Inside Longmont The Magazine - November 2014 by Inside Longmont

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November 2014

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See More Art by Bob Glassner Starting On Page 42 insideLONGMONT.com

November 2014

insideLONGMONT THE MAGAZINE

insidelongmontthemagazine@gmail.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brian T. Wolf WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY Brian T. Wolf Mari Wolf

MARKETING & ADVERTISING Mari Wolf insidelongmont@gmail.com

COVER ART: Kiteley-Dodd House by Bob Glassner insideLONGMONT The Magazine is published monthly by Inside Longmont, LLC. Copyright 2014 by Inside Longmont, LLC. All rights reserved. The entire contents of insideLONGMONT The Magazine are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the publisher. Inside Longmont, LLC is not responsible for unsolicited materials.

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Contents 10

Business Profile: Mystic Garden Spa and Salon

Non Profit Spotlight: A New Home for OUR Center

In the Community: Christmas Home Tour

Music: Chaeus

Theatre: “Shrek the Musical”

Theatre: “HOPSCOTCH! The Musical”

Arts & Culture: The Art of Bob Glassner

Family Corner: Creative Family Fun In November

Kids Krafts: Thankful Turkey Jar

Happening In Longmont

Upcoming Events

iL Business Network

iL Non Profit Community

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November 2014

Business Profile

On December 1st, Mystic Garden Spa and Salon will celebrate their 15th anniversary in Longmont!

And while this is a huge milestone for owner Shirley Kasperbauer, her history goes back even further than that. A Longmont native, Shirley Kasperbauer has been in the cosmetology and fashion industry for over 40 years. She graduated from Longmont Beauty College and worked for several years as a hair stylist. In 1984, Shirley first became a business owner when she purchased Hairfare on North Main Street. “It was a nice, small salon, and I built up a great clientele there for many years.” At the time, Hairfare provided only hair and nail services, but Shirley increasingly saw the benefits of adding skincare and massage. “I could see the benefits of what a massage does for people so I wanted to shift from just doing hair and nails to taking care of the whole body, head to toe,” Shirley said. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to expand at that location, so in 1999 she opened a brand new location with Mystic Garden Spa and Salon. Although they are primarily known as a hair salon, Mystic Garden actually offers a full range of services designed to help people look and feel their best. If you are looking for skin treatments, they perform a variety of customized facials including hydration, anti-aging, and corrective facials for acne skin. If you are in need of relaxing, you can get a deep tissue, aromatherapy, or hot stone massage. And if you want a little pampering, there are the three pedicure chairs and two manicure tables. They even have a sauna and a steam room. Best of all, we found out that enjoying the sauna or steam room is complementary with the purchase of any of their services. So you can come in a little early or stay a little longer and relax in the steam room or sauna without any additional charge! 10

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Because they offer so many different services, many customers choose to purchase packages of half-day or full-day services. The full-day package averages around 7 hours, with a free lunch included, while the half-days are about 3 hours. This is truly the meaning of “spending a day at the spa!” Often, this can be a great way to celebrate a birthday, host a wedding party, or simply treat yourself or someone special to a day of pampering. “The whole beauty business and overall wellness really is a passion of mine,” Shirley told us. “I have learned through experience that you need to take care of yourself, because nobody else will.” Shirley’s passion isn’t just for taking care of her customers, though. She is also deeply involved in giving back to the community and doing her part to help make Longmont the great place to live

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that it is. Last year, the devastating flood that hit Longmont left many residents on the west side of town without water. When someone called to ask about using the spa to shower, Shirley recognized how she could help to bring a little normalcy back into some people’s lives. For over a week, Shirley would open Mystic Garden after hours so that people without water could shower there. She also donated necessities like shampoo and conditioner to those in need. Just last month, Shirley held Pink Power Happy Hour events to help raise funds in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And for the past several months, she has been working with the Hair For Hounds campaign, spearheaded by Jim Lytton, to raise funds for the Longmont Humane Society. Hair For Hounds culminates on November 21st at Left Hand Brewing where a number of people

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from the community are offering to have their heads shaved as part of the fundraiser. This is actually the third time that Shirley has worked with Jim Lytton on a head-shaving campaign to support nonprofits in Longmont. “I think giving back to the community definitely comes back to you tenfold by keeping our community strong,” Shirley told us. “I’ve seen a lot of changes through our community over the years, and it’s been good to support and give back.” Shirley often finds many other ways to give back by supporting organizations like OUR Center, The Inn Between, Safe Shelter, and the public schools, as well as through her church. For Shirley, the past 15 years at Mystic Garden Spa and Salon have gone fast. But through this time, whether it is changing a hairstyle or helping someone look or feel different, these years have held huge rewards for her. “It’s fun to see people respond, ‘Wow, I feel better,’ or, ‘I like how I look.’ Those are great feelings.” During the first week of December, Mystic Garden will be having a celebration for their 15 Year Anniversary. They will be offering discounts on services and gift certificates, door prizes, refreshments, and more. So whether you have been a client since the beginning or are visiting for the first time, make sure you stop by and congratulate Shirley on 15 years! You can find more about Mystic Garden Spa and Salon online at www.mysticgardenspaandsalon.com. Shirley Kasperbauer insideLONGMONT.com

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Non Profit Spotlight

A New Home for OUR Center For over 28 years now, the Outreach United Resource Center, or OUR Center, has been serving the

Longmont community by offering resources to those in need. It is easy for most people to think of OUR Center as strictly a safe place where individuals and families in the community can be served a hot meal twice a day, but in fact their services go much further than that. In keeping with their mission to “help people move toward self-sufficiency by unifying community resources,” they provide a food pantry, clothing bank, homelessness prevention, case management, and child care services. OUR Center also works closely with a number of different nonprofit and government partners to ensure that their clients have access to a wide variety of needed services and assistance. Several years ago, the OUR Center’s Board of Directors began looking at the growth of the community and the increased need of their services within the community over the next 25 years. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons the demands for their services have increased exponentially over time and it doesn’t look like that demand will be lessening anytime soon. The Board looked at how OUR Center could continue to meet demand in an efficient and effective way, not only for the services that they provide their clients but also for what their partners in the community can provide. How can they do that in a way that is accountable and benefits the community? 14

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Ultimately, this led to the creation of the “Strengthen Our Community, Invest in OUR Story” Capital Campaign, which will provide for a new program services and administration center by transforming the former lumber store at 220 Collyer Street into a much-needed larger facility. By consolidating all of their services, which are currently housed in four different buildings, under one roof, it will make all of their services easily accessible and more available to their clients. It will also be more efficient for staff and volunteers to do their jobs and it will be easier for donors to drop off donations. This new building will serve as a family resource center and allow the OUR Center to bring in more community partners to offer their services to shared clients. So rather than a person or family having to go place to place to get a number of different services, as they do now, they will be able to get all of these services at one location. Things like social services, signing up for health care, mental health services, physical health screenings, parenting classes, and more will all be readily available. In addition, the new building will also improve the efficiency of other work areas by having designated office space. Currently, offices are shared on an “as needed” basis and often uproots the occupant. There will be plenty of official office space for visiting agency partners where caseworker/client conversation privacy will be improved, assuring client dignity. The added space will also allow OUR Center to increase their capacity for workshops and self-sufficiency classes, making additional class offering possible. And having a larger space to accept more in-kind donations will be a huge relief because currently they have to turn away such donations due to the inability to find space. Finally, in order to provide food service to a growing number of clients, the new facility will include a new Hospitality Center Dining Area which will be called the Community Cafe. The Community Cafe will offer twice the space that the current dining area does, enabling them to serve even more of those in need in our community. And the Community Cafe can even be used insideLONGMONT.com

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for hosting a variety of events. In order to achieve these goals, the Capital Campaign was launched to raise $4.7 million that would be used to purchase and renovate the new facility. However, like many others in our community, the Capital Campaign is still recovering from the effects of the last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flood, which has put them behind schedule. With so many people, businesses, and organization affected by the floods, a majority of financial donations from the community have gone to disaster relief efforts, which is to be expected. Adding to the delay was the fact that OUR Center also used their resources to help many of the families affected by the flood. In fact, they were the first to arrive at the Longmont Recovery Center at Twin Peaks Mall following the flood to set up a mobile site and food and clothing vouchers were handed out to 500 families during their 16 days at the Recovery Center. Their clothing and food collection effort worked overtime as they began distributing food and clothing to Longmont area flood survivors. Even though they are behind schedule, thanks to a Boulder County Worthy Cause grant, OUR Center has already been able to purchase the building

and surrounding land outright and it has already served as a much needed resource to the community. During the flood recovery period, it was in the new building that all of the collected food and clothing was housed. People would bring in the vouchers from the Recovery Center to get the needed items. For the past year, the St. Vrain Habitat for Humanity has been leasing space in the building to house volunteer construction staff, who are in Longmont to construct new housing for those who lost everything in the flood. And in keeping with the concept of bringing the community together, a number of special events have even been held in the space, including OUR Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Annual Fall Benefit - Rock & Soul. At present, the Capital Campaign is nearly half way to its financial goal. Because they now already own the building, the remainder of the campaign will be to raise the funds needed for renovations of the building. Their goal is to complete the campaign by the end of 2015 and immediately begin reconstruction efforts to enable them to move in by the end of 2016. Having such a large vision of the future and the compassion to prepare for it, OUR Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire to consolidate all of their resources into one building in order to serve a growing population of

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those in need is inspiring. Participating in the capital campaign is a wonderful way to invest, not only in OUR Center, but in the future of our community. If you would like to learn more about this important project, OUR Center currently offers tours to the public. During the tour session, you will receive an overview of the Strengthen Our Community, Invest In OUR Story campaign, as well as a tour of their existing building and a tour of the future home of OUR Center!

Below are three concept drawings provided by OUR Center showing the Community Cafe, an interior waiting area, and the building exterior at 3rd and Collyer.

Visit www.ourcenter.org for all the details.

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November 2014

In the Community

LONGMONT CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR

“The Gift of Home” Would you have ever thought that out of the rather simple need for a kitchen would grow one of the

most beloved Longmont traditions of the holiday season? In 1966, as the First Congregational Church (now UCC Longmont) was settling into their new location on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Francis Street, the Women’s Fellowship was looking for a way to raise money to furnish the location’s new kitchen. The ladies had been hosting a turkey dinner as their annual fundraiser for the previous 50 years, and they were looking for something new to try. When Betty Jo Secor suggested a Christmas Home Tour, similar to a tour she had seen in Colorado Springs, the idea fit and plans were made for the first Longmont Christmas Home Tour. Now, 49 years later, this tradition is still going strong. Each year, the Christmas Home Tour welcomes members of the community into Longmont homes that have been transformed into festive holiday showpieces and filled with holiday decorations both on display and available for purchase. For many people in the community, this is something they have done with friends for years and is how they kick off the holiday season. The theme for this year’s tour is “The Gift of Home” and the funds raised through the event are going to support a variety of nonprofits who work with the homeless including the OUR Center, The Inn Between, A Woman’s Work, and Safe Shelter. Longtime fans of the tour will notice that this year includes a number of changes from previous years. In keeping with the changing times, the organizers have begun to utilize social media more to expand awareness of the event throughout the community. Also, an additional night has been added to the tour that is designed to be a special VIP night for those who want to experience the tour a day early. And not only are there four homes on the tour this year, as opposed to the three in years past, but for the first time local businesses have gotten involved in the tour by sponsoring the decorat18

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at select local businesses, or at any of the homes on the tour on the days of the event. On Friday, December 5th and Saturday, December 6th, ticket holders will have the opportunity to visit each of the homes in any order they choose and will be welcome to stay as long as they wish during the hours of 9:00am to 8:30pm on Friday and 9:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday. In each home, volunteers will be present to direct the visitors, spotlight special ornaments and features of the homes, and provide information about the history of the homes, families, and more. ing of each home. In addition, instead of having one decorator for the entire tour, each home will be decorated by a different team of decorators from the community. This year, the Chenault home is sponsored by Lifestyle Consignment and will be decorated by Jill Cutler and Karen McMeans. The Mahoney home is sponsored by Real Deals and will be decorated by Erica Eggers and Nancy Mahoney. ACE Hardware and Kirsten Pellicer are sponsoring the Gaddis home and Laurie Mazzetta will be in charge of decorating. And Longmont Ford is the sponsor for the Millican home with Sandy Ostrander, Marilyn Decker, and Judy Miller stepping up to be this home’s decorators. It will be very interesting to see how each team interprets “The Gift Of Home” theme this year! Though there have been some significant changes made this year, the spirit and community aspect of the home tour remains. Tickets for the tour are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. They may be purchased online at www.thegiftofhome.org,

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While you’re shopping and exploring the homes on the tour, there will also be hot soup and bread waiting for you at UCC Longmont, courtesy of Loaf and Ladle, along with items for sale in the artisan market. So, be sure to stop by the church and take a peek! As we mentioned, new this year is the VIP Night, which happens on Thursday, December 4th from 4:30pm to 8:30pm. As a VIP, you will get a first glimpse at the homes and have an opportunity to purchase items that night. There will be door prizes donated by local businesses at each of the four homes during VIP night, too. And each $30 ticket for the VIP Night includes a special dinner at one of four participating local restaurants. This year, Cheese Importers, Pinocchio’s, The Dicken’s Tavern, and Tortugas, are providing a light menu called the Gift of Home Menu from 4:30pm to 8:30pm on Thursday night only. Given that there are a limited number of tickets for the VIP Night, reservations at the restaurant of your choice is required. Tickets to the VIP Night are not avail-

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All photos courtesy of Third Avenue Image Photographed by Shelby Zavala able online, but you can get your tickets at Snyder tradition, the homeowners get to take advantage Jewelers, Ace Hardware, United Church of Christ, of a fully decorated holiday home on that Saturday Real Deals or any of the participating restaurants. and Sunday, until the down on Monday. This is the perfect time to throw a festive party to enterAlthough the Christmas Home Tour may last only tain friends and family in a beautifully decorated three days, it is actually a year-long process to pre- home! pare for the event. The committee usually begins choosing the theme of the tour and the homes that It really is wonderful to have an event like this in will be on the tour as early as March. By Octo- Longmont where so many sections of the commuber, they begin contacting volunteers and schedul- nity can come together to support an event that ing them for the many different positions needed has become a tradition for nearly 5 decades. It is to support the tour. Typically, over 400 people also exciting to see this tradition expand and grow volunteer each year to be a part of the Christmas over time to hopefully reach an even wider audiHome Tour. ence. In previous years, the tour has had around 2000 visitors, and this year they hope to draw Finally, on the Friday after Thanksgiving the dec- even more visitors. If you have yet to attend a orating begins in the homes, which usually takes Longmont Christmas Home Tour, this is definitely about a week to complete. During the week of dec- the year to put it on your â&#x20AC;&#x153;to doâ&#x20AC;? list. And for those orating, the homeowners are very patient and un- who are already fans of the event, you can look forderstanding as the process takes over their home. ward to some fantastic new additions this year. Imagine that for an entire week, people are going in and out of your home, filling it to the brim with For any additional information about the tour, decorations, trees, garland, and lights. Of course, please visit www.thegiftofhome.org. having your home on the tour has its benefits. Aside from being a part of such a long standing 20

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November 2014

Music

Chaeus

It is always a thrilling experience for us to meet an up-and-coming musician, and our introduction to

singer-songwriter Chaeus has been no exception. From the beginning we have been captivated by his soothing, almost melancholy, melodies and intricate guitar playing. And we are only too happy to help introduce him to you. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Chaeus came from a musical family. His father played violin for a short time before becoming a percussionist and drummer. His mother was a professional singer, even working for a time with Disney World, and was actively singing through her church. His older brother plays the bass and his younger brother was the first in the family to play guitar. “Both of my brothers are actually fantastically musically gifted and talented,” Chaeus told us. Although he is now making a name for himself as a guitarist, Chaeus actually started out in percussion. “It was my first real passion in music.” When he was a Freshman in high school, he tried guitar, but hated it. Being used to playing drums and coordinating his hands rhythmically, the idea of being accurate on the guitar down to the exact finger was a bit much and he struggled to get further than learning the three basic chords. He eventually stepped away from the guitar for a time, until the summer before his Senior year in high school when he picked it up again and started playing more regularly. 22

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Never having traditional guitar lessons, Chaeus spent a lot of time playing in isolation to teach himself. In the beginning he wasn’t very interested in learning other people’s songs and instead spent most of his time developing his own sounds. He began writing songs as he got more comfortable with the guitar and he developed his trademark fingerpicking style mostly from being bored with simply strumming. As difficult as it was to learn, the consistency of the intricate fingerpicking was fun for him. Soon he began writing songs just for himself, which turned out to be a very cathartic and therapeutic experience for him to be able to write and to play. He knew singing was going to be difficult for him, but in time started getting comfortable with the idea. There were things that he felt like expressing and wanted to write down, “and eventually I just ended up singing them myself because no one else was going to.” For Chaeus, the thought of playing in front of other people and coming out of the shadow of anonymity was at first a difficult thing. It took a long time for him to even entertain the idea of performing, but somewhere along the way something eventually just seemed to click. Up until then, he loved the fact that he wrote songs for himself first, but he also began to realize that his songwriting and the way he expressed himself had matured. “I felt like I was able to reach a point where I thought I could really do this”. No matter how reluctant he was in the beginning about performing, he knew that he couldn’t let that hold him back. “I feel like fear is a terrible excuse for not doing anything,” he said. The songs he had written had served their purpose for him, being therapeutic and allowing him to express things within his heart. But at a certain point, they had done everything that they were going to do for him and he simply wanted to be able to share them. So he said to himself, “What the hell, let’s just do it.” In September of last year, Chaeus moved to Longmont and after only a year has already begun to establish himself among our thriving music community. Within a month of moving, he started insideLONGMONT.com

play the open mic night at The Dickens, where he met and quickly became friends with fellow singer-songwriter Nick O’Connor. It wasn’t until this time that Chaeus finally felt like he was taking his music and performing seriously. He was ready to share his songs and to see what would happen when he played them. The first real show Chaeus played was in January of this year when he joined Nick and Helen Peterson at a community songwriter circle at Mojo’s Music Academy. “It was a great transition into a show for me.” The next time he performed in front of a captive audience was at Nick O’Connor’s CD release party later in July. Like many new musicians he admits to sometimes still having a little anxiety performing in front of an audience, but at the same time he feels very comfortable once he is playing. “I feel like I’m in the right place when I’m behind the microphone.” Chaues now performs at a variety of local venues both here in Longmont and in Boulder as well.

In addition to performing, Chaeus continues writing new music and working towards becoming a professional musician, where music is not only his passion and reason for waking up every day, but also his livelihood. And he is well on his way to achieving his goal.

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As one might expect, Chaeus is also looking ahead to recording his first album in the near future. “I do have an album planned, it’s just not recorded yet,” he said. “All the songs are placed together to tell a very specific story.” Two of the songs, White Dove and 12/14 have already been recorded and are actually the building blocks and first two songs of the album he’s envisioning. Through Nick O’Connor, Chaeus was introduced to Doug Furia of Studio D, where he plans to record his first album. It’s just about the timing and when it’s ready it will happen. “I could start tomorrow. The vision is there. What I hope the first album to be, the songs that would be on the first album, everything is in place.” We certainly look forward to seeing Chaues getting in the studio and can’t wait to see the result. With all the whirlwind of the past year, one thing is for certain, Chaeus couldn’t have picked a better spot to make this happen than Longmont. He loves “being part of a wonderful community and an arts scene and music scene that I feel is really coming into its own”. Even though it is happening so quickly for him, there is still a sense of calm and a feeling that it is all meant to be. “Right now I feel like I am living a small version of a very fantastic dream, just being able to perform and play songs and meet wonderful people and be part of a community like Longmont is important to me.” Look for Chaeus performing around town in our online Calendar of Events and be sure to follow him on Twitter @Chaeus_Music.

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Theatre

presents

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Congratulations to the cast and crew of Shrek The Musical for an amazing series of performances over the weekend!

Last month we were fortunate enough to get a backstage look at rehearsals for Shrek and got to see first hand some of the makeup and many of the fantastic costumes that would be used in the show. We also had the opportunity to talk with a number of the talented students in the cast and got just a glimpse of the talents that many of them would be bringing to their performances. So we were more than excited to see the full production come to life on the stage this month. And when the cast finally did take the stage, we were definitely not disappointed. From the singing and dancing to the student orchestra providing the music, from the costumes and makeup to the beautiful sets, it was sometimes hard to remember that this was a high school musical. Knowing just how much time and effort went into the rehearsals for this production, up to 12 hours each week for more than three months, it was great to see everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard work pay off in the end. Of course, for the Seniors in the cast this was a bittersweet moment as it would be their final musical perfromances at Niwot High School. And while the school will be losing a number of talented students at the end of this year, the depth of talent that is apparent in the younger students guarantees many more great shows in the years ahead. The students of Niwot High School perform a major musical every year in the fall and if you have never attended one of their performances, we certainly encourage you to come out next year and support these talented youths. You will not be disappointed. insideLONGMONT.com

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A few of our favorite scenes from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shrek the

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e Musicalâ&#x20AC;? presented by Niwot High School.

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The Cast Joe Castinado Onnika Hanson Haley Jacks Luke Kleekamp Olivia Kunik Shannon Fischer Lauren Krebs Hannah Turner Jackson Roberts Shu Lee Emma Goetz Janaye Walker Leila Abdallah Camille Cowan Susannah Rossier Steven Schaetzl Grace Shibles Reid Sutherland Taena Hanson Erica Landreth Seth Welch Fiona Benson Davein VanDyke Hannah Volf

Danny Fiamengo Bella Musser Chantal King Rocky Melcher Montana Lewis Abri Judson Delayne Johnson Katie Conway Nelson Menjivar Gracie Leslie Torng Lim Aurora Vadas Arendt Jessica Douthitt Anna Weingartner Garrett Thompson Sophia Gordon Josie McNellis Gracie Antonucci James Gibbons Kyndall Thompson Nina Eisenberg Noah Castinado Emma Steiner Amy Schmitz

The Orchestra Judy Pease Pete Ehrmann Vic Dillahay Meagan Gaskill Miguel Jaime Kayleigh Limbach Franny Klatt Becky Klatt Cade Wright Melissa Johnson Devin Ownbey Andrew Thomas Scott Barto 34

McKynzie Clark Daniel Wilcox Doug Peairs Eli Miller Yingying Chen Aileen Ma Isaac Ng Jewel Ng Emma Robbins Claire Ronan Anna Sophia Wolneiwicz Gwen Coopersmith November 2014

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The Technical Crew Student Technical Director - Carlos Martinez Assistant Student Technical Director - Thomas Dolan Stage Left Manager - Ryan Collins Stage Right Manager - Curtis Rebhan Lightboard Operators - Chris Dierks & Cameron Hamblen Spotlight Operators - Ryan Morton, Natasche Simon, Aaron Stadtherr Sound Design - Taylor Bierman Sound Board Operators - Christian Rahenkamp & Brandon Thomas Video Master - Alan Martinez Video Mixer - Keyler Smith Camera Operators - Daniil Boiko, Ike Cardenas, Drake Steakley Make Up / Stage Crew - Sophie Gordon, Jen Gracie, Marissa Kuhn, ZoĂŤ Scott Puppeteers / Stage Crew - Evan Blakely, Nick Breyer, Chris Brown, Alex Colvin, Mary Lang, Carly Sorenson, Alowynne Starling, Emily Tabler

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Theatre

HOPSCOTCH! The Musical

We are one more month closer to the premiere of HOPSCOTCH! The Musical and it has been a treat

to bring you behind-the-scenes stories about this wonderful local production. Last month we introduced you to two of the real life characters featured in the show and this month we are taking you into the dance studio to talk choreography and staging! As you may have learned from our previous HOPSCOTCH! The Musical articles, composer and songwriter Robbie Kudla has had a very hands-on approach with this production, including the choreography. However, it didn’t actually start out that way. When Robbie was ready to bring in a choreographer for the production, she first turned to her friend, Lisa Schlagel, who immediately jumped on board and began working on the show. Lisa had just completed plans for one of the more dynamic scenes in HOPSCOTCH!, “Reign of Terror,” when she suddenly received devastating news. “In early August,” Robbie recalled, “I got a call from Lisa and she told me she had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor.” Weeks later Lisa was able to have a successful surgery to remove the tumor and is now thankfully doing well, but unfortunately has been unable to continue on with the choreography for the show. With Lisa recovering, Robbie took over the work that she had begun. Robbie was joined by cast member Kristy Gomez, who had some choreography experience in the past, and together they continued working with the cast in “Reign of Terror” to put the pieces back together and make it work. Lisa didn’t 38

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completely leave them on their own, however. Despite her own personal ordeal, she was committed to the production and took the time to write out, step by step and word for word, her choreography for Robbie to use. “I still consider Lisa my main choreographer,” Robbie said. “She started it for us”. Not long ago, Robbie was introduced to Kimberleigh Spencer, the owner of Broadway Performing Academy, who has since brought her vast knowledge and experience to help Robbie and Kristy with the choreography and staging. “We had a good grip on things and were doing well,” Robbie told us. “But Kimberleigh has come in to help polish us. She is now teaching them how to perform when I could only teach them the steps.” We recently visited Broadway Performing Academy when cast members Antonio Lopez, Erik Josh, and Michael Waterhouse, who play three police officers in the show, met with Kimberleigh Spencer for the first time to work on the “Reign of Terror” scene. The three men had already been working on the choreography, and were now going to begin working on staging. “I think staging is harder for people to do than choreography,” Kimberleigh said, “especially for non-dancers, because you are making them sing, move, walk around, and deal with props.” Performing around props on stage takes a lot of careful planning and practice in order to avoid a catastrophe in the middle of a scene. “You want to know where you go and when you need to get there on stage.”

Until this day, the men had only been rehearsing in Robbie’s home, without the benefit of mirrors to see themselves move. “We’ve done three or four rehearsals pretty hard so far,” actor Erik Josh told us, “but definitely being able to see each other in the mirror and not having to turn sideways to see what’s going on is helpful.” For the first time, they were able to visualize the choreography in their minds as opposed to just remembering the steps. “It’s definitely clearer in my head, for sure,” said Michael Waterhouse. “But it’s still really new to me because I’ve never been a dancer or even tried”. At one point in the rehearsal, Kimberleigh even filmed them during a run-through of the scene for the three actors to watch afterwards. “It’s a lot easier to do the right thing when you know what you’re doing or what you’re supposed to be doing,” said Antonio Lopez, who is also a local musician. Erik, Michael, and Antonio performed their scene multiple times for Kimberleigh as she worked to polish the steps for smooth transitions and clean movements. By the end of the session, confidence levels were very high as everyone in the room could see the performance becoming easier and more fluid. We were certainly impressed and cannot wait until we get to see the “Reign of Terror” scene performed on stage! Tickets are on sale now for the Grand Opening performance of HOPSCOTCH! The Musical right here in Longmont on January 17th at the Vance Brand Civic Auditorium. For more information visit www.hopscotchthemusical.com.

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Arts & Culture

The Art of Bob Glassner Not long ago, while attending one of the Left Hand Artist Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s monthly meetings, we had the honor of meeting local artist, Bob Glassner. We were already familiar with some of the work he had done for a mutual friend, so being able to put a face to the name was very exciting. A few months later, we had the pleasure of viewing more of his art pieces when they were on display at East Moon Asian Bistro. The craftsmanship of the pieces, coupled with the sheer emotion of the scenes depicted inspired us to find out more about the man behind the art. One of the most interesting aspects of Bob Glassnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, at least to us, is how it evolved out of a 40-plus year career as a commercial illustrator. When asked how it all began, Bob took us back to his Senior year of high school when he took his very first art and drafting class. Because he was in a class with more experienced art students, Bob had a great degree of freedom in developing his own style by observing the classmates around him. In college, he studied architectural drafting and architecture before leaving college to become a draftsman in a company that produced architectural illustrations. This work enabled him to develop the skill of taking 2-dimensional blueprints of homes and turning them into 3 dimensional architectural promotional materials. Over the years, Bob made a career of illustrating homes and neighborhoods for various architects, engineers, and developers. Possibly one of the most notable of these projects was his work illustrating the development plans for neighborhoods of Prospect here in Longmont. insideLONGMONT.com

November 2014

Throughout his career, Bob dabbled with fine art, but never really had the time to seriously pursue it. When he did find the time for creative work, he would often take the realistic aspect he developed illustrating architecture and create 3 dimensional textured composites from photos. “For me, reality is not difficult. For 40 years I was an illustrator.” Yet with this background in architecture illustration, it might surprise people to know that the favorite piece he’s ever done is “Spontaneous Combustion” (see page 42). “It’s young and youthful, you don’t know if it’s a man or a woman, it’s pure emotion. I try to do something whimsical in everything I do.” As an artist, Bob likes to describe himself as a realistic watercolorist and a classical pen and ink artist. One of the things that he enjoys most about art is the beginning of a piece. “That’s the most exciting part of the whole thing,” Bob told us, “when I’m standing there with a blank piece of paper and a little pen with ink in it, and I know when I get done it’s going to be something amazing. That’s why I still do what I do.” Eight years ago, Bob became involved with HWNA Historic Home Tours, an event in Longmont’s Westside Neighborhood that helps kick off the holiday season. The public is invited into the stately old homes to tour the house and each home has a local artist showcasing their art and making them available for holiday gifts. “It’s a great way to be on the street with the people and keep my work in front of all these folks.” Early on Bob offered to illustrate the houses on the tour so that the prints could be given to the homeowners, and the illustrations were such a hit that he has continued donating illustrations to the homeowners and selling illustrations to others every year. Over time he has drawn 50 or 60 of the homes in this part of town so far. It was also about eight years ago that Bob, through his son, met a young singer-songwriter named Nick O’Connor when he was a Senior in high school. At the time, Nick was working on his first album and asked Bob to create the cover art for it. Bob was surprised and honored by Nick’s request and the two have had a close bond ever since. In fact, Bob has produced the artwork for all three of Nick’s albums and even co-wrote the title track of Nick’s second album, Pink Lady. Bob recently retired this past year and delightfully plans on having no plans. He is approaching this transition much like he approaches the start of each art project. “The future is unwritten and I can do anything I want. It’s exciting, just like looking at that clean white piece of paper. I am in the same place right now with my entire life,” he said, adding, “The journey is the important part of it.” As fans of his art, we look forward to seeing where the journey takes him. 44

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November 2014

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November 2014

Family Corner

Creative Family Fun In November by Elaine Waterman

Happy November Everyone! I hope everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Halloween was fantastic and fun! Now that kids (and parents) are coming down from their sugar rush, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to tell you about two of my favorite things for families to do in Longmont this November. I have been in Longmont going on 11 years and I have pretty much tried everything that Longmont has to offer for kids and families. Each month I hope to give you some fun tips for Longmont families, just my honest opinions as a parent. The businesses and events are not paid sponsors; these are just truly fun (or useful) events for you and your kids!

Thanksgiving/Holiday Themed Art Classes I am a crafty mama and I believe that kids need space and time to get messy and explore. November is a great time to get your craft on since artwork will be ready to give away for holiday gifts and there are plenty of Thanksgiving themed art activities to use as your table centerpiece for the holidays. Think how proud your little one will be to show off his Thanksgiving handprint plate at the family dinner! Crackpots Pottery Studio - While they have lots of classes for all ages, I wanted to highlight a fun family class for ages 7 to adults that is coming up at Crackpots. Their Glass Fused Ornament Workshop on November 20th from 5pm-7pm could be a great night out for you and your kids! Each participant gets to make 3 glass fused ornaments. The designs can be simple or elaborate based on your age and/ or skill. Crackpots is so used to working with families they even understand that some kids may just 48

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want to create a set with their parent. For this reason they have come up with a “helper fee” so you can paint with your child without having to pay for an extra person. I love it when companies understand the needs of kids and families! 505 Main St. Telephone: (303) 776-2211 The Longmont Museum’s Discovery Days - Okay, I am biased as the instructor, but I would put Discovery Days on the list even if I wasn’t! I used to attend Discovery Days (the program is going on its 18th year!) with my kids and I hope to offer the same fun and creativity for years to come. Our Thanksgiving Celebration is on November 19th, 20th and 21st with sessions at 9AM, 10:15AM and 12:30PM. We have many Thanksgiving, Harvest and Turkey crafts planned for your kids ages 2-5. Classes are less than $5 (member discounts available) and we have 4-5 crafts each class! If your kids are older than 5 we also have classes for ages 6-8 and 9-12. Call the museum for more info. 400 Quail St. (303) 651-8374 Happy Hands Creative Arts Studio - This last one is a new one so I cannot give you a personal experience, but we are excited about it. It is Paint with Santa at Happy Hands Creative Arts Studio! Friday, November 28th from 1pm-5pm you can paint with Santa. Most parents I know really appreciate multi-tasking. Talk about killing two birds with one stone, this event is a creative experience and Santa pictures all in one! 2318 W. 17th Ave. Unit C 303-827-3083

Volunteering As a Family Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for what you have, and perhaps sharing with others to say thank you to them. One thing I suggest for families to do together in November is to share something back to the community to say thanks. Thanksgiving is a great time for baking as a family. It’s something about the colder weather and cozying up near the warm stove that just gets me all nostalgic. So next time you whip up a batch of cookies with the kids, drive over to your local fire station or police station and drop them off to say thanks. Your child will feel proud to hand over their treats and your recipients will be beyond grateful for the gesture. Another option is to deliver meals for Meals on Wheels Longmont. Recipients are home bound individuals who are happy to receive a home delivered meal but are even happier to talk to volunteers, especially little ones. For more info on volunteering for Meals on Wheels call 303-772-0540.

Hope your November is filled with gratitude, blessings and good times!

Elaine Waterman is a Longmont mom and the Head Mess Maker at Discovery Days at the Longmont Museum as well as Paint N’ Party To Go. She has two rambunctious boys, ages 6 and 10 and likes to experience all that Longmont has to offer families. She is also the organizer of the Longmont Area Moms Network, a local moms group that offers playdates for kids and moms. Find them on Facebook and Meetup to connect with other moms and kids. insideLONGMONT.com

November 2014

Kids Krafts

Thankful Turkey Jar Our craft for November is one you can do with your children. The final result is a Thankful Turkey Jar. I love these jar crafts because they are interactive and include some of my favorites (such as the “I’m Bored Jar”- stay tuned for that one at the start of summer). This craft teaches all involved to name one thing they are thankful for each day in the week leading up to Thanksgiving. At Thanksgiving dinner, the responses are read as a family, which gives everyone time and space to appreciate what and who they have in their lives. -- Elaine The supplies are minimal. 1 Mason jar Googly eyes 3 coffee filters Small piece of yellow and red paper Washable markers Brown acrylic paint (optional) Squirt bottle filled with water Hot glue gun Brown construction paper Scissors Directions 1. Start by painting the Mason jar with brown acrylic paint. This is optional. 2. For the feathers, take your coffee filter and color with washable markers. Let your child make any design they want but try to fill the filter with color. 3. Put the filters on a non-porous surface such as a baking tray. Lightly spray the filters with the water and watch the colors run together. Move the filters to a dry non porous surface and let dry completely. 4. After your jar is dry cut out a bowling pin shape out of brown construction paper for the turkey head and body. Hot glue it to the Mason jar. 5. When your filters are dry, hot glue to the back of the Mason jar. Fold them in half and you can just layer them slightly overlapped, or pleat them, but make sure they are attached securely to the jar with hot glue. 6. To finish the turkey, glue on some googly eyes, a yellow beak (diamond shape folded in half, glue the bottom half down) and a red wattle. 7. Leave some scrap paper next to your jar so you and your kids can easily add what you are thankful for to the jar. 50

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November 2014

Happening In Longmont

Halloween Parade On October 25th, we headed downtown for Longmont’s 38th Annual Halloween Parade. The day turned out to be gorgeous and, thank goodness, because it would have been a terrible travesty to cover up the incredibly creative costumes with jackets! The parade was open to anyone who wanted to participate and folks came out in droves sporting their “get-ups”. From a female detective to a tuba playing Scotsman, there was Harry Potter, a Ninja turtle (or two), and our personal favorite, a canine Wonder Woman, who kept us smiling the rest of the day! It is events like this that make us proud to be cheerleaders for our tightly knit community!

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November 2014

Happening In Longmont

November 2014

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Day of the Dead

Community Celebration

Spending November 1st at the Longmont Museum, it is easy to see why our community has the distinction of hosting Coloradoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest Day of the Dead celebration. The festivities were spread throughout the museum as children and adults created alfombras (sawdust carpets) on the front sidewalk, sugar skulls were being decorated in the Discovery Day room, paper flowers were being made upstairs with Longmont Sister Cities, and a variety of dancers like the Fiesta Colorado Dance Company performed traditional dances in the courtyard.

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November 2014

Happening In Longmont

November 2014

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Boulder County Bombers

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It may be the off season, but men and women of the Boulder County Bombers Roller Derby League are still very active. On October 30, the Bombers held a Halloween themed scrimmage with the title: Heroes vs Villains. It was great to see everyone getting into the spirit with some fantastic costumes, and even the officials were more than ready to get in on the fun. The Bombersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; next season is still several months away, but look for details soon on a tournament they will be hosting in Longmont in January! Keep up with the Boulder County Bombers online at www.bouldercountybombers.com.

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Upcoming Events

November Events

November 20 Arts and Ales

Book Signing with Author Mark Stevens LTC Auditions for “Harvey”

Live Music: Jeff Brinkman

November 23 The Prairie Scholars Happy Hour

Friends of the Library Book Sale Live Music: Steve Mullins & Doug Walter November 21 Friends of the Library Book Sale

Friends of the Library Book Sale

Hops, Hair & Hounds

LTC Auditions for “Harvey”

Remington & Russell Opening Reception

November 24 Open Mic @ The Tasty Weasel

“The Miracle Worker”

November 28 Longmont’s Tree Lighting Ceremony

November 22 Live Music: Watersong Friends of the Library Book Sale

November 30 Live Music: The Prairie Scholars

“The Miracle Worker”

Sugar Plum Tea Party

December Events December 4 Author Mark Stevens

December 12 Longmont Lights!

Live Music: Blue Canyon Boyz

Live Music: Denny Driscoll

December 5 Longmont Christmas Home Tour

December 13 Longmont Lights! Holiday Parade

Historic Callahan House Open House

Live Music: Foxfeather

LTC Auditions for “Urinetown”

December 18 Arts and Ales

December 6 Longmont Christmas Home Tour

December 19 LDT presents “The Nutcracker”

LTC Auditions for “Urinetown” Colorado Celtic Harp Society Performance

December 20 Live Music: Jeff Brinkman

Book Signing with Author Donna Currie

LDT presents “The Nutcracker”

December 11 Live Music: Jayme Stone

December 21 LDT presents “The Nutcracker”

For details on these events and many more, visit our on-line Calendar of Events at www.insidelongmont.com 58

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November 2014

Visit www.insidelongmont.com

And Learn More About The Great Businesses In Our Online

Business Network

November 2014

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November 2014

Visit www.insidelongmont.com

And Learn More About The Caring Non Profits In Our Online

Non Profit Community

The Family Garden is a resource hub offering education, inspiration and networking for families throughout pregnancy, birth and early childhood. Many different philosophies and approaches to child birth and parenting are presented without judgment or advocacy for a particular view.

The Inn Between strives to help families and individuals who are facing homelessness in our community to be self-sufficient and sustainable to no longer be homeless. By providing housing and critical services, we work with our residents to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence needed for self-sufficient living.

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Longmont Dance Theatre strives to enliven and to elevate the human spirit by means of dance, specifically ballet. A technique of movement born in the courts of kings and queens, ballet has survived to this day to become one of the most elegant, most adaptable, and most powerful means of human communication.

Mountain States Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home extends Christian services to wounded children in an effort to meet their physical needs, heal their emotional hurts, challenge their minds, and teach them moral principles in order to reach the goals of reuniting them with their families or preparing them for independence.

The OUR Center helps people move toward self-sufficiency by unifying community resources. The organization provides emergency services to help people through short-term financial crises and also works in partnership with our clients to develop case plans for those needing longer-term assistance.

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November 2014

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