The LoCo Experience

My guest for today’s conversation was Bob Schaffer, Headmaster of Liberty Common School in Fort Collins, and Chairman of Leadership Program of the Rockies.  Bob presented to my Rotary club a couple months back, and was kind enough to share time with me on The LoCo Experience podcast!

Long before his focus on education - because he had yet no children - Bob got into politics mostly as a writer.  His first real job was as an Intern/speechwriter for the Republican caucus in Ohio - and he was good at it! - and it translated well to a similar role for the then-majority Republican party when he and his wife moved to Colorado.  One thing we agree upon - is that writing is thinking - and Bob’s good at both - which is why he was appointed at age 25 to finish a departing State Senator’s term - the youngest in Colorado history to serve the role.  

And it’s also why - after his own littles started arriving - that he turned his focus toward education - first in the Colorado Senate, then the US House of Representatives.  And that’s where Wikipedia notes he also sponsored a balanced budget resolution and amendment to the Constitution - which unfortunately for all of us - was unsuccessful.  

But - since our country is broke - we’re gonna need smart kids to dig us out - and that’s where Liberty Common School comes in.  Bob shares widely about how they’re different - and why - and how everyday moms and dads and grandparents can be involved in their children’s classical education.  Bob’s the kind of guy I could enjoy a 6-hour conversation with, so consider this hopefully a part I - and please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Bob Schaffer.  

On today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, Kristin Todd returns to share some updates from the NoCo Foundation.  Kristin was previously my guest on Episode 136 - when she was yet fairly new in the role - so listeners might choose to tune into that episode for the deeper dive into her life and career journey.  

The biggest news up front - is that yet another past guest of The LoCo Experience has started a podcast!  The NoCo Voices Podcast (https://nocofoundation.org/noco-voices-podcast) officially launched in March, and features topically focused conversations with community leaders.  So far, they’re 5 episodes in and have a few more on the docket - so give ‘em a listen and a follow if you love Northern Colorado!

Our conversation today was spent pulling back the curtain on what community foundations do in general - and what sets NoCo Foundation apart.  Kristin details their three pillars of core foundations services, strengthening the nonprofit sector, and convening regional stakeholders to address complex issues.  Kristin has also introduced a new client engagement model since joining the team, which has resulted in active community grant activity increasing from $7MM to $16.5MM during her tenure.

Later in the conversation, she also shared some life and family updates, sampled our Crazy Ginger hot sauce, and shared a loco experience of backpacking with a friend for a semester in Europe, sleeping on trains and not deciding on the next stop until getting to the train station and seeing the schedule.  She’s a leader of leaders, and a great conversationalist, so please enjoy my conversation with Kristin Todd, President & CEO of NoCo Foundation.  

Welcome back to The NoCo Pulse for the week of June 22nd, 2026, where we keep our finger on the pulse of what's moving in Northern Colorado. Kurt Bear joins Kelsi Harris to bring you the latest community news, business updates, and local highlights as we celebrate the Weeks of Freedom between Juneteenth and the 4th of July, and watch countries from around the world come together for World Cup sleepovers.

What's moving features the Dragon and Cone, an ice cream and dirty soda shop that just opened in Wellington on Friday June 19th. Serving Walrus ice cream alongside their signature dirty sodas, the shop has spent considerable time restoring the building back to its original design, creating a beautiful space worth the drive north. In major infrastructure news, the Northern Colorado Regional Airport breaks ground on a $20 million runway expansion funded by an FAA grant. This expansion should set the pace for more commercial flights in the future, bringing Northern Colorado one step closer to not having to drive all the way to DIA, though tower issues and other logistics still need resolution.

Community gatherings spotlight Play House Productions hosting another murder mystery event at Peculiar Brewing on Tuesday June 23rd, with tickets still available after their Ginger and Baker event sold out. Speaking of Ginger and Baker, their next murder mystery party is scheduled for August 18th, so grab tickets early. Fort Fun celebrates 25 years with a special event on July 9th featuring $25 tickets for four hours of unlimited play including go karts, bumper boats, giant slide, laser tag, plus $5 arcade credit and extras. Fort Fun has given millions of dollars and facility use to kids throughout their quarter century in business. The Poudre River Whitewater Park at Vine Drive near the Interspheres offers perfect tubing conditions right now with flow as good as it's going to get this year, featuring rocks to sit on and opportunities to soak your feet or tube down the river with family.

Keeping the beat features the Okie Dokie Brothers performing the first ever family focused concert at Live at the Garden series on July 18th at the Gardens at Spring Creek. The folksy family band performs adventure style songs about going into the wilderness, with $29 flat tickets and free admission for kids one and under, plus local food trucks and ice cream. Also on July 18th, the Blues Dogs perform at the Blues and Brews Crawl in Windsor sponsored by Bank of Colorado, with $10 tickets including snacks and appetizers at the Kula's great patio and indoor seating, featuring vocalist Megan from Realities for Children who has arguably the best voice in town alongside her dad who leads the band.

Community support highlights Breeze Through Car Wash doing everything they can to conserve and protect Northern Colorado's water supply during this low snowpack year, supporting river cleanups and water focused foundations to ensure water remains precious in our community. Country Kickup hosts their annual Barn Dance at the Greeley Stampede on Sunday June 28th, included with Stampede admission tickets. The country line dance and swing dancing nonprofit organization supports other nonprofits, meaning every time you dance with Country Kickup you're actually supporting nonprofits in the community, with a lesson first followed by social dancing. Shout out to The Mayorettes, featured on LoCo Experience episode 274, as Kerrie Lugenbill, Jackie Stevens, and Giuli Diaz continue their full time work lifting up community and helping people connect with nonprofits and small businesses doing good deeds.

Business news celebrates the State of Business event by the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday June 24th at the Anheuser Busch Beer Garden.

Food picks feature Ghost Dog Deli in Wellington, run by Chris and Brandy Skinner who met in another kitchen and bonded over their desire to open their own restaurant. They make house made ciabatta with careful attention to ingredients, and Brandy designed the adorable space herself, making it a perfect motorcycle ride destination. Kurt shares his watermelon stick technique for seedless watermelons, cutting them into three quarter inch sticks with just a little handle of skin, creating a mess free eating experience perfect for summer backyard gatherings, and yes he's a salt on watermelon person.

Special announcement that this is the second to last episode of The NoCo Pulse, with one final episode coming July 6th. Kurt and Kelsi aren't going anywhere, with Kurt continuing The LoCo Experience podcast and LoCo Think Tank, and Kelsi continuing This Is NoCo and Discover NoCo Magazine. Thank you to all the partners including Breeze Through, Ginger and Baker, Run Windsor, and Miles Beyond.

Tag us at The NoCo Pulse to share how you're supporting local. Stay connected, NoCo.

In today’s episode, I sat down with The Mayorettes - which we’ll describe here as a lifestyle brand of sorts, focused on uplifting community through advocacy and connections in the small business and non-profit world of Northern Colorado.  The Mayorettes is currently comprised of Kerrie Lugenbill, the very recently married Jackie formerly Christman now Stevens, and Giuli Diaz.  Three full-time high-impact working professionals - sharing and combining their talents to move the needle toward generosity in the NOCO region.  

And - part of the job is they go to a lot of galas, and given this service they’ve gotten good at  drinking wine - we killed 3 bottles during this conversation - and we learned a lot about how three very diverse professionals came together to spark a movement.  And no - they didn’t realize how closely their name sounds to the Majorettes - the 1967 Cult Classic/Slasher Film. 

We had a ton of fun - and you will too - getting to know three business leading ladies building community together - so now please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with The Mayorettes.  

Welcome back to The NoCo Pulse for the week of June 15, where we keep our finger on the pulse of what's moving in Northern Colorado. Kurt Bear joins Kelsi Harris to bring you the latest community news, business updates, and local highlights as baseball season heats up and Northern Colorado families navigate the whirlwind that is summer.

What's moving features insights from the FCP Insider event with Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics, revealing that Colorado is experiencing negative migration for the first time in years. The biggest challenge holding Northern Colorado back is workforce availability, with workers moving out for more affordable housing and lower taxes in other states. The young and educated workforce isn't growing fast enough to support business expansion, which is why Chambers and the NoCo Foundation are focusing heavily on housing production and affordability. In related real estate news, the NoCo Foundation announced the purchase of the Council Tree Library from Poudre Libraries, with plans to move in around 2028 when the new community center is completed. Behind the scenes at the Greeley Stampede, which runs June 24th for its 104th annual event, the dirt of the rodeo arena is constantly on the move. The footing award winning surface requires year round maintenance including a dirt zamboni for grading, rock removal machines working over the old riverbed, and immediate overnight dirt turning after concerts to keep it fluffy for the next day's rodeo.

Community gatherings spotlight Ginger and Baker's second murder mystery event called Farm to Floor on August 18th, with tickets available now after the May event sold out. FoCo's fifth annual Juneteenth celebration takes place Friday June 19th and Saturday June 20th, starting with a youth gathering at the Cultural Enrichment Center and kickoff concert at Foothills Mall on Friday, followed by a community bike ride from Washington Park to Foothills Mall on Saturday featuring yoga, concerts, and vendors throughout the day. Ken's Automotive hosts the second annual Power Wheels 500 electric car race on Saturday June 20th from 10 AM to 1 PM, featuring classes from 12 volt to 24 volt in modified and non modified categories, free to attend with food and drink available.

Keeping the beat features Off the Hook Arts Music Spoke Series running all week with the COA String Quartet Recital on Friday June 19th at 5:30 PM in the gorgeous Northern Hotel building lobby, featuring members of the Dolly String Quartet. Verboten's 5th Street Block Party happens June 20th from 1 PM to 10 PM, co hosted with 477 Distilling and Comic Chicken, featuring live music from Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, the Grant Saban Trio, food trucks, vendors, and abundant shade as three downtown Loveland businesses come together to activate 5th Street.

Community support highlights the Junior League of Fort Collins Garden Tour on June 27th from 8 AM to 1 PM in the old Fort Collins High School neighborhood near the CSU University Arts Center, featuring open gardens, a block party, kid zone, vendors, and food trucks including the Taco Man. Bike to Work Day returns June 24th with free tune ups available all around town at stations along bicycle routes, perfect for businesses looking to serve the community and get staff involved for a couple hours.

Business news celebrates the State of Business event by the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce on June 24th from 4 to 6 PM at the Anheuser Busch Beer Garden. This signature annual event draws three to five hundred people for just $25 and features regionally known speakers, updates from city and county leaders, and highlights from the recently released workforce study that the Chamber heavily funded.

Food picks feature Tres Amigos Mexican Restaurant in downtown Greeley, the second location from their Cheyenne Wyoming original that took over the Luna's space. Despite being overwhelmed during their first or second Friday coinciding with Blues Jam, the busiest night of the year in downtown Greeley, the food was amazing and the large margaritas are only $9. Canyons and Coals at Riverside presents an exclusive private chef event with Chef Billy on June 18th for $153, featuring a premium four course meal cooked over coals followed by a concert by At Least Wonder, perfect for that special date night experience.

Special shout out to Friday Fest in downtown Greeley on June 19th, which will be Juneteenth specific in partnership with the Marcus Garvey Center for UNC, featuring traditional Juneteenth colors of black, green, red, and yellow.

Tag us at The NoCo Pulse to share how you're supporting local. Stay connected, NoCo.

In today’s conversation on The LoCo Experience, I was joined by Matt Ackerman, a Co-Founder of and Brand Ambassador for Meadkrieger Meadery in downtown Loveland, Colorado.  Matt developed a taste for mead while exploring his passion for music, and was a semi-professional touring musician for several years before taking on a new challenge -  imagining and creating a production meadery and tasting room experience fit for a king - or for a Viking!  

Matt shared some interesting stories from his metal-band days, and more interesting was the exploration of the tradition and process of making mead - honey-wine, basically, most popular in the times and lands of the Vikings.  Mead is an open palette in many ways, and Matt is continuing to develop his skills by studying Chemical Engineering at CSU.  And - you can’t just make the mead, you gotta move it - and so we explored distribution channels, production timelines and staffing, and how to draw people into community after so many patterns were changed by the Covid response.  

Also, make sure to stay for Matt’s sampling of our “Crazy Ginger” hot sauce - nordic genes don’t react well to habanero and ghost pepper.  It’s a fun time with an interesting guy, so please enjoy my conversation with Matt Ackerman.  

["Welcome back to the NoCo Pulse for the week of June 8th, 2026, We open with a heartfelt tribute to Matthew Fugate, a friend of the show and member of the community who passed away unexpectedly. Matthew was featured on The LoCo Experience podcast episode 197 alongside his fiancée Gabrielle Judge, and he participated in multiple Wild West relay races. Our hearts go out to Gabby and his family during this difficult time. What's moving features Chef Fat Dan's All In Kitchen, a new food truck launching from the former head chef of Locust Cider. After Locust Cider closed their Fort Collins taproom in January 2026 despite having their best year, Chef Fat Dan spent six months planning his next venture with the slogan "take whisks go all in. The Fort Collins Aggies FC launched as a pre professional soccer team in alignment with CSU and serves as an expansion team for the women's professional soccer league. Catch their last two home games June 19th and 25th at the soccer field by Moby Arena, and listen for the upcoming LoCo Experience podcast episode on June 22nd featuring coaches Keely Hagen and Jamie Beamer Halsey. Community gatherings spotlight the FoCo Fringe Festival returning after a six year hiatus following COVID, running June 11th through 14th at venues spread throughout town similar to FoCo MX style. Over 50 performances feature theater, film, dance, and performing arts described as the unexpected, the beautiful, and the raw, with some free events and outdoor performances requiring no tickets. Open Stage Theatre Company presents The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Center for Creativity running June 11th through July 11th, with Thursday June 11th as pay what you can night and regular tickets starting at $18. Keeping the beat features Yonder Mountain String Band performing at Mishawaka on June 13th with $50 general admission tickets. The OG jamgrass band formed in 1999 in Nederland and pioneered the bluegrass plus fusion rock psychedelic sound described as improvised groovy bluegrass. Community support highlights the 19th annual Taste event on Thursday June 11th at the Forge Event Center in Loveland, featuring restaurants and chefs from throughout Northern Colorado with tickets starting at $70. Proceeds benefit Foothills Gateway and Summit Stone Child and Family Services, organizations supporting families staying together and providing disability services. The Stronger Together Summit gathers 150 nonprofit leaders on July 30th at TPC golf club in Berthoud for a half day of networking, interactive workshops, and breakout sessions focused on practical collaboration and helping nonprofits understand who does what really well instead of trying to do everything themselves. Business news celebrates Fort Collins Country Club completing a major remodel of their restaurant and clubhouse area, bringing the club up to modern standards with membership and enthusiasm at a 20 year high. Young families, kids, and busy pools mark the transformation, with the fourth annual LoCo Next Level Summit scheduled there for September 17th. Food picks feature Tacos Diablo at the FoCo Food Truck Rally, who adjusted their prices mid service and delivered delicious horchata with that grainy bottom texture showing it was freshly mixed, plus excellent carne asada burritos with sauce that tastes a little different than most burritos. Kurt shares his leftover hash recipe, combining smoked brisket, smoked potatoes, breakfast taco remnants, and pizza scraps all chopped and fried in a cast iron pan until crispy, then topped with fried eggs that run their yolk through the hash for a perfect cleaning out the fridge summer meal. Shout out to the sister in law who checked out the new downtown Greeley Edison's location and confirmed it's as amazing as expected. We want to hear what you're doing to support local in smaller towns like Timnath, Johnstown, and Berthoud. Stay connected, NoCo."

In today’s episode of The LoCo Experience, I welcomed back Clint Jasperson, Founder and Managing Partner of Purpose Driven Wealth, a Thrivent Financial wealth management office.  Clint has been a member of LoCo Think Tank for nearly 5 years, and shared in part the blessing he finds there is a safe place for diverse opinions - rather than the crazies yelling at each other from the corners of the internet as we might believe if we spend too much time online.  

Clint and I spoke more about mindset than toolkit in this conversation, especially how we can reconcile our heart-math and our pencil-math with intentional conversation and reflection.  We also touched on how a planning office can add the most value to a conversation far ahead of a liquidity event - i.e. the sale of a business, how protection and wealth-building must both be considered, and what the next chapter of growth looks like for his business. 

He’s a philosopher not just a CFP, and I’m thankful to have Purpose Driven Wealth as a sponsor of The LoCo Experience podcast.  Clint faces down his own Purpose Driven Questions like a pro in this one, so tune in and enjoy my conversation with Clint Jasperson.

Welcome back to the NoCo Pulse for the week of May 25th, featuring special guest host Patrick Sukup from the Living in Fort Collins YouTube channel while Curt Bear is away. Patrick joins Kelsi Harris of This is NoCo and Discover NoCo Magazine to bring you the latest community news, business updates, and local highlights as we kick off Memorial Day weekend and welcome summer to Northern Colorado.

What's moving features Miles Beyond Running Community gearing up for their Weld Your Metal Running Festival happening May 30th and 31st in Eaton, offering distances from 7K all the way to ultra marathon on private property complete with saunas, cold plunges, camping, and mountain views. In major real estate news, Shake Shack opens May 31st at the Shops Along College at Foothills Mall, but the bigger story is the McWhinney family selling the Shops Along College portion to a national investment firm while retaining the mall itself. This sale should finally provide the capital needed to move forward with the long awaited redevelopment plans, including removing 200,000 square feet and creating an open air concept after years of stagnation due to development costs and challenges. Meanwhile, the Toy Library continues operating in a massive discounted space inside the mall, now hosting game nights and community gatherings in addition to their toy lending program.

Community gatherings spotlight Ginger and Baker's eighth annual Dog Flower Crown Photo Day on Saturday May 31st, a free event where you can bring your four legged friends for flower crowns and portraits with RSVP requested on their website. Plantiness, founded by Monica in 2020, celebrates her birthday this week by giving away free plants Thursday May 28th at Old Town Music during Thursday Night Live featuring The Burrows. Monica has given away over 5,000 free plants since starting her happiness spreading mission and hosts pop ups and collaborations with tattoo artists, The Crowded Bookshelf, and other local makers. Downtown Loveland hosts their monthly Downtown Dress Up Night on the fourth Saturday with May's theme being Gala Night starting at 5 PM, when all downtown shops hold specials and events perfect for busting out those fancy clothes you rarely get to wear.

Community support highlights Outreach Fort Collins, a nonprofit that serves as a buffer between the public and police by working with individuals experiencing mental health crises or substance use issues who aren't necessarily breaking the law. The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area Foundation hosts their art show and gala Tuesday June 2nd at the Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center, with all proceeds supporting river cleanup efforts, volunteer programs, and education about the heritage and history of the Cache la Poudre River.

Business news celebrates local chefs Bri and Carmel, who are launching pop up events this year after working in high end eateries across Northern Colorado. They offer private chef experiences, catering, and company events, bringing their culinary expertise directly to your home or venue.

Food picks feature Smoke and Rose Barbecue at the FoCo Food Truck Rally, serving incredible brisket mac and cheese and brisket nacho fries with friendly service perfect for families. The FoCo Food Truck Rally runs every Tuesday under new ownership, with Discover NoCo Magazine sponsoring this season and planning fun content nights throughout summer. Don't forget the Downtown Loveland Authority is giving away $100 every week to someone who shops downtown during construction, and yes it's real because Kelsi's in laws actually won.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and welcome to summer, NoCo. Tag us at The NoCo Pulse to share how you're supporting local. Stay connected, NoCo.