The Covid-19 global pandemic may have dampened the spirits of some but at Gaylord Rockies in Denver, they are doing their best to keep the spirit alive with their Christmas at Gaylord Rockies. Mistletoe Village on the convention center wing of the hotel still features Build a Bear Workshop, cookies with Mrs. Claus, a gingerbread house decorating station, gift shop, and the all new I Love Christmas Movies exhibit. All of these are more spread out than years past, offering a chance for guests to feel more comfortable and social distance.
I Love Christmas Movies: Walk through your favorite Christmas movies in the all-new 17,000 sq. ft. multi-sensory exhibit. This multi-sensory journey will take you through over 13 scenes from five iconic Christmas movies.
The west side of the hotel features acres of twinkling lights and decorations and holiday activities including snow tubing, ice bumper boats, Merry-Go-Round and ice skating. The I Love Christmas Movies pop-up experience replaces the Ice exhibit this year (although Ice will return next year). A guide takes small groups through replica movie sets from movies such as Polar Express, Christmas Vacation, Elf, A Christmas Story, and A Year Without Santa Claus.
Although the Christmas spirit is alive at the resort, they have set up stringent safety protocols to keep their guests safe. The resort has directional arrows for walking through the resort and hand sanitizing stations throughout. The Pinyons bar now forms a single file line to order drinks which allows for social distancing. For the time being, the other restaurants offer food to go only. However, the resort does allow outside food to be brought in. Convenient options are services such as Uber Eats or GrubHub.
Snow Tubing: Features a four-lane tubing hill that’s fun for all ages and covered in real snow. Zoom down the lanes, race to the bottom, and enjoy unlimited runs on your ticket date ($17.99 per person).
The demanding standards of cleanliness have risen to an even higher level with new protocols for the current circumstances. Gaylord Rockies has elevated their cleanliness standards and changing hospitality norms. As a part of Marriott International’s family, they have put in place a multi-pronged approach designed to meet the health and safety challenges presented by COVID-19 as outlined in Marriott’s Commitment to Clean.
Enhanced technologies, including the testing of electrostatic sprayers and implementing the highest classification of disinfectants recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization are being used to sanitize surfaces throughout the hotel and convention center.
Gaylord Rockies has implemented extra-stringent daily cleaning procedures that are focused heavily on high touchpoint areas. Public spaces, including, but not limited to, the lobby, aquatic areas, fitness centers, and meetings and convention spaces, have dedicated staff to sanitize frequently throughout the day.
In guest rooms, they have added detailed cleaning practices, requiring all surfaces to be thoroughly cleaned with hospital-grade disinfectants and that this cleaning is done with increased frequency. They have also placed disinfecting wipes in each guest room for guests’ personal use. For more information on their protocols, visit www.gaylordhotelsclean.marriott.com.
Gaylord Rockies is near Denver International Airport and is a Marriott property that opened in December 2018. The 486,000 square feet of convention space makes it the largest combined resort and convention center in Colorado. It is the fifth Gaylord property to open with the others located in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Orlando, and Dallas.
Decked Out: The atrium of Gaylord Rockies features a giant Christmas Tree in the middle with the fireplace decorated with stockings and lights throughout the area.
The Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center is located at 6700 North Gaylord Rockies Boulevard. For more information about the resort or to make a reservation, visit www.gaylordrockies.com. Christmas at Gaylord Rockies runs until January 3, 2021. For more information or for tickets to the events, visit www.christmasatgaylordrockies.marriott.com.
The year 2020 has been a year to remember, but between the pandemic and politics one most of us would probably prefer to forget. With Covid-19 turning everyday life on its head and ending the lives of so many, a lot of aspects of the last 12 months are easily lost from memory. One element of 2020, however, was in fact a “golden year.”
Though most of us don’t consider the rat as an adorable rodent, based on last year’s Chinese lunar calendar, pandemic plagued 2020 was the year of the Golden Rat!
Here are our glam, twinkly light choices for shopping, dining and entertaining to give champagne glasses and glittery tiaras extra sparkle to lighten up the New Year:
3 For a colorful, stunning start to the New Year view the final days of Begin Again on view through Jan. 9 at Walker Fine Art in the Prado Bldg. Work was created to inspire healing and hope. Information: 303-355-8955.
3 Learn history of the Great Sioux War at the Jan. 10 Jerome Greene lecture in History Colorado Center, 2 p.m. Information: 303-557-8679.
3 View work by 18 artists who created art exploring challenges facing the New Year at D’art Gallery, Jan. 14-Feb. 7. Information: 720-486-7735.
3 If you missed it during the holiday, the Blossoms of Light display lingers at the Botanic Gardens through Jan. 16. Information: 720-865-3500.
3 Celebrate the New Year at Bull & Bush Brewery that finished its first batch on New Year’s Day 1997. Seating in heated tent, patio. Last call for alcohol 8 p.m., kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Information: 303-759-0333.
3 Bank on a brighter New Year at Denver headquartered Sunflower Bank. Build long-term relationships at a bank remaining true to its community roots. Not too big and not too small. Information: 313-297-0333.
3 Catch music of DJ Ravenscoon as he plays hip-hop and punk rock at the Black Box Jan. 22-23, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. Information: blackboxdenver.co.
3 See Dreams In Bloom, exhibition of photos by Fares Micue on display in the Freyer-Newman Center, Jan. 23-May 16. Information: 720-865-3500.
3 Begin the New Year in a universe beyond earthly troubles by attending Celestial Chaos at the Exdo Event Center, Feb. 4-28. The circus production features aerial dance, acrobatics, juggling and live music. The four ring circus of otherworldly delight will boost spectators into the clouds. The production offers audiences connection, inspiration and hope for the New Year. Information: Rainbowmilitiaariel.com.
China’s 2020 Year of the Rat festivities began in mid-Jan. and lasted for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. As the New York Times reported, China’s Health Commission voiced concerns about the emergence of a little-understood coronavirus. China’s Li Bin warned on Jan. 22 that the number infected had risen tenfold in a week.
By the lunar calendar, 2021 is the Year of the Ox: “This year no explosive or catastrophic events will occur, and it is a year favorable for economic recovery.”
Here’s to a bright New Year and a fond farewell to the old as the clock strikes 12. No one will miss 2020 when it’s gone, and hopefully this year will bring brighter days ahead. Here’s to the things that are yet to come and the good memories that we hold. Raising a bottle of bubbly to Chinese good fortune, we wish you “Ox of Luck!”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Rosalie Shanks, Registered Dietitian and a Lifestyle Coach, YMCA of Metro Denver
Meal prepping can sound like a daunting task, but its purpose is just the opposite — to make your life easier. Less desirable food choices are often made when hunger levels are high, and time is limited.
Let’s face it, it’s much easier to pick up pizza on the way home from work than to cook dinner from scratch. Like all nutrition recommendations, meal planning requires an individualized approach. It’s important to find out what works for you and your lifestyle! Here are some helpful tips to get you started.
Shop Smart
• Take inventory of your refrigerator, freezer and pantry before making a grocery list.
• Keep your grocery list simple and plan for meals that have similar ingredients throughout the week.
• Organize your list based on the main food groups (fruits, vegetables, lean meat, dairy, whole grains, healthy fats) to ensure a balanced meal plan.
Make The Healthy Choice
The Easy Choice
• After grocery shopping, rinse and cut fruits and vegetables for an easy grab-and-go snack. Store the prepped produce in a clear container at the front of your refrigerator as a helpful visual cue.
Batch Cook
• Batch cooking means cooking staple foods in a large batch to use in multiple dishes. If you are interested in trying batch cooking, a good place to start is with meat, grains and beans.
• For example, instead of cooking one cup of quinoa for dinner, make several cups. Have the quinoa as a side for dinner that night, add it to your salad for lunch, make a grain bowl, use it in a frittata, bake a casserole, or throw it in a soup.
Stick To The Basics
• Choose recipes that meet your needs, whether it’s family favorites, 30-minute meals or plant-based recipes.
• Pick a few staple recipes that you enjoy and already know how to make. When you don’t have time to try something new, use these types of recipes as your back-up plan.
• Opt for a recipe with little prep and clean up, such as a sheet-pan meal.
Plan For Leftovers
• Avoid the worst part of cooking — the clean-up. Double or triple your recipe and freeze it for a busy day down the road. Foods that freeze well include soups, casseroles, burritos, chicken, meatballs and breads. Avoid freezing cream-based meals or produce with a high water content.
Utilize Technology
There are endless recipes, apps and tips and tricks at your fingertips! Listed below are a couple of meal-prep apps for smart devices.
• The app Yummly creates a recipe with ingredients you already have at home.
• The app Mealtime has a variety of different recipes that will adjust to any food preference. You can select a few recipes to make for your week and it will populate a grocery list.
Meal prepping can save time and money, improve health outcomes, reduce food waste, add variety to your weekly meals and lower stress around the never-ending question, “what’s for dinner?” There is no right or wrong way to meal prep, the goal is not to start from zero each night!
Visit https://www.denverymca.org/ to learn more about fitness and nutrition programs at the YMCA of Metro Denver.
In Denver, these days you get a choice between the “Corporatists” like Mayor Hancock and former mayors Federico Peña and Wellington Webb, and the “Radicals” like Candi CdeBaca and the majority of the newest Denver School Board. There is, these days, no other viable alternative. Neither group is all bad or all good but together they are helping to destroy the city. Back in his first run for Denver mayor, Federico Peña’s slogan was “Imagine a Great City.” Today the slogan appears to be “Imagine a Really Crappy City.”
The Corporatists under Mayor Hancock have made their contribution to a crappy city by destroying as many open spaces and parks as humanly possible. Denver has gone from one of the leading cities in percentage of open space and parks per resident to one of the worst in the United States. The Corporatists, of course, wish to exploit any city asset built up over generations to make money for themselves and their friends, like high-density developers and lobbyists/lawyers. To the credit of the Radicals, they are not on board with this grotesque program and are the ones fighting the mayor and his friends to preserve what is left.
The Radicals on the Denver Board of Education, on the other hand, are doing there best to destroy quality education in the City and County of Denver, aided and abetted by Denver’s teachers’ union. The teachers’ union in Chicago has declared that in-school learning is “rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny,” and many of Denver’s unionized teachers would certainly agree.
The Radicals on the Denver Board of Education are led by none other than Tay Anderson who won an at-large seat in 2019. He is not a big believer in education, having barely gotten out of Manual High School himself in 2017. He demands that if you talk to him that you address him as “Director” Anderson. More recently he has been nicknamed “The Round Mound of Flop Downs.” Mr. Anderson does not appear to have any means of support. The Board job is without compensation. His Board bio shows no present employment. But there are other ways to make money.
Back in July, he was at the homeless encampment by the State Capitol when he said he was pushed by the police, although video appears only to show him flopping down. He claims he went to a hospital, but the hospital was never identified. He set up a Go Fund Me Page for “medical expenses” without ever identifying what those expenses were. Nonetheless he took in over $13,000. He also hired a lawyer and presumably got a payday from the city.
But money never lasts long. In December, he did another flop down at an unidentified Target, this time claiming severe chest pains caused his collapse. He had previously tapped Target, claiming that he and his brother had been racially profiled at another unidentified Target, and received a swift apology from corporate headquarters and who knows what else. Why you want to continue to shop at a store that you claim racially profiled and harassed you is a little strange, but we are sure Mr. Anderson has his reasons. It has not been disclosed whether he has hired legal counsel for his latest flop down.
What Mr. Anderson and his fellow Radicals want to end is children having any choice on where they go to school, an idea on which the Denver teachers’ union heartily agrees.
The word “competition” is an anathema to them. The schoolteachers’ union opposes charter and magnate schools, and the Radicals ran on limiting, or even getting rid of, educational opportunities for kids in the City and County of Denver. The Corporatists, including Mayor Hancock, had strongly supported school choice with money coming in for school board races by developers and others. This support for school choice was not out of any eleemosynary belief in education, but they realized with only lousy, non-competitive schools in Denver, less people would be willing to move to Denver and fill up all those high-density condos and apartments. But the corporate support largely dried up in 2019 leaving only the money from the schoolteachers’ union for the 2019 election which resulted in the Radicals winning.
The Radicals relatively quickly drove out widely praised school superintendent Susana Cordova who is a child of Mexican American immigrant parents and the first college graduate in the family. She went to Denver schools and began teaching in them starting in 1989. She is leaving Denver for a much less prestigious and lower paying job in the Dallas Texas Independent School District. She stated she is leaving Denver because Dallas “reminds her a lot of the Denver I grew up in.”
Obviously, today’s Denver does not remind her of the Denver she grew up in. Moreover, she also does not believe the present “Imagine a Crappy City” contest between the Corporatists and the Radicals will improve matters any. Will there ever be a movement for something other than the Corporatists and the Radicals? Ms. Cordova does not believe anything will develop anytime soon and unfortunately neither do we.
