Saturday was Bagel Deli Day in Colorado, honoring the restaurant’s 50 years as a hub of Denver’s Jewish community, a people who helped shape the identity of the city and the state.

It is an institution so important to Colorado that Gov. John Hickenlooper issued a proclamation that was delivered to the eatery Saturday morning by state Rep. Paul Rosenthal and state Sen. Lois Court.

The Bagel Deli has been in the family of Joe and Rhoda Kaplan for almost all of the 50 years it has existed, first on East Colfax Ave., and on East Hampden Ave just east of Interstate 25 since 1971.

“Generations of families have noshed, schmoozed and kibitzed in the family-style atmosphere,” Rosenthal said.

Owners Joe and Rhoda Kaplan chalked the restaurant’s place in the community to its food.

“The mainstay of our restaurant, the Reuben sandwich, matzoh ball soup, and bagels with cream cheese keep people coming back over these many years,” they said in a statement.

Last year, the southeast Denver restaurant was rated the 21st best Jewish deli in America by the website Foursquare.

The governor’s proclamation gives a fuller accounting of its history and importance:

WHEREAS, Paul and Lola Weiner, who emigrating from Austria in 1939, purchased the Bagel Deli on Colfax Avenue in Denver in 1967, a year after it was founded; and

WHEREAS, starting with homemade matzah-ball and barley soup as well as other traditional Jewish foods, the Bagel Deli became a place where Jewish immigrants could gather and enjoy home-cooked meals; and

WHEREAS, Rhoda Kaplan began working at the deli at the age of 17 and Joe Kaplan joined the business in 1972 after their marriage; and

WHEREAS, multiple members of the community invested in a new Bagel Deli on Hampden Avenue in 1971; and

WHEREAS, the Bagel Deli has been family-owned for three generations and retains its focus around community, love, and making customers feel like family; and

WHEREAS, many of the Bagel Deli wait staff and kitchen have worked there for decades out of love for the restaurant and the community it creates, illustrated by the staff’s willingness to drive Lenny, a long-time daily customer, to the deli every morning when he had lost his ability to drive; and

WHEREAS, the Bagel Deli has become a nationally-recognized deli best known for its reuben sandwich, and it has been featured with Guy Fieri on his show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”; and

WHEREAS, the Bagel Deli frequently hosts birthday parties, and after singing “Happy Birthday,” the whole restaurant congratulates them with a resounding “Mazel Tov!”; and

WHEREAS, the Bagel Deli is deeply connected to the Jewish community providing food for life cycle events ranging from bris ceremonies to marriages to funerals; and

WHEREAS, the Bagel Deli has expanded beyond its Jewish customer base and is now a great example of Denver’s diversity;

Therefore, I, John W. Hickenlooper, Governor of the entire State of Colorado, hereby proclaim, forever after, April 1, 2017, as Bagel Deli Day.