This labor day weekend in Denver is just about perfect!  The sun is shining, no clouds, and finally we are in the 70′s and not the upper 90′s.  What a great time to get outside and take a bike ride.  This morning I went with both of my kids on a ride along the South Platte River and into Old Town Littleton.  It was great!

The Old Mill Brewery seen coming up the trail into Old Town Littleton.

Lilly Ponds with lots of frogs along the Old Town trail.

Hard to tell from this picture, but these are giant pumpkins in a huge pumpkin patch along the South Platte Trail in the Hudson Garden’s Pumpkin Patch!

Of course, you can always stop for a refreshing coffee or cold drink at the coffee shop along the South Platte Trail just on the back side of Hudson Gardens.

So whatever you decided to do this Labor Day weekend, I really hope it was fun and relaxing.  Now it’s time to enjoy the fall here in Colorado.  I can’t wait to start to see all the fall colors, but I will miss the summer, that’s for sure.

Day 30 Western Welcome Week in Littleton Colorado

Day 30 of 365 Things To Do in South Denver Suburbs and it is the beginning of one of the best events of the year – Western Welcome Week. They certainly could call it Western Welcome Week and A Half  as the long running Littleton celebration runs for 11 days – August 11th – August 22nd.

Kick-Off Day Today!

Today, August 11th is the kick off and the festivities get started with the very popular Bemis used book sale.

Officially called the Bag of Books Sale – the selection is huge, the crowds can get large and the books are $3.00 per bag (in their bags that they provide).  Today will bring the largest crowds and the kick-off is at 9 am but the sale will run throughout the entire Western Welcome Week event. The Bags of books Sale is at the Bemis Library at 6028 S Gallup St in Littleton.

Other events today include the Juried Art Exhibit at the Depot Art Center & Gallery, the Local Artist Palette Pals exhibit at the Stanton Gallery at Town Hall Arts Center and the Carousel of Music tonight at the Littleton Center and Geneva Lake Park behind the Littleton Center.  The Carousel of Music is a very fun event, there are $1 canoe rides on the lake, an inflatable water slide, $.50 concessions like hot dogs &  ice cream and of course, music.

Western Welcome Week Fun Doesn’t Stop There

There is a wide variety of events throughout the week, celebrating the heritage of Littleton and the rich history of Western culture and fosters a community driven environment that supports a variety of non-profits and organizations through events all week long.  They’ll be pancake breakfasts, concerts, bands and dancing, BBQ’s, fireworks, more concerts, gold panning, fishing derby, car show, stick horse stampede, rubber ducky race – and that is all just through this first weekend!!  The most popular and well known of the events is festival day – more on that later – but save the date for Saturday 8/21 as the day kicks off bright and early with the annual & very popular Firefighter’s Parade & Grand Parade and continues all day on Main Street with the Festival.   Most of the events are in the historic downtown Littleton area, but there are a few that branch out a bit. 

The entire schedule for Western Welcome week is here.

If you are new to Denver and have just relocated to Denver – particularly if you are living in Littleton or nearby – you don’t want to miss these events throughout 11 day run – particularly Festival Day and the parade.  It is such a great way to be exposed to and support so many of the organizations in Littleton and throughout the south Denver suburbs and see what you may want to get involved in as well.

I’m sure I’ll be featuring some of the other events of Western Welcome Week throughout the event here on 365 Things to Do is South Denver Suburbs, its one of the best events of the year!

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Other Things to Do in the South Denver Suburbs you may like:

Day 26 – Tattered Cover Bookstore – Highlands Ranch

Day 27 – Pedal The Moon Bike Ride – Castle Rock CO

Day 28 – Colorado Scottish Festival and Rocky Mountain Highland Games

Day 29 – Cook Creek Pool in Lone Tree Colorado

Steve Scheer – Denver Realtor®

Denver Real Estate

Lone Tree Real Estate

Littleton Real Estate

Day 23 | Cornzapoppin in Highlands Ranch & Parker CO

Today, on Day 23 of 365 Things to Do in South Denver Suburbs, I’m going to take you to one of my favorite places in Highlands Ranch to go for a treat. If you like popcorn, then you’ll love Cornzapoppin. This store has some of the best gourmet popcorn you’ve tasted.  There is a Cornzapoppin store in Parker too.

Cornzapoppin has special packages for most occasions and is a great place to go for gifts like birthdays, housewarming, even get well baskets.  If not, ask and they can probably create one for you. One of the specialties are the sports tins. These tin buckets are filled with your choice of popcorn in a sports tin of your favorite team and they have quite a variety. When you finish the popcorn, keep the tin to refill.

Everyone in the store is always very nice and helpful and in full disclosure I have known the Highlands Ranch owners for years – just a terrific family.  If you don’t see what you are looking for, just ask and they’ll let you know how they can help you out for sure.  I have had many gift baskets prepared and they always make them look perfect.

If you like popcorn, you will love Cornzapoppin – its fairly addictive!

Want To Find this page on Facebook to share with your friends & family? Click on over to the Face book page 365 Things to Do In South Denver Suburbs “Like” it and share!

Other Things to Do in the South Denver Suburbs you may like:

Day 19 Highline Canal Trail – Denver Suburbs

Day 20 Littleton Town Hall Arts Center

Day 22 Westlands Park – Greenwood Village

Steve Scheer – Denver Realtor®

Denver Real Estate

Littleton Real Estate

Parker Real Estate

Tomorrow is a big day for my family.

Sunday, October 5^th is the Denver Komen Race for The Cure.

My wife has now participated in the Race for ten years here  in Denver and while the kids and I have been supporters and even team members that Sleep In For The Cure, this year is the first year that we will all be active participants.  We are completing the Co-Ed 5K together tomorrow.

Our team is over 70 members strong and has now raised close to $9,000 that goes straight to the Denver Race for A Cure. My wife Laura is captain for the 2^nd year of her team -  Team FOJ is Friends of Julie – and if you know Julie, you know how special she is.  The picture to the left is from my house earlier this week.  There were similar piles in a few places.

I remember the first year Laura was a part of this, she was supporting maybe 2 or 3 people that were fighting breast cancer.  Years have passed and all I can say is this is an awful disease.  The amount of people that we have seen fight this is staggering.  We have  several close friends that are currently fighting and I know of 3 women this year that have passed on from this horrible disease.  I know this year is been extremely important to our team members in so many ways.  My pictures here are ones Laura took last year during the 2007 Denver Komen Race For The Cure.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

Although on line registration is now closed for the Race, you can still register in person tomorrow. Be there.  Race for the Cure, so our kids don’t have to.

Don’t forget to support local businesses that are supporting the Race.  REMAX is a national sponsor of the Race for The Cure and has been for some time and here is a post I wrote about another local business. Living in Denver ~ Gelazzi Is More Than Tasty Treats