Sarah Haas, Nederland.  Fanny Toorenburg loves maps. As a French speaking kid growing up in Montreal she would gear up for a bike adventure, grab a map and look for all the places she’d never been. I like to imagine her routine- pulling the map from the back pocket of her jeans, torn and muddied from her adventures, and unfolding it on the ground.

She’d close her eyes, stretch out an adventurous finger, and let it fall on her next, seemingly random, seemingly fated destination.

Fanny’s always been an explorer but back then it was all city and asphalt covered streets, which couldn’t have been farther from the destinations in her mind’s eye: the tops of far-away mountains, the middle of distant lakes. These remote places were like the green parts on a map, their limits known, but their details undefined, and it’s hard to say if she saw the streets as she rode them, or if she overplayed them with her imagination of the great world beyond. As a kid, Fanny was known to bury her head in travel books at the library, studying the fjords of Norway and Sweden and New Zealand.

For an adult, these places might remain there, in the pages of borrowed books, but a child’s mind is a fantastical place where reality mixes with dreams and where far away mountain tops are often indistinguishable from the summit of a city hill.

Fanny knew that someday she’d step out her front door and be on a mountain trail. Until then she would prepare her body to climb those all but inevitable hills; and biking and running and swimming was the best way, the only way, she knew to turn the two-dimensional landscapes she’d found in books into the three-dimensional ones she longed for.

It wasn’t long before Fanny was an international triathlete, touring the world for training and competitions. By the time she was 20, she’d been to almost every continent and had seen and touched and smelled the far-away places she’d always dreamed of. Somewhere along the way, she’d fallen in love, not just with the placers she saw, but with her body that’d taken her all around the world. It’s as if her love of maps inverted and it was now time to learn how to read bodies like she’d once read the world. And so, she enrolled at Canada’s best medical school, McGill, where she would study human bodies, so she could care for them, train them and help people explore the world like she did. Human anatomy was the map of her next frontier.

However, life is anything but as we expect it. Always hard working and confident in her ability to achieve what she set her mind to, Fanny was unwilling to make the compromises she saw her peers succumb to. Faced with impossible workloads, her fellow students had turned to drugs and cheating to increase their efficiency and grades. Fanny refused, and when her grades fell from B’s to B minuses, and when the dean said she needed to choose between sports and school, she didn’t hesitate to do what was right, which was to listen to her heart, to stick her laurels, and to drop out of school.

Once again her life was a big green area on a map, an emerald colored tabla rasa that might intimidate the rest of us, but not Fanny Toorenburg. She packed her bags and said her goodbyes to family and friends and flew to New Zealand where one can “surf and climb and kayak and see friends all in one day.” It was there that she turned her adventuring spirit into a master’s degree in environmental science and her love of maps into a career in GIS technology, layering map upon map upon map so that they could be used to protect the environment and guide us, not just as its users, but as its stewards. In her 20 years a Kiwi, stewardship had come to be a whole lot more than just an ethic one abides, it was a lifestyle.

In New Zealand, Fanny had built a life of genuine relationship to people and place. She’d married, had three kids and created a self-sufficient home on a parcel of land. With her kids in tow, she fed and clothed her family with her own two hands, growing vegetables and sewing up-cycled merino fabric into a wardrobe for a family of five. Meanwhile her husband was building a local GIS business into an international, publicly traded company, one that would eventually relocate to Broomfield, Colorado, aka the center of the modern-day cartography industry. One day, 20 some odd years later, Fanny woke up in Nederland, Colorado, opened her back door and had a mountain trail of her very own.

Renegade Brewing Company partners with Salto for a Tap Takeover this Friday, August 10. Patrons get $4 pints (5-9pm), a free pint glass, and fun swag. Only seven years old, Renegade made a name for itself in the Arts District of Denver and kept their original cozy taproom open on 9th and Santa Fe. Their large production facility down the street makes beer that they coin as “offensively delicious” – because each brew is packed with flavor and offbeat attitude. Get ready to try all the beers coming outr way — 5:00 Afternoon Ale, Free to Roam American Pale Ale, Redacted Rye IPA, and Summer Tan Double Tangerine IPA.

For entertainment, the J.W. Schuller Trio combines alternative rock with a smidgen of grunge and folk. The lyrics and stories are part of J.W.’s act, but his bandmates fill out the music flavor. Witty, catchy, and diverse, the songs will drive home with you and take you through some unexpected turns. J.W. is joined by Nederland locals Jens Larsen on drums and Phil Chappell on bass. With the weather cooperating, this trio will be belting out tunes under the Clock Tower.

Wrapping up the Friday Night Patio Music Series at Salto are these performers (always amusing you from 6 to 8pm):
* Aug 17 Sarah Banker & Friends (soulful folk, Ned style)
* Aug 24 Danny Shafer (catch him here or at NedFest)
* Aug 31 Arwen and The Gael (Celtic/Eclectic local line up)
* Sep 7 Bilbao Jazz Trio (for Lael Har’s First Friday Art Opening)
* Sep 14  Fists of the Proletariat (for Left Hand Brewing’s Tap Takeover)

See our Facebook page for more details about these events (and our upcoming Après Ski Music Series).

Have you ever walked into Salto Coffee Works and smelled the delicious aroma of roasting coffee? Follow that scent and you will find Karina Luscher, owner and roaster.  She may be greening up beans, intently studying the roasting process via her computer, or leaning over a spinning batch of beautifully browned beans to hunt for anomalies that won’t make the cut. She often dons a pair of headphones to imply that it’s “do not disturb” time. It’s Karina’s time. It’s when she can focus on what she loves most about her propriety of Salto.

Karina’s passion for coffee began at age ten when she visited her grandmother in Zurich and was introduced to the French Press. A life-long pursuit of quality coffee was thus launched. She seeks out the best shot of espresso wherever she goes and is always studying the art to expand her knowledge. Her ultimate goal to work with coffee was realized in 2012 when Salto opened. The business also fulfilled her commitment to building community. Here is a place that allows good people to connect with good coffee.

Since Karina wanted to roast Salto coffee inhouse, she purchased a roaster designed to her specifications. Ensuring its taste and performance through the roasting process, she also had to seek out the best beans – those sustainably grown and traded from small cooperatives and farms, many of which support women growers.

As a coffee aficionado, Karina roasted, cupped, and tasted on repeat until 2014, at which point she perfected a blend that she felt proud to serve. Other blends, carefully designed and crafted, followed. A taste of Salto’s coffee, be it a shot of espresso, a mug of house press, or a cappuccino, is a testament to her commitment. She continues to make and sell the best product possible. Take home a bag of Salto Blend or Gypsy Blend coffee beans, and you will appreciate her efforts at your leisure. Join Salto’s subscription coffee club, and Karina will personally send you a bag of coffee every two weeks, no matter where you live!

In the service industry, it is not uncommon for employees to come through in a flash. Often times, a service job is a stepping stone or a chance to dip the metaphorical toe into the metaphorical community pool. Salto, just like other restaurants, has  had employees come and go, often after just a short time. Most of those  made only a slight tremor with their presence, however,  in this instance, this employee, made a major impact. In fact, it seems wrong to refer to Carrissa as an employee, because really, she is family.

Carrissa joined the  Salto clan just nine months ago. Nederland was not her original, intended destination. However, when she and Scout (her ten year-old dog and best friend) drove her van into Boulder, she knew it wasn’t the spot for them. Immediately, she got on Craigslist, saw a posting for Salto and was on her way. And when she arrived in Nederland, she knew she was home.

In her short time at Salto , Carrissa has, according to owner Karina Luscher, “put a spark” in the atmosphere here. Her skill, her endless energy, her professionalism and her excellent promotion skills (check out our Instagram feed) marked her as something remarkable, and we knew we had added an invaluable member to our family. Carrissa is so integrated in all aspects of Salto that it seems this place  has become her true home, with Scout hanging out on the patio.

However, it is with a deep sense of loss and sadness that we must say goodbye to Miss Carrissa. Her biological family needs her  back in Minnesota. We do hope that this is just a “so long” and that somehow her path leads her back to us. She will be missed by her co-works and customers alike. Pease send her off with your warmest wishes.

By Jeffrey V. Smith
NEDERLAND 
Salto Coffee Works and Tin Shed Sports are taking their unique, synergetic business connection and putting a name on it: The Clocktower Collective. While there are no real changes being made, and the familiar names will remain, the two business—which already share a building and other resources—have decided to use a single name as a way to highlight their many events and “Social Tuesdays,” a night to hang with family and friends on the patio with live music.

“The Clocktower Collective is our way of encompassing everything that goes on underneath this roof,” Salto’s owner Karina Luscher said. “Because there are the pop-up farms stands and pop-up boutiques that we do, the music we do, the fundraisers and presentations. Then there are all the things that Tin Shed does, too, like demos and sales and other stuff. It’s just trying to encapsulate everything that goes on here. This building holds so much more, collectively.”

The idea is also to get people talking about what’s happening at The Clocktower Collective. “That’s who we are. We are under the clock tower building that has a huge clock tower,” Luscher said. “We are certainly talking about Salto, and we are certainly talking about Tin Shed. We are not going to wipe those off the slate and try to eliminate them. They are incredibly strong brands, and they need to stay very present and continue to grow.”

Photo by http://www.timmypphotography.com

According to Marketing and Events Consultant Stephanie Andelman, the mutual name is a “re-branding,” but not really. “We’re not changing anything, it’s just if we say it’s a Clocktower Collective event, people should just know it’s one of those two or that they are in partnership to do it together, or somebody from the outside is coming in and it’s somewhere in here or even outside.”

Some of the first events held under The Clocktower Collective moniker include their Tuesday evening patio events featuring live music. The popular early evening out in Nederland began as a special wood-fired pizza night with Dawn Dennison’s mobile oven, then morphed into “Taco Tuesday,” and now, it’s “Social Tuesday.”

The evenings include free live music on the patio, specialty tacos, craft beer and wine on draft. The events begin at 6:30 p.m. following the daily happy-hour from 4-6 p.m. These Tuesday evening get-togethers not only offer great food and drink with a chance to socialize with neighbors, but also provides an opportunity to enjoy the area’s local musical talent.

When Salto began serving tacos every day, it stopped making sense to call it “Taco Tuesday,” but it’s basically the same thing. While Tuesday’s have proven popular, there is no real reason for holding the events on that day of the week.

“There really is no significance to Tuesday, other than way back, when we first opened, Dawn and I put our heads together and hatched a plan to do pizza on the patio and we thought Tuesday would be a great night.” Luscher said. “We just picked Tuesday. I don’t know what it was, it was just a day that worked for both of us.” When pizza wasn’t available, a special, once-a-week taco night was substituted. Then, the tacos became so popular, they were added to the permanent menu.

“That’s how the Tuesday thing happened. It’s also the evolution of our menu that you see today. Both Chef and I were always joking and looking out the window and saying we should just do tacos all the time. So, it wasn’t a huge leap when we decided to change our menu. It was very natural,” Luscher said. “People still call it Taco Tuesday or say let’s go to taco night, and I’m like every night is taco night.”

In addition to “Social Tuesdays” watch for Wednesday farm markets, pop-up boutiques, bike clinics, tap takeovers, first Friday artist receptions and more.

“Social Tuesdays” on the patio begin this month with Sarah Banker, a Nederland local who performs “soulful folk with a warm style that entrances and entertains” on June 6. Boulder’s Many Mountains is up next, June 13. Katie Rose and Dustin Moran play folk-rock with “swooning vocal harmonies sang over swelling slide guitar and to the point rhythms.” They’ve been called elegant, smooth and visceral. It’s acoustic-based while holding rock and blues attributes.

Photo by http://www.timmypphotography.com

The “Social Tuesdays” music series continues, June 20, with singer-songwriter and guitar rocker Tiffany Christopher. She has a unique sound that pulls from many different genres of music. Her songwriting is called both soothing and invigorating while her groove is rhythmic and strong. Christopher’s energy is captivating and her voice is undeniably stellar.

Singer, guitar and mandolin player and songwriter Julie Guassaroff, upright bassist from the Sweet Lillies, stops in for a solo show, June 27, to wrap-up the first month of “Social Tuesday” shows. She performs Texas swing, bluegrass, jazz, blues and original folk.

With Independence Day falling on a Tuesday this year, the July 4 “Social Tuesday” event is a special party and “high-altitude bluegrass” from Steepland String Band. The fast-driving, hard-picking acoustic quartet explores a multitude of genres while staying rooted in the bluegrass tradition.

Other “Social Tuesday” events in July include performances by Card Catalog, Strangebyrds, Paul Kimbiris with Tumbling Wheels, The Gael and J.W. Shuller. Jon Gold and Ben Hanna perform in August. The music doesn’t stop all summer, so check back each week. Additionally, there is live music the first Friday of each month, when an artist is also featured.

Beginning June 7, The Clocktower Collective will host Wednesday Farm Markets with Farm n’ Wild Wellspring, a small-scale diversified farm providing seasonal, specialty crops focusing on regenerative agriculture. They have organically grown, open-pollinated vegetables grown in Boulder County.

Under the clock tower you can hear live local music, enjoy house-roasted specialty coffee, sip draft beer and wine and fill up with delicious food from the chef-driven and seasonally prepared menu.

Check Salto Coffee Works and Tin Shed Sports facebook pages for the most up to date event information all summer. Visit saltocoffeeworks.com and tinshedsports.com or call Salto Coffee Works at 303-258-3537 or Tin Shed at 303-258-3509. The Clocktower Collective is located at 112 E. 2nd St. in Nederland.

© Originally published in the June 2017 issue of the MMAC Monthly

In 2013 we recycled 2,781 pounds.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Mixed Paper: 25 lbs.
• Paperboard: 35 lbs.
• Newspaper: 210 lbs.
• Cardboard: 420 lbs.
• Comingled containers: 285 lbs.
• Aluminum: 10 lbs.
• Compost: 1,796 lbs.

So what do these numbers mean? Oh, you mean besides the fact that recycling turns things into other things, which is like magic? Generally speaking recycling is a great way to keep trash out of landfills while making use of natural resources.

In our case, we recycled 2,781 pounds of material which helped save 144.29 galloons of oil, .46 cubic yards of landfill space, 9,733.5 gallons of water and diverted 1.39 tons of reusable raw materials from the waste stream. And that’s just in landfill space!

We also recycled 690 pounds of paper that helped save 5.87 trees, 1.04 tons of wood and 2,415 gallons of water that helped make more paper products. This conservation created a drastic influence due to the fact that recycled paper reduces the need for virgin raw materials because it requires less water and uses less energy.

So exactly how big is the environmental impact? By recycling 2,781 pounds of materials we saved 144.29 million BTUs of energy, or 1,202.43 gallons of gas, and prevented 1.39 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Through composting more than half our recycled goods and coffee grounds we prevented pollution, reduced water intake and enriched the earths soil.

Composted Coffee GroundsIt’s tough to pinpoint exactly how great an impact our 2013 recycling totals had on the planet, but what matters most is the inspiration. These numbers reflect an effort of teamwork, dedication and integrity. We are absolutely, 100% committed to giving back because we love our planet and when our staff is hustling to serve up coffee and mouth-watering breakfast sandwiches all we can really do is:

Keep Calm and Recycle On.

“Salto…where friends are made.”

“Coffee, even the USADA doesn’t test for it”

“Salto is the place we never knew we needed”

“The food is just as warm as the people”

These are just a few of the kind and funny sentiments that have come our way after three months of opening our doors and taking this huge leap of faith.

Thank you to all who have come in to our extended living room and supported the efforts to contribute to our community.

We are excited for what lies ahead and hope to see all your friendly faces around here often.