DID YOU KNOW?
The Arkansas Valley Fair
The Arkansas Valley Fair at Rocky Ford Fairgrounds runs today through Sunday. Included in the fair is Watermelon Day on Saturday.The festival, which started as Watermelon Day in 1878, is the oldest continuous fair in the state. G.W. Swink, the first mayor of Rocky Ford, invited the surrounding community to come and partake in his abundant crop. He gave away a wagonload of melons to the crowd of about 25 the first year. The following year, the crowd increased to about 50 and continued to grow every year.
In 1886, Swink began shipping his watermelons East, and after several years, his produce had earned such a good reputation that hotels and restaurants were asking for “Rocky Ford melons.”
The festival includes food, dancing, a horse show and rodeo, and crafts. For more information, call 719-254-7723.
Source: Arkansas Valley Fair (www.arkvalleyfair.com/index.htm)
REGIONAL NOTES
FRISCO
Summit TV to ease trip to Denver
Travelers leaving the mountains for Denver are now able to get Interstate 70 traffic updates on Summit County cable television.
The Summit County Telecommunications Consortium is tapping into 14 Colorado Department of Transportation cameras along I-70 between Vail Pass and Idaho Springs each half hour to give travelers an idea of whether to hit the road or hang out for traffic to clear.
On weekends during the ski season, the organization intends to increase traffic reporting, which will be broadcast on cable channel 10, to help visitors better plan their trips back to the Front Range.
GREELEY
5 options to manage prairie dogs
The U.S. Forest Service has prepared an environmental assessment on its proposed management strategies for the black-tailed prairie dog and its habitat on 193,000 acres of the Pawnee National Grassland.
The Forest Service analyzed five alternatives that describe different acreage levels for prairie- dog populations to occupy and the management tools that would be used to control populations.
The alternatives are:
Manage for 200 to 1,000 acres of prairie-dog colonies using a wide range of tools for management and conservation of prairie dogs.
Manage for 200 to 8,500 acres of prairie-dog colonies.
Manage for 200 to 13,000 acres of prairie-dog colonies.
Manage for 1,000 to 34,300 acres of prairie-dog colonies and with no lethal control methods.
Take no action.
The public has until Sept. 7 to comment. For more information, call 970-346-5004 or e-mail ehumphrey@fs.fed.us.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Victim Outreach seeks volunteers
Victim Outreach Information is accepting applications for volunteer victim advocates for the fall training session. The nonprofit organization has been providing assistance to victims for 20 years in Jefferson County, including in five cities and at the Colorado School of Mines.
Applicants must be at least 21 years old and submit to a background check. For more information, call Jennifer, 303-202-2196, e-mail victim outreach@aol.com, or visit www.victimoutreach.org.
