Another Month in the Valley: Hot, Humid, and Busy With Bicycles

History- Twenty one years ago as of the Fourth of July 1994 –  The Wake Fire.  –  Don Olsen/Valley Chronicle  photo

Another Month in the Valley:  Hot, Humid, and Busy With Bicycles

By Thomas Wills – Co-Publisher and Editor

Summer at last. June began with another flip of the switch from cool and very wet to hot and humid to wet again.  Gardens began to change from jungles of salad greens to ghettos of fast developing tomato and pepper plants.  Pea season faded quickly as temperatures rose and the memory of the heavy spring rains lingered as a heavy (for here) humidity that made the low to mid-nineties feel even warmer.  Local dogs barked at passer-bys from the shade and business at the North Fork Pool in Hotchkiss picked up considerably.

May 30-31 – The temperatures are starting to rise and the past two days have been mostly sunny.  A little rain late Sunday.

June 1 – Overcast but warm and humid.  Some cucumbers are finally coming up. Time to plant the rest of the heat-loving stuff.

June 3 – Crawford Town Council held their first regular meeting (not counting the previous work session) in the newly remodeled Town Hall/Community building. The sunny brightness of the new office and council room make the Paonia and Hotchkiss chambers seem like caves.

Gill Saunders  was sworn in to the vacant council seat.

I began painting a mini-mural of a Hopi-style, spirit kachina on the north wall of the Church of Art in Hotchkiss.  The COA is becoming something of a community magnet for a number of little kids in the downtown neighborhood out of school for the summer.  Owner Mary Hockenbery provides the kids with chalk and permission to use it on the sidewalk and front steps. New public artists in training.

June 4 – Another few early morning hours on the kachina mural.  Temperatures in the mid-eighties.

June 5 – Cloudy, cooler with some light rain across the Valley. I’ve been sharing some information about the positives of bicycle use with Facebook friends.  Not all positive feedback but some good points by all. Question: how to we encourage healthful, law-abiding, bicycling in the Valley that is not a negative to folks just trying to get to work?

More work on the Church of Art.

June 6 – Some more pleasant misty rain.

June 7 –  I spent most of the day up on a ladder at the Church of Art working on the kachina and getting backgrounds painted for a sign and another mini-mural (Virgin of Guadalupe ) on the east front of the building.

June 9 – The Paonia Town Council highlights included Trustee Dave Bradford dressing down Mayor Schwieterman  for representing the Town without being authorized to do so in being part of a group that went to Washington D.C. advocating against possible legislation that would swap SGI gas leases in the Thompson Divide for others  in surrounding counties including the Hubbard Park area of Delta County.  The new 2014 council has not taken any position of gas leasing or the swap.

More light rain and a flash flood warning was issued through the rest of the week.  I noted what looked like fresh snow (in June!!!) on Mount Gunnison as well as some still visible on Mt. Lamborn. Lamborn is usually clear of snow by this time.

Sign lettering at the Church of Art.

June 10 – Scattered showers throughout the day in various parts of the Valley.  Hotchkiss Municipal Court was mostly about dogs and juveniles not taking the court seriously.

June 11 – Hotchkiss Town Council and once again the Town appears to be posed to give back awarded trails building money to the State.

More rain during the day.

June 12 –  Ina project I have been coordinating, m etal fabricator/artist, Ricky Sparks, installed his two custom bike racks at the First State Bank and Hotchkiss Ace/Gambles.  Yes, Hotchkiss is bike friendly and encourages you to ride your bicycle to the PO.

June 12-13 – Pioneer Days in Crawford with a little rain and wind late Saturday but sunny and bright on Sunday.

There was a teeny bit of controversy at the Church of Art over Mary Smith’s  Mad Hatter Tea Party painting referencing the similarly named political movement, which she removed from the show.  It’s  good to have people talking about art and local art that moves beyond the pretty.  I delivered an old, locally controversial, 1992 painting of mine entitled Jesus Raises Elvis From the Dead to the COA just to maintain a balance.

The rest of my mural work on the Church of Art is nearly done; the second part being a folk rendition of the Virgin of Guadalupe flanked by two ravens.  Eye catching.

June 15 –  Ride the Rockies arrived  in Hotchkiss, this time from the west.  It all appeared to go smoothly and was a good benefit to the Town and many local non-profit organizations.

June 18-19 – Hot and humid. A major water break in Paonia resulted in the water being off to the lower system  for over 12 hours.  Meanwhile in Hotchkiss the tap water turned a light shade of ochre yellow most likely due to the sudden heat, turning of the settling ponds and tank residues.  Harmless, but less than palatable to some.  I ignored it and make my coffee just the same.

June 22 – The Hotchkiss Town Council met to open and approved bids for the sewer line replacement project.

June 23 – Bike Tour Colorado rolled into Hotchkiss for their overnight stop.  This is an economic boost despite the more commercial, self-contained nature of the tour.

Business News and Other Rumours

Hotchkiss is Happening! According to local real estate sources The Buffalo Collection/Taylor building in Hotchkiss has been purchased by Shadescapes, a national distributor of high end, high quality patio umbrellas and other shade products.

According to the same source, the old carwash property, and now vacant lot, immediately west of the North Fork Bank Center in Hotchkiss is planned to be the site of a new building and new location of an existing  used goods and sporting goods store.

And a second Hightower Café is open in Hotchkiss at the old Hometown Café.