The Noco Pulse | Week of June 22nd, 2026

Hey NOCO! It is the Weeks of Freedom. What did you do to celebrate Juneteenth? And coming up is 4th of July. So, you better be ready. Celebrate that freedom. Have you been watching all of our other countries coming over for sleepovers at the World Cup? Because I have and I'm obsessed. I love people saying like, this is Bucky's. Yeah. I just have been watching people like in Walmart, like look at all of this food and they're just grabbing it. I'm obsessed. It is hilarious. We should have countries over for sleepovers every year. Agreed. Agreed. I'm Kurt Baer. I'm the founder of Loco Think Tank and the host of the Loco Experience Podcast. And I'm Kelsey Harris, the owner of This Is NoCo and Discover NoCo Magazine. And hold on, I've got to go back to the World Cup. Is it true that we're playing England on the 4th of July in Philadelphia? No way. I don't know if it's true, but I've been seeing it online and I was like, if this is true, this is amazing. All right, fact check us. I know, this is like somebody let us know if that's actually happening. We can even look it up right now, but we don't do that. But we're not going to do that. We just roll. Somebody tell me if it's happening. Cool. So let's get started with what's moving in NOCO. On the Moose segment is sponsored by Miles Beyond Running and the Run Wins a Race series. And there is one more. They just had their Red, White & Brew race past weekend. But the Greeley Freedom 5K is coming up on 4th of July morning. I will be there as your MC So yes I hope to see you guys there too maybe And then also I wanted to mention that if you don't want to go to Greeley for that There is a Loveland Liberty 5K As well as a Fort Collins Firecracker 5K All on July 4th morning The morning is always a good time on July 4th to get up and get going Get out there and move, nothing like to celebrate So Kelsey you got anything on the move this morning? I do. Moving in NoCo is the Dragon and Cone, which is an ice cream and dirty soda shop, which I'm always craving a dirty soda. And it is moving into Wellington. It's actually already moved in. They had their grand opening on Friday, the 19th. And so when you are up in Wellington and you are craving a dirty soda or an ice cream, they are serving walrus ice cream. So you know it will be good. stop on in their shop is so cute they have spent so much time restoring the building back to um kind of the original design and what it was supposed to be so it looks amazing so check it out how do you hear about all this i am online a lot i guess so well i'm stealing a line from you from last week oh for what's on the move and that is dirt Okay, what other dirt's moving? Dirt is moving at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. Oh, what are they doing? They are doing a $20 million runway expansion, which should set the pace for more commercial flights in the future. Alongside, they still have some tower issues and whatnot. But they're on the way. They got an FAA grant to make it happen. So crossing our fingers in Northern Colorado that we could someday, someway, not have to drive all the way to DIA. Yes, we are moving for it. Next up is our community gatherings, which is brought to us by Ginger and Baker. And as you know, they've already had one murder mystery party and they have another one coming up in August. And so make sure that you grab your tickets early because you know that this will sell out. And I actually had the pleasure of talking to the... hosts, the people that put on the actual murder mystery part of these. And he was talking about how the Ginger and Baker events really sell themselves because it's at Ginger and Baker. So you know, it's going to be good. So you want to grab those tickets early. That is August 19th, 18th. But the hosts play play house productions are actually putting on another one at Peculiar Brewing. this Tuesday. So if you hear this on Monday, grab your tickets and head over. He said that one is a little bit harder because it is at a new location. So you've got an extra opportunity. So there are still tickets available. And this week I just saw this gathering and said people have to know about it early because it is definitely going to be crazy. Sport Fun is celebrating 25 years this year. Okay. And they are celebrating on July 9th with $25 tickets that get you four hours of unlimited play. That's go-karts, bumper boats, giant slide, uh... There's more laser tag and like you get $5 to the arcade and a couple of extras that they're going to have. So if you've been to Fort Fun lately, you know that that is an amazing deal. So you know, it's going to be crazy. So grab those tickets now. That's why I'm letting you know ahead of time. I think I mentioned it a few months back, but how many millions of dollars they've given and especially use of their facility to kids and stuff like that. Yes, which I had no idea about. So holler Fort Fun. That's what we love Fort Fun. Congratulations for 25 years. So yeah. Well, I wanted to mention as a community gathering the Poudre River Whitewater Park. Yes. I actually just asked Jill the other day. It was so hot. Do you want to go down there and float the tube? We've got a double tube we've hardly ever used. But it's right there at kind of Vine Drive by the Interspheres, the parking, and all through there there's rocks to sit on. You can soak your feet and you can tube down the river with your kids or with your adults. Yeah. So, yeah, make sure you take advantage of it. Flow is about as good as it's going to get. It's going to be downhill from here. Yes, that's what I was like. If you're going to do it, this is really the time this year. Do it now. So the NoCo Beat is our music, arts, and entertainment feature each week where we highlight local creators and sometimes national acts. What do you got going on in the NoCo Beat? Yeah, we actually have a special appearance this week. We have the first ever family focused concert for Live at the Garden. So the Gardens at Spring Creek does a concert series every summer. And this year they're doing their very first family focused one. And it is the Okie Dokie Brothers. If you don't know the Okie Dokie Brothers, I will let them introduce themselves here. Hey! Hey, Fort Collins. It's the Okie Dokie Brothers. We're coming your way July 18th. Sweet! Can't wait. We love coming to Fort Collins. We're going to have a dance party. Yeah, so bring your whole family out. All ages folk show. Bring the neighbors and friends. We're going to be dancing and singing along. Yeah. See you there. Bye. They are kind of a folksy family band. It's all kind of adventure style songs. So they're singing about going into the wilderness. And they are a lot of fun. Tickets for that one are $29 flat. And anybody one and younger is free, which is a first for this. They always have local food trucks and ice cream. And so that is coming up July 18th. So get ready. Let's go see the Okie Dokie Brothers. I'm going to make a guess here and say I'm a generation ahead of you, but do you know about Hee Haw, Kelsey? I do not know about Hee Haw. Ben just asked me if I knew about He Man the other day. I also didn't. Let's see if we can have Ben put a quick reference in here too for the Hee Haw. At least you guys should check it out afterwards. So it's a little bit... Family friendly. It was an old TV show. Okay. You'll love it when you see it. So I've got the Blues Dogs coming up. Okay. And this is also July 18th. Oh, popular dance. Yeah, sponsored by Bank of Colorado in Windsor, and it's called the Blues and Brews Crawl. Oh, very nice. So a $10 ticket gets you in there, gets you some snacks and appetizers and a lot of cool people. The Kula's got a great patio and indoor seating. And Blues Dogs have arguably the best vocalist in town, which is Megan from Realities for Children's. Okay, wow. And her dad is the bad leader. And her dad is the bad leader. Yeah, she's got a crushing voice. So go check that out if you can. $10 tickets. Awesome. That's an easy one. That's next up. We've got Community Supporting Community. That is brought to you by Breeze Through Car Wash, who are doing everything they can to make sure that this year, as we know, our water is not where it should be. Our snowpack was very little this year, and they need a lot of water for their car washes. And so... They do a lot for our community to make sure that we are focused on conserving our water, keeping our water clean and supported. They do everything from river cleanups to supporting water focused foundations. And so when it feels like they are using a lot of water, they are putting a lot of water. back into our community to make sure the water is precious. I just had a beer at Odell's yesterday called The Cash. Oh, yes. And it's a collaboration between Odell's and, I believe, Horse and Dragon. Okay. That goes to fund the water shed. Wow. Okay. Something, something. Yeah, that's something. So I'm doing my part. That's. And for our community, supporting community, I am shouting out Country Kickup's Barn Dance. So their barn dance this year is at the Greeley Stampede. They host it every year. It is Sunday the 28th and you get into the barn dance with your attendance ticket to the Greeley Stampede. But Country Kickup is a country line dance and swing dancing organization that is a nonprofit supporting other nonprofits. So every time you go and you dance with Country Kickup, you are actually supporting nonprofits in our community. And so this is a great opportunity to go for a lesson first and then some social dancing. I met with Jordan from just on a Zoom, but she is very endearing and creating a volunteer organization like that. Yeah, she is great. Recruiting professional dancers to come in and shake a leg with these kids for the cause and people. Awesome. Yeah. Jordan is great. So I'm going to have her on the podcast. Oh, good. So if you're looking for how did Country Kickup start, which I don't actually know. I've talked with Jordan, but I don't know her history. So I'm very excited for that. I heard a little bit, but I didn't think it too much because I saved up for the studio. Oh, yeah. I'm excited for that episode when it comes out. So my community supporting community this week is actually the Mayorettes, who were my guest's most recent episode, which is episode 274 on The Local Experience. And shout out to Carrie Luganbill, Jackie Stevens, and Julie Diaz, kind of full-time lift up community and help people connect with nonprofits and small businesses doing good deeds. And I laughed my butt off listening back to the episode. It was a good time. I was like, you definitely don't want to miss that one. Everything that they are doing in their professional lives and with the Mariettes is so community focused. That is, you don't want to miss it. So go check it out. So I've got the state of business event for the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce. That's in the regional business spotlight this week. Again, it's Wednesday. Okay, so it's soon. So grab this. Take it still available. I'm not sure what the cutoff is. I didn't look. But they're $25, but good food. Yeah. There's beer there. And it's one of the few events at the Beer Garden each year. And the indoor-outdoor is just a great environment. So check it out. Yeah. You're going to want to know what's going on in business. And Fort Collins is a great way. It's true. So for my what I want to eat segment this week, I am heading back to Wellington. Apparently all of the food I'm craving this week is in Wellington. But if you have not tried the ghost dog deli, it is delicious. It is run by Chris and Brandy Skinner. They actually met in another kitchen in town and kind of bonded over their desire to open their own restaurant and it's actually sandwiches okay i know ghost dog ghost dog is about their dog their actual four-legged friend uh but they make their own house made ciabatta they have so much care for the ingredients that go into their sandwiches and brandy i believe designed the whole space herself and it is so cute uh it's adorable definitely head up to wellington and try sandwich one of my favorite places to go for a motorcycle so i'll have to put the jailbreaker on the back so now you can do sandwiches and then walk down to dragon cone get some ice cream perfect perfect i have um a favorite fruit of all time if you could only have one fruit for the rest of your life kelsey probably apples apples yeah it's a nice you can dip them in so many different things okay all right mine would be watermelon okay it's my favorite i could eat a whole watermelon a day i think uh and it's for me the most important summer backyard oh yes i would agree with that So I did some research, and watermelons were in Spanish Florida in 1576. Okay. 200 years before the American Revolution. And I wanted to share a technique for watermelon as my no-co eats. Okay. So if you have a full-size seedless watermelon, you cut it in half the long way, and then you set it on your cutting board, and you... go vertical, but like three quarter inch wide, rotate your cutting board, then go vertical again at 90 degrees, and you end up with, you take the edges off and trim it up a little bit, and you end up with watermelon sticks. Oh, okay. With just a little handle on there. Yeah. That's the only skin, and so you get for the, It's a little bit more of a chore, but for the eaters, it's like I don't have to give watermelon on my cheeks and stuff. Because I hate that. And you just got a little handle. You throw that little handle in a pile. So anyway, watermelon sticks. We called that in my food truck days, look at those melons. okay that's not how i would cut watermelon if that's what i was going to call it but well i thought it was kind of cool like yeah you're in stick form that's crazy what were you thinking well you never know are you a salt on your watermelon person i am not oh i love salt on my watermelon i i think i understand it i just don't eat okay that's yeah it's pretty much the only way i want to eat it But, well, we do actually have a little bit of news to share that we have thoroughly enjoyed sitting with you every week. But this will be our second to last episode of the NoCoPulse. But don't worry, we are not going anywhere. We are still going to be around in Northern Colorado. You can find me on This Is No Co all the time. My face is there all the time. Kurt is still going to be hosting the Loco Experience where you will get to know all of the business leaders of Northern Colorado. And Loco Think Tank is not going anywhere. So if you are a business leader, that is a great place to get involved and connect. Connect with Kurt over there. And if you're looking for events and things that are happening, I'm still going to be around. And I want to give a shout out to all those partners that came on board with us with between Breeze Through and Ginger and Baker, Run Windsor and Miles Beyond. I don't know. I don't know. Well, we love you. Hopefully not. Either way. And so we're going to have one more that will come out on July 6th. Yes. And Ben's still going to be here helping with the local experience production and Kelsey with our social channels a bit. So like I said, we really enjoyed it. Appreciate you tuning in. And so we'll tune off for now and one more on July 6th. We'll see you one more time. And have a great week. We are off next week. But we will be back and we will celebrate our freedom on July 6th. We love this. Seriously. Really? And we love Northern Colorado. That has not changed. We love all of the things that you guys are doing. So stay tuned for more. We love local. Cheers.