Ho-hum, city turns 150
Denver's birthday celebration - when measured against other hooplas - a low-key affair
By Julie Hutchinson, Special to the Rocky
Published November 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Photo by Javier Manzano / The Rocky
The Colorado History Museum is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Denver with an exhibit. The city celebration also includes Denver Arts Week and a film festival.
Photo by Javier Manzano / The Rocky
Mayor John Hickenlooper will cut a ribbon today to the exhibit "Denver at 150: Imagine a Great City" at the Colorado History Museum as part of the city's 150th birthday celebration.
Cities big and small seem to like celebrating their birthdays, and it doesn't matter if there are 850 candles on the cake - or 20.
From cosmopolitan places like Auckland, New Zealand; Munich, Germany; and Liverpool, England, to tiny American towns like St. Clair, Mich., and Newark, Del., the city birthday party represents an opportunity for politicians and boosters to blow a municipality's horn.
And blow it they do, with spectacular fireworks in Auckland and commissioned plays in Munich and a 532-page history book in Liverpool.
On the folksy side, for Newark's 250th birthday in April, its mayor dressed for a parade in colonial clothing - including a three-cornered hat.
And in Denver?
Well, there's not much of a party fervor - let alone party favors - this year, even as the city marks its 150th birthday today.
Then again, nobody seems to remember Denver celebrating many of its birthdays, even the big ones.
What old-timers do remember is the centennial of the gold rush in 1959, a yearlong affair with a frontier village in Civic Center and men all over the state growing "centennial beards" and wearing the official centennial string tie. Both Denver newspapers published commemorative newsprint books stuffed with ads.
Hokey, but it was 1959. Cars had fins, and metropolitan Denver didn't yet have a million people.
Then came 1963, when the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22 cast a shadow over that date that seemed as if it would last for eternity.
With 150 candles on the cake, more than a few old-timers are wondering why the city didn't make it a bigger party.
Nobody is asking for Mayor Hickenlooper to grow a sesquicentennial beard, but some are asking why the city didn't come up with something better than grocery-store sheet cakes and a party that piggybacks on existing cultural events. Oh, and those packets of Denver Daisy seeds that only horticulturists could grow, a fact kindly pointed out in a story in The New York Times last summer.
But Steve Sander, the city's director of strategic marketing, defends the city's celebration as "significant, appropriate and mindful." He says the 15-day celebration, including Denver Arts Week, the Denver Film Festival, the lighting of Civic Center and 150 unsung heroes, is enough.
"I think it's entirely appropriate to try to utilize existing events as a way of commemorating the occasion and to use taxpayer dollars constructively," Sander said. "That's more significant than wasting money on a lavish party or some other disingenuous celebration."
But some locals question whether the city's observance is enough.
"The Democratic National Convention took everybody's attention - it drained all the energy," said Stephen J. Leonard, chairman of the history department at Metropolitan State College of Denver, and a third-generation Denver native.
But Leonard says the city has time to do it right, and one way is to "keep their cotton-picking hands off Civic Center."
He's referring to controversial plans to overhaul the downtown park known as Civic Center, which is framed by the Colorado Capitol, the Denver Public Library, the City and County Building and the Greek Theater.
Leonard suggests the city could honor its birthday by restoring the decrepit - and historic - Riverside Cemetery in north Denver, where thousands of Denver's founding citizens and hoi-polloi are buried.
"Forty years ago, people would have been up in arms if we weren't watering one of our major cemeteries," Leonard said.
Tom Noel, professor of history at the University of Colorado-Denver, said he thinks the city's lackluster birthday party is a result of changing attitudes.
"The city and the mayor tend to look to the future, not to the past," Noel said.
Had he been in charge, Noel would have "commissioned a book, a movie, a video, operas and ballets, pieces of music."
And Denver author Phil Goodstein, a native who graduated from East High School in 1970, says the city is essentially "ignoring" its birthday, but he said it's a time-honored tradition.
"I and a couple of cohorts had a 100th anniversary banquet to celebrate the establishment of the City and County of Denver about six years ago, which nobody paid any attention to, either," Goodstein said. It was Dec. 1, 1902, Goodstein points out, when the entity known as the City and County of Denver was created.
"There's just been this general who- cares, who-doesn't-give-a-damn about it," Goodstein said.
Peg Ekstrand, director of research and communications for CRL Associates in Denver, a public-affairs and lobbying firm, said she tried to get local booster groups to start planning something big for Denver's sesquicentennial 10 years ago, when she worked for the Colorado Historical Society.
"I got a lukewarm response," Ekstrand said. "The decades-long thing - their eyes glazed over."
Ekstrand said the city's celebration should have included, at the minimum, a parade and, for sure, the Colorado Rockies, because baseball was the first recreational activity in the city in 1862.
"Or we could have commissioned something," Ekstrand said. "I mean, my God, the Denver Center has one of the top regional theatrical companies in the country. Ten years ago, we could have started working on something like that."
Observing 150 years Some of the events for Denver's 150th birthday include:
* "Denver at 150: Imagine a Great City" exhibition at the Colorado History Museum, with free admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mayor John Hickenlooper will cut a ribbon to the exhibit today at 9:45 a.m.
* Kids can enjoy a free screening of The Polar Express presented by the Starz Denver Film Festival at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at 11 a.m., with the donation of toy or pajama set.
* The Garner Galleria Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex offers a free 2 p.m. performance of Girls Only. Tickets are available at noon, one ticket per person.
* Residents can savor a slice of free birthday cake at noon, served by Councilwoman Carla Madison at the Denver Zoo, and Councilwoman Jeanne Robb at Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Cherry Creek Dance performers salute the city with 150 kicks along Third Avenue.
* Offering free admission today: Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Zoo.
* For more information on Denver's 150th, please visit www.denver150.com. For more information on Denver Arts Week, www.denverartsweek.com.
How some cities do it * Auckland, New Zealand: Celebrates its birthday every January with a weekend festival, fireworks over the ocean and regatta
* Munich, Germany, 850th, 2008: Summer-long festival of cultural events, music, theater, plays, parties
* Liverpool, England, 800th, 2006: A 532-page history book Liverpool 800: Culture, Character and History, became an instant local best seller. Free copies were issued to 194 schools and 24 public libraries.
* Poznan, Poland, 750th, 2003: Festival included a 1,653-pound cake with 496 pounds of whipped cream and 55 pounds of jam
* Santa Fe, 400th: Observation started in 2007 and continues to 2010. Includes minting $5 and $1 coins, visits from King Juan Carlos of Spain, and the president of Mexico along with a commissioned symphony
* Quebec City, 400th, 2008: More than $60 million in projects to develop and restore historic sites; commissioned symphony; concert by Paul McCartney
* Portsmouth, N.H., 375th, 2008: Included neck hangers for 25,000 six-packs of beer produced by Redhook Ale Brewery's Portsmouth plant
* Albuquerque, 300th, 2006: Yearlong festival featured a theme every month and more than 500 volunteers, included a lecture series on local history and re-enactment of a cattle drive
* Pittsburgh, 250th, 2008: A local citizen came forward at the last minute to help organize a celebration that included a parade saluting veterans and a jet flyover; culinary students created the Pittsburgh 250 recipe collection including twists on local favorites.
* Lexington, N.C., 175th, 2003: Downtown streets displayed 25 life-sized fiberglass pigs, each with a theme.
* St. Clair, Mich., 150th, 2008: Time capsule, lighted boat parade, souvenir calendar, hardcover book, commemorative postmark and stamp, commemorative T-shirts and baseball caps
* Roanoke, Va., 125th, 2007: Festival featured performances by Judy Collins (who grew up in Denver, by the way) and four commissioned works of art
How Denver stacks up by age * 1607: Jamestown, Va. 401 yrs.
* 1610: Santa Fe 398
* 1620: Plymouth, Mass. 388
* 1634: Green Bay, Wis. 374
* 1670: Charleston, S.C. 338
* 1706: Albuquerque 302
* 1718: San Antonio 290
* 1769: San Diego 239
* 1790: Washington, D.C. 218
* 1803: Chicago 205
* 1841: Dallas 167
* 1847: Salt Lake City 161
* 1858: Denver 150
* 1911: Las Vegas 97
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November 22, 2008
12:52 a.m.
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ManginoTorreta writes:
This isn't exactly a surprise--I'd wager that roughly half to 70% of metro area Denver's inhabitants have lived most of their lives in another city.
November 22, 2008
8:26 a.m.
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oldfarthing writes:
This is entirely in keeping with a city that requires only a 4th grade course in Colorado History. Denver simply does not know, or care about its history. The vast majority of people in Denver came from somewhere else, and have no historical attachment. Despite the high percentage of college degrees in the population, Denverites remain among the most ignorant of any major city.
And nobody but Tom Noel and Steve Leonard and a few others are doing anything about it.
Sad.
November 22, 2008
9:07 a.m.
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purplewolf writes:
The "SLIDE SHOW: Historic photos from Denver's" past the RMN offers does not work for me and my FireFox
November 22, 2008
9:09 a.m.
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tgrtptoe writes:
I think the events that are planned are entirely appropriate. It's not like it's being completely ignored, there are events - just not the events that some people would like. In these tough economic times, where city & state budgets are going to no doubt have to be cut, it would be irresponsible to spend more than they are. Would the majority of Denverites really appreciate a commissioned piece of art or music? Do we really need another parade, when we're going to have the Parade of Lights in just a couple of weeks? C'mon now. Be sensible. Go out & enjoy the exhibit at the History Museum.
November 22, 2008
9:16 a.m.
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roadstar writes:
Considering the economic plight of many people at this time, I respect Denver's frugalilty regarding its 150th. Anything otherwise would be inappropriate very prioritizing of taxpayer money during these times.
November 22, 2008
9:21 a.m.
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roadstar writes:
Oops, remove the word "very" from my previous post. Sorry.
November 22, 2008
9:38 a.m.
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denverrma writes:
I agree that most people who live here are pretty ignorant of the city's history and many of its famous residents and accomplishments over the years. As a person with 4 generations of family who have lived and resided in Denver, Estes Park, Leadville and The Springs, its somewhat sad to see and hear that many here love the city and the surroundings, but know nothing about its history.
I do feel like the city could have done a little more in promoting Denver's 150th with some more low budget celebrations, but we are in the worst recession since 'the great one'. Oh well, maybe Ill still be around for the 200th!
November 22, 2008
9:40 a.m.
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davehughes writes:
Well, even though sleepwalking Denver is not much interested in its own 150th birthday, the original "Colorado City" (now called 'Old Colorado City' and is the historic district westside of Colorado Springs) which was the Capital of Colorado Territory until Denver stole it in 1862, is very much going to celebrate that anniversary - all year. Right down to reenacting the driving of the first stake on August 12th, 1859, now 2009. Unfolding details at http://history.oldcolo.com
And not only did Denver steal the capital, but the Rocky Mountain News, which was just getting started, with a brazen conflict of interest, bashed the first governor of Colorado Territory - William Gilpin - a Republican whom Lincoln appointed because he awarded the Territorial government printing contract to The Colorado Republican newspaper instead of the RMN. Even though Governor Gilpin - a fellow West Pointer - saved Colorado for the Union after Jeff Davis tried to send 4,000 Texas Confederates up the Rio Grande through New Mexico to capture the Colorado gold fields. A whole history the RMN and Colorado tries to forget. But Old Colorado City which was the capital during that Civil War period, doesn't forget.
We will do our year long celebrating ourselves, thank you.
And we have back in our possession the log Cabin, inside which the first Territorial Legislature met, and which sat on the Capital Grounds in Denver in 1959 during the Centennial. You can see that too if you go to the old colorado city site and follow the Glorieta Pass battle details. Another chapter in Colorado History that no school kids north of the Palmer Black Forest Divide ever learn about.
Much less, that the hero of Glorieta Pass throwing back the Texans, was no other than Col John Chivington whom school kids are taught caused the Sand Creek as a 'massacre' rather than what it was - a deserved 'Battle' to stop the marauding Indians who had even sealed off Denver in 1864 from travel to and from the East.
Oh yes Colorado and Denver is full of revisionist history.