Teachers, musicians, storekeepers, volunteers and businessmen.
They all played a role in making Denver what it is today on the 150th anniversary of the birth of the city.
Today, 150 people were recognized at the Colorado History Museum for a wide array of contributions including medical achievements, city growth leadership and for establishing youth groups that reach out to latchkey kids.
The honorees included musicians like Charlie Burrell, an 88-year-old contrabass player, who made invaluable cultural contributions to the city.
“The essence of who we are in Denver are the people,” Mayor John Hickenlooper said this morning at the ceremony. “That sense of community above self is probably no where else more exemplified than here in Denver.”
Hosting the Democratic National Convention was a great opportunity for Denverites to showcase their friendliness but also their great capacity to care for others, Hickenlooper said.
New generations of unsung heroes will only make the city greater in the next 50 to 150 years, he said.
Following a ceremony in which the 150 unsung heroes received plaques, a new museum exhibit was officially opened: “Imagine a Great City: Denver at 150.”
The city received 300 nominations and chose honorees whose work in the community had to be “transformational.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
