The forecasts for Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins has Halloween day 2011 the 10 day high.  We’ll see if the Colorado forecast is correct!

In the meantime however, it seems that there are more activities for young and old, across Colorado, in the days leading up to Halloween itself.

Many of the neighbors in the Colorado neighborhoods 8z Real Estate blogs about have listed activities, costume and decoration ideas recently.  Here are a few things happening near you!

Activities

In Boulder:

In recent years the Boulder High Haunted House has now become legendary. Travel through the tunnels beneath the school and through the auditorium to benefit the Boulder HS theater production team. So avoid those long lines at the commercial haunted houses, and visit the local haunted house. It opens October 27th through Halloween. Click for more details about Boulder High’s Haunted House.

On Friday Oct 28, 3-5pm there’s an event at the SoBo Rec Center for the young kids, ages 3-8 years old. It’s the Spooktacular Celebration complete with pirate bounce house, crafts, face painting, Halloween tattoos, haunted house/maze, games and prizes.

Not every Halloween activity is about eating obscene amounts of candy. On Saturday, Oct 29th, 8:45am bring a pumpkin and a canned food item to donate and participate in the 3rd annual Halloween Food Drive and PUMP-kin workout at Scott Carpenter Park.

From there you have time to attend the Free Family Halloween Concert at the Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Theater. It is at 11am Oct 29th.

There are also two non-scary Halloween themed play classes during the weekend on Oct 29, 4-5:30pm and Oct 30, 10-11:30am at  Gymboree Play and Music. For $20/child (adults are free) your kid and you can enjoy craft time, a costume parade, parachute time with bubbles and a snack.

And on Halloween day itself, from 3-5pm take the kids after school to Downtown Boulder’s Munchkin Masquerade. Trick-r-treat on the Pearl St Mall!

And before heading out in the neighborhood for trick-r-treating, visit Ideal Market’s Annual Pumpkin Patch Photo Booth.  It is also a free event with photos taken by a professional photographer.

In Denver:

On Saturday October 29th, head to Northwest Denver as the shops all along Tennyson Street between 38th and 45th Avenues in the Berkeley neighborhood will be giving out goodies to children. It’s the Trick Or Treat on Tennyson Street!

In Northern Colorado:

Near Greeley, there is The Fritzler Maize which is Colorado’s original and premier corn maze. There are pillow jumps, camp fires, duck races, loads of other fun entertainment – and food – kettle corn, pizza, funnel cakes, cotton candy, BBQ and more. Read about the maize.

In Loveland, participate in The Embassy Suites Loveland’s 2nd Annual Phantom 4-Mile Race, Bone Chilling Breakfast and Costume Contest will be held Saturday, October 29, 2011. There will be prizes for the best adult costume, best team costume, best child’s costume and best dog costume! Read about the course and the animal sanctuary it benefits.

And for plenty more, happening in your neighborhood, check out your neighborhood blogs on 8z.com.

Hi Folks, I am always looking for ways to serve this community. Last year I started a lawn
aeration program that also served as a school fundraiser. The program was incredibly suc-
cessful. The beauty of it is that it is so simple. Each spring most of us hire someone to
aerate our lawns as a way to ensure great looking and healthy turf all season long. By
scheduling this service through my program you get the job done professionally and help
our local schools. I want to double last year’s success but to do so I need everyone’s help.

Here is how it works: Have your lawn aerated through this program the
week of April 4th and $10.00 of the total cost will be donated to our local
schools. All money raised through this lawn aeration program will be split
equally between Superior Elementary and Eldorado K-8.

LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS MARCH 30TH

The Cost: Unbelievably low flat rate of $30.00 front & back

How do I sign up? Email Brad@BradKleinRealEstate.com or call 303-449-0195
and we will schedule you for the week of April 4th.

Last year was a great beginning for this program. The contractor was happy with the work
and did a first rate job. Everyone got their lawn aerated on time, for a fair price, and with-
out any complaints. Each school received a check for $417.50 and never had to do any ac-
tive fundraising. I got the chance to give back to the community for allowing me to be it’s
Realtor for the last 20 years.

Call 303-449-0195 or Email
Brad@BradKleinRealEstate.com
to sign up today!!

I also want you to know that I don’t make any money on this nor do I have any ownership
in the company that will perform the work.

A recent article on 8z.com announced there is a solution for you and your family in South Boulder’s Martin Acres neighborhood… The “Car Seat Guy” lives in Martin Acres and he makes house calls! Bill Flinchbaugh has been instructing parents on Child Passenger Safety for over ten years. Bill has become a leader in CRS and vehicle safety education. With over 20,000 CRS assists to his credit and familiarity with almost every vehicle and car seat ever sold in the US, Bill is a walking encyclopedia.

If you would like to have your child safety seat installation checked, please contact the “Car Seat Guy” at 303-931-3443 or visit http://www.carseatprogram.com/

Remember, all children under 13 years of age should be in a back seat, and children under 57 inches in a booster seat appropriate for their body size and vehicle seating position. *As of August 2010, this is now Colorado law!!

The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation noted on its Historic Building Inventory Record that the Martin Farmhouse has significance because of its type and period of construction, affiliation with significant persons and its association with meaningful events.

It all started in 1875 and is a Vernacular wood frame (New England) style home. Regarded for its High Plains Farming, the home was originally surrounded by nearly 400 acres of timothy hay fields. Martin purchased the land and constructed the property with funding made from Caribou Mine and Poorman Mine, silver mines that he had helped to discover.

“Billy” Martin was born in England and moved to the United States with his father when he was a young boy after the death of his Mother. In the early 1860’s they moved to Colorado.

The Farmhouse was occupied by the Martin Family until the early 1900’s. Shortly after WW II William Martin’s heirs saw an opportunity and sublet the family farm and this area became what we now call “Martin Acres.”

How do you connect with your neighborhood peeps?

To see how spring is shaping up in NoBo, here’s a quick video taken on a beautiful, quiet morning at the corner of Yellow Pine Ave and 14th Street.

April in NoBo from CO Homefinder on Vimeo.

The Casey neighborhood is in north Boulder, near the Boulder Old Town, Mapleton, Downtown, Newlands, Melody Heights, and other Boulder neighborhoods.

Below is some (very) short video of the construction. Note the giant girders holding up the walls while construction crews work behind them.

Boulder’s Casey Middle School Construction from CO Homefinder on Vimeo.

Casey Middle School Construction 2 from CO Homefinder on Vimeo.

Today, it’s a luxury home/office/studio that was remodled in 2007. You can see this piece of north Boulder history during open house hours: Sundays, 12-3 PM.

The Senate recently backed a bill in Colorado enabling more Colorado locations to use photo radar vans and detectors to fine drivers for speeding. Only three cities now use photo radar: Boulder, Fort Collins, and Denver.

According to an AP Wire, “Currently cities can use photo radar only near parks, schools, construction zones and streets with speed limits under 35 mph. Democratic Sen. Bob Bacon’s bill would also allow it on streets with speed limits up to 55 mph. Fines would be capped at $40.”

If you’ve spend any time on the roads in Boulder, Denver, or Fort Collins, you may have noticed an unmarked van on the side of the road, not coincidentally just down the road from a posted sign that says, “Photo radar in use.”  Inside is an automated camera system and radar detector that records the speed of each passing vehicle.

The system takes a photograph of the driver and license plate, and the registered owner then receives a ticket by mail. If a ticket goes unpaid or unaddressed after a certain number of days, a member of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department usually attempts to collect at the home of the registered owner of the car. In other words, your prize for speeding past an unmarked van is a very expensive picture of you most likely talking on your cell phone.  And if you’re slow enough getting your check out the door, you get a visit from law enforcement’s own welcome wagon.  (You might want to remove that “Bad cop, no donut” bumper sticker you thought was so funny last year.)

But it’s not just about the vans.  From the City of Boulder Web site:

Photo Red Light
Running a red light is one of the most frequent causes of accidents at intersections in Boulder. Red light enforcement through traditional officer-based efforts is difficult and potentially dangerous. In response, Boulder has implemented photo red light, an automated camera and computer system mounted on a traffic signal pole at an intersection. Photo red light takes pictures of any vehicles that run a red light, records the time elapsed since the light turned red and the vehicle entered the intersection, and issues a ticket. The photo red light systems are installed at key Boulder intersections that have a high number of accidents.

At present, photo radar and red light systems are for fining speeders only.  Offenders are not fined for secondary offenses, such as not wearing a seat belt. Also on the horizon, talking on a cell phone without the use of a hands-free device is not illegal in Colorado now, but lawmakers are considering backing a motion towards its prohibition.

My in-laws and I all laugh together now at the perceptions of “big city folk,” but on one issue their assumptions were pretty close: Wildlife encounters do exist, and seem to be heading toward the more frequent end of the scale.  Yes, it’s normal to find deer grazing on the lawns of homes all over Boulder, especially those close to open space areas, and especially if you’ve landscaped the yard with tasty flowers.  It’s wise while driving at dusk to watch for foxes crossing the road, and my dog has harassed a coyote or two–from afar. But it’s also not that rare to see a family of bears lumbering down the streets, especially on trash pickup day. Usually, coexisting with all this wildlife is a perk. It makes things interesting and serene, and reminds us how lucky we are to live near nature.  However…

The principal of South Boulder’s Bear Creek Elementary recently issued the following letter (excerpted):

“A mountain lion was seen in the South Boulder neighborhood as recently
as two days ago. Although mountain lions are in our area, unseen,
much of the time, this is a good opportunity to remind ourselves and
our students of safety as it relates to mountain lions.”

To learn more about mountain lions, including information about how to avoid encounters with mountain lions and what to do if a close encounter occurs, the Colorado Division of Wildlife tells all at:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/Mammals/MountainLion.htm