Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Dang.
Hi Erica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved to Denver in August 2011. My best friend Jackie had moved to Fort Collins earlier that year, and we often talked about how many people from New Mexico lived in Colorado. In June 2012, Jackie told me she went ahead and made the 505 in the 303 Facebook page. We didn’t really have a plan or goal in mind with it, but I went to the search function and searched for anyone who was from Albuquerque and had Denver listed as their current city. I must have messaged hundreds of people telling them to like our page, and here we are today! As of writing this, we have 5372 likes on Facebook and 7378 followers on Instagram. We hosted big park potlucks at Wash Park four years in a row, have teamed up with Meow Wolf, made friends with a lot of local business owners, and have grown a niche community of people who love Colorado and New Mexico.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been interesting to have a social media presence where we don’t really have a specific goal besides bringing people together. I just post things I think are funny, food I’m cooking, or repost photos that people share with me. I always want to highlight and share businesses in Colorado who are owned by people from New Mexico. I think that time and talking to people has made me see that bringing people together is a great goal. New Mexico’s culture is so rich in tradition, diversity, and food, and I have been able to connect with so many people who miss where we came from but love where we are now.
I have been on the news in Albuquerque a couple times, and it really shocked me to find out how many people knew about 505 in the 303 when I went to Albuquerque to attend an Alumni Chapter Leaders Meeting in June 2017 at The University of New Mexico. I was representing the Denver chapter, and when I mentioned working with the alumni chapter and running 505 in the 303, and quite a few people were excited to learn that I was the person behind it. It was one of the first times I realized how far our reach had extended.
Every year we’ve hosted a potluck at Wash Park, people have come to me and told me how much they loved seeing our posts because they can still connect with their New Mexican roots in Colorado. There’s something special in helping people feel at home when they’re away from the place they consider home in their hearts.
I love sharing New Mexican culture and food with others, and I think one of my biggest challenges has been having to talk to anyone who didn’t grow up in New Mexico about green chile. First of all, it’s green chile with an “e” when you’re talking about the pepper or sauces derived from it. The Associate Press’ Stylebook reflects this spelling, and it’s also on Congressional record. The late Senator Pete Domenici grew up in Albuquerque, got his law degree at the University of Denver, and then returned to Albuquerque. In 1983, he said, “New Mexicans consume mass quantities of this magical and lifegiving fruit from birth, and labels on chile products, descriptions of dishes at New Mexican restaurants and billboards and advertisements all reinforce the fact that chile is spelled with an ‘e’ and not an ‘I.’”
People try to tell me that green chile is a Colorado thing too, but they just don’t get it. I get that green chile grows in Pueblo, but red and green chile are more than food in New Mexico, It’s in our blood. You can get green chile for free next to ketchup and mustard at Albuquerque Isotopes’ baseball games, it’s available at McDonald’s in New Mexico, and it’s served in a giant, steaming pot at Frontier Restaurant as a free condiment to pour over anything and everything. I get frustrated trying to explain this to people in Colorado, but I’ll be on this soapbox until I die.
Any big plans?
I work full-time, so 505 in the 303 is more of a hobby/side project for me. I love doing it, and I think we’ll eventually have a more consistent run of merch in the future. We’ve done some runs of merch in the past, but we haven’t anything ongoing. My friend Kevin a.k.a. Mr. Melty lived in Denver for a few years and designed our current sticker.
I have been keeping a running directory of businesses in Colorado that are owned by people who are from New Mexico, serve New Mexican food, carry products that are from New Mexico, etc. Maybe mentioning it publicly through this article will push me to get it published to share with everyone.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/505inthe303
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/505InThe303/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/505inthe303
- Other: http://tinyurl.com/505303melty
