Highlands Ranch – The wait was long for Douglas County voters – more than four hours for some folks. But they stood patiently, hour after hour, many with children in tow.
A small group didn’t get to cast a ballot until after midnight Wednesday, but the people kept their place in line, and, eventually, they voted.
“At the very beginning, I thought about dropping out,” said Mark Shields, an information technology consultant who waited past 11 p.m. at Cherry Hills Community Church. “But then I thought, ‘What if everybody did that?”‘
David Conradt, like many who waited deep into the night to vote, got a chance to meet new people. They exchanged stories about themselves, their children and why they were determined to vote.
They formed a community that was worth the wait.
“I wasn’t at Valley Forge with Gen. Washington; I wasn’t in World War I or World War II,” said Conradt, an Air Force veteran who waited until nearly midnight in Highlands Ranch. “Our rights to me is what makes America. Waiting a few hours to vote is a small price.”
But it wasn’t all drudgery and boredom at the Cherry Hills church – the church staff went all out to make the wait bearable, if not fun.
The church showed two movies, “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Toy Story,” and played music and games, while volunteers kept waiting voters supplied with coffee and breakfast burritos.
“Those people were angels,” said Kim Williams, who waited three hours with her two children. “I didn’t want my children to see me quit on something as important as voting, but I couldn’t have done it without the church.”
Dick Schultz, the worship leader at Cherry Hills, said church members hadn’t planned on a party, but they saw a need.
“When you see that many people stuck in a circumstance they have no control over, you want to do all you can to make them comfortable,” Schultz said.
Buddy Allen did the same.
From his restaurant, Nicolo’s Pizza, he could see the lines outside the polling place in the Roxborough Marketplace.
He sent over scores of free pizza and sodas.
“We saw our friends and neighbors standing out there, and they looked hungry, and they looked thirsty,” said Allen, who has lived in the area 23 years with his wife, Kathleen, and three sons.
“A few pizzas isn’t a big deal when you’re talking about your community.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
