At Cemetery Crawl:
Hughes happy to be wrong

Opalanga Pugh impersonates former slave/Colorado pioneer Clara Brown for Carnegie Day.
Westside Pioneer photo        Going into the Aug. 10 Cemetery Crawl, Dave Hughes was not optimistic. The weekend weather would rain out part of the Sunday, Aug. 10 annual event, the treasurer for the event-sponsoring Old Colorado City Historical Society (OCCHS) gloomily predicted the day before. He was also concerned that so many locals have seen the annual event at Fairview Cemetery over the years that fewer people would come this year.
       So what was the result? A possible record attendance, according to OCCHS President Joanne Karlson. "The rain held off and everyone enjoyed it," she said.
       She even credited Hughes for helping boost the gate by starring in a new personna this year - as Colorado City saloon owner Jacob Schmidt. He had played Colorado City founder Anthony Bott during previous years of the 11th annual OCCHS fundraising event.
       In all, the Crawl raised $1,033 for the Historical Society. "It surprised me because I thought [with the weather] people would stay away," Hughes said.
       The event was part of the mid-August weekend that the OCCHS uses every year to celebrate the August 13, 1859, founding of Colorado City. On Saturday, Aug. 9, a craft fair, live music, dancers, walking tours and a gunslinger show highlighted Founders' Day. There also were tie-ins with activities at the simultaneous Carnegie Day at the nearby Old Colorado City Branch Library.
       Karlson offered a teaser for next year's commememoration. Because 2009 will be the 150th (sesquicentennial) anniversary of Colorado City's beginnings - as well as, on a regional basis, the Pikes Peak or Bust frenzy - there won't just be a one-day celebration but it will be spread out at events over the year, she said.
       The OCCHS' plans for the anniversary are still being worked out, she added. Opalanga Pugh impersonates former slave/Colorado pioneer Clara Brown for Carnegie Day.
Westside Pioneer photo
       During this year's Founders' Day, "people seemed to be excited" about the sesquicentennial, Karlson said. "I walked around and handed out information about our museum [the Old Colorado City History Center at 1 S. 24th St.] and the 150th anniversary, and most of them didn't realize that."

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