Veterans Day Parade 2025 in Longmont

It was a balmy November 11 for this year's Veterans Day parade in Longmont, which appropriately always starts at 11:11 AM.  

Frederick High School Marching Band:

Skyline High School Marching Band

USS Edmonds Destroyer Escort (DE) 406, named after Longmont's Bert Edmonds:

Mead High School Marching Band

Niwot High School Marching Band

No military flyover this year because of USA government shutdown but a civilian replacement stepped in to help:

Lyons High School Marching Band:

Silver Creek High School Marching Band

Longmont High School Marching Band

Erie High School Marching Band

Ovid, Colorado Revisited

 Ovid, Colorado is a small town located in the very northeast corner of Colorado, near the South Platte River.  It was once home (1925 to 1985) to a large sugar beet processing factory and the associated workforce.  Just this year (2025), Ovid celebrated its 100th anniversary.  Ovid's population was 271 in the 2020 Census and declining, from a peak of 687 in 1940.  

I wrote about Ovid back in 2013, with photos from 2008.  Ovid was also part of the story when the City of Longmont was researching its past librarians for the Library 100th anniversary and one of them, Genevieve Dorset, couldn't be found but was discovered to have moved to Ovid after marrying a sugar beet plant manager in Longmont.   

In July of this year while traveling east, I hopped off I-76 to see what Ovid looks like today.

The most obvious difference since 17 years ago is that the boarded-up sugar factory is gone. 

Back in 2008:

Today (July 2025) the silo's are still there (and visible from I-76) but the factory is gone:

The factory was demolished in 2017.  You can read more about that in this article from Engineering News Record and here is one of their demolition photos:

(Meanwhile, in Longmont, our crumbling sugar beet factory still stands)

The silo's are still operated by Amalgamated Sugar for storage:

Back in 2008, there was a boneyard of vintage agricultural equipment:

That is still there but looks a little less populated these days:

The most notable building in Ovid is the art-deco style Revere High School (and now Middle School too?) built in 1928 for the growing population of factory employees and designed by notable Denver architect Temple Buell.  It is a registered historical landmark and has an amazing 7:1 student to teacher ratio today.

The school in 2008:

And today (2025), you'll notice the trees are gone as are those questionable blue doors.  A helpful reader also pointed out the beautiful new windows.  The window-box air conditioners are gone, as well.  

In nearby small park downtown, Ovid's Great Western Dinky locomotive from the factory is still on display but looking more weathered now from the high plains winters and summers. The number should be 4109, I'm not sure why the leading"4" has been obscured:

From 2008:

And today:

The library is in the same location, with some renovations.

2008:

2025:

Downtown remains quiet, as it was then, but a few more vehicles now:

2008:

2025:

One last 2008-perspective of the huge sugar factory  and the view now.  A sign reminds future generations of Ovid's long-gone history with the sugar industry.

Enjoy Full-Length St. Vrain Greenway While You Can

For the first time in nearly six years, the St. Vrain Greenway in Longmont is completely open for it's full length from Golden Ponds (west) to Sandstone Ranch (east).  

Over the years, I've expressed my disappointment for the protracted Greenway closure in the central part of town, to City Council.  Reasons I've been given include delays by BNSF, the initial bids for the Boston Avenue Bridge rebuild were too high, the pandemic, and delays from the Feds (FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers).  On the other hand, I've praised the work (completed in 2018)  the City did for the Greenway rebuild at Sandstone, including the new bridge addition and reroute, and the new routing west of Main by the Dickens Farm Nature Area was well done. 

Unfortunately, the full Greenway opening will be short-lived.   The section from Boston Avenue to Sunset Street by the Isaak Walton Clubhouse is scheduled to be closed "Spring 2025" (does this mean May or June?)  and finished Fall 2026.  So, at least another 1.5 years of closure and there is another section of work to be done in the future.  Of interest is a bike lane and temporary sidewalk coming this summer along a portion of Boston Avenue for the detour (see below).  If you know Boston Avenue, it is poorly drained with sand and large water pools after a rain covering much of its shoulder, and it is also full of debris from industrial traffic. It has never been a usable detour especially for families or anyone on foot.   I'm very interested to see if the City comes through on this commitment and maintains the bike lane.

I'll go ahead and post the schedule here and we'll see if the Fall 2026 completion milestone is met:

On a Sunday Easter afternoon, I got out on the Greenway before it is closed again.  

The previous BNSF railroad bridge was identified as a major pinch point in water flow during the 2013 flood.   Here's the new one but did it really take two years to build (2019 to 2021)?

 

Here's a few pictures of the segment to be closed soon.  The dirt surface was temporary after the flood but nobody complains about it.  

And looking east from near the Isaak Walton Clubhouse:

 Get out there while you can.