When Jamee Chambers proposed a cider festival to the town of Morrison in 1989, she said her reasoning was to “have a fun way to get to know neighbors and get to know each other on a nice warm October day.”
Last year, that small-town gathering drew an estimated 3,500 people, double the number it attracted the year prior.
The increase was thanks to great weather, a bountiful apple harvest and a new marketing push to help bring in people from outside the town.
The town of Morrison last month created the nonprofit Promote Morrison as a fundraising umbrella to help improve community events and draw more people to town.
Clinton Scott manages Red Rocks Grill in downtown Morrison and said he has seen business increase steadily in the past three years.
“There’s absolutely been a large increase,” he said. “I see (Morrison), more personally, as a destination spot. People love to hike and bike in the area, they stop in for beer. It’s a place to fill up and recharge.”
He attributes most of that to an increase in the number of concerts hosted at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre — and an improved economy.
The goal of Promote Morrison’s efforts, as well as the town’s, is to encourage those people to linger, rather than just stop over, said Kara Zabilansky, the town’s administrator.
“To create a sense of community,” she said. “Drawing in various age groups of the community and outside of the community to come experience Morrison and the things we have to offer.”
, held for the first time last year.
Organizers of those events are members of Promote Morrison, and funds raised from those events will go back into expenses, such as tent rentals.
Separately from Promote Morrison, Zabilansky said the town board and staff are also focused on beautification and branding efforts, such as holiday lights, planting trees and upgrading signs to be more cohesive.
There is also talk of eventually creating a miniature amphitheater at the town park to play host to events. Since its beginning, Ciderfest has been held at the the lawn of of Bear Creek Center, a long-term senior care facility.
“Honestly, if it gets much bigger than what we had last year, we’re going to kind of run out of space to house people,” said Ryan Kloberdanz, who is on the committee of Ciderfest organizers.
The goal, however, is to keep up the strong momentum that Ciderfest built up last year. Kloberdanz said that is being helped this year with a boosted music lineup featuring the Hazel Miller Band.
Ciderfest does have a new challenge this year: a nonexistent apple yield, the result of and .
But Chambers, otherwise known during Ciderfest as “Apple Annie,” will be doing demonstrations using the town’s own cider press using fruit from the Western Slope and doling out samples of cider.
The original intent of the festival should still be apparent.
“It was a good way to make people aware of how much fun it could be to live in a small town,” she said. “And from that outgrowth, people want to do more to make it more fun to live in a small town.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or @JosieKlemaier
Ciderfest
When: 10 a.m. Sept. 26
Where: Lawn of the Bear Creek Center, 450 Summer St.
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