Those in Denver to bid farewell Monday night to 2007 first sought refuge from the freezing temperatures, huddling in bars and coffeeshops along the 16th Street Mall to await the fireworks.
As the colorful explosions lit up downtown, hundreds of people streamed out to the streets to gaze up and celebrate another year gone and a new one to come.
“It’s better to be celebrating it around people,” said Teresa Soren sen, 55, who came up from Centennial with family to watch the fireworks for the first time. “Still, we’re trying to keep warm.”
There were identical fireworks shows scheduled at 9 p.m. and midnight, sponsored by Downtown Denver Events Inc. and Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Past events have awed more than 150,000 celebrators.
With temperatures around 13 degrees, the latest event seemed to draw far fewer, at least for the early show. But the fireworks, shot from the tops of buildings at each end of the mall, were as spectacular as in previous years.
“It was awesome,” a sleepy 10-year- old Nick Davis of Denver said.
The 9 p.m. show was past Davis’ bedtime, but his parents wanted to make this New Year’s Eve a family event.
“We wanted to come downtown, and we couldn’t get a babysitter, so this was great for the family,” Nick’s mother, Christy Davis, said.
“And it really isn’t that cold out,” father Alan Davis said. “But we’re from here, so what do we know?”
While Denver’s downtown celebration falls short of New York City’s, it’s still been ranked among the top 10 of other major U.S. cities.
For Mike McGrew and his teenage son, it was worth the long drive up from Pearland, Texas, just south of Houston.
“This is a really neat city,” McGrew, 56, said. “Usually, we’d be watching New Year’s Eve at home on TV, so we were really happy to come up. My boy’s never seen anything like this.”
For some, like McGrew, saying goodbye to 2007 was bittersweet. But his hopes seemed high for 2008.
“It was a complicated year, 2007. I work for Shell Oil, and a lot of jobs are getting moved offshore to places like Kuala Lumpur (in Malaysia). It was a tough year, but I can’t believe it rolled by so quickly.”
His brother, Keith Winch, 53, of Parker, lent his own perspective: “Life’s like a roll of toilet paper. When you’re young, it’s still a big roll, no worries. Getting older is like getting to the end of that roll, it goes away faster and the end is in sight.”
Manny Gonzales: 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
