By Katherine Weadley

Redstone Review News Editor

LYONS – The goal is good food fast at a decent price. Oh, and ice cream. The soon-to-be Lyons Dairy Bar, in the former Dairy Lite location at the Village Central Shopping Center in east Lyons, has been percolating in the minds of Juli and Kenyon Waugh for many years.

The idea was planted in Kenyon’s mind long ago, when his grandfather operated a Dairy Bar off his Pennsylvania dairy farm and was successful at it for 50 years. It was called the Good News Dairy

Bar. Although now Kenyon has an MBA and sells satellite imagery, he has never lost sight of the restaurant business.

Kenyon’s food career started at age ten when he hand-cut French fries in a tavern to earn money. For the next 20 years Kenyon worked in the food industry to help support himself and his educational goals. This includes seven years at a country club and in the catering department at the Hotel Boulderado. “I’ve worked both front end and back end of the food business,” said Kenyon. In restaurant parlance that means he has been both out front as a waiter, etc. and in the back cooking and working other jobs.

Although his wife Juli has worked in the human resource field for 15 years she has also spent time as a bus person and then as a barista at Erhardt’s Bakery in Boulder. She had her own personal chef business where she’d go into people’s homes and make their meals for the week. The Waugh’s plan is that Juli will eventually quit her corporate position and they will hire a manager that Juli will work with as an owner.

Quitting a good company position to open a food enterprise in a small town may seem risky in today’s economy to some but Juli and Kenyon are prepared. “We’d really been saving money over the past year in anticipation of me leaving my job. It doesn’t feel scary at all. I’ve been in corporate for a while. We’d are excited to immerse ourselves in Lyons and the excellent place it is,” said Juli.

While Kenyon has no plans to leave his job he is already enjoying the business aspect of the food industry. “I have a MBA. A fun part of this has been the pure business pursuit, for instance – how much does a piece of cheese cost?” Kenyon said.

Not to be outdone their two daughters, Shenandoah, age seven, and Harper, age five, also have plans for the new family business. “Shenandoah can’t wait to make chocolate chip cookies. She wants to have a delivery business,” said Kenyon. “She makes four or five different cookies but chocolate chip is her favorite.”

Harper also is interested in the business and can’t wait to serve people, especially her friends from Lyons Elementary School. “Harper is pretty excited. She likes to be down there and help out when she can. They just have a good time down there,” said Juli.

Community is a big part of the Waugh’s inspiration for the dairy bar and their commitment to its future. “We’ve already contacted the Lyons Historical Society about having a rotating display of the history of Lyons on one wall,” said Kenyon. They also plan to name some menu items after famous events and businesses in Lyons. “We need to get permission first,” he said.

In Lyons-speak the Waugh’s plan to open the dairy bar no later than the Lyons Parade of Lights (early December). At first they will only offer counter service, but they plan to have indoor seating by March. “We’re trying to make a place where you can get a $5 meal deal. There are people around town that want to get something quick and good at a reasonable price. The idea is to try to make it old-fashioned food at old-fashioned prices. We’ll have gluten free and dairy free. At the same time we’ll have bacon cheeseburgers with all the grease and fat or a side of hummus if that’s what you want,” said Kenyon.

A few locals have asked them why they’d open an ice-cream place at the start of winter. “I tell people we’d rather get our legs under us before the middle of July,” Kenyon said.

Although the Lyons Dairy Bar hopes to capture the Lyons-area tourists they also want to give back to the community. “We’ve had such an outpouring of support from the community already, from the Chamber to the Lyons Economic Gardening Group. We’ve also had fantastic support from the building owners Nancy Liquori and Robyn Young,” Kenyon said.

Both Juli and Kenyon agree on their love for the Lyons area community. “We want to be as involved in the community as much as can be. Even though we anticipate capturing tourists we’d like to draw locals to the Lyons Dairy Bar,” Juli said. While they plan to make the Dairy Bar kid-friendly, Kenyon and Juli have plans to go beyond that. “It’s not going to be just kid friendly, but everybody friendly,” said Kenyon. “I don’t know how anyone can be grumpy handing out ice cream.”

To inquire about possible part-time jobs or management positions email the Waughs at lyonsdairybar@gmail.com.

Katherine Weadley is a freelance writer and a librarian. She worked as a reporter for the Daily Camera in Boulder. She lives in Lyons with her family and two dogs Wolfie and Winter.

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