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Gold Hill Square a host to Halloween walk
  
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By Pat Hill
Rain, sleet or snow, Gold Hill Square North and South throws a Halloween celebration Oct. 31. For 23 years, the merchants in the shopping square have offered goodies for trick-or-treaters.
“Even in cold weather they come in droves,” said Pat Chevalier, who owns Gold Hill Gifts and Jewelry. “Last year we gave out more than 1,000 pieces of candy.”
The event was a response to the horrific stories of tainted candy found in children’s Halloween sacks around the country. Gold Hill merchants joined the national movement to keep the holiday but change the venue from streets to malls.
“This is a safe place to be for the kids, and parents don’t have to worry,” Chevalier said.
For the past two years, the business owners have combined the Halloween party with a fundraiser. This year’s beneficiary is the Little Chapel Food Pantry in Divide.
With the ongoing recession, the pantry’s founders are operating on shoestrings.
“We are distributing more than 300 boxes of food every two weeks,” said Judy Hesselberg, who with her husband, Ken, runs the pantry with a contingent of volunteers.
“Every single distribution, on the second and fourth Mondays, we add 20 to 30 families. Times are tough.”
Funded by grants and donations, which pay for the food, the nonprofit organization is short on general operating expenses.
“If we don’t have operating funds, we can’t put gas in the truck to pick up the food,” she said. “We help people with food boxes from Guffey, Fairplay, Sedalia and Cripple Creek, for instance.”
The Halloween walk is from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 31, and for preschool children, a special event is at 10 a.m. Oct. 30. “This is our way of saying thank you to the kids,” Chevalier said.
As part of the fundraiser, Gold Hill Java accompanies donations to the food pantry with a cup of hot apple cider.
To donate to the pantry, checks can be made out to Little Chapel Food Pantry, 69 County Rd. 5, Divide, CO 80814.
“Even in cold weather they come in droves,” said Pat Chevalier, who owns Gold Hill Gifts and Jewelry. “Last year we gave out more than 1,000 pieces of candy.”
The event was a response to the horrific stories of tainted candy found in children’s Halloween sacks around the country. Gold Hill merchants joined the national movement to keep the holiday but change the venue from streets to malls.
“This is a safe place to be for the kids, and parents don’t have to worry,” Chevalier said.
For the past two years, the business owners have combined the Halloween party with a fundraiser. This year’s beneficiary is the Little Chapel Food Pantry in Divide.
With the ongoing recession, the pantry’s founders are operating on shoestrings.
“We are distributing more than 300 boxes of food every two weeks,” said Judy Hesselberg, who with her husband, Ken, runs the pantry with a contingent of volunteers.
“Every single distribution, on the second and fourth Mondays, we add 20 to 30 families. Times are tough.”
Funded by grants and donations, which pay for the food, the nonprofit organization is short on general operating expenses.
“If we don’t have operating funds, we can’t put gas in the truck to pick up the food,” she said. “We help people with food boxes from Guffey, Fairplay, Sedalia and Cripple Creek, for instance.”
The Halloween walk is from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 31, and for preschool children, a special event is at 10 a.m. Oct. 30. “This is our way of saying thank you to the kids,” Chevalier said.
As part of the fundraiser, Gold Hill Java accompanies donations to the food pantry with a cup of hot apple cider.
To donate to the pantry, checks can be made out to Little Chapel Food Pantry, 69 County Rd. 5, Divide, CO 80814.
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