Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.

The evolution of the Nederland Community Center could become a novel beginning with the fact

that it used to be an elementary school and many adults remember when their children attended

classes within its brick walls.

For many years, the building was abandoned, then it was inhabited, then it was abandoned again,

but it finally rose from the melted snowdrifts to become the hub of our community that it is today.

A major part of that evolution is the hundreds of volunteers that make the facility a viable, vibrant

piece of Ned’s social life. For the past decade the NCC has been run by Dawn Baumhover, who everyone

knows, but few know how she came to be such a significant part of the community, how she and her

family ended up in Nederland, growing up here and getting beyond hardships and tragedy to make a life

in the town she came to 24 years ago.

Last Saturday night, Dawn and her family, her NCC staff and friends celebrated her 60th birthday

and reminisced about the good old days.

Dawn and her husband Dave met while they were both enrolled at Michigan State University,

working at the Parkwood YMCA. Two weeks after they graduated in 1980, they were married and

moved to Grand Rapids where Dave was employed by Piedmont Airlines in 1984.

“We did all the things young families do,” says Dawn. “The soccer, swimming lessons, gymnastics, t-

ball and PTA. I was a stay at home mom with five kiddos.”

In 1993, Dave was ready for a job change and they both decided they wanted a change of lifestyle.

To choose where and how they wanted to live and make it happen was a radical decision. The family

loved hiking and camping and a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park after a family wedding in Denver

gave the decision to move their life to a specific location. The Baumhover’s were headed west.

As they headed to the airport, they stopped at a traffic light on 28th and Canyon in Boulder, they

looked up at the road heading uphill and wondered what was up there. Once they returned to Michigan,

Dave flew back to Colorado and drove to Nederland.

“He called me long distance and told me he had found it, the place he wanted to live. I flew out two

weeks late and agreed. We were home. Our midwestern families thought we were crazy.”

It didn’t happen overnight. For the next year, the Baumhovers prepared to extract themselves from

their Michigan families and commitments.

They also made an attempt to find career-style employment. When that didn’t happen, they took a

leap of faith and decided they would just head out and see what happened. This isn’t always easy,

especially when you are a five-child family.

“The trip out was fun. Dave turned off the interstate at the Mississippi River and we took backroads.

We visited the Field of Dreams and faded into the corn, the Badlands and Mount Rushmore and

camped. The kids chased grasshoppers and fireflies on the plains and we drove through an epic

thunderstorm that we could see for miles while the thunder seemed to be in sync with the classical

music playing on the radio.”

In August of 1994, the Baumhovers arrived in Nederland in a mini-van with a cartop carrier pulling a

pop-up camper. It was the middle of the night before the first day of school and the family got a room at

the Nederhaus.

In the morning, Dawn filled out the necessary paperwork to get the kids enrolled at the Nederland

Elementary School. At the time they were in sixth grade, fourth grade, second grade, kindergarten and

preschool. The family got a weekly rate at a motel and began looking for jobs and a place to live.

Housing was as challenging then as it is now.

Fortunately, all the children were of school age so both Dawn and Dave could work. They found part

time jobs, cobbled them together to make ends meet, and prayed. When they left Michigan, they

brought their faith with them and Dawn says that without it, they might have given up.

Dave worked as a tow truck driver, delivered pizza, worked for UPS on holidays, worked odd

construction jobs and drove for Special Transit, Dawn worked at the elementary school as a Para,

cleaned hotel rooms, houses and barns. Both of them volunteered on committees and classrooms.

“We didn’t have much, but we were in the place we chose to be. The kids quickly adapted to their

new life. They learned to ski and process snowstorms and wind on new terms.”

Nederland was smaller and slower then and traffic was similar to how it is now when the canyon is

closed, says Dawn. There were no cell phones, computers were rare and there was no library. The

Baumhovers were all readers and the children waited eagerly for George Blevins to come to town in the

Gilpin Bookmobile once a week.

Housing a family was a challenge. The family moved seven times in two years, but that didn’t

dampen their enthusiasm for living in the mountains. The kids rode their bikes and played in their

personal park, the National Forest. Their parents felt safe allowing them that freedom.

During all this time, the old elementary school sat silently on the hillside outside of town. When the

town purchased it from the school district to be used as a community center, many opportunities were

opened to the Baumhovers. They both became involved with the non-profits that moved in, including

the Nederland Area Seniors and the Backdoor Theater.

Dave drove for Special Transit and for NAS as well as becoming the projectionist for the theater.

Dawn washed dishes and cleaned for the seniors and the BDT.

In 2003, during the seven-foot snowstorm that collapsed the roof of the NCC, many jobs and

agencies were buried along with the rubble. The Baumhovers lost their main source of income and they

had to scramble once again to make ends meet.

“In 2005, Dave’s sudden and unexpected passing sent our family reeling. It was also the proof that

we had chosen the right place to raise our family,” says Dawn “The entire Peak to Peak community

flocked to support and uphold us. Work, school and church communities were all there for all of us and

our diverse needs during that difficult time. When our Midwest relatives witnessed how the community

came together for us, they finally understood why we came and why we stayed.”

The NCC was rebuilt, bigger and better, the kitchen was remodeled and became the home base of

the senior meal site and community pancake breakfasts as well as the annual Thanksgiving dinner. The

facility included a gym, dance class space and the haven for people evacuated from fires, people

needing food and warm clothes. It housed town meetings and municipal court.

All of these functions needed someone to organize them, to make sure everyone had what they

needed to operate smoothly. In 2008, the town offered the job to Dawn, who had a background in

recreation and facilities. She needed a job and it seemed like a good fit.

For the past 10 years Dawn has become part of the infrastructure of the community center. She

knows every nut and bolt and pipe and idiosyncrasy and deals with every malfunction and emergency.

Sometimes it seems like she lives there, present at all the events, opening the doors in the morning.

She loves the action and the people.

“Working at the community center is like having a large family. The activities, events and

organizations are all different and their needs are many and diverse. There is collaboration, compromise

and sometimes disagreement. The budget is limited. The needs are ever-changing. It is never boring,

and you have to have a sense of humor. Planning is necessary, but flexibility is the key.”

Dawn describes the community center as an ever-growing and evolving entity, just like Nederland,

with its constant challenges and opportunities. The NCC has grown from one employee to six.

On Saturday night, with a crowd gathered round her, Dawn remembered the journey she and her

family have taken to arrive at this point in her life and says there could have been no better birthday gift

than being with her children, grandchildren and her mother as well as her fellow NCC employees. Her

son Seth and his wife Katie live in Gilpin County; Jonathan and his wife Melody and son Ezra live in

Nederland; Nathan lives in Nederland; Hannah lives in southern California with her husband Michael and

their three children; and Jason lives in Michigan with his wife Angela and daughter.

She has come a long way from driving cross country in a mini-van with five children. As she enjoyed

the birthday treats, she said she was surprised, amazed and grateful; grateful for her family, friends,

coworkers, church family and community.

“Working at the community center is the perfect way for me to give back to a place that has given

my family and me so much.”