Members of the U.S. Air Force National Drill
Team simultaneously wait for the rifles they just tossed in the air to come back
down during a performance in Bancroft Park as part of the Memorial Day
commemoration ceremony.
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Rainfall slows, doesn't stop Territory Days; now Bancroft work will start
A Territory Days contrast between new and old
is seen with the whirling ride in the foreground and the 18-foot tepee in the
background, erected by American Indian specialist Clint Chartier.
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Now the construction can begin.
Colorado Springs Parks had agreed to hold off on repairs to the fire-damaged
Bancroft Park bandshell until after Territory Days over Memorial Day weekend,
May 27-29.
Evidence of the imminent project could be seen during the Old Colorado City
street festival. On the front lip of the closed-off bandshell stage were stacked
numerous sections of chainlink fencing, which the contractor - Murphy
Constructors - intends to use to seal off its construction area during the work,
starting May 31.
Despite bouts of rain Saturday and Monday, the 42nd annual Territory Days
attracted the usual tens of thousands of attendees to Bancroft and closed-off
Colorado Avenue between 23rd and 27th streets.
A 24x18-foot mobile stage, delivered to the park two days before the event, was
employed for the acts that normally would use the bandshell.
As always, there were about 200 vendor booths, more than 30 performing acts,
various activities/kid rides and several Old West aspects (including Rock Ledge
Ranch blacksmiths, gold-panning, Indian dancers, roaming actors in costume and
a tepee with artifacts by Indian historian Clint Chartier).
An event highlight was the return of the U.S. Air Force National Drill Team,
which had first displayed its tightly synchronized rifle-tossing act at Territory
Days in 2015. The group was part of the traditional Memorial Day ceremony in
the park, which also includes event promoter Jim Wear reading the history of the
holiday and its intent to honor those who've died fighting America's wars.
At the Old Colorado City History Center (across the street from the park),
model-train builder Chris Fox from Limon was just glad he was able to make it
this year. After he'd brought his 28-foot-long set with historically correct old-time
trains for three years (2013-2015), muddy roads had prevented him from hauling
the set in from Limon in 2016.
Fox has been active in restoring a train roundhouse in Hugo (south of Limon) that
is similar - except being made of brick - to the locally quarried 1880s Midland
Railroad building at 21st Street and modern-day Highway 24.
Wear is the owner of Pro Promotions, which contracts with the Old Colorado City
Associates (OCCA) business group to organize the festival as a fundraiser to help
cover the costs of marketing the historic shopping district.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 5/29/17;
Business:
Events)
As usual during Territory Days, Bancroft Park
was a place of relaxation amidst multiple activities. Photo looks northwest toward
the mobile stage that was brought in for this year's event, on which the Plain As
Day band was performing.
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ABOVE: Unruffled by thousands of passersby,
Artist Eric Fetsch paints outside Febra's at 26th and Colorado.
RIGHT: A straitjacket "escape" during the Ole Doc Ezee & Disgo act in the Old
Town Plaza.
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With a large throng in attendance, the Northern
Winds Native Dancers perform around their Women Warriors Color Guard in
Bancroft Park as part of the Territory Days Memorial Day ceremony.
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ABOVE: A rider enjoys his brief sojourn atop
an electronically controlled "bull" on 24th Street.
RIGHT: Joined by a young admirer, model train builder Chris Fox watches one of
his old-time trains come up the track inside the Old Colorado City History Center.
One modern amenity: He could adjust individual engine speeds through digital
controls.
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Travis Chenck (left) of the Space Foundation
displays a 3-D printer inside the pavilion in Bancroft Park May 27. The pavilion
was fairly crowded at the time because of a steady rainfall that was to last most of
the afternoon.
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In front of the mobile stage in Bancroft Park, all
the participants in the Territory Days Memorial Day ceremony pose for a group
photo afterwards.
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