I have lived here long enough to...

[eddiememphis]

Remember Cinderella City, Villa Italia, and Celebrity Sports Center.

When I see a TV listing for NBC, turn to channel 4.

Know what the Mouse Trap was.

[KevDen2005]

The Rocky Mountain News...opened like a book...I liked that

[HBARleatherneck]

Heritage Square,
Foothills Shooting Center,
Old West Arms,
Rocky Flats,
the Arsenal,
Lowry AFB,
"Dont Californicate Colorado" bumper stickers,
driving under the runway,
Elitches at the original location,
racing at Lakeside,
lodo (before it was called that), and it was all bums and no yuppies. (maybe it is again),
before there was a 16th street mall.
Baby Doe's restaurant,
shooting up near the cemetery at Central City, which was only t-shirt and rock shops,
face on the cutting room floor,
before the highway was Glenwood Canyon,
when Denver did not reach all the way to Cheyenne and Pueblo,
when Jeffco was conservative,
Lakeshore drive in,
clay shooting at Sloan Lake,
Daves Chuckwagon,
Eddie Bohns Pig and Whistle,
Organ Grinder Restaurant,
Ground Round Restaurant,
Gold Rush,
After the Gold Rush,
Buckskin Joes, (lots of westerns made there)
when Broomfield wasnt a county.
Real Gun Shows,
Dragon Lady's on Colfax, If you wanted to be a ninja in the 80s this place had it all.
Santa Claus's Workshop,
the Flintstones house in Boulder.
Garts Sports Castle in Downtown (every kind of gun, fishing and sporting goods you desire, indoor ski slope),
Dave Cooks,
Woolworths soda fountain in Denver.
Parking at Look Out.
Every which Way but loose filmed on Colfax, in Georgetown and various other locations in Colorado,
Duchess and the Dirtwater fox filmed at Central City.
Our class was extras in the movie filmed at Orchard, "Centennial"
the tornado that came down Sheridan (near colfax) and across Sloan Lake


Some of you may remember our cabin near Pine. We had a caboose out front for a guest house. We owned it fom the early 70's until the early 90's. County road 126 now. The area looks nothing like that now, cabin is still there. We dressed up as Roy and Gene and had our guns and holsters on, shooting cars as they drove past. We would be on top of the caboose. Those days were fun. People would smile, honk and wave. (now it probably wouldnt go over as well)

[Fromk]

When Grand Junction had the only mall on the western slope and much of eastern Utah. Well before there was even a Walmart.

I also remember when Colorado was where I thought I could live my whole life.

Even back then we blamed Californians on everything. Good times.

[BladesNBarrels]

The town of Dillon before it was relocated to build the Dam in 1961
The construction of the elevated portion of I-70 in Denver 1961-1964
The flood of the South Platte June, 1965.
The sod farms where Chatfield Reservoir was built in response to the 1965 flood.

[BPTactical]

Shit HBAR- that was your place?
I used to go by it every day on my way to Buffalo Creek.
Greens Mercantile.
Old man Green was a national treasure.

[Jer]

Debby Duz Donuts.

/thread

[MED]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet was the Glenwood Canyon when it was a two lane road along the river.

[buffalobo]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet was the Glenwood Canyon when it was a two lane road along the river.Reread hbar post.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[BladesNBarrels]

Glenwood Canyon when it was a two lane road along the river.

Dated a girl that lived in Glenwood in the early 70's when I got out of the service and went back to CU in Boulder.
I would get off work Friday afternoon and drive to Glenwood via that road and drive back on Sunday.
Rough, lots of pot holes, no shoulders, and traffic like the cities today.
But, I enjoyed the week-ends fishing!

[BPTactical]

I remember winning seasons for the local sportsball team[ROFL1][mop]

[Doc45]

Torpedoes in the Mousetrap LOL

[BPTactical]

Torpedoes in the Mousetrap LOL

1984

[HBARleatherneck]

I watched George Bush Senior play a little baseball with the Denver Bears at Mile High before one of his events at McNichols. I have a picture of him rocking back on his heels at the plate because the pitcher threw one inside.

I will post the picture as soon as I get to the pile of photo albums. This one is from the internet. It was front page Rocky Mountain News. (when we were dumb enough to like the bushs)https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.UVoDsWJ1Q95yos454WlB7wHaGf?w=187&h=180&c=7&r=0&o=5&dpr=1.3&pid=1.7

Alright baseball fans, we are going back into the archives to talk about the Denver Bears and a special player they had back in 1984: George H.W. Bush.
Yes, former President George H.W. Bush played for the Denver Bears in 1984. Bush was the sitting vice president at the time and took part in an old-timers game on July 12 at Mile High Stadium with the Denver Bears.
Though he didn’t start the game, Bush came in the fourth inning, played first base and got an at-bat. This at-bat was one for the books as Bush hit a line drive single off Hall of Famer Warren Spahn.
Spahn is well known in the baseball world, and being an old-timers game there were sure to be some other big names around the field, so we might as well list a few others who played: Ernie Banks, Brooks Robinson, Billy Martin, Bob Feller and Joe DiMaggio are a few names that may ring a bell.
Bush was no stranger to the diamond playing at Yale, where he appeared in back-to-back College World Series for the Bulldogs in 1947-48.

[Ah Pook]

I found a Denver map, in the Jeep, that had a RR yard where Coors Field is now.

[BushMasterBoy]

Marching back to the barracks in the winter of 76-77 at Lowry AFB. I was 17 and Rock n' Roll was at its zenith.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WWHdBuOC6Q

[JoeRoss]

I remember most all of the above.

I rode my bicycle over the dirt mounds before they built the Villa Italia. Grew up in Jefferson county before there was a city of Lakewood.

They were still building I-70. It was completed only a few miles west of town.

Gart Brothers Sports Castle. Bought my first hunting rifle there. Killed my first deer with it.
They had 55 gallon barrels with mil-surp rifles in them. One barrel had $9.99 rifles, the next had $19.99 rifles, the last one had $29.99 ones. Money was hard to come by, so I had to get one of the $9.99 ones. Wasn't old enough to have a drivers license yet (young teenager) but I could pick out a rifle plunk it down on the counter, and buy a box of ammo for it. No ID or age check. Then walk out the door, rifle in one hand, ammo in the other. That was obviously before the bullshit gun law of 1968.

[ray1970]

I haven?t been here all that long but I do remember when I could get from Thornton to Centennial straight down I-25 in about 25 minutes.

[Great-Kazoo]

I remember when the only way to get pizza, was in the frozen food section.


El Tepehuan on broaday in englehood

Blinky The Clown , actually his antique store on Broadway.


The warning on Stormy Rottman's weather report C.O.A.S.T.


going out to tower rd to shoot, or down bt chatfield.

The tomato wars between TX and CO residents held at twin lakes?


Also remember when you could use your CCW permit to buy a gun, with no BGC.

Mostly i remember CO as i saw it in the late 70's saying screw NY we're moving here.


There's one more thing i remember. But i'll wait till i can find the picture to post that one.

[O2HeN2]

Ride the Manitou Incline, a funicular (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular).

[crays]

How about The Hungry Farmer and Luby's Cafeteria

And Drumstick Restaurant on west Colfax, with the train running around the ceiling.

[SAnd]

The first big thing I remember on moving to Colorado is a BIG rock.
I moved to Greeley in spring 1976. The first excursion I made into the mountains was a drive up to Estes Park. A few months later I drove up again and at the mouth of the Big Thompson was big rock I remembered seeing at Estes Park. Over a hundred people died during the flood that moved that rock 26 (?) miles down the canyon.
When I moved to Denver in 1982 almost a third of the lots in my neighborhood were empty. They are all full now.
Where I worked for 27 years is empty ground now.
Believe or not but the air is cleaner now that then. Some days you couldn't see downtown Denver coming down 25 from the north when you came over the ridge looking into the bowl Denver sits in. Just a layer of brown with a few buildings sticking up through. I spite of the increase in population at least the brown is gone. I don't miss the Brown Cloud.

And about the torpedoes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdf_jgNM6_0

[.455_Hunter]

Remember Cinderella City, Villa Italia, and Celebrity Sports Center.

When I see a TV listing for NBC, turn to channel 4.

Know what the Mouse Trap was.


I went to Celebrity Sports Center once with my Cub Scout Den in deep winter. Being somewhat of a water shy kid, it was the first big tube slide I went on. I remember a large puddle on one of the ramp landings from the leaking tube that had ice crystals growing in it. That was cold on my 9 or 10 year old bare feet. It closed pretty soon afterwards.

I did a HS marching band parade where we formed in the Cinderella City parking lot, just in front of what is now a city administration building. I think it was already on its last legs as a mall.

I still think Ch 4 is NBC, Ch 7 is CBS and Ch. 9 is ABC. I just had my son looking for MNF on Ch 9 last week.

Wasn't there an observation tower in the middle of the Mouse Trap?

Anyway, a lot of you folks are significantly older than me based your observations...

[lpgasman]

Bus service station on Santa fe and Alameda, centennial horse track federal at Bellevue, organ grinder pizza Alameda and zuni, standing on the platform under the old tower at bandimere. Those were the days.

[eddiememphis]

Blinky The Clown...


I was on Blinky's Fun Club when I was six. I got to sit next to the cake that had the candle that would lower when someone tried to blow it out.



And Drumstick Restaurant on west Colfax, with the train running around the ceiling.

There was another one on Evans, east of I-25.



Wasn't there an observation tower in the middle of the Mouse Trap?


Yes, and it looked like the mousetrap game cage.

94842

[Doc45]

Great pic! Had a number of both my sons birthday parties at Celebrity. Went to a number of Nuggets games and a Rolling Stones concert at McNichols Arena. Too many other places now gone to remember and I’ve only been here 40 years lol

[eddiememphis]

What about the rainbow music hall?

[flogger]

Anyone remember a big glass vertical parking garage on the west side of Colorado Blvd around I-25?

Celebrity Sports Center had the three large slot car tracks downstairs, always wondered what happened to them. I think a Home Depot is there now.

Stock car and demolition derby nights at Englewood speedway.

[.455_Hunter]

I watched Blinky every morning.

[Great-Kazoo]

What about the rainbow music hall?

The last concert at the rainbow was........Warren Zevon. Who did the concert w/out a drummer. IIRC timothy B schmidt, Warren and waddy made up the band. He came out for a few encores. One of them he said. OK i want everyone to sing along with a song you're all familiar with (or something along those lines) S.O.B, bust out What new Pussycat!. F^&*in amazing.


Saw Zevon numerous times, mostly up in boulder, 1x in ft fun.

[Alpha2]

I haven?t been here all that long but I do remember when I could get from Thornton to Centennial straight down I-25 in about 25 minutes.

When I first moved here, I could drive from Ft. Collins to North Colorado Springs for a job, in two hours. If I can make it from Ft. Fun to North Denver area in two hours, I consider it a "good" day.

[MED]

I just moved my son into an apartment at Academy and Woodman road. I remember when that was all farm land and now there is an overpass there and packed solid with stuff. I grew up in Monument, and that place is unrecognizable now.

[BPTactical]

That pic of the tower in the mousetrap was taken before the ‘Trap was reworked in the early 70’s.
It was built to its current configuration in 1987.
The tower was only used for about 3 years, media traffic helicopters made it obsolete almost overnight. It was known as Tower One. There was a Tower 2 and it was at the I25/6th Avenue interchange. It was never used to the best of my knowledge because it had just been completed when the Mousetrap tower went out of service.
There had been plans for Tower 3 at the I70/Quebec interchange but those plans were scrapped. Interesting tidbit- I70 & Quebec was listed as the most accident prone intersection in the US for about 8 years in a row- it remains that way until DIA was put into service.

I spent countless hours at those towers when I drove a tow truck, waiting for wrecks to happen then it was balls to the wall.
I could go for hours on Lakeside Speedway- I worked that track for about 7 years when I drove a tow truck. Awesome way to spend a Sunday night.
Everybody hated the Carelli’s.

Anybody remember the Smaldones? My brother in law dated one of the daughters.
Old Little Italy around 20th Street/Pecos/34th St confluence.
Palgiacchis, Subway, Patsy’s, Carbones.
Great Italian food!
I miss it.

[Doc45]

Don't forget Gaetano's lol, still has bullet marks on the walls, definitely not as good as it used to be. Chauncey was quite the character.

[buffalobo]

The last concert at the rainbow was........Warren Zevon. Who did the concert w/out a drummer. IIRC timothy B schmidt, Warren and waddy made up the band. He came out for a few encores. One of them he said. OK i want everyone to sing along with a song you're all familiar with (or something along those lines) S.O.B, bust out What new Pussycat!. F^&*in amazing.


Saw Zevon numerous times, mostly up in boulder, 1x in ft fun.Warren Zevon @ Tulagi's. [emoji106]

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[buffalobo]

That pic of the tower in the mousetrap was taken before the ?Trap was reworked in the early 70?s.
It was built to its current configuration in 1987.
The tower was only used for about 3 years, media traffic helicopters made it obsolete almost overnight. It was known as Tower One. There was a Tower 2 and it was at the I25/6th Avenue interchange. It was never used to the best of my knowledge because it had just been completed when the Mousetrap tower went out of service.
There had been plans for Tower 3 at the I70/Quebec interchange but those plans were scrapped. Interesting tidbit- I70 & Quebec was listed as the most accident prone intersection in the US for about 8 years in a row- it remains that way until DIA was put into service.

I spent countless hours at those towers when I drove a tow truck, waiting for wrecks to happen then it was balls to the wall.
I could go for hours on Lakeside Speedway- I worked that track for about 7 years when I drove a tow truck. Awesome way to spend a Sunday night.
Everybody hated the Carelli?s.

Anybody remember the Smaldones? My brother in law dated one of the daughters.
Old Little Italy around 20th Street/Pecos/34th St confluence.
Palgiacchis, Subway, Patsy?s, Carbones.
Great Italian food!
I miss it.Rick the dick.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[BPTactical]

Rick the dick.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.


Ricky the High Plains Drifter?..
94854
94855
94856


The first pic is of his ASA car, I was the left front wheel man in his pits for 4 races.
The last pic is his Malloy chassied 29 Modified Coupe. He took me for a few laps in it one afternoon, I was half sitting on his shoulders and my head was cranked under the wing. He said he only hit about 1/2 throttle but damn, that lil coupe was quick!
The other pic was taken after the car was sold, the guy who bought it stuffed it up at Cheyenne.

I remember working CNS when it was a dirt(mud) track.
I hated it- the damn mud didn?t come off until a week later and it took the wiring with it.

[buffalobo]

Yeah, was a fan until '92 Winston West race in Phoenix. He behaved badly with a track worker and refused to apologize when called on it.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[BPTactical]

Yeah, was a fan until '92 Winston West race in Phoenix. He behaved badly with a track worker and refused to apologize when called on it.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

Broken ribs can make one less than cheerful iirc.

Anyways, Lakeside was good racing.

[Tor Larson]

The 94th Aero Squadron. Just on the south edge of Stapleton Runway. A French chateau with WW1 aircraft, machine gun emplacements, and headphones at the table to listen to control tower. Great steaks and French Onion soup.

Cruising downtown College Ave in FOCO Sat nites (hundreds of cars going back and forth in a five block area) since there was nothing else to do.

Sid Kings Crazy Horse on Colfax- ran a few calls there when I drove a Cadillac ambulance for Haley Paramedic.

Estes Park Highland Festival was $5 for the whole weekend and you could join the 2am parade of serious drunken Scottish/Canadian pipers as they marched down main street. Local law enforcement was cool about it too. Just a few hundred people attended way back and you could pass out/sleep on the tennis courts and do it all again the next day.

Northglenn Mall with fountains, Furrs, Sears, Pennys and rival North Valley mall with Wyatts and Monkey Wards.

[colorider]

“ Anybody remember the Smaldones? ”. Our family is close with the Smaldone family. I was the alter boy for the grand daughter’s wedding. Was Clyde Smaldone’s person waiter at a popular restaurant in town. Although I was only 16, I was allowed to have 1 beer at the bar with Clyde when he came in. He had clout there. Lol. Grandma Smaldone lived a few houses down from me growing up. Chimney blew up one day. That day was the first time I was interviewed by the fbi and a lot of cops. A group of us were riding our bikes at the time. Wanted to know what cars we’ve seen. None was the answer.

[flogger]

The 94th Aero Squadron. Just on the south edge of Stapleton Runway. A French chateau with WW1 aircraft, machine gun emplacements, and headphones at the table to listen to control tower. Great steaks and French Onion soup.

Cruising downtown College Ave in FOCO Sat nites (hundreds of cars going back and forth in a five block area) since there was nothing else to do.

Sid Kings Crazy Horse on Colfax- ran a few calls there when I drove a Cadillac ambulance for Haley Paramedic.

Estes Park Highland Festival was $5 for the whole weekend and you could join the 2am parade of serious drunken Scottish/Canadian pipers as they marched down main street. Local law enforcement was cool about it too. Just a few hundred people attended way back and you could pass out/sleep on the tennis courts and do it all again the next day.

Northglenn Mall with fountains, Furrs, Sears, Pennys and rival North Valley mall with Wyatts and Monkey Wards.

That 94th Aero Squadron was a cool place! Strange how it burned down right after the DIA move was in the works!

Don't forget parking under the runway approach on Havana, great place at night.

[flogger]

“ Anybody remember the Smaldones? ”. Our family is close with the Smaldone family. I was the alter boy for the grand daughter’s wedding. Was Clyde Smaldone’s person waiter at a popular restaurant in town. Although I was only 16, I was allowed to have 1 beer at the bar with Clyde when he came in. He had clout there. Lol. Grandma Smaldone lived a few houses down from me growing up. Chimney blew up one day. That day was the first time I was interviewed by the fbi and a lot of cops. A group of us were riding our bikes at the time. Wanted to know what cars we’ve seen. None was the answer.

There is a great book on the Smaldone's by Dick Kreck (I think). It mentions a bomb planted under the front porch. They were a tight family that you didn't mess with.

[flogger]

How about the legendary Denver Policeman Buster Snider?

[BladesNBarrels]

Whoa, these comments are triggering some memories.

Sept. 30, in 1961, dozens of disgraced Denver cops were hauled to jail in a paddy wagon for running a massive police burglary ring. Denver's burglars in blue cased their jobs from police cruisers and returned at night to steal while lookouts monitored the police radios. The same policemen returned to investigate the crime and destroy the evidence. The ring was exposed after a 300-pound safe tumbled out of a getaway car owned by patrolman Art Winstanley, 24. His arrest and confession pulled back the curtain on a scandal that earned Denver the title "Crooked-cop capital of the United States."

[HBARleatherneck]

Alan Berg

[eddiememphis]

Alan Berg

That was on my brain this morning, along with Hal and Charlie.

KAZY album side weekends. KBPI rocks the rockies.

[colorider]

There is a great book on the Smaldone's by Dick Kreck (I think). It mentions a bomb planted under the front porch. They were a tight family that you didn't mess with.

My last name may or may not be mentioned in that book a few times.

[Great-Kazoo]

That was on my brain this morning, along with Hal and Charlie.

KAZY album side weekends. KBPI rocks the rockies.

Get the LED out.

[flogger]

Whoa, these comments are triggering some memories.

Sept. 30, in 1961, dozens of disgraced Denver cops were hauled to jail in a paddy wagon for running a massive police burglary ring. Denver's burglars in blue cased their jobs from police cruisers and returned at night to steal while lookouts monitored the police radios. The same policemen returned to investigate the crime and destroy the evidence. The ring was exposed after a 300-pound safe tumbled out of a getaway car owned by patrolman Art Winstanley, 24. His arrest and confession pulled back the curtain on a scandal that earned Denver the title "Crooked-cop capital of the United States."

My In-laws were close friends with Art and his wife after he served his time. I'm trying to get more info from the mother-in-law. My wife remembers him well and said he was a nice guy. He wrote a book about it called 'Burglars in Blue'. When you mentioned his name and a safe falling out of the getaway car, that rang a bell.

[scratchy]

I got here in 1990, so I remember some of these. I do remember playing dice with one of the Smaldones at the Park Center Lounge, circa 1993-4. I did not win.