A LOOK BACK

• Timeline "Slide Show"

• Reminiscing about Boulder 1
• Reminiscing about Boulder 2
• Reminiscing about Boulder 3

• Boulder Comes of Age

• Pearl Street Celebrates 25 Years as a Pedestrain Mall

• Local Musicians Make Music and History

What makes Boulder Boulder? We asked that question and others of several locals who have lived in the Boulder area anywhere from a year to more than 40. Their answers may surprise you, touch on a memory, crack you up or make you mad. Either way, here’s a lighthearted look at what’s made Boulder special for the past 25 years and where it’s headed in the next 25.

Bree Bradner, graduate student

Most Interesting thing? The Halloween Mall Crawl. What a quintessentially Boulder event! Its untimely and uncalled-for demise is indicative of the new Yuppie conservative Boulder that calls block parties riots and puts stopping underage drinking above stopping rape on the priorities list.

Favorite thing? Pearl Street Mall, which is still home to numerous societal misfits and malcontents, and, of course, the mountains—the real reason people relocate to this sunny oasis of “liberalism.” The freedom to escape, to play Annie Oakley, fastest femme fatale in the West, climbing, hiking, biking, summer tubing on Boulder Creek...this is paradise found. Now we just have to learn to share!

Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney, Olympic cyclists and cycling camp directors

Most exciting thing? When we were flown by helicopter from Stapleton Airport to Boulder after the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. From the helicopter we could see 5,000 or so fans waving at us from below at the courthouse lawn on Pearl Street Mall. We buzzed our house at Arapahoe and 6th Street and then landed at the hospital. A Cadillac drove us downtown in style. What a fabulous welcome orchestrated by the city of Boulder and [bike race impresario] Michael Aisner! We felt like heroes!

Best change? Physical fitness is now mainstream in Boulder, but we remember when it wasn’t cool to be athletic. Running, cycling, hiking, skiing, blading—everyone is into some form of exercise and that makes Boulder unique.

Michael Christie, director, Colorado Music Festival

Most interesting thing? The “unwritten rules” bicyclists and runners follow while sharing the road with automobiles. I’m a cyclist myself and I’ve seen some pretty self-righteous behavior out there, which always manages to surprise me.

Best change? Forty-eight percent of Boulder’s population has lived here for less than five years, which may be an extremely positive development. A special breed would find Boulder attractive as a place to actually live, and I think those eclectic and energetic people keep Boulder’s spirit piqued.

Nini Coleman, director of programming, Colorado Chautauqua Association

Picture Boulder, Colorado, in 1973 on a hot summer day. I perched myself on the curb of pre-mall Pearl Street. Lo and behold, a tumbleweed came dancing down the street. I said to myself, “Whoa! I’m out West!”

Kevin Daly, owner of Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery

Most interesting thing? Being allowed to have a candlelit memorial for Jerry Garcia on Pearl Street Mall on Aug. 9, 1995.

Favorite thing? The scenery, Boulder’s thriving young music scene, RockyGrass and the Folks Festival in Lyons, and the summer music scene at Chautauqua.

Frank Day, CEO, Concept Restaurants

Funniest thing? Sometime in the ’70s there was a city clerk named Clea Rorex. A couple of gay and lesbian couples had applied for marriage licenses and Clea issued them, claiming that she could find no statute that prevented it. Of course, this created controversy, with nationwide publicity. A cowboy named Roz, a conservative left over from the old days, was puzzled by the issuance of these marriage licenses. After much thought, he mounted his horse—a mare—and rode it into the courthouse to Clea’s office. There he declared, “If a boy can marry a boy and a girl can marry a girl, then why can’t an old cowboy marry his horse?” And he applied for a marriage license. Clea asked the horse’s name and age. “Lulu,” Roz said. “She’s 12 years old.” Clea told him that Lulu was underage and Roz would have to wait six years or obtain written consent from Lulu’s parents. At that, Roz retired back to The Walrus, his old watering hole, to puzzle it some more.

Forecast? More gentrification, more wealth, more stress and strain, but expansion is largely over and the future will be in the form of redevelopment. Boulder will continue to evolve into “Carmel by the Flatirons.” However, our anchor to windward has been and will continue to be CU, Naropa and various cultural and civic organizations that are fighting a valiant, but perhaps gradually losing, battle to keep Boulder a unique, especially livable place.

Dick Devin, producing artistic director, Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Most exciting thing? One perfect summer evening in 1996 when the full moon rose above the forest in Athens in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was so stunningly lovely that the whole audience drew in its collective breath.

Best change? During the ’90s, Boulder’s not-for-profit arts and social services communities made admirable strides toward working together, cooperating with city government and collaborating with the Community Foundation and AHAB [Arts and Humanities Association of Boulder, now Boulder County Arts Alliance] for the benefit of Boulder’s citizens.

Marty Durlin, general manager, KGNU-88.5 FM

Most exciting thing? The creation of KGNU with its on-air debut in May 1978. The station has evolved into an award-winning institution with more than 4,000 listener members and more than 200 volunteers; a music library of some 70,000 titles; historical tape archives; and, in the last year, a permanent home made possible by the support of the community. KGNU reflects Boulder’s interests and passions, and showcases the many talented folks in our community.

Best change? The bike paths. I ride my bike nearly every day to work and I’m so grateful to be on Goose Creek Path instead of out on the streets with all the cars.

Stan Garnett, board member, Boulder Valley School District

Best thing? The 1997 school board election when the community rallied in unprecedented numbers to support public education and productive community discourse.

What makes Boulder Boulder? The mix of very diverse, thoughtful, well-educated people who care deeply about the community. The biggest misconception of those outside the community is that Boulderites are all alike.

Marcelee Gralapp, director, Boulder Public Library

Best change? It’s not necessarily the “best” change, but a major change nevertheless: Boulder is losing its sense of community and becoming populated more and more by rugged individualists. It just seems very different from the “old Boulder.”

Favorite thing? Two things: urban to green in five minutes, more or less, and great public support for quality information and public library services.

Terry Harman, receptionist, Daily Camera

Most Boulder thing? When then-mayor Leslie Durgin called and personally invited me to her retirement party, I was so honored. Working at the front desk of the Daily Camera, I’d had a lot of casual contact with her over the years, but it really warmed my heart that with her busy schedule she took the time to make a special call to me.

What makes Boulder Boulder? The friendliness of the people. When I take a hike, people always looks up and say hello, and the clerks at the shopping centers are always so nice. I travel a lot and do not find this kind of warmth and friendliness anywhere else.

Ginger Havlat, disc jockey, KBCO-97.3 FM

Most Boulder thing? The development of Pearl Street Mall is one of the best things to happen in the last 25 years. It’s the social and cultural center of Boulder; you can’t beat the free entertainment—street musicians and magicians—along with the best people-watching in the state!

Best change? The growing diversity of Boulder’s residents. Boulder is a cornucopia of different lifestyles and attitudes. Goodbye to the old stereotype that Boulder is a “sprouts-and-granola” town.

More Reminiscing About Boulder