Postcards from the '50s show the Harvest House Motor Hotel in Boulder, now called the Millennium Harvest House Hotel.
The history of the Millennium Harvest House in Boulder will be on display this weekend, Dec. 5-6, as the hotel hosts several organizations celebrating the holidays and the official closing of the city's 150th anniversary.
I remember an early meeting at the hotel of the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, shortly after current General Manager Dan Pirrallo had been hired. The hotel's new ownership had renamed the facility the Millennium Hotel, using the name of the parent company.
But Pirrallo explained at the meeting that every time he introduced himself as the new manager of the Millennium, everyone would say, "Oh, you mean the Harvest House." He wondered if the hotel could successfully brand its new name, and all of us responded by telling him that for most long-time residents, the hotel would always be the Harvest House.
Shortly thereafter, Pirrallo convinced the new owners that they could be the Millennium, but they really needed to keep the Harvest House as part of the name, too.
Pirrallo, recently named hotelier of the year by the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association, will take part in the Sesquicentennial Closing Celebration at the hotel's Century Room from 3 to 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 6. The hotel will have a photo display of its history set up in its lobby and corridors, and Pirrallo will speak during the Boulder 150 closing event.
It will be a busy weekend at the hotel as Historic Boulder also will set ups it annual "Homes of the Holidays" gift boutique on both Dec. 5 and 6 and sells tickets to its "Homes for the Holidays" tour of five local homes. Tour tickets are $14 for Historic Boulder members, $17 for non-members in advance and $20 for non-members during the tour.
On Sunday, the Boulder History Museum sets up its Gingerbread House Contest at the hotel, part of its annual Winter Fest celebration.
To close out the city's 150th birthday, the public is invited to come join in music, singing and dancing. Calico and Boots, a local square-dancing group, performs at 3:30 p.m., followed by Boulder's Ars Nova Singers at 4:15 p.m. with a community sing-along from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. led by local singers Melinda Mattingly and Evanne Browne.
Also commemorating the 150th, the Sesquicentennial quilts, which have been on public display in several city locations throughout the year, will be officially presented to the city, with the quilters on hand to describe their inspiration for the five panels.
The Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee also will present two plaques to the city. One commemorates the Aug. 8 Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run that ended in Boulder; the other illustrates the Sesquicentennial poster that was created by artist Steve Lowtwait. Light refreshments will be served during the event.
For information on Boulder's Sesquicentennial Closing Celebration and stories and history of the city's 150th, go to www.boulder150.com.
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