WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLDEN TODAY?
10AM Jefferson County Horsemen’s Parade sponsored by Westernaires
The parade will start at Furniture Row and end at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. A non-denominational horseback worship service will begin at 11 at the conclusion of the parade. Learn more….
10AM-3PM Brunch at the Rose @ Buffalo Rose
10AM-noon Breakfast Burritos @ The Golden Mill
10AM Easter Egg Hunt @ The Golden Mill
11:15-11:45AM Easter Egg Hunt @ First United Methodist Church (map)
12-2PM Full Walking Tour @ Dinosaur Ridge
1PM A One-Act Double Feature @ Colorado School of Mines
2PM I Hate Hamlet @ Miners Alley Playhouse (through April 23)
7PM A One-Act Double Feature @ Colorado School of Mines
LIVE MUSIC
10AM-1PM Beats & Brunch with DJ Eva – 50’s Sock Hop @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
2-6PM Band of Brothers @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
2PM Mom’s Kitchen @ New Terrain Brewing
3:30-6:30PM Tyler Ballantyne’s Bluegrass Extravaganza Day 3 – Surprise Guest @ Over Yonder
4-7PM Derek Hall @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
8PM Karaoke @ Ace Hi Tavern
4PM Sunday Swing with the Flatirons Jazz Orchestra @ Buffalo Rose
GOLDEN HISTORY MOMENT
I wrote this article in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Our downtown Easter Egg Hunt, Easter church services, and the Easter buffets had all been canceled.
Originally published April 11, 2020:
This is the morning when the Golden Easter Egg Hunt would normally occur. Since that’s not possible this year, I thought I’d summarize what I could find about Easter eggs in Golden history.
The first reference I could find to coloring Easter eggs in Golden was an 1883 promotion for Easter egg dyes, available at Dr. Kelly’s drugstore. Thereafter, I saw dye advertised at Robinson’s Bookstore (1922 and 1923), Alpine Drug (1926 and 1928), Stewart’s Grocery (1934), Chuck’s Market & Grocery (1941), Foss Drug (1948, 1966, 1968, 1969), George’s Grocery (1950 and 1951), and Safeway (1958, 1959).
The Transcript had a Society column for many years, and there were occasional references to Easter egg hunts at children’s parties beginning in 1906. The names of the participating children were listed at smaller parties, and the names of the prize winners were listed at larger ones.
There was also a “Churches” feature in the paper, which listed the services and special events at each church in town. I found many references over the years to Easter egg hunts at the churches–particularly Calvary Episcopal starting in 1916, and the Presbyterian church beginning in 1923.
Businesses began offering egg hunts as the 20th century progressed. Alpine Drugs (now Del’s Tonsorial Parlor) hosted a hunt in 1928. The location was a secret until the children arrived at the store. They then led the whole group over to Brooks Field (the Mines football field).
The Oasis Service Station at 24th and East Street (now Golden Auto Clinic) hosted an egg hunt in 1933, inviting children as follows: Parents may accompany their children if they wish. However, the children will be absolutely safe, as the hunt will be conducted away from highway traffic. The eggs will be hidden on the Oasis lawn, in adjoining fields and along the mountainside. Men will be stationed at different points to see that the children do not wander onto the highway. The Transcript later reported that 250 children had attended.
The first big community egg hunt was hosted by the Lions Club in 1943. They held it in two widely-spaced locations, with the younger children in Parfet Park (10th and Washington) and the older children at Pioneer Park (16th and Arapahoe). “Little Katherine Ellen Gillchriest” found the prize egg and won a subscription to the Transcript. (I wonder how little she was, and how she enjoyed her subscription.)
Notwithstanding the 1943 hunt, in 1953, the “First” Annual Easter Egg Hunt was advertised. The Chamber of Commerce, with assistance from the Lions Club and the Boy Scouts, hosted the hunt in Parfet Park. The Home Economics classes at Golden High School boiled and colored the eggs, and the downtown merchants purchased hundreds of candy eggs to augment the “real egg” supply. The Transcript later reported that 750-1000 children participated. They went through 45 dozen eggs and 60 pounds of candy eggs.
By the late 1960s, the Golden Optimists Club was partnering with the Golden Recreation Center (then located in the building that now holds the library). During those years, the eggs were hidden “along the banks of Clear Creek.”
By 1970, people were becoming paranoid about food prepared by unknown people, and the Transcript made a point of specifying that the eggs were not the hard-boiled variety–they were wrapped chocolate eggs.
I have personal experience of the hunts beginning in the mid-1990s, when my daughter was the right age to participate. By that time, the Golden Kiwanis Club was partnering with the Chamber and had moved the event to Parfet Park.
1998 was a particularly memorable Easter egg hunt. It snowed that year, so the planners decided they couldn’t hold the event outdoors. The Golden Hotel was under construction at that time, and they allowed the event to take place in their parking garage. It was hard to hide eggs on concrete, but that was just fine with the children!
Joyce and Chris Davell attended yesterday’s Egg Hunt. They learned from a Kiwanis member that the club has been hosting the hunt for 50 years. They distribute 6,000 eggs and the number of participants ranges from 300-500, depending on the year.
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!
