Cañon City is renowned for its outdoor activities thanks to its warm climate and abundance of recreation opportunities. Some people capitalize on the county’s rich, outdoor world by making it their life’s passion. Brett Penvose is one of those people.
Penvose grew up in Cañon City and graduated from Cañon City High School in 1999. A gifted builder, he spent 12 years working as the lead engineer for the Holiday Inns in the Pueblo region and spent several years bopping around to other states such as Wyoming and Arizona before moving back to Colorado in 2014.
In addition to his building skills, Penvose has a forever love affair with fly-fishing–a difficult and artlike Colorado recreational outlet. When he moved back in 2014, Penvose had it in his head that he would be a fly-fishing guide–a dream he held closely for two years as a guide for Royal Gorge Anglers.
During his time with Royal Gorge Anglers, Penvose had the opportunity to partake in guiding those involved with the Wounded Warrior Project as well as Project Healing Waters–little did he know how vital his skills would prove to be several years down the road.
As much as he loved being on the water during the warmer months, it became obvious that guiding may not be the most feasible option when winter shut the rivers and waterways down from a tourism perspective so Penvose set out to search for other work options.
Little did he know that his years of construction and guiding experience would find a kismet-like home at the Green Thumb Initiative (GTI), a Fremont County nonprofit that works to prevent/reduce the occurrence of unhealthy coping, mental and physical illness for individuals of all ages, walks of life (socioeconomic status), and geographical locations through inclusive cultural understanding and change.
Co-founders Jenni Guentcheva and Brian Monahan were ecstatic to bring Penvose onboard and he quickly became a vital cog in their nonprofit work.
“It seemed like a great fit for me because I’ve always done things where I can give back to the community, and GTI was a great fit for that part and I’ve really enjoyed working with the kids and teaching them those skills,” he commented.
Since onboarding in 2019, Penvose has made his mark in the community as the horticulture team lead and peer coach by building classroom agricultural models (such as hydroponic, aquaponic, and permaculture systems) building raised garden beds and assisting in planning school-based growing systems/greenhouse in both CCHS and Florence Junior/Senior High School. In fact, the stunning garden beds that dot Main Street were built and are currently cared for by Penvose.
He has also attended internationally renowned aquaponics and permaculture courses and is described by his co-workers as a “perpetual learner.”
“The best part of having Brett on the team is his work ethic and disposition,” said Monahan. “He is very matter-of-fact in his words and actions and can build just about anything–which is a huge advantage for the students and our program participants because this enables them to have hands-on activities in the classroom and in the gardens.”
Though Penvose accumulated the knowledge and skills to move to a larger area, he purposefully chose to return to his hometown to do all the good he could. He has worked with multiple other community leaders to educate the community on the vitality of healthy eating and hard work.
“I was kind of a trouble-maker when I was a kid so I figure anything I can do to give back after being a trouble-maker (I should),” Penvose said with a smile.
Penvose keeps himself busy throughout the county, especially in the warmer months, but also looks forward to expanding the reach of GTI in the coming years. They already have interest from schools as far as Texas in GTI’s program and Penvose hopes to assist in educating others to bring the program as far as it can go.
Rarely do people who work furiously behind the scenes receive a proper ‘thank you,’ but Penvose will surely receive a ‘thumbs up’ due to his work at the Green Thumb Initiative and throughout the county.
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