by Mark Smiley | Dec 16, 2022 | Travel
Christmas Festivities Run Until January 1, 2023
by Mark Smiley
Advice: Lucy’s psychiatry booth is a running gag in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. In a parody of the lemonade stands which are operated by many young children in the United States, Lucy van Pelt operates a psychiatric booth.
Slide: Guests can take slippery rides down two-story-tall ice slides, and traverse through ice tunnels and arches.
Colorful Displays: Ice carvings range in size from details as tiny as a coin to scenes more than 30 feet tall. The environment is kept frozen by a chilling system that maintains the attraction’s temperature at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Colored ice is created by a chemist who mixes special food colorings to ensure sculptures maintain their bright colors the entire season.
Ice! is Back: ICE! features more than 10 scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and classic characters including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang.
The Gaylord Rockies Resort’s annual holiday tradition, ICE!, returned November 18, 2022, and runs through January 1, 2023. Using more than two million pounds of ice, the classic holiday story and animated special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” is brought to life by a team of 40 ice artisans who work for approximately six weeks to create the 17,500-square-foot, frozen attraction.
The artisans, using skills passed down from generation to generation, start with more than 6,700 massive ice blocks — created by three different ice manufacturers — and tally more than 12,000-man hours on the project.
ICE! features more than 10 scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and classic characters including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang. Ice carvings range in size from details as tiny as a coin to scenes more than 30 feet tall. The environment is kept frozen by a chilling system that maintains the attraction’s temperature at 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We can’t wait for our guests to experience the magic and wonder of ICE! during this year’s Christmas at Gaylord Rockies celebration,” said Suzy Hart, general manager of Gaylord Rockies Resort, back in November 2022. “ICE! is a one-of-a-kind attraction and we’re excited to welcome this Gaylord Hotels tradition back this year with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and all the beloved Peanuts characters in the classic holiday story.”
More Than Ice
While ICE! is the signature attraction for Christmas at Gaylord Rockies, there are more festive activities, events, attractions, and decorations throughout the resort.
Mistletoe Village on the convention center wing of the hotel features a Build a Bear Workshop, cookies with Mrs. Claus, a gingerbread house decorating station, and gift shop. The west side of the hotel features decorations and holiday activities including snow tubing, ice bumper boats, Snowball Build & Blast, and ice skating.
Renovations Underway: Upon visiting the Gaylord Rockies Resort, you will notice construction around the property. The sign indicates that exciting new exterior enhancements are coming soon and guests can expect a revamped front drive and Pinyons Patio. A 10-year plan will see more enhancement and expansion projects coming to the Gaylord.
An original Gaylord Hotels production, “Cirque: Spirit of Christmas” features high-flying stunts, acrobatic feats, elaborate staging, and a dramatic musical score. This Cirque-style show, centers on Noel, a child dismayed by the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Throughout the 75-minute show, Noel is visited in dreamlike chapters by trapeze artists, acrobats, aerial silk performers, and others who help rekindle the Christmas spirit.
Exclusive Access For Overnight Guests
This year, Gaylord Rockies is offering perks and special access to overnight resort guests so they can wait in line less and enjoy more. These perks include:
- “Chill Pass” privileges to ICE!, offering front-of-line access and shorter wait times for this year’s signature attraction. “Chill Pass” is free for eligible guests. Attraction tickets are required and sold separately, in advance.
- An invitation to “Extra Cool Hour,” which provides early-entry into ICE! and Mistletoe Village one hour before it opens to day guests. “Extra Cool Hour” is free for eligible guests. Attraction tickets are required and sold separately, in advance.
In addition to more than a dozen special events and activities during Christmas at Gaylord Rockies, guests can enjoy many of the year-round amenities. Arapahoe Springs Water Park is open to overnight guests, with three water slides, indoor and outdoor pools, and a 750-foot-long lazy river.
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.
The Gaylord Rockies Resort is located at 6700 North Gaylord Rockies Boulevard. Guests are encouraged to book their experiences early, as advance online reservations are required for all ticketed events.
For tickets, more information, or to book an overnight stay, guests may visit: ChristmasatGaylordRockies.com.
by Glendale Sports Center | Dec 16, 2022 | Glendale City News
The YMCA of Metro Denver believes that every amazing camp experience starts with each child knowing they belong. Our camps help kids develop as leaders while taking part in unique learning experiences, innovative activities, and experience the perfect combination of play and learning.
Recently, the Zweig family recounted how Y youth programs have been a monumental part of their son Scout’s development:
“Scout has really loved his time with the Y. He loves getting to interact with kids who are both older and younger than he is, as kids are much more age-segregated at school. He thrives on the physical activities they do outdoors and the games they play indoors when the weather won’t permit them to go out. He gets excited about almost every field trip, from park visits, slides, and fountains, to swimming pools and trampoline places. It’s not uncommon for Scout to suggest we do things as a family on the weekend that he learned about by going on Y field trips. And we always feel comfortable that Scout is in good hands with the Y staff.
The Y has been a stellar source of socialization for him, and we love that he gets to hang out with kids of all races, ethnicities, and social classes. The Y is a mixing pot and ensures that our kid is exposed to many different kinds of people. The staff at the Y has been great about encouraging the aspects of our son that they are in a position to see blooming even before we do. As before-and-after-school providers, and as counselors for Scout’s day-camp in the summers, the staff is in a position to see Scout interact with other kids with much greater frequency than we do. They are there to encourage his strengths, to stoke his burgeoning grit, and to help curb those behaviors that are less than desirable. As such, they are like additional parents, aunts and uncles, and older brothers and sisters — the proverbial village helping us to shape Scout into the awesome kid he continues to become. We feel like we are doing something great for him by sending him to the Y.
When we started at the Y, we thought it was just daycare. We’d intentionally chosen a school we hoped would contribute to widening Scout’s horizons, but we never imagined that his daycare would end up being an equally profound influence on him. After four years with the Y program, we are very happy to know that Scout has been part of a family of strong, confident, diverse young men and women who have had a profound effect on his development in a way that neither we nor his school could have done. We recommend the Y’s youth development programs wholeheartedly to anyone interested in giving their kid more of the world to play in.”
Registration is open for Winter Break STEAM Camps at the YMCA at the Arvada and Aurora Y locations. Information and registration dates for 2023 YMCA Summer Camps will be available in January 2023. Learn more about fun, family activities at the YMCA at www.denverymca.org/fam ily-activities.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 23, 2022 | General Featured
Luminova Holidays returns to Elitch Gardens to deliver more lights, rides and holiday cheer starting Friday, November 25, 2022, through Sunday, January 1, 2023. This immersive family experience is is a bright spot this holiday season. To best enjoy the display of glittering lights, rides, and visits with St. Nick, reservations are required. The event will run evenings from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The immersive family experience features a display of glittering lights, fun rides, memory-making moments, and visits with St. Nick. Reservations are required. The event will run evenings from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“Luminova Holidays truly does brighten up the holiday season in Denver,” says David Dorman, Elitch Gardens General Manager. “We are proud to bring the event back to the Park again this year with even more lights, more rides and more activities! It promises to be a holiday must-see and must-do for Coloradans of all ages.”
Luminova Holidays featured at Elitch Gardens includes a 65 ft. Christmas tree, 25 ft. snowman that never melts, 300 ft. candy cane tunnel, ornaments and presents scaling over 16 ft. tall, rides on limited Elitch Gardens attractions, strolling holiday entertainers, and interactive activities, including light-up hopscotch.
Three Million Lights: Luminova Holidays features over three million lights throughout the park.
“We are extremely excited to be returning to Elitch Gardens as the 2021 Winner of VISIT DENVER’s Mile High Holidays Star Award,” says Dixie Baker, co-producer of Luminova Holidays. “With our twinkling light trails, illuminated structures and interactive activities, there is something for everyone to enjoy. We know that families and friends will create memories here that will last well beyond the holiday season!”
Visit www.elitchgardens.com/luminova-holidays to reserve your visit and purchase tickets. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram – @LuminovaHolidays and @ElitchGardens, and Twitter – @LuminovaHoliday and @ElitchGardens.
by Jessica Hughes | Nov 17, 2022 | Travel
by Jessica Hughes
Local tree cutters assess the perfect Christmas tree.
For many Coloradans, cutting down their own Christmas tree has become a time-honored tradition over the years. It is not only a favorite holiday activity for families to enjoy together, but it’s economical and you can take pride in knowing you’ve played an active role in managing your national forests.
Dating back to the 1930s when the Christmas tree was defined as “a tree displaying a short internode combined with a symmetry of form that is pleasing to the eye,” according to a 1930 Eldorado National Forest report on cutting Christmas trees. Since then, the National Forest Service has played an important role over the years in the business of Christmas trees, including harvesting, selling, and permitting the cutting of trees.
So, how does it work exactly? The U.S. Forest Service allows the cutting of trees in certain districts throughout Colorado with the purchase of a permit. There are several Forest Service cutting areas near and along the Front Range, with each district regulating its permit system a little differently.
Permit holders are responsible for understanding where it is legal to cut a tree and should spend some time reviewing the information and maps provided on the Forests’ webpage. While you can purchase your permit at designated ranger district offices or at some local vendors, the best and easiest is to purchase your permit online at recreation.gov.
The Denver/Front Range Christmas Tree Cutting areas include the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Pike National Forest, and the White River National Forest. Each is broken out down below:
Denver/Front Range Christmas
Tree Cutting area Forest Offices:
Pike and San Isabel
National Forests
South Platte Ranger District
(Buffalo Creek)
303-275-5610
The South Platte Ranger District is closest to Denver. Permits in this district apply to specific cutting areas (Buffalo Creek, Sugar Creek, and Camp Fickes) and specific dates for cutting. Permits are limited and may sell out.
Permits: $20 per tree
Cutting dates: Nov. 25 – Dec. 11
Tree cutters line up with their cars to haul off their hand-picked Christmas trees.
South Park Ranger District
Fairplay, CO 80440
719-836-2031
The South Park Ranger District is closest to the towns of Fairplay, Jefferson, Como, and Lake George along Hwy. 285. This area is another great option for Front Rangers and those living in the Denver metro area. Most of the district is open for cutting. Unlike the South Platte District, there is no tree quota, so permits will not sell out.
Permits: $20 per tree
Cutting dates: Oct. 13 – Dec. 31
Pikes Peak Ranger District
Colorado Springs, CO
719-636-1602
The Pikes Peak Ranger District is closest to Colorado Springs with specific cutting areas near Woodland Park. There is not a limit on permits, so no need to worry about selling out.
Permits: $20 per tree
Cutting dates: Nov. 25 – Dec. 18
Leadville Ranger District
Leadville, CO 80461
719-486-0749
The Leadville Ranger District is closest to the town of Leadville with most of the area open for cutting. Again, there is no quota, so permits won’t sell out.
Permits: $10 per tree
Cutting dates: Nov. 10 – Dec. 31
San Carlos Ranger District
Canon City, CO 81212
719-269-8500
The closest towns the San Carlos Ranger District serves are Canon City, Westcliffe, and La Veta. Most of the area is open for cutting and permits will not sell out.
Permits: $10 per tree
Cutting dates: Nov. 10 – Dec. 31
Salida Ranger District
Salida, CO 81201
719-539-3591
The Salida Ranger District serves the nearby towns of Salida and Buena Vista. Most of the district is open for cutting. There is not a quota, so permits will not sell out.
Permits: $10 per tree
Cutting dates: Nov. 10 – Dec. 31
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests
Permits to cut your own Christmas tree on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests are on sale now on recreation.gov and remain available through January 7. Permits must be purchased in advance and cost $20 each.
Sulphur Ranger District
Granby, CO 80446
970-887-4100
For other Christmas tree cutting area forest offices throughout the state visit fs .usda.gov.
The Forest Service recommends downloading forest service maps onto your phone through Avenza before heading out. This app works even when there isn’t cell service and will help you make sure you don’t cut trees on private property or prohibited areas. Most roads will be closed to motor vehicles after Nov. 15, but snowmobiles or skis may be used to access some areas. Make sure the Forest Service Road you plan to drive is open using our Road Status Tables.
For more tips on what to bring, how to plan your trip, and helpful cutting tips be sure to visit recreation.gov/tree-permits.
Photos taken by Cora Marrama. All images were provided by the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest
by Charles Bonniwell | Nov 17, 2022 | Editorials
It took 20 years of hard work and persistence by a bi-partisan coalition of the Democrat Party and moderate establishment Republicans, headed by Colorado’s richest man, Phil Anschutz, to accomplish one goal. The election returns from the 2022 midterms are in and Colorado, at long last, has one-party Democrat rule. Incumbent Governor Jared Polis won by 20 plus points over Republican Heidi Ganahl. It’s not that Mr. Polis is so uniquely popular. Every Democrat candidate for statewide office in Colorado won close to double digits.
The State Senate went from 21 to 14 in Democrats favor to 24 to 11. In the State House it went from 41 to 24 in the Democrats favor to 48 to 17. In a terrible economy with high inflation and a Democrat President with low approval numbers how could this possibly be true? It’s easy. In over 20 years, as pointed out in last month’s editorial, we have gone from same day voting with 30-day registration requirements to same day registration, universal mail-in ballots with an almost month election period. Only the Democrats ballot harvest. They urge their members to cast their ballots immediately. That leaves Democrats three weeks to go house to house to harvest ballots and cure any faulty ballots.
Republicans are told by its leadership to all vote in person on election day and not to allow anyone to collect their ballots. Even without the enormous fraud that universal mail-in ballot and ballot harvesting encourages, there is no chance a Republican can win a statewide campaign under such circumstances.
Yet not a single prominent Republican has publicly protested this inherently unfair election process. In 20 years, they have not objected to any of more than a score of election process changes that have assured a one-party state from now to eternity. Former Republican state party chair and leading Republican Colorado Congressman Ken Buck has declared the process “the Gold Standard.” Former Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams cut an advertisement with present Secretary of State Jena Griswold to the same effect, paid for with taxpayer dollars, which was continuously in the run up to the election.
Why would Phil Anschutz and the Republican establishment want to hand the state over permanently to the Democrats? Because it assures them, they will be permanently controlling the Republican party even if it is a permanent minority party. They can make deals with Polis for their own benefit. The Republican establishment cannot let the grassroots out of the bag because if they did, they could take over the state Republican party, and maybe even the state, which is exactly what has happened in Wyoming and Nebraska. All Anschutz has to do talk is talk to fellow billionaire Pete Ricketts, the two-term governor of Nebraska and president of the National Republican Governors Association, about what happens if everyday citizens get hold of a state party. It’s July 14, 1789, all over again.
Anschutz can also appreciate why Mitch McConnell withdrew money from the Republican senate candidates in Arizona and Nevada, so the Republicans lost by close margins and lost any chance of becoming the majority in the Senate. McConnell may have assured that Republicans are a minority in the U.S. Senate, but helped guarantee he would be the leader of that minority party.
So welcome to the one-party state of Colorado. Like all one-party states from North Korea to Cuba, the citizens will suffer greatly but the leaders of the uni-party will prosper extraordinarily.
Governor Polis celebrates one party rule in Colorado.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 16, 2022 | Glendale City News
By Mark Smiley
The Company of The National Tour of MY FAIR LADY. Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Madeline Powell as Eliza Doolittle in The National Tour of MY FAIR LADY. Photo by Jeremy Daniel
My Fair Lady, opened on November 15 at The Buell Theater. Boasting such classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “On the Street Where You Live,” MY FAIR LADY tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady.” But who is really being transformed?
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, Lerner & Lowe’s My Fair Lady, with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, premiered on Broadway on March 15, 1956. The legendary original production won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical and ran for 2,717 performances making it, at the time, the longest-running musical in Broadway history.
The current touring production features Madeline Powell as Eliza Doolittle, Jonathan Grunert as Professor Henry Higgins, John Adkison as Colonel Pickering, Madeline Brennan as Mrs. Pearce, Michael Hegarty as Alfred P. Doolittle, Cameron Loyal as Freddy Eynesford-Hill and Becky Saunders as Mrs. Higgins.
Accompanying Powell and Grunert is a terrific cast that heightens the incredible rags to riches flip that is showcased in this iconic production. The pacing though is what stands out about the revival. The amount of movement in and out of the numbers really keeps the action lively.
The underlining class struggle is a powerful element behind the whimsical nature of the plot. You find yourself flowing nicely with the spectacle while still hoping for that ‘a ha’ moment.
My Fair Lady runs through November 27, 2022 at the Buell Theater. For tickets or more information, visit www.denvercenter.org.
