A R C H I V E

Helen Keller, the deaf and blind activist was asked by a journalist what she thought would be worse than being born blind? Without missing a beat, she replied “to have sight and no vision.”

Nearly fifteen years after its inception, Highland City Club is finally a social and business success. Every lunch is so packed and the dining room’s energy level so high, the excitement is palpable. So is it time to rest on our laurels and call it good, or should we strive to go from good too great? Should we continue to eat, drink and make more money, or is there more to our original and idealistic vision of making a small dent in the universe?

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They say the only constant is change, and that if we don’t initiate and embrace change, then change happens to us, making us feel like a victim.

Building a community is a journey, not a destination, hence the work is never done, and progress and change never stops.

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"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use." -Emily Post, author and columnist (27 Oct 1872-1960)

It takes more than Rules & Regs, Policies & Procedures to have 300+ smart people on-the-go work, eat, drink, socialize and get along in a 128-year old historic landmark.

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Until recently, a luxury office building was defined as a clean and safe work environment with running water and electricity. Today’s tenant’s needs are more complex, requiring crazy-fast fiber optic WiFi, sustainable food at affordable prices, and great-tasting free coffee, the lack of which forces a tenant to spend at least 20 minutes and nearly $5 to secure one, often more than once a day.

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Whether we like it or not, we are engaged in politics and are affected by it, like fish swimming in water or humans breathing air; so while we always encourage our members to participate in our local and national politics, we seldom make recommendations.

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I recently walked 165 miles through two countries in three weeks hoping for an epiphany, an insight or an Aha moment.

Though a great vacation and a physical verification that I am not dead yet, I could have just stayed home, watched The Wizard of Oz again, and repeated three times after Dorothy:

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The reptilian brain strives to survive. We want food, shelter and sex so our body and DNA can survive.  

To achieve this goal, we make a Faustian deal with the devil inside by trading thriving for surviving. In a way, we all have a bit of Dorian Gray in us, tradings our soul to the devil in exchange for eternal life. In short, we are so busy staying alive, we’re not fully living.

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Forty years into the design of the gardens at Highland, and after the installation of the wrought iron fence, construction of the amphitheater, gazebo, entry bridge and fountains, we were finally ready to buy art for the garden, but were at a loss as to the theme for the outdoor art.

A garden can be Zen by simplicity placing a few rocks in a certain way; it can be contemplative by installing a Rodin-like sculpture, or it can be cutting edge by placing modern art. After much thinking and soul searching, we came to the conclusion we want the Highland gardens to be “whimsical.

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Over forty years ago I spent the summer traveling in Europe trying to figure out what to do with my life. Though I had succeeded academically and had plenty of family money in the bank, I was lonely, confused and had no idea what to do with the rest of my life, which country to live in, what to do for a career, or where to find my soulmate.

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We love movies. Directors spend years, and Financiers spend millions making a great movie, and we get to watch it for free. How cool is that?!

City Club is fortunate to have a theater with a 10’ screen, Blu-Ray projector, surround sound, and a member like Scott Garen who has dedicated his life to making great films.

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In 2003, when we first started to plan and envision building a “community," we had no idea what we were doing, but backed with an MBA in Organizational Behavior, I was certain the cornerstone of this community had to be a Securus Locus, or a Safe Place our members could relax and feel comfortable in.

Today we get a lot of compliments about Highland, its gardens, food, wine, art and people, but the most common thing we hear is “I feel good when I am at Highland.”

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The heat of the summer finally got to the gardens, and the early morning chill is a reminder Fall can’t be far behind. This is a great time of the year for reflection, and throughout the ages, there has been no better way to think and reflect than by going on a Pilgrimage.

Since I have no idea what a pilgrimage is, I looked it up and learned "A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith, although sometimes it can be a metaphorical journey into one's own beliefs.”

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We are Foodies and love to eat well, so we cook a lot, including lots of vegetables and Tofu. I used to tell my kids tofu has no taste, but takes on the taste of whatever sauce you cook it in.

Life’s the same. Life has no meaning, but we can give it one.

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Good ideas are dime a dozen. One can think and plan till the cows come home, but nothing good happens until one takes the leap of faith and tries to convince and/or sell the idea to at least one other person.

We spent most of 2003/4 thinking and planning for what today is known as Highland City Club. As ideas started to jell, I finally reached out to my dear friend John Moritz to see if he would be willing to join the club we were in the process of creating. I picked John because he was smart, sophisticated, belonged to other clubs, was tough as nail, frugal, and an ideal candidate for a member.

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They say God created heaven and earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day. For entertainment, God watched men make plans, laughed and was entertained.

For the past two years I have been making detailed plans to take a four month sabbatical starting October 1 of this year, hoping that during this time I could come up with a succession plan. As part of this strategy my son Dustin agreed to move back to Boulder and spend a year upgrading our brand, website, newsletter, operating platform, social media and technology.

Now that Highland City Club is a social and financial success, I figured I could emulate George Washington and go away before getting too feeble. So I started making plans to do a pilgrimage to Camino Santiago along the southern part of Portugal/Spain, and then borrow my daughter’s Mercedes Camper in San Francisco to see the northwest...

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I am often asked “Why did you start City Club?”

To be perfectly honest, at the time I did not have a clear answer, but 14-years and millions of dollars later, now that City Club is a social and commercial success, I can say, “to create a safe place to heal myself.”

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Life is short, so we use every excuse to celebrate. A while back we ordered an estate urn from a British company for the new “Temple” in our garden. Since shipping concrete is expensive, we also bought a lovely whimsical Pan, who is the Greek god of wild, nature and music; picked up both ourselves and placed them deep in the hedges as you can see in the above pictures.

Since the gardens are at their peak, we plan to party hardy and have planned the following Happy Hour theme parties:

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