Joy of Christmas

To Daniel Trust, it was more than the turkey, the pecan pie and the backpack filled with toys that made Christmas so memorable.

“I saw Santa Claus,” said the 6-year-old, jumping up and down outside the Denver ChopHouse & Brewery.

Daniel was one of about 6,000 people attending the 10th annual Miracle on 19th Street. The all-day event – sponsored by the ChopHouse and the Rock Bottom Foundation – fed the homeless and families who require shelter services.

Robert Kaczmarczyk, managing partner of the ChopHouse, said kitchen employees had been cooking “24 hours a day since Wednesday” to pull together enough ham, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Volunteers also gave out thermoses, backpacks and flu shots.

As he went from table to table, Santa Claus was greeted with gleeful shrieks from children. Miss Colorado received a similar reaction from some of the teenage boys. Bryan Archbell, 14, even had a Polaroid picture taken with her.

About 4,000 people were bused in from 30 area shelters, and another 2,000 drove or walked in. Some had been in the Denver metro area for years. Others had arrived only in the past few weeks from places such as Tulsa, Oklahoma and Texas.

Although some of the walk- ins had to wait in line for a couple of hours, the unseasonably warm weather allowed adults to sit down as their children were entertained by a juggler in an orange

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