Friends of Barr Lake
Partners through education, recreation, and conservation
Just a Few Minutes of Sunset at Barr Lake
FOBL Mission in Action
Friends of Barr Lake is a non-profit organization formed to partner with Barr Lake State Park for education, recreation and conservation activities. All contributions to FOBL are used directly to support construction projects, park maintenance, special events, and educational programs. No one on the FOBL board accepts any kind of monetary payments for their efforts. They log thousands of hours of volunteer work each year.
A great example of our mission in action were the activities of this past weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Friends members and park staff helped a group of 35 children select and paint pumpkins to take home for Halloween decorations.
This event required no additional payment from attendees, aside from the park entrance fees. The pumpkins were donated by Mazzotti Farms. The kids had a great time, and all of their creations were beautiful and quite unique.
On Saturday evening, FOBL members, along with park volunteers and staff, showed amazing last-minute flexibility when they moved the Halloween Trail festivities into the Nature Center due to the incredibly fast advance of high, cold winds ahead of the coming snow storm. This ensured that no one was disappointed, and most people who planned to attend braved the high winds to make sure they did not miss this really popular annual event!
Each of these activities had not only fun things to do, but they afforded educational opportunities by FOBL, Barr Lake SP, and nearby partner organizations. Kids learned about pumpkins, their importance over the years, and how in Ireland they used turnips as Halloween decorations before pumpkins became popular in the US. The planned educational stops along the trail were moved inside, including information about nocturnal animals. Also provided were crafts for the kids, a face painter, and snacks and hot beverages.
FOBL is proud to partner with Barr Lake State Park and our neighbors to help provide these types of events for our community!
Harvest Festival Another Huge Success!
We have the most wonderful, supportive community ever! Our 7th Annual Harvest Festival was held on Saturday, and we raised over $1237! All of the money raised by Friends of Barr Lake events is dedicated to help Barr Lake State Park provide education, recreation and conservation activities.
We had 842 attendees! A great crowd. About 300 of those were kids who loved playing the midway games. We had a petting zoo, kids crafts, carnival games, hayrack rides, face painters, art festival, and a yogi bear express ride.
Concert on the Prairie – Benefit Concert for the Bergman Barn
On August 31, 2019 visitors enjoyed an evening of music and dancing to the light of a beautiful sunset while supporting a great organization–Friends of Barr Lake! The proceeds of this concert went towards the Bergman Barn Restoration Project at Barr Lake State Park.
The great music was provided by Colorado Southern Band. They always get toes tapping and feet moving!
We raised $698.23 from the Concert on the Prairie for the Bergman Barn. We are moving closer to our goal of $25,000 in matching funds to help the park complete this project that will benefit our entire community!
Here is a story in The Daily Post about the concert and the importance of the Bergman Barn renovation:
