Glenwood Caverns tops off food drive with donation to LIFT-UP
I love it when companies give back to their communities, and I’m especially proud when it’s a company I represent. Last week, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park did just that.
At the beginning of the year, the management team at the Adventure Park decided to ramp up their support of the LIFT-UP community food pantry. They set a goal to collect 10,000 cans of food during the third annual Music on the Mountain concert series. It was a lofty goal, and to be honest, it made me a little nervous! But with the series expanded to include nine concerts, they had a “can-do” attitude and decided to aim high.
To bring in more food donations during the series, the Adventure Park teamed up with some local businesses, including Bighorn Toyota, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, KSPN radio, Glenwood TV, the Hotel Glenwood Springs, US Bank, Swire Coca-Cola and Mountain Beverage, to promote the concerts to an even broader audience. In addition to providing additional marketing opportunities, the sponsors brought prizes and giveaways to each of the concerts — always a big hit with the audience.
After the last concert on Sept. 24, the total number of cans donated was slightly more than 7,600. The community donated an average of nearly 850 cans per concert. That’s a truly impressive number when you think about it, but it wasn’t the 10,000 everyone was hoping for.
So last week, owner Steve Beckley and members of the management team presented LIFT-UP’s executive director Mike Powell with a check for $1,200 to purchase the remaining 2,400 cans. When they set a goal, you can bet they’re going to reach it!
LIFT-UP provides a helping hand to more and more people every year. They are serving an average of 2,600 people a month, and distributing more than 3,000 bags of groceries a month. Visit their website at www.liftup.org/ to find out how you can help.
Visiting Glenwood Springs in the Fall
Fall is my favorite season in Colorado, and it’s arrived in Glenwood Springs! The days are clear and warm, and then it’s sweater weather once the sun goes down. This is a great time of year to visit, here’s why:
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is open daily, the lines are shorter – and rare on weekdays, and almost all of the attractions are still open. I love seeing the fall colors on the tram ride and from the deck at the Lookout Grille. With shorter lines, you can ride the alpine coaster over, and over, and over again.
The forecast: sunny or mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s and lows in the 40s, for the next week! The weather is perfect for hiking and biking on the trails around town, or in the White River National Forest. The foliage is just starting to turn at higher elevations, so there’s plenty of time to plan your trip to catch the colors at their peak.
At night when the air is cool, sitting in the Glenwood Hot Springs is very relaxing. It’s open until 10 p.m., and the night rates apply after 9 p.m. You’ll find that throughout the town, and the Roaring Fork Valley, there are a lot of ways to enjoy the beautiful fall weather without the summer crowds. Come for a visit soon!
Enjoy the Tunes, Help a Neighbor
What could be better than live music on top of a mountain surrounded by your friends? How about all of that for a can of food! This is the third year for the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Music on the Mountain Glenwood Springs concert series to benefit the LIFT-UP food pantry. You can ride the tram and enjoy the concerts for a donation of at least one can of food. That’s a pretty good deal by any standards.
This week’s concert on Saturday, Aug. 27, features Already Gone, one of the region’s most in-demand cover bands. They bring high energy and a robust sound to a diverse set list that includes classic rock, R&B, new country, top 40 and funk. The band features Eddie Muniz on drums and vocals, Jean Graca on bass, Mark Chenoweth on guitar and vocals, Randy De Herrera on alto sax, vocals and keyboards, and Lisa Popish as lead vocalist.
You’ll notice that earlier I said “at least” one can of food. We’ve set a lofty goal this year of collecting 10,000 cans for LIFT-UP. We’re just shy of 5,000 cans so far, with four concerts left on the schedule. If you can manage it, bring two or more cans to help out the folks in our community who need it right now. Back-to-school time is not usually when people think about donating to the food pantry, so it’s a great time to stock the shelves.
We have dubbed this our “can-for-a-tram” series because it’s pretty catchy, but you can also bring jars of peanut butter, boxes of rice or pasta, and any non-perishable food items.
Our sponsors this year have made it possible for us to spread the word about these concerts and hopefully bring in a lot more food for the pantry. The Music on the Mountain Concert Series is presented by Bighorn Toyota, a Locals’ Choice for more than 30 years. This week’s performance is sponsored by The Hotel Glenwood Springs — the perfect family destination, just steps away from all the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park action. Our other sponsors are Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Swire Coca-Cola, KSPN, US Bank and Mountain Beverage.
The series will continue after Labor Day with Starcher Hutsen on Sept. 10; Skinner, Girardot, X and Martin on Sept. 17; and The Missing Link Band on Sept. 24.
The Lookout Grille and the Snack Shack will be open for dinner and refreshments during the concerts, with $3 Coronas, Coors Lights and glasses of wine, and $4 well drinks. Please, no outside food or alcohol in the park.
Our rides and attractions will be open from 9 a.m. to dusk, except for the Bungee Jump, which will close at 7 p.m., and laser tag and the 4D Motion Theater, which will close at 9:30 p.m.
During the concerts, a Day Pass will cost just $30 with the free tram ride, and will include unlimited access to the Alpine Coaster, Giant Canyon Swing, new Soaring Eagle Zip Ride, Ft. WhereAmI maze, Bungee Trampolines, 4D Motion Theater, the laser tag arena, Wild West Wagon, Speleobox cave simulator, climbing wall and Giddy Up! Western ride.
For more information about Music on the Mountain, call 800-530-1635 or 970-945-4228, ext. 0. To stay up to date on all of the fun things happening here, plus coupons and contests, make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter, too.
Hope to see you up here on Saturday!
Glenwood Springs named Most Fun Town in America
by Rand McNally and USA Today
One of the great things about living in Glenwood Springs is the number of choices we have when it comes to having fun. While we’ve known this for years, Glenwood Springs garnered national attention last week by being named the Most Fun Town in America by Rand McNally and USA Today in the inaugural Best of the Road Rally.
Narrowed down from more than 600 submissions, 30 top towns in five categories – Most Beautiful, Most Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun, and Best for Food – were selected for review. Five teams of amateur travelers completed a three-week cross-country road trip, for a combined 25,000 miles traveled, personally visiting the six top towns in their assigned categories.
The mother-daughter team, TravelingJules and TravelingJoan, reviewed the six finalists in the Most Fun category: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Santa Claus, Indiana; Park City, Utah; Vacaville, California; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and, our favorite, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
The ladies spent the 4th of July weekend here in town, packing what many visitors might do here during a week into two action-filled days. Highlights included attending the hilarious Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, rafting the Colorado River, exploring Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves and riding the Alpine Coaster, Soaring Eagle Zip Ride and Giant Canyon Swing at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, soaring high above Glenwood Springs in a tandem paraglider, exploring the back country by ATV with Glenwood Adventure Company, soaking in the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, and relaxing with a soothing pedicure at the Spa of the Rockies.
Sounds like the definition of fun to me!
Oyster Adventure Race 2011 in Glenwood Springs
Returns to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Runners exiting the Giant Maze with their ticket in hand
Climbing 32 ft on the wet wall proved challenging
A damp Giant Canyon Swing ride through the swirling mist
Oyster racers returning from their Giant Canyon Swing ride
headed to the Alpine Coaster ride down the mountain
Earlier in the year the Webmeister reviewed the 2010 Oyster Racing series in Glenwood Springs, speculating about whether racers would return to Glenwood Caverns for the 2011 race.
Fortunately (or unfortunately for racers starting out in 45 degrees F. and the rain!) they did return, with over 50 teams participating.
This year, racers ran from Glenwood Springs Two Rivers Park to the Glenwood Caverns Tram Station for a gondola ride to the top of Iron Mountain, to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
Prior to getting on the gondola, race teams were handed a math problem to solve during their ride to the top.
Teams unable to solve the problem during the ride up were sent to the math-skills-impaired table, where they had to keep working on the problem until they solved it!
Riders delivering the correct answer were send to the Giant Maze leg.
While negotiating the Giant Maze, contestants searched at each corner tower for a ticket which would send them to the maze entrance station for further instructions.
Depending on the color ticket retrieved, racers were sent next to either the Giant Canyon Swing, the 32 foot Climbing Wall, or the Mechanical Bull Ride.
Racers unhappy with their ticket choice (fear of heights, anyone?) had to run the maze a second time in order to receive a different ticket.
Upon completion of the Giant Swing, the Climbing Wall, or the Bull ride, racers headed to the Alpine Coaster station and rode partway down Iron Mountain on the gravity-powered coaster, braking as little as possible for maximum speed.
At the bottom of the tracked coaster ride, the runners made their way through the oak brush to the dirt road called Transfer Trail and ran two miles back to Two Rivers Park.
For more info: Oyster Racing Series
photo credits: race organizer Team Players Productions Inc, Kaylee Maresh photographer