Hi, Bucket Listers! I hope your holidays were happy and you are looking forward to a good new year. As the great sage Oprah Winfrey says:
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
But before we can turn the page from the previous year to the new, we need to finish up some business. We’re in the last days of our #newsCOneeds fundraiser and we’re still a couple hundred dollars short. We need $291 to reach our goal of $12,500, allowing us to continue doing this work for you in 2025. As the year comes to a close, please invest in community journalism, get us over the top and help us start 2025 strong!
If you need inspiration as you begin the new year, we have a couple of stories for you this week about underdogs who have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
From Addict to Small Business Owner
Our Allie Blum spoke with Cameron Lundstrom to learn how he rebuilt his life. After spending years in and out of prison, Lundstrom decided to change his life and devote it to service. Blum’s story tells how he turned his life around and provides information about NAS (Nap and a Sandwich) Recovery Solutions, the organization Lundstrom founded and directs that helps people overcome addiction across the Front Range.
CrossFit Helped One Man CrossKick Drugs
As part of Bucket List‘s collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder’s News Corps, we share a story written by students Evanie Gamble and Norah Hively about Nick Wells’ harrowing addiction battle. Wells began “drinking, smoking weed and doing meth” when he was 14 years old, leading to a life of crime to feed his addiction. Read part one of Gamble and Hively’s two-part series on exercise and addiction recovery to learn how CrossFit helped him change his mindset.
Can Buffs Kick Losing Streak in San Antonio?
Now for the story that everyone has been talking about: CU Boulder’s trip to Texas for the Valero Alamo Bowl. The team has a notoriously poor record in the Alamo Bowl, having lost their last three visits, but Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and the Buffaloes are hoping to change that. Our Ryland Scholes surveyed the stakes and the sentiments of CU fans traveling to San Antonio.
Stuff We Noticed
After more than 30 years in Northwest Denver, Café Brazil announced this week that it will leave its current location at 4408 Lowell Boulevard in Berkeley, where it has been since 2003. Co-owner Tony Zarlenga wrote on the company’s Facebook page that its “future is uncertain” because its lease is not being renewed. Leadership cited rising costs as well as personal and professional challenges for the restaurant’s closure. The message concluded on a positive note for fans of the establishment: Café Brazil “may yet live on in a new chapter.” But what exactly that will look like is anyone’s guess.
When your Christmas tree starts dropping needles and making a mess, give it a new lease on life by recycling it. The city of Denver has multiple places where you can drop it off. Between December 26 and January 31, transport Oh Tannenbaum to the various collection locations. Then return in May for your free mulch and compost to help your garden thrive. You can also put it out on large trash day, but it will not be recycled and will end up in a landfill.
RTD and Molson Coors want you to be safe on New Year’s Eve so they are offering free bus rides from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on New Year’s Day. The Zero Fare program includes all bus and rail routes as well as Access-a-Ride and FlexRide. Go to RTD’s Next Ride app trip planning tool to plan your holiday ride and be responsible while you celebrate.
That’s it for this week, friends. This is the final newsletter of the year, and we want to thank you for everything you do to support Bucket List. If we haven’t said it enough, our #newsCOneeds fundraiser ends on December 31, and we are just a few hundred dollars short of our goal. Please make a contribution to community journalism before the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve. We can’t do this work without your help. Happy New Year and see you in 2025!
Warmest Regards,
Toni Tresca
Editor/Bucket List Community News
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