New summer event to join first day of Farmers’ Market

       A new Bancroft Park summer event - intended to become annual - will celebrate gardening Saturday, June 11.
       The Garden Fair & Crafts in the Park is scheduled to coincide with the first day of the Farmers' Market on 24th Street next to the park, explained Joanne Karlson, volunteer organizer for the Old Colorado City Historical Society (OCCHS).
       The plan is to have numerous booths with artisans and crafters, most of them “focused toward garden decoratives and plants and a lot of things that have to do with nature,” she said.
       OCCHS schedules two annual fund-raising events later in the summer - Founders Day and the Cemetery Crawl - and was looking for a third, Karlson explained. “We thought a garden fair or arts in the park would work, so this (the Garden Fair) is where we went from there,” she said.
       Applications for booths are still being taken. The cut-off date will be May 17. There is no jury process, but the volunteer OCCHS is trying to be “selective,” Karlson said.
       For application information, call the society at 636-1225.
       Community groups that have signed up so far are the CSU master gardeners, Girl Scouts and an urban 4-H club, she said.
       The fair will begin at 7 a.m. - about the same time as the Farmers' Market. The market, entering its 18th year, traditionally sets up (predominantly with local-produce growers) every Saturday morning throughout the summer.
       To keep from competing with the market, no food will be sold at the fair except a bake sale inside the park's historic log cabin, according to Karlson.
       The two activities will continue side by side until 1 to 2 p.m., when the market closes up. After that, the fair will go on by itself till 4 p.m.
       “The Farmers Market people have been very cooperative,” Karlson said.
       “I think the fair will be a good draw for the Westside, bringing people over here to get nice things for their yards. It will be a kick-off for summer, in a way. We're looking forward to it. We hope it will be fun and profitable.”
       OCCHS volunteers operate the Old Colorado City History Center at 1 S. 24th St.

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