“Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.” That was the nightly ritual at our dinner table — our version of a debrief mixed with a pop quiz. You could always tell which teacher had impressed my kids by how animated they got. But the moment I’d ask them to review lunches or school activities, the eye-rolling began.
Funny enough, that’s exactly how I feel today. Aren’t you exhausted from being asked to review every sandwich, purchase, hotel room, and haircut? Every app wants five stars, a paragraph, and a glossy photo. As Sebastian Maniscalco puts it, “If you didn’t like the salmon… just don’t go back there!” Not everything needs a Yelp-grade dissertation.
And speaking of evaluations — let’s talk business ethics. We love highlighting new and established businesses in our community, and we go out of our way to help them grow. But once in a while, a few take out ads, get customers, shake hands, smile for a photo… and then “forget” to pay their vendors — including us. You’d be surprised how creative people can get when dodging a bill. It makes the idea of publishing a “Deadbeat Report” awfully tempting. But rather than drag anyone publicly, we choose to elevate the businesses that keep their word, treat partners fairly, and actually play well in the sandbox. Integrity still matters — even if a few folks missed that memo.
And then there’s construction. A whole year of it. Everywhere. Dust in the air, equipment on every corner, and roads that look like obstacle courses. Look, we get that progress requires inconvenience. What we don’t need is the sugarcoated “almost done!” updates that kept coming like clockwork. Just tell us the truth. We’re adults — mostly.
Eventually, leadership shifted, and now our city works department has new blood and a renewed commitment to plain, unvarnished facts. It’s amazingly refreshing to get updates that aren’t wrapped in PR frosting. Even better, there’s a push to require water-soluble marking paint instead of permanent hieroglyphics on our sidewalks and streets. A small win? Sure. But I’ll take it.
And the reality is, construction isn’t disappearing. Wheat Ridge is pushing 60 years old. While developers lay shiny new infrastructure in new neighborhoods, the rest of the city needs a tune-up — sewers, electrical lines, sidewalks, and roads that feel every bit their age. Not glamorous, but necessary.
This is also the season I start putting together my annual list of New Year’s resolutions — and sometimes scrambling to finish the ones I forgot I’d made last January. I’m proud to say I did cut sugar from my coffee. I bought the new car. I finally ate at La Fonda. I continued building my real estate team. All wins.
But what about 2026? What do you have planned?
As for me, I’m determined to learn Led Zeppelin’s The Rain Song on my guitar — and no, air guitar doesn’t count. I’m going to clean up my database and reach out to the people I’ve been “too busy” to call. And yes, I’ll probably join the chorus of folks swearing to lose ten pounds and get healthy — the annual tradition that makes the Rec Center packed in January and nearly empty by mid-February, with piles of unused punch cards silently judging us from kitchen counters.
So what about you? Will 2026 be the year you get involved in our schools? Run for local office? Launch something new? Tell me about it at [email protected].
And finally — thank you. To everyone who emails, calls, complains, encourages, corrects, praises, or stops by my house with advice or a hug… you keep this paper alive. Print media is expensive, demanding, and occasionally a headache. But every month, when I pick up the Gazette with my morning coffee, knowing thousands of you are doing the same, there’s this quiet moment where we all feel connected — even if we’ll deny being sentimental about it.
Happy holidays, everyone.
And as always — thanks for reading.
~ Guy
