The last weekend of July saw our community gather over two days of fun, music, and summer relaxation at this year’s Elevation Celebration! The weekend was kicked-off by The Annual Elevation Run/Walk—a fundraiser for the Conifer Lobos Unified Boosters (CLUB) and the Conifer Area Council (CAC) Trails. The rest of the weekend was filled with great music and local community performances, enjoying tasty treats from numerous food vendors, shopping at over 100 booths, being awe-inspired by the Salida Circus, playing in the Xtreme zone or arcade, and enjoying a cold beer… or two… in one of the beer gardens, just to name a few.
With the 10th Annual Elevation Celebration in the books, it is important to reflect on this amazing event and thank the people who made it happen. This was my first Elevation Celebration and it was very intimidating to come into this job with such an enormous event coming quickly—however, I soon learned that I was not alone in organizing it. Actually, my role is really just a small part of an incredible group of volunteers working for months to make this event happen.
The leader of this fantastic crew of volunteers is Melissa Baker. She pours her heart and much of her spare time into this event. She is the owner and principle of Foothills Architects, using her design expertise in many of the firm’s residential projects as well as hotel/convention projects. She loves helping her clients discover the true potential of their existing spaces, or building their dream home. I am in awe of her ability to run her company and still give freely of her time through events like this as well as sitting on the board of Elk Creek Fire Protection District and lighting the musicians at the Snowpack Underground. Her talents and desire to give to our community are limitless. If you see her around, please thank her for all that she does!
This amazing event also could not happen without the generosity of the Sutton Road neighbors in allowing us to use their land to host Elevation Celebration. This beautiful location makes this event even more memorable and accessible to our entire community. Additionally, this event really could not happen without the countless community members, sponsors and organizations that graciously donate their time, money and talent to make this a truly memorable weekend year after year.
Special thanks to all of the committee members who worked tirelessly to make this happen:
Melissa Baker
Nate Baker
Kristin Judy
Tyler Coomes
Mike Thompson
June McKenzie
Noah Martin
Danna Johanson
Jon Farris
Karen Heydman
Chris Heydman
Katie Burgoyne
Stephanie Johnson
Jacqueline Angelo
Paul Vastola
Susie Nelson
Linda Locke
Mike Locke
Anne Locke
Sharon Woods
Mark Spiroff
Erica McConnell
Johnny Domenico
Denise White
Chris White
Nancy Parks
Joao Masur
Punky Kiefer
Sam Price
Katie Bartojay
