Governor Jared Polis met with ghost hunters, astrophysicists and Star Trek cosplayers during a visit to the Fort Collins Comic Con, which began Friday afternoon at the Fort Collins Senior Center.
“It’s really exciting to celebrate Fort Collins Comic Con – an opportunity to enjoy pop culture, science fiction, fantasy and comics right here in Fort Collins, and that’s something I’m very passionate about,” Polis told a crowd at the event’s opening ceremony.
His visit to the Fort Collins Comic Con was the first of two planned stops in Fort Collins. He later visited Playcrafter Kids preschool, 1815 Yorktown Ave., to greet students and parents after their first week of school.
As a “big” science fiction, comic and video game fan, he says he often finds himself referring to his favorite characters in speeches – for example, he quotes Jean-Luc Picard from “Star Trek” and Gandalf from JRR Tolkien, or tries to imitate Yoda during his last State of the Union address.
“Celebrations like this are really a way to expand our imaginations and open ourselves to new ways of thinking and innovation. We’re going to have a lot of fun today and the rest of the weekend,” he said.
Following his remarks, Polis strolled through the rooms of the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive, which have been remodeled to include a Ghostbusters-themed escape room, a retro video game lounge, a Star Trek-themed USS Tiburon photo station, a gathering place for Star Wars cosplayers and more.
Fort Collins Comic Con runs through Sunday and features vendors, events, workshops and special guests. Weekend passes are available on the event website.
Polis sings with preschool children during the visit
Polis also visited a Fort Collins daycare center, Playcrafter Kids, where he sang the school’s theme song with the students and staff.
He was there to celebrate the second year of the state’s Universal Preschool program and asked parents, staff and members of the program’s local coordinating organization, the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County, how the program is working for them. They all spoke positively about it and thanked the governor for his role in launching it.
Ian McKenzie, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, previously told the Coloradoan that 45,000 Colorado families benefited from the program in 2023-24, its first year, saving an average of $6,000 in tuition. The program provides 15 hours of free preschool to all Colorado children in the year before they enter kindergarten, and up to 30 hours for those who meet certain eligibility criteria.
Afterwards, Polis sang the school’s theme song together with the preschool children.
