COVID Updates
Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page | Lutheran Medical Center | JCPH Clinic in Arvada (70+ only) | www.vaccinespotter.org/CO/
Jefferson County Public Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center: 303-239-7000 | State Hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day
Golden Testing Sites
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing
Jefferson County Case Summary:
Cases in Jeffco – Tues: 38,768 | Mon: 38,890 (+122)
Deaths in Jeffco – Tues: 773 | Mon: 773 (unchanged)
Currently Hospitalized in Jeffco – Tues: 35 | Mon: 30 (-5)
Known Cases in Golden – Thurs: 1547 | Tues: 1559
Recovered – Tues: 37,128 | Mon: 37,233 (+105)
More Public Health References
School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Sign up for exposure notifications | CDC | Colorado | Jefferson County | City of Golden
Virtual Events
7:30AM Golden Young Professionals Monthly Membership Meeting
10-11:30AM Microsoft Word – Beyond the Basics
10AM Everything Dinosaur Talk – Iguanodonts
10-10:30AM Mid-Morning Meditation
10-11AM Great Decisions – China’s Role in Africa
10:15AM Preschool Time with the Library
3-5PM Hard Times Writing Workshop
6-7PM Qs and Brews Trivia
6-7:30PM Books and Media Club Discussion Group
6-7PM Pleasant View Proposed Redevelopment on South Golden
Community Meeting to discuss a Rezoning to a Planned Development to allow a mixed-use development with approximately 300 multifamily apartments, 46 townhomes, commercial uses, and public and private amenities. Applicable addresses: 16905 S Golden Road, 16925 S Golden Road, 16985 S Golden Road, 16999 S Golden Road, 16725 S Golden Road, and Parcel ID number 40-021-00-059. More information
6-7PM District 2 Virtual GPD Community Safety Update Meeting
Golden community members are invited to join the Golden Police Department for a District 2 Virtual GPD Community Safety Update meeting on March 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. Participants will meet Chief of Police Bill Kilpatrick, Mayor Pro Tem Casey Brown (Dist 2), Ward 3 Councilor Jim Dale and Ward 4 Councilor Bill Fisher. The Colorado Metro Auto Theft Task Force will present on auto theft trends. Tips for crime prevention will also be offered, followed by an opportunity for community members to ask questions.
6:30-7:30PM Golden Women in Business Table Talk
7PM Parks, Recreation and Museums Advisory Board Meeting
Golden’s Parks Department has met with Jeffco Open Space to discuss the Lubahn and Olivine Trails. Their goals are to improve the parking and access to the trails; provide visitor information at the trailhead; restore the trail; realign the upper portion to it stays on public land, and adopt consistent regulations and park hours. They will discuss their recommendations at tonight’s meeting. They will also discuss DeLong Park and their work plan for the year. See the meeting packet for more information.
Golden History Moment
Greatest Hits Week: To celebrate a full year of writing Golden History Moments, I’m re-running some of my favorite articles. This article about Golden’s movie theater originally ran on July 1, 2020.
Downtown Golden had a movie theater for more than 60 years. The Golden Gem opened in October of 1908 in a former church, located across 10th Street from Parfet Park (location). They quickly upgraded, moving to the Merkle building (1110 Washington Avenue–now Windy Saddle Cafe (map). Films were silent at that time, and in 1910, the Gem employed a five-piece orchestra to accompany the films. In 1911, the owner installed “The finest electric sign ever placed in Golden.” (Colorado Transcript, 6/1/1911)
In 1911, the owners of a former stable at 13th and Washington decided to demolish it and build a new, modern building on the site. The Golden Athletic Club rented the second floor and the Golden Gem Theater rented the first floor. The Theater moved in June 1912 and stayed there for the rest of its existence.
Early films came on large reels, each reel weighing about 5 pounds and running for about 11 minutes. Advertisements would describe a film as a 2-reel film, or a 3-reel film. An evening’s program would commonly include several films. The films weren’t necessarily stories–they often showed real events, such as a rodeo. In one case, they showed movies of a hunting trip taken by Theodore Roosevelt. The Gem showed their first “talkie” (movie with sound) in 1929.
The theater ran many promotions over the years. In 1928, they partnered with the Fromhart Motor Company and the Golden Transcript to give away a car to “the most popular young lady in Jefferson County.” During the Depression, they would give away silverware on Tuesday nights, and at times they held drawings for a box of groceries.
The Gem was “refreshed” several times, to update the look (and often the seats). One major remodel took place in 1949. A newly-updated Gem theater, with a brilliant new neon marquee, had its Grand Opening the same night the Golden Welcome Arch was illuminated for the first time (the arch used to have neon letters).
The Gem was always a centerpiece of our visitor attraction efforts. Golden was “the” downtown for many people living west of Denver and in the mountains, so people would come to Golden for a night out–dinner and a movie.
The Golden Gem, along with Golden’s downtown business district, slowly eroded throughout the 1960s and 70s. It went through several owners. One even showed x-rated movies. The Transcript mentioned that some young people referred to the place as “the Golden Germ”. Finally, the Foss family (of Foss Drug Store fame) bought the building and divided it into several retail spaces.
Many 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!
