WEEK OF DECEMBER 5, 2024
VOLUME 35| ISSUE 49
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Twenty years of Operation Freebird
Thousands line up at annual giveaway hosted by Adams County Sheriff, Food Bank of the Rockies
Liquor store owners see effects of grocery wine sales Some have switched to smaller vintners or more unique offerings. Some have just closed.
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• Vestas to lay off 200 employees
BUSINESS
BY KARA MASON FRONT PORCH NE
Volunteer Gary Ambrose of Thornton shows what’s in the box of food donated to people at the 2024 Operation Freebird — cans of vegPHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR etables, pureed pumpkin and packets of seasoning.
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•27J Schools moves online-only Dec. 1
BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
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LOCAL OBITUARIES LEGALS CLASSIFIED
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
LOCAL
Pat Perez of north Denver was the first person in a line that ended in the Mountain States Toyota parking lot, but wound down 70th Avenue and around Broadway by the time Adams County’s Operation Freebird opened at 10 a.m. Nov. 23. But to get that spot, he had to get there at 5:30 a.m. It was totally worth it, Perez said.
“This is a wonderful thing that they do,” Perez said. “It’s a beautiful thing and a lot of people really need it. You can tell because there are so many here.” It was the 20th year for the annual Thanksgiving giveaway hosted by the Adams County Sheriff ’s Department and the Food Bank of the Rockies. Thousands came to get a certificate for a free turkey, fresh vegetables and cans of food — all the things a family would
need to make a Thanksgiving meal. No profits or income are generated by this event. The sheriff ’s office, the Adams County Sheriff ’s Foundation and more than 40 local non-profit agencies and other community partners also help provide a range of services to the needy in the North Metropolitan area. Those attending could receive free health screenings, dental screenings, vaccinations, mental
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health services, and information from various other Adams County programs for employment assistance, childcare programs, and more. County services also include help for job seekers, and housing support among other things. Food Bank of the Rockies representative Joanna Wise said group had enough food to provide Thanksgiving meals to 1,000 households. Last year, they provided meals for 800 families.
Two years after Prop. 125’s approval, Colorado’s independent liquor and specialty stores are finding new ways to win customers back to their shops. On the heels of election day 2022, Megan Bennett and Geno Anaya marked their signatures on a five-year lease for Wine and Spirits Boutique, located at 10355 E. MLK Jr. Blvd., across from the King Soopers store in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood. “We were in it to win it,” Bennett says. But just as the duo had committed to a new business venture, so had Colorado voters to let grocery stores across Colorado sell wine, fundamentally changing how Wine and Spirits Boutique would do business. Proposition 125 passed in 2022 with 51 percent of the vote. Two other alcohol-related ballot questions — raising the number of liquor licenses that a single store owner could hold and allowing retail establishments to sell liquor offsite and offer takeout and delivery — failed by close margins. The following March, wine began appearing on grocery shelves across the state, prompting Bennett, Anaya, and several other independent liquor store owners to shift their sales and marketing strategies. “The grocery stores are changing their lineup about twice a year, so we don’t know what they’re going to pick the next time that they decide to change things up,” Anaya says. “So, when we talk to our distributors, we do try to select smaller vineyards that won’t mass produce wine, so it’ll never find its way into a grocery store.” Bennett believes that no matter what they do, they won’t be able to win over all shoppers who find buying wine at a grocery store easier and more convenient. Others, she says, will always support smaller businesses. Proponents of the change said consumer convenience was the driving force behind the movement, while independent liquor stores feared they’d lose customers and face even tougher times following the Covid-19 pandemic and the expansion of beer sales in grocery stores in 2019. Liquor store owners across the northeast Denver metro region say that, two years after the vote, they’re feeling the pressure from Prop. 125, but continue to offer experiences and expertise that grocery stores cannot. SEE WINE SALES, P6
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