People of all ages headed out to the Highlands Ranch Mansion this Saturday to enjoy the wide range of festivities at the much anticipated Highlands Ranch Days. Spectators started the morning off with a pancake breakfast, while enjoying a wide selection of music, and events rich in Colorado history.

Pony rides and a petting zoo seemed to amaze all the youngsters, while a tour of the historical mansion captivated their parents. The tour of the mansion was extremely informative about some of the first residents of Highlands Ranch, they even threw in a ghost story or two. The mansion looked over the festivities like a stone giant while little ones ran around in the front lawn barefoot, the cowboy band "Sulfer Gulch" played on. The Parker based band has been together for about a year now, and make it known that they play "western" music not "country".

Another entertainer at this event was Trapper Jonny, who started educating people about the Colorado west seventeen years ago when his son was learning about American History in his fourth grade class. He thought it would be a excellent idea to combine his western artifacts with his teaching skills and has become quite the attraction to people young and old.

If you were getting warn out with all this excitement you could enjoy lunch chuck-wagon style, or take a rest on the hay ride. Overall, this event was a great last breath of summer and a perfect invitation for the fall.

It not only was something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon with your family but a celebration of Highlands Ranch's culture, history and growth that brought residents and people from out of town together to fully respect the progress this community has made. From 1981 there was only a mere 87 homes in Highlands Ranch verses in 2005 a recorded 27,582 homes are standing in this fairly new community. It just goes to show that this community is here to stay and appreciates its past and looks forward to the days to come.