Greetings Peak to Peak community,

For those of you that were unable to attend the Peak to Peak Peoples’ Festival, I would like to share with you what a beautiful day it was. I had the pleasure of watching the event come together from the beginning when the questions of where, when, and how were figured out. Committees were formed, ideas were thrown out, and a plan was formulated.

On September 19, the Exhibit Barn at the Community Center was transformed into a beautiful space with a stage where musicians entertained the folks that wandered in and out during the day. There were speakers and candidates who spoke of a world that is accepting of everyone. They spoke about humanity and caring for our incredible world. They spoke about the importance of remembering the past. 

When I think about the past in this country, it was the resistance of the suffragists in the early twentieth century that gave white women the right to vote. It was the civil rights campaign where black people were given the right to vote. It was the resistance of the workers of this country that got us the weekend.

At the Peak to Peak People’s Festival last weekend, I was helping with the children’s activity area and while their kids were coloring, painting or getting their faces painted, I had the opportunity to talk with the parents. There were people from Alaska, Parker, Boulder, Littleton and of course Gilpin County.

What all of them wanted was for their precious children to reap the rewards from what their grandparents worked so hard for. They wanted their kids to grow up in a world where they could all live as equals, where clean air and water was available to all, where they could get an education that taught history that had not been manufactured by an administration. Where they could love who they wanted and be who they are.

It was a day that was filled with beauty and peace where you could learn about candidates, shop at one of the many vendors or just eat some tasty Mexican food, drink a glass of local wine or beer and listen to live music, maybe even dance. And the weather spirits were definitely shining down on our little Kingdom of Gilpin.

Roxy Goss

Gilpin County