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Thanksgiving Thankful Notes 2015

11/26/2015

1 Comment

 
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For those of you who visited our taproom during November, you likely saw the slips of paper out on the counter on which folks could write anything for which they were thankful.  I had grand designs of keeping them organized and reporting them all chronologically here.  For those of you familiar with the state of my desk, you’ll know at once that that was way too lofty an ambition.  So here, in no particular order, are this year’s Thanksgiving Thankful Notes.  I hope I haven’t lost any (and only 2 were censored) – if I find more floating about the desk top in the next few days, I’ll add them in.
 
Thanks to all of you who have stopped in to try a beer or two and to say hello – and for those of you who left these notes this month.
 
Cheers, and happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for...

  • Sunny Colorado.
  • My mom. :-)
  • Sunday bike rides with good friends & delicious beer!
  • I am so thankful for working with people who love craft beer & working with it!
  • Colorado law!
  • Delicious beer.
  • Tim, beer, and macaroni & cheese [ed. note:  I am thankful for these same things, in this same order]
  • Perambulation refills.
  • Whiskey.
  • One Direction.
  • Good beer shared with great friends!  Cheers!
  • Beer.  Duh.
  • I’m thankful for Bothy – he’s my friend!  (And all the great folks @ H&D!)
  • Potato dumplings & Kölsch.
  • Dikembe Mutombo’s blocking “Not today!”
  • I’m thankful for 4 growlers, 3 birds (turkey, duck, chicken ménage a trois), 2 helpings of everything, 1 fat nap and never forgetting to call home.
  • A great job!
  • Fresh tasty beer!
  • Happy, kind people & good karma.
  • My health.
  • Family & fermentation.
  • My health and all the beautiful places my feet have taken me to this year.  I <3 CO
  • Your beer!
  • Poptarts and giant bouncy castles.
  • Hot chicks behind the bar!
  • Eric Emerson.  He kept me grounded.
  • I’m thankful for Tim & Carol & H&D.  FoCo is amazing.  [Thank you very much!]
  • Those billion-dollar April/May rains.
  • Billion dollar spring rainstorms.
  • Spaghetti.
  • Abby.
  • Mommy Monday.
  • Delicious beer I’m proud to share with family & friends.
  • Happiness.
  • I am thankful for holidays that provide opportunities for families to get together, drink and laugh together.
  • Amazing coworkers in an amazing town.
  • Beer & good friends & coloring!
  • We are thankful for Tim & Carol  --J&M
  • My boys.
  • Ryan.
  • Life!
  • Friends, family, & Sad Panda.  
  • My friends, my family, my dog, the opportunity to be better today than I was yesterday.
  • I am thankful for puppies, fur, and friends I love!
  • The people in my life who keep me sane and show me love, my family and the love of my life Josh.   --K
  • I am thankful for friends and good beer.  Plus the ability to wake up each day.  Cheers.
  • My daughter Charlie & my next daughter.
  • My Heidi – I loves her <3
  • Yoga.  The things my husband does that annoy me & make me smile.  Our pets.  Great neighbors.  Horse & Dragon beer and its friendly faces.  Framily.
  • Horse & Dragon!  By far the best beer in town.  [We appreciate the bias here!]
  • The Bothy!
  • Fresh tasty beer.
  • Dogs, friends, yummy beer, family & safe travels.
  • Boobs.
  • Luke.
  • Beer, bikes, & beards!
  • Beer.
  • Kristin.
  • Holiday spirit.  It is catching!
  • I’m thankful for wonderful friendly Fort Collins!
  • Rohuna Mary Sikersky [sorry if I got this wrong – I can’t read it too well but appreciate the sentiment!]
  • My freedom to be a goofball!
  • For the United States and the opportunities it provides me.  To liberty and beyond.
  • Thankful for a big bed I’m able to share with my dog & my fiancé (while being the middle spoon.)  <3s
  • I am thankful for Carol’s positive community energy!
  • Thankful I was one of the lucky people born in the land of the free.
  • 40 mph wind.
  • Nothing but you!!!
  • Life. :-)
  • The H&D. :-)
  • My friends and family!!
  • Sad Pandas.
  • NoCO IPA my favorite.
  • I’m thankful I don’t work on Black Friday and can shop Small Business Saturday.
  • My dog, Seamus, just had a spinal stroke.  His leg was paralyzed.  In a week’s time, he has regained a lot of movement and is happy again.  Hoping for more improvement.
  • Harold “Loose the Goose”.
  • Baby Graham!! :-)
  • The great game of pinochle!
  • Jesus Christ.
  • Fresh tasty craft brew.
  • Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, smiling LIFE. :-)
  • Sunny winters.  Love Colorado!
  • I am thankful that Abby called another brewery to let us know we left our card here!  -- NB
  • I am thankful for Sunday bike rides with amazing friends and beer!
  • I am thankful for friends & family.  -- Noah
  • Thankful for my family & listening to my parents laugh on the phone today.
  • I am thankful for the O’Brien family for having us stay & visit!  <3 Fort Collins & the Sad Panda!
  • I am thankful for this win.
  • Sheriff Tuck.
  • Comic books.
  • My students.
  • Electric vehicles!
  • So many things:  family, friends, life in FoCo.  Never had a bad day in CO!  My wife.
  • I am thankful for Sad Panda and having wonderful brewery neighbors.
  • Horse & Dragon staff.  J  You folks are awesome!  We love you. J
  • Friends.
  • Good beer good friends good family.  :-)
  • All things bubbly!
  • Claire.
  • My friend Daniel.
  • Hockey and family.
  • Laughter with friends.
  • Laughter with friends.
  • My little Starr family.
  • Cara’s face!
  • Beer.
  • My birthday week!
  • I’m thankful for my wonderful wife & my wonderful life here in Fort Collins.  –- Jack Bales
  • I’m thankful for a brewery 2 doors down from my shop, my awesome community, my dogs, the family & friends I have, music, good food, & most of all, my wonderful wife! –- J.T.
  • For my family – the love of my life –- Mr. Scott.  For wonderful workplaces here & at school.  For Saturday Squad, Colorado!  Sunshine, books, learning and photography.  Of course beer and always the Rox, Avs, and Broncos.  -- Lizard
  • I am thankful for a vacation to see dear friends followed by a family visit and a wedding.  Plus, good beer.  -- Joe from Oregon
  • I’m thankful for your mom.
  • Friends & family & Sad Panda.  -- <3 Kaycee, Erin, Trevor, Kaite
  • Family time & Sad Panda.
  • I’m thankful for my loving husband, amazing friends, loyal puppy dogs & great beer!  <3
  • Colorado lives!
  • Ft. Collins & beer.
  • Republicans fighting back.  ‘MERICA.
  • All the AWESOME people @ Horse & Dragon.  :-)
  • My awesome girlfriend Brittany, not being in ND, Thailand, and beer.
  • I am thankful for all the love I get from our Beer Bettys friends.
  • Taylor (my BF) not being in ND for one.  And Sad Panda.
  • Family.  My beer friends.  Colorado.  Purple Hair.
  • My happily ever after.
  • Great beer in our beautiful state.  -- E.H., Arvada
  • I am thankful for Adam.  Beer & Bike Tours.
  • I am thankful for Bob.  Beer n’ Bike Tours
  • Claire & Hayden, my Saturday teammates.  <3
  • Family Food Fun Love.
  • I’m thankful for every meal, health, education, every hug, good thought provoking conversation, a good book, family, laughter, smiles, sunshine, nature, children, beer, and love.  Besos!  Muy agradecida por uds. también!
  • I am thankful for beer, my friends, for my husband, my job, that I am a pillar (?) when drunk, for my 3 dogs, 2 cats, my neighbors, my education, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, my good working vehicle, my love of purple, vodka, rum, wieners (dog), Pinterest, weekends, date nights, Sad Panda, my house, Colorado weather, Bunko, friends, growlers to take great beer home, good music, good food, evenings home, financial peace, pretzels, the beer, the amazing benefits of Dotevra (?) essential oils, my friend Heather P., air conditioning/heating.
  • For working next to this great brewery, Sad Panda, my Ugg boots (shame!), my bud, Nicole, and…. Sweet potato casserole!  -- Heather P.
  • My birthday cake.
  • My mom.
  • For every day I’m given on this earth.
  • New places, great beer, & great friends in Colorado.  -- Alex
  • Seeing my old friends over good beer!
  • We’re thankful that we live in the most beautiful city in the world!  <3FoCo<3
  • I’m thankful for BLUE SKIES of Colorado.  -- Les
  • I am thankful for my health and great beer!  --B
  • I am thankful for the beer at H&D.
  • I am grateful to have a home.  No longer homeless but still single.
  • The Saturday Squad @ H&D <3
  • I am thankful for food.
  • New and old friends.
  • My FoCo friends.
  • The fact that weed is legal in CO!!!  I guess my family too.  :-)
  • Micro brews & the ability to travel and try and tour as many as possible.
  • Being here in Fort Collins with my hubby & a couple of friends.
  • I’m thankful that I can read.
  • I am thankful for great friends, great beer, great scenery, great taprooms!
  • I’m thankful that H&D is open every day.
  • Thankful for the Horse & Dragon Brewery!
  • Besties.
  • My lovely wife.
  • My husband.
  • I’m thankful for our friends tim & Carol & everyone @ H&D.  -- Jack & Meredith
  • My wife!!!  Horse & Dragon!!!  Abby!!!  Tim & Carol!!!  Miss you guys.  Family & Friends!!!  Support from all of the above.
  • Horse & Dragon supporting Team Rubicon!  --<3 Lisa
  • Special friendships.
  • I am thankful for TREES!  And my wife.
  • Laura Pentico.
  • Tasty Rocky Mountain Sodas.  Mmmmm.
  • Colorado weather.
  • A great group of friends!
  • My sweet family.
  • To anonymous donors to the beer pool.
1 Comment

Taking heart.

11/14/2015

3 Comments

 
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After seeing the news of the past 12 hours I am, as Mr. Rogers' mother apparently urged, looking for the helpers. It's fortuitous, then, that Tim and I got to visit 2 of them in action this week when we finally ate at the FoCo Cafe.  If you've not yet been there, rectify that!  They are open for lunch every day but Sunday (see hours & location below).  You may go the first time to support its mission, but you'll most likely return for the food and the ambience -- all three are really wonderful.
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Here's the FoCo Cafe's mission statement:
Building community by providing nutritious and delicious meals to the people of Fort Collins regardless of their ability to pay while using local, organic, and sustainably grown ingredients.


And here's how it works:
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We knew of the goals of this place long before it opened, as our paths, like those of so many others in Fort Collins and beyond, had crossed those of Kathleen & Jeff Baumgardner, who are the driving forces behind the cafe and two of the world's best-hearted people.  If you're looking for the helpers to give your heart hope again, these two are some stellar examples. Taproom regulars might also remember that Abby's and Claire's charity of choice during our anniversary last May was the FoCo Cafe -- they raised (and many of you contributed!) money for and built a few of the planter boxes at the cafe with some help from Uncle Andy. So the cafe has been on our radars for a while.  Despite its having been open since last Thanksgiving, though, Tim and I still hadn't made it there during official hours. ​
At Jeff's suggestion we had a "flight of soups" -- 4 of 'em, and each was more delicious than the last -- and 2 fresh jalapeño cornbread muffins.  They also had 2 salads on offer; both looked fantastic (salmon, quinoa, fresh greens, wild rice).  They've got vegan and gluten-free options if you're in need -- and also, for us omnivorous sorts, they've got things like a sausage-and-fresh-pepper-filled yumminess-in-a-bowl.
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Jeff and Kathleen wangle a rotating army of volunteers each day.  If you'd like to step in and participate by either prepping, serving, or cleaning up (or if you have professional skills the cafe might need that you can offer), you can sign up to volunteer at this link.
Among the FoCo Cafe's values is this:  "participating in a community nourishes the soul."  AMEN.

Whether you find your community here at this sunlit lunch spot, taking a hike with friends, volunteering at your kid's school,
at a city council meeting, tailgating, or around your family table, we hope your soul is nourished today and every day. Thanks for letting us be a part of your community and for being a part of ours.
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The FoCo Cafe is located at 225 Maple Street, just west of Mason,
​and is open Mon.-Sat., 11am - 2pm.  
It is spotless and welcoming, full of windows, good food, and good people.
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Please.  How can you not love a place that has these windchimes?
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3 Comments

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    This blog

    ...is the dragon's wanderings through the world of craft beer. It may be hard to follow. This is best read with a great microbrew at hand!

    Categories

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    Beer Pairing
    Belgians
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    Craft Beer Folk Is Good Folk
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Horse & Dragon Brewing Company   ••  124 Racquette Drive  ••  Fort Collins, CO  80524  ••  970-689-8848
For bar/restaurant/liquor store beer orders, please contact Luke Margheim, 970-980-6564; LukeM@hdbrew.com