Sunset Over the Foothills
Photo by Brian Curry
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Monday, Jun. 17th
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - Live Workouts with Community Center Pros
- All day - Golden History Tours
- 10:15-10:45AM - Let's Dance
- 12-12:30PM - Mondays with the Mayor
- 1-5PM - Sketch and Paint on the Go with Janet Nunn
- 1-4PM - Teen Fashion Camp
- 2-3PM - Virtual: Active Minds Monday
- 5-6PM - ARTSWEEK Golden
- 5:30-8PM - The Principles of Artistic Expression
- 6-9PM - Teach Me to Play! Mondays
- 6:30PM - Downtown Development Authority Meeting
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
5:30PM Downtown Development Authority Meeting
Downtown at Dawn - Photo by Richard Luckin
The City's Sustainability Manager will meet with the board, to discuss opportunities to improve sustainability efforts in the downtown area.
Staff will report on plans to clean the pedestrian underpasses beside Clear Creek at Ford Street and Washington Avenue. Those areas currently harbor "trash, graffiti, cobwebs, and old birds'nests." The clean-up is somewhat complicated because they can't just hose off those areas and let the trash and dirt fall into Clear Creek. The company that power washes the sidewalks has bid $12,000 to do the job, using vacuum brushes and plastic curtains to protect the Creek. The board will be asked to approve this expense.
You may recall the City's plans to build a new City Hall at an estimated cost of $65 million. Staff had suggested that the project be funded using a type of debt that did not require taxpayer approval. A group of citizens has asked Council to put the issue on the ballot, so the citizens can decide whether they want to fund the project. This will probably delay and possibly prevent the start of the project.
The DDA had budgeted up to $250,000 this year to help pay for that project. In light of the anticipated delay, staff is now suggesting that they help fund a different project this year.
Over the years, there has been some discussion of building a trail on the north side of Clear Creek, to connect Parfet and Vanover Parks. When the current owners acquired the Golden Mill, they agreed to an easement that would permit such a trail on the south edge of their property. When I last heard discussion of this project, the owners of the Gold Apartments had not granted an easement, but that was in November of 2019, so things may have changed since then.
This 2 block stretch of trail is estimated to cost $900,000. Staff is suggesting that the DDA fund preliminary design work for the trail, which is estimated at $300,000.
The staff memo points out that the City is accepting comments about the proposed redesign of the "Jackson Street Corridor" via the Guiding Golden website. The plan proposes replacing on-street parking spaces with trees.
1-5PM Sketch and Paint on the Go with Janet Nunn
Today marks the beginning of ARTSWEEK GOLDEN, which is orchestrated by Foothills Art Center, culminating in the Golden Artsweek Festival this coming weekend.
Today's Artsweek event is a Sketch and Paint class, taught by Janet Nunn at the Golden City Brewery.
Class Description:
Sketch and paint on a small sketchbook. Learn how to paint on the go. Paint with a sketchbook, sharpie, and travel paints. What a way to experience more of your travels or pleasant afternoons than with a sketch. This class includes a sketchbook, sharpie, and a travel set of paints. At the end of class, a refreshment is provided by Golden City Brewery. All you need is a small watercolor brush.
What's Blooming Along Golden's Trails? Crested Prickly Poppy
Figure 1. Crested Prickly Poppy (Argemone polyanthemos) in a Golden open space. Inset: Leafcutting Bee (Megachile spp.)
By Tom Schweich
Very pretty and very stickery, “Crested Prickly Poppy” — Argemone polyanthemos (Fedde) G.B. Ownbey — is found in all the open spaces of Golden. The stems, leaves, and seed pods of this very pretty flower are so prickly that it is sometimes mistaken for a thistle or a cactus. It also has an orange latex-bearing sap as it can be very sticky.
The genus name Argemone is derived from the Greek “argema,” a reference to the use of a European prickly poppy in medicine. The species name is a combination of the Greek words “poly” (meaning “many”) and “anthemom” (meaning “flowers”). The “Crested” part of its common name refers to the horns or crests on the seed pods.
Prickly poppies grown from Mexican seeds were growing in European gardens when Linneaus (1753) published the first edition of his Species Plantarum, but those were a different species than our prickly poppy. The historical literature is a little unclear, but it appears that the first collection of A. polyanthemos was very likely made by Edwin James, MD, on June 20, 1820, just west of Gothenburg, Nebraska. Unfortunately, James gave it a name that was previously used for a different poppy, and our plant received little recognition. It wasn’t until 1958 that Gerald Ownbey of the University of Minnesota reorganized all the prickly poppies and elevated our prickly poppy to the rank of species.
Our plant is found mostly on the plains and lower foothills from Texas north to Montana. In Colorado it is found on the plains and up against the foothills, with a few collections in the southwest part of the state. Although, one must wonder whether the poppy occurs there naturally or whether it is a garden escapee there.
You may notice in the photograph that there is a semi-circular cutout in the petals on the back side of the flower. Colorado’s native leafcutting bees (Megachile spp., see inset) cut leaves and flower petals and use the pieces to line their nest cells. Colorado State University has an interesting article about leafcutting bees at: https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/leafcutter-bees-5-576/
Golden History: The Sad, Neglected Playground
City Park, 16th-18th, Arapahoe to Illinois – enlarge
According to the City’s website, Golden has 253 acres of parks, 24 miles of trails, and 402 acres of open space. It was not always thus!
For more than 70 years, Golden had only one park. According to the Colorado Transcript, town father William Loveland donated four square blocks to the City with the stipulation that it always be used as a park.
Early Golden tended to operate on a shoestring, and did very little maintenance to the park. They did install a tap in 1884, so it was possible to grow and water trees. Thereafter, citizen groups often planted trees in the park on Arbor Day. Over time it became quite pleasant and shady. Civic groups occasionally tried to improve the park by mowing the grass or adding playground equipment. The equipment was usually destroyed by vandals.
The Transcript printed this sad piece in 1948.
76 Years Ago
NO PLACE TO PLAY
You know, it’s just downright pitiful that Golden has no playground for the children, when you see how they love those poor, dilapidated pieces of equipment that are still standing in Pioneer park.’
There’s seldom an hour during any nice day that there are not a few children and sometimes several playing on the rings, the swings and the slide. They don’t mind that there’s a rung missing on the ladder to the top of the slide. They stretch and strain and manage to get to the top. They don’t mind that one swing is gone entirely, another has broken and been hiked up to an uncomfortable height. They don’t care that two of the rings are gone and the chains have been tied together. They still thoroughly enjoy and love what is left— and they use it continually.
And the poor wading pool that some organization struggled to get built once upon a time. Now it is full of sand, waste paper, broken glass, splintered wood, orange peel, twigs, dead leaves and such. Of course it Is never used anymore because it was a health hazard and the dogs practically crowded the children out. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a nice, fenced-in wading pool for the children and a beautiful playground with lots of good, sturdy equipment?
Colorado Transcript – June 17, 1948
Not long after this, the City decided to sell the park to Jefferson County and the School of Mines. Civic groups began focusing instead on the land near Clear Creek. For whatever reason, that location worked better. We got not only a playground but a campground, athletic fields, tennis courts, and a community center.
The post-World War II generation, with their profusion of baby boomer offspring, were willing to tax themselves for parks. Over time, we acquired park land all over the city, and today we have about twenty parks–most with completely un-sad playgrounds.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
Weather
Overnight: Mostly clear. Low around 61, with temperatures rising to around 63 overnight. West wind around 7 mph.
Monday: Sunny. High near 93, with temperatures falling to around 91 in the afternoon. South southwest wind 5 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear. Low around 58, with temperatures rising to around 60 overnight. West wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly Clear, 58°F
Tuesday: Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 78°F
Tuesday Night: Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 53°F
Juneteenth: Partly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 73°F
Wednesday Night: Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Mostly Cloudy, 56°F
Thursday: Partly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 84°F
Thursday Night: Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Mostly Cloudy, 63°F
Friday: Partly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 87°F
Friday Night: Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Partly Cloudy, 63°F
Saturday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 88°F
Saturday Night: Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Partly Cloudy, 62°F
Sunday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 88°F
News Relating to Golden - June 17, 2024
The Denver Post’s 2024 All-Colorado baseball team
By Kyle Newman
Denver Post
The Denver Post’s 2024 All-Colorado baseball team, a 40-man roster determined by statistical analysis, a player’s relative value to team success and coaches’ feedback... Read more...
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