With the state’s coronavirus guidelines beginning to loosen, Kremmling is moving forward with a socially distanced community march Saturday in celebration of Kremmling Days.

Traditionally, Kremmling Days has been celebrated with a parade and cliff golf, along with other fun events for local families and businesses. Earlier this year, the Kremmling Chamber of Commerce planned to have just the parade and cliff golf because those were the ones the chamber felt could happen safely.

When the state’s Safer At Home order banned parades, resident Dawna Heller got creative and suggested turning the parade into a march by not allowing floats, not throwing candy and spacing groups out.

“Now is a time for our community and our leaders in the community to stand up and show our youth, our businesses and everybody that we have these new guidelines and we’re going to work harder and work smart and reinvent and make things happen,” Heller said. “Historically, it’s always been naturally spaced so … I have a lot of respect that our citizens are going to be very well mannered and oblige those rules.”

The march will start at 10 a.m. Saturday and follow the traditional route from West Grand High School down US Highway 40 to the Kremmling Mercantile.

Kremmling’s Town Board expressed support for the idea, but the elected officials wanted to ensure it could be done safely, especially with the construction on Highway 40.

Both Kremmling Town Manager Dan Stoltman and Kremmling Interim Police Chief Annette Dopplick said they could provide the support needed for a safe march, though Stoltman couldn’t promise there wouldn’t be consequences.

“I think we’re ready to go and I think we have everything in place to make sure that this is safe and goes smoothly,” Stoltman said. “The orders are probably going to change with much looser restrictions for outdoor events … Under the current guidelines, can I guarantee that there’s not going to be any repercussions? No, I can’t.”

Ultimately, the board approved a motion supporting the march with town resources as needed.

Other Kremmling Days events include a drive-in movie at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Hockey Rink and cliff golf from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Registration for cliff golf begins 9 a.m. at the Kremmling Chamber.

In other business:

• A Kremmling resident shared concerns about the dust and dirt mitigation at the construction site for the new Dollar General. Stoltman said he would contact the crew about better mitigation.

• Stoltman shared that Kremmling’s sales tax collections were up over last year’s for the first three months of the year.

• Construction of the expanded runway at the Kremmling airport, McElroy Field, will begin July 6 and continue through Aug. 20.

• The town board approved a $1,000 donation to the Grand County Historical Association to help maintain the yard at Heritage Park Museum.

• After hearing from Chief Dopplick about the importance of police visibility in the community, the board agreed to stripe the police chief’s vehicle to match the other Kremmling patrol cars.

• Kremmling Treasurer Doris McCallie announced her retirement after 32 years on the job. Her last day will be Aug. 28. Stoltman asked the board to approve an adjusted job description for McCallie’s replacement that outlines more financial and budget responsibilities. The board agreed that expertise would be beneficial to the town and approved the description.

• The board approved an agreement with Grand County to disperse the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus funding that outlined $45,000 in current and anticipated coronavirus-related expenditures for the year.