Niwot Community Association focuses on events

The Niwot Community Association (NCA) held its monthly meeting June 14. This is a busy time of the year for the NCA as it focuses its work on the many events it sponsors. Niwot Clean Up Day and the second annual Slepicka Tractor Show were a success, and the annual 4th of July Pancake Breakfast and Parade is coming up very soon.

Director John Barto led the effort organizing Niwot Clean Up Day. Barto reported that the event went very smoothly with traffic spread out throughout the morning. A total of six large rolloff dumpsters were filled. Four of those contained household trash, beyond the usual trash that goes out to the curb.

A great deal of paint was also collected to be recycled. The NCA arranged for an electronics recycler to be present on site to keep those items out of the landfill. Metal was collected for recycling and yard waste was collected for composting.

The event redirects material to proper processing instead of ending up in the landfill. Many volunteers, including Scout Troop 161 and the Niwot High School drumline and band members, made the event run smoothly.

Membership Director Johnny Barrett analyzed traffic and membership for Clean Up Day over the past six years. He reported that 2023 saw the second-highest participation from NCA members. The NCA now has 382 members with 18 joining or renewing during Clean Up Day. "My goal is to get to 400 members this year," Barrett said.

The second annual Slepicka Tractor Show was also a success. Traffic flow was well handled by the NCA Road Crew. Children were excited to see and sit upon all the tractors in the Slepickas' yard at 6675 North 79th Street in Niwot. Some of the tractors and stationary motors were run with the members of the Slepicka family on hand to answer all questions.

The NCA board's attention now turns to the big event of the year, the 4th of July pancake breakfast and parade. NCA Vice-President Julie Breyer has led the effort for a number of years with help from other NCA board members on the event team.

The day begins with the Downhill Mile run for the whole family, which starts at Niwot High School and finishes down the hill at Cottonwood Square, where the pancake breakfast will take place. The Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band will perform a program of patriotic tunes appropriate to the day.

There will not be any significant changes to the parade route this year, which will begin at the intersection of Meadowdale Drive and Niwot Road before ending at the 2nd Avenue and Murray Street intersection downtown.

Breyer reported that it takes a great deal of work to sign up participants, set their order in the lineup, provide materials for children to decorate their bicycles, manage the street closures and traffic flow, and manage the parade from start to finish. All of this is accomplished through the work of many volunteers.

National Night Out is being planned for Tuesday, Aug. 1. There will be more information available about this event after the July NCA board meeting.

The board is trying out a new time and place for meetings. The July meeting will be held on July 12, at 7 p.m. at the Left Hand Grange No. 9, 195 2nd Avenue in Niwot.

NCA members are encouraged to attend monthly board meetings and the public is welcome. If you wish to speak or want a specific issue discussed, please contact the NCA board at least one week in advance of the meeting to be included on the agenda. The NCA website is http://www.niwot.org.