LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Each Development Should Be Judged On Its Own Page 2
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Great Changes To Anderson Park When It Re-Opens Page 5
CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE Celebrating 50 Years – 1969 – 2019 Pages 9-16
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Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
WHEAT RIDGE | APPLEWOOD | MOUNTAIN VIEW | LAKESIDE | BERKELEY June 17 – July 15, 2019 • ngazette.com • FREE
G Line Opening Spurs On Transit Oriented Development n By
Mike McKibbin
T
he trains are finally rolling in Wheat Ridge and the city and developers hope to climb on board with new housing, recreation and commercial buildings and facilities surrounding a rail station. Commuter rail service began Friday, April 26, with the G (Gold) Line carrying passengers 11.2 miles between the Wheat Ridge Ward Station and downtown Denver’s Union Station. Wheat Ridge officials began preparing for growth near the station several years ago, using an approach considered to be key to rail station development success. Transit-oriented development (TOD) generally includes transit, bicycle and pedestrian amenities, housing options, retail, office, open space and public uses. By combining housing, jobs and transportation choices in a small area, TOD is believed to help lower living costs, reduce driving, support active living, strengthen and diversify tax revenues and promote more Continued on page 8
ONE OF THE LONGEST RUNNING FESTIVALS IN COLORADO, the Carnival Festival is a wonderful mix of traditional county fair and modern beer and music festival delivered over three days to as many as 30,000 participants. See special 50th Anniversary section starting on page 9. PHOTO COURTESY WHEAT RIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Five Fridges Farm Makes Connection Between Community, Sustainability n By
L
Meghan Godby
ast December, a herd of goats belonging to Five Fridges Farm disappeared from their grazing grounds at Kipling Trailhead. Although the area was gated, someone tampered with the lock, and it’s believed that the goats were stolen. Unfortunately, despite extensive media coverage and volunteer search efforts, the goats were never found. But thanks to a positive attitude and generous community support, the farm, located at 1100 W. 38th Ave. in Wheat Ridge, is moving forward. In April, Five Fridges Farm teamed up with Colorado Plus in Wheat Ridge to help raise money for a new herd. The brewery came up with the idea for a commemorative brew to honor the lost goats, and t-shirts were made. The fundraiser brought in $3,000; beer sales generated $500 and the rest came from donations and t-shirt purchases. The money helped fund the purchase of a new grazing herd and GPS units to track goats in the future. Foothills Animal Shelter, Skål Farms and Blessed Bit of Earth Farms also donated goats. The partnership with Colorado Plus runs deeper than the fundraiser, however. Each week, the brewery provides 200 pounds of spent grain to the farm, which is fed to goats and chickens. In turn, the farm supplies quality ingredients (i.e., eggs and vegetables) back to Colorado Plus. Colorado Plus and Cibo Meals, a Denver food delivery service, are two organizations that provide food scraps to supplement the animals’ diets – chickens, in particular. The farm receives about 10 gallons of scrap per week. While the majority is from pre-sale (i.e., from food preparation, before it goes
out on the table), Amanda Weaver, the farm’s owner, is working to change that. “You first want to try and get that food to people,” Weaver said. “[After that], we’re spending a lot of money on composting, but what we should be trying to do is use that food as calories before we turn it back into soil.” The philosophy is a paradigm shift that can radically change the way we think about
food, and it’s one of Weaver’s passions. “We’ve already grown the food and prepared it,” she explained. “If we can’t get it to human mouths, can we get it to animal mouths?” But while animals are great at breaking down the waste, the cycle doesn’t stop there. One of the most valuable ways the animals benefit the farm is through their manure. “Manure is incredibly rich and is going
to add back all that organic matter you need to grow vitamin-rich vegetables,” Weaver shared. “At the end of the day, it’s their poop that is the most valuable to me.” Since there’s a conservation easement on the farm, managed by Colorado Open Lands, this cycle of sustainability is essential. The area is designated for strictly Continued on page 6
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Tattoo Artist Finds Enrichment By Giving Back To The Community n By
Ken Lutes
T
he more good we do for ourselves, the more we have to give,” says Aries Rhysing, owner of All Sacred Tattoo Studio and the All Sacred Foundation, in Wheat Ridge at 7700 W. 44th Ave. That mantra is a far cry from the wayward path he followed through most of his teen years and early twenties. Having recognized he’d been following in the footsteps of his family, who have all passed away from addiction and disease stemming from negative addictive lifestyles, he “wanted to be the one who did not follow that path.” Rhysing simultaneously discovered that his art, as well as his soul and body, was suffering from his self-destructive lifestyle. That’s when he began to take both tattooing and his spiritual path more seriously. He then realized that his art flourished from his spirituality and his spirituality from his art. “That cycle needs to happen to be on the Bodhisattva path,” Rhysing said, referring to the Buddhist path to attaining enlightenment. “The better I got with my art and the more fulfilled I got with my spirituality, “
Continued on page 6
ARIES RHYSING IS FOUNDER AND OWNER OF ALL SACRED TATTOO STUDIO and the All Sacred Foundation, which, from its Wheat Ridge location at 7700 W. 44th Ave., raises funds for several metro Denver-area nonprofits. PHOTO BY KEN LUTES