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Janet Day: Spring bounces into summer without missing a beat

Janet Day / Talk of the Valley
Fraser Valley, CO Colorado

Seasonal Shifting: What happened to spring? We went from blizzard conditions to record high temperatures, big floods and small fires in just a couple weeks.

About the flooding: I had forgotten all about the county emergency services notification program I had signed up for months ago until the reverse 911 call and email came last week with the high-water warning. It’s a great service that I hope we don’t have to make use of too often as wildfire season approaches.

Memo to some residents along the Fraser River in Fraser: Sandbags aren’t going to do much good if they’re placed with foot-wide gaps between the bags. And please be sure to pick them up and properly dispose of the bags. We don’t need any more trash scattered along the river and roads.



And about fire season: Use some common sense, people. If it’s hot and windy, it’s probably not a good day to have an open fire. Some folks in Icebox Estates learned that lesson the hard way this week. Check with your local government officials about laws regarding open fires and burning during summer months.

Census Saga: My sympathies go to all the temporary census workers out in the county these days. It can’t be easy trying to figure out what homes are occupied permanently, which ones only see weekend or seasonal use and how many are simply empty.



If you didn’t mail back your census form and they come knocking at your door, please take a moment to answer a couple simple questions about who lives where. The census tally determines the amount of federal money the county receives. Unanswered forms bring down the residency numbers and thus bring down the federal funds this county desperately needs.

Tourist Time: Winter Park Resort opens for the summer season tomorrow with the usual tons-of-fun for everyone from families with small children to mountain bike mavens anxious to ride the new trails. Here’s hoping the hot Front Range weather brings plenty of people up our way to play, stay, shop and dine this summer.

According to a new analysis of tourism in Colorado, those local visitors have been our salvation during the recession. The study by Longwoods International reported a gain in visitors to Colorado tourist locations last year compared with 2008. Of the 2009 visitors, 40 percent were Colorado residents taking in-state trips.

Library Lessons: Books and movies aren’t all that can be checked out at the Fraser Library. Card-holders now can check out Kill A Watt devices that plug into appliances to assess how efficiently they use electricity. The device measures kilowatt-hour usage so you can calculate expenses. Replacing inefficient appliances can save hundreds of dollars on an annual electric bill.

Grand County libraries also now have new MP3 players for three-week checkouts.

You can help the libraries continue to offer such a wide variety of services by heading to the library district’s garage sale Saturday, June 26 at the administration building on Jasper Avenue in Granby. The sale runs from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Volunteer Volume: The Headwaters Trails Alliance needs a lot of volunteers for their summer events supporting the maintenance and protection of Grand County’s trails. Volunteers are needed to help with a summer full of races ranging from the Buffalo 5K Run in Grand Lake on July 17 to the Run the Ranches Trail Race Series’s last 2010 event at Snow Mountain Ranch on Oct. 3.

To volunteer or for more information, contact the organization at hta@headwaterstrails.org or 970-726-1013.

Keep in Touch: What’s got your attention around the area? Let me know. I’ll try to find the answer or spread the news. Send it all to JDayQuilts@msn.com. Follow me and local tidbits at http://www.twitter.com/DayJan or friend me on Facebook.


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