Sunday, April 13, 2025

Littleton Colorado's Historic Crabapple Trees!



One of the beautiful aspects of the Spring season is seeing nature come to life again.

My town of Littleton, Colorado, is known as the "Flowering Crabapple Capital of Colorado," with over 7,000 pink crabapple trees along the city's streets. The trees were planted in the early 1970s as part of a city beautification plan spearheaded by the City of Littleton's mayor at the time, Vaughn Gardinier. He convinced the Littleton City Council to appropriate funds to plant the colorful trees along city streets and to encourage homeowners to plant them in yards throughout the city.


In 2011, with the encouragement of the former Mayor Gardinier, and in celebration of the original effort, the City selected streets with the most colorful collection of the flowering trees and drew a map of a continuous loop route through the community to showcase the beautiful color. It was designated the “Littleton Crabapple Route.” Signs were created by the City staff and placed along the Route to mark it.



My husband and I took a drive along the Crabapple Tree Route ...





...to enjoy the beauty!



We saw so many crabapple trees!


In 2012, a group of citizen volunteers created a non-profit corporation and secured IRS designation to make tax-deductible donations possible, named the “Littleton Crabapple Route, Inc." Its purpose is to continue and promote the appreciation of the springtime color display of flowering crabapple trees in Littleton. They plant additional trees each year and encourage community events that recognize Littleton’s unique beautification heritage.
New trees planted are ornamental, of the nonfruit-producing kind.



Crabapples were not the only blooming spring flowers in view around Littleton. We've had a few weeks of warm weather between our light snow shower days, which has made the entire city begin to blossom. It is a beautiful time of the year!

The high Rocky Mountains are still snow-filled, as you can see by the photo above, but ski season will be ending in the next few weeks and months--the last will be Arapahoe Basin, which estimates June 8th to be their closing date!


I also know spring has arrived when the squirrels become bolder in their search for food. They have been invading my backyard trees lately and eating the budding leaves. One even tried taking a bite of a plastic hummingbird ornament I have hanging in a tree! They make me laugh!

I hope you are enjoying the changing seasons where you live--have a happy week ahead!












Posted by at 16 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, April 6, 2025

A Colorado Rockies Game as a Guest of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank



 


My husband and I were invited to attend one of the Colorado Rockies' opening weekend baseball games against the Athletics this past weekend at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, through a raffle that The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank sponsored.




It was a special T-shirt giveaway to the first 15,000 ballpark guests!


Please click on to enlarge the photo collage.

We saw placards on our way through the ballpark for many other giveaways and theme days ahead for the season.


I took these photos of our foothill neighborhood as we began our drive to Denver, and as you can see, it was a cold day with some icy snow that fell overnight. so.....




...it was nice to know we were going to a private suite within Coors Field, and be part of a group of cornea donor families and cornea recipients.

I was a cornea recipient in 2015, which granted me the miracle of good sight in an eye that had become clouded and scarred from an infection. You can read my story on this post. Every day I say a prayer to thank and honor my donor for the gift of sight.



The private suite was very warm and comfortable with a wonderful view of the baseball field. We were also able to sit outside if we wanted, or stay inside and watch from the window or on the large TV screen.



We saw a Golden Glove award ceremony that two Colorado Rockies players won--Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.  The Rawlings Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). The Gold Glove is widely considered one of the most prestigious defensive awards in baseball.



While the game progressed, all the guests in the suite enjoyed complimentary food and snacks that The Rocky Mountain Lion Eye Bank had the suite's catering provide.

It was exciting to see the Rockies perform a rare triple play in the second inning!  It was only the fifth triple play in their history as a team.
Sadly, the Rockies lost the game to the Athletics, but it was an exciting game nonetheless!

During the game, my husband and I were touched to hear the stories that some of the donor families told us of their loved one's donation. I also told them of my gratitude to have had my full sight restored through cornea donation. 

All in all, it was a memorable evening full of meeting and sharing with donors and recipients, during an exciting baseball game, in a warm, comfortable suite with good food.




My husband and I are signed up to be organ, eye, and tissue donors through our state driver's licenses in the Donate Life America program.

 More than 100,000 patients are estimated to be waiting for a transplant. Give hope and help save lives by registering your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor at your local DMV, on RegisterMe.org.




Posted by at 23 comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)