All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Given all the ways Chris Crandell contributes to Niwot, you wouldn't guess he moved here just five years ago, and with a less-than-auspicious start. He described his first living situation here as "an apartment above a friend's barn, in the middle of a pandemic lockdown." "We lived there for a couple of weeks, with no internet, no cell phone service, and you can't go out shopping or anything because of COVID," he laughed, summing up that time. "For a couple of years, I wasn't getting plugged...
The call of the movie industry can be challenging to heed for a local kid, but for Daniel Gibb, well... let's just say the Force is strong with this one. "I was always a lover of film-making, the art of it," Gibb said, "and I always wanted to be involved in that." Gibb grew up in Boulder, and his parents, Meri and Paul Gibb, have lived in Niwot for many years. Meri Gibb says her son's passion for the entertainment industry started early. "When he was like, four, and he saw videos on MTV, he...
Ah, Halloween in the Left Hand Valley! Trick-or-treaters, haunted houses, maybe a surprise blizzard… it’s a spookily festive time. But as you prepare to revel beneath your Barbie wig or Cousin It’s hair, be forewarned: this is the Season of the Witch. And the Left Hand Valley Courier has learned that sorcery may lurk in the local DNA. Go ahead; laugh it up. The proof lies in prominent family trees. “I’m a researcher. People who know me know about my research.” Donlyn Arbuthnot is a passionate historian, especially in the area of ancestral r...
In the 1950's, the area we now know as Gunbarrel Estates looked much like it did the century before. You'd see tractors instead of horse-drawn plows, of course, but the land was farmland, known locally as Carton Estate. The nearest neighbors were deer, prairie dogs and burrowing owls-all of which must have felt a world away from the growing city of Boulder. Around this time, an Illinois native and builder named Bob Bowron was settling his family in Boulder. The Bowrons might have stayed in...
Some of us remember when television audiences watched spellbound as pageant host Bert Parks whittled down a row of finalists to reveal the identity of our new Miss America. The year's reigning beauty would hear her name as the last one called, then half-laughing, half-sobbing, she'd parade across the stage, one shaking hand steadying her new tiara, the other wrapped around an enormous bouquet of fresh flowers. She was the very vision of disbelief that her lifelong dream had come true. This...
When Niwot resident Carolyn Bradley steps onto the field of battle, she comes armed with strategy. Keep your opponents at the baseline. Get yourself and your partner to the net. Drop the ball low and tight just into the "kitchen." Stay focused. "I'm realizing I don't hit it hard enough so the better players can put it away," Bradley admitted. "I have to improve that as well as my short game." She was talking, of course, about pickleball, the wildly popular racket sport. "I always enjoyed...
Gene Parker was in his late thirties when he and his wife Denise bought a spanking new home in Gunbarrel's Heatherwood subdivision. The year was 1967, and most of Heatherwood was still a twinkle in its developers' eyes. A short walk from the Parkers' new home were a couple of acres of open space with a clear view of the mountains. The site was designated as a future park, but as time passed, the future never seemed to arrive. "The actual space was designated for a park, but it was never...
Monte Comer was a kid with a lot of friends. He was a fixture on his baseball team in the Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Recreation Association, or GLVRA as it was known (now Niwot Youth Sports). He had buddies on his basketball team, his Boy Scout troop, his class at Niwot Elementary School and everywhere else. “Back then I don’t think they had the Pee Wee Football they have now,” said Monte’s sister, Jamie Comer Smith. “I believe he would have played football.” That was the mid-1970’s,...
Glasha is a cheerful 2-year-old airedale terrier or, according to her owner, Elena Kazakova, 60 pounds of boundless energy. "Glasha is very active and needs a lot of exercise," Kazakova said. She added that finding outlets for all that energy can be a challenge, especially given Colorado's summer heat. "In the open space, even at 8 in the morning, she gets overheated very easily. I prefer any place she can step into a creek or lake." Enter Gunbarrel's Twin Lakes, and specifically, the...
If you're raising some young baseball players, or just have a love of the game, you probably know Canar Field at the Niwot Youth Sports complex known as Hangge Fields at Monarch Park. It's the largest of the six fields, often used for "senior" players between 13 and 15 years old. Jason Canar of Longmont remembers when Canar Field was christened back in 1986, and the field still holds great meaning for him. "I'm incredibly proud, just to have it have that name," he said. Canar Field wasn't named...
If you're raising some young baseball players, or just have a love of the game, you probably know Canar Field at the Niwot Youth Sports complex known as Hangge Fields at Monarch Park. It's the largest of the six fields, often used for "senior" players between 13 and 15 years old. Jason Canar of Longmont remembers when Canar Field was christened back in 1986, and the field still holds great meaning for him. "I'm incredibly proud, just to have it have that name," he said. Canar Field wasn't named...
If you drive along Niwot Road, you have surely passed at least one of two small purple signs. Both say "Adopt-a-Road;" one is near the intersection of Longview Drive and the other is just east of the Diagonal Highway intersection. They are both worth taking notice of, because they commemorate the life of a very special boy. Joey Reuter lived in Peppertree Estates in the mid-1990's. The location near downtown was fortunate for Joey, because he spent much of his after-school life in the heart of N...
By the middle of the 19th century, Sweden was in the throes of a national population crisis-the small country's population had doubled from 1750 to 1850, and was still growing. Tillable land became more scarce, and famine swept the nation. Emigration regulations were eased, and the 1860s saw a massive movement of Swedes fleeing their homeland; between 1861 and 1881, 150,000 traveled to the United States. The majority of these immigrants quickly made their way to the new states and territories...
With the Fourth of July fast approaching, it seems a fortuitous time to talk about the history of the Niwot firehouse. In 1910, concern about fire protection prompted Niwot citizens to acquire a firehose handcart and build a simple frame shed to house it. The firehouse was erected close to the street, on an undeveloped lot between the Niwot State Bank (now Porchfront Homes) and the Livingston Hotel (now Wise Buys Antiques) on Second Avenue. It was a simple 8' x 14' wooden frame structure with...
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. Last week’s article was Organic - Does it Matter? The Natural Resources Defense Council offers a simple definition of regenerative agriculture: “farming and ranching in harmony with nature.” The tenets of regenerative agriculture vary slightly from source to source. The following are, coincidentally, from the General Mills website: • Minimize disturbance; This means reduce or avoid tillage and chemicals • Maximize diversity (plants and animals) • Keep the soil covered year-round; t...
Not unlike other local businesses and attractions, Chief Niwot is the namesake for the Left Hand Grange as the Arapaho word for "left-hand" is Ni-wot. What is interesting about the building known as the Left Hand Grange Hall is its rich history. The local Grange organization, known as Left Hand Grange No. 9, initially operated out of the Batchelder School House southwest of Niwot, and received its charter on January 24, 1874. It is currently the oldest active Grange in Colorado. The Granger...
The plat of Niwot was filed in the Boulder County records on March 30,1875, by Porter T. Hinman and Ambrose S. Murray, laying out streets, alleys and lots on both sides of the railroad tracks, but Niwot was never officially incorporated as a town under state law. When Porter Hinman helped to lay out the town, the surrounding region was being settled by men whose names are still associated with the area. Hinman himself had arrived in 1860, and his name is still affiliated with Hinman Ditch,...
Editor's note: This is the first in a 2-part series. Next week: Regenerative Agriculture. Organic - Does it Matter? Food shopping is not for the faint of heart these days. The meat counter alone seems to require a master's degree. Should we buy organic? Free range? Grass-fed? Pasture-raised? And what about produce? Local seems important. So does organic, but is all organic the same? Oy! By the time we hit the eggs aisle, we've got catastrophic decision fatigue. Maybe it's not as daunting as all...
You've likely driven past it many times, glancing at the impressive red brick Queen Anne-style house on 63rd Street, just south of Jay Road, without realizing its historic significance. The property which includes the house at 3902 N. 63rd Street, now consists of 78 acres, but the property once spanned the area between Haystack Mountain and Valmont Butte. This is the story of Chambers Homestead/Fort Chambers, the Boulder County Poor Farm and Hospital. Many Indegenous peoples consider this land...
When The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop moved into its downtown Niwot home last year, it breathed new life into one of Niwot's most iconic spaces. Owners Carissa Mina and Jerilyn Patterson brought their colorful, curated selection of books, toys and gifts to the northwest corner of 2nd Avenue and Franklin Street, and now laugh together about ways their building's history keeps making itself known. "So many people come in here and are like, 'I used to have a business in this building,' said...
We regularly celebrate our town's namesake, Chief Niwot (Left-Hand in Arapaho), for his peace-oriented beliefs and actions. In fact, the stories of his leadership and subsequent betrayal by Col. John Chivington and his troops at Sand Creek have been documented in many books, including Boulder author Margaret Coel's "Chief Left Hand." Chief Niwot banded together with other tribal leaders in a commitment to finding peaceful relationships with white settlers. They included Niwot's brother, Neva,...
We know Coot Lake as a mecca for nature lovers, fisherman, and some of the happiest dogs on the planet, but have you ever wondered how Coot Lake got its name? Is the moniker, by chance, related to the lake's saucy history? That saucy history happens to be surprisingly short, given that the lake didn't exist until the late 1960's. Boulder's Rick Marlowe was a lifeguard at Boulder reservoir and remembers contractors moving dirt in 1968. He says the construction must have blocked a drainage...
