Lawn Chairs & Lemonade: A 20th Century Social June 13, 2009

Celebrate the Beginning of Summer the Old Fashioned Way

Lakewood’s Heritage Center hosts an old fashioned day of fun and entertainment with Lawn Chairs & Lemonade: A 20th Century Social from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 13 at Lakewood’s Heritage Center, 801 S. Yarrow St. (Wadsworth Blvd. and Ohio Ave.) This event celebrates the beginning of summer, the opening of the newest historic building, the White Way Grill, and the spirit, heritage and people of Lakewood.

Bring your family, friends, and lawn chairs to create fond summertime memories. The day will be filled with activities for everyone from the very young to the young at heart. Best of all, this daylong celebration is free to the public!

Lawn Chairs & Lemonade takes a nostalgic journey through the 20th Century Museum to learn about what life was like for Lakewood residents during the last century. Enjoy three-legged races, sack races, hula-hoops and other games you played as a child. Be one of the first to view the new White Way Grill and receive a special grand opening treat. Then open your picnic and set out your lawn chairs in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Amphitheater for a concert with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra.

Lawn Chairs & Lemonade: A 20th Century Social

Schedule of Events - Saturday, June 13, 2009

10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Experience Lakewood history with a self-guided tour of the 20th Century Museum

2 - 4 p.m. – Three-legged races, sack races, hula hoping, croquet, badminton and MORE!

4 p.m. – Grand Opening of the White Way Grill

5 p.m. – Jefferson Symphony Orchestra concert

About the White Way Grill

Lakewood’s Heritage Center is the new home to a diner made by a Wichita, KS company called Valentine Diners. Made from 1938 to the late 1960s, the diners started out as small, eight- to 12-stool restaurants with a limited menu, making them ideal for a one-person operation.

Lakewood’s diner was the company’s Aristocrat model that could be purchased for $3,300 in 1948 and paid for with installment payments deposited in a wall safe next to the front door. Lakewood’s diner was manufactured in 1948 and operated as the White Way Grill under four consecutive owners until 1970, when the name was changed to White Way Grill Café.

Lakewood’s Aristocrat was originally located at 9842 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora, just east of the Aurora Fox Theater. Through an agreement between Aurora and Lakewood, the Heritage Center was able move the diner to Lakewood to become part of its 20th century museum.

The diner has been restored with generous support from a State Historical Fund grant from the Colorado Historical Society, Boettcher Foundation, Lakewood Historical Society, Applewood Reliques Chapter and Colorado State Questers of The Questers International, Lakewood’s Heritage, Culture and the Arts Alliance, Central Ready Mix and Concrete Pumping, SLATERPAULL Architects, City of Aurora, and HCA volunteers.