Sixty-one years ago, the Longmont Kiwanis organized a parade that celebrated the opening of the Boulder County Fair. In those days, it was also a celebration of Longmont’s agricultural community. This year the Longmont Kiwanis Club is calling on the agricultural community to help it get back to its roots.
Longmont was founded in 1870 when a group of prominent men from Chicago came to Colorado with a dream of building a new town. By 1871, the town had been built and named after the tallest nearby mountain, Longs Peak, according to the city of Longmont website.
Although gold mining attracted many to the plains just east of the Rocky Mountains, farmers soon followed, finding an arid desert but rich soil. These farmers built a series of irrigation ditches diverted from existing creeks and later piped water down from higher elevations, according to an article on Boulder County farming history.
These irrigation ditches brought the water needed to turn Longmont into an agricultural community. By 1872 the city had four flour mills, a vegetable cannery, a sugar beet factory and a number of immigrants from Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Japan to farm the land.
“All these groups continue to be an important part of Longmont's heritage, and their descendants still live in and around Longmont,” the city’s website states.
It is this rich farming history that the Longmont Kiwanis want to share in this year’s Boulder County Fair Parade on August 5.
The Kiwanis — an organization dedicated to improving the world by helping children — host the annual parade. Proceeds from the parade support the nonprofit by supplying parts for its Toys for Kids project. Members of the Kiwanis meet each Thursday afternoon to build wooden toys for children in need. Each year the Kiwanis build and donate over 10,000 toys.
Additional funding goes to support two St. Vrain Valley School District students via a $2,000 scholarship based on financial need.
Over the past few years, an average of 50 organizations have entered to walk in the Boulder County Fair Parade, a significant dip since its heyday. Also, fewer and fewer agricultural organizations have entered.
Marv VanPeursem has been part of Longmont Kiwanis longer than most. He remembers a time when longhorn cattle and horses were brought to march down Main Street during the parade. It is something he wishes to see again.
Only four members of the current Kiwanis membership are still tied to the farming community but Cheryl Vestal, Boulder County Fair Parade superintendent, has been reaching out to every farm she passes inviting them to participate.
“We want to generate more enthusiasm for a long-standing tradition,” Vestal said. “I think it is always important for the city to remember its roots and where it came from.”
The Longmont Kiwanis is accepting applications for the parade now. Organizations of all kinds are welcome to join — not just agricultural organizations. Entries before July 22 are $10 and $15 after. Political entries are $25 plus an additional fee of $10 per candidate.
The parade will be held on August 5 and will follow a path from Roosevelt Park, south on Main Street to Third Avenue, east on Third Avenue to Coffman Street and north until it returns to Roosevelt Park.
