A dude ranch in Granby is making “Dreams Come True” this weekend for an 11-year-old Florida girl with a life-threatening illness.
Given her choice, Morgan Blackwell picked riding horseback in the Colorado snow for her dream-come- true. She browsed online and liked what she saw at The C Lazy U Guest Ranch & Resort.
The trip came together over the past month, ranch manager Brian Gardner said.
“We see almost daily a very magical thing that happens to the families that come here,” he said. “I think in today’s busy world to have an experience like this is more than a vacation; it’s a lifetime memory for families.
“When we heard about this little girl and her dream to come here, our hearts melted. We said, ‘Sure thing, let’s get that family out here.’ “
Dreams Come True, based in Jacksonville, Fla., arranged the visit.
They had a “dream party,” a bon voyage of sorts, Thursday night in Florida and the Blackwells traveled to Colorado on Friday.
Andrea Siracusa, a spokeswoman for Dreams, described Morgan as “a wonderful young lady.
“She is very excited to go on her trip.”
Morgan is battling an intestinal disease, Siracusa said.
The ranch offers Morgan and her family of five four nights this weekend with her choice of 200 horses and 8,500 acres on which to ride. Morgan and the family can also enjoying snow tubing and sledding hills, sleigh rides, a skating pond, indoor horse-riding rings with instructors, and a heated, spring-fed swimming pool.
Dreams, which has been around for 26 years, offers Florida children who are ill, or children who are being treated in Florida, a chance to recapture some of their childhood that’s been lost to battling illness, Siracusa said.
This year the group plans to sponsor 200 kids.
“These children are so determined,” Siracusa said. “It makes you want to be more determined to do whatever you can do to help them out. It gives you more drive to do what you can for them.”
For more information on Dreams, visit .
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson contributed to this report.
