Recently in Breckenridge Events Category

When I was at Alpine Garden's Earth Center I discovered that the garden center is partnering with the Summit Prevention Alliance.

They've built greenhouses at the senior center in Frisco and seniors and low-income families can have a plot if they'd like.  Anyone can volunteer to help.

Summit Prevention Alliance hired Holle Vliet to be the chief farmer to staff the greenhouses. Holle will grow and distribute produce for the food banks and lead the volunteers. She's been growing vegetables in Summit County since she was five and has been the Nursery Manager for Summit Landscaping in Breckenridge. She will be available at the garden site starting in May to help plant and grow arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, chives, mint, sage, thyme and others. Please call or email Joanna Rybak for a garden plot application and/or volunteer opportunities at (970)453-9333 or visit the Alpine Garden website for more information on building greenhouses. joanna@summitprevetionalliance.org. Beginner gardeners are welcome! No experience necessary.
Go to Alpine Garden's website for more info about greenhouse building.

According to Joan David, organizer of the Summit Susan G. Komen Foundation, this year's Romp to Stomp raised almost $125,000, a significant increase over last year's $100,000.  Bristlecone Foundation was associated with this year's Stomp, along with KCMV radio and they donated seedlings to be planted as a part of the Legacy Forest, in honor of the Romp to Stomp participants.  You can help to plant those seedlings.

Here are the details:
   
Romp to Stomp Tree Planting Day
Join the Bristlecone Foundation, K-CMV Colorado's Mountain Voice and the Town of Frisco on June 5th to plant a special grove of seedlings on the Frisco Peninsula honoring the 2010 Romp To Stomp participants.  As these seedlings grow and flourish they will stand as a lasting legacy of courage, love and spirit. Tree planting starts at 8:00 a.m. and all volunteers are invited to a free BBQ lunch with musical entertainment at noon at the Dillon Marina.
 
So far more than 1,000 seedlings have been donated to the Bristlecone Foundation Legacy Forest campaign in memory, celebration or in honor of loved ones. Bring families and friends to participate in this historical event that will impact the county's reforestation efforts and at the same time support hospice and home healthcare patients in Summit County.
 
Frisco Peninsula - June 5
Meet at the Frisco Nordic Center, 18454 Highway 9, Frisco, CO 80443
8:00 - 11:30 a.m.
To register contact:     Åsa Armstrong, asaarmstrong@centura.org (970) 668-8444
 
Participants should bring work gloves, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, sturdy footwear and a filled water bottle.  All other tools and materials will be provided. BBQ lunch will be provided for all planting volunteers starting at noon at the Dillon Marina.
 
The Legacy Forest Campaign is on-going and donations will keep growing to ensure that our forests are renewed and that terminally ill and recovering home care patients in Summit County continue to receive high-quality healthcare at home from Bristlecone Health Services. 

Give a donation that keeps growing; plant a seedling in honor/celebration or in memory of a loved one.  Visit www.bristleconefoundation.org for more information about the Legacy Forest or call or email Åsa Armstrong at 970-668-8444, asaarmstrong@centura.org. 

March 6, 2010
This Saturday was the day to Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer.

It's a fun event -- dressing up in weird attire with a bunch of friends. I was one of 15 members of Team Kaleidoscope, and we were some of the best dressed women in our pink hats. A nice pair of sunglasses, this year, was obviously de rigueur.

There were more than 2,300 participants all dressed in some kind of pink. Often people will wear the name of someone who they are walking in memory of, or in support of, and it's pretty powerful. On our team alone there are four breast cancer survivors. One woman wore her support of another woman on the front of her outfit, and on the back it said '22-year survivor'. That's inspiring. It's been nine years for me.

The romp is so fun because it's one big chat fest, there are tons of people on the trail so there is no rush, we're strolling along with plenty of opportunity to talk. This year, the weather couldn't have been better for it. 

And the trail is beautiful. Frisco has been clearing trees killed by the Pine Beetle in a significant way and it's amazing how much this has improved the views to Buffalo Mountain, Mt. Royal and all the peaks surrounding the Frisco Nordic Center.

The snow on the trails was very firm and there was hardly any need to strap on the snowshoes, although they do make a much more impressive stomp than just a pair of hiking boots. It's very nice of the Tubbs snowshoe company to sponsor the event.

Being there for a great cause, it the best reward. I'd guess more than 200 people volunteer to help with the event. I helped at one of the many registration sites in the morning, and more volunteers were handing out water, making pancakes and coffee for the free breakfast, driving shuttle buses, helping with parking and others cleaned up afterward so that all the proceeds can go to eliminating breast cancer.  Seventy-five percent of all the funds raised stay with the local Colorado affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that provides grant funds to Summit County non-profits that offer services to women with breast cancer and provide prevention and educational support.  

Organizers said the event topped $100,000, which was raised last year. Donations are still coming in and final numbers aren't available yet.

As the sun goes down and everyone comes of the mountain, another one of Breckenridge's great Main Street parade got under weigh for Mardi Gras. Just like Bourbon Street, says the Breckenridge Resort Chamber, just at 9,600 ft.

Yes, there were some people feeling the altitude as they climbed on top of 14 different floats and whooped and hollared throwing out beads all the way down Main Street.

Resort Brokers, my Breckenridge real estate office, was one of the celebrants, and you can find us in the crawdad pot. Yes, that's us Realtors in the Red.

If you'd like more information about all the event in Breckenridge go to the Breckenridge Resort Chamber website, but don't just click on events. Here's a secret place that gives you more information to the Calendar of Events for everything Breckenridgian.

Downtown Breckenridge in January. The Blue River, frozen and covered with snow, is in the foreground. To the right of the flag is the central park in downtown Breckenridge. This corridor, and the pedestrian bridge over the river connects Main Street to the Riverwalk (Events) Center.

Next week the 20th annual snow sculpture competition will take place at the Riverwalk, and the snow blocks are being formed now. So they will be ready for 13 teams from 7 countries: Czech Republic, China, Canada, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, and the U.S. Teams from Alaska, Idaho, Minnesota. Loveland (CO) and a Breckenridge team.
 
These forms will make 12 foot blocks of snow (12x10x10), no power tools are allowed. And the teams of three or four people will have from Tuesday until Saturday noon to complete their work.

USA Today calls it one of the top 10 ways to celebrate winter due to the awe-inspiring yet fleeting art gallery that is created outdoors.

2010 Parade to Start Any Minute

Under cloudy skies, people started flocking to Main Street to the 2010 Ullr Parade just after 4 p.m. Although that is the scheduled time for the parade's start, everyone knows that it's just the moment everyone must start thinking about how and when they should chant:  OOH-LUR, OOH-LUR. And the late start just means someone can't find their Viking horns, or their fur-covered WonderWoman Amazon Bra.

Since I have an office on Main Street, and a great view of the parade that will be heading down it any minute, I invited folks in from the cold and we started celebrating at 3, so we'd be sure to be ready when it does eventually start. If you're view isn't as good, you can watch it from my webcams pages: Real Breck Views.

Of course, we have tome to wonder what treats are in store: floats with a ski jump, floats with too few articles of clothing for our climate, some great political jokes, or something entirely new?

OOH-LUR .... OOH-LUR

Snow is to Breckenridge as sand is to Hawaii, but every year the people of Breckenridge can only hope that this year's snow will be the right kind. This annual worry is unknown to Hawaiians who don't have to wonder if their beach is going to be small pebbles, sharp rocks or white sand next season.  Because of this anxiety, the townsfolk of Breckenridge, in the days well before snowmaking, made up the fable of Ullr, a fictional, Norse god of snow. Not that the rational people of Breckenridge really believed that crying OOH-LUR, OOH-LUR for a week in January would bring them a better base of snow, they just wanted a reason to celebrate the best time of year to ski. 

In January,  the snow is usually sufficient and often the weather is mild. The frightful cold we can see in December is usually over, and the holiday crowds ... we'll they're gone.

And this might be counter-productive, but someone thought that having a street festival with bonfires and parades might bring more tourists to town.