No Western Welcome at Denver International Airport This Weekend

Visitors landing at Denver International Airport didn't get much of a Western welcome this past weekend. Although a new train announcement — recorded by a fast-talking auctioneer — touted the National Western Stock Show and a related exhibit on the bridge leading to concourse A, after the sign at the entrance to the bridge, the exhibit cases were empty.

By Patricia Calhoun

January 9, 2017

Westword

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Visitors landing at Denver International Airport didn't get much of a Western welcome this past weekend. A new train announcement — recorded by a fast-talking auctioneer — touted the National Western Stock Show and a related exhibit on the bridge leading to concourse A. But once you passed the sign for that exhibit, all the cases were empty.

click to enlarge

Westword

Turns out that last week's snow didn't just snarl traffic: It also drifted into some of the items destined for the True Colorado Western Heritage, Then & Now display, according to airport spokesman Heath Montgomery.

But now many of the cases have been loaded with Stock Show paraphernalia, he says, and the rest of the exhibit should be up by tomorrow. In the meantime, tourists eager to experience real Western heritage, then and now, can just head to the National Western Stock Show, which will be roping in visitors through Sunday, January 22.

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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