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On December 3rd, the public will be invited to a traditional Christmas tree felling and posada celebration for families.
A posada is a traditional Mexican party that takes place right before Christmas and usually includes music, tamales, and a get-together with friends and neighbors. Three years ago, Wilderness Workshop, Defiende Nuestra Tierra and the U.S. Forest Service combined the tradition with Christmas tree felling in the Roaring Fork Valley, and this year they will collaborate again to recreate the celebration.
“The posada is the perfect way to connect the Latino community outdoors with the heritage we do,” said Omar Sarabia, director of Defiende Nuestra Tierra. “On the other hand, we get to cut down the Christmas tree — that was one of my fondest memories as a kid. We want our Latino families to have the opportunity to connect with our forest.”
Crews from the Wilderness Workshop and Forest Service will be at the event handing out free Christmas tree felling permits and providing information on where and how the trees will be felled. The event, which will be bilingual, will also feature tamales and hot champurrado — a Mexican hot chocolate drink made with corn and cinnamon. Smokey Bear will also be in attendance to teach families the best way to pick and care for a Christmas tree.
While the event is open to the entire community, Grant Stevens, director of communications for Wilderness Workshop, said it was a way to educate people who might not be familiar with the area about the opportunities available to them outdoors.
“For a lot of our Spanish-speaking community and people who just moved here, public land is a new concept,” he said. “We’re lucky to live around these public lands, and people don’t realize they can go out and do things like cut down Christmas trees. That’s part of why it’s so great.”
Sarabia added that only a small portion of the local Latino community utilizes the nearby forest, and the Wilderness Workshop and Defiende Nuestra Tierra hope to increase their connection to public lands.
The event has also grown in popularity since its inception. Last year, Sarabia said 36 permits were issued, and since each permit was issued to a family of four or five, about 150 people attended last year’s celebration. Sarabia plans to double the number of tamales this year. Sarabia added that last year’s celebration was a success, and having bilingual messages and all the ingredients for a posada will only further lift the spirits.
“Smokey the Bear and good food have become a tradition in our community, and the Forest Service will also provide information in Spanish—the key is to provide information in your own language,” Sarabia said. “Once you enjoy eating with your family, it’s more fun.”
Stevens acknowledged Wilderness Workshop’s longstanding partnership with the Forest Service and the Defiende Nuestra Tierra, adding that events in Sarabia are always fun for the whole family. Both Stevens and Sarabia said they were looking forward to a successful celebration this year.
“It’s a great event for the family, and we try to connect this tradition with the whole community,” Sarabia said.
The event will be held on December 3rd from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Babbish Gulch trailhead outside of Glenwood Springs. Event organizers are asking those interested in RSVPing so they can plan for plenty of tamales, permits and drinks. Registration can be done online on Facebook or the Wilderness Workshop website.
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