Good deals, great gifts, holiday cheer

Barbara Lawlor

Nederland

The Gilpin County Recreation Center 11th Annual Winter Arts Festival filled two gyms with vendors and packed the hallways with non-profits and painted faces and intricate, twisted balloons at the entrance. In the back, in the lounge, in a comfortable chair, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus gave out candy canes and posed for more-than-adorable pictures with over-the-top cute kids.

Red and green were the colors of the day and holiday music was the sound that lifted spirits. Many of the vendors were local, featuring hand-made crafts and gifts that are one of a kind and made in Gilpin County.

The Cholua Brothers kept everyone awake by offering coffee samples and selling pounds of the locally roasted delicious brew. They are open on Saturdays during the winter and are enjoying the community support.

Gilpin resident Lynn Hirshman offered her exquisite shawls, cowls, and scarves made with yarn that other knitters yearn for.

The Peak to Peak Choir filled the large space with glorious music that reached straight to heaven, accompanied by John Leventhal and Andre Mallinger and directed by Ann Wyss. Carols sung by the Calvary Chapel choir were also memorable.

The Gilpin County Commission for Senior Living launched their campaign to raise enough money to get grants to build a senior affordable living complex near the recreation center. They have the plans and they certainly have the determination, saying, we built a library and a rec center and now our goal is housing for seniors.

There were chocolates to savor and sauces to taste, a dining room for chili and burritos and drinks and snacks. There was beautiful woodwork, jewelry, artwork, lotions, ornaments, and unique and startling face paintings. One man sold his self-invented marshmallow gun made of pipes. Another man sold junk toys for the kid in all of us. Mmmm—hot chocolate. Birthstone wine glasses and silverware. Democrats and Republicans. Everyone had a piece of the GCRC pie.

The event took place from 10-4 and people milled and thronged throughout the day.

If someone left without a few perfect gifts, it was their own dang fault.