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George Miller, Glendale Business Pioneer, Dies At 87
Glendale nightclub pioneer helped launch iconic Colorado Boulevard club in 1979 and remained active manager for decades.
by Mark Smiley
Cowboy At Heart: George Miller poses with his horse.
George Miller, one of the original founders and longtime managers of the Glendale nightclub Shotgun Willie’s, died March 10, 2026. He was 87.
Born on September 25, 1938, for more than four decades, Miller was closely tied to the well-known club at Colorado Boulevard and East Virginia Avenue, a business that has been both a prominent Glendale landmark and a lightning rod for debate since it opened in 1979.
Miller helped launch Shotgun Willie’s with three friends who shared a love of country western music. The group opened the establishment as a country western bar at 490 South Colorado Boulevard, then the site of the Rondo Bar and the Bavarian Inn Restaurant. The club took its name from Willie Nelson’s 1973 album “Shotgun Willie,” and Nelson, who lived in Evergreen at the time, granted permission for the name and visited the bar in its early years.
Originally a country-themed nightclub, Shotgun Willie’s began featuring female dancers in 1982 and eventually grew into one of the region’s best-known adult entertainment venues.
Stanley Cup: George proudly hoists the 1996 Stanley Cup. Colorado defeated Florida in a four game sweep to win their first Stanley Cup.
Miller grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where his father was a physician and his mother a registered nurse. Although his father encouraged him to pursue medicine, Miller chose a different path.
“I never saw a man work harder in my life than my father,” Miller once said, noting that doctors in that era often worked long hours without significant financial reward.
After graduating from Colorado State University, Miller joined the Army Reserve during the period surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, and the Vietnam War. He later built a successful drywall contracting business before entering the nightclub industry with the opening of Shotgun Willie’s.
Although he was an original owner, Miller began working as a manager at the club in the early 1990s and remained involved in its day-to-day operations well into his seventies.
Known for his enthusiasm for the club and its patrons, Miller often described Shotgun Willie’s as more than a nightclub.
“From the beginning it has been, and continues today to be, essentially a friendly neighborhood bar,” he once said. “That’s why people who come in once return so often.”
Miller was also remembered for moments that linked the club to Colorado sports history. One of his favorite memories was when members of the Colorado Avalanche brought the Stanley Cup to the club after their championship victory, allowing Miller to raise the trophy overhead.
Outside of the nightclub business, Miller remained a dedicated horseman and dog trainer, interests he pursued regularly during trips to Texas for hunting and riding. Friends described him as a lifelong cowboy at heart.
Miller was married for more than 50 years and had two daughters and four grandchildren. One of his grandsons, Kelly, is a classical musician who has performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall, with Miller proudly attending the performances.
Even in his later years, Miller showed little interest in retirement. When Shotgun Willie’s celebrated the opening of a new building on adjoining land in 2013, he remained actively involved in the club and its future.
At the time, he said he hoped to be present for the club’s 50th anniversary, a milestone that would mark half a century since the Glendale establishment first opened its doors. That celebration will take place in 2032.
A celebration of life took place on March 25, 2026.
Denver Dealing With Drought
Flowers Are Blooming Early, And Trees Are Starved For Water As The Mile High City Endures Historic Drought
by Glen Richardson
Dry Spells: Drought is not new to city, as shown in this photo of Denver Water’s Cheesman Reservoir during the 2002 drought.
Snowpack as of early March 2026, was at or near record lows: The Colorado River Basin within Denver Water’s collection system was at 71% of normal. The South Platte River Basin within Denver Water’s collection area was 55% of normal.
In Denver Water’s decades of records for its watershed collection areas, as of March 9, Colorado River snowpack ranked the fourth-worst on record, and the South Platte River snowpack remained ranked as the worst. The wet overnight March 15 snowstorm — 3.2 inches in metro Denver — was welcome, however, our hot and dry weather pattern will limit those gains and keep Denver’s water supply situation challenging.
Why it matters: Denver Water depends on mountain snowpack for 90% of its water supply, which serves 1.5 million people in Denver and the surrounding suburbs.
Concern Rising
North Fork Of The Snake River: Melted snow is the primary source of drinking water for the 1.5 million people who rely on Denver Water every day. Photo: Denver Water
Nearly 80% of the county’s landmass is in severe drought, a dramatic increase. Denver hasn’t been free of drought since July. Portions of Weld, Arapahoe, Adams, Douglas, and Jefferson counties are also experiencing severe drought.
Since 2000, Denver Water’s response to dry conditions in previous years included issuing a Drought Watch (voluntary restrictions) in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012, and 2013. In some of those years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2013), Denver Water levied additional drought restrictions as part of declaring a Stage 1 level response, which required mandatory reductions in outdoor water use.
Conditions remain highly concerning. Poor snowfall combined with warm temperatures have left us roughly 4 feet to 5 feet of snow short of where we’d prefer to be in the Denver Water collection area at this time of year. To reach the normal spring snowpack peak — which typically occurs in April — we need to see an additional 7 feet to 8 feet of snow this spring.
Water Restrictions?
Reservoir storage conditions are below average, but in reasonably good shape. As of March 9, 2026, the reservoirs were 80% full versus an average of 85% full at this time of year. Those levels are also temporarily affected by the need to keep Gross Reservoir low during construction to raise the dam, a project designed to increase the storage capacity of the reservoir.
Reservoir Release: Water is released from Strontia Springs Reservoir located 6 miles up Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver. Photo: Denver Water
As we enter spring. We ask our customers not to get lulled into thinking they should turn on irrigation systems with the warming weather,” says Greg Fisher, Planning & Efficiency Manager for Denver Water.
“Customers need to prepare for outdoor watering restrictions this year and plan on waiting until late May or June to activate irrigation systems. In fact, it’s a good time to consider landscape changes to your yard, with plants and grasses that require far less water and are far more adapted to Colorado’s dry stretches.”
Finding Balance
For Mile High residents, there’s a fine balance between keeping trees and plants alive through the dry winter conditions Denver has experienced this year, and conserving water. Both are important, and both can cause potential ripple effects.
Snow Samples: Ben Morgan and Rick Geise take snow samples on Shrine Pass Feb. 25. The snow depth averaged 34 inches. In 2025, the snow depth averaged 61 inches at this site. Photo: Denver Water
“We’re still experiencing the worst snowpack that we’ve ever seen on record,” says Greg Fisher, the Manager for Planning & Efficiency at Denver Water. “So, we’re actively preparing for supplies that won’t fill our reservoirs and ready to start conserving.”
It’s something that’s been said all season long. But you don’t need to hear it from the experts; Denver has been feeling the effects of dry conditions for months.
Effect On Trees
“March and April tend to be some of our wettest months,” Fisher notes. “So, we’re going to keep watching, but we are preparing for a drought response.”
That makes the likelihood of water restrictions in Denver in the coming months nearly inevitable. However, the effects on trees can’t be ignored, and therefore, Denver’s tree canopy.
“It’s really important that we continue to increase our tree canopy in Denver,” Fisher says. “At least parts of Denver have a low tree canopy. So that’s the thing that keeps us cooler, shades us.” That means the dry conditions could be the start of a ripple effect, making it important to keep them watered, while still conserving water.
May For Sprinklers
National Drought Mitigation Center Drought Map: The U.S. Drought Monitor Map in mid-January with Denver Water’s collection system outlined in green.
“The lack of precipitation in the form of rain or snow is resulting in a lot of our trees coming out of winter with not enough water,” warns Karim Gharbi, a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University. So, they’re going to be coming out of winter already drought-stressed, and that can lead to a variety of bad things, like increased pest pressure. These trees may be leafing out, not as quickly, maybe producing smaller leaves. If they bloom, maybe they’ll bloom for a short time.
“While the recent wet snowstorm was welcome, our hot and dry weather pattern will limit those gains and keep our water supply situation challenging as we enter spring. We ask our customers not to get lulled into thinking they should turn on irrigation systems with the warming weather,” warns Greg Fisher, Planning & Efficiency Manager for Denver Water. “Keep sprinklers off and limit hand watering. This recent storm provided trees and plants with a good dose of moisture.”
Additional drought restrictions, voluntary or mandatory, will depend in part on how the rest of the snow season shapes up and will be aimed at preserving water supplies in case this unusually dry stretch deepens into a multiyear drought.
