Memorial Day weekend, a time to honor our armed forces and veterans, is upon us once again. And with the holiday comes so many choices for families to make. 

With family gatherings, picnics, visits to our cemeteries, parades and Grand Old West Days, there are plenty of activities to choose from, for sure.  Some choices last for a few hours or even all day, but one of them lasts for the entire weekend, and then some.

I’m talking about Grand Old West Days. It’s been a favorite of mine for many, many years.

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Over time, I’ve been able to enjoy top-notch, big-name entertainers, watched the cowboys and cowgirls perform and compete at the rodeos, let my children — and then my grandchildren — enjoy the carnival rides, took part in the evening dances, clapped loudly at the plays presented by some of our local talent, shopped the downtown area special sales event, loved the carnival cotton candy, and even competed in the “Where the Old West Stayed Young” cowboy action shoot.

It started in 1990, and Grand Old West Days has grown, some years shrunk, but always recovered to give Craig the best “Kickoff to Summer” possible. It used to be held with events happening all over town. The fairgrounds, of course, for the rodeos and carnival, the “Where the Old West Stayed Young” cowboy action shoot out at the gun club range, some activities in City Park by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and of course, in our wonderful downtown area.

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The main drag of Yampa was closed to traffic, and our local businesses and other vendors lined the street with all sorts of merchandise, games and foods of many kinds, even street dancing. I felt that spreading the fun all over town added to the festive feeling of the event. Yes, you had to walk or drive to the areas of your choice of activity, but it made it possible to watch and participate without a huge crowd in one place. Things were spread out a bit. There was always something going on to interest everyone, and best of all, it was all family friendly!

The event has changed over the years with more rodeo action, more great names in the concert shows, a bigger carnival presence, but it’s all at the fairgrounds — except for the cowboy action shoots, tractor pulls and the parade. I realize that for some folks this is a big advantage, everything in one place, so much easier to attend, but let’s show off the rest of our town too. It really has a lot to offer, especially to show visitors and tourists coming to our area.

I know it takes a monumental effort of the Grand Old West Days committee and their volunteers to plan, organize, promote and provide Craig with this spectacular event, but it would be nice to add the beautiful downtown area to the mix once again. Just food for thought.

A big thank you goes out to the Grand Old West Days committee for continuing the tradition of our Western heritage’s awesome event to “kick off our summer.”