Serving the community since 1866
WEEK OF DECEMBER 19, 2024
VOLUME 158 | ISSUE 51
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‘Golden remembers’ Community remembers Officer Evan Dunn at Candlelight Walk, raises $100K for his family BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLOROADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Andrew Roach and his 3-year-old, Kennedy, prepare for the Dec. 6 Olde Golden Candlelight Walk. The community hosts the event on the first PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN Friday of December, kicking off Golden’s winter holiday season.
With their lights all aglow Families ring in holiday season at Golden’s Candlelight Walk BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Despite being the darkest and coldest time of year, there’s something magical about the winter holiday season. Those who have attended the Olde Golden Candlelight Walk understand. Every year, thousands of people spend their Friday night traveling to downtown Golden to sing Christmas carols and march down Washington Avenue together. Children’s faces light up and they cheer when they see Santa Claus. Hot chocolate warms people as they wait to see Clear Creek lit up. “It’s hard to explain,” Wheat Ridge’s Heather Josten said of the event. “It’s just magical.”
Trent Josten added: “It feels like a Hallmark movie.” The community hosted its annual Olde Golden Candlelight Walk Dec. 6, with some people gathering in Parfet Park to watch local singers and dancers perform in the preshow. Meanwhile, others gathered at the other end of Washington Avenue and marched down to the park, as hundreds lined the street to watch them as Santa Claus led the way. While there weren’t official attendance metrics, several organizers felt this year’s crowd was larger than usual, possibly due to the mild weather, city officials said afterward. Once the pedestrians packed Parfet Park, 8-year-old contest winner Clara Trout flipped the switch to turn on more than 45,000 lights throughout the Clear Creek corridor. Trout, whose birthday was the day before, said doing so felt like “a birthday present from the universe.”
The event is a favorite with many Goldenites like Neil and Brenda Runsick. The two said they’ve gone almost every year for decades. They’ve missed the last few years, but were happy the weather cooperated so they could go Dec. 6. They liked the preshow, which was added in recent years. Neil called the Candlelight Walk one of the best holiday events in the area, saying, “For a small town, it’s fabulous.” He and Brenda enjoy seeing the lights turned on and the buildings opened so people can celebrate together. “It’s the start of Christmas,” he continued. While many Goldenites have made the Candlelight Walk a holiday tradition, they are far from the only ones. Many venture from all over the Denver area to join their friends along Washington Avenue, like the Jostens.
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Amid the holiday celebration in Parfet Park Dec. 6, there was one spot that was relatively quiet. Blue lights were wrapped around a cluster of coniferous trees on the south side of the park, and a table full of ribbons and pieces of paper sat underneath the branches. People stopped by to write messages of gratitude, respect and consolation, and then clipped the messages to strings of lights that dangled from the lower tree branches. During the Dec. 6 Olde Golden Candlelight Walk, dozens of attendees took a moment to honor Golden Police Officers Evan Dunn and Bethany Grusing. Dunn was killed and Grusing was injured Nov. 6 while responding to a traffic accident on Highway 58. Dunn, 33, is the first GPD officer to be killed in the line of duty, the City of Golden has confirmed. He’s survived by his wife, parents, two siblings, three grandparents and several other family members, according to the city and an obituary published in The Denver Post. Dunn grew up in Columbia, Missouri and attended Columbia College, where he joined the Army ROTC. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business, he was commissioned in the Missouri Army National Guard. He trained as an Army aviator, specializing in Black Hawk helicopters, and later commanded a medevac unit in Springfield, Missouri. Dunn and his wife eventually moved to the Littleton area, where Dunn served in the Colorado Army National Guard. The Dunns also loved traveling and camping with their dog, Remy. In 2022, Dunn joined Golden as a code enforcement officer, serving for a year until he entered the police academy. He graduated in July and was partnered with Grusing, his field training officer, while responding to the Nov. 6 traffic accident.
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