Fundraising during Christmas in July is no “jingle all the way” effort. These are challenging times. Inflation is high. Gas is over $4 a gallon, you get less groceries for more money, everything everywhere is more expensive. Two and a half years of Covid changed our priorities and destabilized us in many ways. There is lots of uncertainty. But if I may, I’d like to make the argument for community journalism and why ‘tis the season’ to support it. You can sing this to the 12 Days of Christmas. On the first day of Christmas my community journalist said to me…
We are the new watchdog on the block.
We are innovating the way we do journalism. We are building community by telling stories.
We are closer to home. In fact, we live in your community. We are your neighbors noticing and sharing what’s going on around us.
We are telling stories that should be told but often aren’t.
We tell positive stories about people like you. Being able to see yourself in stories is empowering.
We are solution oriented. During challenging times, we bring peace of mind. Understanding also leads to action.
We are collaborating to bring you news you need. We are part of a larger media ecosystem in which everyone plays a part.
We are working to serve Denver and recognize that the community has a stake in this.
We recognize that the larger issues in the nation and world happen down the street too.
We are mentoring the next generation of aspiring journalists. We’re like a peace corps where young journalists and entrepreneurs first serve their community before moving on.
We are doing this in partnership with you.
We need your support to make this sustainable.
As Bucket List Community Café wraps up our Christmas in July fundraising season, please consider a contribution. Many people shop at the last minute so there’s still time. Just click on the link or hover your phone over the scan code. With our gratitude you will receive one of our Bucket List Community Café refrigerator magnets. Thank you so much for supporting Bucket List Community Café and community journalism.
The 4th of July weekend was a nightmare for Ashley Howlett who lives in the Skyland neighborhood of North Denver. Instead of enjoying warm summer weather outside with her dog, Bowie, she spent days unable to sleep, having to calm her dog, and listening to illegal fireworks that made her neighborhood sound like it was being bombed.
Despite an all out ban on fireworks in the city and county of Denver due to the fire risk in the drought ridden climate of Colorado, people like Ashley are living in neighborhoods bombarded by dangerous fireworks use day in and out..
“They go off all day from 9 in the morning till 1 in the morning,” Howlett said, “If it was only happening one day, I could tolerate it, but it’s the constant going off that makes me crazy.”
Howlett says that the fireworks use started around April in her Skyland neighborhood, and as the weather became warmer, it became more and more frequent. Howlett says she is not against fireworks use if it comes from public shows. Her concern lies with fireworks in the hands of amateurs, lit off in neighborhoods where they are unsafe and banned.
“My biggest fear is fire danger, the threat of fireworks burning down my car or burning down my house,” Howlett said.
Howlett has had numerous close calls with fireworks in her neighborhood that could have turned out dangerous. “One night, I was turning the corner, and I was probably two inches from having a firework blow up on my car,” Howlett said. “I’ve had sparks fly from fireworks into my yard.”
Bucket List reached out to the Denver Police Department about why there seems to be little enforcement of illegal fireworks in Denver. Douglas Schepman, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, explained that all calls for service fall into categories of priority, violent crimes being a priority 1 and firework complaints being a priority 7.
Schepman cited a recent case where the police seized over 10,000 pounds of illegal fireworks that were being sold out of a residence in Northwest Denver. While this kept illicit fireworks off the streets, between July 15th and July 6th, the DPD issued only one citation for fireworks, despite receiving 2,052 complaints during this time period.
“We certainly understand residents’ frustration and concern due to the illegal use of fireworks. We share in those concerns,” Schepman said. “This is why we make efforts in advance of the holiday, through social media and traditional media, to educate residents on the law and to discourage the illegal use of fireworks.”
“One of my biggest frustrations right now is that there doesn’t seem to be any law enforcement on it whatsoever,” Howlett said.
She described an incident in which an entire block in her neighborhood was blocked off by people having a party and lighting fireworks in the street for several hours. Howlett said a neighbor called the police and the fireworks continued after the officers had left.
Kellie Podkonjak lives in the City Park area, and described chaos in her neighborhood from the ear-splitting noise caused by excessive firework use. “I like fireworks; it’s just my dogs can no longer handle it when the windows are vibrating for two months straight,” Kellie said.
Podkonjak repeatedly sought help from a fireworks hotline set up by the Denver Police to be able to respond to fireworks complaints and reports of illegal fireworks. She became upset after multiple calls to the hotline were unanswered. Podkonjak eventually got in touch with an officer who told her that he was not even aware that there was a fireworks hotline.
While the low priority of firework calls makes it rare for the police to enforce citations, Podkonjak’s issue with the fireworks could have escalated to a priority 1 call after she was threatened with violence when asking people if they could stop lighting the illegal fireworks off. This occurred well after July 4th, but the thunderous roar of the fireworks continued.
“I feel like the police feel like it’s a low bar issue, they don’t think they have to get involved,” Podkonjak said. “However, now I have been threatened to be beaten up over this.”
Fireworks also cause problems for dogs and dog owners, who feel that they cannot help their stressed out pets from the loud booming noise. Dogs’ ears are much more sensitive to sound than humans and can get easily panicked by the banging noise of fireworks. Sadly, this results in a higher rate of dogs being lost during the 4th of July holiday.
Ashley Howlett’s dog, Bowie Ca$h anxious from fireworks
“I can’t even take my dog to the dog park anymore because he is afraid due to the fireworks always being set off,” Howlett said.
Howlett feels hopeless about the problem and believes the fireworks ban should be revamped because warnings and citations when issued, are not a strong enough deterrent. She has reached out to neighbors to possibly brainstorm on how to resolve the fireworks problem. Howlett wishes there was a way to solve this that can build community through dialogue.
“If I knew it was just going to be on certain days that fireworks are going off in the neighborhood, I can rearrange my life for that, but when it’s constant all the time, you just can’t,” Howlett said.
A thunderstorm was brewing amidst the thick Friday afternoon heat, but the mail still had to be delivered. Listening to music through a single wireless earbud, Eric Hartman darted from door to door, pausing to let a man on his route know he had received a package.
Hartman is a seasoned mail carrier whose route covers part of the Berkeley neighborhood in Denver. He’s become familiar with lots of the dogs and faces on his route – many of them hail from Texas, where Hartman used to live – so he didn’t seem to be too bothered by the heat.
“Denver is a great place because the weather’s not that bad. It’s not like being in Texas where it’s 104 degrees every day, and 90% humidity, you know,” Hartman said. “But you just gotta find what you like to do.”
As Hartman has learned, what you like to do can change pretty drastically as time goes on. At first glance, if it weren’t for his impressive array of tattoos, you might not believe that he was the founder and owner of Emo’s – a famous punk rock club that used to have locations in both Houston and Austin, Texas.
Hartman’s interest in music began at a young age. He grew up in Chicago, where his neighbor just so happened to own Chicago’s first punk rock club.
“He’s like, as long as you don’t drink, I’ll let you come in and see shows,” he said.
After college, Hartman started working as a bartender and climbed the industry ladder to eventually become the manager of Chicago’s Vic Theater. He was later tasked with traveling to different cities to help open more theaters, and quite literally had the keys to the Vic’s Houston location fall into his lap when its general manager quit on the spot.
“So I call my boss, said hey, the general manager quit. He’s like, I guess you’re the general manager right now,” Hartman said.
Hartman went out and bought some more clothes – he had only brought enough for three days – and started to put down roots in Houston, where he would open the original Emo’s in 1988 at the impressive age of 26.
The club’s name is actually after Hartman himself. “Emo” became his “self-inflicted” nickname on a night when he was working at a bar and couldn’t get an obnoxious patron to leave him alone. She asked him what his name was, and he tried to think of the strangest one he could. Comedian Emo Philips came to mind.
“I go, my name is Emo. If you laugh, I’ll kill you,” Hartman said.
In 1992, Hartman opened a second Emo’s in Austin. While Emo’s Houston closed in 2001, Emo’s Austin is still around. Hartman sold the venue in 2000, and the new owners entered into a contract with Live Nation – a venue and ticketing company that’s currently being sued for monopolistic business practices that critics say are harmful to small, independent venues (but that’s another story.)
Under Hartman’s ownership, Emo’s was a thriving musical hub that hosted acts like Kid Rock, Smashing Pumpkins, and Green Day, who slept in bookmobiles in Hartman’s driveway back in the day.
During the 1994 South by Southwest festival, Emo’s even hosted Johnny Cash as part of a mini tour meant to introduce him to the “hip cool crowd” after he was dropped by his longtime label, Capitol Records.
“He was so personable, he came in and shook all my employees’ hands, introduced himself,” Hartman said. “Like we all knew who he was.”
Hartman called his father to try to get him to come down to Texas for the show by telling him that The Man in Black was playing Emo’s.
“He said, ‘All those bands wear black!’” Hartman said.
Cash closed his set with “A Boy Named Sue” – a Shel Silverstein poem made famous by the version Cash recorded for his album, At San Quentin. The song ends with Cash listing all of the names he would consider giving his future son before he would ever name him Sue.
“He went, ‘If I have me another boy, I’m gonna name him Emo. Goodnight everybody,’” Hartman said.
At the beginning of his post-Emo’s life, Hartman started working for different restaurant brands, traveling the country opening new locations like he had for the Vic Theater way back when. He eventually got tired and was looking for a change.
“As much as I loved Emo’s, I got to live the rock and roll lifestyle for a long time,” he said. “I don’t think there’s the perfect job for anybody, you just gotta figure out what works for you.”
After chatting with his neighborhood mail carrier, he decided to apply for a position with the United States Postal Service with the intention of using the job as a temporary vacation from the stress of the restaurant industry.
Although delivering mail may not have all the flash and clout that comes with being a club owner, Hartman says that this is the happiest he’s been since his days running Emo’s.
“I ended up finding out I loved it,” he said. “I show up to work every day, I walk 10, 12, 15 miles, I listen to music all day.”
A true music lover, Hartman listens to almost every genre – except country – and has 4000 songs on his phone ranging from his tried and true punk rock to electronic. His dog, Iggy, is named after the punk rocker Iggy Pop, who’s credited as one of the pioneers of stage diving.
Although he doesn’t know the Denver punk scene as well, Hartman goes to as many shows as possible. When he’s in Denver, he’s just another face in the crowd. When he’s back in Austin, he still gets in for free.
“I don’t want to sound conceited, but I’m kind of, you know, kind of a legend there,” he said.
There are plenty of Texans living in Denver and, recently, a couple on Hartman’s route commented that he looked familiar.
“The guy goes, holy shit, my mailman’s Emo,” he said.
Federal Heights, like any other north Denver suburb, has city council meetings where important decisions are made. The meetings for the city begin with the chatter of people who have known each other for years, and some conversations between new friends. But as soon as the time hit 6 o’clock, mayor Linda Montoya and her council are all about business. The meetings are efficient, and everything on the agenda is finished in less than an hour.
But what makes this small city’s town hall so extraordinary? The answer is simple: this is Colorado’s first and only all-female city council.
Denver Post Photo
Federal Heights is a small municipality on Federal Boulevard, between 92nd and 104th. It’s not even two square miles in area, but to the nearly 13,000 people living in the neighborhood, it is home.
Montoya has been one of those people for 22 years. She and her husband have lived on the same street for over two decades and she fell in love with the “family feel” of the community.
For over thirty years, she’s been a legal assistant in a Denver law firm. Law is an industry that will always keep its patrons on their toes, which is what she loves about it.
“I’m not a person who likes to be stagnant,” she said. “The law is always changing, and so I get to continue learning.”
She always tried her best to stay involved in her community, often by attending city council meetings. She saw the struggles of the council: the lack of diversity, the lack of focus, and a lack of desire to better the community. Federal Heights’ population is 54% Hispanic, and more than half of its citizens are women. She felt that a city council led by a man may not be the best to lead such a town. In 2019, she decided that she should be the change that she wanted to see in the local government.
Montoya claims that when she ran for mayor, she was not expecting to win the election, being the only Hispanic person and the only woman running for the position. But she won in a landslide, becoming Federal Heights’ first Latina mayor.
Her work in law did more than enough to prepare her for life in office. She knows more about Colorado law than anyone else who ran for the position, and her organization and multitasking skills are sharp. Her desire to continue learning led her to familiarize herself with everything about the small city.
Being elected in 2019, it wasn’t long before the COVID shutdowns complicated life in Federal Heights. Despite the chaos and struggles that came with being in a leadership position during this tumultuous time, Montoya handled the stress with poise, and she and her council made it through. As of this summer, they are officially back to having their meetings in person at the town hall.
The local elections last December completed the roster. Montoya said she didn’t realize that her council had just made history, but she is incredibly proud to be leading this group of wonder women. They are mothers, grandmothers, business leaders and they get the job done.
“It’s really awesome that I get to lead these women,” she said. “It’s an honor.”
This feat alone is amazing, but taking a closer look at the functions of the council makes it even more impressive. Meetings are more efficient and to the point, and Montoya takes pride in her clockwork council, and claims that it’s not just coincidence.
“Women seem to be busier, with family, with parents, even with grandchildren. They have less time to sit around and chit chat at a city council meeting for hours. Instead they get things done,” she said. “They tend to be more focused and more efficient in that way.”
Montoya is not the only one who notices this. Sharon Richardson was a member of the Federal Heights City Council for sixteen years, starting in the late 1980s. She was a part of many different councils with more men than women, and she claims that this council is more empathetic to the community.
“Anytime there’s a man on this council, they screw it up,” she said. “Now, it’s good to see things coming together.”
The city of Federal Heights, as small as it is, is thriving under the leadership of these seven women. And as mayor, Linda Montoya plans to keep it that way for as long as she can.
Jasmine Holmes has a need to create art. Her digital work exudes pride in her Caribbean and Black American heritage while provoking emotion. Holmes’ art is a statement. Whether she is showcasing food, botany or culture, she always leaves her audience in awe.
Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Jasmine comes from an artistic family. With her parents both illustrators, Holmes was immersed in art at a very young age. “I was born to be an artist” Jasmine shares. Her love and talent for art took her to the University of West Florida, where she pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and focused on figurative and realism art. “I fell in love with drawing humans in college”. Holmes says.
She ventured off to Colorado State University for her Masters of Fine Arts. Even as she was enjoying her time there, she felt stuck. “In academia, you can be tokenized as an artist of color. It is expected of you to create one type of art.” According to Holmes In the art world, Black creators are often thought of as artists of social activism. Their art has to have a message and theme about the plight of the African-American experience. Although Jasmine’s work often covered the trials and tribulations of African-Americans, she wanted to create art that reflected the joy and resilience of her Black heritage. “Art is power instead of a source of pain. Leaving the academic world allowed me to shift into a space where I am honoring my ancestry” Holmes says.
Jasmine’s shift and reflection of herself as an artist started during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic when she lost her studio and supplies. She decided that she wanted to branch out to explore different art mediums and push herself more. Jasmine’s first step into branching out of her comfort zone was her digital art piece, “FuFu” honoring her Black Caribean culture. “I ate FuFu (a dough like food) a lot growing up and I feel like it connects me to ancestors. This digital piece also is how I got my name out in the Denver community as an artist.”. As her digital piece became very popular, she had the confidence to apply for the 48 hours show at Redline Contemporary Art Center. She got in and this opportunity allowed Holmes a spot in the satellite Redline residency.
In these two years, Jasmine’s art has taken her places. Last year she partnered with a friend who is a chef in Colorado Springs for a food and art experience. Patrons would be treated to a 7-course meal cooked by her friend and a live art show created by her. This successful dinner inspired Jasmine to merge art and the other love she has in the world for food. She is currently manifesting this dream as she participates in the botany art residency with the Denver Botanic Gardens.
One of our state’s most ardent advocates for people experiencing homelessness is getting a new job. Colorado Village Collaborative today announced that Executive Director, Cole Chandler. would depart the organization on August 12th to take over a new role as the Director of Homeless Initiatives with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
An announcement by Chairperson of the board, Terrell Curtis, said “Cole has led this passionate, grassroots organization in becoming a vital partner in addressing Denver’s housing crisis. What started as a small group of tiny homes on borrowed space has evolved to ensure nearly 200 people each night have access to housing among our two Tiny Home Villages and three Safe Outdoor Spaces, with essential services also provided.”
In May, Chandler helped the CVC collaborate with the St. Francis Center to move one of their Safe Outdoor Spaces from its home at Regis University to a new section of land in the Barnum neighborhood. In June, the CVC hosted an open house to celebrate its 5th anniversary and the opening of their new Beloved Community Village, located in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, complete with newly designed tiny houses.
In his 2022 state of the city address Mayor Michael Hancock said “tiny homes and Safe Outdoor Spaces are now proven successful transition programs.”
Chandler’s leadership was not without controversy. In 2021, some Park Hill residents objected to locating a Safe Outdoor Space at neighboring Park Hill United Methodist Church due to safety concerns. It eventually moved forward despite the outcry. During that time, Chandler said “We’re seeing some of the greatest numbers of homeless that we’ve seen since the Great Depression, and there are not enough places for people to go. We need solutions like this that seek to mitigate harm, seek to reduce impacts in surrounding neighborhoods and, most importantly, seek to provide services and long-term housing connections to people on the streets.”
Chandler’s leadership has propelled CVC to advocate for those experiencing homelessness. The CVC has helped pass policies that have changed Denver’s zoning code and successfully urged the city to fund homeless resolution services.
The Colorado Village Collaborative recognizes the strain and hardship that people endure and has created a dignified program in hopes of ending homelessness in Denver. Now, with one of their original leaders moving to a new position, they look to find someone who can try to replicate his success.
The Colorado Village Collaborative, which strives to create transformational housing communities for those experiencing homelessness, is now seeking a new Chief Executive Officer. The Board has appointed CVC Chief Operating Officer Shay-La Romney to the role of Interim Chief Executive Officer.
It’s been ten years since you lost your daughter Jesse in the Aurora Theater Shooting. How has this changed you?
I’m a completely different human being. My values are different. What I do for a living is different. The things I enjoy are different. It’s changed my husband’s and my relationship for the better and it’s changed our complete lifestyle. So everything that I was before ended that night, and I had to, we my husband and I had to redefine who we were going to be. And we’ve done that by getting involved with this issue and with survivors of gun violence throughout the country.
You have become a fierce advocate for gun control. How are we doing?
It’s one step forward, and 18 back. The Bruen decision by the Supreme Court is really going to affect gun laws in this country. It was the decision that the state Supreme Court made on the 100 year old law in New York about concealed carry, and then said that that can’t stand anymore and that’s going to affect every state in the in the union. It gets back to why it’s so important that we have national laws that take away the need to have consistency state to state to state it would just automatically be consistent, because it would be a national law, a federal law versus state law. So we’re hoping to get to that point on major issues like expanded background checks and an assault weapons ban and probably magazine limits. But we also have to be looking at what we’re doing in the United States with proliferation of guns overseas. And in the meantime, the sale of weapons of war and other weapons and ammo have just skyrocketed everywhere in the world.
Progress can be slow. What keeps you from getting discouraged and giving up?
Oh, I get discouraged all the time. Every time there’s another mass shooting. I get discouraged but I go into work mode with what the families are going to need and what we can do to help them and we developed a survivor’s toolkit with the Giffords organization that’s on our website and it’s free to anyone and they can print it out they can just read it whatever they need. It’s on there. And it really helps to help them realize what has happened to them and what they need to be prepared for and what steps they can take to begin to define their new future and we also have developed a mindfulness class to treat the symptoms of PTSD and turn PTSD into post traumatic growth. And we develop that program with the University of California, San Diego and we’re beginning our third. I think this is our third class in August. So people from all over the country can sign up and go through the course, free of charge.
What do you say to other parents to help them find purpose in dark times?
It’s all it all depends on when we first meet them. If it’s early, early on, we just sit there and let them talk to us about their loved one that was killed. We hold their hands, we listen. And then we let them know that when Jesse was killed, I wanted to die. And quite frankly, if we had had a handgun in the home, I might not be here today, but here I am. Here we are. My husband and I. Ten years later with a stronger marriage than we ever had ever had. And we find joy, not the same kind of joy we would have had had Jessie’s lived, but we have found joy and we do enjoy our life and we really enjoy our work. Not enjoy in the way that oh, this is a fun job that we enjoy seeing people heal. And that’s kind of the wrong word. We enjoy seeing people move forward, you move forward, you don’t move on. The loss that they are carrying will be with them forever. They will carry it forever. 10 years later, I’m still grieving over Jessie and I’ll still go dark on the 20th and go inside myself and probably cry a lot because I still and always will miss her presence. But the work we do and seeing other people grow and develop and do such wonderful things. That that that makes us happy.
What do you enjoy doing when your travels bring you back to Denver?
Well, first of all we like to get together with our fellow survivors. There are so many here in Denver and we’ve developed really deep relationships with so many of them. So we always like to do that. We always like to get together with friends that we’ve met along the way here and have lunches and dinners and that kind of thing or even a happy hour because, you know, we just look forward to revisiting with the people that we met along the way over the last 10 years. So that always brings me joy.
Thank you to those who have already contributed to Bucket List Community Café’s Christmas in July fundraiser. We’re an online community journalism site for Denver and believe we build community by telling our stories. If you have not yet contributed there is still time. Our fundraiser goes through 7/24. Simply click on the link or hover your phone over the scan code. We are community inspired and supported and are becoming sustainable because of you.
Remember when you were little, and you made a list of things you wanted from Santa? Mom and dad said you needed to be good all year. And during the holidays the pressure really stepped up with Elf on the Shelf watching your every move. Well, Bucket List Community Café has been good. Let’s recap our accomplishments over the past year.
A YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
We had a successful fundraising campaign in December 2021 and received a matching grant from the Colorado Media Project. This has allowed us to pay for more original content, pay our graduate team for their work helping to manage our editorial and engagement, pay freelance journalists in the community, buy our custom refrigerator magnets to give away at events, and save money for our wish list.
We have been accepted into a sustainability audit by LION Publishers that will help us see our strengths and weaknesses and what areas of our entrepreneurial business need attention. When it is complete, they will help us financially to achieve the goals we set.
We will help mentor the CU News Corps class for Fall 2022 with their capstone projects and will feature their multimedia investigative reporting on our website and social media platforms. This commitment to aspiring journalists is a big part of our values and we have been honored to mentor six students a semester in journalism, engagement, and entrepreneurship on our Bucket List Community Café team.
We are launching our first podcast and are laying the groundwork for more audio and video.
We have fanned out in the community and handed out over 1000 custom refrigerator magnets. While doing so we have told folks about how we build community by telling our stories. People say “I love that” and “that’s so cool.” We know we are striking a chord.
We have concentrated on being more inclusive with our content, and not only have we been telling stories about diverse neighborhoods of Denver, but we are also excited to have LGBTQ+ and BIPOC journalists writing stories for Bucket List Community Café.
We have settled on a business model of sponsored content and now have two small business sponsors in addition to our partnership with CU News Corps. This is helping keep Bucket List Community Café completely accessible. There are no paywalls, no advertisements, no subscriptions, no memberships. No barriers to entry. Everyone is welcome.
OUR CHRISTMAS IN JULY WISH LIST
Bucket List Community Café has been growing exponentially and we are starting to outgrow our WordPress environment. We need something a bit more robust. We are including podcasts to our lineup and would also like to expand our use of video. Getting a more flexible website will allow us to add these features, additional categories, improve our analytics and make Bucket List Community Café more informative and engaging for you.
We want to expand our mentorship program to include students from Metropolitan State University which is Denver based and has a diverse student body. We believe it is important for our team to look like the community we serve.
We would like to bring on some part time freelancers to help with our editorial management, engagement management, web management and development. As Bucket List Community Café grows, we would like to build our team so we can expand our bandwidth and make this a better experience for the people of Denver.
We would like to be able to get out to more events and meet you. Our refrigerator magnet initiative has been a big hit. We would like to have more resources so we can be intentional in the community and attend and even initiate more events.
Thank you for contributing to our Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, we want to be inclusive) in July campaign and don’t forget everyone who donates will get one of our custom Bucket List Community Café refrigerator magnets. Bucket List Community Café has a unique niche at the intersection of journalism and community. We are building this together. We are so grateful to you for supporting Bucket List Community Café and community journalism.
Flo Hernandez-Ramos knows how to decorate. Stepping into her home, one’s eyes are immediately drawn to an impressive array of brightly colored art and textiles featuring flowers, Frida Kahlo, and the Virgin Mary. Google Maps may call her neighborhood Sunnyside, or maybe even the Highlands, but to Hernandez-Ramos it’s just the Northside.
“My husband and I have lived in this house for four years and lived in the Northside since about ‘73,” she said.
Flo Hernandez-Ramos/Photo by Helen Driesen
It’s no secret that North Denver has seen a boom in gentrification over the past several decades. Residents who can afford the city’s often eye-popping rent hikes are moving into town not knowing much about the character of the communities that were here before. A desire to preserve that history and ensure that it’s available for future generations is what has led to the creation of History Colorado’s Northside Memory Project.
The project is people-focused, consisting of workshops that encourage current and former Northside residents to take a step back in time and relive their own personal histories in order to potentially create a museum exhibit out of experiences that are shared. History Colorado has carried out the same process in twelve different communities thus far, including Pueblo and San Luis Valley.
Leading the project is Marissa Volpe, who serves as History Colorado’s Chief of Equity and Engagement. A Denver transplant, she originally moved to the area to teach within Regis University’s bilingual theology program. Volpe first learned about the importance of sharing oral history from her Hispanic relatives on nights spent at her maternal grandmother’s house.
Marissa Volpe and Flo Hernandez-Ramos/Photo by Helen Driesen
“It seemed to all happen mainly after dinner. The guys would maybe go watch something and the women ended up around the table, and we just had tea and cookies and just shared stories,” she said. “And that, I think, is so powerful.”
Unlike Volpe, Hernandez-Ramos has been in Colorado for her entire life. She was born in Lamar in 1950 and attended college at CU Boulder before going on to work at KUVO radio. For 23 years, Hernandez-Ramos spent weekdays working as KUVO’s president and CEO, but her real passion was her weekend gig – programming and hosting KUVO’s Cancion Mexicana.
After connecting through a mutual friend, Volpe and Hernandez-Ramos set out making flyers, posting on social media, and reaching out to community members in hopes of bringing the Northside Memory Project to life. Their first workshop, held at North High School on a Saturday morning in late June, drew roughly 100 current and former Northside residents.
This is the project’s goal – to piece together a collective history of the Northside that is honest, authentic, and unifying – and History Colorado accomplishes it with a tried and true process. For the first workshop, attendees sat in small groups and were asked to draw, from memory, their homes in the Northside and share among themselves. Participants were then encouraged to take turns stepping up to a microphone to share memories with the entire group. Topics ranged from the ultra-specific, like the type of tree that grew in someone’s grandmother’s backyard, to more common shared memories, like favorite long-gone shops and restaurants.
Photo by Thomas BernalPhoto by Thomas Bernal Gene Lucero/Photo by Thomas Bernal
“Once you get into that physical space, your brain is activating memories and senses. We want the smells and the sights, and the places of significance,” Volpe said. “And then we share them and what’s so neat is, somebody may mention something, and then it triggers, ‘oh, my gosh, the pool, I have all these memories of the pool,’ and then we have a collective history.”
Next, maps of the communities are created to show the interconnectedness of the unique stories being shared. At a future event, participants will be encouraged to bring in photographs and documents to be scanned for the exhibit. History Colorado will also be taking oral histories of different community members – Hernandez-Ramos and her husband gave theirs last week – and planning, what Volpe calls, a “share-back celebration,” usually featuring various art forms put together by community members, to mark the opening of the exhibit.
“We know that, for especially communities of color, it has been art that has been translating history,” she said. “Whether it’s through murals – our rich tradition of murals in Colorado – oral histories, many times music or literature – all those have been ways to preserve.”
According to Hernandez-Ramos, many of the people who came to the memory jogging workshop don’t actually live in the Northside anymore, and instead traveled in from surrounding areas like Commerce City, Arvada, and Thornton for the event. Indeed, gentrification has displaced many families over the decades. The Northside was once a tapestry of Italian, Mexican, Scottish, and Polish cultures, to name a few, but these groups didn’t always live in perfect harmony.
Photo by Helen DriesenPhoto by Thomas Bernal
“Where there was at one point in time a clash between the Italian culture and Mexican American culture here in the Northside, at that gathering, they were very amicable,” Hernandez-Ramos said.
“You know, it’s not always easy history,” Volpe said. “There’s a lot of pain, there’s been discrimination, there’s been racism, there have been growing pains, in terms of changes in demographics and folks coming in. But really, we’re there to create that safe space for listening and then preserving.”
There’s a lot to be preserved but, to residents who have watched the Northside transform beyond recognition over the decades, newer residents don’t seem to know or care about their neighborhoods’ rich histories. Hearteningly, some newer residents without any generational ties to the area took an interest in the event.
“I think there’s also a desire for folks coming in to know where they are, right?” she said. “It’s not just a fancy zip code. It’s not just nice coffee shops and yoga studios. There’s this deep, rich history of organizing, of activism.”
After witnessing just how much the Northside has changed over the last few decades, Hernandez-Ramos cites Dia de los Muertos – a holiday that celebrates the memories of relatives who have passed away instead of mourning them – as a metaphor for what happens to culture when it’s co-opted instead of preserved. According to Hernandez-Ramos, non-Mexican Americans once rejected the holiday, but now you can buy Dia de los Muertos cards at the Hallmark store.
“So, you know, you hold on to it, but at the same time you see it sort of escaping you and being taken over by something else,” she said. “It’s an evolution.”
The Northside Memory Project will host its collection workshop from 10 am to 12 pm at North High School on August 20th.
“It’s changing so rapidly,” Volpe said. “We want to preserve it, but we also want to dream about what the future can be.”
How does Black barbecue factor into your childhood and personal story?
Barbecue was a celebrated part of my childhood, but it wasn’t a major part of my diet. My family made and ate barbecue primarily on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The barbecue we ate was influenced by the culinary traditions that my African American parents brought from the American South. So, my barbecue meals were pork spareribs, chicken, and hot link sausages served with a tangy and sweet barbecue sauce. I eat far more barbecue at restaurants these days. Another factor is that my very first job was at a barbecue restaurant. I was a busboy/dishwasher at Luther’s BBQ in Aurora. Sadly, the restaurant burned down in the 1990s.
You call yourself an evangelist for Black barbecue. What would you like people to know in your sermon?
I want people to know that colonizing whites and enslaved African Americans created southern barbecue by building on the foundation laid by Native American meat cooking techniques. Because barbecue was so labor intensive, enslaved African Americans became barbecue’s go to cooks. After Emancipation, free African American cooks became barbecue’s most effective ambassadors. One can’t earnestly talk about American barbecue without recognizing African American contributions to this food that is beloved around the world. Can I get an “Amen!”?
In your book you talk about barbecue being social. What about barbecue helps build community?
In its earliest days, barbecue demanded community because it was about whole animal cooking. It takes a crowd to cook and eat all of that food. With all of those people involved, they seized upon the opportunity to have a good time and reinforce social bonds. In the early nineteenth century, politicians and preachers figured out that filling a large number of people with delicious food made them more likely to be persuaded. Today, barbecue is about cooking smaller cuts of meat, but the social dynamics remain the same. Barbecue is a great cuisine for bringing people together.
We hear about Southern, Texas and Midwestern barbecue traditions. Do Denver and Colorado have anything unique to offer?
Most definitely Since the late 1800s, Coloradowas known for its bison and lamb barbecues. Colorado lamb is highly regarded. If you go to a knowledgeable butcher and ask for a “Denver rack,” you’ll get a rack of lamb ribs. The city of Greeley used to host a “Hi-Country Lamb Cook-off” that often featured some lamb barbecue. For some sad reason, Colorado rich barbecue legacy had faded by the 1990s. Fortunately, we have some restaurants like Roaming Buffalo BBQ that have bison and lamb on its menu. I think it’s time that Denver reclaimed its heritage and create signature bison and lamb barbecue dishes. Who’s with me?
Bison Ribs Lamb Ribs
If people don’t have time to make their own sauce from scratch are there any you highly recommend?
My absolute favorite commercial barbecue sauce is Gates Bar-B-Que sauce. Gates is a historic, Black-owned, group of barbecue restaurants in the Kansas City, Missouri area. Fortunately, many major grocery stores carry it on their shelves. I’m also a big fan of the mustard-based sauce from Jenkins Quality Barbecue. It’s a tangy revelation, and you’ll have to go to Jacksonville, Florida to get it.
