Those looking to get a head start on Longmont Pride Week and help out a local nonprofit will have their chance this weekend.
The Good Life Refuge, a sanctuary for abused and at-risk farm animals, at 2 p.m. Saturday will hold a LGBTQ Pride Celebration Virtual Tour. The live 45-minute tour will be led by sanctuary founder and president Nicole Brecht and special guest host Denver-based drag queen Zenon TeaVee, who hails from Longmont.
The GoodLife, founded in 2018 and granted nonprofit status in 2019, was just starting to gain fans, supporters and volunteers before the coronavirus pandemic closed the sanctuary in March, Brecht said. Virtual tours have provided a way for the community to get to know the sanctuary and its residents and help the nonprofit feed and care for its 50 animals.
“People really enjoyed coming here, we recruited a ton of new volunteers, 20 something, our followers on Facebook were at 2,500. We were growing and COVID hit and we were literally stopped cold,” she said.
A handful of volunteers have just started returning to the farm, but Brecht said she is still struggling with a good setup to safely reopen to the public.
The Good Life offers free virtual tours to school groups, and is giving paid virtual tours to corporate groups and groups of family and friends. A community virtual tour for Mother’s Day also was hugely successful, Brecht said.
The inspiration for the Pride Celebration Virtual Tour sprang from Drag Queen Story Hour at the library in Lafayette, where Brecht used to live. She said she reached out to Shirley Delta Blow, who was featured at the Lafayette story event in January as well others, including in Broomfield. “Miss Shirley” couldn’t host, but suggested TeaVee.
In addition to showing support for the LGBTQ community, Brecht said she hopes the event will show off the unique personalities of Good Life denizens. Among them Jason, the “grumpy” potbellied pig, Ankara the turkey and Rosalina the now-teenage cow.
Ankara was found “wandering a neighborhood in Berthoud. He was emaciated. I couldn’t stand the thought of him becoming dinner,” Brecht said.
Sofia and Leo, farm pigs that weigh in at 750 and 450 pounds, respectively, also call the sanctuary home. Sofia was a bit of a problem pig prior to her arrival, with her aggressive behavior destroying a patio deck before her previous owners surrendered her to The Good Life. And Leo, “he’s a tank, he’s like the silverback gorilla … pure muscle, almost rectangular and has this tank-type march on him. But he’s a lover, he’s a big puppy,” Brecht said of the swine who likes belly rubs and treats.
“Pigs are my favorite, they’re a challenge but my favorite,” Brecht said.
The Good Life's residents also include more pigs, both potbellied and farm; ducks; chickens; geese; alpacas; goats; cats; dogs, and guinea pigs. And there’s Rosalina and Teddy, “baby calves,”now 9-month-old teenagers after being rescued in March from a hoarding situation at a hobby farm in Indiana.
Rosalina is curious, “rubs her nose on you and gives me kisses,” Brecth said, “but she pushes me around when she feels like it.”
The animals are individuals, Brecht said. They also come with an array of special needs and medical conditions that are tended to at the nonprofit northwest of Longmont.
For example, Jason the “grumpy” potbellied pig is the oldest pig at the sanctuary. He is arthritic and has a skin condition. For the latter he gets weekly medicated baths on Fridays. For the former, he receives acupuncture treatments; and, belying his grumpy nature, he is the only animal at the sanctuary still doing so. He likes them so much, the acupuncturist can treat him without assistance.
“He likes his back scratches and his acupuncture,” Brecht said.
The suggested donation for Saturday’s Pride Tour is $5, but more is always welcome, Brecht said. Registration will close an hour and a half before the 2 p.m. start. Register here. Registered participants will receive emails with details to join the Zoom video call.
