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Hayden video premieres Friday

Community documentary is about town's past, present and future

Nick Foster

While the premiere of the Hayden Community Video is just two days away, some lucky individuals have seen it — or at least a glimpse of it.

The members of the video’s steering committee, who have worked more than six months promoting, advertising, organizing, producing and making decisions about the content of the 30-minute documentary about Hayden’s past, present and future, got an early peek at the product of their hard work.

Steering committee member Tracey Rogalski was one of those people.



“It was so professional,” Rogalski said. “We saw parts that weren’t completely edited yet, but it was awesome. It showed the river. It showed a sunset. It made Hayden look beautiful. It was like, wow, we live there.”

Steering committee member Ann Copeland shared the same description.



“Awesome,” she said. “From what I saw, it’s going to be awesome.”

The premiere is at 7 p.m. Friday in the Hayden High School auditorium. A second showing will be at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, kicking off an all-day community planning forum that will run until 3 p.m.

The video features archival photos and dialogue from longtime residents about the town’s past, discussion from residents of all ages about the present, and interviews with developers, officials and residents about the direction the town is heading in terms of physical and economic growth. The video presents problems and solutions.

Production of the video was stipulated as part of a $138,000 planning grant awarded to the town by the Gates Family Foundation. The nonprofit Orton Family Foundation is overseeing the making and presentation of the documentary under the guidance of professional video producer Darrin Fryer of Planet Productions in Steamboat Springs. Other promotional assistance is being provided by Hayden High School’s Future Business Leaders of America.

The Friday premiere, as well as Saturday’s forum, will feature a post-screening feedback session. Saturday’s forum will have a more comprehensive discussion structured to gather input and list Hayden’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, needs and visions for the town’s comprehensive master plan. The forum will feature Bob Perletz of Winston and Associates, the consulting firm working to implement data about the town into a computer model called CommunityViz.

Orton Family Foundation Project Coordinator Tammie Delaney said she hopes the video will not be the final product of so much work, but rather a starting point for getting people more involved in providing input to the community.

“The hope is the video will be taking it to the next level by digging deeper,” Delaney said. “I hope it will start the process of working toward the town’s comprehensive plan. That was the concept of Gates when they decided to fund this — defining the issues, and in the comprehensive plan, really taking those issues to heart. The video is really just the starting point of defining who we are and where we want to go to make change a positive thing.”


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