Happy 2018!!! We finally received SNOW! Not much but we will take it. Bring your leftover fruitcake to be murdered, I mean tossed for the Great Fruitcake Toss on Saturday, January 27th, from 1-3pm, including a Bake Off at Memorial Park. The event is FREE to attend. For more info click HERE.  The Manitou Springs Heritage Center will be open during the event to give you a place to warm up and snack on goodies. Located at 517 Manitou Ave, just South of Memorial Park. 

     The Canon Avenue Flood Gates has become a hot topic because of FEMA red tape. The gates are up but they are just for "show" until we pay FEMA a ransom. Just kidding! The flood map needs some tweaking and then Canon Avenue will be ready for our surfing pleasure without property damage. Speaking of water, a huge thank you goes out to our Water Department: Ronnie Huery, Mike Deaguero, Star Sterling, and Rick Blundell. Even though we didn't get snow lately, we were hit with zero temps. Our Water Team led a silent war that resulted in neighborhoods without water. 

     We recap the movement for people that need to move out of Manitou and Colorado. We warned them they would be miserable. WE TOLD YOU SO! Well, we might be getting Steve and Michele back from North Carolina. Many know them as the couple who ran the Celtic Show at KRCC. Yeah Us!! Thank you to The Bedlam Boys for our into music and to John Dartnel for your tunes. So, get to Manitou and toss your fruitcake were you will be among your kind.

Happy Holidays, Pika Peeps! During Episode 109, we discuss the "big blue metal frame" that somehow mysteriously appeared in the Garden of the Gods Park. The photo op had to have been transported from an alien craft and set at High Point because no human commercial structures were allowed inside the park, right? We were wrong and in need of therapy because of the whiplash intensity of the flashback nightmare we endured twenty-five years ago against commercializing the Garden of the Gods. Erick talked GE Johnson, that constructed the frame, from his perspective.Thank you to Jim Johnson for talking to us! On a lighter note, we received an early Christmas present in the form of the frame's removal at 12:15 pm, Monday, December 18th. Next, we tell you about our local Holiday festivities and what to do with the family while they are in town?

Tis’ the Holiday Bazaars in Manitou Springs! Our top favs in date descending order. Did I hear “pie”!:November 10-11th, Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs, Christmas Bazaar & Bake Sale at 103 Pawnee Avenue in the Community Hall behind the main building, free parking, featuring upcycle Christmas items including trees, wreaths, ornaments, lights, dishes, etc. Bake sale items will be various pies, BBQ sandwiches, salads including drinks. More info?

November 17th at 5 pm,  Manitou Community Market’s first indoor holiday market at Manitou Art Center!Stop by and check out what our art/crafters/creators bring and share for this season. It’s together with Friday Art Walk and Heritage Center’s Holiday Fair, too.We have music with our town’s favorite, heartwarming Front Porch Singers at 5 pm. More info.

November 17-18 Manitou Springs Heritage Center’s features local artisans and crafters with an Old Fashioned Bake Sale. For More Info

 

November 18th, Manitou Springs High School’s Craft Fair at 401 El Monte Place, featuring jewelry, beauty products, chili, and home décor. 9am- 4pm

We stopped by our own Wendy Wilkinson, cover writer for Cowboys & Indians and Colorado Living Well Magazines about her up and coming issues with Lou Diamond Phillips (their cookbook American Fusion, Longmire, Criminal Minds, Goliath), Lindsey Vonn (Chasing History with Lindsey Vonn), John Elway (Chairman of the Senior Open 2018 at the Broadmoor Hotel), Ed Harris (Current cover of Cowboys & Indians, Geostorm, Westworld), and Christian Bale (February cover of Cowboy & Indians, Hostiles, The Dark Knight). We covered other Native American actors and their current projects; Wes Studi (Hostiles), Adam Beech, David Midthunder, and Graham Green (Windriver, Longmire). How is Morgan Freeman? Wendy gives us the update on “God” from his health after the car crash, their cookbook together Morgan Freeman and Friends: Caribbean Cooking for a Cause, and Morgan’s new movie Beautiful Jim Key in development. Wendy is off on a little R&R down to Taos and Santa Fe so we had to ask her about Meow Wolf. What did she think? The Southwestern revival has given us a lot to talk about!

A special interview with Manitou Springs Mayoral Candidate, Mr. Ken Jaray, in the last few days before our election.

¡Feliz Día de Muertos, hermanos! Erick & Tammila Wright was overwhelmed by Ryan Flores, our local Latin Gypsy musician, preparing for Dia De Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebration, a 3,000+-year-old Latin American tradition. You can go hear him in person, on Saturday, November 4th, the Smoke Brush Foundation sponsored “Noche de Los Muertos.” Flores performed an excerpt from his album “Coyote del Quinto Mundo” and you can hear it too, here on Pika Radio!

On this episode, we interview Manitou Springs Mayoral Candidate Mr. Ken Jaray to inform us with his ideas to change our village for the better. He discusses with us about bringing an open forum between our city council, our public, and working in a cohesive environment with our commissioner's recommendations. Thank you to the MAC for supplying the studio to record this informative episode.

Come take a VR headset and full immersion experience on a bus ride into hell with VR Terror Tours. CAN YOU HANDLE VIRTUAL REALITY HORROR IN MOTION? Unique and Grotesque worlds are waiting for you. Dreamality LLC has been bringing awesome terror experiences to the public for more than four years utilizing classic haunts and our virtual reality platform. We are excited to present you with ‘VR Terror Tours,’ an immersive virtual reality horror bus ride. Nothing like this has ever been done before. Come be the first to experience it if you can handle it. Choose from Ticket to Terror, a monster-packed trip to Hell or Dead Sexy, a grindhouse style hot babe massacre

We bring you into the world where driving a hearse is an everyday event for members of The Pikes Peak Hearse Association. In between prepping their hearses for their busy season, including the parade of Hearses, that will precede the Coffin Race, Arthur & Izzy Prince (father and daughter) and Squirrel (Izzy’s fiancé) gave us insight into the world of owning a hearse. Then we descended on Jeanna at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce to get the latest on the Emma Crawford Festival and Coffin Race. Including VIP tickets, you can buy to sit in bleachers at the Finish Line! Only one week to go! Check out our blog for more info about other events surrounding Emma Crawford Festival and Halloween.