The Steamboat Springs community is invited to gather Sunday at Mountain Tap Brewery to celebrate the launch of The Best Day Ever Fund, which honors the spirit with which Pete Van De Carr lived life.

“The whole thing started in April, when Eugene (Buchanan), Matt Tredway, Rich (Tucciarone) and Wendy (Tucciarone) from Mountain Tap got together with me and said, ‘What are we going to do for Pete?,'” said Gretchen Van De Carr, Pete’s wife. “We came up with the fund, a gathering and the idea of a memorial statue, or something. (The statue) was the least important idea because, knowing Pete, he would rather have a fun gathering with all his friends than a statue of himself.”

A longtime Steamboat Springs resident, Peter Van De Carr died Feb. 18, 2025 in a skiing accident at the Steamboat Resort. He left behind his wife Gretchen and two sons, Otis and Ollie, as well as family and thousands of friends in Steamboat Springs and around the world.

Named for one of Pete’s favorite sayings, The Best Day Ever will take place 4-7 p.m. Sunday at Mountain Tap Brewery, 910 Yampa St. The event will include music from the Flattops Band, Tyree Woods & Friends and Heads All Empty. Organizers will also release a “Best Day” IPA, serve up special Pete-zas — a pie topped with sausage and mushrooms, because that’s what Pete loved.

Proceeds will go to the Best Day Ever Fund, which has been set up to help provide 5- to 18-year-olds with resources needed to live their Best Day Ever through sports, education, adventure and other activities that promote a happy, healthy and active lifestyle. The fund will support youth by paying for gear, tuition, supplies and other expenses that allow youth to participate in positive activities.

“I wanted to do something with youth and have it be promoting positive, healthy activities. We wanted to call it the Best Day Ever Fund, so kids can have their best day ever and not have any obstacles,” Gretchen Van De Carr said.

The intention is to work with existing nonprofits. “We are not start something totally new,” Van De Carr said. “We look forward to collaborating with existing entities and programs.”

Organizers are asking the community to come out for the party after spending the first part of the day pursuing the sports and activities that make them happy.

Van De Carr said Wheels bike shop will offer free bike rentals with a donation to the fund, there will be cornhole and footbag sessions at Mountain Tap that evening, and the Howelsen ice arena will hold a special drop-in hockey session. Players can contact the ice arena to sign up for one of the limited spots.

Longtime friend Eugene Buchanan, who is helping organize the first of what he hopes are many Best Day Ever fundraisers, is hoping people will pursue Pete’s love of life.

“He was a big fan of people squeezing in as many sports as they could in a day,” Buchanan said. “So we are encouraging people to get together with their friends and do that — have the best day ever.”

Buchanan added that when people arrive at the party at Mountain Tap, someone at the door will ask them how many sports they participated in that day, and that number will determine how many tickets each person gets for the door prizes drawing.

Gretchen Van De Carr said the gathering offers a chance to recognize her late husband’s passion for life and his desire to inspire others to get out and enjoy what life has to offer.

“We are hoping to have this event every year because it’s just fun to get people together and it doesn’t cost anything,” Van De Carr said. “Of course, we would love donations for the fund, but the purpose is really more about the community.”