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Colorado may be getting along in years, but she sure doesn’t look her age: The Centennial State turns 138 years old on Friday, August 1, 2014.
In celebration, History Colorado museums (including History Colorado Center (HCC), Byers-Evans House Museum, and others) will be open free to the public on Friday and Saturday. The festivities will include food, music, dancing, and activities such as adobe brick making. The official birthday will be marked at 8 a.m. on Friday on the west steps of the Capitol Building with a press conference—announcing August as Colorado Proud Month (more on that below)—as well as square dancing, Colorado candy, and, of course, birthday cake. Take advantage of the opportunity to check out HCC’s latest exhibit, Food: Our Global Kitchen (on view through September 1), which explores the history and importance of food in various cultures through hands-on displays.
Sharing in the birthday fun will be Colorado Proud, a Colorado Department of Agriculture program created in 1999 to promote locally grown products, often by labeling them with the Colorado Proud logo. In its infancy, the program had 65 members; today, it boasts more than 2,000. On Friday morning, the organization will launch its second-annual Colorado Proud Choose Colorado Tour. The month-long tour travels to 11 cities across the state—from Fort Collins to Grand Junction to Alamosa—to showcase born-in-Colorado food and agricultural products and educate consumers about the benefits of buying locally. Get a taste at the indoor-outdoor farmers’ market featuring all-local items at HCC later that morning.
Trying to figure out what to do with all your farm-fresh produce? Check out our “Fresh Picks” series for recipe ideas.
Follow associate editor Daliah Singer on Twitter at
—Image courtesy of Shutterstock
