Russell Haythorn is a Denver7 Reporter.
LONGMONT, Colo. — We're stepping out and trying something new here at Denver7 with the launch of a brand-new weekly segment we're calling, Denver7 | Your Voice.We want to hear from you about what matters most in your community.
We’re starting in Longmont this week where I sat down with members of that community to listen to their voices.“When I grew up in this area, it was just kind of an old cow town,” said Amy Dumler, who taught 5th grade in Longmont for 30 years. “And it’s really become a place where people come to eat and come to shop.”Main Street Longmont is a melting pot of sorts.“The fabric. It’s just a rich, vibrant fabric in this community,” said Nathan Otteman, general manager at Angles Sports ski and flyfishing shop.A place where lives intersect at the ski shop, over coffee, or at the plant store down the street.“This community is what drew us here,” said Rebecca Gafner who moved her family of four young children to Longmont from California 10 years ago.“There’s a lot going on and there are a lot of female-owned businesses,” said Dumler, who now works at Happy Day Plants. “And we have many on the waiting list wanting jobs here.”Happy Day is a non-profit plant shop that employs many individuals with disabilities and special needs.There is pride in this community.“The small-town feel but we’re also so close to everything. We’re 45 minutes from Denver, 45 minutes from Fort Collins,” said Gafner, who now owns The Roost and four other restaurants in Longmont and Estes Park along with her chef husband.“I think Longmont just has a real strong sense of community,” said Matt Grimes, who manages several of Gafner’s restaurants.Longmont, like most communities in Colorado, certainly has its growing pains.“What about challenges in the city,” I asked.“It’s the overflow from Boulder,” said Ryan Kazee who started Angles Sports in his garage ten years ago. “You know, as Boulder kind of outgrew its britches, this was the next town – so definitely, you know, forced a lot of growth.”“I think one of the biggest challenges we see is how to maintain a high quality of life for the base level of our community,” Otteman said. “There was a big initiative just last year, towards the end of last year about raising the minimum wage. So, that was a big debate on the city council floor.”Debates and discussions in small towns that sometimes get lost on the local news.“You guys are hitting the nail on the head with the idea – let’s go showcase small communities,” Otteman said.“I was a teacher for 30 years here in Longmont,” Dumler said. “I would love for the news to cover more positive educational experiences. There are a lot of amazing teachers and then small shops like us who are educating people on plants. We actually have schools that bring field trips here.”“Every time you turn on the news there’s a lot of negativity and I think there’s a lot of fear right now in our country, and in our world,” Gafner said. “And to turn on the TV and have something positive to look at and have highlights of towns and of communities of the good things that are happening – it would be – refreshing.”“That brings up a good point,” Kazee said. “Because get it. I think every little town I stop in or drive through – I grab their local newspaper. It’s fun reading what’s going on – or interesting, too, because that’s Colorado.”In our first Denver7 | Your Voice segment, we saw a community where pride and positivity often outweigh all the rest.“Great chefs, great bartenders, everyone doing their craft at a really high level,” said Grimes.“And Main Street has a Vibe, right?” I asked.“Longmont has the most parades, I think, in the United States,” Kazee said “And there’s a good turnout for every one of them.”“Totally. It’s a total vibe,” Otteman said. “People are setting up the lawn chairs out on Main Street to watch the cars go by or watching the local marching band march through.”“I believe as people we see what we want to see and so there’s opportunity to see all the good things that are happening,” said Grimes.“It’s been a great town to raise a family in and have businesses in,” Gafner said. “No looking back.”
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