A Sporting Proposition

After you’ve eaten all the turkey and watched all the games and fought with your relatives, Bass Pro Shops gives you reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving: The store, at 7970 East 49th Avenue, will be open until 6 p.m. today, with sporting goods and gun and game shopping for...

By Patricia Calhoun

November 26, 2009

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After you’ve eaten all the turkey and watched all the games and fought with your relatives, Bass Pro Shops gives you reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving: The store, at 7970 East 49th Avenue, will be open until 6 p.m. today, with sporting goods and gun and game shopping for adults and Santa’s Wonderland for the kids, complete with craft projects, free visits to Santa (he’s been on duty since November 8 and will continue right up to Christmas), a soft-gun arcade and slot-car racing. And come 5 p.m., there will be one more reason to give thanks: the Great Turkey Campout, a party outside the store with fire pits, hot chocolate and s’mores. “I’m going to be giving out tons of prizes,” promises promotion manager Simone Geoffrion.

No need to leave when the party ends at 8 p.m., either: Bass Pro is inviting everyone to camp out in the parking lot, the better to get an early start on the sales that begin the next morning. “We open at 6 a.m., and everybody’s in line by 4:30,” she says. “We’ll have free refreshments from 5:30 to 7, and the Salvation Army carolers. They’ll keep the peace while everyone’s in line.”

Thankful that Bass Pro is giving you something to do today? Share your gratitude by donating a new toy to Toys for Tots — the store is a drop-off point for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve — or tossing a donation into the Salvation Army bucket. “Our community needs are so great,” Geoffrion says. “Our company founder just said, ‘Because things are tough out there, let’s give the families a place to go to.’ They don’t even have to shop.”
Thu., Nov. 26, 5 p.m., 2009

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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