Chalk It Up to Education Art Festival

Do you know about the Chalk it Up to Education Art Festival.  This event will take place next Saturday September 8th.  Artists of all ages sit side by side on sidewalks creating art pieces out of sidewalk chalk.  There are over 100 arts from elementary school kids to professionals. Check it out and the best part is it's free! 

3rd Annual Chalk it Up to Education Art FestivalStreets at SouthGlenn
Saturday, September 8, 2012
10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m

Imagine a FREE festival where artists from all ages are working side by side, creating masterpieces. These pieces of art are created on the sidewalk using sidewalk chalk. Norman Rockwell, 3-D inspired works, dragons, hawks, and creativity gone wild….all chalked on the 4 x 4 or 6 x6 foot squares lining the sidewalks of The Streets at SouthGlenn

This year, our festival will grow and host over 100 artists from elementary school age to professional.

Artists can sign up as individuals or as a team and cash prizes will be awarded.

Click on the links above for more information about any individual piece of the festival.

Call Sara Crowe at 303-907-4452 with any questions.

 V.I.P. Event!

Join us for the The Chalk It Up To Education Art Festival VIP Reception at the Streets at SouthGlenn.  The event is Saturday, September 8, from 5:00-7:00 PM at the patio adjacent to the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. The address is 2154 E. Commons Ave., Centennial, CO 80122. Tickets are only $25.

The VIP event is being held during the closing hours of the festival and we look forward to you celebrating the artists and their chalk creations, enjoying elaborate hors' d oeuvres and an open bar from Ivy at the Glenn, listening to live entertainment, and bidding on one of a kind art by the chalk artists that will be participating in the festival.  All funds raised from the Chalk It Up to Education Art Festival will be used to support students and programs at ACC. 

For more information see ARAPAHOE College

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Congratulations to our Colorado Olympic Athletes!

Missy Franklin and several other Colorado Olympic Athletes were welcomed home on August 18th at the Centennial Center Park.   The Colorado athletes won a total of 9 Olympic medals in these games, five of which came from teenager Missy Franklin.   These athletes were celebrated and honored as fans from all over came to welcome them back to Colorado.

Centennial welcomed back the city’s own Missy Franklin and five other 2012 Colorado Olympians to Centennial Center Park on Aug. 18.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon and other local dignitaries were on hand to celebrate the total of nine medals earned by the state’s athletes. 

“Some feel that training at this altitude gives our Colorado Olympians a distinct advantage in 
London. We like to call it attitude with altitude,” said Hickenlooper.

The Mile High welcome in Centennial’s new park was a hastily planned affair that paid particular tribute to Franklin, one of the Olympics’ brightest new stars, having won four gold medals and one bronze and breaking several world records in the process.

Franklin, 17, took it all in stride as she accepted the welcome home with her trademark grace and modesty.

“Just being able to be home again is the best thing in the world,” she told the crowd in Center Park. 

“… Going out there and getting the gold, that’s awesome too. But the support we get and we’ve seen from all of you in Colorado, I can tell you we all appreciate it more than anything.”
Fans later surrounded Franklin for an Olympic trial of autographs.

Since returning to Colorado, Franklin has been getting back into the swing of regular life, her mother, D.A., told The Villager.

“When she saw her friends, they all wanted to see her medals, and then they just started talking about boys,” she said.

Franklin began her senior year at Regis Jesuit High School last week.

Other honored athletes included:
• Taylor Ritzel, Rowing [Gold medalist]
• Georgia Gould, Cycling [Bronze medalist]
• Lance Brooks, Track and Field
• David Herman, BMX
• Kara Lynn Joyce, Swimming
A total of 39 Coloradans took part in 13 Olympic events.

 For more information please see Villager Publishing.

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A New Way to See Colorado

 Many vacationers have had the pleasure of ziplining through the rainforest in the south.  However, ziplining is also beautiful in the Colorado Mountains.  Breathtaking landscapes, wildlife, and beautiful vegetation make Colorado one of the best ziplining spots in the United States.

If Tarzan swung from tree to tree across Colorado right now, he might complain that it's tough to get very far without tripping over a zipline.

In fact, helping folks fly through the air with the greatest of ease appears to be the goal all over the state as ski resorts, lodging properties, outfitters and seemingly anyone with space to spare angles to get in on the zipline action.

"I'd like to get the mayor of London here to try our ziplines," says Colorado Tourism Office spokesman Roland Alonzi about Boris Johnson, who famously got stuck on a zipline attempting to soar over Olympics celebrators in a stunt that went viral on YouTube. "I guarantee, we have the best ziplines in the world, and that never would have happened here."

At the very least, Colorado's ziplines offer better scenery, often with a background of sandstone cliffs, old-growth ponderosa pine or miles of red rock canyon.

Even the definition of zipline — which at its simplest, refers to a pulley suspended on a cable — can be a bit different. Once a reference to the "canopy tour" long offered in the rain forests of Costa Rica, Thailand and Brazil, a zipline in Colorado can run the gamut from a short, slow, seated, theme park-style scenic ride to an elaborate, multi-line series of 40 mph zigzags through thick forest from tower to tower rather than platforms attached to trees.

Modern ziplines are thought to be based on the Tyrolean traverse pulley system used by climbers and cavers: zipliners snug into a climbing harness and are clipped onto the pulley using carabiners, and then gravity takes over. As a safety measure, sag is built in for slowing and stopping. 

While summer camps and playgrounds have offered scaled-back versions for decades - called "flying foxes," these ziplines usually use hand grips and seats, as well as less steep inclines — large-scale zipline tours in Colorado can be traced back to 2005, when Monty Holmes opened Captain Zipline's Lost Canyon Zipline Tour (captainzipline.com) near Salida. That same year, Soaring Tree Top Adventures (soaringcolorado.com) started in Durango.

Counting smaller operations at resorts, ski areas and single lines at theme parks with other attractions, nearly two dozen ziplines are currently offered around the state, with a third of them having just opened this year.

"As far as I could tell, I was the third one to open in the U.S.," Holmes says. "And by the end of this year, there's expected to be 300 ziplines in the country. It's getting to be pretty big. But I think Colorado is definitely at the forefront."

Certainly Colorado zipline operations are creative. Several, such as AVA's Zipline Tours (coloradorafting.net), which has locations in Buena Vista and Idaho Springs, package ziplining with river rafting or, as in the case of Full Blast Adventure Center (ziplinedurangoco.com) in Durango, have paintball and a 26-line slacklining course.

Others, like Durango's Soaring Tree Top, are unique. "You can only get to Soaring Tree Top by taking the train," says Alonzi, who notes that ziplines are one of his favorite activities. "It's amazing. There are 300-year-old ponderosas, and you can only see them this way, by getting out there and doing this. Pretty incredible."

Ski areas and private resorts have been adding ziplines, as well, looking at them as a way to offer shoulder-season attractions and other options for guests who don't participate in typical winter sports.
Last season, for instance, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (skicb.com) debuted a guided, year-round canopy-style zipline tour, and in May, Devil's Thumb Ranch (devilsthumbranch.com) near Tabernash, long known for horseback riding and cross-country skiing, added a series of ziplines, including one that runs 1,600 feet and hits speeds up to 40 mph.

"The owner, Bob Fanch, really had a passion to put one in," says Sean Damery, vice president and general manager at the ranch. "He felt that there was a lot of demand for them right now, and it turns out he was absolutely right. We're sold out a week in advance."

Holmes, too, says he sees ziplining only gaining in popularity and has been adding lines and expanding the operation. "This has a very high thrill-to-skill ratio," Holmes says. "Unlike mountain biking and hiking and climbing, you just don't have to be very skilled or in that great a shape to zipline."

Holmes says that's what attracted him to the activity to begin with. "I don't like roller coasters, I'd never go bungee jumping, I don't even like Ferris wheels," he says. "But this gives you three seconds of stomach-tightening, and then after that it's all gliding motion and squealing fun."

On the other hand, he points out, you do have to possess enough strength to hang on.

 "The one thing we are starting to see is that sometimes people aren't fit enough to sit up in the harness," he says. "That's a requirement."

The other concern first-timers have: safety.

To have a safe zipline experience, it's important to listen to the safety talk and choose a reputable operation, agree Holmes, Alonzi and Damery. "You're not going to have a problem in a properly constructed zipline," Holmes says.

"I was at the new Royal Gorge zipline recently, and the guy strapping me in said, 'The heavier you are, the faster you'll go,'" Alonzi says. "I started laughing, and I thought, 'Oh, great, thanks a lot, I'm going to be flying.' But really, that's good information to know."

For more information about locations and equipment see the Denver Post.

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One Last Weekend for Family Fun

This weekend is the final time you can attend FunFest and the Summer Concerts with you and your family.  There will be a performance at the KidStage, a great concert, and FunFest on Saturday.  This is a great one last outing with your family before school starts next week. 

  

This week in Englewood: final summer concert of the season, plus FunFest!

Looking for something to do in Englewood this week? Check out the final performances of the season for KidStage and Sounds of Summer, plus our annual FunFest is coming up Saturday!

• Tuesday, August 7 • 6:30 pm - KidStage at the CityCenter Englewood Amphitheater
  It's... Magic! featuring Keir Royale. Don't miss it - last KidStage of the season!
    
• Thursday, August 9 • 6:30 pm - Sounds of Summer Concert - final concert of the season! featuring the always popular Nacho Men at CityCenter Englewood Amphitheater. Bring your lawn chairs and picnics!
           
• Library Storytimes - every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!
• Thursdays at 10:30 am - Once Upon a Thursday Storytime
• Fridays at 10:30 am - Stories & Me
• Saturdays at 3:30 pm - Family Read Out

For details on the storytimes and other Library programs, visit the Library's web pages.

• Saturday, August 11 • 10 am to 5 pm - FUNFEST - A Hometown Fair with a Little Flair!
  Belleview Park • 5001 S. Inca Street
  
  
  
  For more information go to The City of Englewood.
  

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Some Gold For Aurora

Aurora has had to deal with tragedies lately that no one should have to go through.  However, there is now something to make Aurora come together and cheer.  Aurora native Missy Franklin at 17 years old took the gold medal in the Olympics for the 100 Meter Backstroke.

Colorado has seen its share of pain this year with a mass movie theater shooting and deadly wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes.

But when Missy Franklin cinched her first gold medal at the London Olympic Games this week, it was finally time to cheer.

After days of mourning the mass shooting, Coloradans are celebrating the triumphs of the 17-year-old swimmer who attends Aurora's Regis Jesuit High School and lives in the nearby Denver suburb of Centennial. Following the July 20 shootings in Aurora, she dedicated her Olympic races to her home state.

"It's such a terrible thing, and I'm so shaken by it," Franklin said last week. "They're in my thoughts this entire process."

Franklin won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke Monday after having opened her games with a relay bronze.

"For Missy to take time in the midst of her finest moment to think about her hometown and how she can help in its healing is an incredible statement about her character," Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said Tuesday.

"It certainly means a lot to Aurora to know that Missy cares, and we are proud of her achievements."
Franklin has become a much-needed cause for celebration in a state that was still reeling from destructive wildfires when the movie theater massacre occurred. This summer's High Park Fire in northern Colorado burned about 260 homes, while the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs destroyed more than 340 homes and killed a husband and wife.

Franklin's steady rise has been chronicled by Colorado news media, and on Tuesday The Denver Post emblazoned her gold medal triumph on its front page under the headline, "Missy's American grit."
Friends, coaches and followers embraced that grit -- a symbol of perseverance shared by many after authorities say James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 58 others at a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

"I know our entire state just has heartache right now, and for her to dedicate her work and success to us, it just helps that much more," said Madeline Cordier, a recent Regis graduate.

"She helps us push forward and she gives us something to look forward to," added Cordier's sister, Grace, who still attends Regis Jesuit. "She's putting a lot of smiles on a lot of Coloradans' faces."

Noah Utesch, a member of the boys' swim team at Regis Jesuit, praised Franklin's dedication of her races in the London spotlight as "something positive for the city of Aurora."

"It's got to do something to cover up that terrible tragedy," Utesch said.
Franklin's high school swim coach, Nick Frasersmith, was effusive in his praise of her determination and ebullient outlook on life.

"What Missy's doing in dedicating her events, really, I think, just kind of brings something we can all focus on that's positive and an enjoyment of some good things that happen in this world," Frasersmith said.

"And there's no better person like Missy Franklin with her wonderful attitude."

For more information on Missy or the Olympics see News Channel 5.

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