NEDERLAND — Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you plan to enjoy it with family and/or friends. 

How far we have come in seven weeks. The Caribou Village fire was devastating for many, and a very cathartic time—sad, devastating, frightening, lonely.  Extremely challenging for the business owners and employees of the 20+ businesses that were destroyed in a few hours.

I can’t imagine what was going on in your hearts and your minds through it all. 

These kinds of experiences can leave one feeling very lonely while trying to figure things out. Late nights waking up stressed, filling out insurance claim forms, trying to re-create inventory lists of items destroyed in the fire, filing for unemployment benefits, filling out new job applications, filling out new lease applications, sorting through difficult emotions brought on by the fire and loss, grieving for what was lost, summoning up strength to move forward to what comes next, etc.

Some folks have been able to reopen and keep going in new locations, others are working and planning for that in the future, others are shifting gears to another line of work, and possibly some may retire. It is reasonable to feel alone.

And yet, so much has happened in the seven weeks since the fire. GoFundMes, a couple of fundraiser concerts at the Caribou Room, silent auction fundraiser at Very Nice Gilpin, Tebo Properties Black Forest Nederland Strong Rally, 5K race at Eldora raising money for Eldora’s Play Forever Ashes to Action Fund, fundraiser in Lyons, fundraiser in Boulder—so many people coming together to support the people of Caribou Village.

And other community events: the Community Thanksgiving Potluck, Ned High School Homecoming, Backdoor Theatre movies, Warren Miller ski movie fundraiser for NMSHS Ski Teams, Jack’s students’ piano recital, Angela’s students’ dance recital, our upcoming Holiday Market, and so much more.

I’m lucky to be married to Zoe Lewis, who is a therapist and wrote an article in The Mountain-Ear on August 26, 2024, entitled “Human Connection is a life-or-death issue.” It really is. It’s been amazing to see our community in and around Nederland and our greater community beyond Nederland come together. Feeling so much connection through community.

We will all go through hard times; maybe harder than this fire—or maybe not as hard. Nonetheless, we all experience times that are difficult and we will feel isolated and alone at times. It’s amazing to live in this community and know that we are not alone. We are connected and through that, we have great strength.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all can spend time with family and/or friends and realize everything that we have to be thankful for.