Well, another terrific summer is rapidly coming to an end here in Golden. Labor Day weekend is on the horizon, and things will be kicking into autumn mode from that point on until the Christmas season begins.
Although the weather has been pretty hot and the leaves haven’t started to fly off the trees quite yet, things have a way of turning pretty quickly around here and soon enough we’ll be thinking about going on a trek into the mountains to see the aspen trees in their golden glory.
But we still have one last long weekend that is always kind of both a tradition and a transition.
So, here are a few things happening this weekend that you might want to check out.
Let’s start with Friday night, Sept. 1, which is the last night for the summer’s Movies and Music in the Park series. The events have been going on Friday nights all summer long, but this one is going to be a little different. First off, it is moving from its regular location in Parfet Park just down the street a few blocks to the larger Lions Park Ballfields at 10th and Maple Streets.
Why? Because organizers are expecting a much larger crowd this weekend, that’s why. And so as not to bury the lead here, the reason is that this is also the night Golden’s annual 4th of July fireworks display was moved to since it got canceled due to bad weather last month.
Now, keep in mind that since this is happening in September instead of July, it gets dark earlier so here’s the timeline for this event: It starts at 7 p.m. with a concert by the Ghost Town Drifters band. That’s the “Music” portion of the program. They play some pretty awesome Bluegrass music and they’ll be playing until dusk.
Then, boom! The fireworks show begins. That will run its course for however long it takes to light up the sky.
After that comes the “movie” portion of the program with a screening of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That sounds like a pretty full Friday night of free entertainment to me. For more information you can go to the City of Golden website and check out this page: cityofgolden.net/play/events/movies-music-in-the-park.
On Saturday, Sept. 2 our Golden Farmers Market will still be up and running. The Farmers Market is held Saturdays through Oct. 7 so it doesn’t end quite yet. That happens from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. every Saturday morning and connects shoppers to growers of fresh produce and local vendors of artisanal food, health, beauty and wellness items. Keep in mind that the Golden Farmer’s Market accepts SNAP Benefits and offers Double Up Food Bucks for patrons. For more information go to www.goldenfarmersmarket.org.
Also, don’t forget that the First Saturday of the month is Super Cruise Day on South Golden Road. That goes through the first Saturday in October too, so you have a couple of more chances to forget that it’s happening and head to the grocery store in the middle of the whole thing like I usually do. Now for some people that might be annoying, but to me it’s like an added little bonus to my otherwise mundane shopping trip.
By now you probably know what’s going on with that one, but just a refresher for those who don’t…It’s a classic car and hot rod event where people bring their cars to show and drive in cruising fashion up and down South Golden Road, and they park them to display in most of the business parking lots in that area. There are vendors and music playing as well as loads of car owners and enthusiasts there to talk about these awesome cars. It’s free to attend and lots of folks just bring lawn chairs to set up on the sidewalks to watch the cars drive by.
It’s scheduled to take place from 5-8 p.m., but folks do start showing up all afternoon. For more information about that event just head to www.goldensupercruise.com.
That should give you a good jumpstart to have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. Enjoy it and stay safe this year!
John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also is president of John Akal Imaging, professional commercial photography and multimedia production. He can be reached at jaimaging@aol.com.
