Snowstorm doesn't put stop to life along East Colfax Avenue

James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 22, 2006 at midnight

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Whether you were a pedestrian, a driver, a snowboarder, a shoveler or a statuesque female named Blue, everybody moving along East Colfax Avenue on Thursday experienced the white of way.

Which is to say that nature's early Christmas present of a thousand feet of snow didn't daunt a lot of people so much as divert them.

And nobody was happier about the white stuff than Andrew Shove, 28, who had joined with friends in turning the west side of the Capitol into his very own snowboard park.

"It's definitely a rarity to be boarding downtown," said Shove. "Besides, we had nothing else to do. We couldn't get to the mountains."

Is there anything special about trying to catch big air near the place where hot air is usually produced?

"It's the Capitol, dude!"

Having a capital time even as he labored to avoid the deep drifts that clustered along Denver's funkiest street was Craig Donnellan, 32, his task made more arduous thanks to crutches.

"Aw, it's not too bad out here, really," said Donnellan, who suffers from a bone disease. "I'm using the crutches like ski poles."

And where are you heading?

"Nowhere. I'm just out for a walk, enjoying the day."

Donnellan was not the only wintry walker.

Jauntily striding along, Dan King looked like he owned Colfax. Then again, considering he was accompanied by Blue, his formidable St. Bernard, what did he have to fear?

Asked if Blue had rescued anybody yet, King smiled and said, "No, but I've thought about strapping her to the front bumper of some of these cars that are stuck and helping pull them out."

Having been stuck at the airport for 26 hours, William Brockmeyer was thrilled to be lugging his luggage along Colfax, en route to the Ramada Inn.

"I was lucky," he said. "I had to pretend I was going to the Holiday Inn so I could get a ride into downtown. How many more blocks is it?

Brockmeyer, who thought DIA would merely be a brief stop between New York and Missoula, Mont., said he didn't know a soul in town. "I'd be happy for someone to call the Ramada and buy me a drink, especially a single lady," he said.

Failing that, and calculating that he wouldn't be exiting town until Sunday, Brockmeyer figured he had plenty of time to read the book he had just purchased: Deep Survival.

Knee-deep in snow but surviving nicely was Rosario Sautillo.

"It's pretty nice outside today, I don't mind," said Sautillo, a farmer from Mexico up to visit his son. Sautillo was so unfazed by the weather that he wore only a light jean jacket while he went slip-sliding along the snow-choked streets in a pair of turquoise armadillo-skin boots.

"Pretty nice, eh?"

Feeling more ice than nice were 16-year-old buddies Stephanie Glose and Alejandra Hernandez, who were shivering in their hoodies.

"My mom sent us on an adventure," said Stephanie. "She wanted us to go see what all was open and how things were outside."

And?

"We discovered it's cold outside, the snow over there goes up to my waist and nothing is open."

Untrue, girls.

Sure, a bunch of fainthearted businesses were shut - and you know who you are, Smiley's Discount Laundromat, Pita Grill & Hookah, Emilio's Super Chef Mexican Restaurant and Highlander Comix.

But plenty of feisty establishments didn't knuckle under to Ma Nature - and we're not just talking Kitty's Adult Books and Videos.

Take the Red Room, where owner Brian Sommatino threw open the door for loyal customers. True, there were only 10 of them by 1 p.m., but Brian was undaunted.

"The buffalo chili is going out the door," he said. "Well, three people, but that's almost half the clientele."

A couple of blocks east, Argonaut Liquors offered port in a storm - and plenty more - to thirsty clients. After explaining he had to close early Wednesday, owner Ron Vaughn was hoping to keep his doors open as long as he could.

Was any kind of alcohol more popular with his polar clientele?

"Well, I have heard people say tequila makes it easier to shovel the walk; it helps with their back pain. But I don't know if it's true."

Of course, there are spirits needs and spiritual needs - which is why the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception stayed open all Wednesday night to let people come in from the cold, and conducted its usual 7 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. Masses Thursday.

Unfortunately, the horrendous weather forced a postponement of the annual Father Woody Giveaway - where $20 is given to everybody who needs it.

"We'll try and reschedule it, but it won't be until after Christmas, I'm afraid," said a disconsolate John Brooks, the liturgist.

Across the street from the cathedral, a trio of men stood together, stamping their feet, sharing a large can of Budweiser. In front of them, Joyce Isom waited stoically for the No. 15 bus.

"Somebody said the buses was running, but I don't know," she said, scanning the horizon, looking like a besieged settler hoping for the cavalry.

Possessing less faith was Kevin Miller. Eschewing the sidewalk in favor of a path right on Colfax, Miller had given up on the bus. Instead he was hitchhiking. "Sometimes you just gotta throw out your thumb; you never know," he said.

All around him, the pulse of the street beat on. A red Honda Civic, abandoned and engulfed by snow, looking like a big gumdrop. Four men toting shovels over the shoulders, looking for work. An old woman with a shopping bag walking unevenly and talking to herself in a strange language - the language of Colfax on the day it became Denver's great white way.

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