Brewing more than a cup of love
Lovers of outdoors, you can find Aidan Gray and Olivia Dolby hiking, fishing or skiing the slopes.
What happens when you pair a coffee lover with a book lover? The result is a big cup of love. That is how friends describe the coupling of Aidan Gray and Olivia Dolby.
The two met at a Dungeons & Dragons event and since then, have been brewing drops of happiness living at the Marquis Castle Pines apartments. Besides being competitive at gaming, Dolby regularly attends Gray’s amateur hockey games for the Denver Degens at South Suburban Parks and Recreation with their pup Cayenne.
Gray is well established in the Castle Rock community since his father, Jason, is the mayor. He works alongside his dad at the family business, Crowfoot Valley Coffee (CVC). With their first location at the Arapahoe Community College campus, the company now has a popular location on Wilcox Street in downtown Castle Rock. CVC has been operating since 1999 and recently celebrated 25 years of success. Gray is the manager and barista, sometimes even the bartender.
CVC sources coffee beans from the top 3% of the world’s coffee; small farm purchasing is the key to their global partnership. The mornings are known for their exceptional coffee and afternoons are reserved for a rotating cast of local breweries and drink specialties.
Gray attributes the survival of the coffee shop to “the family being deeply invested in the relationships with their customers who repeatedly come back.” During the pandemic, the business was fortunate to remain open, but he, his dad and his brother worked without a paycheck for at least eight months to keep the business alive.
Dolby, a native Coloradan, received a degree in education and was teaching first graders at a Title 1 school in Jefferson County. Disheartened by budget constraints, she landed a position with the Arapahoe Libraries and oversees the events program.
The avid book lover enjoys sharing with others that libraries are more than books; libraries offer classes like Slow Flow Yoga, educational programs like English Conversation Circle, and fun events such as Teen Create and Decorate or Haunted House Luminaries to keep the mind alive and engaged.
Dolby coordinated the biggest turnout for a library event in June with 2,000 guests partying to That Eighties Band playing at Centennial Center Park.
When she is not growing minds and organizing events, Dolby is cultivating her plant collection. In fact, Dolby propagates the angel wing begonia that originally belonged to her great grandmother, making the plant at least 50 years old.
Olivia Dolby taught a class recently through Arapahoe Library on how to make this tote bag.
Aidan Gray plays for the Denver Degens, an adult intramural hockey team.
By ViVi Somphon, photos courtesy of Olivia Dolby
