With all respect to Bing Crosby, instead of a white Christmas, how about making 2012 a Golden Christmas?
Every company on the list below is based in Golden, providing the employment base that keeps the community strong while making products likely to please someone on any gift-giving list.
Be sure to catch Part 2 of this gift list in the next edition of the Golden Transcript.
For coffee lovers
Patty Birkby, owner/operator of Table Mountain Roasters, has always loved coffee. She decided to bring the joys of freshly roasted, quality beans to her Golden neighbors five years ago, and she’s been doing the daily grind ever since.
“There’s just such a difference in freshly roasted coffee,” Birkby said. “I think it makes a nice gift. So many people drink coffee, a nice bag of freshly ground coffee is always appreciated.”
Many of Table Mountain Roasters beans are organically grown and certified fair trade. She can do special orders, custom roasts, and assemble gift baskets.
A bag of Guatemalan or Sumatran coffee from Table Mountain Roasters begins at about $7 for an 8-ounce bag, and is available at Golden stores, including Simply Repurposed, Golden Frames and Gift, Local Market and Golden Natural Foods. Specialty orders can be placed by calling 303-809-8366.
For pets/pet lovers
There are chew toys, and then there’s Kong. Odds are your favorite canine, or canine’s human, already has one of these pear-shaped rubber chew toys. But the company makes a wide array of pet toys, even a line of catnip-dispensing toys for those of the feline persuasion.
Also, Kongs are designed to be filled with treats to reward playful pups, and Kong has a range of “Stuff’N” easy sprays for sale, with flavors like peanut butter, and cheese and bacon that would make for howling-good stocking stuffers.
Kong may be based here in Golden, but its products, which can be seen at www.kongcompany.com, are available nationwide.
On a smaller scale, but still Golden-based, there is The Good Dog Co., which manufactures and sells leashes, collars and dog toys made from 100 percent natural hemp and organic cotton. So far the company product line includes leashes, collars, harnesses and pull toys in a variety of styles for dogs and cats. Its products are available at The Green Paw, 1299 Washington Avenue, or online at www.thegooddogcompany.com.
For knife lovers
One in four Spyderco knives is still manufactured in Golden, the city where the Glesser family decided to put down roots and raise a family after beginning the knife company. Considered a pioneer in folding-knife design, Spyderco now builds custom knives that would be welcome tools for most any hunter, fisherman, camper, EMT, rancher, warehouse worker, handyman and so on.
Spyderco’s high-quality pocket knives range from $60 to $500, and are available at the knife company’s factory outlet in north Golden at 820 Spyderco Way.
For bike lovers
Although Yeti Cycles is named after a mythic beast of the mountains, the high-quality mountain bikes that employees craft are — while still legendary — very real.
“Any product we make has been tested, tuned and refined on the trails around Golden,” Yeti President Chris Conroy said.
All those hours on the trails yield some of the best bikes money can buy. This year’s flagship bike is the SB66, a full-suspension, “all-mountain” machine. The apex of technology and quality will cost you though; the SB66 costs $3,700.
New this year is the SB95 ($3,500), which uses the bigger 29-inch wheels favored by some bikers.
“It just gobbles up the rock gardens around here,” Conroy said of the SB95.
Yeti bikes are sold at Golden Cycles, 722 Washington Avenue, however gift-givers looking for something more affordable can give a bit of the Yeti mystique to their favorite biker with clothing and accessories from the website, yeticycles.com.
