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�鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market Musings

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 07:00:00 +0000

�鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market Musings Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/07/2022 - 00:00

Amanda McCraken

Hazel Dell, Abbondanza and Aspen Moon…

They may sound like mystical places in a children’s book, but they are the farms who take part in central �鶹ӰԺ’s weekly story. The farmers are the story’s characters, nourishing and transforming their customers by connecting them to their roots through local food.

“The farmers are an access point to this energy of agriculture because they have this connection with the soil and natural cycles,” said Brian Coppom, former executive director of the �鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market who now works for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “We no longer really have those connections, but we get to participate in them.”

The �鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market started in 1975 when a couple of farmers gathered on the lawn in front of the courthouse when Pearl Street was still a through street. Twelve years later, farmers expanded and set up booths on 13th Street where, currently, over 150 vendors attract 10,000 people on a single day at peak season.

As a �鶹ӰԺ local for 19 years, I frequently visit the market. A walk through the market is like strolling through an art gallery: Rubin purple basil, edible Szechuan button flowers, golden amaranth seeds and lion’s mane mushrooms. It’s a feast for the eyes — nourishing the senses and priming the creative juices. What I love most are the diverse offerings made from local produce: spicy pickled beets, Anaheim pepper hot sauce and my favorite — strawberry jam ice cream.

These unique products ignite creativity in market customers, said Heather Morton Burtness, who grew up on Morton’s Orchards, one of Colorado’s first organic farms, and now continues the family business with her husband and three daughters.

“[Customers] are learning about food preservation and seeking out interesting recipes using local ingredients in new ways.”

It has always been a producers-only market — meaning farmers and ranchers can only sell produce they have grown on their own land. This approach creates an integrity and authenticity that cultivates a sense of safety in the community, allowing for more vulnerability, said Coppom.

The market is where I went on first dates to break the ice. It’s where I took CU international students who had never stepped foot on a farm. It’s where I brought my daughter on her second birthday to touch the pelts of animals she’d only ever seen in story books. The market is our connection to �鶹ӰԺ’s past, present and future.

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Photo courtesy �鶹ӰԺ County Farmers Market

The �鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market started in 1975. Currently, over 150 vendors attract 10,000 people on a single day at peak season.

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Fall 2022

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CU Students Build All-Electric Frisco House and Win Solar Decathlon

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

CU Students Build All-Electric Frisco House and Win Solar Decathlon Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Grace Dearnley

Since 2017, a team of 30 CU �鶹ӰԺ students and faculty has worked to build an all-electric house in one of the coldest towns in the lower 48 states: Fraser, Colorado. They completed the 1,176-square-foot project in April.

The world took notice.

In April 2021, they won first place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, an international competition challenging participants to design and build a functional house that creatively solves real issues within the building industry. In addition to the first-place win, CU took first in three of the 10 judged events — innovation, market potential and architecture.

As high living costs in mountain towns deter potential residents, team leaders Gabi Abello (Engr’20) and Hannah Blake (Engr’20) wanted to tackle energy efficiency and affordability in mountain homes.

With heat pumps, solar panels and an attached rental unit to supplement income, the SPARC house (Sustainability, Performance, Attainability, Resilience and Community) functions at net-positive energy efficiency, even selling solar energy back to the local power grid.

The team is perhaps most proud that the house is now a home to residents Kristen Taddonio and Joe Smyth. “It’s just awesome to be able to wake up in the morning and look out and see mountains and to be here,” Taddonio told CU �鶹ӰԺ Today. “It’s just a dream come true.”

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Photo courtesy CU �鶹ӰԺ

Since 2017, a team of 30 CU �鶹ӰԺ students and faculty has worked to build an all-electric house in Fraser, Colorado.

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Photo: Memorial for King Soopers Victims

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Photo: Memorial for King Soopers Victims Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

The mass shooting at the Table Mesa King Soopers on March 22 left the �鶹ӰԺ community reeling. For local artist Michael Grab (Soc’07), his natural response was to create art.

For several days following the tragedy, 10 delicately balanced stone towers, one for each victim, stood quiet and tall in a slightly hidden spot in �鶹ӰԺ Creek, not far from Folsom Field.

Grab creates his temporary art installations with nothing but stones, balance and concentration.

“The true power of applying this art form in a memorial style like this exists very much in its transience,” he said on Instagram. “The fact that nothing lasts holds a very distinct style of almost melancholic beauty.”

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Artist Michael Grab created 10 temporary stone art installations in �鶹ӰԺ Creek this March.

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The New Connection

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0000

The New Connection Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/01/2020 - 00:00

The Connection’s gone modern.

Following a six-month renovation, �鶹ӰԺ’s only bowling alley reopened in the University Memorial Center in February. In addition to its 10 bowling lanes, The Connection features billiards and pingpong tables, video games and food. Karaoke, poker and trivia nights also will occur when campus reopens.

This is The Connection’s second renovation since opening in 1956.

Was The Connection a hangout for you as a student? Write us with your favorite memories at editor@colorado.edu.

Photo by Jesse Petersen

The Connection recently completed renovations, and has reopened to the public.

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Summer 2020

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Hill Eats

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Hill Eats Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Look: Eateries

The restaurant lineup on The Hill changes nearly as fast as the Colorado seasons. While several well-known chains have come and gone in recent years (Qdoba, Five Guys, Del Taco), many �鶹ӰԺ icons (The Sink) and newer staples (The Corner) serve on. Whether it’s a Cosmo’s cheese slice dunked in spicy ranch, a Half Fast Godfather sub or the early-bird breakfast at Dot’s Diner, the grub on The Hill plays a part in many CU stories. What was your Hill go-to? Write us at editor@colorado.edu.

Photos by Matt Tyrie

The restaurant lineup on The Hill changes nearly as fast as the Colorado seasons.

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Winter 2020

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Ralphie V Retires

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Ralphie V Retires Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Joshua Nelson

For many, retirement comes when their backs ache and motivation wanes. For Ralphie V, it was the opposite.

Toward the end of the 2019 Buffs football season, the healthy 1,200-pound buffalo began to run too fast for her student handlers to keep up.

CU �鶹ӰԺ athletic director Rick George announced the 13-year-old’s retirement Nov. 12. Fans came in droves to snap one last picture with her at Ralphie’s Corral, the official CU football tailgate, prior to the Nov. 23 game versus Washington.

As with past Ralphies, she will continue to live on her ranch with a companion buffalo and receive care from the CU Ralphie program, which is fully donor-funded.

As mascot for 12 seasons, Ralphie V is the second-longest serving Ralphie in school history.

“Ralphie V had an outstanding career as the face and symbol of our great university and athletic department,” said John Graves (Mgmt’09), manager of the Ralphie program who also ran alongside her as a student handler. “As one of the biggest and fastest Ralphies, her love for running and power was showcased every home game during her career. It’s almost like she knew she was the queen of campus.”

Born in 2006 on Ted Turner’s Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico, Ralphie V — whose real name is Blackout — made her game-day debut against Eastern Washington Sept. 6, 2008.

The Ralphie-running tradition, which started in 1965, has captivated most who’ve seen her barrel across Folsom Field — regardless of their CU affiliation. Her retirement was covered nationally, including by NPR, ESPN, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

A search for Ralphie VI is underway.

Photos by Glenn Asakawa

The buffalo served as CU’s live mascot for 12 seasons.

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CU �鶹ӰԺ's Roof Tiles Are a Campus Staple

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 17:00:00 +0000

CU �鶹ӰԺ's Roof Tiles Are a Campus Staple Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 11:00

Joshua Nelson

From up close and from miles away, CU �鶹ӰԺ's red-orange tile rooftops signal it's no ordinary place.

CU �鶹ӰԺ’s soul-stirring vistas are legendary. John Steele couldn’t avoid them if he tried. For over 19 years he’s been repairing and replacing the red-orange clay roof tiles that are a hallmark of CU’s campus.

“Best office in the world, I’ve always said,” said Steele, the senior roofer in CU’s Facilities Operations and Services division.

With 160 tiles in a 100-square-foot area, and at least half of the school’s 3 million square feet of rooftop covered in clay, Steele and a partner are responsible for keeping on top of millions of tiles.

Along with CU �鶹ӰԺ’s signature sandstone walls, limestone trim and black metal accents, the Mission-style tiles were the inspiration of Philadelphia architect Charles Klauder, who in 1919 produced CU’s first campus master plan. He ultimately designed 15 buildings in what he called “Colorado style” and former campus architect Bill Deno calls “Tuscan Vernacular.” �鶹ӰԺ’s landscape reminded Klauder of a bike ride he’d taken through northern Italy.

In 1921, Hellems Arts and Sciences went up as the first campus building in the new style, a departure from Klauder’s previous collegiate gothic work.

“He stressed that Colorado would be the first educational institution in the West to attempt a uniform building style,” Deno said in Body & Soul, his book about Klauder’s influence on CU. “He promised them that his building plan would make Colorado’s campus one of the most beautiful in the United States, and he delivered.”

In the early 20th century, the clay for the tiles came from local quarries, a factor for the ever-frugal Klauder. Most have since closed. Today the handcrafted, kiln-fired tiles come from an Ohio firm, Ludowici Roof Tile Company. Each comes with a 75-year warranty.

CU replaces between 50 and 75 tiles each year. But a lot of the originals, now nearly 100 years old, are still in place.

“That’s what tile roofs do — they last a long time,” said Steele, who’s been on top of nearly every building at CU �鶹ӰԺ. “You’re paying for longevity.”

When CU gutted and renovated the 81-year-old, Klauder-designed Ketchum Arts and Sciences building in 2015, workers pulled off, examined and reused almost every tile. Besides the exterior walls, the tiles are now among the only original elements, campus architects said.

It’s not just the tiles’ mixture of clays that make them strong. Their curvature helps mitigate hail damage by distributing the force of impact.

Hardy as they are, their most striking feature is their color — colors, really.

To the careful observer, there are sometimes subtle but usually harmonious variations from rooftop to rooftop. Duane Physics has only a few red and orange tones in a generally flat finish, for example, while Clare Small has ivory and deep brown tiles, some with glossy finishes. CU �鶹ӰԺ’s architectural style guidelines, while strict, are not rigid.

“When a new architect arrives, we don’t hand them a stylebook, like at other places,” current campus architect Bill Haverly said. “We walk them around.”

Sometimes it can take Steele and a partner up to an hour to change a single three-pound tile.

“It depends,” said Steele, who does most of the work in summer. “If they’re the pans, which are the bottom tile, then you have to take off the caps all around it to get to that one piece. And then you have to put it all back together.”

It’s the dedication of people like Steele that helps CU �鶹ӰԺ maintain its reputation as one of America’s most beautiful universities. Without the red clay roofs, it wouldn’t feel the same.

For Steele, that’s satisfying. So is the feeling that he’s contributing in a practical way to the university’s academic mission. “I like helping to keep people’s heads dry while they are learning and advancing their life,” he said.

In our print edition, this story appears under the title "Shouting �鶹ӰԺ the Rooftops" Comment on this story? Email editor@colorado.edu.

Photos by Glenn Asakawa

From up close and from miles away, CU �鶹ӰԺ's red-orange tile rooftops signal it's no ordinary place.

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Fall 2019

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Wine Absurdities

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Wine Absurdities Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

In 2018, Denver attorney Jordan Lipp (Econ, PolSci’00) and his wife Heather wrote Is There Apple Juice in My Wine?: Thirty-Eight Laws that Affect the Wine You Drink, detailing some of the odd, unique and unknown facts about wine.

Why did you write about wine laws?

Several years ago, while wine tasting in the Sta. Rita Hills [in Santa Barbara], we were looking at the alcohol by volume on the back of a wine bottle, and the wine pourer told us we shouldn’t bother, as the number was more or less made up. We didn’t believe him. In response we told him we had learned in our sommelier class that wineries could put fermented apple juice in their wine. He didn’t believe us.

The next morning, as my wife and I were discussing these two stories, we thought, I’m a lawyer so I could look it up to see what is true and what is not. We came up with a list that morning of 20 or so wine “facts” we wanted to find out if they were true or not. Those 20 items from that morning of brainstorming ultimately became 20 of the 37 chapters of the book.

Where did you get your information for the book?

Fortunately as a lawyer, it was quite easy to do the legal research to look up what are the actual laws governing wine making, wine sales and wine consumption.

As many of these laws are so ridiculous that we’d have trouble believing that they were true had I not done the research myself, we made sure to footnote virtually every statement in the book so readers can easily verify every detail for themselves.

What’s the most absurd law you discovered?

It’s easy to start in our home state. By Colorado law, although not enforced, bars must serve sandwiches (as opposed to just serving pizza or burritos) if they want to serve alcohol. Perhaps the funniest law we found while researching the book is this: South Carolina has a law that wine cannot get you drunk.

Do some wines actually contain apple juice?

Yes, some contain apple juice, or to be more technically correct, fermented apple juice. If the wine label on the bottle lists either a state or smaller location from which the wine came (e.g., Oregon, Napa Valley, etc.), or if it lists the varietal (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc.) you do not need to worry. But, if you look at your local liquor store, you’ll probably notice some cheap wine bottles or wine cans that do not have either a location or a varietal listed on the container, and it says in small print: “With Natural Flavors.” For those wines, we hope you like apple juice, because odds are that is what you are drinking.

Why is the U.S. drinking age higher than most of the world?

Our country went through a strong neo-Prohibitionist movement in the 1980s Reagan-era. In 1984, the federal government — under the pretense of keeping teenagers from driving from one state to another to buy alcohol — tied highway funding for states with the obligation for states to raise their drinking ages to 21 years old.

What wine fact do you like to share most?

When discussing wine tasting, one of our favorite facts is that it is hard to distinguish a red wine from a white wine when you’re drinking it in a black glass. When discussing what we learned from writing the book, we love to point out that under certain conditions, wineries are legally allowed to water down their wine up to 35 percent (That’s more than a glass of wine per bottle that can legally just be water.).

What should people do first when looking to buy a decent bottle of wine?

Our first rule of choosing a wine is to choose a bottle of wine that won’t give us a (chemically induced) headache the next morning. That can be tricky as there are no ingredient labels on wine, so you cannot tell what additives are in any particular wine bottle. As my wife and I have had so many different wines, we have a good sense of which producers we can trust and which ones we cannot.

If you don’t know the producers, here’s perhaps the easiest trick, though it only works for Italian wines: We have never had a headache from drinking Italian DOCG or DOC wine, which is the Italian government’s stamp of approval for certain wines. If we see the DOCG/DOC stamp on an Italian wine (usually placed on the neck of the bottle), we know we’re drinking a wine we can trust.

Your favorite glass of wine and food pairing?

Not to be contrarian, but I’m skeptical of wine and food pairings. I love the wines I love. And, I love the foods I love. If I have them together, I try to keep them from conflicting too much, but my goal is to always choose my wines based upon my mood and what wines I love, not what I am eating.

From a science perspective, Cornell University flavor chemist Professor Terry Acree had a great quote about wine and food pairing. Based upon years of research, he explained that wine and food pairing is: “completely contextual, and almost entirely individual.” From my lay experience, I could not agree more. I love Vin Santo and Sauternes, and would happily have either of them with a steak – which is something that would leave many wine lovers and sommeliers simply aghast.

That said, if I could have anything tonight, it would probably be a bottle of wine from the left bank of Bordeaux, France from the 2009 vintage (perhaps a Chateau Lagrange or a Chateau Kirwan) paired with Mimolette and aged Gouda cheeses and crackers.

Who would you love to share a bottle of wine with?

My wife and I have read that astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a wine connoisseur. We wrote a blog on trying to make wine understandable to everyone in the same way he makes physics understandable. We would love to have a bottle (or two) of wine with him.

Anything else we should know about you, your book or your career?

The wine book was my third book. My first book was on my other major passion – skiing. While a student at CU �鶹ӰԺ, I was a volunteer ski patroller at the old Berthoud Pass Ski Area, and after the ski area closed I wrote the backcountry skiing guidebook to the region: Backcountry Skiing Berthoud Pass. My second book was a legal treatise applicable to my day-to-day job: Product Liability Law & Procedure in Colorado.

Note: A condensed version of this Q&A appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of the print Coloradan.

Photo courtesy Jordan Lipp/@iStock/eli_asenova (wine glass)

In 2018, Denver attorney Jordan Lipp wrote Is There Apple Juice in My Wine?: Thirty-Eight Laws that Affect the Wine You Drink, detailing some of the odd, unique and unknown facts about wine.

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The Bull-Riding Musician

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

The Bull-Riding Musician Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Lee Knight (Art, Mus’14) (formerly known as Breana), 32, of Denver is a front-end software developer by trade, and also a musician, youth minister, choir director — and bull rider.

How many bull competitions do you do?

As an amateur bull rider competing in the International Gay Rodeo Association, I compete from February to October. This year, I was planning to compete in nine rodeos, but due to injury, I was only able to compete in two.

Describe your first ride on a bull.

The only thing I remember was a hard landing.

How do you describe the sport?

The sport requires two athletes, the rider and the bull. Fifty points go to the rider and, most importantly, 50 points go to the bull. When the gate opens and the animal’s shoulder leavesthe chute, that’s when the clock starts and the dance begins. The harder the bull bucks, the higher the score the rider can get.

Do you think you could find a similar thrill?

I’m a licensed skydiver, but those experiences were exhilarating in an entirely different way. It’s my plan to retire into equine polo after bull riding. It is another sport that requires skill, speed and beast!

Talk about your music.

I’m a multi-instrumentalist where my primary instrument is trombone. I play in a number of bands and national touring acts when they come to town, and have my own solo act, Black Wolf Electric.

Photo by Melissa Polk

Lee Knight of Denver is a front-end software developer by trade, and also a musician, youth minister, choir director — and bull rider.

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Free Falling in Style

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 18:18:23 +0000

Free Falling in Style Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/03/2019 - 12:18

Ula Chrobak

Skydiver Colby McNeil (Soc ex’12) makes a living jumping from planes.

In videos, the 2015 world-record vertical skydive, executed above Chicago, seems effortless: 164 people jump out of six airplanes. A small group forms a center ring by holding hands, their heads pointed down. Others glide toward the ring, linking into outward-radiating loops. The result looks like a daisy flower.

After just a few seconds in formation, they all split to launch their parachutes.

“They’re holding hands at 200 miles per hour,” said Colby McNeil (Soc ex’12), who was part of the jump.

To pull it off, you need all the skydivers, many of whom travel from out of state, to show up, the planes to fly in the correct V-shape and each of the 164 people to find their designated place while falling. The entire feat lasts less than a minute.

“To successfully do it, just, oh my gosh, it’s an amazing feeling,” said McNeil, who studied at CU between 2007 and 2012.

Remarkably, he’s managed to make a full-time living of skydiving.

“Everyone can pick their favorite hobby,” he said. “I can make a living off of the thing I love most.”

McNeil was first drawn to the sport in 2009, when a friend invited him on a tandem jump, in which each participant tethers to an instructor. Even before his feet hit the ground, McNeil said, he was hooked.

Just weeks later, he took an accelerated freefall program, learning how to maneuver in the air and manage risks involved in jumping solo. Next he started spending two or three days a week practicing in a wind tunnel.

One genre of skydiving captivated him in particular: artistic free flying, which is “akin to pairs figure skating or double gymnastics, but in the sky.” Teams of three — two performing flyers and a photographer — execute choreographed sequences of gymnastic moves as they fall from about 13,000 feet.

McNeil joined a team called Oceanside FLO. It won four national championships and placed internationally. But despite sponsorships, McNeil found it challenging to make ends meet through free flying alone, and stopped competing after the 2017 season.

“It is very, very time consuming, as well as very expensive,” he said.

He’s since found a new balance. He trains budding skydivers at drop zones near San Diego, shoots videos of people skydiving and runs a small business packing and maintaining parachute equipment.

In videos, the 2015 world-record vertical skydive, executed above Chicago, seems effortless.

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�鶹ӰԺ Farmers Market Musings

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CU Students Build All-Electric Frisco House and Win Solar Decathlon

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Photo: Memorial for King Soopers Victims

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The New Connection

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