HATCH CHAUTAUQUA

On the Corner 4th Quarter 2023

On the Corner 4th Quarter 2023

The Mann Sisters were a hit at Chautauqua,

by Silvia Pettem 

When Ethel and Marion Mann were young girls, their mother would invite dancers to dinner, then urged her guests to "teach the girls a few steps."   

The sisters' journey to stardom began in 1926 when Ethel won a dance contest. The prize was a year of dance lessons in New York City. Ethel, her sister, and their mother all moved from Boulder to New York. After Ethel's classes, she taught Marion everything she had learned. 

While in New York, they watched cowboys at rodeos in Madison Square Garden and learned rope tricks from "cowboy philosopher" Will Rogers.

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2023

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2023

Bluebell Avenue resident had unusual past,

By Silvia Pettem

In last month’s “On the Corner,” I wrote that early real estate developer David Dobbins built four almost-identical brick bungalows, one on each of the southeast corners of Bluebell Avenue and 15th, 16th, 17th, and 19th streets.  

The house at 1604 Bluebell was owned by Miriam Rieder who lived there from the late 1930s to her death in 1957. Rieder was an assistant professor of Romance Languages at the University of Colorado. She also was considered an eccentric, and she had an unusual past.  

At the time, acres of undeveloped property surrounded Rieder’s home. She bought the land and preferred it wild and unkempt with native plants and flowers providing a sanctuary for ground-nesting birds. After one neighbor complained of her “weeds,” she wrote a scathing letter to the editor of the “Daily Camera.”

“What is the matter with people who are so blind that they see beauty, and utility, only in their own little clipped lawn?” Rieder asked. “How can people go to church and sit in pews and worship God, and then devote their weekdays to trying to destroy what He has generously given us to enjoy?”

Rieder regularly patrolled her property and carried a pistol to scare off intruders. Parents of neighborhood children complained that she chased and shot at them. In 1950, the then-61-year old woman pleaded guilty in court to “threatening the lives of young people,” but she claimed she only did it to frighten them off of her land.

  The public was unaware during her lifetime that Rieder was the daughter of former German professor Mary Rippon.  At CU’s recent May Commencement, the highly acclaimed Rippon received a long-overdue posthumous honorary doctoral degree. But in 1889, she had secretly married one of her adult students, and they had a child. That child was Miriam Rieder.

Rippon conveniently took a year’s sabbatical to Germany where Rieder was born in 1889. Then Rippon returned to CU and continued to teach. The little girl was left in orphanages and passed around an extended family of aunts and uncles for the first few years of her life. Rippon (who would have lost her job if her marriage had been known) never lived with her husband. Eventually he remarried and was able to raise their daughter.

When Rieder lived at 16th and Bluebell, she was separated from her husband Rudolph. Their son Wilfred is now deceased, but he spent most of his adult life on the East Coast. Think of Rieder, her birds, and her unusual background, as you drive by her former home.

Cutline: Miriam Rieder’s former home at 1604 Bluebell Avenue was one of four (initially!) almost-identical brick bungalows built by real estate developer David Dobbins.

 

Silvia Pettem is the author of “Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon,” available in local bookstores and at www.thebooklode.com.

On the Corner, 2nd Quarter 2023

On the Corner, 2nd Quarter 2023

Chautauqua a win-win for Boulder

by Silvia Pettem

Ever since 1898, Boulder residents and visitors have participated in events at Boulder's Chautauqua, now in its 125th year. But the national, cultural, and educational movement is not unique to Boulder. It grew out of nineteenth-century camp meetings in New York state and provided classes, oratory, music, and entertainment to isolated communities.

In its early days, there were at least 150 of these gatherings all over the country. So, how did Chautauqua, initially a summer resort, find its way to Boulder? A longtime Chautauqua secretary once stated that the Boulder location was chosen after a committee of leading Texas educators "set out like knights of old in the search for the Holy Grail." They thought Boulder was "the loveliest little city in America." Also, its summers were cooler than at home.

Boulder voters quickly approved a bond issue to buy seventy-five acres of land, then leased the land to what at first was called the Texas-Colorado Chautauqua. Contractors then scrambled to build the dining hall and auditorium, as opening day was scheduled for July 4, 1898. Carpenters finished the auditorium's framing on June 22.

Then, with only twelve days to go, 75 men worked around the clock to complete the walls, roof, towers, stage, and benches. A reporter called the construction "the fastest work ever known in Boulder." On opening day, flags waved and bands played.

Many of the guests came by train and stayed all summer. That first year, they slept in tents. In the evenings, a lively pace of orators, entertainers, and musicians performed on stage. These performers "rode the circuit," traveling by train to gatherings in other parts of the country. In the daytime, families were kept busy with burro rides, railroad excursions, and hikes in the mountains.

Boulder's location is unique, but the Chautauqua name is not. The Iroquois word has multiple meanings, including “a bag tied in the middle” or “two moccasins tied together." It describes the shape of Chautauqua Lake, in southwest New York, at the site of the movement's first (and ongoing) location.

In 125 years, the Chautauqua Auditorium has seen an array of speakers, magicians and animal shows, colorful dancers, persuasive actors, and nearly every kind of singer and musician imaginable. Classical music has come back in style, and the films that started the first year have never stopped. The site was a win-win situation for everyone, even the Texans.

Silvia Pettem can be reached at silviapettem.com

On the Corner, 1st Quarter 2023

On the Corner, 1st Quarter 2023

Bryan and Jones were early Chautauqua speakers

by Silvia Pettem

William Jennings Bryan and Samuel P. Jones were an unlikely pair on a speaking tour, but individually and together they roused crowds in Boulder during Chautauqua's early days.

The national educational and cultural resort opened its Boulder venue in 1898. Although audiences enjoyed entertainers, musicians, and films, they were riveted on speakers. Politics, religion, and anti-liquor sentiments dominated the stage.

William Jennings Bryan, a former U.S. Representative from Nebraska, was the most popular speaker in 1899. The Democrat was known as the "silver-tongued orator" and had run for U.S. president but lost against Republican William McKinley. Still, Bryan was well-liked in Boulder County and other mining districts of the West, as he supported the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver.

When he stepped off the train in downtown Boulder, he was greeted by thousands of well-wishers. A reporter wrote, “Cheersyells, hand-clapping, waving of hats and handkerchiefs, a roar of sound and a seething sea greeted the ear and the eye simultaneously."

Six additional trains brought crowds from Fort Collins, the mountain towns, and from Denver, temporarily doubling Boulder’s population. Stores closed at noon, and crowds lined Bryan’s carriage route as he was driven uphill to the auditorium on the Chautauqua grounds. Many people walked from the downtown depot, while others rented horse-drawn hacks or squeezed onto Boulder’s new electric streetcars. Colorado women had recently won the right to vote, and they made up a large part of Bryan’s audience.

At the beginning of the program, a band played “Hail to the Chief.” When the renowned speaker was introduced as “the next president,” men, women, and children burst into wild applause.

Another early speaker was Samuel P. Jones, who was an evangelical minister and anti-liquor crusader. He was known for being humorous and theatrical, but his message was a simple one of living a good life that was as sin-free as possible. 

Both Bryan and Jones returned to Boulder in July 1905 for Jones/Bryan Day. By then Bryan had lost his second presidential election, but the people in Boulder still loved him. The audience gave him a standing ovation and deafening applause.

At the time, speeches went on for three or four hours, and the only seats in the auditorium were wooden benches. After listening to Bryan, Boulder Daily Camera editor L.C. Paddock wrote that the benches were "unthinkably hard," but "Bryan is the only man who ever rendered them tolerable to the spine."

Early editions of On the Corner (2006-2015)

Enjoy archived editions of the On the Corner newsletter right here!

On the Corner 4th Quarter/Year End 2022

On the Corner 4th Quarter/Year End 2022

Boulder's first films were shown at Chautauqua, by Silvia Pettem

In 1898, when the Chautauqua cultural and educational movement opened in Boulder, its summer visitors were treated to speakers, entertainers, and musicians in its newly built auditorium. Boulder residents attended, as well. The Chautauqua Association also brought in motion pictures –– the first ever shown in Boulder.

At the time, the public was caught up in the fervor of the Spanish-American War, creating a demand for patriotic newsreels. The first shown at Chautauqua was the Battle of Santiago Bay, leading viewers to believe it was filmed in Cuba. The film, however, featured cardboard models of ships that were partially disguised with cigar smoke.  

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2022

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2022

Dear neighbors, back in October of 2019 I interviewed neighbor Sabine Schaffner for this newsletter. I learned she wanted to share more about the neighborhood than about herself. But I discovered in my time with her that there was so much about her that I wanted to share with you. Once I was close to completing the piece I wanted her to read it. She did. But then she asked me not to publish it for it was too personal. I was disappointed but I very much respected her privacy. Today, with her family’s permission, I am grateful to be able to share this story with you. It’s mostly the same as it was then but with editing from Beret Strong and career fact-checking from Karen Simmons - thank you both!

Guardian of the Galaxy - Neighbor recounts first spacecraft images of our planets

By Jon Hatch, On The Corner

As she stood in her slippers, in her mid-century home, gazing out through large, west-facing windows to her backyard sanctuary, Sabine (pronounced Sabeena) Schaffner, 87, described to me memories from the 65 years she had lived in Boulder. For 22 of those years, she was tucked into a dead end dirt road below Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. Just a few minutes into listening to Sabine, I realized there was going be a lot to be shared so I suggested we sit down. She placed us at each end of the couch in the living room that was lightly accented with antique furniture, ancient rugs and vaulted ceilings with stout wood beams. There were tea and nibbles. She turned up her hearing aid and asked me to speak…

On The Corner, 2nd Quarter 2022

On The Corner, 2nd Quarter 2022

Dear OTC readers, I wanted to take a step back in time to share this story which I published in OTC

back in the fall of 2009. A harrowing story of two young men who climbed the Third Flatiron and

painted the letter “C". It is one of my favorite stories in the many years I've been publishing this

newsletter. It was a pleasure to interview Dale Johnson, one of the men, who lived in the

neighborhood with his wife Frandee Johnson. Dale passed away in 2012. He would've been 91

years old today. Back in 2009 the average sales price in Lower Chautauqua was $738,000. The

average price per square foot was $358/sqft and the highest price home sale that year was

$1,050,000. It was time of The Great Recession. I was five years into my real estate career and my

kids were 4 and 6 years old. Today they are 18 and 20 and this market my 18th year in the biz.

Gee, how time flies. Thank you all for reading this all these years and for your personal

compliments along the way. Enjoy the climb up this rock again - it’s a good one!

On the Corner, 1st Quarter 2022

On the Corner, 1st Quarter 2022

A supporter of women’s rights, Cockerell happily tagged

along. Shortly afterward, he was hired at CU as professor

of zoology. In 1887, Cockerell had moved from England

to Colorado, a recommended treatment for tuberculosis.

Later he returned to England and married his longtime

sweetheart, but within a few years she and both of their

children died. Grieving, but realizing that own health was

better in a high, dry climate, he moved to Colorado

permanently in 1893.

FROM THE TRAIL #48, EQUANIMITY!

FROM THE TRAIL #48, EQUANIMITY!

WELCOME TO #48! IT'S JUST A THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND THE WORD FOR 2022 FOR ME IS... EQUANIMITY!

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2021

On the Corner, 3rd Quarter 2021

Chautauqua most unusual entertainers came during the venue's early years

by Silvia Pettem

Chautauqua's auditorium has witnessed a variety of entertainers in its long history. Magicians, naturalists, and even animals performed during its earliest years.

"Maro," a magician, performed in 1898, Chautauqua's opening year. Supposedly, he was "an artist of marked ability and as clever with brush and pencil as with cards, coins, handkerchiefs and other common objects."

Baker W. Armstrong, Jr. was a young boy at the time, attending the summer resort with his parents. In 1928, he returned to give his own performance. By then, he spelled his name backwards to create his stage name of "Rekab, the Wizard."

After some magic tricks, his final act was to escape from a tightly locked and roped box, similar to an act of his more well-known predecessor, Harry Houdini. Rekab's assistants handcuffed him, chained him, and put him in the box, from which he kept up a muffled commentary. Then, after one of his assistants drove in the final nail, all was quiet.

On the Corner Vol. 14 Issue 4 1st Half 2021

On the Corner Vol. 14 Issue 4 1st Half 2021

Historical marker honors Los Seis de Boulder

By Carol Taylor

Walking through the east entrance to Chautauqua Auditorium, you might notice a recently installed

tribute to Los Seis de Boulder, six Chicano activists killed in 1974. As the unveiling was during the

pandemic, most people aren’t aware of the new historical marker.

The inscribed rock is unobtrusive, as there are strict regulations on what can be placed at a National Historic Landmark.

The story of Los Seis remains a sensitive topic. On May 27, 1974, a parked car exploded by the

Chautauqua Auditorium. The blast was heard all over Boulder. First responders faced a grisly scene

as body parts were strewn about the area. Eventually, Neva Romero, Una Jaakola, and Reyes Martinez

were identified as victims….

Hatch Sells Lower Chautauqua!

Dear neighbors and friends, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the very first edition of your On the Corner newsletter. I began publishing OtC in the early days of my real estate career as a way to bridge my professional photojournalism career and my real estate career. It’s kept me very engaged in this neighborhood, which has so many stories to tell. This spring also marks my 15th year in the real estate business. It’s awesome to have grown such a successful business. I’ve worked really hard to make it this far and I definitely recognize that a lot of my business comes from right here in the neighborhood. On the opposite of this big card you’ll see homes that I sold here in 2021. Each of them are so different and they all have such interesting histories. Like many homes here, they also have been through different transformation over the years. The homes built in the LC have just as interesting stories to tell as the residents that call Lower Chautauqua home. “If these walls could talk,” right? Such rich history here, and that’s why I appreciate it so much. And I appreciate you. You’ve entrusted me to market and sell your homes and you’ve trusted me to help you buy the house here that you now call home. The many homes I’ve sold here dot the neighborhood from Bellevue Heights to Interurban Park and from the Cul-de-sacs off King Avenue to Baseline Road. Many of you have referred business to me over the years and for that I am grateful and truly appreciate your business and your referrals! I’d like to continue to earn your trust. Please contact me anytime to discuss selling or buying real estate. I’m happy to offer a market analysis of your home anytime, with no strings attached! Sincerely, HATCH

FROM THE TRAIL #47, DADS

FROM THE TRAIL #47, DADS

While I just published this video today, I shot the frames for it a couple of weeks ago while my son Ethan and his friend fished a special lake together. Since that day on the water my Aunt JoAnne passed away and just last weekend my dad-in-law Corky also passed away. What a year of grief and sadness and while their deaths were not covid related, they compounded what has been a sad year for my family. But we rise above and keep the beautiful memories atop our minds and that lifts our frowns to smiles. Welcome to #47 From the Trail. It stinks to lose people close in your life. Those who raised you. Those who shaped you. Those who loved you. And those who took you fishing. For this I'm grateful for my Dad, my Aunt JoAnne and my dad-in-law Corky. Too much loss but so many good memories, of being free....

On the Corner Vol. 14 Issue 3 Q1 2021

Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden was a renowned artist with a life-long love of nature Born in Denver in 1907, Anne Ophelia Todd’s family moved to Boulder in 1910. The Todd family, like many who were affiliated with the University of Colorado, lived in a bungalow in the University Hill neighborhood. Anne’s father was a pathologist on the faculty of the medical School when it was located in Boulder. Their neighbors and close

family friends were Dr. T. D. A. Cockerell, a notable zoologist who wrote extensively on bees, and his wife Willmatte, a science teacher and botanist, who propagated a red sunflower.

Young Anne was influenced by their work. As children, Anne and her sister explored the outdoors in Gregory Canyon and in the hills behind Chautauqua Park where she claimed to know every rock and bush. In an oral

history interview, she said, “I can’t imagine a more perfect place to grow up than Boulder.”When not running free in the outdoors, she learned to paint with watercolors, which would become her favorite medium. Drawings she made as a teenager of some of her father’s specimens were published in a textbook….

Boulder County Buzz - January 2021

Boulder County Buzz - January 2021

Do you remember where you were one year ago? I don’t remember, really. Likely I was setting goals and ramping up for 2020 biz. I know I was eating out, seeing live concerts and going to the movies with family. Masks and hand sanitizer? Nope! What a difference a year makes. However, 2020 had so many great moments for me. I did things differently and explored the countryside and woods more than usual. I slowed down some. And time seemed to stop occasionally, right? We all forgot what day it was. 2020 gave moments to breathe and pray for patience and for those we lost. While it was my best year yet in the biz, I found it hard to cheer out loud, as so many suffered. Here’s to normal again and to leadership, science, community, in-person stuff and live music in 2021!

Now, I know the New Year just started, but it's never too early to start planning your real estate future. While 2020 was a historic year for home sales, 2021 is expected to continue with high demand for housing here in the BoCo. Boulder County again saw a drop in inventory and immense demand and so average sales prices were up 6% from 2019. Properties under contract are way above 50% in some areas like Louisville 85% of listings are pending sales. The low inventory, coupled with low mortgage interest rates at around 2.6%, and relocation are driving the market! In Boulder the average sales price for all of 2020 is $1.291M. The median finally cracked the $1M mark. So if you’re on the fence about selling, wait no more. It just may be time. Please reach out—I’m happy to strategize with you.

I have several new listings coming soon. Please visit my featured Boulder property coming to market in early February: 860 Grant Place in Chautauqua Heights in Boulder. This wonderful home, near Historic Chautauqua Park is going to go fast we think. Several restorations and additions have made this home so comfortable. It’s fully decorated with sunlight and color—a magazine property you could say. Please visit this home on my custom website today and yes, share with your friends!

This month I’m again featuring the non-profit program, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This organization's mission is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Please see how important this program is and consider giving today!

Finally, thank you all for asking me to help with your real estate adventures and for referring your friends and family. I appreciate it so much. I hope you get what you strive for in 2021 and that all good things come your way.

Don’t forget to smile,
HATCH

Boulder County Buzz - November 2020

Boulder County Buzz - November 2020

Cold temps and high winds are replaced by warm calm weather this week. It feels good. I’ll take Ethan to a lake and fool trout one last time this season.

I like it calm. I am grateful for calm. I’m tired of the opposite of calm. As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, I’m thankful for all that I have in this life. I’m especially thankful for you and I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

As winter otherwise is upon us, it’s amazing that our housing market has not cooled off. Buyers are still actively looking for homes and I know I sound like a broken vinyl record when I say we still have the challenge of record low inventory and so that keeps prices rising. We’re seeing a good number of out-of-towners landing in Boulder. A third of my business this year has been from relocation buyers. We welcome you here—we get it!

Are you looking to find a home before year’s end? Or maybe dip your toes into the investment market come 2021? It's never too early to do your research and have some options, so you can weigh them—what do you say? I'm always happy to discuss our market and answer your questions.

This month I’m again featuring a Boulder based non-profit program called Attention Homes. Attention Homes has always been responsive to the evolving needs of youth facing homelessness in our community. Established in 1966 with the mandate to provide attention to displaced youth, Attention Homes has served over 12,000 young individuals as they become healthy, productive members of our community. Please visit their website today and see how important this program is and consider making a financial contribution today!

Thank you as always for your business and remember that I’m never too busy for your referrals,

HATCH

Boulder County Buzz - October 2020

Boulder County Buzz - October 2020

Now the foothills of Boulder County are on fire and at least 26 homes have been lost from the weekend’s Calwood fire. There is some containment happening but with our dry weather this fall, fires seem inevitable. I have to admit I’m weary of being anxious so often. I’m tired of Covid and the political mess and the division in our country is just ugly. With all the tension and anxiety I try to stay informed but I don’t try to be taken to the ugliness of TV news. I go outside, take a hike or a bike ride and touch nature. Let it wash over me.

2020 has offered lots of lessons but I’m over it and I’m ready to move on to a normal space and time. Things in our world will get better I trust. In the meantime I continue to thank you all for looking out for my business. It has thrived this year thanks to you.

I wish for strength for our country and for the firefighters who work tirelessly to save forests and homes. Stay positive people, we’ll move through this! HATCH

Boulder County Buzz - September 2020

Boulder County Buzz - September 2020

"What's new is old,
what's old is gone
You're pushed up to the edge
So put your wingsuit on.”


-Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/McConnell

As you know, last week we had 100 degree temps and then within hours, falling ash from Colorado wildfires was replaced by a falling snow. The wet and heavy snow stuck to still full green leaves and large branches snapped and fell to the ground. The crash waking us from our slumber was rather unsettling. It’s not the first time this year we’ve been jostled and made uneasy. We’re reminded how quickly things can change. How things can break. How things can go in a different direction than we want. How do we handle this? Can we pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off? How do we do that? Nature has provided us a wonderful escape this summer with camping in the woods more than ever before. Getting into nature and tuning out has a been valuable reset tool and I trust you’ve been able to find yours.

We're just a few days away from the Autumnal Equinox. This too feels like a good time to recalibrate. I look forward again to my favorite trout hunting season. It’s usually a quiet time of the year to slow down and reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. Many have lost something or someone this year but I hope you’re reminded of what you do have. I’m very grateful for such a good community Kristin and I have and we appreciate your friendship. May you find solace this fall. And please go out and VOTE!

In good vibes,
HATCH