Golden Spirit: The History of Traditions

By Zeta Abell

Photos courtesy of Colorado Community Mesa, and Golden Today

Golden High School, is a school full of spirit, with a student body that is prouder, louder, and more involved than many of the other schools in the Jeffco school district. We have many traditions but the two biggest are the ones with the most history, the fun and bubbly Hand Jive, and our ferocious Demon Dan.

For more than 40 years, students at Golden High School have been dancing along to the classic hit “Just Can’t Get Enough,” released on September 7th, 1981, by Depeche Mode. According to an interview done by Denver 7, former principal Brian Connroy states that it started way back when the song came out, we call it the Hand Jive. One of the most beautiful things about the Hand Jive is the fact the whole school knows and does it, whether that be the newly welcomed freshmen or the second-semester seniors. It’s the perfect spirit raiser for assemblies, football games, or the other events Golden has to offer. It unites the student body, but who created it?

Colorado Community Media talks of two GHS alumni Cora Rice and Jennifer Cheater, who claim they helped develop the iconic GHS Hand Jive. They say that the two “initially learned the Hand Jive at sleepaway camp and brought it back to Golden.” At first, it was performed to a variety of songs, it wasn’t married to any song in particular. But as it began to catch on more, it adopted the song “Just Can’t Get Enough” and was quickly Golden’s biggest tradition. It “became a staple of the school” and as generations went through it began to be performed at assemblies, and sporting events, and was first performed at a GHS graduation ceremony for the class of 1988.

But what about the fierce, enthusiastic Mascot, Demon Dan? But how did we even get the idea of the “Golden Demons?”

In 1928, GHS held a contest to decide on a school mascot. The finalists were the Golden Buffaloes, the Golden Maroons, the Golden Mountaineers, the Golden Bears, and the Golden Demons. But one of these names stuck out, the Golden Demons just sounded right. It was inspired by the old gold miners of Colorado, when they would be done mining and come out of the mining caves, and would look like demons because of their headlamps, and the large amount of ash rock and soot they were covered in. The Golden Demons took the cake and won with a whopping 131 votes, compared to all the others which came in at around seven or 14. From then on, GHS students were known as The Demons. Originally drawn by Stan Katzen in 1963, Demon Dan has been a staple of the golden school, but he wasn’t originally Demon Dan. It’s thought he started with the name “The Demon,” then “El Diablo,” which translates from Spanish to “The Devil,” before it was decided to call him Demon Dan.

Throughout the history of GHS, there have been many more stories and traditions than just these two, it’s a school of history with a little over 150 years of excellence and academic achievements. The extent of the history would be too much to fully cover, but these traditions are some of Golden’s most followed, and well-known ones we have.