by Mark Smiley
Ken Horwege is a legend in the local newspaper scene in the Cherry Creek Valley having started with the iconic Up the Creek newspaper in 1974, as one of publisher Stan Janiak’s first employees. Utilizing his skills learned as an Air Force captain in charge of public affairs he became the newspaper’s illustrator, photographer and column writer. In 1977 he shifted over to Southeast Denver Graphics where he has worked on dozens of publications from Rocky Mountain Christian to Colorado Country Music and for the last two decades on the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle as photographic and artwork enhancer.
A free spirit, Horwege has never married despite a lifetime of flings and at age 72 it does not look like will ever become the “m
arrying kind.” He has filled his free time with an incredible array of activities from being one of the state’s top clog dancers to attending conventions and historical re-enactments in full regalia. He has a room full of authentic uniforms and costumes which allows him to time travel from the American Revolution to World War II and out into space to Star Trek’s Klingon planet of Kronos.
Ken Horwege was born May 30, 1942, at Ft. Benning, Columbus, Georgia. Ken attended grade and high school in St. Francis, Kansas, graduating in May 1960. He attended college at the University of Kansas, graduating in May 1964 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Commercial Art degree.
At KU, he was in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps; he was named as a distinguished AFROTC Graduate, and commissioned as a second lieutenant, Air Force Reserve. In October 1968, he was assigned as a Public Affairs Officer at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. Ironically, this is the base where my dad, Paul Smiley, served from 1968 to 1972. Ken wrote the public relations operations plan for the base conversion from F-100 to F-111 aircraft operations.
Ken was honorably discharged from the Air Force in October, 1970. “I was too outspoken. I think I pissed off one too many colonels.” Upon his discharge, he moved to Colorado to become a ski bum. From 1971-74, Ken drove a taxi.
His many hobbies keep him fit and healthy. Into his eighth decade, Horwege doesn’t show any signs of stopping. He indicates he has never been sick a single full day in his entire adult life. “I have my annual medical check once a year and otherwise I don’t see a physician any other time during the year,” declares Horwege.
As far as retiring, he declares “You’ve got to be kidding. Retire to what. I love my life and I love working at Southeast Denver Graphics. I have never been a person who likes to sit still and do nothing. The only time I plan to stop working is when they put me six feet under the ground.”
Horwege became interested in dancing in 1979, when he won the dance contest at his 20th high school reuni 
on. After winning, he decided he needed more formal lessons to continue. He took classes at Colorado Free University. In 1983, Horwege joined the Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers, a group founded in February 1979. His first performance was that same year for the People’s Fair at East High School.
The Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers performs all across the country at festivals and private events, including conventions, weddings, and other gatherings. Routines vary from intricate four-person dances to spectacular six- and eight-person dances. Clogging is a type of folk dance in which the dancer’s footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm.
The group has performed at the People’s Fair, Taste of Colorado, and Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival, among others. Perhaps one of their most notable performances was at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 1991. They danced to the music of the original Dixie Chicks who had been playing together for just two years at the time. The band was formed in 1989 by Laura Lynch on upright bass, 
guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin.
In addition to performing with the cloggers, he is also part of the Denver and District Pipe Band, a group of musicians and dancers enjoying the music from Scotland, Ireland, and beyond.
Another interest for Horwege is dressing up in costumes. His favorite holiday since he was a kid is Halloween. He has always been fascinated with it. In 1985, Horwege met Rocky the Leprechaun in Telluride which inspired him to dress up as a leprechaun. Since 1982, Rocky (Brougham) has been the Luck Leprechaun at all Bronco home games and five Super Bowls.
Since his days as a unit historian in the Air Force, Horwege has been interested in old war uniforms. He dresses in full uniforms that date back to the American Revolutionary War, World War I, and World War II, to name a few. In fact, when he attends military balls and other individual vignettes, he corrects others who may not be completely authentic in their dress code. “If I see stripes on a uniform that are not accurate, I correct them,” said Horwege.
Horwege also enjoys dressing as a Klingon from the Star Trek series and attending conventions such as Comic-Con. The biggest thrill for Horwege has been meeting William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca from Star Wars), and David Prowse (Darth Vader from Star Wars). He would most like to meet Patrick Stewart someday, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek the Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the latest X-Men movies.
Horwege is an advocate for being social but you won’t find him connected to any social media platforms. He enjoys traveling and performing with his groups. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone and he likes it that way. His strongest advice is to stay fit, healthy, and active and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”