COS Town Tidings #24-359

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🤣 Today’s Chuckle

🤶 Feeling Nostalgic This Christmas Eve?

📰 Holiday Hours & Closures You Should Know🎄

📰 FAIR Plan: A Fix for Insurance Gaps?🏠

📰 New CEO, New Hope at Springs Rescue Mission💡

🎅 Trivia Time: The 1955 Moment That Brought Magic to Christmas!

🍴 Holiday Community Meal - Dec 25

📆 Local Events | 🤶 Holiday Events

⛅ COS Weather - Partly cloudy with warmer than average temps

What’s the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet?

👉The Christmas alphabet has no-el 🤣

🤶 Feeling Nostalgic This Christmas Eve?

Oh. My. Goodness. 😂 Remember these practically indestructible plastic popcorn decorations? They're probably still hiding in attics across the country! Did your family have these too? Come reminisce with us on Facebook!

🎄 Holiday Hours & Closures You Should Know

The City of Colorado Springs has announced closures and special holiday hours for various facilities. Administrative offices, including City Hall, the City Clerk’s office, and cemeteries, will close on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Community centers and popular spots like the Pikes Peak summit, Sertich Ice Center, and Skate in the Park will have adjusted hours.

The Pikes Peak AdAmAn Club will dazzle with fireworks from the summit at 9pm on Dec 31, with a second show at midnight to welcome 2025. Golf courses and their grills will also operate with limited hours, weather permitting.

Plan ahead to enjoy the holiday festivities while keeping closures in mind.

🌡️ Why Your Neighbors Are Raving About This Local Company
Call before it becomes an emergency

🏠 FAIR Plan: A Fix for Insurance Gaps?

Colorado homeowners struggling to secure insurance will have a new option starting in 2025: the Colorado FAIR Plan. This program is designed to provide coverage for those denied insurance by three or more companies, offering protection for risks like hail, fire, and sometimes vandalism.

While it fills a critical gap for higher-risk properties, the FAIR Plan won’t address every issue. Flooding, for example, will require separate coverage. Additionally, policy rates will likely be similar to those from major insurance providers, meaning the plan may not offer substantial savings.

For rural Southern Colorado, where insurance challenges are especially pronounced, the FAIR Plan provides temporary relief but isn’t a long-term solution. It’s a safety net to stabilize the market while the industry reevaluates its approach to high-risk areas.

🤫 Meet The Pain Whisperer - Amy Cook-Porter

💡 New CEO, New Hope at Springs Rescue Mission

Springs Rescue Mission, the largest homelessness shelter in Southern Colorado, has announced Travis Williams as its new President and CEO. Williams, once a financial investor helping people grow their wealth, took a significant career turn in 2016 to pursue nonprofit work. His decision was fueled by a desire to address local challenges and invest in community care rather than stock options.

Now at the helm of Springs Rescue Mission, Williams is dedicated to creating a resource hub to support individuals experiencing homelessness. He envisions a community strengthened by compassion, where local efforts to understand and help one another can inspire broader change. Full Story

🎅 TRIVIA: The 1955 Moment That Brought Magic to Christmas!

In 1955, a remarkable Christmas tradition was born in Colorado Springs through a simple telephone misprint. A Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement in a local newspaper accidentally published a phone number that, instead of connecting to Santa, rang directly to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center.

When a young child called the misprinted number, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup, who was on duty that night, made an unexpected decision. Rather than dismissing the call, he played along, ensuring the child that CONAD would help Santa have a safe journey.

This spontaneous moment of kindness quickly evolved into a tradition. Shoup began staffing the line with airmen who would answer calls as Santa, and on Christmas Eve, they even added a "sleigh" to their flight tracking board. By 1958, NORAD had taken over the tracking, transforming a simple mistake into a beloved global Christmas tradition that now receives millions of visits to their website from over 200 countries each year.

The tradition continues to this day in a Peterson Space Force Base hanger, with over 1,000 volunteers answering over 130,000 calls each Christmas Eve, all stemming from a single misdialed phone number in Colorado Springs. Track where Santa is right now by clicking here.

Would you do us a favor and spread the word? We need your HELP! Please share Colorado Springs Town Tidings 🤗

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🍽 FREE Holiday Community Meals

Everyone is Welcome

Dec 25, 11am-1pm: 4 Locations

Fresh Baked Sourdough breads, pastries!
(Closed for holiday break Dec 24-Jan 5)

🎉 New Events Calendar!

We're making it easier to discover and share what's happening in Colorado Springs! Our new interactive calendar is live and growing. Optional weekly SMS event reminders available!

We're rolling out events gradually as it takes a lot of time for us to find and add. Do you have an event to share? Add it directly to the calendar.

📆 Local Events

• Dec 26-Jan 31: Skate in the Park @Acacia Park $13

• Dec 26-Feb 23: Ice Castles @Cripple Creek $21-$29

• Dec 26-29, 1-4 PM: 3-Hour Original Colorado Springs Food Tour @1 Tejon St $69-$87

• Dec 26 (7:30pm)-29: The Little Mermaid @Fine Arts Center $58.50-$66

• Dec 27-29, 4-8:30pm: Christmas At Forest Bend @ Black Forest, 9525 Burgess Rd $17.50 (Must have reservation)

• Dec 27-28, 7pm: The Rocket Man Show | Tribute to Elton John @Phil Long Music Hall at Bourbon Brothers, 13071 Bass Pro Dr $39-$79

• Dec 30-31, 7:30pm: New Year’s Eve: Rhapsody in Blue @Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts $57-$115

• Dec 31, 7:30pm-Midnight: NYE-Under The Lights @ OCC, 2324 W. Colorado Ave $44.52

• Dec 31 7pm: New Year's Eve Bash @The Broadmoor $80-$155

• Dec 31 7pm: New Year's Eve Gala @The Broadmoor $330

• Jan 4, 6-9pm: Murder Mystery, A Noteworthy Crime (Holiday Show) @Great Wolf Lodge, 9494 Federal Dr $74.95 (15 Ticket Left)

• Jan 8, 7:30pm: The Temptations & Four Tops @Pikes Peak Center $51-$120

• Jan 10, 4-6pm: Beginners Crochet Class @Who Gives A SCRAP, 810 Arcturus Dr $25 (5 Spots Left)

• Jan 11. 2025, 5-8:30pm: Lotus Foundation's Hope Blooms Benefit for Survivors @First Lutheran Church, 1515 N Cascade Ave $50

• Jan 11 (7pm), 12 (2:30pm): Mozart's Requiem @First United Methodist Church, 420 N Nevada $35

• Jan 17 (6pm), 18-19 (1 & 6pm): Starz Theater Company presents Peter Pan @Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS $22-$30

• Timberline Landscaping’s 2024 “Christmas Lights Guide”: festive roadmap to over 100 decorated homes and businesses across Colorado Springs

• Magic Lights @PPIR, 16650 Midway Ranch Rd, Fountain (Through Jan 4, Daily) $33/vehicle

• Electric Safari at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Dec 23, 25-Jan 1): Where else can you see holiday lights AND feed a giraffe?

• The Broadmoor's Christmas Celebrations: From elegant holiday teas to festive dining

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