Mentor, Coach, Friend
Operations Supervisor, Denver Parks and Recreation Northwest
Maintenance District
1959-2010
Lenny Manzanares passed away in June of natural causes, and we will miss him and his commitment to the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. If the park looked great during the festival, it was because of Lenny and his staff. If there was a problem with the grounds, it was Lenny we turned to for the solution.He looked forward to the event every year, and we will always appreciate his support.
Thank you, Lenny.
- Colorado Dragon Boat Festival Operating Committee and Board of Directors
Ten years ago when I first met Lenny and introduced the idea of a Colorado Dragon Boat Festival on Sloan’s Lake, he said “Dragon, what?” That first year we had no idea how many people to anticipate attending. He provided trash pick-up sticks so our volunteers and myself could do our “Park Beautification Program”.
He was always around on festival days coaching me how to solve park problems.
Since then, Lenny was always part of the solution and his staff always followed his lead. How he cared for his staff. I will always remember that. Just as I will remember how he always had a twinkle in his eye when he spoke of his son.
My friend, you are missed.
- Karen Nakandakare, Public Safety Chair
Lenny loved the Dragon Boat Festival. He told me he looked forwarded to it every year. I looked forward to working with him and his crew....awesome.
I knew with Lenny on aour side that everything would be just fine. He took so much pride in his work at Sloan Lake and it showed. The park and lake always looked fantastic!
I remember my first year on the job and I insisted on staking. He allowed it. Of course we were all nervous, hoping that we didn't puncture anything with the stakes. The morning after the festival when we turned the sprinklers on and all was well we all had huge grins on our faces.
Of course, we never did that again. But that's how much he was in our corner.
I will miss our drives around the site in the golf carts, our talks, our gripes and our laughs. Thank you Lenny for being our biggest fan. I will miss you.
- Pamelah Maragh, Production Manager
Vision & Mission 
