By Suzanne Paulman
Sharon Sweeney was introduced to our readers last week in the 20th anniversary issue of the Colorado Gambler. Sharon is co-owner of the Gambler with her father, Bob Sweeney, and vice-president of marketing for two of the Sweeney family’s newspapers, the Colorado Gambler and The Villager.
Sharon Sweeney, co-owner of the Colorado Gambler, and her dance partner Mitchel Kibel, won the Judges’ Choice Award during the Dancing for the Youth Goodwill Gala. Photo by Stefan Krusze.
Sharon is the person behind the Colorado Gambler. In this issue we delve into this hard-working woman’s life a little more deeply in presenting details of her newspaper career and philanthropic achievements.
As mentioned in the previous issue, Sharon is thoroughly grounded in all aspects of the newspaper business. Her newspaper career began in grade school when she first started selling newspapers on the street in Craig. Growing up during the summers she was employed full-time at the newspaper office and handled whatever jobs needed to be done, whether she was the receptionist, delivery kid or janitor.
One of Sharon’s fond memories of the early newspaper days in Craig was assembling rodeo book inserts with her siblings, friends and neighborhood kids.
“We’d round up our buddies, get together around a big long table and have races to see who could finish first,” she said.
She also remembers the days before computers of assembling a newspaper by literally cutting and pasting it together “until the wee hours of the morning.” The kids would also punch time clocks in learning the value of their work. When Sharon saw a dress she wanted to buy, her mother might have gently suggested that the dress would cost 20 hours of work on the rodeo books or doing various other jobs at the paper. Sharon still smiles broadly when she talks about these childhood memories.
Sharon says she has “never really met a stranger,” a characteristic trait she believes she inherited from her dad, and loves meeting and talking to people. She attributes part of this natural inclination toward people to her first job of selling newspapers after school. She was unafraid and completely able to approach strangers in selling her papers — successfully, too.
Sharon continues to devote her career to the thriving success of the family’s weekly newspapers. She contributes part of her marketing success to the skills of discipline, diligence and hard work. Sharon developed these skills in high school through challenging sports competitions when she was an All-Conference athlete.
Sharon and her partner, Mitch Kibel, during their "phantom of the Opera" themed dance.
One of Sharon’s early civic-minded contributions was to help co-found the Greenwood Village Chamber of Commerce, known at that time as the Greenwood Village Business Association. The Greenwood Village Chamber represents the collective voice of its local business members, ensuring their positive commitment to their local community. Sharon was not only a charter member of the Greenwood Village Chamber, but also served as a board member for 10 years.
A good part of Sharon’s philanthropic life centers around her personal dedication to the Beacon Youth & Family Center, a residential treatment center for at-risk adolescents in Englewood.
The Center’s significant fundraising is handled by its Cherish the Children Guild and Sharon, who has been a Guild member for 10 years, is its immediate past president. When she was the annual Guild gala event chair, Sharon organized the Pirates of the Caribbean Gala, which raised approximately $550,000 for the Beacon Center. Because of her extensive volunteer work and commitment to the Center, the Guild presented Sharon with its highest honor, the genuinely appreciative and highly esteemed Golden Cherub Award.
As mentioned previously, Sharon was actively preparing for her participation as a celebrity dancer in the Dancing for the Youth Goodwill Gala, a fundraising event for the nonprofit organization of Goodwill Denver. The organization is primarily known for its retail stores, but Goodwill also sponsors more than 25 teachers in high schools for at-risk students. The funds raised by this event were allocated to Goodwill’s High School Career Development Program.
Sharon had no dance experience when she agreed to participate in the dancing competition, but she was just brave enough to volunteer for the fundraiser. She trained for her dance with Mitchel Kibel of Colorado Dancesport in Denver. Every night for months Sharon practiced her dance moves in her living room or at the dance studio, applying the same skills of hard work, discipline and diligence that she had honed as a winning athlete.
On competition night, Sharon, wearing a stunning red dress designed exclusively for her by Joey Santos of Santos Design, and Mitch performed a dance combination of the waltz and Pasodoble to the lyrics of “All I Ask of You,” by Andrew Lloyd Webber from The Phantom of The Opera.
Sharon’s hard work in preparing for the dance earned her and her partner two awards: one for Drama in creating beautiful characters for their dance routine; and the Judges’ Choice Award, the top award of the competition.
In continuing her philanthropic activities, Sharon recently joined the board of directors for the nonprofit Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, which is primarily funded by donations in Vail’s Ford Park. The Gardens present a unique collection of native Colorado alpine plants and flowers that have been carefully cultivated for more than 20 years.
The Gardens collectively are the highest botanical garden at 8,250 feet above sea level in America and was recently featured in a televised program on PBS. Last year, the Gardens received the American Public Gardens Association’s prestigious Award for Garden Excellence, sponsored by Horticulture Magazine.
Sharon’s parents, Bob and Gerri Sweeney, have always served as her greatest role-models, encouraging their children to try out for sports, join school clubs, get that job interview, and to make a difference in giving back to their community.
Sharon said, “They’re two of the hardest working people I know,” and profoundly thanks them for giving her the opportunities in life that they did.
Sharon would like to acknowledge her gratefulness to her co-workers at the Gambler, the paper’s staff and freelance writers, who together constitute a capable and skilled team in producing Colorado’s only weekly premier gaming guide.
Sharon would especially like to express her heartfelt gratitude to the casinos for their support of the Gambler over the past two decades. Sharon’s aspiration is to continue to develop the relationship with an emphasis on “giving back to them,” the Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek casinos.
For Sharon her job as vice-president of marketing is not just a job, but her livelihood, and she cares deeply about her clients. Sharon looks forward to making history with the casinos for another 20 years and celebrating their 20th Anniversary next year in the bright and lively pages of the Colorado Gambler.
