Jeffco Crew #002 - Cowboys, Planets and Pastry
Good morning, and welcome to the second edition of Jeffco Crew!
🙏 Asking you, Jeffco residents:
As one of the earliest members of the community, share your secrets with me!
This week, I want your ideas for the best 🛷 sledding hills in Jeffco. I'm going to make a list (and probably a map) to share next week.
🔑 Reader tips
Eat-in at Birriería Doña María Lakewood - kid-friendly and it doesn't break the bank. Check out the Denver Boat Show this weekend - Friday is buy-one-get-one on tickets. This place make Paris-level pastries that are so exquisite you need an appointment just to walk in. A museum for minitaures, dolls and toys - for real. And there's a local makerspace covering everything from robots to crochet.
❤️ Thanks to Nancy, Maggie, Paul and Nicky for tips this week. Share your tips here.
⚡️ Highlight Happenings
🎭 Art of the State opens
On Thursday, Arvada's Art of the State opens for about two months. The Arvada Center Galleries are filled with a celebratory survey of Colorado Artists' incredible diversity, quality, and depth of work. Such a cool collection I'm definitely going to check out.
This open call open to all Colorado artists garnered 2,503 submissions by 911 artists. The jurors worked diligently to select a comprehensive overview of work that strives to capture a wide scope of art from across the state. From those entries, 149 artworks by 146 artists were selected.
🐂 Western Stock Show is here
I realize it's across town but it's worth noting that one of the area's biggest annual events kicked off this week, with fun for the whole family nearly any day of the show. Honestly one of the best ways to check in on what's happening is their Instagram profile (and stories).
🚴♀️ MLK Marade Bike Ride (downtown)
On Monday, head downtown to Civic Center for the 2025 Denver Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Bike Ride, celebrating the iconic civil rights leader.
🥦 GoFarm is looking for small hyperlocal vendors
Know any small, local vendors that would like to do a pop-up at one of their Local Food Share distributions in 2025? They're on the hunt.
🌗 Celestial happenings
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." - Stephen Hawing, Astrophysicist
Mars Opposition on Thursday: Stargazers, get ready for a celestial treat. Mars is putting on a show this month as it reaches opposition—its closest point to Earth in its orbit around the sun. That means the Red Planet will shine big and bright, lighting up the night sky like a fiery gem.
You’ll have all of January to spot Mars on clear nights, but the views peak on Thursday. Look up, and you’ll see it glowing a brilliant red-orange amidst a backdrop of sparkling white stars.
Don’t forget to share your Mars photos with us—we’d love to see how the Red Planet shines from your corner of Jeffco! 🌌✨
Venus - Saturn Conjunction on Friday & Saturday: Venus will be the cornerstone of multiple planetary alignments in 2025, starting with Saturn as they shine side-by-side high in the southwestern sky after sunset this weekend. Catch this optical allusion (a conjunction is when two bright objects appear close together in the night sky, even though they are not actually close in space) before they dip below the horizon around 9 p.m.
🗓️ Upcoming Things to Do
This section is a work in progress, and your feedback or ideas are appreciated!
👦🏻 Stuff for kid & teens
Parents, send in your tips for keeping the kiddos active, engaged and sane this winter. Below are some tips to kick off the new year.
- (FREE) ❄️ Dive Into Ice Fishing: Jeffco Open Spaces teaches your family ice fishing basics with provided equipment. Don't forget your fishing license for anyone over 16yrs old (grab them at local retailers).
- (FREE) Free Museum Days: I'm working on a broader, easy-to-use list of the free museum rotation (send tips) but these are timely: Today at Denver Art Museum, Monday at Botanic Gardens, and Tuesday to Saturday (every week) at Golden History Museum. Also, up in Boulder the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is free daily, and just reopened today. The Mines Museum of Earth Science is free when open but it's closed this week for roof repairs.
- Grounds admission to the Western Stock Show is a fun family experience and while tickets are $27 to $37 for ages 12+, kids (3 to 11) pay $7 to $9 depending on day. Ages 2 and younger are FREE.
🗓️ This week's event roundup
––– Tuesday 1/14 –––
5:30pm / Golden Trail Runners (Wheat Ridge) - 🏃🏻♀️ Run at Crown Hill Lake, for 1-3 laps on the Outer Loop Trail (2.4 miles), followed by Illegal Pete’s for food and drink! Fullish moon light, but still being headlamps and warm clothing!
––– Wednesday 1/15 –––
4pm / Mountain Toad Brewing (Golden) - 🎶 Live music w/ Chrispy, a one man live looping band.
5pm / New Terrain Brewing Co (Golden) - 🎿 Ski X Board Tune Nights, for $30, you get a Wax-N-Edge from Saucer Wax Golden as well as a New Terrain beer (or non-alcoholic libation) while you wait.
6 - 10pm / The Bluegrass Lounge (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music, with Will Whalen
––– Thursday 1/16 –––
6pm / Runners Roost (Lakewood) - 🏃 Newton Demo Run Club. Complete a lap around Belmar Park (2.5-5 miles), with social time, refreshments and snacks to follow.
6pm / Runners Roost (Golden) - 🏃 Run Club. First time runners, walkers, and competitive athletes who show up, run and enjoy great conversations, some snacks and a refreshing beverage. They have a GroupMe chat too.
4pm / Mountain Toad Brewing (Golden) - 🧀 Cheese Night, a collab with Cheese Ranch offering a self guided cheese and beer pairing.
5pm - 7pm / Ballmer Peak Distillery (Lakewood) - West Metro Chamber’s Young Professionals Network Happy Hour, if you’re looking to expand your network, share ideas, or simply meet some cool people in the area.
6pm / New Terrain Brew Co (Golden) - 🎶 Live music, with The High Road Home, a progressive bluegrass band.
6:30 - 8:30pm / Resolute Tap & Cellar (Arvada) - 📕 Book Swap, the first of the year - notes on how it works and tickets are $5.
6:30pm / Little Bear Saloon (Evergreen) - 🎶 Live music with Jon Lundberg
7pm / Mad Macks Brewing (Golden) - 🤣 Comedy Night, free show to enjoy some laughs and brews.
––– Friday 1/17 –––
1pm - 10pm / Buffalo Rose (Golden) - 🎶 Live music, poetry and more at the Colorado Cowboy Gathering, an annual event that celebrates cowboy heritage, traditions, and entertainment. Various artists, two sessions: grab matinee tickets here and evening tickets here.
5pm / Rockabillies (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music from Denver Sol Band, a yacht rock cover band, specializing in 70s and 80s soul, soft rock, and even disco music.
6pm / The Bluegrass Lounge (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music, with Will Whalen
7pm / Cannonball Creek Brewing Co (Golden) - 🎶 Live music, from Jockey Box
8pm / Landlocked Ales (Lakewood) - 🤣 Rotating Tap Free Comedy Show, a brewery touring stand-up comedy show featuring comedians seen on Netflix, HBO, Comedy Central and more.
––– Saturday 1/18 –––
10am - 10pm / Buffalo Rose (Golden) - 🎶 Live music, poetry and more at the Colorado Cowboy Gathering Day 2, an annual event that celebrates cowboy heritage, traditions, and entertainment. Various artists, two sessions: grab matinee tickets here and evening tickets here.
12pm - 5pm / Cannonball Creek Brewing Co (Golden) - 📸 Free Photo Booth at their 12 year anniversary celebration.
1pm - 4:30pm / Little Bear Saloon (Evergreen) - 🎶 Live music with Drew Dvorchak, a blues rock singer and guitarist.
2pm - 5pm / Odyssey Beerwerks (Arvada) - 🍻 Beer Poking Event, where they will take a fire-hot poker and "poke" it into your beer, causing the sugars in the beer to carmelize, bringing more malt character forward and giving your beer a toasted marshmallow-like flavor and a softer mouthfeel.
4pm / Cannonball Creek Brewing Co (Golden) - 🎶 Live music, from Glory Soul (4 - 5pm) and Gnarbillys (7 - 9pm)
4pm / State 38 Distillery (Golden) - 🥃 Cocktail Class, where you'll be led through the creation of two signature cocktails - a great (ticketed) date night option. Everyone will get to take home a State 38 Distilling rocks glass and tasting glass.
6pm / The Bluegrass Olde Town (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music, with blues/soulful rock from Tony Medina.
6pm / The Bluegrass Candelas (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music, with all-genre artist, Howard Dlugasch.
8pm / Little Bear Saloon (Evergreen) - 🎶 Live music with Dead Floyd, a cover band blending The Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd. Grab tickets.
––– Sunday 1/19 –––
11am - 12pm / Landlocked Ales (Lakewood) - 🧘♂️ Bend & Brews, for $15, you can join a blissful hour of stretching right in the taproom and get a free beer when you're done.
12pm - 4pm / Cannonball Creek Brewing Co (Golden) - 🧑🏻🎨 Face Painting by Faces by Sugar (12 - 2pm), 🎶 live music from Goldie & the Grindstones (1 - 3pm) and a 🪅 pinata for kiddos under 10 (3pm) at their 12 year anniversary celebration.
1pm - 4pm / Over Yonder Brewing Co (Golden) - 🐶 Adoption Event, where families can meet adoptable dogs, enjoy delicious beer, and support a fantastic cause. OYBC will donate $1 per full pour of a featured beer to Animal Rescue of the Rockies and Old Dogs New Digs.
6pm / The Bluegrass Olde Town (Arvada) - 🎶 Live music, w/ Chrispy, a one man live looping band.
––– Monday 1/13 –––
6pm / New Terrain Brewing Co (Golden) - 🧘♂️ Yoga on Tap, a weekly gathering in their back room, bring your own mat and grab a ticket ahead of time.
💣 Nextdoor Lovebombs
Where we help our neighbors if we can. (Lemme know if these links even work for everyone - Nextdoor's a bit weird about that.)
Abbi needs a cat sitter. Mimi wonders what non-toy gifts work for her partner's 4yr old grandson. Rona needs a piano tuner. Vicki is hunting reasonable snow removal. Deborah need help with a freezer and dryer. Sarah's looking for a paralegal to help with a will and trust. Rachel's hoping you're not still using your humidifier.
🏚️ Pocket Change
Some fun real estate finds in Jeffco that the Crew can all go in on together.
⛰️ Mountain Crash Pads
Hunting down "eccentric" cabins in the area that don't break the bank.
That's a wrap
Again, thanks for being an early bird on this, and please don't hesitate to send feedback, tips or insights on your favorite things about living in Jeffco!
Derek
