This was a big year for Longmont as it was set to celebrate its 150th anniversary of becoming a city. Plans were made to ‘celebrate in style’ but COVID ruined the party. Despite its best efforts, the pandemic was not able to stop creative thinkers at the city of Longmont to pull out a few show stoppers.
In February, the city of Longmont teamed up the Longmont Chamber of Commerce’s Karen Stallard to host a Thursday Night at the Longmont Museum event. Although no one able to attend in person, it was viewed through Longmont’s Channel 8 public access TV station through Longmont Public Media.
The event featured Longmont Museum’s Curator of History, Erik Mason, retelling the history of Longmont. Stallard then greeted guests who represented the variety of cultures found in Longmont, the list included Olga Cordero and Karen Kanemoto-Wood both of whom spoke of their families’ history in the area and the cultural differences they faced.
The live-streamed event included a pre-recorded video of Astronaut Vance Brand, one of Longmont’s home-grown heroes.
Throughout the spring and in correlation with Paula Fritz’s book “Stories of our Longmont Parks” the city sponsored bike rides along city trails.
Erik Mason shared some of the stories from his book “Longmont: the First 150 Years” during historic walks throughout town.
According to Assistant City Manager Sandi Seader more was planned for the year but COVID restrictions caused the city to reconsider. These events included a huge birthday celebration around the Fourth of July where the city planned to assist the Kiwanis Club in their fundraising efforts to bring large fireworks show to the downtown area.
The fireworks show was canceled in 2020 and in 2021, the Kiwanis partnered with the Fox Hill Country Club to put on a small, private show.
Rhythm on the River, a summer staple, was canceled for the second year in a row. Seader said the city had plans to make it a special event this year but decided to be cautious due to the pandemic.
Canceling the city’s participation in these events did not mean nothing happened. The city was able to pull together a 150th exhibit at the Longmont Museum which will end on Jan. 9. Seader said the switch to digital due to COVID may have pushed the museum to include a 360 degree fully digital component to the exhibit, allowing patrons to view the exhibit from home.
Additionally, the city commissioned an art piece to commemorate the anniversary. The piece is called the Longmont Century Chest. It was fabricated from bicycle parts donated by Longmont residents and welded together by David Flores Orozco, according to Angela Brill, Arts in Public Places director.
The fabrication of the piece began during the September ArtWalk celebration which also was considered the city’s birthday party. During the event, residents were “encouraged to contribute to the project by adding their handprints to a “Make Your Mark on Longmont” community canvas and writing a love letter to Longmont,” Brill said.
The contributed letters are being bound into a book and placed inside the chest — which also will act as a time capsule, Brill added. The city will add a copy of the two commemorative books authored this year, an All-American City Award pin, a 2021 City Challenge coin, a bike map, photos and video from the September ArtWalk event, postcards and other items.
“The artwork concept is multi-faceted - citizens are giving to the construction, content and representation of the community to create the final artwork,” Brill continued. “Unlike a traditional time capsule, this vessel will not be buried, but will remain on display for our community to enjoy for generations. The artwork is a testament to the dedication of Longmont's community strength and pride to protect our story for the next 100 years.”
Another art piece was commissioned by Art in Public Placed that will be installed outside the Longmont City Council chambers in the fall. This piece is the latest in the Colorado Gouache Series by Colorado artist Julie Leidel.
Leidel, a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan, evokes a feeling of yesteryear and conveys the principle that the head, heart, and hand should ideally work as one, Brill said.
This piece will be unveiled at the City Council Open Forum on Jan. 18 at the Longmont Museum.
Though the community was not able to come together for a special celebration the 150th Anniversary deserved, Seader couldn’t help but notice how it came together for each other.
“Longmont is resilient. Longmont has always been resilient. And not just the city staff … but also the community members (are) resilient in taking care of themselves and their neighbors. That is something I continue to see in 2021 and something that I think makes Longmont great,” Seader said.
