Boulder Weekly 03.30.2023

farmers market greets new season with a funding boost P. 9

14

9 NEWS: Boulder County agriculture grants tackle food security, accessibility and sustainability BY WILL MATUSKA

14 MUSIC: Katherine Paul of Black Belt Eagle Scout finds new sounds in her Swinomish homelands BY BECKY CARMAN

18 A&C NEWS: CU Boulder professor Marcia Douglas wins major fiction award BY JEZY J. GRAY

29 DRINK: Sam Bock on the Museum of Boulder’s sudsy new exhibit BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

DEPARTMENTS

5 THE ANDERSON FILES: Capitalism’s fascist temptation

7 LETTERS: Signed, sealed, delivered: your views

11 NEWS: Proposed Uinta Basin oil train route could see an accident every other year along South Boulder Creek

12 NOW YOU KNOW: The week’s news in Boulder County and beyond

15 MUSIC: Boulder Chamber Orchestra teams with Boulder Chamber Chorale for a lesserknown work by a giant of classical music

19 THEATER: No amount of clever casting can save the bloated book, lackluster music and dated story of ‘1776’

20 EVENTS: What to do this week on the Front Range

22 FILM: ‘A Thousand and One’ boasts authenticity but lacks momentum

22 ASTROLOGY: by Rob Brezsny

23 SAVAGE LOVE: Asked and answered

25 NIBBLES: Grow a truly local garden with vegetable, flower and herb seeds from Boulder’s new Seed House

30 WEED: Pueblo County provides millions in college scholarships from marijuana tax dollars — but an industry downturn could affect that program

Photo by Nate Lemuel of Darklisted Photography

April 12–14

Big ideas. Endless discoveries. Celebrating 75 years.

Dynamic, challenging discussions on climate change. 25+ sessions, more than 80 speakers.

3 p.m. Wed., April 12 | Macky Auditorium

75th Anniversary Program

Celebrate 75 years of CWA with music, historic videos and a keynote address by James Balog. The celebrated photographer, mountaineer, author and CU Boulder alumnus will speak on the impact humans can have in restoring balance to the planet.

5:30 p.m. Thurs., April 13 | Macky Auditorium

Leadership in the Age of Climate Change

Rose Marcario, former Patagonia CEO, will join Chancellor Philip DiStefano to discuss the global impact large corporations have on the planet.

Join us in person or via livestream. Free and open to the public. Learn more and register at colorado.edu/cwa

MARCH 30, 2023

Volume XXX, Number 32

COVER: Photo by Eliza Earle

PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER: Will Matuska

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Joel Dyer

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Angela K. Evans, Kaylee Harter, Dave Kirby, Ari LeVaux, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Bart Schaneman, Alan Sculley, Samuel Shaw, Toni Tresca, Gregory Wakeman, Colin Wrenn

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER:

Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE:

Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER:

Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman

CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg

FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo

As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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THE ANDERSON FILES

Capitalism’s fascist temptation

In 1928, U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon pushed the Federal Reserve Board to aggressively hike interest rates to control inflation and credit-fueled stock market speculation. They did, and, as a result, the New York Stock Exchange suffered the worst crash in its history in October 1929.

Mellon advised President Herbert Hoover to “liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate … It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people.” The Great Depression would follow.

Mellon was the country’s most powerful banker and a prominent industrialist with a gigantic business empire. He was Secretary of the Treasury from March 9, 1921 to Feb. 12, 1932 under Republican presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.

Mellon emphasized cutting taxes on the rich. The top marginal tax rate fell from 73% in 1922 to 24% in 1929.

The Great Depression was a result of a crisis of overproduction. The Roaring ’20s experienced an economic boom but too many commodities were produced than could be profitably sold.

During the decade, income inequality exploded. Historian Becky

BY DAVE ANDERSON

Little notes that “by 1928, the top 1% of families received 23.9% of all pretax income. About 60% of families made less than $2,000 a year, the income level the Bureau of Labor Statistics classified as the minimum livable income for a family of five.” At the beginning of the 1920s, rural America’s economy was already in a depression.

We are socialized to think the boom-and-bust economic cycle is somehow natural. It is irrational, cruel and stupid. There were more than 60 banking crises in the industrialized world between 1805 and 1927.

Increasingly during a crisis, many people turn toward charismatic authoritarian leaders.

Holy Week and Easter at St. Aidan’s

Palm Sunday, April 2, 8am* and 10am

Maundy Thursday, April 6, 7pm

Good Friday, April 7 12noon Stations of the Cross

7pm Good Friday Prayers

Saturday Evening Vigil, April 8, 7:30pm

Easter Day, April 9, 8am* and 10am

Zoom and livestream available*

Nursery open for all services. St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church

2425 Colorado Ave (across from CU Engineering)

The Rev. Mary Kate Rejouis, Rector

All are welcome to walk this Holy Week with Jesus!

THE ANDERSON FILES

In the final week of the 1928 election, Andrew Mellon gave a radio address to promote Herbert Hoover. He compared Democrats to the new regime in Russia. But in Italy, he said, “the Bolshevik menace was met and vanquished.” Benito Mussolini had not only saved “Italy from any possible danger of economic and social collapse,” but had “improved the well-being of the

people of the country.” The Italian government “operated in accordance with established economic laws.”

Many prominent American rightwingers like Mellon were enthusiastic supporters of Mussolini and his regime with the new name of “fascist.”

In 2008, a global financial debacle occurred and Federal Reserve chair

Andrew Mellon

LETTERS

Ben Bernanke didn’t intervene until two big banks had collapsed. What happened? There was a run on a basically unregulated “shadow banking” system.

Deregulation also created a “housing bubble” of “subprime” mortgages by predatory lenders who targeted poorer people who hadn’t qualified for a loan previously.

In Feb. 2009, CNBC commentator Rick Santelli delivered the “rant heard around the world” on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. As a financial analyst for the business news channel, he denounced the government for “promoting bad behavior” by “subsidiz[ing] the losers’ mortgages” instead of rewarding “the people that could carry the water instead of drink the water.” He called for a “tea party.”

Santelli didn’t mention the government’s bailouts of Wall Street bigshots. His rant was promoted by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the Drudge Report. A movement was born. Implicitly and sometimes explicitly racist, it attracted suburban, white small business and professional types and was funded by libertarian capitalists like the Kochs.

CAN YOU SAY ‘DIRTY HIPPIE’?

I have mixed feelings about BW’s cover story about advice from Boulder’s “meme queen,” particularly the response “Help, I’ve Fallen in Love with a Hippy.” I have written a book, Happily Hippie-American, in which I argue that what I call “HippieAmericans” are in fact part of a modern ethnicity, now over half-a-century old, that has made many important social contributions (such as the invention of the personal computer and the natural/organic-foods industry, for examples) and comprises over 10% of today’s America. This ethnic perspective is an enlightened way in which to see and understand the counterculture, as opposed to the cliché that Hippies were just a thing

In 2010, they would help the Republicans win their victories in the elections. The Tea Party still exists. It morphed into MAGA.

The current bank troubles grew out of Trump administration deregulation (which was supported by many Democrats). The anti-government tech bros of Silicon Valley now are whining and yipping for the feds to rescue them.

There’s MAGA mega-donor Peter Thiel, the leading Silicon Valley libertarian who promoted cryptocurrency and floating tax refuges beyond the reach of government. His firm promoted a run on the Silicon Valley Bank through social media. In 2009, Thiel wrote that democracy is no longer compatible with freedom. He explained:

“The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.”

of the 1960s, something that ignores the fact that most of today’s HippieAmericans were not born until long after the 1960s ended. And of course, minorities, whether racial, ethnic, religious or sexual, are scapegoated and stereotyped. As such, Ms. Vermeire’s casual comment about an “unwashed lover” should be seen as an obvious and ugly stereotype. If such a comment were made about any other group, readers would clearly see it as such, and no newspaper would publish it. Why, then, when someone says it about a Hippie-American, do we brush it off as something acceptable, as witty and urbane humor? Can you say “dirty hippie”?

— Paul Dougan/Boulder

GET IT FRESH, GET IT LOCAL

Boulder County agriculture grants tackle food security, accessibility and sustainability

BY WILL MATUSKA

Eleven farms, agricultural producers and non-profit organizations are receiving grants from Boulder County to catalyze regenerative practices, education, market infrastructure and more.

The County announced the recipients of its 2023 Sustainable Food & Agriculture Funds on March 21. One of those recipients is the Boulder County Farmers Market (BCFM), which will open its Saturday markets in Longmont and Boulder on April 1.

BCFM Executive Director Mackenzie Sehlke says the $60,000 grant will help the organization expand its online marketplace and curbside delivery programs.

“[The grant] is a piece of the puzzle that makes it possible for us to serve as many people with high-quality food as we can,” she says, adding that the online marketplace and delivery programs allow them to reach lowerincome populations that show up in smaller numbers to the in-person market because of job or transportation constraints.

While Sehlke says BCFM has the longest farmers market season in the state (April to November), the online marketplace and delivery programs help fill the four-month winter gap, providing local farmers and producers another revenue source, and supplying residents with access to local food during the market’s offseason.

Sehlke says the success of those programs, which launched in 2020 when the in-person market closed because of pandemic restrictions, was “somewhat unexpected.”

Last year, BCFM’s CSA program delivered 14,000 bags of fresh produce to low-income households.

Sehlke hopes putting the grant resources into these programs will further increase accessibility to locally grown food.

“Supporting local food and agriculture is not just about encouraging the production of fresh and healthy food. It’s about cultivating a system that is rooted in resilience, sustainability and social justice,” Boulder County

Commissioner Marta Loachamin said in a press release.

The farmers market also offers the Double Up Food Bucks program, which doubles up to $20 in fresh fruit and vegetable purchases for those with SNAP benefits.

After the SNAP benefit amounts decreased this month, Sehlke is aware folks are working with fewer dollars, but isn’t sure how that will impact participation at the market.

“Even though that one support is gone, this [program] remains here in the community,” she says.

This comes at a time when food prices are on the rise.

The United States Department of Agriculture found “food-at-home” prices increased by 11.4% in 2022, and it predicts prices will increase nationally in 2023 for items like meats, poultry, dairy products, fats and oils and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Speedwell Farm & Gardens, a regenerative and organic farm on a 2-acre plot just north of Boulder, was awarded a $40,000 grant from the fund. The farm distributes food to more than 60 CSA members and 10 restaurants between Boulder County and Denver, including OAK at Fourteenth, Blackbelly and Moxie Bread Co.

Cody Jurbala, co-owner and operator of Speedwell Farm & Gardens, plans to use the grant on perennial cropping and closed-loop fertility

projects like mushroom-based compost and an aquaponic system that will help introduce nitrates to his gardens.

“[The grant] is definitely exciting and surprising, but at the same time, I was very confident in our proposal,” says Jurbala, who started Speedwell Farm in 2017 converting backyard lawn spaces into food-production gardens.

Other recipients of the Sustainable Food & Agriculture Fund are Boulder Valley Ranch, Community Fruit Rescue, Harvest of All First Nations, High Plains Biochar and Yellow Barn Farm, Nederland Victory Gardens, Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch, St. Vrain Valley School District, Sustainable Alliances, Inc. and Sustainable Living Designs.

The fund was established in November 2016 after voters approved the Sustainability Tax ballot initiative, which allocated a portion of sales and use tax revenue to fund countywide sustainability programs.

While BCFM will use the grant money to further develop the curbside delivery and online market programs, Sehlke is looking forward to launching the 2023 in-person markets on April 1.

“Lots of historic farms and new farmers with us this year,” she says. “[There will be] lots of new exciting food to try and lots of local favorites on the street.”

BCFM staff handing a winter market share bag to a customer as part of the curbside distribution program. Photo by Eliza Earle.

Staff filling and organizaing bags for BCFM’s CSA program. Photo by Eliza Earle.

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IT’S JUST MATH’

Proposed Uinta Basin oil train route could see an accident every other year along South Boulder Creek

BY SAMUEL SHAW, HIGH COUNTRY NEWS

Aproposed 85-mile oil railway through Ashley National Forest, in the northeast corner of Utah, is on the cusp of final approval from federal agencies. The Uinta Basin Railway project intends to connect the oil-rich but hard-to-access region to refineries on the Gulf Coast by linking the basin to an existing line. The route would then chart a course east beside the Colorado River, through flood and rockslide-prone Glenwood Canyon and onwards past South Boulder Creek and into downtown Denver before heading south.

Up to five 2-mile-long trains would traverse it each day, carrying crude oil. A federal analysis predicts that accidents are likely to occur once a year on the segment from Kyune, Utah, to Grand Junction, Colorado, with the portion between Grand Junction and Denver experiencing one every two years. Up to 2,000 new oil wells would need to be drilled in the Uinta Basin to make the project economically viable.

A coalition of seven fossil fuel-producing counties in Utah have allied with Drexel Hamilton, a New York investment bank, to promote the railway, and Rio Grande Pacific would manage train operations on the new Utah section as well as on the existing Union Pacific line through Colorado. The Ute Indian Tribe also holds a small equity stake in the project, since the nation has an economic interest in oil extracted from Uintah and Ouray reservation land.

Too sludgy for pipelines, the viscous petroleum can only be moved by train and truck. Some consider waxy crude “clean-up friendly” because it must be heated to flow and tends to form globules, rather than oil slicks, when it encounters water, making remediation easier.

But critics are concerned about how

a derailment of the toxic material would affect the Colorado River, a major artery of Western agriculture and the source of drinking water for 40 million people. Roughly 150 miles of preexisting track line the Colorado River, and other stretches run through the headwaters of the river system. The federal environmental impact study did not examine the consequences of a spill in Colorado, nor the downstream effects a crash could have on the seven states that rely on the river’s water. The study that accompanied the rail line’s approval in 2021 confined its most comprehensive impact analysis to Utah.

Environmental groups, Colorado communities — including Boulder County — and politicians have seized on that omission in a last-ditch effort to stall the railway. “The last thing in the world we should be doing is jeopardizing that water source,” said Deeda Seed, a campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental groups involved in lawsuits against the railway.

The February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, alarmed Matt Scherr, Eagle County’s commissioner. “After what happened there, we can’t ever believe that they’re taking the risks seriously,” Scherr says. Still, attempts to thwart the project preceded East Palestine’s crash. The impetus behind Eagle County’s lawsuit is simple, Scherr says: “It’s just math. With greater volume, there will be more accidents.” Union Pacific would not comment on whether waxy crude and other petroleum products are already trans-

ported along the route. The rail operator “is required by federal law to transport chemicals and other hazardous commodities that Americans use daily, including fertilizer, ethanol, crude oil and chlorine,” a representative said in an email.

Early last year, Eagle County, with the Center for Biological Diversity, launched a legal challenge against the Surface Transportation Board, which arbitrates disputes on transit projects, arguing that the environmental impact study neglected to fully account for the risks posed to Colorado. A judge won’t hear the case until sometime this fall.

Meanwhile, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Joe Neguse have been writing letters to anyone in the Biden administration who could intervene to stop the railway. They wrote Brenda Mallory, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality, to request an environmental study focusing on Colorado’s watershed and noted that an oil spill in the Colorado River would be “catastrophic.” They also highlighted the West’s extreme drought conditions and how wildfires could spark from a crash. In 2020, the Grizzly Creek blaze likely started by a flicked cigarette butt or sparks from a dragging trailer chain — burned the same section of Glenwood Canyon where the oil trains would pass. But money, or the lack of it, could also stop the project in its

tracks. In promotional materials for the railway, the coalition of counties behind the project promised “private pays for it,” indicating the costs of construction and operation likely wouldn’t fall to taxpayers. But then the estimated costs doubled, and last week the coalition applied for more than $2 billion in taxexempt government bonds.

Deeda Seed thinks this could be a sign of trouble for the sprawling oil route. “The efforts to secure these bonds show how fragile the financing of this railway is. They never represented to the public before that anything like this would be needed,” Seed says. The bonds are normally issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation for projects with clear public benefits — like bridges or bus lanes — and would cost taxpayers $80 million per year.

Bennet and Neguse leaned on the news of the bonds to once again ask the federal government to intervene. In a March 9 letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, they implored him to use his authority to block access to the bonds, citing the project’s failure to provide public value.

“The additional risks posed by this project ... have gained new urgency in the wake of the East Palestine disaster,” the politicians wrote. It would “irretrievably sink taxpayer dollars into a project that has proven unable to contain its own costs.”

Credit: K. Clauser/Center for Biological Diversity

TERRIBLE, THANKS FOR ASKING

NEWS ROUNDUP NOW YOU KNOW

What’s going on in Boulder County and beyond

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

REPORT SHOWS LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN GIG COMPANIES

If Coloradans pay $10 for an Uber ride, the driver could see $5 or less in their pocket, according to a study from Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI).

The report, released March 22, highlights limited transparency on both sides of the gig — drivers don’t know how much riders pay, and riders don’t know how much drivers get paid. CFI found Transportation Network Companies (TNC) like Uber and Lyft have a “take rate” upwards of 50-70% of consumer fares.

Denver drivers earn $10.53 per hour after “out-of-pocket expenses” according to the report, including vehicle wear and tear and “deadheading” time — when drivers are heading to the next rider. The state’s minimum wage is $13.65 an hour.

Sophie Mariam, a labor policy analyst at CFI who worked on the report, says the organization gathered evidence that shows TNC companies are “spiking consumer fares”

and “suppressing driver earnings.”

“[The report] really affirms that Colorado drivers and their families are facing a lot of economic insecurity as a result of opaque and exploitative policies that these rideshare corporations are using,” she says.

This comes on the heels of the Gig Work Transparency bill, introduced in the state Senate earlier this year. If passed, the bill would require TNCs operating in Colorado to disclose payments to both drivers and consumers.

“If there were transparency on fares, earnings and what the companies get, I could make my own decisions about whether I’m getting a fair shake,” Eric Ametefe, a Denver Uber driver, told CFI through a survey.

The bill also includes anti-discrimination protections and required disclosure of destination for drivers.

ADDRESSING HOUSING NEEDS

A bill proposed in the state Senate on March 22 could radically change land use and zoning policies for municipalities in Boulder County and across the state.

SB 213 would establish a process to address housing needs across the state by prohibiting local governments from enforcing certain occupancy limits, minimum square footage requirements and prohibitively strict standards on modular homes.

In addition, accessory dwelling units and middle income multi-family homes — duplexes, triplexes and townhomes — would be allowed in areas currently zoned only for single-family units.

Nearly half of the City of Boulder is zoned for a single-family unit, according to the City’s website.

The City is still reviewing the bill to predict how it could impact current local land use codes. In a Feb. 9 policy statement about land use, City staff acknowledged that the General Assembly was considering legislation that would give the state some authority over zoning and land use, and wrote that “the city is traditionally reluctant to cede local control” because “local problems demand local solutions.”

However, staff said the City would support state standards that overlap with goals laid out in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, like the housing affordability crisis.

“Addressing this crisis,” City staff wrote, “especially when doing so advances climate, transportation and equity goals, is a city priority.”

FREE CATALYTIC CONVERTER MARKING KITS

Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is distributing free CatETCH labels to county residents. Applied to a catalytic converter, the label’s unique identifying number is designed to help law enforcement recover stolen converters.

Catalytic converters control emissions coming from the exhaust of vehicles, and contain valuable metals that, when removed, can turn into fast cash. The Colorado Auto Theft Prevention

Authority (CATPA) says catalytic converter theft has impacted “many individuals” across the state and theft has “skyrocketed.”

Shannon Carbone, the district attorney’s public information officer, told Boulder Weekly in an email that the county does not have accurate data related to the number of catalytic converter thefts because it tracks thefts by the value of the item, not the type of item.

But, Carbone calls the theft of converters “a very significant problem throughout Colorado.”

Multiple new outlets reported CATPA found catalytic converter theft has increased by more than 5,000% from 2019 to 2021 in Colorado — from 189 to 9,811.

CATPA estimates replacement costs from catalytic converter theft can exceed $2,000.

To receive a CatETCH label, you’ll have to register at bouldercounty.gov and pick up the kit at the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, the Town of Superior’s Sheriff’s Office or the Town of Lyons’ Sheriff’s Office.

CU STUDENT-LED GROUP ADVOCATES FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Evangelyne Eliason, a senior at CU Boulder, started Project Kind to advocate for mental heath and suicide prevention. It’s a student organization, but Eliason says Project Kind is open to the community at large.

Eliason is organizing a 5K run/walk and talent showcase on April 8 open to students, staff and the community. The event is meant to promote suicide awareness and will feature live music, prizes and free catered food.

“When you have a wound, you have to heal it,” Eliason says. “What does it take to heal a wound? What does that healing process look like?”

Because of community donations, the whole event is free. Learn more about the events, register to run or perform and sign up to volunteer at linktr.ee/projectkind

Got a news tip? Email wmatuska@boulderweekly.com

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN

Katherine Paul of Black Belt Eagle Scout finds new sounds in her Swinomish homelands

BY BECKY CARMAN

Katherine “KP” Paul didn’t mean to write an album in the uncertain summer of 2020, but homecomings have a knack for surprise. Known by band moniker Black Belt Eagle Scout, the singersongwriter and multi-instrumentalist spent 13 years embedded in Portland’s indie-rock scene before moving back to her ancestral homelands of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington’s Salish Sea, where her new full-length The Land, The Water, The Sky snuck up on her.

Reconnecting to her people and her land in the small community — the reservation and nearby town of La Conner are only a few thousand strong collectively — yielded unexpected inspiration for Paul. The return came as she was reframing not only her life, moving with her partner and his children to be closer to her thenailing parents, but also her relationship to music as a career during the height of the pandemic.

Paul’s resulting third LP as Black Belt Eagle Scout, released last month on Saddle Creek, documents this turbulent time in her life: the heaviness of trauma and the lightness of healing, the melancholy of change and the

comfort of community. It also chronicles a connection to the land and sea around her, and the generations of ancestors who walked those paths. Boulder Weekly spoke with Paul about uprooting, coming home again, and accidentally making a record about it.

How does it feel to live [on the Swinomish Reservation] now versus when you were a kid? It feels the same, honestly. When I moved home, it was kind of a sigh of relief — like, this is where I’m from, this is who I am. But I feel like it also comes with this awareness of all the things that are happening politically within my community, culturally, socially, that I didn’t necessarily understand the nuances of when I was a kid. It just brings more knowledge, living here as an adult. It’s aging; it’s growing; it’s becoming wiser. You’re on your track to becoming an elder.

So through all of this transition, you’re writing songs but not writing an album. The title, though — The Land, The Water, The Sky — all of those are very pervasive throughout.

It’s just a moment in time in my life that I’m documenting, and it happens to be about this transitional time. One of the things that was really instrumental in making this album was very much feeling supported by Takiaya [Reed, album producer] and feeling like she had my back in the recording process. … On previous albums, I did all the things myself: recording, instruments, producing. It was different this time because whenever I would have an idea, she would say, “Let’s go for it.” In the past, I feel like I’ve kind of fought myself on it, like, “No, maybe I shouldn’t do that.”

On the production side, you had this task of conveying a sense of an actual physical location through instrumentation. How do you make a studio album feel large, like open space? There was one very instrumental pedal that we used pretty much throughout the entire record, I think on every song. That’s a Strymon Big Sky, a reverb pedal that has so many different types of reverb on it and creates this really just kind of lush and beautiful atmosphere, which was I think the thing that lifted up the songs and made them float and kind of come together in this way. It definitely has a very kind of natural vibe

It’s also just bringing myself into connecting, playing the guitar and

having that feeling of what the song’s energy should be. This is the place it’s coming from. This is where I wrote it.

Read the full Q&A at boulderweekly.com by scanning this QR code.

ON THE BILL: Black Belt Eagle Scout with Claire Glass and Adobo. 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $15

Katherine “KP” Paul of Black Belt Eagle Scout brings her indie-rock stylings to Larimer Lounge in Denver on April 4. Photo by Nate Lemuel.

The Land, The Water, The Sky is out now via Saddle Creek Records.

‘BRAND NEW BEETHOVEN’

“I remember breaking into tears when I conducted [the Mass in C Major] for the first time 20 years ago,” says Boulder Chorale Director Vicki Burrichter. Photo courtesy Boulder Chorale.

clarity of texture and form that looks back to Mozart and Haydn.”

Burrichter especially appreciates the way Beethoven integrates the four vocal soloists into the choral texture as opposed to giving them certain sections as solo arias. “They are intertwined throughout and often presented as a unified group, which lends cohesion to the whole,” she says.

minutes long, and there will be no intermission. Saless will open with Beethoven’s familiar and dramatic Coriolanus Overture. That piece is in C minor, and its subdued ending will provide a smooth transition into the quiet opening of the Kyrie movement. Saless plans to connect them without pause.

Boulder Chamber

Orchestra teams with Boulder Chamber Chorale for a lesser-known work by a giant of classical music

BY KELLY DEAN HANSEN

Every composer has hidden gems in their oeuvre. For Ludwig van Beethoven — whose full output is standard repertoire in most genres — such a work is harder to find. But his Mass in C Major, composed on commission in 1807, is an excellent candidate.

“Listeners may know so much about the composer, but have never heard this piece,” says Boulder Chamber Orchestra Music Director Bahman Saless, whose musicians will join forces with vocalists from the Boulder Chamber Chorale to present the mass in an upcoming performance at Boulder Adventist Church on April 1. “Brand new Beethoven will be a rare experience for many, and it is an absolutely gorgeous piece.”

But several factors hindered the piece from the outset, not least the reaction of its commissioner. AustroHungarian Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II was the final patron of Joseph Haydn, who established a tradition of writing a new mass setting each year for the baptismal name day of the prince’s wife. Haydn had ceased this in 1802 as his health began to fail. When Beethoven received the commission, he studied his former teacher’s masses and emulated them, as

he was less experienced in the composition of church music, but he also sought to write something new.

Upon presenting his mass to the prince, the composer admitted trepidation in following the “inimitable masterworks of the great Haydn,” but also confidently asserted that he had set the five sections of the text as had not been done before. After the performance, Esterházy was not impressed with those differences and belittled the mass, causing Beethoven to leave in a huff.

Another problem facing the Mass in C Major is the fame of its much larger companion, the Missa Solemnis in D Major, a visionary product of the late style contemporary with the Ninth Symphony.

“It’s certainly overshadowed by the Missa Solemnis, but it’s so much better than its reputation,” Saless says. “Its mood changes are amazing, and its catchy little melodies leave a strong impression.”

Boulder Chorale Director Vicki Burrichter calls the mass one of her favorite pieces. “It has all the elements that people love about Beethoven, the things that straddle the classical and romantic periods,” she says. “It’s got the romantic high drama of later Beethoven but also the

DRAMATIC CHANGES, ‘FANTASTIC FUGUES’

When it comes to the Mass in C Major, one of Beethoven’s most inspired innovations is the seamless return of the intensely beautiful music of the opening Kyrie movement at the very end of the closing Agnus Dei.

“I remember breaking into tears when I conducted that for the first time 20 years ago,” Burrichter says. “It’s so effective and moving how that music comes back.” She also praises the “fantastic fugues” that close the Gloria and Credo movements.

“Beethoven was really trying everything and showing what he could do,” she continues. “The constant and sudden changes in dynamics hint at what he would do in the Ninth and the Missa Solemnis, and present a challenge for the singers.”

For collaboration with Saless’ small orchestra, Burrichter employs 32 of the best vocalists from the more than 200 comprising the full Boulder Chorale. Of the soloists, three are recent or current students at CU Boulder’s College of Music. Mezzosoprano Gabrielle Razafinjatovo earned her master’s in 2022. Tenor Paul Wolf is finishing his doctorate in musical arts, and baritone

Brandon Tyler Padgett is in the artist diploma program. Soprano Cristin Colvin is new to the area and a member of Denver Immersive Opera.

The Mass in C is only 50

Those details are sure to add up to an unforgettable performance of an under-appreciated work when the two organizations share the stage. The partnership goes back to their presentation of the Mozart Requiem in 2018, and their concert with Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in February 2020 was one of the last events in the area before the pandemic shutdown. Ultimately, Burrichter says the fruitfulness of the collaboration is due in large part to a shared vision and a willingness to explore new ideas.

“Bahman and I are simpatico when choosing repertoire,” she says. “He’s very open, and I hope that I am too.”

ON THE BILL: Boulder Chamber Orchestra and Boulder Chorale present Beethoven’s Mass in C. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1, Boulder Adventist Church, 345 Mapleton Ave. $30

Boulder Chamber Orchestra Music Director Bahman Saless. Photo courtesy the artist.

EYES ON THE PRIZE

Boulder author Marcia Douglas wins major award

BY JEZY J. GRAY

It was a run-of-the-mill Tuesday morning in Boulder for author and longtime University of Colorado professor Marcia Douglas — until it wasn’t. After ignoring a string of assumed spam calls from an unknown number, she got an email from Courtney Hodell, director of literary programs for the New York Citybased Whiting Foundation, with an urgent message: Please call me.

“It was early in the morning, Boulder time, so I was trying to be discreet and not wake up the rest of my household,” Douglas recalls. “And she said, ‘Congratulations. We’re honoring you with a Whiting Award.’ It was really great news on a very cold February morning. My husband said it felt a bit supernatural or something.”

The honor bestowed on Douglas places the local fiction writer among elite company. Past winners include then-emerging literary heavyweights like the late David Foster Wallace (Infinite Jest) and Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad) alongside rising contemporaries like Esmé Weijun Wang (The Collected Schizophrenias) and Jia Tolentino (Trick Mirror). It also comes with a $50,000 cash prize — no small detail for an artist at any point in their career.

“[The Whiting Awards] recognize exceptional talent and accomplishment, but they’re also a vote of confidence for the future,” says Hodell, whose winter morning phone call sent shock waves throughout the Douglas house. “A lot of awards are a prize for

a certain book … [but] this is a little bit more about what’s ahead. It’s intended to give writers the resources to do the next great thing.”

Instead of soliciting applications for the prize, recipients are selected by a panel of six anonymous judges — they might be editors, writers, teachers or critics — who are experts in their fields. This process has to date netted a total $9.5 million to 370 fiction and nonfiction writers, playwrights and poets. Other 2023 winners include Mia Chung (drama), Linda Kinstler (nonfiction), Tommye Blount (poetry) and seven other writers working across various genres and disciplines.

But when it comes to Douglas, whose latest book The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim was reissued in 2018 by New Directions, Hodell says the judges were struck by the Jamaica-raised author’s “polyphonic virtuosity” in unpacking her home country’s proud and painful story.

“There’s a kind of musical power to her writing. She’s able to write so many characters — even in a page, she can make you understand someone’s history and their future,” Hodell says. “It’s like being plunged into a world. You’re completely enveloped by it.”

A SPACE FOR STORIES

There weren’t many books lying around Douglas’ childhood home in Kingston, Jamaica — but her experience there was essential to the writer she would become. What the bud-

ding wordsmith lacked in bound volumes, those rare objects Douglas cherished like precious gems, she made up for by immersing herself in a rich oral tradition.

“My father was a preacher, and I think that was a really great early apprenticeship for me,” Douglas says. “He would sometimes preach on country street corners, very dramatic. A lot of that had to do with storytelling.”

That penchant for stories followed Douglas on her education journey to the United States, even though her first undergrad studies were in biology. Sitting through labs and lectures, she often found herself doodling in the margins of her notebook as the call of creative writing began to ring out like a distant bell. She would follow that sound through an MFA at Ohio State University and a Ph.D. at Binghamton University in New York, before landing on the Front Range as a professor in the English department at CU Boulder in 2001.

“Now I teach creative writing and I understand something of the importance of that space,” Douglas says. “Because I did fall into the right hands, and I realized that I flourished

in this space where it wasn’t about necessarily having the right answer, but where my ideas and creativity were valued.”

That sense of recognized value is a rare one for many working in creative fields, which is part of what the Whiting Awards seek to correct. As the dust settles from the life-changing call Douglas made on that cold February morning, she reflects not only on what the honor means for the material realities of her writing life that began on the rural street corners of Jamaica, but on the spiritual salve of being seen — and what that might mean for future work.

“For us folks in the arts, we don’t always receive that sort of recognition, necessarily, or support. It’s hard to come by. So an award like this is actually huge. For a writer, time and space is invaluable. That’s what we feed off of,” she says. “It’s [also] incredibly important to feel validated and understand that what you’re doing is appreciated. That gives you more energy moving forward, when you know you have readers and a support system who appreciate what you’re doing, and what you’re trying to put out there.”

CU Boulder professor Marcia Douglas is among 10 emerging writers recently awarded a $50,000 literary prize through the Whiting Foundation. Photo courtesy the author.

The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim is available in paperback via New Directions Publishing.

SEVENTEEN-SEVENTY SNOOZE

BY TONI TRESCA

Hot off last year’s revival production at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, the national tour of 1776 is set to wrap its final weekend at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

The pitch to revive this Tony Award winner for Best Musical was simple: reimagine America’s political origin story with a racially diverse slate of women, transgender and nonbinary performers as America’s “Founding Fathers.” Yet, for a smartly casted musical about political turmoil, 1776’s politics are shockingly safe.

While some conservative snowflakes might be triggered by the production’s casting decisions, the players aren’t the problem with the musical. In fact, the performers’ energy is the only thing keeping this poorly paced congressional procedural afloat.

Peter Stone’s script puts audiences in the halls of the Second Continental Congress as John Adams (Gisela Adisa) struggles to get his proposal for independence through Congress. The setting allows for the easy introduction of other famous political figures like Thomas Jefferson (Nancy Anderson), Benjamin Franklin (Liz Mikel) and John Hancock (Oneika Phillips), and a multitude of heady philosophical debates.

The real issue with 1776 is that it wastes the talents of the entire creative team on a revival of Stone’s dated musical from more than half a century ago, rather than creating space for this talented group of performers to create something new. Though directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus seek to make America’s founding fresh again by using new voices to tell the story, the show is bogged down by a script that presents a generic retelling of the birth of a nation.

In defense of this production of 1776, casting performers who would have been denied property rights allows for a few well-directed moments that highlight the founders’ hypocrisy. But these feel underdeveloped in a production that spends a large portion of its nearly three-hour runtime examining the struggles of wealthy landowners who rose up against England to escape paying taxes. As hard as performers like Adisa and Mikel, as John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, try to make Stone’s muddled book relevant, the cast is undercut by a script rife with parliamentary procedure and Sherman Edwards’ forgettable music. While states across the country seek to ban historical information about people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, this lackluster production’s Hamilton-ification of a bloated musical (about a topic that is not in jeopardy of being removed from classrooms anytime soon) is unurgent and uninspired. Despite a stacked cast, 1776 lacks the material to truly speak to the complicated political moment America faces in 2023.

ON STAGE: 1776 by Peter Stone. Various times through April 2, Buell Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St. $35

WWW PEDALINGMINDS ORG

NON-PROFIT 5O1(C)3 SERVING BOULDER, LOUISVILLE, AND LONGMONT AREA

No amount of clever casting can save the bloated book, lackluster music and dated story of ‘1776’

Firework performances aside, 1776 is a dud. Photo courtesy Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

THEODOSIA AMMONS: CELEBRATING

A CHAUTAUQUA LEGEND

5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder.

Theodosia Ammons broke barriers at Colorado State University as the school’s first woman dean, as the president of the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association, and as director of Chautauqua’s first continuing education school, among a number of other accomplishments. Celebrate the lasting legacy of this trailblazer with the Museum of Boulder for a tour of her historic cottage and her induction into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

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ABSURD APRIL FOOL’S DAY PARADE

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TERRIBLE, THANKS FOR ASKING: BAD

VIBES ONLY TOUR

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SACRED ART OF THE POWWOW: AN EVENING OF NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AND STORYTELLING

7 p.m. Thursday, March 30, Stewart Auditorium, 400 S. Qual Rd., Longmont. $18

Longmont Museum presents a stunning showcase of Indigenous dance, local powwow drum groups, traditional Native flute and more as part of its Thursday Nights @ the Museum programming. The event will also feature storytelling by members of our local Native artist community along with internationally acclaimed performing artist and author Red Feather Woman (Sioux/Assiniboine).

PASSWORD: COMEDY — WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

7-9 p.m. Friday, March 31, The Speakeasy, 301 Main St., Longmont. $5

Longmont’s longest-running stand-up showcase is back this month with an allwomen lineup. Sidesplitting Entertainment invites you to come out and enjoy some of the best in Colorado comedy, with headliner Leslie Fox and a slate of performers that will have you laughing until it hurts. Head to downtown Longmont for your weekend kickoff and get your tickets at the door.

6:14-7:06 p.m. Saturday, April 1, Roosevelt Park, 700 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

No, those times aren’t a typo; they’re just one of the many absurd features of Left Hand Artist Group’s annual April Fool’s Day Parade. Bring your kids, bring your pets, and dress head-to-toe in the wildest costume you can put together. This shamelessly fun event encourages noise, fun and community — no joke. 2

THE COLOR WHEEL PROJECT

8 p.m. Monday, April 3, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $56

Award-winning author and podcaster Nora McInerny isn’t in the business of answering “I’m OK” when asked how her day is going. In fact, she embraces honesty. Maybe you’re sad as all hell, or overwhelmingly anxious, or feeling awful. McInerny invites you to explore that sentiment in-person on April 3, as she brings her podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking to the Boulder Theater for a show that will make you laugh and cry, “maybe even at the same time.”

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BOCO INTERNATIONAL FLAMENCO FESTIVAL

SPRING FLING KIKI BALL

5-8 p.m. Saturday, April 1, Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Rd., Boulder. Free

Spring-inspired fashion and high-energy ballroom culture collide this weekend at the Spring Fling Kiki Ball. Join Out Boulder County in a community celebration featuring a roster of best-dressed competitions for all-ages and identities. This collaborative celebration with Kiki House of Majik is a dance and performance party you do not want to miss.

4 p.m. Sunday, April 2, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $20

When visual arts and dance intersect, it’s a sight to behold. T2 Dance Company wants you to come see for yourself on Sunday, when they’ll be selecting artwork created by elementary school students from across the county, and using those works as inspiration to create new choreography before your eyes.

7-8:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., April 4-5, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $40

Flamenco, an art form based on folkloric musical traditions of Southern Spain, captures both contemporary and traditional creative styles of the region. This two-night event at the Dairy Arts Center will feature world-class Flamenco performers from Spain, film screenings, dance workshops, local Spanish restaurants, educational opportunities and more.

THURSDAY, MARCH 30

FUTUREBIRDS WITH THE TEXAS GENTLEMEN AND BIG PINCH

8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $28

DAN MOCHMAN WITH THOM LAFOND 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $15

SABRINA CARPENTER WITH SPILL TAB. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40

WOLFBLITZER WITH COPPER TEETH, OLD SKIN, CHAINMACE AND SCUFFED 8 p.m. Aggie Theatre, 204 S. College Ave., Fort Collins. $18

BLACK VIOLIN. 8 p.m. Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver. $30

FRIDAY, MARCH 31

FY5 8 p.m. Chautauqua Community House, 301 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder. $20

HENHOUSE PROWLERS WITH ALLIE KRAL 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $12

THE DISCO BISCUITS. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $39

N3PTUNE AND RUSTY STEVE WITH NEON THE BISHOP AND CAIN CULTO 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $22

HEART TRIBE. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

THE EPHINJIS AND OPIUM.

7:30 p.m. The End Lafayette, 525 Courtney Way, Lafayette. $15

DABIN 6 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $63

ELI YOUNG BAND 8 p.m. Grizzly Rose, 5450 Lincoln St., Denver. $35

SATURDAY, APRIL 1

THE GREEN HOUSE BAND, LIVER DOWN THE RIVER AND THE BUZZ

8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15

MARCHFOURTH WITH THE PAMLICO SOUND 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $23

COVENHOVEN 8 p.m. Chautauqua Community House, 301 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder. $20

THE GOOD KIND 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $10

THE DISCO BISCUITS 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $39

BOULDER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA AND BOULDER CHORALE PRESENT

BEETHOVEN’S MASS IN C 7:30 p.m. Boulder Adventist Church, 345 Mapleton Ave. $30 Story on pg. 15.

SHOVELIN STONE WITH STILLHOUSE JUNKIES AND PONDER THE ALBATROSS 8 p.m. Aggie Theatre, 204 S. College Ave., Fort Collins. $18

STRANGEBYRDS. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

STEELY DEAD & DEADPHISH ORCHESTRA 8 p.m. The Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. $20

EPIK HIGH 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $50

JAKE JACOBSON WITH JACOB CHRISTOPHER. 8 p.m. Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St., Denver. $10

SUNDAY, APRIL 2

MARGO CILKER WITH PATRICK DETHLEFS 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $15 Story at boulderweekly.com.

JASON GREENLAW. 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

KEY GLOCK 7 p.m. Fillmore Auditorium, 1501 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $85

DOM DOLLA 5 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $88

MONDAY, APRIL 3

MAGGIE LINDEMANN WITH KAILEE MORGUE 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $22

JOHN MAYER 7:30 p.m. Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver. $120

MICROWAVE 7 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $36

TUESDAY, APRIL 4

BILLY IDOL WITH KELSY KARTER & THE HEROINES. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $74

ZAKIR HUSSAIN AND THE MASTERS OF PERCUSSION 7:30 p.m. Macky Auditorium 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $130

ALY & AJ. 7 p.m. Summit Music Hall, 1902 Blake St., Denver. $40

BLACK BELT EAGLE SCOUT WITH CLAIRE GLASS AND ADOBO. 8 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $15 Story on pg. 14.

MUSE 6:30 p.m. Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver. $50

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5

PARALEVEN. 9 p.m. Meow Wolf Denver, 1338 First St., Denver. $25

BOULDER BLUEGRASS JAM. 7 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

ON THE BILL: Front Range indie-folk fixture Patrick Dethlefs brings his tender Americana sound to the Velvet Elk Lounge for a performance with singer-songwriter Margo Cilker on Sunday, April 2. Read our profile on the Colorado musician ahead of the show by scanning the QR code to the right, and check out details in the listing below.

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

WE ARE FAMILY

‘A Thousand and One’ boasts authenticity but lacks momentum

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

If necessity is the mother of invention, then Inez de la Paz needs to invent a new life for herself and her little boy. Terry is 6 years old and drowning in the New York foster care system. Inez doesn’t have a lot to offer him — she’s out on the streets herself — but she knows how to get what she wants. And pretty soon, the pair are building a life together.

Written and directed by A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One tracks Inez (Teyana Taylor) and Terry’s life over a decade, from the early1990s to the mid-2000s.

Terry (played by Aaron Kingsley Adetola at age 6, Aven Courtney at 13 and Josiah Cross at 17) is a detached kid, wounded from the start.

There’s a hole in Terry he can’t quite figure out how to fill. Having Lucky (William Catlett) around helps. Like Inez, Lucky was drifting in and out of the prison system. But once Inez tells him Terry is his, Lucky tries hard to be a father. Even though neither he nor Terry seems convinced they are related. Not that it stops them from loving each other. It’s just that there’s something missing.

Ditto for A Thousand and One — an interesting story featuring compelling characters, but missing a narrative engine. It’s hard to even call the movie episodic, considering none of the episodes feel like they want to fit. Sure, there are moments where Rockwell teases out the characters’ backstory and plants seeds for future blossoms, but none of them connect in any compelling way.

What does work in A Thousand and One are the moments of social commentary. Without a home or a job, Inez

has limited options, and legal custody of Terry isn’t one of them. So they go on the lam with forged papers and hope people will leave them alone. The city feels conspiratorial in how it forces Inez and Terry toward the margins, be it their new landlord (Mark Gessner) with gentrification on his mind, or the voice of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani haunting the images of a depressed New York City.

Shot by Eric Yue, A Thousand and One has a grainy visual quality with rich colors that fit Rockwell’s story like a warm glove. But it, too, lacks anything more than appreciation. The film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s a movie with something on its mind. But it fails to make the proceedings feel like anything more than a series of shots and scenes parading on screen for two hours.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Sometimes, I give you suggestions that may, if you carry them out, jostle your routines and fluster your allies. But after trying out the new approaches for a short time, you may chicken out and revert to old habits. That’s understandable! It can be difficult to change your life. Here’s an example. What if I encourage you to cancel your appointments and wander out into the wilderness to discuss your dreams with the birds? And what if, during your adventure, you are flooded with exhilarating yearnings for freedom? And then you decide to divest yourself of desires that other people want you to have and instead revive and give boosts to desires that you want yourself to have? Will you actually follow through with brave practical actions that transform your relationship with your deepest longings?

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): You have done all you can for now to resolve and expunge stale, messy karma—some of which was left over from the old days and old ways. There may come a time in the future when you will have more cleansing to do, but you have now earned the right to be as free from your past and as free from your conditioning as you have ever been. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, you still need to spend a bit more time resolving and expunging stale, messy karma. But you’re almost done!

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Businessman Robert Bigelow hopes to eventually begin renting luxurious rooms in space. For $1.7 million per night, travelers will enjoy accommodations he provides on his orbiting hotel, 200 miles above the Earth’s surface. Are you interested? I bet more Geminis will be signing up for this exotic trip than any other sign. You’re likely to be the journeyers most excited by the prospect of sailing along at 17,000 miles per hour and witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises every 24 hours. APRIL FOOL! In fact, you Geminis are quite capable of getting the extreme variety you crave and need right here on the planet’s surface. And during the coming weeks, you will be even more skilled than usual at doing just that.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to become the overlord of your own fiefdom, or seize control of a new territory and declare yourself chieftain, or overthrow the local hierarchy and install yourself as the sovereign ruler of all you survey. APRIL FOOL! I was metaphorically exaggerating a bit— but just a bit. I do in fact believe now is an excellent phase to increase your clout, boost your influence, and express your leadership. Be as kind you can be, of course, but also be rousingly mighty and fervent.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): In his poem “The Something,” Charles Simic writes, “Here come my night thoughts on crutches, returning from studying the heavens. What they thought about stayed the same. Stayed immense and incomprehensible.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Leos will have much the same experience in the coming weeks. So there’s no use in even hoping or trying to expand your vision. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, you will not have Simic’s experience. Just the opposite. When your night thoughts return from studying the heavens, they will be full of exuberant, inspiring energy. (And what exactly are “night thoughts”? They are bright insights you discover in the darkness.)

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): If there will ever come a time when you will find a gold bullion bar on the ground while strolling around town, it will be soon. Similarly, if you are destined to buy a winning $10 million lottery ticket or inherit a diamond mine in Botswana, that blessing will arrive soon. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. The truth is, I suspect you are now extra likely to attract new resources and benefits, though not on the scale of gold bullion, lottery winnings, and diamond mines.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Do you have a muse, Libra? In my opinion, all of us need and deserve at least one muse, even if we’re not creative artists. A muse can be a spirit or hero or ally who inspires us, no matter what work and play we do. A muse may call our attention to important truths we are ignoring or point us in the direction of exciting future possibilities. According to my astrological analysis, you are now due for a muse upgrade. If you don’t have one, get one—or even more. If you already have a relationship with a muse, ask more from it. Nurture it. Take it to the next level.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Dear Valued Employee: Our records show you haven’t used any vacation time over the past 100 years. As you may know, workers get three weeks of paid leave per year or else receive pay in lieu of time off. One added week is granted for every five years of service. So please, sometime soon, either take 9,400 days off work or notify our office, and your next paycheck will reflect payment of $8,277,432, including pay and interest for the past 1,200 months. APRIL FOOL! Everything I just said was an exaggeration. But there is a grain of truth in it. The coming weeks should bring you a nice surprise or two concerning your job.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Sagittarian poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827) was a hard-working visionary prophet with an extravagant imagination. His contemporaries considered him a freaky eccentric, though today we regard him as a genius. I invite you to enjoy your own personal version of a Blake-like phase in the coming weeks. It’s a perfect time to dynamically explore your idiosyncratic inclinations and creative potentials. Be bold, even brazen, as you celebrate what makes you unique. BUT WAIT! Although everything I just said is true, I must add a caveat: You don’t necessarily need to be a freaky eccentric to honor your deepest, most authentic truths and longings.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Some of my friends disapprove of cosmetic surgery. I remind them that many cultures throughout history have engaged in body modification. In parts of Africa and Borneo, for example, people stretch their ears. Some Balinese people get their teeth filed. Women of the Indigenous Kyan people in Thailand elongate their necks using brass coils. Anyway, Capricorn, this is my way of letting you know that the coming weeks would be a favorable time to change your body. APRIL FOOL! It’s not my place to advise you about whether and how to reshape your body. Instead, my job is to encourage you to deepen and refine how your mind understands and treats your body. And now is an excellent time to do that.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): I invite you to make a big change. I believe it’s crucial if you hope to place yourself in maximum alignment with current cosmic rhythms. Here’s my idea: Start calling yourself by the name “Genius.” You could even use it instead of the first name you have used all these years. Tell everyone that from now on, they should address you as “Genius.” APRIL FOOL! I don’t really think you should make the switch to Genius. But I do believe you will be extra smart and ultra-wise in the coming weeks, so it wouldn’t be totally outrageous to refer to yourself as “Genius.”

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Your body comprises 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion microbial cells, including the bacteria that live within you. And in my astrological estimation, those 69 trillion life forms are vibrating in sweet harmony with all the money in the world. Amazing! Because of this remarkable alignment, you now have the potential to get richer quicker. Good economic luck is swirling in your vicinity. Brilliant financial intuitions are likely to well up in you. The Money God is far more amenable than usual to your prayers. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. But I do believe you now have extra ability to prime your cash flow.

Teyana Taylor (left) and Aaron Kingsley Adetola in A Thousand and One Photo courtesy Focus Features.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

WANTED

Workday Inc. is accepting resumes for the following positions at various levels in Boulder, CO:

Quality Assurance/Automation Engineer (20637.1933): Debugs software products through the use of systemic tests to develop, apply, and maintain quality standards for company products. Exp Incl: QA methodology; Automation Script; Test automation framework; and Querying languages such as SQL.

HELP WANTED

DEAR DAN: Have you/anyone you know had a mid-life crisis? How did you/they handle it? How long did it last? Only asking as I’m slightly worried that my hubby (40-year-old gay man) might be having one and there are only so many saunas, bathhouses, threesomes, etc., I can indulge him in before I just get bored. Also, moving to a U.K. city-centre flat and going clubbing has zero appeal for me, a 35-year-old gay man. Any thoughts you could share?

— Tired Of Going Out

DEAR TOGO: When my husband was in his 20s, he didn’t wanna go out so much, and neither did I. But when he turned 30, he suddenly wanted to go out. So, I let him go out, and I even went out with him once in a while. And now that he’s in his 50s, my husband still wants to go out. Not as often, TOGO, but it’s clear going out wasn’t a midlife crisis or something he would get out of his system in a year or two. It’s something he enjoys, and something he needs. The secret to our success as a mixed introvert/extrovert couple: I don’t force him to stay home, he doesn’t force me to go out. So long as he’s considerate, so long as he’s there when I need him, so long as he doesn’t wake me up when he gets home, it’s not a problem — because we don’t make it a problem. If you don’t need your husband by your side at all times and/or he doesn’t need you by his side at all times — if the idea of staying home and reading while your husband, say, hosts a fetish party at a leather bar doesn’t make you miserable — you can make this work.

DEAR DAN: I’ve learned recently that I’m sort of a demisexual: I like to have a more or less personal connection with someone before having sex. There’s a friend I’ve had sex with before but haven’t again since becoming closer friends. We have lots of sexual tension and there’s clear interest from both ends in having sex again. But for some reason he avoids it, and doesn’t seem all that interested, and he sort of strings me along. I’ve told him in no uncertain terms that I want to fuck, so the ball is in his court. How do I get him to cut through the sexual tension and fuck me already? I think it’d be fun to be his local trade.

Fuck Me

DEAR FM: There’s a lot of tension here — but it’s not mutual sexual tension. You’re feeling sexual tension because you wanna fuck this guy again. And he’s feeling tense because he knows you wanna fuck him — because you told him you wanna fuck him — but he doesn’t wanna fuck you. And he’s a nice guy, the kind of guy who doesn’t want to be unkind if he can avoid it, and so he’s allowed you to think he’s interested. He smiles, he laughs, he flirts, and he gently deflects… too gently, FM, so gently you don’t realize he’s not interested in fucking you again. He thinks he’s being kind but this particular kind of kindness — never saying no, never saying yes — isn’t actually very kind, FM, because living in false hope is torture.

Salary: $84,677 – $138,200 per year, 40 hours per week. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location and recruiters can share more during the hiring process. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, future potential and internal pay parity. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please go to workday.com/en-us/ company/careers/life-at-workday.html

Submit resume by mail to: J. Thurston at Workday, Inc., Attn: Human Resources/Immigration, 6110 Stoneridge Mall Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588. Must reference job title and job code.

Aerospace Engineer sought by SpaceNav, LLC in Boulder, CO, to perform various analyses spanning the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) domain, incl orbit determination, collision avoidance, & maneuver planning. Reqs. Incl: Master’s deg in Aerospace Engg or related engg field & 6 mos. post-bach exp., incl. some exp in object-oriented prgmg in MATLAB; Modern C++; Python; space environment physics; modelling spacecraft attitude dynamics w/ quaternions or other representations; & dvlpg spacecraft state propagation or trajectory simulations to generate high-fidelity ephemerides. To apply, mail resume to Anita Alejandro, SpaceNav, LLC, 2601 Spruce St, Unit A, Boulder, CO 80302.

Whether the sun is shining or snow is falling, our little corner of Pearl Street is the perfect place to soak up winter in beautiful Boulder! Feast alongside the jellyfish, sink into a lounge or take a seat at one of our lively bars.

Prefer the great outdoors? Our fireside patios are the coziest place to savor those mild winter days.

When your own couch is calling, all of your favorites are available for curbside pickup too.

No matter how you choose to dine don’t miss our ever-evolving specials, delicious seasonal cocktails, and latest rare whiskey!

GROWING THE FUTURE

Grow a truly local garden with vegetable, flower and herb seeds from Boulder’s new Seed House

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

An inconspicuous little house on the east edge of Boulder seems like an unlikely place for a local food revolution.

Inside are shelves lined with a hundred or so glass jars filled with seeds for melons, basil, columbine, wheat, tomatoes,chilies and more.

These are no ordinary seeds, like those filling racks of colorful packets at supermarkets. The new Seed House at the MASA Seed Foundation farm is stocked with varieties grown on those 20 acres just off 75th Street.

“These are organic seeds that are not just regional, but local to Boulder County’s conditions,” says Laura Antelmi, assistant director for Masa Seed Foundation. “We don’t choose the prom queen plants. We select for resilience, the ones that will do best here.” As she talks, several volunteers fill packets with mugwort seeds.

The house was the historic home lived in by the family farmers who worked this land.

“We only sell what we grow organically,” Antelmi says. “These are farm-grown, open pollinated and locally adapted seeds, not hybrids” and not genetically modified.

The MASA Seed House is Boulder’s first traditional seed house open to the public since the seed house at Long’s Gardens closed in the 1960s, according to Richard Pecoraro, founder of MASA Seed Foundation.

“Seed houses were traditionally where farmers and gardeners went to buy or swap seeds for the upcoming planting season,” Antelmi says.

For Pecoraro, the jars lining the walls of Masa’s Seed House are full of environmental promise as well as potential flavors, colors and aromas.

Asked to recommend seeds to Boulder County gardeners, he winced as if he were choosing a favorite child. He did suggest planting the following varieties:

• The bushy Maglia Rosa is a pink salad cherry tomato ideal for growing in containers. Start these seeds soon indoors.

• The Tangerine Pimento chile produces squat, orange, sweet fruits that kids love to munch.

• Easy-to-grow Kuroda Orange carrots are dark orange and produce an early sweet crop.

• Prolific Cinnamon Thai basil produces a bounty of aromatic

leaves for eating fresh and drying.

• For flowers, Pecoraro recommends growing Natalie’s Monarch marigolds because the plants are very tough and produce a bounty of gold blossoms.

In total, Pecoraro estimates that the Foundation’s reserve seed bank currently holds more than 1,000 varieties of plants including hardy heirloom grains such as teff, millet and amaranth. The aim is to secure a supply of seeds adaptable to emerging climate change.

Besides seeds, the Seed House provides practical, localgardening expertise, from planting to harvesting and seed saving given the Front Range’s variable sun, water, soil and wind.

MASA Seed Foundation’s mission is to secure a Front Range seed bank of selected heirloom and traditional plants and build regional food security, an issue that became more apparent during the pandemic supply chain challenges, Pecoraro says.

The farm’s ongoing effort produces a lot of seeds — hundreds and hundreds of pounds stored in cardboard barrels, including enough carrots seeds to blanket Boulder County. Some of the surplus is donated to nonprofit garden organizations that feed people, as well for schools and immigrant gardeners, Antelmi says.

Growing all those seeds also

produces a wealth of organic produce, which is distributed through a CSA and also donated to local hunger relief organizations.

During the summer, MASA hosts a farm stand selling produce and plant starts. MASA seeds are also available from the foundation’s online store, at Nude Foods Market and this season at the Saturday Boulder Farmers Market. As a nonprofit organization, MASA welcomes volunteers all year round.

MASA Seed Foundation is located at 1367 75th S., just south of Arapahoe Avenue. The Seed House is open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, or by appointment.

Information and seed catalog: masaseedfoundation.org

Jars of seeds at MASA Seed House. Photo by John Lehndorff.

Sunday,

NIBBLES

TASTE OF THE WEEK

Tucked inside a sprawling renovated Louisville home, Bittersweet Cafe & Confections, 836 Main St., could easily call itself a bakery. The big glass cases are filled with scratch-made muffins, scones, cookies and other sweet and savory pastries. I’m always drawn to Bittersweet’s big, yeasty cinnamon rolls, possibly because of their shiny overcoat of thick cream cheese glaze. There’s something deeply satisfying about gradually unrolling the treat and carefully dunking each chunk in a latte. The cinnamon rolls are also available in take-and-bake form.

Bittersweet offers a breakfast and lunch menu featuring a reputable Cubano pressed sandwich filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, Dijon and pickles.

LOCAL FOOD NEWS

Denver’s Postino WineCafe has opened a second location at 1468 Pearl St., former site of Kasa Japanese Grill & Bar and the awardwinning 15 Degrees restaurant.

Front Range Brewing Company, a longtime Lafayette gathering spot for beer, food and live music, has closed.

The Boulder Farmers Market and the Longmont Farmers Market open for the season on April 1. Regulars will recognize many of the familiar farm and food producers, but the markets are also welcoming a bevy of new, local vendors. Longmont Market food court additions include Bruna’s Cheese Bread, Caspian Deli & Grocery, and Rang Tang Craft Barbecue, as well as Rising Tiger, which dishes noodles, onigiri, gluten-free taiyaki and breakfast “sandos.” New food purveyors at the markets range

from award-winning Haykin Family Cider and Nude Foods Market to Grama Grass & Livestock, a regenerative Boulder County meat company, Colorado Farmhouse Cheese Company of Loveland and Boulder Valley Honey. Among the new growers supplying the market is Boulder’s Off Beet Farm, a queer-owned and operated vegetable farm. The Boulder Wednesday evening market opens on May 3.

John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles, Colorado’s only weekly radio program devoted to local food, dining and agriculture. Listen to Radio Nibbles podcasts at: news.kgnu.org/category/radio-nibbles

Cinnamon rolls at Bittersweet in Louisville.

Photo by John Lehndorff.

Photo by Tyler

A STEALTH HISTORY OF COLORADO OVER A COUPLE OF BEERS’

Sam Bock on the Museum of Boulder’s sudsy new exhibit

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

There are a lot of lenses through which to look at Colorado’s history: the gold rush and mining, oil and gas, agriculture.

But none, Sam Bock and Jason Hanson found, were as interesting or complete as the state’s craft beer industry.

“Really, its genesis is as a book,” Sam Bock said back in 2020 when Beer Here! Brewing the New West was on exhibit at History Colorado in Denver. “What we wanted to do was write this book that was essentially about how you can understand the social and economic changes in Colorado history over 160 years through the lens of beer.”

At the time, Beer Here was attracting beer geeks and history buffs alike, and Bock, the exhibit’s lead developer, had planned multiple beer dinners, talks and events. But a nasty pandemic put a kibosh on all that. Thankfully, things of value have a habit of sticking around, and Beer Here is enjoying a new residency at the Museum of Boulder through Sept. 3, with both the exhibit and an old-fashioned Western

saloon — complete with swinging doors and boot rail at the bar — for you to enjoy.

As Bock mentioned, Beer Here began as a potential book he was working on with Hanson. The two met at CU Boulder’s Center of the American West and were looking for a way to understand Colorado history, but the talks they held through the Center weren’t exactly drawing enthusiasm.

“A few people would come,” Bock said. “And they would be very interested and nice, and then they would fall asleep.”

But once they tried talking about beer, a bigger, more engaged crowd showed up. So when Hansen accepted the chief creative officer job at History Colorado, he took Bock with him, and their idea finally found the form of a museum exhibit. “It’s a stealth history of Colorado over a couple of beers,” Bock said.

That history spans the industrialization of westward expansion to the craft beer revolution.

“If you look through the exhibit, what you see is five moments in Colorado’s

history where beer is particularly illuminating,” Bock explained. “It tells us something special about what’s happening at the time.”

Those five movements — Beer on the Mining Frontier, Brewing an Industry, Prohibition, Coors Country and The Rise of Craft — all expand on what you know, or think you know, about beer in Colorado. Sure, you know Coors is “brewed with pure Rocky Mountain spring water,” but did you know that those commercials became one of the best advertisements for the Colorado lifestyle? And you probably know about the vast intersection of movements that went into passing Prohibition, but did you know the Ku Klux Klan played a role? That’s the sort of history you’ll find at Beer Here, with each section marked by artifacts, advertisements and anecdotes.

Ditto for the connections. Take the German immigrants who brought brewing to the Centennial State:

Adolph Coors, Adolph Zang, Henry Schneider — to name three. “They were here to mine the miners,” Bock explained.

“They’ll tell you it was because of the water, and, really, there is something in the water in Colorado,” Bock continued, “but, as it turns out, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, those were huge beer cities in the 1850s and 1860s. And the market was tapped, for lack of a better word.”

So those German brewers kept moving west until they found a place where the market wasn’t saturated.

And, as Bock pointed out, a similar thing happened 100 years later with the rise of the craft beer movement.

“[The] focus on amenities and lifestyle here in Colorado really made people feel like part of the good life is drinking great beer after a day outside,” Bock said.

And so, the great homebrew guru Charlie Papazian left Virginia for Boulder, Adam Avery moved here from Illinois, and Dale Katechis left Alabama and settled at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

It’s all part of “Colorado’s coming of age and growing into its own economy,” Bock said.

ON TAP: Beer Here!

Brewing the New West, on display through Sept. 3 at the Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway.

Charlie Papazian. Photo courtesy Brewers Association

WEED BETWEEN THE LINES

SIN TAX SCHOLARSHIPS

Pueblo County provides millions in college scholarships from marijuana tax dollars — but an industry downturn could affect that program

BY WILL BRENDZA

Cannabis is currently recreationally legal in 21 states, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. Across those states there are hundreds of counties, all using local mari juana excise tax dollars for dif ferent ends. Some are building or maintaining infrastructure with that money. Some are using it for health care or health education, substance abuse prevention, and, of course, to fund police departments.

But only one county in the nation uses its cannabis excise tax dollars to send students to college: Pueblo County in southern Colorado. Since 2015, Pueblo has allocated 50% of its cannabis tax revenue to fund college scholarships. In 2022 alone the county awarded nearly $3 million in scholarships to local high school graduates.

“This award is quite compelling as we look at supporting both our local institutions and students aspiring to obtain higher education at other colleges and universities in the State of Colorado and across this country,”

Pueblo County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz told the Pueblo Chieftain

With this program, Pueblo has taken a bold step in capitalizing on cannabis excise tax dollars — what many refer to as “sin taxes.” But the cannabis industry’s recent downturn has affected both cannabis businesses and the programs its tax revenue supports (Weed Between the Lines, “The cannabis downturn,” Feb. 9, 2023).

In Pueblo County, that loss of revenue could hit prospective college students harder than others.

The scholarship program was supported and largely progressed by Sal Pace, a Pueblo County commissioner and former state legislator. Pace worked hard to get County Ballot Measure 1B in front of voters in 2015. The local legislation allocated a minimum of 50% of its excise tax revenue from marijuana to college scholarships. The remaining 50% goes toward capital improvements.

“I wanted 100% of it to go for scholarships,” Pace told Colorado Springs Business in 2015, adding that it was still one of his proudest political accomplishments.

At first, money was awarded only to the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation. But after 2018 it opened up to include a variety of Pueblo organizations and students, including the Pueblo African American Concern Organization.

“We have gone from awarding all this money to one entity to awarding it to various entities, making it competitive, really seeing some innovative programs and accountability on behalf of the students receiving the scholarships,” Ortiz says.

The program had a record year in 2022. It raised more than $2.9 million — $1 million of which was awarded to Colorado State University-Pueblo and Pueblo Community College, with another $1 million going to colleges outside of Pueblo County. The University of Colorado system (CU Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver) received $300,000 from Pueblo county marijuana scholarships.

While the 2023 numbers haven’t been announced yet, 2022’s cannabis scholarships raised 33% more than 2021’s ($1 million more). That trend tracks with the cannabis industry’s recent boom days — especially considering the cannabis tax revenue generated in Pueblo County doesn’t go into scholarships until the following calendar year.

As of the most recent reporting, cannabis sales in Pueblo County dropped almost 40% in the first 11 months of 2022. That is reflective of the entire state, which made only $325 million dollars in cannabis tax revenue in 2022, compared to $423 million in 2021.

Boulder Weekly reached out to Pueblo County several times for more up-to-date local numbers but did not receive a response.

That drop in sales and tax revenue will directly affect students who choose to go to Pueblo for college specifically because of this scholarship program. Or others who wouldn’t have gone to college at all without it.

For critics of sin taxes, this is evidence of why it’s risky to use them to fund public programs. Unstable industries shouldn’t be relied on to support things like healthcare or college scholarships, they argue.

However, others say it’s done the community good to funnel cannabis money into college scholarships.

“If there’s a couple of kids who go to college that wouldn’t have, that means we’re changing their lives,” Pace says. “Maybe changing generations of lives after them.”