Golden Heights Park
Photo by Scott Wilson
Click to enlarge
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Saturday, May. 3rd
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - Golden History Tours
- All day - Special Event Drinks Menu at the Rose
- 8AM - Saturday Morning Run and Social Walk
- 9AM-3PM - Charity Ride
- 9:30-11:30AM - Full Walking Tour @ Dinosaur Ridge
- 10-11AM - Coffee With Councilors
- 10AM-1PM - In-Store Kids Workshop
- 10AM-3PM - Saturday Train Rides
- 10:15-10:45AM - Family Time - Registration Required
- 11AM-3PM - Expedition Eddy - Outdoor Adventure Expo
- 12-4PM - Learn to Use Your Sewing Machine
- 12-12:30PM - Quick Class: Sweet Potato Reigns Supreme
- 1-3PM - PAWS for Reading
- 1-2:30PM - Virtual: Dungeons & Dragons for Beginners
- 3PM - Patio Pot Workshop
- 3-5PM - Celebrate Cinco de Mayo @ The Golden Mill
- 3PM - The Derby Games
- 3:30-5PM - Virtual: Dungeons & Dragons for Advanced Players
- 4-6PM - Requiem and Renewal - Golden Concert Choir Spring Concert
- 5-8:30PM - Golden Super Cruise
- 5-6:30PM - Golden American Legion Dinner
- 7:30-9:30PM - Strange Brews
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
One Week From Today: the Annual Postal Food Drive
Join Us for the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive – Volunteer & Make a Difference!
- Start filling a bag of food to donate
- Sign up to help sort, shelve, and box the donations
On Saturday, May 10th, Golden's U.S. Postal Service letter carriers will once again collect food for the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive—and we need your help to turn those donations into meals for families in our community!
All donated food will be delivered to the Golden Food Pantry, where volunteers like you will sort, shelve, and box the donations as they arrive. This is one of our biggest food drives of the year, and your time and effort will directly help Golden families in need.
- Volunteer Shifts: Volunteer in two hour shifts from 3:00 – 7:00 PM
- Food & Cold Drinks Provided
- Bring a friend, a family member, or a group—many hands make light work!
- Ages 12+ welcome (12-15 must be accompanied by an adult)
- Sign up today to be part of this impactful event! Click the link below to choose a shift:
Mandy Liao & Barry Bettis
Food Drive Co-Chairs
GOLDEN FOOD PANTRY
1401 Ford St. (map)
3PM The Derby Games @ Golden Hayride Outpost
Kentucky Derby Day! Giddy up over to Golden Outpost for the inaugural Derby Games.
Enjoy Live Country Music. Did we mention it’s also the Golden Supercruise day! Did we mention Food Trucks?
More information
Location:
Golden Hayride Outpost
17695 South Golden Road (Map)
When:
3PM on Saturday, May. 3rd
4-6PM Requiem and Renewal - Golden Concert Choir Spring Concert @ Calvary Episcopal Church
The Golden Concert Choir will present a requiem from different classical composers. It consists of the 13 parts of a requiem mass, each part being taken from a different composer. All are beautiful to hear and to sing.
The doors will open to the concert space at 3:00 p.m., and the concert will start at 4:00 p.m.
There will be a silent auction in conjunction with the concert. Tickets will be available on-line and at the event. Admission is $20 Adults, $15 Seniors, $5 Students, and children under 6 are Free.
Location:
Calvary Episcopal Church
1320 Arapahoe Street (Map)
When:
4-6PM on Saturday, May. 3rd
5-6:30PM Golden American Legion Dinner @ American Legion Post 21
Taco bar $2/ per taco $5 taco salad bowl, dessert Public Welcome www.goldenpost21.org
Location:
American Legion Post 21
500 9th Street (Map)
When:
5-6:30PM on Saturday, May. 3rd
5-8:30PM Golden Super Cruise @ South Golden Road
There will no longer be entertainment, official vendors, an information line or email contact. The Cruise has always been yours and you know the drill. If you’ve been a participant or spectator, come out as usual. If you’re new to the Cruise, start at South Golden Road and jump in. It’s easy and the people are great. Support the City of Golden and Golden businesses because they’ve always been our gracious hosts. Thank you very sincerely for the perfect job of picking up and packing out trash. Point of important courtesy: Drive straight through all roundabouts, but ESPECIALLY at South Golden Road and Ulysses at the top of the hill. Tell others and use it as a cooldown and space it out to come back around through the Quaker roundabout.
Golden Super Cruise
Location:
South Golden Road
Golden (Map)
When:
5-8:30PM on Saturday, May. 3rd
News About Golden - May 3, 2025
CHARITY RIDE
City of Golden Police Department
Crimewatch
On May 3rd, 2025 between the hours of 9AM and 3PM expect heavy traffic along the Colfax corridor between US 6th Avenue and Interstate 70. A Charity event, involving a large number of motorcycles, will be held at a local Golden business... Read more...
May Telegrapher
Colorado Railroad Museum
Download PDF below...
Live Music for Saturday, May. 3rd
- 5:30-8:30PM Chuck Fisher @ Buffalo Rose
Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage) - More Live Music
5-8PM Live Music @ Eddy Taproom
9PM Karaoke @ Ace Hi Tavern
For more information, visit the Golden Today Calendar
Golden History: The Many Adventures of Nils Christiansen
This photo, taken in the 1920s, shows the building that burned in 1988. Note the “SWIM” sign that indicates the location of the Plunge Swimming Pool
Click to enlarge
37 Years Ago
The May 3, 1988 Golden Transcript quoted Nils Christiansen as saying this his building at 1113 Washington Avenue might or might not be replaced. The building, which had been built in the 1860s, had been gutted by a fire on March 23rd. It was being remodeled at that time to serve as a Mexican restaurant. Mr. Christiansen planned to leave it boarded up until he decided what to do with it.
Nils Christiansen was one of Golden’s more accomplished and colorful residents. He was born and raised in the Philippines, where his father was serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. This enabled young Nils to claim dual citizenship–both Filipino and American. His father died when Nils was only two, and his mother was eventually remarried to an American missionary from Colorado. Both Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur were family friends.
Nils attended a technical school and began working at an early age, with jobs including jockey, machinist, radio operator, industrial arts teacher, and florist shop manager. While still in school, at age 15, he encountered a bully who threatened to drown him. Nils didn’t know how to swim, so he resolved to learn. A year later, he beat the bully in a swim competition. After that, he continued competitive swimming.
At age 22 he decided to visit Colorado and try to get a scholarship to attend the School of Mines. He found that scholarship money was unavailable, so he got a job with the Public Works Administration. With that salary, he rented a house and took in roommates, cooking and cleaning for them. Before long he was able to buy the house and enroll part-time.
In 1936 he returned to the Philippines to join their Olympic swim team. With them, he traveled to Berlin for the 1936 Olympics and made it to the semi-finals. While there, he encountered Adolph Hitler. Nils took a photograph of Hitler. One of Hitler’s guards grabbed the camera and tossed it in the pool. The next day, the camera was returned without the film but with a note that said “Compliments of the Füehrer.”
After his Berlin experience, he returned to Golden and enrolled full-time at Mines. While attending school, he worked part time as a swim instructor at the Golden Plunge pool (now located under the Buffalo Rose Events Center).
Nils graduated from Mines in 2-1/2 years with degrees in both mining and metallurgy. He then worked for DuPont and Remington Arms. During World War II, he worked in Oakridge on the atomic bomb project. He retired at age 44 and devoted himself to property management and inventing.
He owned a wide variety of properties in Golden, including commercial buildings downtown, the old North School, and several rental homes. He owned an entire block at the southwest corner of 19th and Illinois. He and his wife raised five children there. He continued to train in his backyard pool and kept a large junkyard/inventing lab on the property.
While still an undergraduate at Mines, he began working on adobe. When the 1970s energy crisis came along, he returned to adobe technology. He designed machinery to produce adobe bricks and developed different soil-sand ratios to make bricks for a variety of applications. In 1975 he made 10,000 adobe blocks for the National Park Service to use in the restoration of Bent’s Fort.
In 1977, he built an adobe home on his property at 19th and Illinois. It was designed to be highly energy efficient, heated largely by solar collectors. The home was of great interest to the staff at the Solar Energy Research Institute (later rebranded as NREL) and in its first year it was toured by more than 2000 people. In 1978, he built a second adobe house on the property.
In 1985, he proposed building four mixed use buildings for low income residents with commercial offices along 19th and apartments behind them. They would be constructed of an adobe-like substance. Nearby residents objected, saying they wanted the neighborhood to keep its residential aspect. The City rejected his plan. Christiansen sued the City, but lost.
Returning to our original subject–the building at 1113 Washington that burned in March of 1988–Nils Christiansen never had to decide whether to rebuild on that spot, because he died in July of that year at age 75.
The School of Mines acquired the Christiansen property and both his residence and the adobe homes he built have been demolished.
The Christiansen home and adobe rental homes are gone now. The School of Mines is building a new residence hall where they once stood.
Weather
Overnight: Clear. Low around 43, with temperatures rising to around 45 overnight. West wind around 7 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 73. South southeast wind 5 to 12 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. South wind 5 to 8 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly Clear, 47°F
Sunday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Rain Showers, 71°F
Sunday Night: Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Mostly Cloudy, 47°F
Monday: Rain Showers, 58°F
Monday Night: Showers And Thunderstorms, 44°F
Tuesday: Showers And Thunderstorms, 48°F
Tuesday Night: Showers And Thunderstorms, 42°F
Wednesday: Showers And Thunderstorms Likely, 55°F
Wednesday Night: Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Mostly Cloudy, 42°F
Thursday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 65°F
Thursday Night: Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Partly Cloudy, 45°F
Friday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 69°F
Supporters
Many thanks to the people and organizations who support What’s Happening in Golden? If you would like to support local news, please CLICK HERE!
Sponsors:
($100/month and up)
Buffalo Rose, Buglet Solar, Foothills Art Center, Golden City Brewery, Golden Cultural Alliance, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Miners Saloon, Golden Hayride Outpost, Unite Fitness, Joy Brandt, Tom Reiley, Michael Mason, and the Colorado Railroad Museum
Friends:
($50-99.99/month or $550/yr)
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Goozell Yogurt & Coffee Paul Haseman, Donna Anderson, Carol & Doug Harwood, Beth Bidwell, Stephanie Painter, Greg Poulos, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Mary & Don Parker, Saré Merrigan, The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, and Vic DeMaria
Supporters:
($25-49.99/month or $250/yr)
Laura King and Scott Wilson, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Forrest Jones, Barry & Liz Bettis, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, Marjorie Sloan, Chris and Joyce Davell, Rick Flint, Forrest Jones, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Stephen Pero, Meg Van Ness & Steve Kalasz, Steve & Karla Schaefer, Bud Rockhill, Steve Enger, Kristie Brice & Mike Schwartz, The Golden Hotel, and Kurt & Janet Siegfried
Members:
($10-24.99/month or $110/yr)
Brad Miller & Julie Bartos, Holly Thomas, Jim and LouAnne Dale, Ann Pattison, Thomas Hoffman, Carol Abel, Brian Quarnstrom, Sandra Curran, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Kathy Smith, Karen Smith, Carlos & Nancy Bernal, Robert Storrs, Michele Sannes, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, E Tom Hughes, Crystal M Culbert, Patrick A. Madison, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Deb Goeldner, Christopher Ball, 6th Chair Home Services, Dot & Eric Brownson, Rosemary Coffman, Emeline Paulson, Sandy Schneider, Mark and Cathy Pattridge, Cheryl G Leidich, Jen Rutter, Frani R Bickart, Jennings and Litz, Bill Sedgeley, Nancy Hughes, Justin L Wade, Kathi Eggers, Traci Case, Donna Owen, Leslie D Lutz, Karen Oxman, Catherine Skokan, Ross Fraser & KC Gilliland, Lynne Haigh, Elizabeth Hilliard, Frank Young & Terre Deegan-Young, Kathy Hirons & Jack Markin, Jess & Anthony Monasterio, Ella Lyons & Jeanne Fritch, Heather Duncan, Lee Ann & Pete Horneck, Carol Cameron, Cheryl Williamson, San Daugherty, Jim Garner, John and Carol McEncroe, the Golden Welcome Center, the Golden Transcript, Koshare Eagle, Ken and Colleen Krantz, Traci Neuman Lacey, Jo Barber, Jamie Cookinham, Kermit Shields, Meridee Cecil, Vicki Olson, Colleen & Michael Ramey, Nancy & Pete Torpey, Jax Baker, Simon Maybury, Rose McLaughlin, Cameron Chambers, Joyce Gravina, Patrick Klein, Barb Robie, and Mary Rains, Richard Caldwell, Janice Waring, Sam & Marilyn Baron, Carmen Johnson
Followers:
($5-9.99/month)
Golden Community Garden, Lora Haimes, Mariane Erickson, J.J. Fraser, Mel Perkins, Bob Hamilton, Kim Linton, Steve Stevens
