You Can Be in the Largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade West of the Mississippi! Denver, Colorado, March 14th 2009 - Clowns from around the world converge in Denver taking part in the Largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade west of the Mississippi and 2nd largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the US. Wouldn’t this be a great headline? You can help make it happen if you plan to come to the convention early and you could even practice your Paradeability in a real parade! This has always been a favorite parade for the Colorado Clowns, especially their first of May’s for whom this is their first official club function after graduation. It is locally televised and in the past we have been able to order a DVD of the parade online, shortly afterwards. We are very lucky that the 47th Annual Denver St. Patrick’s Day parade takes place the Saturday right before the convention, March 14th at 10:00 am. The theme this year is “Irish with Altitude”.  The 1.8 mile parade starts in the parking lot of the magnificent Coors Field, home of Colorado Rockies Baseball, circles around lower downtown Denver and finishes right back where it starts. More than 200 entries and 10,000 marchers will participate. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people lined the route last year! I am making arrangements for any of you who would like, to participate.  There might be a small fee to cover our transportation from the Renaissance Hotel to the parade and back, but I’m doing my best to keep costs at a minimum. Please contact me, Molly “SKiDDLES” Kleeman at 303-798-9933, TheClown@skiddles.com or 4042 W Quinn Pl, Denver, CO 80236 to sign up, so I can plan adequate transportation. More information about this great event can be found at their website, www.denverstpatricksdayparade.com. Please remember, no candy or other objects can be thrown from the parade. And after the Convention . . . I’m planning a trip on the Ski Train to Winter Park Ski Area, high in the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains, on Sunday March 22nd.  Now just because you don’t ski, don’t rule this out!  The train winds through beautiful, pristine canyons that don’t even have roads and we’ll pass through dozens of tunnels including the historic Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide. It drops us off directly at the base of the Winter Park Resort, within a short walk to the nearest ski lift and base services such as shopping and dining. In addition to skiing, snowboarding, shopping and dining, as if that wasn’t enough, one could also ride the chair lift as a pedestrian both ways, getting off at the top to enjoy a meal, you could take a snow cat tour, go dog sledding, snowshoeing, ice skating, take a sleigh ride, ride a snowmobile, go tubing or just relax and enjoy the atmosphere of a quaint mountain village and the après ski life style. Join me on this fantastic trip! You can order Ski Train tickets online at www.skitrain.com or by calling the reservation center at (303) 296-4754 Monday thru Friday, 9 to 4 Mountain Time, and using your credit card.   The cost for this great trip is only $59.00 ($49.00 senior, 62+) and payment is due at the time of your reservation.  Subject to availability, you might be able to buy tickets the day of the trip at Union Station, but I wouldn’t count on that.  Please be sure to let me know you have purchased your ticket so I can plan our transportation to the train station. I’m so excited to have the convention here in Denver.  As your Southwest Director and President of the local alley, The Colorado Clowns, I have been very busy doing everything I can think of to make the upcoming convention the best ever!  See YOU here in March!