Announcing Gilpin AstroDay
Gilpin Astronomy Day is happening Saturday, August 10th at the Gilpin County Community Center, followed by stargazing that night at Golden Gate State Park!
Its FREE to Attend!
Here are the Details!
Want to know more about the stars, planets, and galaxies? Interested in checking out some sunspots? Well, Gilpin AstroDay is your chance to get all your questions answered about the cosmos. We’ve arranged to bring up an inflatable planetarium from the University of Colorado’s Fiske Planetarium. The kind folks from Fiske will be offering shows all afternoon, first-come, first-served (the dome seats up to 25). They’re also bringing a solar telescope so you can safely check out the Sun.
And, we’ll be offering a series of short talks about the latest space and astronomy news for you and your family to enjoy while you’re waiting to get into the dome.
The stellar festivities will start at 1 p.m. with planetarium shows running every 30 minutes from 1-4. These are a great way to learn more about the night sky; they’re most appropriate for those aged 5 and up. (The dome gets dark and that sometimes frightens little kiddos.)
Then, later that night, we’ll give a talk at 8 p.m. at Reverend Ridge Amphitheater in cooperation with the folks at Golden Gate State Park, followed by stargazing until about 10:30 or 11 at Panorama Point (WEATHER permitting). You’re free to bring binoculars or telescope to the evening event (although there’s no power at Panorama Point).
The best part of this: it’s all FREE and open to everyone! We’re sponsoring it via a generous grant from the Alan Green Memorial Foundation.
Come Help With the Fair
The Gilpin County Fair is coming up starting July 19th! Several of our FGCCC members are on the fair committee and/or are volunteering to help make it the best one ever.
The Fair still needs volunteers to help with various tasks, so if you can give a little of your time, there’s going to be a fair volunteer “meet and greet” this Friday at the Community Center. You can also sign up for tasks on the Fair’s Signup Genius page.
Fair volunteers get a free t-shirt, meals in the famous Volunteer Hospitality suite, and great parking!
Water Safety Day
Register Now!
We’re proud to sponsor Water Safety Day on June 21st! Here’s more information!
Thanks to Cleanup Crews!
Thanks to everyone who came to the Cleanup Day at the Community Center campus yesterday! Special shoutout to the Girl Scout Troopers, local and county officials Sandy Hollingsworth, Marie Mornis, Jeremy Peter Fey, and all the families who joined our members in this activity. Everyone gave several hours of their time to keep our gem sparkling! We’re also very grateful to the Center staff for their support!
Some 41 folks joined us in the cleanup and we supplied them with water, apples, cheese sticks, and granola bars. After the cleanup, we donated the excess snacks to the Gilpin County Food Bank and the Community Center for the summer camp attendees.
We were also VERY honored to have Gilpin Axe & Snax on hand to do some defensive mitigation along part of the center hiking trail. Their efforts are greatly appreciated.
Way to go, Gilpin! Here are a few pix from a busy day!
Focus on the Cleanup!
On Saturday, June 1st, Friends is holding a cleanup at the Gilpin County Community Center and Pete Gones Memorial Ball fields. This is a community activity to help spiff up the facilities for the summer.
We are proud to announce that we will be joined by Gilpin’s own Axe & Snax, who will be doing some defensive mitigation on part of the south trail near the Community Center. Please note that only Axe & Snax volunteers will be allowed on that part of the trail, starting Friday morning at 8 a.m. until close of day Saturday. This is for safety reasons. If you are not signed up with Axe & Snax, you will not be working on that portion of the trail. Non A&S volunteers will be directed to the northern part of the trail.
We need your help in the following tasks at the ballfields:
Cleanup around the bleachers at the ballfields
Weeding around the fields
Spreading of mulch (using rakes, no heavy lifting)
Picking up trash in the area
This part of the cleanup will begin at 9:30 a.m. on June 1st.
We also need help at the Community Center for the following tasks:
picking up trash around the Community Center
tidying the northern part of the trail
weeding around the Center.
These activities will begin at 11 a.m. on June 1st.
If you can help out, please fill out an electronic signup at:
https://tinyurl.com/FGC3VolunteerCleanup
Signing up helps us know how many snacks to bring—and we will provide snacks for our participants!
We will send out final instructions on where to check in and park your vehicles a few days before the cleanup. If you wish to bring rakes or shovels, that will be fine. We also ask that you bring a water bottle, hat, work gloves, sunblock, and a jacket.
We hope to see you there!
FGCCC Elects New Officers
and Board Members for 2024-2026 Terms
Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center elected a 2024-2026 slate of officers, board members, and advisory board members at our annual public meeting on May 20th. The election was conducted by member Karen Eye, who solicited nominations from among our boards and we thank her for her hard work. The meeting lasted an hour and covered our current activities, as well as future efforts. We thank everyone who attended and heard about our work.
Our officers for 2024-2026 are:
President: Carolyn Collins Petersen
Vice-president: John Bryan
Treasurer: Susan Yeck
The secretary’s office is currently open.
Members of our Board of Directors for the term are:
John Bryan, Eric Douglas, Carolyn Collins Petersen, and Susan Yeck.
Members of our Advisory Board are: Marilyn Ashmore, Virginia Baer, Elisabeth Dow, Karen Eye, Phillip Gibbs, Roxy Goss, Norma Jones, Carol Mirarck, and Sarah Swanson. We welcome our newest board members and look forward to working together on new projects.
We also want to thank our outgoing vice-president Steve Schwettman (who remains onboard as our Webmaster) and outgoing treasurer Virginia Baer (who moves to our advisory board). Both have contributed tremendously of their time and talents to help our group and the Parks & Recreation Department and Community Center.
We’re now focusing on final arrangements for the upcoming Cleanup Day at the Center and ballfields, as well as a Water Safety Day for kids, and, of course, the Gilpin County Fair.
Survey Results are Here!
In March and April we conducted a community survey about Parks & Recreation and the Community Center. We’ve compiled the results and presented a report to the Board of County Commissioners, County Manager, and the P&R Director. If you’d like to see a summary of the results, click here for a PDF version.
Also, see below for information about our annual public meeting (May 20th) and spring cleanup (June 1st).
Spring Cleanup at the Community Center!
Well, it may be snowing now, but we’re all hoping things warm up in time for the spring cleanup over at the Pete Gones Memorial Ball Park, and the Community Center Trail. We’re looking for volunteers to join us to help tidy up the ball fields and the great trail that surrounds the Center over on Norton Drive.
The event is scheduled for June 1st, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. We’ll meet at the Community Garden across from the Center Parking lot for instructions, drinks, and snacks.
If you can help out, please fill out an electronic signup at:
https://tinyurl.com/FGC3VolunteerCleanup
and you can sign up for more than one task. Signups will help us plan the snacks and tasks.
Let’s hope it stops snowing before that!
Come Meet us on May 20th!
Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center is holding its once-a-year public meeting on Monday, May 20th at the Community Center. We’ll start at 6:30 p.m. with social time, light refreshments, and a quick tour of the Center. Then, at 7:15 the official meeting begins. It should last about 45 minutes to an hour. We cordially invite everyone to come over and get to know us. We welcome new members and volunteers to learn more about us and our activities.
The agenda will include the following: a presentation about our group, our past and future activities, an update about the Center from the Director, a report on the community-wide survey we conducted, an outgoing officer’s “thank you”, and the election of new officers and advisory board members. Following that we’ll have a Q&A before adjourning and more social time.
The meeting will be available on Zoom for those who cannot come to the center. For those of you wishing to log in via Zoom, either of these two links will take you to the meeting; the virtual room will open at 7 p.m. that night.
https://tinyurl.com/FGC3Meeting
or
Our April Newsletter is Out!
We’ve just sent out our April newsletter. If you’re not on our mailing list, you can read it here. If you’d like to join our mailing list, drop us a line at: friends@gilpincommunitycenter.org.
This month’s issue contains information about upcoming events such as our Annual Public meeting (all are welcome!), the Community Center cleanup day on June 1st, and much more!
Dance Rescheduled
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center is changing the date of the “We’re Still Dancing” event to a to-be-announced date in September, 2024.
For those who have already bought tickets, the Center can either process a refund directly to you or keep you registered for the event. As soon as we work out a new date with the Center, we’ll send out a new announcement.
We look forward to seeing everybody at the September dance!
Thanks to All Who Took Our Survey!
We appreciate everyone who took the time to fill out our survey. We’re currently compiling the results and will share a data report in the coming weeks.
Want to Know What We’ve Done Since 2020?
We just published our three-year report of activities and you’re welcome to read or download it from this link.
It’s Winter Arts Festival Time!
Hey everyone — this next weekend is the Gilpin Winter Arts Festival at the Gilpin County Community Center! We’ll be there sharing cups of hot chocolate and cider as is our tradition, thanks to generous support from our sponsors, including United Power. Hope to see you there!
Come support local artisans, visit our table, hear some holiday music, and pick up some of that great chili from the High Country Auxiliary in support of our local first responders!
The Festival happens on Saturday, December 9th from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.!
Statement on Mill Levy Ballot Issue 1A
It’s disappointing to see the mill levy 1A lose. I want to thank the Gilpin County voters who supported the issue to stabilize funding for Parks & Recreation. Our bipartisan Friends group worked very hard to get accurate, substantiated facts out to the voters. We’re very grateful to the county officials who shared their time, expertise, and knowledge of budget processes so we could do that.
The Community Center Campus is a place where people from this county (and beyond) connect in many ways. Gabrielle Chisholm and her staff have worked very hard to provide everything it does. So, if the result of the mill levy losing is to cut back its services and hours—well, that’s counter to everything that so many Gilpinites worked on together to achieve with it over the past twenty years since the Center first opened.
The next moves are really up to the Commissioners and county officials. They will have to step up and find ways to stabilize the P&R budget. They should work together to find resources to replace those that would have been supplied if the mill levy had passed. I hope they can do that.
Carolyn Collins Petersen, President
Friends of the Gilpin County Community Center
Supporting Our Parks & Rec Department
The Friends of Gilpin County Community Center (FGCCC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation and Colorado Charitable Corporation made up of citizens of Gilpin County, Colorado. We volunteer our support for the Gilpin County Community Center and Parks & Recreation and salute its vital position in the life of our mountain community. We do this through the following actions:
- Research and community feedback;
- Support funding for activities and equipment through grants and donations;
- Assistance to Gilpin neighbors who wish to access the center through Heart of the Community Fund;
- providing volunteers for departmental events, such as the Gilpin County Fair;
- Voter education about funding for the department.
Spooky Fun!
Thanks to the many folks who came out for the Spooky Trick or Treat Stroll on October 20th! We were pleased to sponsor and participate in all the fun by serving up many, many, many cups of Hallowe’en Hot Chocolate and Spooky Cider!
It was so much fun to see all the great costumes on both kids and adults. We’re grateful to United Power for helping us supply the hot drinks, and to Krystal and all the folks at the Community Center for their hard work in organizing the festivities!
First Responder’s Day
We were honored to attend the First Responder’s Day on September 10th as a supporter of the event. A number of Gilpinites turned out to salute our first responders and enjoy some rodeo activities.
Earlier this year, we helped the Center purchase a bouncy obstacle course. It provided a great time for all the young Gilpinites during the First Responder’s Day activities.
Look for us at the Spooky Stroll on October 20th. We’ll be volunteering to make it a great time for all the trick-or-treaters who attend.
Thanks to all Who Attended!
We have a link to a Zoom recording of the town hall at our Mill Levy Q&A page.
We are grateful to all who attended the Mill Levy town hall at the Community Center on Monday, August 21st. Special thanks to Commissioners Berumen, Hollingsworth, and Mornis, along with County Manager Rears, County Finance Director Allaire, and Parks & Recreation Director Chisholm, along with County Attorney Benning for their participation and presentations about the mill levy.
We had many good questions from attendees about the issues involved—and those issues are complex! We are happy to have made the forum accessible to people with a variety of viewpoints on the issue—and they were able to share their thoughts publicly. That’s the point of an open Town Hall, to hear viewpoints from both PRO and CON so that voters can make an informed choice when they go to vote.
Heart of the Community Fund
We operate the Heart of the Community Fund, providing community center access passes and activity registrations at free or reduced cost, subject to funds availability. Read more at:
Friends of Gilpin County Community Center is Hosting a Town Hall to Discuss the P&R Mill Levy Extension
We are honored to host an open Town Hall on August 21st, 2023 from 6-8 p.m. at the Gilpin County Community Center and via Zoom to discuss the proposed mill levy extension for Parks & Recreation. This is your chance to hear from and ask questions of a panel of County officials, including the Board of County Commissioners Susan Berumen, Sandy Hollingsworth, and Marie Mornis, County Manager Ray Rears, County Finance Director Joe Allaire, and Parks & Recreation Director Gabrielle Chisholm.
This Town Hall format features each of the county officials talking about the proposed mill levy extension, after which we will open the event up to questions and comments from the public.
We have prepared a FAQ about the extended mill levy. We cordially invite you to read it to help understand the issues. We wrote it as a voter education aid and you are welcome to use it to prepare any further questions you might wish to pose at the Town Hall.
We urge you to attend in person, if at all possible. We will be working to make this available for those logging in via Zoom. You can enter starting at 6 p.m. on the 21st. Please wait to be admitted to the meeting. Note: our Zoom account limits us to 100 participants online.
The Town Hall will be moderated both on-site and via Zoom. We will welcome questions via the Chat feature in Zoom. The formal presentations will begin at 6:15 p.m.
We hope to see you there!
Community Center Resources
Hours
- Monday | Wednesday| Thursday:
8 am to 8 pm - Tuesday:
After School Youth Programs Only - Friday:
8 am to 6 pm - Saturday:
9 am to 4 pm - Closed Sunday
Location
Intersection of Golden Gate Canyon & Norton Drive
Another Star Party!
Our president will be at Golden Gate State Park Reverend Ridge Amphitheater and Panorama Point for a star party on August 12th. Carolyn will start with a talk about meteor showers and general astronomy at 8 p.m. at Reverend Ridge. Then, weather permitting—around 9 p.m.—we’ll move over to Panorama Point for some informal stargazing. The famous Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on August 12-13, and we’re hoping to see a few meteors during our gazing session.
Admission to the Park requires a pass (if you have one) or $10.00 per carload. The star party will last til 11 p.m. Bring warm clothes and a red-filtered flashlight. If you want to bring a telescope, bring your own power supply. Binoculars are also very handy.
Thanks for Coming to the Fair!
Great to see so many friends and neighbors at the 30th Annual Gilpin County Fair! Here’s our President handing out bottles and candy at our table. Several of our members joined in both at our table and helping out with parking, volunteer, and fairgrounds coordination. It was a wonderful weekend filled with good food, good times, and great experiences!
Our Annual Meeting
The FGCCC annual meeting was held the evening of the Parks & Rec end-of-school year party, on Thursday, June 1st.
About Our Meeting
Our FGCCC open meeting started at 6 p.m. that day in the Multi-purpose room at the Community Center. We supplied light snacks (veggies, cheese, fruit, etc.) furnished by Arwen Ek and Holistic Homestead.
The meeting gave us a chance to update the public about our officers, board members, and advisors, as well as our activities.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Our new sponsorship opportunities allow local businesses to make an investment in their community while receiving recognition at multiple events throughout the year. Sponsorship donations will be used to:
- Support Community Center events.
- Host FGCCC events such as our Star Parties.
- Fund FGCCC operations.
- Support the Heart of the Community Fund.
Sponsors and their employees may engage in community events through volunteer opportunities.
Keep Up With Us!
FGCCC is also planning other activities in support of our community center. If you want to keep up with the latest news, you’re welcome to check out our Facebook page.
FGCCC Goals
- Support and Promote Community Center Services
- Provide Input to Improve Community Center Services
- Strengthen the Financial Position of the Community Center
- Research and Inform the Community and Decision Makers on Issues, Options and Opportunities
You Can Help
It takes a community working together to keep our community center vital and meet the needs of all residents. FGCCC is a volunteer organization. We can use your skills, time, and effort:
- Keep informed. Bookmark this webpage for updates. Visit us at Facebook.
- Volunteer to help with grant writing, sponsor solicitation, and research into community needs at the Center.
- Donate to FGCCC. Buy and wear a logo shirt, hat, or other active wear. Or send in a donation via PayPal.
- Spread the Word. Tell your neighbors about Community Center facilities, services and events.
Contact Us for information on joining FGCCC, volunteering, or other questions.
FGCCC Sponsors and Supporters
We are grateful to United Power for its gracious financial support for the Gilpin County Fair, Spooky Stroll, Winter Arts Festival, and stargazing events. In addition, we have received generous support from the Alan Green Memorial Foundation, and individual grants from Gilpinites who share our vision.