LYONS, Colo. — More than 30 minutes away from Rocky Mountain National Park sits the town of Lyons, which is ready to welcome back people heading up to the park through shopping, food or even a cold beer.
"People seem to be ready to get out, have a good time, be with their friends again, socialize over a pint," said co-founder of MainStage Brewing, Eric Kean.
For the first time, Kean is running his own business located right in the middle of Main Street.
"It's so far everything we could hope for," Kean said.
Kean grew up in Lyons, and opening a business in his hometown has always been a dream. But coming off the pandemic, getting up and running wasn’t smooth sailing.
"We're really fortunate to be opening right now and not a year ago. We feel that this is a great time to be opening a business. There's a lot of governmental support for businesses happening right now, certainly borrowing and interest rates are super low, which is helping at the same time," Kean said.
For Lyons, rebounding didn’t just begin after COVID-19; it’s been an ongoing process for years.
"The floods in 2013 are still a very recent memory for most of us up here in this building. We still have damage downstairs that we'd love to get to fixing at some point," Kean said.
MainStage Brewing’s historic building also has a story of its own.
"In 1892, there were a couple of guys in here playing poker and drinking a little bit and they got into a gunfight over cheating on a hand or something like that, and one of them pulled off a revolver and shot off a few rounds, and one of them is right here in the wall in this painting," Kean said.
It’s these memories that keep the town of Lyons true to its past, while fighting for a strong recovery in the months and years to come.
"We're going to continue to rebound, make sure that this place just keeps growing," Kean said.