act was Romero’s favorite. In a King Kongish reenactment, he’d don a gorilla suit.