SERC Meeting July 1, 2026: New Coordinator, Event Reviews, and 4th of July Logistics
SERC Meeting July 1, 2026: New Coordinator, Event Reviews, and 4th of July Logistics
The Special Events Review Committee (SERC) met on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at 15:30. The meeting focused on welcoming new Special Events Coordinator Karissa Burns and new SERC members, reviewing recent events (Farmers Market, Movies & Music in the Park, Flag Day, Artsweek, Bike to Work Day, Golden Bike Cruise), and planning for upcoming major events including the 4th of July celebration and Buffalo Bill Days. No grant applications were considered. Discussions emphasized safety, communication, parking, and shuttle services.
New Coordinator & Member Introductions
- Karissa Burns introduced herself as the new Special Events Coordinator for the City of Golden. She has a background in event management from Johnson & Wales University, experience at the Denver Convention Center and Visit Denver, and most recently worked for the City of Edgewater in Parks and Rec.
- SERC Member Introductions: Each member introduced themselves, their role on the committee, and their favorite Golden event. Members included Tamara Sturdavant (DDA interim), Len Mattheo (Arts and Culture Commission), Amanda Stoecker (Events Ambassador), Terry Weber (downtown business owner), Beth Bidwell (downtown resident), Kasia Zak (resident outside downtown), Leah McDermott (non-downtown business owner), Ross Fraser (Planning Commission), Sandy Hazzard (Parks and Rec Advisory Board), Martha Gerdes (Community Sustainability Advisory Board), Terese Decker (Mobility Transportation Advisory Board, first meeting), and Mary Fritch (Director of Communications and Community Engagement).
Discussion Items
- Meeting Norms & Policies: Mary Fritch outlined the committee's responsibilities: evaluating events for safety, community benefit, and alignment with Golden Vision 2030 values. Members are expected to attend at least two events per year and submit evaluations. Voting on grant applications and new event recommendations is a key duty.
- Event Reviews:
- Farmers Market (Midweek): Members noted improved food focus and better parking/traffic flow. The new Wednesday market at Golden School was praised for being less crowded.
- Movies & Music in the Park (June 12): A generator failure caused a 30-minute delay, but the show continued. Staff reported the issue is fixed. Plans to start the event an hour earlier next year were discussed, as the new LED screen works in daylight.
- Flag Day (June 13): A ceremonial flag folding of a historic flag from the 1800s was held at the History Museum. Some members were unaware of the event; staff noted it was part of the 250/150 celebration.
- Artsweek (June 20-21): Held at Parfet Park. Attendance numbers pending (geofencing data). One food truck present; discussion about needing more food options when alcohol is served. Staff noted that Foothills Art Center wants attendees to patronize downtown restaurants.
- Bike to Work Day (June 24): Steady crowd from 6-9 a.m. at Vanover Park. Pancakes were served; Golden Mill provided breakfast burritos that received positive Reddit reviews.
- Golden Bike Cruise (June 30): First-time attendee noted good organization, hidden band/food in Calvary parking lot, but low bike turnout possibly due to rain. Signage improved from prior years. Discussion about police and marshal positioning for returning riders and children turning around at New Loveland Line.
- Upcoming Events:
- 4th of July (July 4, Lions Park): Logistics detailed: Farmers Market vendor parking moved to library and 10th Street; road closures on 10th/Maple and 9th/Maple begin around 1 p.m.; shuttles run from Health & Human Services lot (off 6th Ave and Jeffco Pkwy) to 10th & Illinois from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the GCC community center lot will be open for event staff and early arrivals, with exit via A Street to Highway 58. Creek ambassadors will assist with directions. No alcohol allowed outside barricaded beer garden. Paid parking as usual; two free hours in garages via parkgoldenco.com.
- Movies & Music in the Park (July 10): Movie is 'Balto'; generator tested and ready.
- Buffalo Bill Days Festival (July 24-26) and Parade (July 25): 80th anniversary; includes 'Golden's Got Talent', line dancing, country music at Buffalo Rose. Volunteer slots still available. The Buffalo Bill Days Saddle Club will ride in the parade.
- Golden Bike Cruise (July 28): Regular route continues.
- Parking & Shuttle Communication: Members expressed that many residents and visitors are unaware of the shuttle service and parking app (parkgoldenco.com). Staff agreed to add this information to upcoming social media posts and the weekly Digest newsletter.
- Grant Program Evaluation: Scheduled for next month's meeting to discuss making the $40,000 annual grant pool more equitable by changing from rolling applications.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were recorded. The meeting was informational and preparatory.
- Staff will update social media to include shuttle and parking app information.
- The committee will discuss the grant program's structure at the next meeting.
- Members were reminded to attend at least two events and submit evaluations via the SignUpGenius link.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, friends. Never again. Hi, thanks for the pictures. Thanks, Mr. Good morning, everybody. We are double checking my shirt. Yeah, we're doing it. Happy first circuit meeting for some new folks. Welcome. Thank you. And another new folks. Hello. Carissa is our new special events coordinator for the city of Golden Market Area. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. So we're gonna start with public comment. And then we will go in and you'll get to know more about um Carissa, and then we want to hear from all of you. Um and then we have some review of what happened and events that have happened and what the look for the future looks like for events coming up. Um and then we will uh just have a few minutes of new business. We have no grant applications this month. Interesting. And um we are gonna save our discussion for uh our mission vision values for next month. Okay. Soundra. Perfect. Um, any of you that don't know me, um, my name's Sandra Welsh, and I'm immediate past president of Golden Lions Club and president of Buffalo Bill Days. Um I spend a lot of time volunteering in this town, so thank you guys for all taking time out. I know how precious time is, and taking time to help out the community is important. Um we're getting ready for 4th of July this weekend, and 4th of July kicks off our month-long celebration for Buffalo Bill Days too. Uh we spend about 1,200 hours putting on the 4th of July of volunteer time, and probably Buffalo Bill Days is closer, like 2200 hours. So it's people in your community that are coming out to make these events special and stuff, and without the community, there's no way we could pull this all off because there's a lot of moving parts and stuff. Um 4th of July is promising to be an awesome event. Uh we're gonna have the City of Golden is sponsoring the kids' stuff, so there's uh kids' bounty houses, face painting, all that kind of stuff, and it's free to everybody. That's what we love about the event. It's free music, it's free entry, and it's free stuff for the kids. Um we're gonna crown the king and queen at Buffalo Bill Days, and then we're gonna start kick doing uh we have Golden's Got Talent is gonna happen with Gnarle's, and we're doing that for Buffalo Bill Days. We're also doing line dancing and uh country music at the Buffalo Rose, so it's trying to work with the whole community and make this a celebration. This is the 80th anniversary of Buffalo Bill Days, so it is a big event and it's been going on for a long time. Um at our events you will see that our that if you look around and notice how many volunteers we have, everybody should have one of these on. Um if you come to our events and you have any feedback or whatever, and you see me, please feel free to come up and say, you know, I want to know if something's going on or something could be changed or whatever. I'm always there for feedback. I helped with the 4th of July for nine years. I'm not charges here, but I will be there probably pulling together whatever needs to happen. So thank you. Is there anything we can do to other than just show up and I mean we do have volunteer slots still available for Buffalo Bill Days? Yeah, um, because it's a lot of hours of work and stuff, and so we have a lot of like where you can serve beer, pour beer, serve wine, or you can work at the info boom and stuff like that. So yeah, but just showing up too and telling your friends and sharing the event on social media is important here. Thank you. Thank you for these letters this year. Oh, yes, yes.
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