Damon Runyon Days covering all bases in celebrating historic Pueblo newspaperman
A legendary newspaper reporter who wrote the witty short story that gave birth to the celebrated musical “Guys and Dolls” and baseball columns that revolutionized how the sport was covered will soon be celebrated in Pueblo, where he spent his formative years.
The second annual Damon Runyon Days are returning to the Home of Heroes from Sept. 21-Oct. 28.
The five-week festival will feature more than a half-dozen events focusing on some of Runyon’s most beloved pastimes, from baseball and movies to poetry. Proceeds from the second annual event will fund scholarships that help local college students with expenses, said Carla Hendrickson, one of the event organizers.
Runyon, a Kansas native, moved to Pueblo with his family at age 7. Although he dropped out of school at a young age, he followed his father into the newspaper industry and got his start writing for The Pueblo Star in 1900.
Runyon developed a talent for eloquent writing peppered with colorful slang and went on to write baseball columns for Hearst newspapers — a chain of 30 newspapers in major American cities owned by William Randolph Hearst. In 1933, his short story “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” was published and later became the basis for the hit musical “Guys and Dolls” starring Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.
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Remembering Runyon as more than just the namesake for a local lake, ball field
When former Pueblo Chieftain Editorial Page Editor Blake Fontenay lamented the lack of any celebration of Runyon in Pueblo, a committee was formed in 2018 to rectify that glaring snub of a Puebloan who penned 20 different stories that became motion pictures. After all, the Steel City’s stadium, Runyon Field Sports Complex, and Runyon Lake are named for him.
“We are glad to be celebrating one of our own and raise funds for scholarships for Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University Pueblo students who are majoring in journalism, history and English,” Hendrickson said.
The organization provided $1,000 scholarships to 11 local students last year.
The students were honored with the scholarships in April and one student was particularly thankful for the funds, Hendrickson said, pointing out that “humanities students kind of get lost in the shuffle when it comes to scholarship awards."
“They were just elated," Hendrickson said. "And what better way to honor Runyon than providing a little lift and easing finances for some well-deserving college kids?”
Hendrickson said in an effort to celebrate Runyon, the committee “tried to cover all the bases."
"We are just exhausted but we just had a ball," she said.
Poetry, films and home runs
This year’s festivities kick off with the 7 p.m. Wednesday Poetry Showcase featuring the Line/Circle: Women's Poets in Performance, and the Troupador-ettes at the Pueblo Heritage Museum, 201 W. B St. The poets will read odes they wrote in honor of Runyon, as well as some from Runyon's collection of poems for men.
Another highlight of the event schedule will be the 6 p.m., Oct. 5 screening of the locally produced 1981 documentary, “Damon Runyon’s Pueblo” at the Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center, 210 N. Santa Fe Ave. The cost to attend the documentary screening is $10.
Filmmaker John Johnson and scriptwriter Joel Scherzer will field questions about the film after the screening.
“Literally hundreds of individuals here supported the shooting of the film from making clothes to props to dressing up Union Avenue. The 45-minute film tells the story of his life here in Pueblo,” Hendrickson said.
Runyon’s love of baseball will be celebrated Oct. 9 during a Home Run Derby at, where else, Runyon Field, 400 Stanton Ave. Sluggers of all ages will stand at home plate and hit as many home runs as they can.
Home runs will be counted by officials and determined by a distance relative to the age of the hitter, Hendrickson said.
“This year we are adding an adult division. It sounds crazy but last year, those kids and their families were so excited and just really enjoyed the good, healthy fun,” she said.
Other festivities will include a Damon Runyon Exhibit at the Pueblo Heritage Museum, a writing marathon and an Oct. 28 dinner and dance at Union Depot, 132 W. B St. Banquet goers are encouraged to dress in 1920s and 30s attire and will be able to enjoy gourmet food, learn some period dance steps and dance to music provided by a DJ.
Local artist Ryan Yanke said he is putting the finishing touches on his Runyon-themed Arkansas River Levee mural just in time for this year's event. Yanke is owner of Aces School of Creative eXpression, 330 Lake Ave., Suite 204, where he teaches art wellness and helps Puebloans of all ages find their creative side in visual, performing and language arts.
In his free time, Yanke said he is strapping on a climbing harness, finding a creative way to carry his painting supplies and scaling the steep levee wall to work on the mural. Yanke’s mural is the first in a section of murals that will be dedicated to Pueblo history.
For a complete list of events, visit the Damon Runyon Days Pueblo Facebook page. More details about Runyon’s life and the event also can be found at damonrunyondays.com.
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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo celebrates Damon Runyon Days with baseball, poetry and dancing
