Glenwood Caverns Hosts Giving Thanks Party with LiftUp

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park will be hosting a Giving Thanks Party with LiftUp, our local food bank. The event takes place in Glenwood Springs, on Nov. 25, at Centennial Park from noon to 4 p.m.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has always chosen November to help stock the shelves of our community food bank, LiftUp. This year’s event will be a Giving Thanks Party held on Sunday, Nov. 25, from 12 to 4 p.m. at Centennial Park (9th and Grand) in Glenwood Springs. It’s an opportunity to spread holiday cheer by giving back to those less fortunate while enjoying an afternoon of family fun with Santa, carolers and more.

In years past, Glenwood Caverns has sponsored the Turkey Tram-a-ganza—a hugely successful event that invited the public to donate food in exchange for rides aboard the Iron Mountain Tramway to America’s only mountaintop theme park.  This year, you may have noticed we’re in the process of replacing the old Iron Mountain Tramway to make way for our new high-capacity tram that will debut in March.

During the construction the Park is temporarily closed, but we didn’t want to drop the ball on the families who count on us to help supply all the fixins’ for a delicious holiday meal. The items collected will go toward Christmas baskets that will be delivered to families in need during the month of December.

 

Everyone is invited and encouraged to bring non-perishable food items in exchange for a tram pass that will be valid when the park reopens next March. One free tram pass per person. For this food drive, LiftUp is asking for canned goods and non-perishables. Suggested items include: dried beans, nuts, rice, pasta, boxes of macaroni & cheese, oatmeal, crackers, cereal, peanut butter, sugar, flour, Bisquick, juice boxes, energy bars and canned items like tuna, chili, soup, beans, fruit and stew. The non-profit organization will have a truck on site at Centennial Park to collect the food which will then be delivered to their warehouse to be sorted and distributed.

A fun family event, the Giving Thanks Party will elevate holiday spirits. The Mountain Harmony carolers will fill the park with all your favorite Christmas songs. Children can snuggle with Santa who will be seated in Glenwood Caverns’ Big Mountain Chair and whisper what they’d like him to bring on Christmas morning. For parents, it’s an opportunity to snap outdoor photos of the tots with Mr. Claus. A cutout of the new tram cabin will also be onsite for photo opportunities. Throughout the afternoon, chase away the chills with free hot chocolate courtesy of True Brew Coffee & Tea.

Next year, with the new Iron Mountain Tramway open, we’ll return to collecting food items at the tram base in Nov. in tandem with our Winter on the Mountain kickoff—a seasonal celebration marked by live entertainment, miles of fairy lights, a musical Christmas tree and much more.

Music on the Mountain Hits It Out of the Park with 2018 Lineup

Music on the Mountain is ten for ten! Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park’s concert series is opening its tenth season with 10 mountaintop performances starting May 19. 

Get your groove on at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and let the good times roll! The 2018 Music on the Mountain season begins on Saturday, May 19, with the Goodman Band and two performances by Dance of the Sacred Fire, and continues with concerts in June, August and September.

All Music on the Mountain concerts are free with cans-for-a-tram rides beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturdays with music from 6 – 10 p.m.; and for Sunday shows at 2 p.m. with performances from 4 – 8 p.m.  To hop aboard the Iron Mountain Tramway for free just donate a canned or non-perishable food item. The cans-for-a-tram program helps to stock the shelves of Lift-Up, the local food pantry. To date, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has collected more than 66,000 cans and food items!

Whiskey Stomp band

With all the dancing you’ll be doing, you’re sure to get hungry. Grab a bite at the Lookout Grille or Snack Shack, both are open for dinner and refreshments, with drink specials available inside and in the outdoor plaza. Guests can also enjoy the park’s rides and attractions during the events. A Funday Pass, just $38 with the free tram ride, includes both walking cave tours and unlimited access to all open rides. The outdoor rides are open until dusk; the Laser Tag arena and 4D Motion Theater are open until the park closes.

Music on the Mountain would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Thank you to: Bighorn Toyota, Glenwood Insurance Agency, Community Banks of Colorado, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Lift FM, Swire Coca-Cola, Glenwood TV, Hotel Glenwood Springs, Young Services and Iron Mountain Hot Springs.

2018 Music on the Mountain Lineup

 Saturday May 19—Music on the Mountain kicks off with The Goodman Band playing Stevie Ray Vaughan covers and classic rock, plus two performances of Dance of the Sacred Fire, a mesmerizing, high energy show featuring flame throwing and fire breathing!

Saturday, June 2Whiskey Stomp; bluegrass, funk, Latino, rock, jazz, country and original songs

Saturday, June 9The Mixx;  Top 40s, R&B, classic rock, funk, country, blues, and good ol’ rock and roll!

Sunday, June 10Motivado; Tex-Mex, Sierreno and Norteño

Saturday, Aug. 18Fifty50; classic, modern and original rock

Saturday Aug. 25Hell Roaring Stringband and Defiance String Band; a string band double-header featuring American hoedown, bluegrass, swing, rags, waltzes and more

Saturday, Sept. 8Vidicus Maximus; rock, funk, blues, soul and pop

Sunday, Sept. 9Christian Music on the Mountain featuring talent from The Orchard in Carbondale

Saturday, Sept. 15The Missing Link Band; country, rock, blues, pop and R&B

Saturday, Sept. 22Emotional Rescue; a Rolling Stones cover band

In addition to Music on the Mountain, Friday Afternoon Club on the Mountain returns from June 15 through Aug. 10. Tram rides are free after 4 p.m. with a coupon from the Post Independent. The melodrama, Trouble Bubbles at the Iron Mountain Hot Springs, begins Memorial Weekend and continues through Labor Day with shows at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Friday through Monday.

Find out more about what’s happening this summer at America’s only mountaintop theme park at glenwoodcavdev.wpengine.com.

Two More Weeks of Mountain Fall Festival!

Have you made it up to the Mountain Fall Festival? If not, no worries! There’s plenty of time to head up Iron Mountain to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where autumn fun awaits!
The park is still alive with fall colors, and there are lots of great photo opportunities all over the park. It’s a beautiful place to enjoy your fall day.

Every day of the week, we have autumn decorations, a pumpkin patch, and Oktoberfest food and drink specials, including brats & kraut, seasonal beer and a Bloody Mary bar. We’ve also got spiked cider, hot chocolate and other cozy fall drinks. On Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., we ramp up the festivities with hayrides, kids games (with prizes!), face painting and pumpkin decorating. Kids can also participate in a sticker scavenger hunt! Watch our Fall Festival video to see what the festival is all about.

As always, you can enjoy our thrill rides and attractions. Get a spectacular view of the valley on the Soaring Eagle Zip Line and the Glenwood Canyon Flyer, or watch your little one’s face light up on the Wild West Express kid’s coaster. Zoom down through beautiful fall foliage on the Alpine Coaster, and then experience the magic and wonder waiting underground on one of our Cave Tours. Buy a Funday Pass for a whole day of fun at a great value.

Saturday, October 22 brings the band Alpine Echo up to the mountaintop, where they will play Octoberfest tunes all day long. Founding member Gerhard Rill is originally from Bavaria, Germany. He came to Colorado and started making music, and soon partnered with Bill Rill (also from Bavaria) and John Pataky (from Hungary). Together, the trio formed Alpine Echo. Joe Pologar of Leadville, Colorado later came on board to round out the band’s sound. The foursome performs festive, lively tunes that are a treat for the ears!

To celebrate the band, we’re bringing back Can-for-a-Tram: On October 22, bring at least one can of food to donate for a free tram ride to the top. Can-for-a-Tram benefits Lift-Up, a non-proft organization that provides humanitarian aid to struggling families and individuals in our community.

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Mardi Gras at Glenwood Caverns is a family friendly event

For more information, visit the Fall Festival page. The festival runs until October 30, and there are still two Saturdays left. We hope to see you soon!

Lift-Up: “A beaming light in a trying time of darkness”

As most people familiar with Music on the Mountain know, we partner with the non-profit organization Lift-Up for Can for a Tram, a program that collects cans of food at the tram base at every concert. We also collect turkeys in November for Lift-Up’s Thanksgiving meals during our Turkey-Tram-a-Ganza event. We thought we would shine a spotlight on this important organization that’s helped thousands of people all over the region!

Lift-Up began during the oil shale boom in Rifle, when workers flooded into the area, looking for jobs but living in cars and under bridges. In the ensuing oil shale bust in the 1980s, Lift-Up was invaluable when Exxon closed overnight and 2,000 people were suddenly unemployed. Ever since, they’ve been a facilitator for the community to respond to people in need.

While food collection and donation is a big part of their program, they do much more. “Lift-Up’s mission is to provide essential humanitarian assistance in the communities we serve,” says Kim Loving, Lift-Up’s director. “We serve the unemployed, underemployed and homeless in our communities.”

To show the impact they have, let’s look at the year 2015: in that year alone, Lift-Up gave out over 35,000 bags of groceries! They assisted 42,872  people in 2015 with everything from groceries, prescriptions, thrift store vouchers, bus passes, emergency help, and soup kitchen meals. Last year, Lift-Up assembled and distributed 1,738 food baskets during the holidays. “To me, our numbers served show the impact we have on the community,” Loving points out.

There are also the personal stories that put a face to the individuals that Lift-Up helps. Take the case of Lisa (name changed for privacy), a struggling mother who was at her wit’s end:
“This past winter, we found ourselves in need of help. We had mounting medical bills due to a sick child, and I was sick myself. This resulted in numerous ER visits and surgeries. We didn’t have medical insurance at the time so the bills added up quickly. We paid $800 a month in medical bills on top of a mortgage and other various bills. Soon, we were struggling to keep food in the pantry and on the table. In November, one of our debtors decided to raise our bill significantly, and would sue us if we didn’t keep up. This was most of our budget for food. We had no choice but to swallow our pride and reach out for help. I reached out to a friend who told me about Lift-Up and what it was all about. I remember crying all the way down to Lift-Up, thanking God that there was someplace that could help us keep our children fed.

When we arrived, I didn’t know what to expect. Debi, a Lift-Up employee, was so wonderful and just started filling boxes and bags of food for our family. She was so sweet and caring. There was no judgement; just love.
Lift Up helped us get through Thanksgiving and Christmas. They helped me with jackets and snow pants for my kids, so they could be warm during winter. We are so grateful for Lift-Up and what they did for our family. They were a beaming light in a trying time of darkness. We appreciate them and we are eternally grateful for providing what we needed and for their love and compassion.”

The organization is always trying to branch out and fulfill needs that aren’t being taken care of. Lift-Up began a new Mobile Friday Lunch program last November, in collaboration with the school district. Kids going to Garfield RE2 schools only go four days a week, so Lift-Up makes and distributes a nutritious sack lunch at three lower-income locations in Rifle on the days when school is not in session.

“We have distributed over 1,800 lunches so far in 2016. This program has been such a blessing for Lift-Up. I personally enjoy handing out the lunches to the kids. They have been so thankful and a joy to be around!” exclaims Loving.

During Turkey Tram-a-Ganza, people donating turkeys get free tram rides to the top of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

“I would encourage anyone who can to come join us and hand out lunches on Fridays. We start at 11:00 at Davidson Park in Rifle and end up at Joyce Park at 12:00. The middle stop is Cottonwood Springs Park, which begins at 11:30. The smiles and thank you’s are so worth it, even when it is really cold out.”

If you’d like to donate to Lift-Up in other ways, Loving says, “we are always in need of donated food items or even gift cards from grocery stores, where we can purchase meat for the pantries. Monetary donations are welcomed too!” A full list of items Lift-Up always wants on their shelves can help guide you.

“I would like the community to know that all of Lift-Ups’s programs wouldn’t be possible without the support we have received. I can’t ever thank everyone enough,” Loving concluded.

Bring at least one can of food to donate to Lift-Up and receive a FREE tram ride to the top for Music on the Mountain this weekend, and every Music on the Mountain show in the future. Thank you for making a positive impact on our community! For more information about upcoming concerts, visit Music on the Mountain.