Bob Collins
If you’re a civic-minded resident of the Twin Cities, you can probably relate to Seana Gates, left, and Kathleen McIntee, right. I met them Tuesday evening while navigating the obstacle course to get from Denver’s light-rail system to the Pepsi Center. They had two passes into the hall courtesy of Kathleen’s company. They were on their way to see Hillary Clinton speak.
But Kathleen didn’t want to talk about that. She wanted to know what I thought of Denver, a common question I’ve gotten as I ride the rails this week. People here clearly love their city and they want us out-of-towners to like it, too.
She admits to being nervous this week that things wouldn’t go off exactly as planned. She’s holding her breath that nothing will go wrong. So far. So good. Denver is getting high marks.
With just a few days to go before the start of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, many volunteers and residents of the area are holding their breath, too. Are we interesting enough? Is there enough to do? Will delegates like us?
Like just about every other Denver-area resident I’ve talked with this week, Kathleen has Minnesota ties, too. She’s lived here for 35 years, after being tossed out of the College of St. Benedict “for fooling around too much.” She has family in the Cities and North Dakota.
Later in the evening, I talked to two other Denver residents on the train. One has lived here all of his life. The other moved here from Massachusetts years ago. Both say the best thing about Denver is the climate, a near universal reason.
And the obligatory Minnesota link? One just sent his son off to Mankato State. “He’s found a true love and has followed her to Minnesota,” he said. “The winter will test that
