This Strange Week

Ever notice how the week between Christmas and New Years is sort of strange? How productive are you being this week? Be honest. And for me it has always been a little strange due to my birthday being on the 27th. So I have Christmas, birthday, and New Years all in one week. Not really a good recipe for a normal productive week.

Today is the 2nd time in my life I've had to work on my birthday. The first time was my 21st birthday and I was in the Army deployed in Somalia. There were no real days off while on that deployment. Other than that I have always managed to avoid work and school on my birthday. One benefit to having it so close to Christmas. I am working today because Chris who normally holds down the fort on Wednesdays is on his way to Iowa for Christmas with the family.

I'll admit I was tempted to be closed today. But that would be a bit selfish. Though it has been really slow all day. And we are closing at 6pm this week. When the students are gone we do not have much business in the evenings. So I figured it would be good to give the volunteers a break from working though the holidays.

Now there is snow in the forecast again. The rumors are flying. Today I've heard everything from 2 inches all the way up to 18 inches from customers. Personally I hope it is 0 inches. I have gotten quite used to my nice mild Fort Collins winters. Snow is for the mountains.

Challenges of a Volunteer Powered Venue

Today is Friday the 22nd. The Friday before Christmas. Everyday Joe's closes at 6PM today. This is due to not being able to find a sound tech around any holiday. Joe's is often thought of as a volunteer powered coffee house. What is often over-looked is we are also a volunteer powered concert venue. Joe's can seat up to 225 people and has hosted world touring acts. There are shows almost every Friday and Saturday night. All this is done through volunteers.

Volunteer sound techs who set up the stage, do sound check, and mix the board through the show. Joe's is so thankful to have them. But it is often more challenging to find sound people than to find people to make coffee. So come the holidays we have learned it is better to simply not book any shows. And we also know that without a show there is not reason to be open.

Today we close at six and our coffee making machines will not be turned on again until Tuesday the 26th. So we get a nice long weekend. We hope you all have a Great Christmas and an amazing Boxing Day.

The Blizzard of 2006

It snowed. It snowed a lot.

We shovel. We shovel a lot.

Now we slowly start to begin life again. Just in time for a long Christmas weekend. Everyday Joe's closed Wednesday around 1pm so volunteers would be able to get home safely. And we remained closed Thursday.

My wife and I came down Thursday afternoon and cleared a path on the sidewalk. And to our doors. Old town had a few people out but seemed to be mostly people out just to be out. There was not much getting done in the world we live in yesterday.

This morning I walked in to work because biking, my normal mode, was just not going to happen. I was able to walk down Mountain Avenue without a single car passing me. And when I got into Old Town it was full of dumptrucks, dozers, backhoes, and graders working on the snow. Most sidewalks were clear though some of our neighbors have not shoveled. And after seeing a few people having trouble getting into the sidewalk I cleared a path to the street. So at least our little spot on the world has a path.

Business today has been slow. That was expected. But we have been able to provide coffee to a few souls who ventured out this morning. Now it is sunny and hopefully warming up a bit. Maybe more people will get out as the day goes on.

Latte Art

Just thought I would share some latte art with the world. Made that one Friday morning and happen to have the camera available. And it taste even better than it looks.

More history.

Yes my friends that is 144 S. Mason. Looks a little different these days. Just seeing the front of the building shows how much work went into transforming the space into Everyday Joe's.

And there is more to come. We all love before and after pictures right?

Why Everyday Joe's?

The question often comes up from those who discover Joe's, "How did this place come about?" And if they want the long story I have to begin by talking about a church whose name was Joshua's Crossing. It was a church started back in the "GenX" movement that churches went through in the late 90s. Joshua's was a church plant of Timberline Church, which started in 1999.


Joshua's Crossing began as a church that met in night clubs around town. Over time the church evolved and needed a permanent building. In 2002 a building on Mason Street was discovered. For years it had been Operation Electric. An appliance warehouse and service center. Through a lot of hard work and time the space at 144 S. Mason was transformed into a church. Exposed brick and high ceilings gave the space a lot of character. The church met Sunday nights. The rest of the week the space sat empty, dark, and cold.

The man who started Joshua's Crossing, Paul, always had an idea about a church. Paul dreamed of building a church that "smelled like a coffeeshop (inviting), sounded like a concert (quality), and felt like an opera (passionate)." So it was natural for the church to use the space as a coffee shop six days a week. It was a vision of a church as a servant to the community through the relevant cultural offering that a modern coffee house provides. And that is the seeds of Everyday Joe's.

To be continued...