It was a tough weekend behind us without the Broncos. Thank God for the Fall Festival on Saturday to ensure that something was going on to kill the boredom after a summer filled with what seems like a major event every weekend. But this weekend, there was no Bronco game on Sunday—therefore the withdrawals.
Of course, it isn’t rare for the Broncos to play on Monday or Thursday night, but they didn’t do that this week either. That left a choice of watching the Chargers beat Jacksonville (a team I don’t like versus a dismal team) or the Packers versus the Bears (I quit getting excited about these two teams in the 1960s). More withdrawal.
Usually I can watch golf, but the United States fared quite poorly against Europe in the Ryder Cup again this year (eight of the last 10 years), and the action was all wrapped up long before noon. Again with the withdrawal.
Weekends without the Broncos or other sports are tough to take. Particularly when it is raining, which prevents getting outside.
But the good news is, the Broncos will be back this weekend to take on the Arizona Cardinals, a team I had a difficult time embracing even though I lived in Arizona for roughly 20 years. (Never was fond of the stingy Bidwell clan—father and now son—who seem to never want to spend top money to get top players).
Go Broncos.
At the Mountain Valley Bank Fall Festival on Saturday, I was talking with Meeker’s Bob Amick, who was telling me that in the many (many) years he has lived here that he has never seen a better display of fall foliage colors than this year up near Ripple Creek.
My wife and I decided Saturday afternoon, when it was still sunny, to go for that drive up to Ripple Creek, where it turns off to Trappers Lake or goes straight on to Yampa.
The colors were incredible. There were the usual dark greens of the evergreens and the leaf trees that haven’t changed yet, but there were some of the brightest gold and red-tipped aspens I have ever seen. And there were colors of yellows, reds, oranges, browns, purples and light greens and every color in between.
Then, about two miles from Trappers Lake, it started to rain—hard. And it rained some more, pushing us to turn around just short of our objective.
I don’t know if the colors have peaked for the year in that area high up County Road 8, but they are mighty darn close if not there yet.
There is some good color change the entire way up to Ripple Creek, but the color doesn’t appear to be peaking much below the Ripple Creek area as yet. It won’t be long—like a week or so away—but the color is still mighty impressive.
Everyone I have spoken with on both sides of the county has said that this is or is shaping up to be one of the best color seasons for years. Even the local folks should get out and see the great array of color that is out there.
Who knows for sure when the next great color display will be?
The Mountain Valley Bank Fall Festival on Saturday was well attended as the weather was darned near perfect.
The event was co-sponsored by White River Electric Association and the Eastern Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Park District, and it seem that everyone in attendance had a pretty good ol’ time.
Throngs of people were on hand to fill much of the old elementary school yard as well as the Mountain Valley Bank parking lot.
From the hospital run/walk that began at 9 a.m. to the official Fall Festival, which ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it seemed everyone had fun, and it was a great opportunity for local non-profit groups to raise funds for their projects.
There was plenty of food in a wide-enough variety to offer something for just about every taste, and there were games that kept the children and young adults busy.
The variety the food stands offered included sirloin tips, hamburgers, hot dogs, huge turkey wings, root beer floats, tacos, snow cones, fruit, etc., and each and every one of the stands remained busy.
It was also fun to watch the area children compete at the games, for which they would receive tickets (wooden chips) they could redeem for fun toys and gifts.
Once again, it was a great event with a great cause held beneath great autumn skies and sunshine.
It certainly seems that the state political battlefield is getting muddier and bloodier as we get closer to the November election.
Never have I seen such an array of negative campaigning, and I will honestly say those ads turn me away.
I said earlier this year that I really would like to see more of what the politicians will do to make this a better place instead of what their opponents did to make it a lousy place.
There has been outright lying and incorrect innuendo on the part of several of the candidates, and I believe it to be an insult to the voters. This negativism started in the 1980s and I believe cost the older George Bush his re-election.
I would doubt that many voters want to hear nothing but negatives about a candidate’s opponent, but yet the practice of negative advertising continues. Some of these ads are informative, but a majority come down to mudslinging, then the opposing candidate comes out trying to clear the distorted record and it becomes an ugly bowl of spaghetti with no clear direction on the part of the actual candidates.
It’s sad. In’s counterproductive. And it doesn’t offer the voters a clear look at what the real issues are and what the candidates are going to do on any single issue.
It’s not a party thing. Both parties are guilty as sin.
And it is us, the voters, and the future of the state of Colorado that is going to suffer.
It would be easy to say to vote against a candidate who uses nothing but negative advertising, but then we would be minus one U.S. Senator and a couple members of the U.S. House, although we in Rio Blanco County don’t have to pay much attention to the state House race since it looks like Scott Tipton will walk into that office. Deservedly!
It is nice to see Citizens for Meeker Schools forming up with an action plan to help promote the mill levy override to benefit Meeker School District.
Just as a comment now, to be dealt with more in depth later, this override election is of the highest importance and is in dire need of passing.
No one wants higher taxes. And it is silly to hold the district hostage because of problems related to the new elementary school that goes back years now. The district can’t be expected to ensure a school is built correctly and it was a much-different board that occurred under anyway.
Let’s look to the future—not the past—and remember how things were in school and how we would like things to be if we were in school now, and let’s all work to get this much-needed override to pass.
