Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

Born in Kansas, educated at an Ivy League college in Massachusetts and having worked as a management consultant for 20 years at the Watergate Building in Washington, D.C., Leigh Suskin – owner of...

Karen Quinn is kind. She is also modest, so she probably will not like being described in this way. A passionate gardener, talented photographer and deeply spiritual long-time resident of Niwot,...

Tom Wilke Up-a-Creek-Robotics "A robot is a machine that can perform tasks," explains Tom Wilke, taking a sip of his drink outside at lunch in Niwot's Cottonwood Square. "A self-driving Tesla, for...

Reading nightmarish news about the Ukraine crisis and doing nothing wasn't working for Kate Head, owner of Pebble Arts Jewelry. "Like everyone in the world, I was feeling helpless. The news was...

As the Niwot Market approaches its 20th anniversary this month, its owner Bert Steele admits, "I still work more than I have to." Yet it's apparent he loves his work, which he's been doing since the...

Turning fear into hope was a gift long-time Niwot resident Judy Seaborn drew from her experience of the Marshall fire. For her efforts to assist fire victims and her commitment to provide food to...

On the gusty morning of Thursday, Dec. 30, Niwot realtor Deborah Read Fowler and her family were on US Highway 36 headed to Breckenridge when they noticed something alarming: a plume of dark smoke ris...

Taz Chaudry is full of life, full to the brim and then some. Chaudry's passion for helping others is undeniable in all that she does. Owing to her outpouring of positive energy, Niwotian Chaudry was...

More than 550 lions, tigers, bears, and other carnivores call 800 acres on The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS) just outside of Keenesburg their forever home. It's the first and longest operating...

Victoria Keen, Deborah Read Fowler, and Dawn Server were busy bees getting together one humming hive of a festival on August 28th. The first ever Niwot Honey Bee Harvest Festival was buzzing with...

This month's Left Hand Laurel goes to Thom Lynch. Lynch moved to Niwot in September 2018 and decided the best way to meet folks and to make a difference was to jump in with both feet. So, the new guy...

To a lay person, the new downtown Niwot parking lot on Murray Street may seem like one of the simplest of construction projects. But don't be fooled....it took a lot of planning, red tape, managing, a...

Gunbarrel-based nonprofit Cultivate is focused on meeting the needs of our community's seniors. How this plays out is by way of seven programs: Carry-out Caravan (shopping/delivery), Fix-It (home...

To paraphrase an old adage, "Man plans, the universe laughs." In Jim Eastman's life, at least two major events sent him off the expected path. Thankfully, the world is a better place, and Eastman woul...

This month's recipient of the Left Hand Laurel is Shana Oehmke, uber-parent volunteer at Heatherwood Elementary School (HES). Living just three blocks away from the school for the last 15 years, the...

In 2006, Niwot resident Lyla Herman said yes to a friend in her women's hiking group when asked if anyone would like to join her in cooking meals for the kids at Attention Homes. That's how the...

Living in pandemic times we realize more than ever that our homes are our refuge. But for 45 years, Habitat for Humanity has been focused on just that - offering permanent affordable shelter to famili...

School volunteer Lydia Moy looks at every opportunity and raises it up a notch. "Your job is not to do 10,000 cutout Valentines for second grade, your job is to spread the love," Moy said. Moy has...

The adage, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," typifies Niwot's Deborah Read Fowler. Read Fowler, owner of Deborah Read Fowler Real Estate (DRF), was already resolutely involved with...

Longmont based HOPE, short for Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement, cares for some of the most vulnerable members of the community. Founded in 2007, HOPE has supported the homeless community...

Lawson and Suzanne Drinkard of Niwot put their energy into making sure members of Recovery Café are wrapped in the warmth of connection with others. Built upon the premise that recovery from...

Married for 51 years, Gunbarrel residents Mike and Becky Fellows are partners in life and community service. As a couple, they deliver meals to seniors and those who aren't able to shop for food and...

For five years, Niwotian Rich Anderson has brought nurturing and nutrition to homebound community members through Longmont Meals on Wheels (LMOW). The organization's motto is Delivering Hope One Meal...

Leonard Sitongia is an essential worker, or more fittingly, an essential volunteer for the Niwot community. Even before Leonard and his wife Christine moved to their Niwot home in 2014, while waiting...

She howls, sews masks, plots to honor grads, helps kids learn, gets them moving, organizes the occasional birthday car-parade, and that's just some of the stuff Diane Zimmermann does during a pandemic...

Lori and Russ Lindemann moved to the Gunbarrel Estates neighborhood in 1994 with their two children and niece in tow. For the past two and a half decades, they have called Boulder County home and...

Vicki Maurer's approach to life and volunteering is probably best put in her own words: "We do what we have to do and get it done." Maurer has been involved with many community organizations over the...

Meg Heitlinger moved here from Minneapolis in 2006 for the same reason many people come to Colorado--"the idea of living from snow to sunshine." Twelve years later, Heitlinger became the much beloved...

Retiree Kamilla Macar is anything but re-"tired." She's incredibly active, positive, outgoing, and caring. Each week, among the long list of other happenings keeping her busy, the 83 year-old will be...

Medicine on a leash is how this month's Laurel recipient Jim Thomas refers to his faithful companion, Archie the fox red Labrador retriever. As part of the organization, Therapy Dog Boulder County...

In late 2017, Gunbarrel resident Kristin Bjornsen was at an impasse. Following a "spectacular loss" in her lawsuit against Boulder County over violations of Colorado's sunshine laws, the full-time...

In the scheme of a community with a two block downtown, Left Hand Valley Grange No. 9 is almost a super structure. The austere corner building with a single third-story window at the peak makes for a...

Gunbarrel’s Emily Sewell, this month’s Left Hand Laurel, is a round-the-clock mother, with a full-time career. For the last eight years, she’s also given her time to Voices for Children as a...

Tom Theobald only will allow the Courier to bestow a Left Hand Laurel to him if his community involvement is qualified as being historical. Not a problem, because he did begin making a difference... Full story

Longmont-based Up-A-Creek Robotics is home to one of the top high school robotics teams in the country, thanks in large part to Niwot couple Terry and Cathy Olkin, recipients of this month's Left... Full story

Flagstaff Academy parent Melinda Coburn became a Dragon Volunteer when her oldest child entered preschool four years ago. Each week Coburn helps kindergarten students with their math and first-graders... Full story

What started as a proposal for a modest “connectivity point” at the southwest corner of 79th Street and Niwot Road blossomed into a high caliber public art space thanks almost entirely to the... Full story