Stacy Roybal recognized for Left Hand Laurel

Whether you see her welcoming guests at Rock & Rails, planting flowers along Second Avenue or volunteering at one of the various Niwot events she attends throughout the year, it’s likely Stacy Roybal will greet you with a smile and a friendly “hello.”

Roybal is the Courier’s Left Hand Laurel for her years of service and kindness to Niwot. Despite living east of Longmont, miles away from Niwot, Roybal is nevertheless quick to help out when volunteers are called upon in the community. She is deeply involved in a variety of Niwot organizations and functions, including the Niwot Business Association (NBA) and Rock & Rails.

Roybal’s involvement in Niwot began eight years ago when she started working at Burden Incorporated.

“Stacy started working for Burden Incorporated several years ago, and once she did, she started looking for ways to contribute to the community even though she doesn’t live here,” Biff Warren, of Warren, Carlson and Moore, said.

Roybal’s family plays an important role in her own involvement in Niwot by planting flowers along Second Avenue every year and volunteering weekly with her at Rock & Rails. Sherry, her mom; Sjaandra, her daughter; Aren, her son; Denny, her father; and West, her husband, have all been essential to Roybal’s passion for getting involved in the Niwot community.

“I don’t ever do it alone,” Roybal said of her many volunteer efforts in Niwot. The quality time spent with her family is just another benefit of the time Roybal devotes to supporting the community.

“We’re getting to spend time together and helping out the town at the same time,” she explained.

For several years Roybal and her family have helped Carrie Wise, owner of Wise Buys Antiques with her husband Tim Wise, to plant flowers along Second Avenue in the historic district every spring.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Roybal said. “We love doing it because every time you walk through Niwot and see the changes, you know you had something to do with it.”

Wise greatly appreciates the family’s yearly help with planting the flowers since it saves her several days of work. As Carrie Wise would say, “[The Roybals] are the sunflowers blooming in a field of weeds.”

Roybal and her family take on the role of greeters at Rock & Rails in the summer, helping to welcome Niwot residents and non-residents alike to the weekly concert series. The family is in charge of the donation jar at the entrance to the event, which supports a different local organization each week.

“My daughter is very serious about the donation jar. Don’t touch her donation jar,” Roybal joked. “She’s very kind to the guests and tells them every time what it’s for, and people are usually very generous.”

Roybal’s friendly face and altruistic endeavors have earned her a gracious reputation among friends and strangers alike.

“Stacy has become the face of Niwot’s Rock & Rails” Warren said. “It seems like she and her family are at the front gate every time I turn around. They greet people warmly, and are also very diligent in keeping alcohol from entering or leaving the park, which is essential to our liquor license.”

Jenn Porter, volunteer coordinator for Rock & Rails, has been working with Roybal, one of her principle volunteers, for three years. Porter said the volunteers and guests of Rock & Rails are all uplifted by the presence of Roybal and her family.

“She’s always very smiley and helpful, and she’s so approachable that people do come to her [with questions]. She definitely brings smiles to people’s faces.”

Wise believes that it’s Stacy and her family’s caring personalities that make them so valuable to Niwot. “Thinking about Stacy and her family just makes me smile,” she said. “They are the gems in a crowd of people. They are the folks that know you need help and are at your doorstep without asking.”

To Roybal, the most enjoyable part of her service is the relationships that she nurtures. The sense of a small town community is something that Roybal sees as being unique to Niwot and she finds that familiarity “very comforting.”

“You just don’t get that in the big places anymore,” Roybal explained. “Heck, my neighbors [in Longmont] hardly talk to each other. It’s just different.”

Roybal works at Burden Incorporated on Second Avenue, but what keeps her eagerly coming back week in and week out is the town and its people which she values. The sense of community Roybal feels, and undoubtedly promotes, in Niwot makes her daily commute to Niwot well worth it.

“It’s more than just coming to your job, putting in your eight hours and then going home,” Roybal said. “I don’t even know if this job would be as much fun if it didn’t have the town with it. It would just be work.”

As Roybal said of the town, “Niwot is a small town with a big heart [and] the willingness to do big things.”