As snow began to fly Friday during Denver’s chilly Christmas, many embraced the cold to find joy in time spent with their families or wandering about.
On the 16th Street Mall downtown, flocks of people who bundled up under gray skies were undeterred by the closed shops and restaurants that typically bring bustle. Instead, they snapped photos of one another or took selfies using city buildings as their backdrop.
“It’s Christmas,” a man said on one of the mall’s free shuttles. “It should be snowing money.”
Memories on ice
Staying in a Denver hotel over Christmas during a family trip to Colorado’s high country, Lori Ann Gotchall wasn’t sure where to take her son, daughter and granddaughter for holiday fun.
The group — from Manhattan, Kan., and on a memory-making spree to Breckenridge — was looking to seize every opportunity they could in the big city.
Ice skating, Gotchall thought, would do just that.
The four headed to Skyline Park, off 16th and Arapahoe streets downtown, where they laced up and took their rental skates for a spin.
“We’re doing a memory-making holiday,” a beaming Gotchall said as her family stood nearby. “Instead of giving all these gifts that nobody really needs, we’re splurging on memories.”
Marta Crossey, visiting from Albuquerque and also at the rink, had a similar idea.
With a camera hanging around her neck and an i Phone out to capture the moment, Crossey watched her husband, sister and nieces navigate the ice amid a symphony of Christmas songs. “We’re just out here enjoying the city,” she said. “It’s a perfect day. You can’t feel the cold on a day like today.”
A stranger’s love
Clad in a red fleece suit and donning a Santa hat, Michael Thein sat in his wheelchair at 16th and Champa streets with a mission of love.
“Merry Christmas!” he yelled at passers-by as snow fell on his long, gray beard. “Need a high-five?”
The formerly homeless man said he was trying to gather money to help buy a new pair of shoes for someone living on the streets. He said his mission began two years after he was able to buy a needy woman boots to replace the worn footwear she was using to trudge through the snow.
He said he was waiting to collect enough money before picking out a worthy candidate for this generosity.
“When I was homeless, I made $500 one Christmas sitting out here,” he said, pausing to high-five a woman. “I used that to buy a hotel for a month. I had enough left over so I could give the rest away.”
A new tradition
In the Sun Valley neighborhood, near Fairview Elementary School, a new family tradition — snowball armageddon — was born on Christmas afternoon for the Ronans. The family elder, Boris Ronan, 62, was covered in so much fresh snow that his grandchildren were calling him “Frosty,” after the snowman with the corncob pipe.
His four grandchildren, ages 5-10, had never seen snow before Friday. They live in southern Arizona and came to visit their Denver grandparents over the holidays for the first time.
An epic snowball battle erupted from what was supposed to be the building of a family snowman. The icy war soon grew to involve three generations and a dozen family members while engulfing at least three yards and part of the schoolgrounds.
“If I ever thaw out, I’ll never forget this,” said Boris Ronan, just after snowball hit him in the back. “The little ones love it more than I do, but I can’t run or throw like they do.”
That prompted Esmeralda Ronan, 9, to offer excitedly: “Let’s do this every Christmas.”
A Jedi night
Christmas came more slowly than usual for a trio of siblings this year, as they waited to see the latest “Star Wars” movie. Jeff Oliver, 41, Alan Oliver, 37, and Tina Oliver-Watts, 33, haven’t missed a Christmas-night movie together since they were children.
Both parents are deceased. Their mom was the last to die, four years ago, but the children have kept the movie-night date each year because their mom insisted as much.
The first movie they remembered seeing was “Ernest Saves Christmas,” which came out in 1988. Alan remembers it because he cried when their parents said no to “Die Hard.”
This year, there was no argument. The Force was, indeed, with them.
The siblings, joined by five companions and friends, were at the Century 16 Bel Mar in Lakewood an hour early to see “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” in 3-D.
“This stupid family made me wait a week to see it,” joked Tina. “I made everybody get ready early, so we wouldn’t have to miss it if it sells out.”
Holiday glow
As temperatures sank into the 20s after dark, the red, green and blue lights setting the Denver City and County Building all aglow were lifting holiday spirits anew.
Cars streamed by in a procession with children’s faces affixed to backseat windows. And despite the cold, hundreds of people milled around on the plaza to hear the building’s bell tower chime a medley of seasonal favorites, from “Here Comes Santa Claus” to “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”
Ana Espinoza, 67, posed with her children and grandchildren in front of the encased Nativity scene on the front steps.
“It reminds us,” she said, “what comes first at Christmas.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
