All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
President Thom Lynch from the Rotary Club of Niwot presented the 3rd annual Community Achievement Award to Tara Shaheen and Stacy Szydlek of Niwot Tavern for their efforts during the pandemic to help keep local families fed in the face of school closures and job losses, as well as keeping music alive in Niwot.
Niwot Tavern has been a Cottonwood Square favorite for 15 years.
"Service above self" is the motto of the Rotary Club International, and for Niwot Rotarian Thom Lynch, no one has embodied that more over the past 18 months than Tara Shaheen and Stacy Szydlek, co-owners of Niwot Tavern. On Aug. 5 at Rock & Rails, he presented the two with the club's third annual Community Achievement Award, given to members of the community "who have displayed a heart of service, dedication, and love for Niwot."
"When they bought the Tavern in January 2020, they had big plans and dreams," Lynch said. "And then March happened. And they could have gone in a different direction, but they didn't."
The direction Shaheen and Szydlek did go in was towards community outreach and support, even as they worked to keep the Tavern's take-out service up and running. During the earliest days of the quarantine, the restaurant offered free meals to kids in place of school lunches, and also established a food bank, which helped local families keep their shelves stocked. As the health restrictions lingered and it became clear that "normal" was not coming back for a while, the Tavern hosted virtual benefit dinners and sponsored socially-distanced events to help support local businesses, performers, and causes.
"They're into the community with both feet, and have been for a long time," Lynch said.
The Tavern also served free holiday dinners on Easter and Christmas, held a winter coat drive, decorated Cottonwood Square for Halloween, and delivered food to first responders, nurses, and other essential workers.
"They brought music back, and that was amazing," Lynch said. "But the thing that sold it for me, the thing that got me all in, was they promoted their competition, too." The Niwot Tavern owners opened up their patio to musicians, who performed nightly for tips during COVID closures, with customers ordering take-out food from the Tavern and other nearby restaurants such as Winot Coffee, Raza Fresa, Abo's Pizza and Fan's Chinese Restaurant, then enjoying the music from tables and chairs in the parking lot. The outdoor music continues to be popular even as the restaurants have reopened.
The Community Achievement Award was established by the local Rotary Club in 2019, and recognizes volunteers who have been impactful in the Niwot community. The first award went to veteran volunteer Bruce "Biff" Warren, followed in 2020 by Kathy Koehler, a longtime volunteer for the Niwot Historical Society, Left Hand Valley Grange, Niwot Community Association, and much more. Nominations for the award are submitted by RCN members, then voted on by the executive board. Lynch was President of the RCN when he nominated Shaheen and Szydlek for the award, which received "zero pushback" from the other members, he said.
"They've been through the mill. They're still standing. And they're great people."
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