Week of October 6, 2022
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 156 | ISSUE 42
A season of learning
Ralston Elementary kicks off spooky season A great boo-mmunity event BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Attendees watch Broomfield’s Phillip Gover perform a men’s southern straight dance during the Oct. 2 Autumn Fest at Golden PHOTOS BY CORINNE WESTEMAN History Museum & Park.
History abounds at Golden’s Autumn Fest BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For everything there is a season, and autumn has become the season for immersive learning in downtown Golden. On Oct. 2, the Golden History Museum & Park hosted its second annual Autumn Festival, as more than 2,000 attendees discovered an array of things to learn and do on both sides of Clear Creek. In the history park, families experienced a taste of 19thSEE LEARNING, P5
Ryker O’Brien, 5, practices the alphabet on a small chalkboard in the Guy Hill Schoolhouse during the Oct. 2 Autumn Fest.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 26
For Ralston Elementary School families, Halloween started 30 days early. The Genesee-area school hosted its annual fall festival Oct. 1, where youngsters donned their costumes, collected candy, played games, and enjoyed other activities. Jessica Klingsporn, who helped organize this year’s event, anticipated 650-700 attendees throughout the afternoon. The festival is Ralston Elementary’s biggest fundraiser. Last year’s silent auction raised $18,000 for the school, and Klingsporn was hoping to reach $20,000 this year. The money goes toward upgrading the school’s technology; maintaining fulltime arts, music, and physical education teachers; hiring paraprofessionals; and anything else the school might need, she explained. On top of crucial fundraising, the fall festival is always a blast for the students and their families. “Kids get their costumes early for the event,” she continued. Parents Mary Ann and Jason Whetzal were operating the first-grade class’s trunk-or-treat station. The two used their family’s red Jeep, some greenery, inflatable dinosaurs and zookeeper-like outfits as part of the “Jurassic Park” theme. Mary Ann explained how they’d seen a similar idea at another trunk-orSEE SPOOKY, P6
GREEN THUMB, CALM MIND Neuroscientists and gardeners know the benefits of houseplants P16