Features

While on the ice at Evergreen Lake on New Year’s Eve, Arvada resident Guy Kennedy and his wife, Kim, got a big surprise. Friends and former teammates who are members of the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation presented the couple with a $10,140 check to assist with a health crisis in their family.

Temperatures in the single digits didn't discourage the hundreds of celebrants who thronged Evergreen Lake to watch fireworks and welcome the new year.

The annual Skate the Lake event, which benefits DriveSmart Evergreen-Conifer, didn't disappoint, with ice skating, general merriment and two rounds of pyrotechnics.

They came, they sang, they lit candles on the menorah.

That was both the grand plan and the simple purpose of the 60 to 100 attendees at Saturday's 10th annual Festival of Lights on the lawn outside the Evergreen Lake House. 

They sang along to two Jewish blessings and watched as four candles were lit for Hanukkah. A fifth "helper" candle called the "shamash" was placed in the center of the 12-foot-high menorah.

Getting a big welcome home to Evergreen after serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan can be a little overwhelming — but in a good way.

At least that’s what U.S. Army Specialist Michael Berna felt after being greeted by a crowd of well-wishers at Buchanan Recreation Center on Saturday to thank him for his service. He spent nine months at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, returning home to Evergreen late last week for a holiday break after a couple of weeks at a military base in Kentucky.

Children and their families eager to have breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus filled the Evergreen Lake House on Saturday morning.

“We served 325 breakfasts,” said Joyce Masyga of the Evergreen Downtown Business Association, which sponsors the annual event.

Because so many people wanted to attend this year’s breakfast, an extra seating was added to accommodate them. The timing of the event on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend adds to its popularity, Masyga said.

Father Christmas would have been pleased when more than 200 guests gathered at the Evergreen Lake House on Saturday evening for the 14th annual Wine Tasting and Festival of Trees. 

Presented by the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce, the event brought together local businesses, Colorado wineries and chamber supporters for a night of mostly giving and, for some lucky silent-auction bidders, a night of receiving. 

Empty Bowls is truly an event for the community, by the community.

“Everything you’re enjoying today has been donated by someone in this community. That’s what makes this such a great event,” Holly Simon, board member for the Mountain Resource Center, told the folks assembled to enjoy soup and raise funds for those in need.

The annual Empty Bowls event raises money for the MRC and its efforts to help feed hungry families. The MRC hosted the first day of the two-day event last Wednesday at the organization’s main office in Conifer.

By foothills standards, the holiday spirit is in full swing, with seven holiday boutiques over the next few weeks.

A historic volunteer fire department siren now has a prominent spot at Evergreen Fire/Rescue thanks to a high school student’s Eagle Scout project.

The siren was once used by fire department volunteers in the region for years. Volunteer “kitchen dispatchers” with red telephones from the fire department could activate the siren by pushing a button on their phones. When volunteer firefighters called in, the “kitchen dispatchers” would give them the address of the fire.