All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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On Friday, Sept. 6, the Dairy Center for the Arts will host its annual ceremony for the Dairy Center Honors Award, given to individuals in recognition of their contribution to the arts in Boulder County. One of this year’s four honorees is Gene Hayworth, the founder and owner of Inkberry Books in Niwot. A quick perusal of Gene’s resume is enough to certify his merit. The Director of Social Sciences for the University Libraries at CU-Boulder and, also the Liaison to the Cinematic Arts Pro...
When I was a kid growing up in Niwot, back in the olden days (aka the 1980's), there was an annual summertime event which I'm sure longtime Niwot residents remember well and fondly called Niwot Nostalgia Days. It was a weekend's worth of events and activities for young and old alike, loosely centered around that theme of nostalgic remembrance and revival for Niwot's rural foundings; but it was also, by and large, just a community taking a weekend to celebrate itself. One particular year, one of...
Hello all. Greetings and salutations, hail fellow well-met, g’day milady. And how is everyone doing today? I’m asking that question not just as a matter of polite form, but rather because I genuinely want to know the answer. It’s something that’s been on my mind a lot recently. It’s a question that’s supposed to express, and model, a general civility. The word “civil” has generally passed into usage as synonymous with “polite.” But that’s a mistake; to be polite is just to observe and practice...
I had one of those moments last night, wherein something taken for granted comes to life again before your eyes, and you realize that it’s a precious gift, and not at all something to assume as natural and given, and I thought: My word, thank goodness for the existence of the Public Broadcasting System, otherwise and more commonly known as PBS. The particular program which endowed me with this sense of gratitude was a two hour-long retrospective look at the Tiananmen Square protest movement in B...
Toot-toot, all aboard the train of thought. Take a seat as it leaves the station, let’s see where it’s going to go. There was a tiny terrorist in my bedroom the other night, whining in my ear each time I started to drift away to dreamland. Thankfully, the siege didn’t last long, either because I successfully whacked it, or it wandered elsewhere. But in the morning I remembered it, and that led me to recall other times when mosquitoes and their ilk have taken nights of sleep away from me. Mexic...
So look, I don’t want to be a negative nancy, I really don’t. I would much rather talk and write about the abundant wonder and beauty of this world. But it’s impossible for me to think or speak about the development of the Front Range and put on a happy face. I think the most fundamental of all civic values, of the ideas that guide how we interact with one another, is to tell the truth. The basic unit of any successful, healthy, happy society, is that when I speak to you, you can trust that...
I miss the mall. It’s hard to believe that things have gotten to the point where I think of the mall as a progressive, community-oriented piece of infrastructure. But considering what’s replaced it, yeah the mall wins, hands down. The specific mall I’m thinking of was called Crossroads Mall, which used to occupy the area of Boulder known now as “29th Street.” It had two stories, several department store anchors and lots of small specialty shops: bookshops, music shops, poster shops, shoe shop...
I miss the mall. It’s hard to believe that things have gotten to the point where I think of the mall as a progressive, community-oriented piece of infrastructure. But considering what’s replaced it, yeah the mall wins, hands down. The specific mall I’m thinking of was called Crossroads Mall, which used to occupy the area of Boulder known now as “29th Street.” It had two stories, several department store anchors and lots of small specialty shops: bookshops, music shops, poster shops, shoe shop...
If I were God, looking down from on high, it’s one of those situations where I’d consider breaking my long-standing policy of non-intervention. I wouldn’t, though; as always I’d just sigh, and ruefully shake my head. Since I’m not God, however, I don’t have that option. Instead I have to participate, daily, in the frustrating inscrutability of the stoplights that govern the intersection of Niwot Road and the Diagonal. Part of what makes it especially maddening is its inconsistency. Sometimes i...
The Niwot girls tennis team continued its recent run of dominant play with a sweep of all seven title matches at this year’s Class 4A, Region 5 Tournament, held at the Longmont Recreation Center on May 3 and 4. In total the Cougars scored 84 points to take first place out of the six-team field, well ahead of runner-up Longmont, which finished with 56 points on the day. Taylor Thulson at number one singles won 6-2, 6-2. Julia Pentz (two singles) and Rachel Drake (three singles) each dropped o...
The Silver Creek boys swim team is closing in on the finish of the 2017 season. This last week saw the Raptors swimming in the Mountain View Lions 2017 Last Chance Invitational, Silver Creek’s third and final non-conference, multi-team invitational meet of the spring. Silver Creek, which includes swimmers from both Silver Creek and Niwot High, finished seventh out of the 10 teams in the meet. Divers Benjamin Willett and Ashton Hubert continued their strong recent showings, placing 11th and 12th, respectively. The Raptors’ two top pla...
The Niwot girls tennis team wrapped up its regular season without hardly breaking a sweat in the final two matches, going 7-0 against Northridge on Monday, April 17 and running the table again vs. Greeley Central, 7-0, on Wednesday April 19. Against Northridge the Cougars didn’t lose a set; the day’s closest match was a 6-2, 6-2 victory at number one doubles by understudy duo Jewel Ng and Sreeya Kairamkonda, both of whom have stepped up and ably filled roster spots vacated due to injuries and...
The Niwot girls tennis team keeps setting them up and knocking them all down. The Cougars played four matches in five days, three of those on the road, and finished up the week’s play with a dominant total line of 26 wins against only 2 losses. On Monday April 10 and Tuesday April 11, at Centaurus and Mountain View, respectively, the Cougars steamrolled their way to consecutive 7-0 victories, losing only 11 games total in the process. After a day off, Niwot traveled just down the road to m...
The Silver Creek boys swim team came out on top in a tri-meet home matchup with Estes Park and Valley, with a first place score of 184 points, improving their meet record to 2-1 on the season. The Raptors came in first in 8 out 12 events on the day. Two of those top finishes came from Carson Simon, in the 100m butterfly and the 200m individual medley. Other first-place finishers in the individual events were Dakota Casey in the 100m freestyle, Matthew Winn in the 100m backstroke, and Christopher Wingfield in the 200m freestyle. Silver Creek...
After consecutive match losses to close out the month of March left the squad in a 1-2 hole, the Niwot girls tennis team came out swinging after spring break. The Cougars posted three consecutive dominant victories in the first week of April, winning 6-1 over Thompson Valley, 6-1 over Broomfield and posting a 7-0 shutout against Silver Creek to give Niwot a 4-2 overall recordd on the season. Niwot’s two losses in March, both on the road, came at the hands of the cream of this year’s 4A crop, a 5-2 defeat against 8-time state champion Che...
The Silver Creek boys swim team has passed the quarter-pole of its 2017 season, with some goals already accomplished and others still outstanding. The Raptors’ meet record for the season stands at 2-1, with a win over Longmont (122-63) and a close loss at Thompson Valley (92-88) before spring break, followed by a solid victory over Mountain View (126-57) April 6. Silver Creek also finished in 13th place at the Dick Rush Memorial Invitational before the break, swimming in competition against 46 teams from across both the 5A and 4A state division...
The Niwot girls tennis team lost 5-2 in an away match to perennial power Cheyenne Mountain on Wednesday, March 22. It was the second straight loss on the road for the team after a home win over Colorado Academy to begin the season. At the top of the singles bracket, Taylor Thulson went down in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, her first defeat of the season. Rachel Drake at number three also fell in two sets, 6-4, 6-2. The Cougars’ lone singles victory on the day came in the number two spot, as Julia Pentz climbed out of an early hole to win in three s...
Niwot’s girls tennis team suffered a close loss at Valor Christian on Monday, March 13, falling to the Eagles by the slimmest of margins at 4-3. Two of the Cougars’ three wins on the day came in the singles brackets, with Julia Pentz at number two singles cruising at 6-1, 6-0, and Rachel Drake at number three singles finishing things off in a close second-set tiebreaker at 6-4, 7-6 (8-6). At number one singles Taylor Thulson fought back from an early deficit, only to fall in the final tiebreaker, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-2). Number one dou...
The Niwot High School girls tennis team opened the season on Wednesday, March 8 with a dominant 7-0 win at home over Colorado Academy. Head coach Aimee Keronen had earlier predicted a tough match, calling Colorado Academy “one of the more challenging opponents” on the schedule. Niwot encountered little resistance, rolling to straight-set victories in all but one of the afternoon’s seven matches. At number one singles, Taylor Thulson won 6-2, 6-2. “I surprised myself a little bit,” said Thulson,...
Niwot High School’s mascot is the cougar, but it seems there are also some eagles amongst the student population. Legal eagles, that is. Two teams from Niwot High competed at the 2017 Regionals for the Colorado Bar Association High School Mock Trial Program on the weekend of February 9-11, finishing second and third, respectively, out of eleven teams total. The result is especially impressive given that this is only the third year of Niwot’s participation in the mock trial program. Former student Caden Grant, now a freshman at George Was...
The Silver Creek boys swim team is heading into the 2017 season under the steady guidance of Coach Debbie Stewart, who is entering her 16th year as the team’s head coach. This year’s squad has 38 swimmers, with students from Niwot, Mead and Erie high schools joining those from Silver Creek. Stewart said that there are no tryouts, and that the team welcomes all comers. This can present a bit of a challenge, with team members who have been competitive swimmers for years practicing alongside others who are relative newbies to the sport. This is...
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Gunbarrel has a new hand at the tiller. Reverend Janet Kettering was officially appointed as pastor of Shepherd of the Hills on Nov. 1, 2016. Rev. Kettering, who originally hails from Minnesota, followed a long and circuitous route before arriving at her current appointment in Gunbarrel. A “second-career pastor,” Kettering spent nearly 30 years working as a court reporter for a Minnesota District Court judge. She watched people in trouble work their way...
The Niwot Children’s Park has apparently been vandalized, according to a posting from Jan. 24 on the Niwot Children’s Park Facebook page. One of the park’s most notable and unique features are the small, custom-crafted, painted stone creatures—such as bats, insects, frogs, and lizards that inhabit the area—in various locations on the play structures and other elements throughout the park. Several of these stone animals have been severely damaged or destroyed, some appearing to have been chis...
If you or someone you know gave birth at Boulder Community Hospital in the last year or so, there’s a good chance that newborn left the hospital wearing a hat knitted by longtime Niwot resident Hallie Pasko. It started, said Pasko, as she was “trying to figure out what to do with leftover bits of yarn,” the remains from other, larger knitting projects. Pasko knew the standard policy at BCH is to send newborn infants home with a free beanie, and she quickly put two and two together. Once she g...
Lagerman Reservoir is a little-known gem of the Boulder County Parks and Open Space system. Well, at least that’s the case for the human residents of Boulder County. It’s a different story for the local and migratory bird communities, and for one bird in particular. This winter bald eagles have turned Lagerman Reservoir into their local stomping ground. Bald eagles are a well-known success story of the environmental and nature conservation movements. By the mid-20th century the national eag...
Are you a proponent of cultural exchange and do you have an extra room in the house? The American Scandinavian Student Exchange (ASSE) is looking for area families to host foreign exchange students. Originally formed in 1976 as a vehicle for student exchange between the U.S. and Sweden, ASSE has grown into an international organization which currently has over 1700 students placed in homes throughout the United States. Designated by the U.S. State Department as an “Exchange Visitor Program,” ASSE works in partnership with organizations in ove...
Tired of the snow and cold and short winter days? Well, it’s time to stop whining about it, and instead start wining about it. This February, take the opportunity to turn those wintertime frowns upside-down at “Let’s Wine About Winter in Niwot.” This will be the third edition of the local annual event, which has grown in popularity each year. “We’ve had horrible weather and it was a blast, we’ve had beautiful weather and it was a blast,” said co-organizer Anne Postle, who owns Osmosis Gallery at 290 2nd Ave. in downtown Niwot. The event’s fir...
On Dec. 5, 2016 the Boulder County Sheriff’s office filed a report of criminal mischief with respect to graffiti along the Cottontail Trail in Gunbarrel. On Jan. 1, 2017 Gunbarrel Estates neighbors started removing it. The incident was reported by Gunbarrel Estates resident John Fay and investigated by Sheriff’s Deputy Connor Pontiakos. The graffiti was found east of North 71st St. along the Cottontail Trail by the Boulder and Left Hand Ditch, in two separate locations. The first location is...
Get your retro and vintage groove on in downtown Niwot while you still can. Longtime 2nd Avenue institution Rockin’ Robin’s is moving. All the details have yet to be finalized, but Dennis Perez, who along with his wife is the co-owner of Rockin’ Robin’s, said the new location will be on Main Street in Longmont, and that the move will take place sometime in the spring. Perez, who also owns HMK Jewelers in Cottonwood Square, purchased the business from former owner Robin Abb in December 2015. H...
Snow on the ground got you down, golfers? Well, Becky Clark at Haystack Mountain Golf Course just might have the cure for your wintertime blues. Clark is the golf pro at Haystack Mountain, and she runs a “virtual golf” operation in a small, cozy building just north of the main clubhouse. Inside there’s a tee-box in the center of the room, from which you take your swings; with real clubs, with which you strike a real ball. After that, the “virtual” part takes over. The set-up includes video cameras, motion-capture machinery beneath the tee-box,...
If you love playing games, there’s a place around the corner that’s ready to become your new home away from home. Karliquin’s Game Knight in Gunbarrel is under new ownership. James and Kayla Laird recently purchased the business from former owner Jackson Wood, and the Lairds are busy with the process of enacting their specific vision for the storefront. The focus is less on retail, and more on creating a gathering space for the local community. James and Kayla moved here from Louisiana, where James worked as the senior engineer in a river...
Fears regarding the breakdown of language in the modern age of text-messaging and internet-based communication were alleviated on Wednesday, Dec. 7, by the stellar performance of contestants in the annual Niwot Elementary School Spelling Bee. Eleven contestants from grades three through five battled their way through several rounds in the Niwot Elementary gymnasium before an audience composed of their (mostly) attentive fellow students from grades two to five, along with teachers,...
Looking back at a life of service to others, a local man has decided to share his life in print. “I wrote the book because I thought we had a story to tell,” said Eb Roell. The book is Piercing the Night, and the story is of the years Eb and his wife Debbie spent living and working in Uganda, amidst the chaos left behind by the infamous dictator Idi Amin. Eb was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1939 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1962; first to Colorado Springs, and then eventually to Estes Par...
Boulder County Commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of a transition plan for phasing out the growing of GMO crops on public county land, with commissioners Deb Gardner and Elise Jones voting for, and commissioner Cindy Domenico voting against. The vote was decided at the conclusion of a nearly 4-hour public hearing on Wednesday Nov. 30, and marks the end of a year-long, highly contentious debate in regards to the past, present and future of land-use policy and agriculture in Boulder County. Currently there are two GMO crops being grown on public...
