The Blue Parrot Restaurant

Joan Riggins

thebluep — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:50:07 +0000

Joan (Colacci) Riggins is the owner and general manager of Blue Parrot Restaurant. She is Joseph Colacci’s middle child, (3rd of five children) and is third generation of Colacci’s in Louisville. She has worked at the Blue Parrot since 1970. She has at some point or another, held all of the positions at the Blue Parrot including working days or nights in the kitchen or the dining rooms. However, the thing she does best is visiting with the Blue Parrot customers, which includes thousands of people she has met through the years. Her family teases her about not doing any work, but it’s all in good fun.

Joan has three children; David, Donna, and Jennifer. They have made her the proud grandmother of eight, and she enjoys spending time with each of them. They are all unique and loved by her very much.

In her spare time, Joan volunteers in the Louisville Community and just received the Lawrence Enrietto Volunteer award from the Louisville Chamber of Commerce. She also received the Governor’s Volunteer award in 2001.

In addition to spending time with her children, grandchildren, and customers, Joan attends Metro State College in Denver with the future hope of practicing psychotherapy.

Please come and see us at the Blue Parrot and enjoy grandma’s great Italian recipes that have been carried down for 90 years. In addition to eating in the dining room, we also offer carry out service, banquet facilities, and catering.

Dave Hudson

thebluep — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:33:27 +0000

David Hudson is Joan (Colacci) Riggins eldest child and only son. He is part of the fourth generation of the Colacci family in Louisville. He has worked at the Blue Parrot off and on since 1983. His duties at the Blue Parrot have ranged from Prep Cook, Line Cook, and Kitchen Manager to Dining Room Manager where his duties consist of ordering, supervising repairs, and most importantly, taking care of our great customers.

David and his wife Tina, have 4 children ranging in age from 16 to 23. His two sons, Kevin and Aaron, and one of his daughters, Alecia, are all employees of the Blue Parrot.

David has been a volunteer at the Lafayette Fire Department for the past 23 years. He made the rank of Lieutenant after many years of training and many hours of service. Our customers can take great comfort in this aspect of Dave’s life as he has used the skills he learned while participating in the fire department, to provide CPR to one of our customers who collapsed from a heart attack. The customer made a full recovery, thanks to Dave’s efforts, and continues to patronize us. We guess you could say he was really motivated not to lose one single customer!

As evidence of Dave’s commitment to the Lafayette Fire Department, he received an award in 2009 to recognize that he put in almost as many hours as a volunteer, as his paid counterparts did at Lafayette Fire Department during the same time period (all of 2008). Essentially Dave held down two full-time jobs, and only got paid for one. We don’t know how Dave did all that and yet still maintained his home life, but he is very happily married.

Jennifer Reynoso

laranwilke — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:10:12 +0000

Jennifer Reynoso is Joan (Colacci) Riggins youngest daughter and has worked at the Blue Parrot off and on since 1991. Jennifer decided to try her hand at mountain living, spending 7 years in Vail. There, she met and married her husband Jason, and gave birth to her first child. She has two daughters; Lily Snow was born in May of 2002, and Kayli Rose, in March of 2007.

Jennifer and her family returned to this area in 2003, at which time she came back to work at the Blue Parrot. She now manages the night shift and also serves as our Banquet Room Coordinator. In her free time, she volunteers at Lily’s school, enjoys cross-stitching, and working on Suduko puzzles. She and her family now reside in Longmont.

Kevin Hudson

thebluep — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:28:34 +0000

Kevin Hudson is David Hudson’s eldest son, and is fifth generation of Colacci’s in Louisville. He works days at the Blue Parrot, managing the dining room. He also waits tables, tends bar, and can do any other job that needs to be taken care of. Kevin is also responsible for shipping our bottled sauce all over the country to customers who have moved away, but still wish to enjoy a little bit of the Blue Parrot.

Kevin’s hobbies include racing his 1994 Mustang at Bandimere Speedway and playing in-line hockey.

Ravioli

thebluep — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:29:32 +0000

coming soon

The Blue Parrot Restaurant

thebluep — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:57:26 +0000

The Blue Parrot Restaurant has been in business since 1919. We have had the privilege of serving local residents, national and international guests.

We offer a full menu of Italian dishes made “Grandma Style”

The Blue Parrot Restaurant is proud to offer a large banquet and private meeting room to service all of party and meeting needs.

The Blue Parrot-by night

laranwilke — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:03:34 +0000

The Blue Parrot Restaurant is famous for its thick noodle spaghetti and tangy spaghetti sauce.

Our atmosphere is family friendly.

Joanie Riggins – Volunteer of the Year

marywilke — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:45:33 +0000

Speech given by Gina Varra upon the occasion of the presentation of the 2008 Lawrence Enrieto Volunteer of the Year award.

Good evening. It is my honor to be able to present this award because it is so well deserved. The 2008 Lawrence Enrieto Volunteer of the Year award goes to Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot.

As many of you may know the Blue Parrot is celebrating its 90th year this year. I’d love to tell you that Joanie has been a working part of the Blue Parrot for that long but she would probably not appreciate it and it would be a bit of an exaggeration. Joanie did start in the family business in 1970. As the story goes, she began one weekend because the restaurant was short of help as it was Prom night. She volunteered to hostess along side Esther Delforge and since then has been involved in every aspect of the business. I would like to mention here that Joanie was a young stay at home mom at the time and it wasn’t for lack of a prom date that she was available to work that night.

In the early years Joanie’s volunteering centered around her three children, David, Donna and Jennifer. She volunteered in the classroom and at each of the children’s schools throughout the years. She was also a part of the ladies auxiliary fire department and on the hose team. I guess there are some stories cenered around that but you’ll have to ask her.

Joanie has been on the board for the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Business Association and currently sits on the Lafayette/Louisville Downtown Revitalization and the Louisville Senior Citizens board. She has volunteered with the 9 News Health fair and the Blue Parrot has donated space for training. She donates the food each year for the Senior Heat Relief Dinner so that our seniors can get assistance with their utility bills. She has been an integral part of the Spaghetti Open, the chamber’s golf tournament which is celebrating it’s 45th year. She has volunteered her time at the tournament and has provided the food for many of those years.

I guess this would be the official list; things that you could look back on and find in the books and records of an organization, but it is the things that are not on this list that make her so special. It is the dozens of funerals that she has provided food for over the years because she genuinely cares about the families. It is the scores of causes and projects she supports through gift certificates and donations because she also cares about those causes. It is in welcoming and encouraging new business peopele into the community as she did for me. These are the things that make Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot such an integral and important part of our city and our community. Please help me honor Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot for Volunteer of the Year.