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2008 Events
Check back often and see what’s happening—we offer something different every day: tours, classes, crafts, games and fairs!
Opening Day
Saturday, May 10
10 am-4:30 pm
Celebrate the opening of the Clear Creek History Park’s summer season with a pie baking contest. This year’s event includes friendly competition, so roll up your sleeves and get the whole family involved! You won’t want to miss the pie baking contest results at 11:30 am, where dozens of homemade pies will be competing for the blue ribbon. The pie baking contest will be judged by local celebrities and the public will be able to sample the winning pies at the event. To submit a pie, call the Astor House Museum. We are accepting entries in Individual and Business/Organization categories, so why not get your business to submit a pie, too? The more, the yummier! Immediately following the pie contest will be the annual egg toss—all ages can participate! You can also fling things that won’t splatter you with goo, like graces, horseshoes and bean bags. Games, pie tasting, and musical entertainment are all included in admission.
History Comes to Life at Clear Creek History Park
June–August (Tuesday-Sunday)
Step back in time this summer to frontier life in Colorado. There's something exciting going on every day we're open. No experience necessary. Schedule subject to change.
Tuesdays: Join Chuck Everitt in the blacksmith shop from 10-2. See how the pioneers did their laundry and cut wood (the hard way!). Try digging in our heirloom gardens while learning about veggies of the 1800s. Visit with the donkeys in the corral.
Wednesdays: Learn about the Colorado Gold Rush while getting your fingers wet panning for gold. Visit with the donkeys in the corral.
Thursdays: Watch textile art demos such as knitting, sewing, and spinning, and then join in if you feel the urge. Make a clothes pin doll in the Pearce cabin.
Fridays: Sample goodies from the cook stove. Try digging in our heirloom gardens while learning about veggies of the 1800s. Come for a lesson in the schoolhouse. At 2 pm enjoy a performance by our Hands-On History campers at the hay barn stage.
Saturdays: Sample goodies from the cook stove. Join a chicken coop tour and get to know our chickens up-close. Play croquet and other pioneer games like graces and hoops.
Sundays: Join a chicken coop tour and get to know our chickens up-close. Make ice cream the old fashion way and then enjoy your efforts.
Donkey Days
Every Tuesday & Wednesday, June 17–August 27
10 am–4 pm
We'll have two special guests at Clear Creek History Park every Tuesday and Wednesday for the rest of the summer—donkeys! Historically, donkeys were prefered over horses for working in Colorado mines because they were more sure-footed and ate less. For the same reasons they were also a favorite mode of transportation for children to reach school. Stop by and talk to the chickens and the donkeys—where else in Golden can you do that?
Summer Solstice Music Festival
Saturday, June 21
5–9:30 pm
Celebrate the official start of summer with our annual fundraiser at Clear Creek History Park. Spread your blanket on the natural
hillside amphitheater and enjoy a variety of toe-tapping live music from Riff Raff, Zebra Junction, The Beebs, and Dean Station. Good grub includes grilled burgers and
beer. Adult Members $9, Adults $12, College Students with ID $9, Youth ages 10-17 $5, Youth under 10 free. Presented in conjunction with Swallow Hill Music Association. Tickets are available online at www.swallowhillmusic.org.
Frontier Cooking Workshop
Saturday, July 19
10 am–4 pm
Expand your woodstove cooking repertoire with a different theme at each workshop. Participants in these hands-on classes enjoy
eating their handiwork and taking home historic recipes. First-timers and previous attendees welcome. Held at the Clear Creek
History Park for ages 16 and up. Pre-registration required. Members $35, Everyone else $45 per workshop.
Mid-Summer Meal—You’ll learn what was ripe and ready, or early-picked, (as well as what you couldn’t get yet!) to cook for a hungry family in the 1800s, with some ingredients picked straight from our heirloom gardens. Together, participants will cook an authentic meal best befitting a Colorado summer over 100 years ago.
Highline Silver Cornet Band
Saturday, July 26
2 pm
In the late 1800s, brass bands abounded. Virtually every town of any size had at least one. Highline Silver Cornet Band plays popular music from the late 1800s using traditional instruments like cornets, horns, and tubas. Help us celebrate Buffalo Bill Days at the Clear Creek History Park. Included with regular admission.
First Friday
Friday, August 1
4:30 pm –8 pm
Help us celebrate Golden's First Fridays with special late hours. Activities include campfire sing-alongs, popcorn cooking, popcorn tasting, and Little House on the Prairie bedtime stories in the schoolhouse. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission.
Bee Basics
Wednesday, August 6
10 am–12 pm
Join Kelly in our bee yard to gain a greater appreciation for the art of beekeeping. She'll open up our two hives, look for honey, and explain the tools of the trade. Visitors will have an opportunity to try on a beekeeping suit and sample honey comb that was harvested last year. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission. Drop-in, no pre-registration required.
Pickles at the Park
Friday, August 8
10 am–1 pm
Local resident Sandy Pearce will demonstrate how to make bread and butter pickles in the Pearce cabin, where her husband Jack grew up in the 1920s and 30s. She'll share Jack's stories as well as some favorite canning recipes. Sampling encouraged. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission. Additional materials fee to take home a jar of your own, members $8, everyone else $10. Drop-in, no pre-registration required.
Bee Basics
Tuesday, August 12
10 am–12 pm
Join Kelly in our bee yard to gain a greater appreciation for the art of beekeeping. She'll open up our two hives, look for honey, and explain the tools of the trade. Visitors will have an opportunity to try on a beekeeping suit and sample honey comb that was harvested last year. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission. Drop-in, no pre-registration required.
Clear Creek History Park Free Days during the Golden Fine Arts Festival
Saturday & Sunday, August 16 & 17
10 am–4:30 pm
Lace making, spinning and blacksmithing were part of daily life on the frontier. Watch demonstrations of these and other traditional
skills, taste what’s cooking on the woodstove and say hello to the chickens. The Clear Creek History Park showcases the artisans
of yesteryear as part of the annual Golden Fine Arts Festival. SCFD sponsored free admission.
Beet Bonanza
Friday, August 22
10 am–1 pm
Local resident Sandy Pearce will demonstrate how to can beets in the Pearce cabin, where her husband Jack grew up in the 1920s and 30s. She'll share Jack's stories as well as a favorite canned beet cookie recipe. Sampling encouraged. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission. Additional materials fee to take home a jar of your own, members $8, everyone else $10. Drop-in, no pre-registration required.
Chink and Daub Day
Saturday, August 23
10 am–3 pm
Join us for this fun and dirty hands-on program while helping us prepare the cabins for winter. Log cabin expert Bill Bailey will tell you all about log cabin chinking, and then put you to work. He will also share stories about moving the cabins here over 10 years ago. Visitors are invited to help mix the daub, or mud mixture, and then apply it to the cabin logs with their hands. No experience necessary. At Clear Creek History Park, included with regular admission. Drop-in, no pre-registration required.
Members Party
Friday, September 19
6:30–9 pm
Please be our guest at this annual event to thank members for their support. Meet other members and be among the first to know
what’s happening with our recent improvements and future plans. Enjoy a gracious evening with entertainment, wine and hors d’oeuvres
at the Astor House. Free admission; members only.
Frontier Cooking Workshop
Saturday, September 20
10 am–4 pm
Expand your woodstove cooking repertoire with a different theme at each workshop. Participants in these hands-on classes enjoy
eating their handiwork and taking home historic recipes. First-timers and previous attendees welcome. Held at the Clear Creek
History Park for ages 16 and up. Pre-registration required. Members $35, Everyone else $45 per workshop
Making Do: Substitutions in the Pioneer Pantry–You'll never believe what substitutions could be made in dishes when supplies ran low! Did someone really make apple pie without apples!? We dare you to taste your cooking results with your eyes closed.
Blacksmith and BBQ Celebration
Saturday, September 27
10 am–4:30 pm
Blacksmiths who helped settle the West were the ultimate jack of all trades who could make and repair just about anything metal. Come out and see these master craftsmen demonstrate their trade and watch as they turn metal into art. In addition to lots of fire and smoke, we'll hold a special barbeque to celebrate the end of the summer season. At Clear Creek History Park, blacksmithing demos included with regular admission, BBQ by donation while supplies last.
Bookfair at Barnes & Noble
Friday, November 21
9 am–11 pm
We’ll distract the kids with free pioneer dress-up while you shop, and in return, every purchase you make supports our museums.
There’s no added cost to your purchases, and the Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park receive a part of the day’s sales.
This year, start your holiday shopping before Thanksgiving! Held at Denver West Barnes & Noble, 14347 W. Colfax Ave. Free admission.
Candlelight Walk
Friday, December 5
7 pm–9 pm
Stroll through the Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park as you join friends and neighbors in the Golden Candlelight Walk.
Watch traditional dancers and warm yourself with hot chocolate at the Park; enjoy our festive Victorian holiday décor at the
Astor House. Free admission.
