1.5
October 8, 2009

Josh Onysko: a letter to the Boulder Police Department re Boulder’s Halloween “Mall Crawl.”

To the Boulder Police Department,

I’ve been following the news on the proposed reinvigoration of Boulder’s once-infamous, rowdy, fun “Mall Crawl.” Now, I completely understand your concerns, and whether or not they warrant the actions you have taken [serving the sponsors with a formal warning] is not the true question.

Next year it will be 10 years that I have resided in the greatest town in America: Boulder, Colorado. I moved here not because of the mountains, the clean air, or the abundance of natural foods stores. I moved here because Boulder celebrates all of the oddities that life has to offer, from religions to beliefs to celebrations and so on. Boulder is a Petri-Dish of the lost, the found and every walk of life that bridges the gap between the two. There are plenty of other towns that put their stake in the ground simply stating that they are “the standard” and everybody else should conform or move on.

But not Boulder.

Over the past seven years I have built a sustainable company in Boulder. Without Boulder’s support it would have been difficult.

Pangea has been notorious for throwing large warehouse parties where Boulder’s artistic and eclectic gather to support the future that they wanted to see in their town. The Boulder police were always  supportive and understanding of our well-managed parties—in fact, of the dozens of cities in the world that I have lived, I have found the Boulder Police to be the most respective and professional force, thus far, and I applaud you.

Now let’s set aside the First Amendment, and that trying to thwart the party disregards what our forefathers have built into it. Free Exercise Clause; Freedom of Speech, of the Press, Freedom of Religion, and of Assembly; Right to Petition. And disregard the fact the the “mall crawl” traditionally is meant to celebrate Halloween, which has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian Holy Day of All Saints’ Day.

All this aside, I’d like to propose the fact that all we want is to bring back a tradition in Boulder that has been part of what has made Boulder what it is today. Nobody wants violence, nobody wants to destroy property.

We just want to have fun. I’d like to propose that we all work together to gather peacefully and agree that we as a community have the ability to do so responsibly.

Anybody can make history, but it will take all of us to create a future we can believe in.

Happy Halloween,

Joshua Scott Onysko
Founder/CEO Pangea Organics

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