It’s reasonable to say that Linda Weise has had the same impact on Colorado Springs as skyrockets on the 4th of July – without her passion, vitality, curiosity and confidence, our city would be sadly diminished.
She’s attracted to difficult (even impossible!) projects, such as renovating the grand old City Auditorium. She succeeded in revivifying the Aud, making it once more a great venue for community activities, but she couldn’t get it to the finish line. Why? Because a complete renovation would cost about $100 million, and she finally had to call it quits. Having neglected it for 50 years, the powers that be in Colorado Springs city government politely refused to do much, so Wiese has moved on to a series of thoughtful, practical and impactful projects under the umbrella of the Community Cultural Collective (CSCCC) and Opus Creative Industry. Their common goal: “To create a true city center for education, arts, culture and business. Affording access to all citizens for the purpose of relevant, inspired and thoughtful works of the human spirit.”
Occupying a renovated ground floor space at 1 South Nevada, Weise and her team provide practical, paid instruction for people who would not otherwise be able to afford such training. According to its website, “The Culinary and Hospitality Capstone Program is a unique ‘earn-n-learn’ real-life, real-time community program that connects aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs with restaurant industry professionals from the Colorado Springs community to learn practical business skills and creative expression in the kitchen within a working restaurant. Participants are paid to train with Opus and Industry mentors in this 8-week program.”
Last week, my wife Karen and I attended a dinner created, prepared and served by program students. Linda had rounded up a couple of dozen friends and supporters to attend, many retired from long careers in Colorado Springs business, government and nonprofits. At $100 each, we were happy to contribute to a worthy nonprofit, but didn’t expect perfection.
Yet that’s what we got. The food was wonderful and the service impeccable. Our four-course dinner was way above our expectations, and it was fun to connect with old friends. We chatted at length with Gina and Skip Chen-Arms, longtime friends whom we hadn’t seen for many years. Why? Because they moved to Aurora after retiring.
“We loved our friends and the city,” said Skip, who was a Colorado Springs policeman for many years. “But after decades on the force, there are hundreds of locations in the city with difficult memories – accidents, murders, violence and tragedies of all kinds. That’s what happens to cops, and we didn’t want those memories, those daily reminders.”
We understood and realized how fortunate we are to have so many good memories of the city – of friends, neighborhoods, dogs, family, work, community and the simple delights of a sunny day.
I was born in Colorado Springs, fled the boring little burg when I turned 21, came back home at 40 and here I am 44 years later. Looking around at the dinner attendees, I realized that we had something in common; our love for Colorado Springs and our hope for its future.
Linda Weise is sui generis, one of a kind, but her practical and uplifting work should inspire us all. We may not be able to move mountains, but we can sure do the small things that help the less fortunate. And if that means helping Linda’s endeavors, we know that our money will be well-spent!
