The Cortez Journal encourages people to submit announcements about upcoming events for the Community Calendar. Send announcements to news@cortezjournal.com. Items submitted less than two weeks in advance will be less likely to be published.
Calendar items are published as space allows. To see the current complete calendar, log on to www.CortezJournal.com, click on Community and, under it, Community Calendar.
Benefit for Dolores River Festival
The Great Outdoors Silent Auction and Mountainfilm on Tour event returns to the Dolores Community Center on Friday, April 26. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and films start at 6:30. Admission is $10; kids aged 15 and under are free. Dinner from the Absolute Bakery and Café, beer from the Dolores River Brewery, other beverages and snacks will be available for purchase. Proceeds from the sales of auction items, refreshments, and admission to the films support the Dolores River Festival, scheduled for June 1. To learn more about the event, including how to volunteer or donate items for the auction, call (970) 799-1475 or email fundraiser@doloresriverfestival.com.
Breast cancer awareness fundraiser
Rock Slide will team up with Blondie’s Trophy Room at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 26, to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. There will be an electric guitar giveaway, t-shirts and drink specials.
Humane Society yard sale
For Pets’ Sake Humane Society will continue its yard sale this weekend, April 26-27, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days at the Cortez Christian Church Family Life Center on the corner of Empire and Highway 145 in Cortez.
Ragtime Saturday at MVPC
Presbyterian Women and the FLOC Committee (Fun Loving Outgoing Christians) from Montezuma Valley Presbyterian Church are cosponsoring a “Ragtime Saturday” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in the fellowship hall of MVPC, 350 S. Washington. A lunch of hot dogs and chips will be available for a donation of $1.50, and dessert is an additional $1.50. There will be free popcorn and lemonade for everyone.
Joy Steffen will be at the piano providing ragtime music. This will be a fun event for the whole family.
For more information, call the church office at 565-7024.
Affordable Care Act
The League of Women Voters of Montezuma County will host Bob Sermo, policy analyst with the Bell Policy Center in Denver, on Saturday, April 27, at 9 a.m., at the Ponderosa Restaurant, 108 S. Eighth St. in Dolores. Sermo will provide an overview of the Affordable Care Act.
For more information, call Betty Janes at 533-1051 or email ejanes@frontier.net.
Fire department open house
The Cortez Fire Protection District will host an open house and food drive on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Station 1, 30 N. Ash in Cortez.
The event will feature fire engine rides, fire station tours, fire extinguisher training and auto extrication demonstrations.
The food drive will benefit the Good Samaritan Center.
‘Kidfest’ at Cortez park
In honor of the “Month of the Young Child,” the Children’s Kiva invites children of all ages and their families to join in the 11th Annual Kidfest. Kidfest is a celebration of childhood for children, their families, and the whole community. This year’s Kidfest will take place on Saturday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Cortez City Park on East Main Street (between Mildred Road and Park Street). Kidfest will feature live entertainment, arts and crafts activities, face painting, relay races, food vendors, and more fun for the whole family. Admission is free and open to everyone. Donations are appreciated.
For more information about Kidfest or The Children’s Kiva, please contact Alexia Hudson, head of school, at (970) 565-8586,email thechildrenskiva@live.com, or visit www.childrenskiva.org.
Free medication disposal
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration will set up a collection point where consumers can turn in their unused or expired medications, on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Walgreens parking lot, at the corner of Main and Sligo in Cortez.
Prescription and over-the-counter medications will be accepted for disposal. Some items will not be accepted, including needles and sharps, mercury (thermometers), oxygen containers, chemotherapy drugs and radioactive substances, pressurized canisters, and illicit drugs.
For more information, log on to www.DEA.gov or call (877) 462-2911.
Free chronic pain clinic
Community members are invited to join Susan Matthews for a free chronic pain clinic introducing how to use tai chi and qigong to find relief from pain including arthritis, fibromyalgia, low back pain, neck and shoulder pain. Participants will learn relaxation techniques and whole-body biomechanics that improve posture.
The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on April 27 at the Millennium Center, 20 W Main Street, downtown Cortez.
To register or for more information, contact Matthews at (970) 903-5723 or email mail@susanamatthews.com.
Weber Fire Tree Planting Day
FireWise of Southwest Colorado, the Southwest Colorado Bar Association, and Colorado State Forest Service are seeking volunteers to plant almost 1500 seedling shrubs and trees on eight private properties affected by the Weber Fire last summer.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, FireWise will need around 100 volunteers to celebrate Earth Day restoring parts of the Weber Fire burn area. This will be a fun day, sun or shine, to get dirty and give something back to a mountain and community that lost its forest.
To volunteer or for more information, contact Marla at marla@underell-law.com or Becca Samulski at (970) 564-4007. Donations to support more tree planting on Colorado lands impacted by wildfires and other natural events, such as beetle devastation, can also be made online at https://advancing.colostate.edu/RestoringColoradosForests.
Property taxes due
Montezuma County Treasurer Sherry Dyess reminds property owners that April 30, 2013, is the deadline to pay the 2012 property taxes for those who are paying in full. The new mailing address of the Treasurer’s Office is 140 W. Main St., Suite 2, Cortez, CO 81321. Postmarks through April 30 will be accepted.
For more information, call (970) 565-7550.
Chamber luncheon
The Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a meeting at noon on Wednesday, May 10, at Fiesta Mexicana. Attending will be members of the Re-1 school board and Superintendent Alex Carter, who will share information about board function and guidelines, and answer questions. There will also be a brief update on progress with the new M-CHS building.
For more information, call Dena Guttridge at 565-3414.
CMS art show at Cortez Library
Cortez Middle School students will be displaying their artwork in the children’s area in the Cortez Public Library from May 1 to May 16.
Teacher Amelia Joe-Chandler will be hosting a reception at the library
on May 16 from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. The library is located at 202 N. Park St., Cortez, CO. Ms. Joe-Chandler may be reached at (970) 565-7876 for more details.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive from noon to 5:15 p.m. May 1 at the First Methodist Church, 515 N. Park, Cortez.
‘Are Rights God Given?’
“Are Rights God Given?” will be the topic on May 2 at 6:30 for the next “How You Can Be Part of a Christian Community with Integrity and Not Believe All Those Things You Thought You Had to Believe” conversation. St. Barnabas Church (corner of North and Elm) hosts these gatherings for folks who struggle to reconcile their life experience with what they believe the church requires, who don’t want to check their minds at a church door, or who just don’t want to live in a world they think the Christian church espouses but who might value being part of a community of faith. Questions are required. No answers are promised. Call 565-7865 for information.
Incredible Years program
The Pinon Project invites the public to a program at 9:30 a.m on Friday, May 3, in Empire Electric’s Calvin Denton Room, to learn more about The Incredible Years social/emotional curriculum and how it is positively impacting children and families in the community.
The event will include an outcomes celebration, provide more information on this amazing program, and discuss opportunities for people to become involved. Those who plan to attend should contact Sandra Jaburg at The Pinon Project, 564-1195 ext. 225, or sjaburg@pinonproject.org.
Changes at Southwest Memorial
The League of Women Voters of Montezuma County will host a program by Kent Helwig, CEO of Southwest Memorial Hospital, on Saturday, May 4, at 9 a.m., at the Ponderosa Restaurant, 108 S. Eighth St. in Dolores. Helwig will discuss the many services offered by the hospital and its clinics, quality improvement initiatives and improvements in access to care as a result of significant efforts to recruit physicians to the community.
For more information, call Betty Janes at 533-1051 or email ejanes@frontier.net.
Cortez Cultural Center clean-up day
The Cortez Cultural Center is seeking volunteers for a facility clean-up day on Saturday, May 4, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The Center welcomes any interested community members, students, scout troops or church troops. The Center will provide lunch that day, so those who can help should email annebeach@cortezculturalcenter.org.
Babysitting class
Southwest Memorial Hospital will be hosting a certified babysitting class on May 4 at the Hospital Annex community room.
The cost is $25, and successful participants will earn a certificate of completion.
The course is designed for “tweens” and teens who wish to become babysitters, as well as for children who may be left at home without a parent. Topics covered include how to stay safe, feeding and playtime, as well as how to start and safely advertise a babysitting business. Students will learn how to change diapers, what are age-appropriate toys and games, and will receive a basic first aid overview. Choking and what to do in an emergency is also covered.
The class will be a fundraiser for the hospital’s relay for life team. To register or for more information, call Robyn Bragg at 564-2243.
Free intro to Tai Chi
On May 4, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the new Millennium Center in downtown Cortez, Susan Matthews will lead a free introduction to tai chi exercise with visualizations, mental practices, and movement biomechanics that exercise the brain and create whole-body mind and movement coordination. People of all ages can use this information to calm the nervous system, improve balance and coordination, posture, cardiovascular health and weight. Persons with brain injury and mobility disorders can rehabilitate and relieve pain.
To register or for more information, contact Matthews at (970) 903-5723 or email mail@susanamatthews.com.
Mancos Valley Chorus
The Mancos Valley Chorus will be performing favorite songs from previous concerts in their spring series, “Ooh, Sing It Again.” The chorus will take listeners on a road trip, starting in Detroit, Michigan, home of the fabulous Motown sound. They’ll travel along the famous Route 66, and wind up on a Rocky Mountain high. Who knows where their travels may take them in between! As always,they have very entertaining soloists, some brand new, and they will be joined by a bass player and drummer.
The chorus will perform on Sunday, May 5, at 3:30 p.m. at the Mancos United Methodist Church on 470 W. Grand Ave. in Mancos; on Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 515 N. Park in Cortez, Wednesday, May 8, at Christ The King Lutheran Church, 495 Florida Road in Durango, and May 10, at 7 p.m. at the Mancos United Methodist Church on 470 W. Grand Ave. in Mancos. Mancos Valley Chorus concerts are free to the public. For more information, call Carol at 882-0120 or visit our website www.mancosvalleychorus.org.
Burgers and Casting Clinic
The Dolores River Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited invites all members and friends to attend the annual Spring Fling Casting Clinic and Cookout at Denny Lake Park Monday, May 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants are encouraged to bring their own fly rods, but a limited number of rods will be available. For information or to reserve a rod call Brad Waltman at (970) 759-0175 or Dale Smith at (970) 759-3020.
All members and friends are invited to attend the May DRA Board of Directors meeting at 5 p.m. that day, also that day at Denny Lake.
Trail safety/trail etiquette
Everyone is welcome to a presentation by Susan Grabbe, DVM, “Trail Safety & Trail Etiquette,” at the Mesa Verde Back Country Horsemen meeting on Tuesday, May 7, at the Elks Lodge, 2100 N. Dolores Rd., in Cortez. Arrive for dinner at 6:15 p.m. for buy-your-own Taco Tuesday; the presentation will start at 7 p.m. Grabbe, an equine and small animal veterinarian, has been a trail rider for 29 years. She moved to Cortez in 1999 from Illinois so she could experience the horseback riding of the “West.” For more information, visit www.mesaverdehorsemen.com, or contact Nihla McCabe at 570-5036 or nihla45@hotmail.com.
Battle Rock open house
Battle Rock Charter School will hold an open house on Thursday, May 9, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for anyone considering kindergarten enrollment at Battle Rock next year. Lunch will be provided. The event will include organized activities, games and time in the garden.
Battle Rock still has openings for enrollment in grades K-6 for the coming school year. School starts Aug. 5. Transportation is provided from Cortez.
For more information and to receive a copy of the school calendar for 2013-14, call (970) 759-1816.
Free computer classes
The Cortez Public Library, 202 N. Park St., and the Unlimited Learning Center, 640 E. 2nd St., will offer computer classes in May.
On Thursday, May 9, at 1 p.m., the library will be holding a computer class on Google Maps and Google Earth. The same class will be held at the Unlimited Learning Center at 10:30 a.m. on the same day.
Friday, May 10, at 1 p.m., staff from the Southwest Colorado Workforce Center will be teaching a computer class on finding a job. The class will be focus on various aspects of finding a job on the Internet and using the Workforce Center. This class will only be given at the library.
On Thursday, May 23, at 1 p.m., the Cortez Public Library will present a class on “Word.” The same class will be held at the Unlimited Learning Center at 10:30 a.m. on the same day.
All classes at the library require advance registration, as space is limited. Sign up by calling the library at 565-8117 or by stopping by. To find out more about the classes at the Unlimited Learning Center, call 565-1601.
Kemper yard sale
Kemper Elementary School will hold a yard sale on May 11, beginning at 7 a.m.
Donations of sale items from the community will be accepted from now until Friday, May 10, during school hours at Kemper. Computers and electronics will not be accepted.
Free programs on estate planning
Erin Johnson will present two free programs on estate planning at the Cortez Welcome Center on Tuesday, May 14.
The first session will cover common errors in estate planning efforts and will be presented at 1:30 p.m. and again at 6 p.m.
The second session will introduce succession planning tools for businesses, farms and ranches. This session will be presented at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
To register online, go to https://www.coloradosbdc.org and click on workshops. For more information, email Asano_L@fortlewis.edu or call (970) 247-7009.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive from 3 to 6:30 p.m. May 16 at the Cortez Middle School cafeteria, 450 W. Second, Cortez
FireWise Home Ignition Zone workshop
FireWise of Southwest Colorado is offering a Home Ignition Zone Workshops as part of Wildfire Prevention and Education Month in May. During the 12-hour workshop, attendees will learn risk factors around their home that could cause it to burn, how to conduct an assessment, review case studies of homes that have burned due to flying embers, and more. This is an ideal course for anyone interested in providing important wildfire risk information to residents. Attendees will get to practice the information they learned by conducting on-site assessments on Saturday.
The workshop will be held May 17-18 at the Mancos Public Library, from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Registration is required, as space is limited. There is a $10 fee; dinner Friday night and lunch on Saturday will be provided. RSVP to Becca Samulski at 564-4007 or montezumafirewise@gmail.com.
Dairy Goat Information Day
The Four Corners Dairy Goat Breeders will hold a dairy goat information day on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 23161 Rd. G.2 in Cortez.
Ask questions about raising dairy goats. See animals and get advice and demonstrations on care and maintenance. Multiple breeds will be represented. Some will be available for sale. Some equipment may be available for sale.
For more information call Jeanette at 565-9065 and leave a message.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive in its Bloodmobile at the Fiesta Twin Theater, 23 W. Main, Cortez, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on May 18.
Lakeview Harmony Club Centennial
The Lakeview Harmony Club, established in May 1913, will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Sunday, May 19, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Lewis Grange Hall, East of Highway 145 on Road M. The event will include music, refreshments and door prizes.
The Lakeview Harmony Club, organized by pioneer women, is a community fellowship and service group. Family and friends of past members are invited to attend.
For more information, call Jodi Foran at (970) 882-2401.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive from 3 to 6 p.m. May 23, at the Pleasant View Fire Department conference room, 15529 Road CC, Pleasant View.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive from 2 to 5 p.m. May 24 at the First Methodist Church, 515 N. Park, Cortez. Blood drive
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive May 29 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in its Bloodmobile at the Cortez Fire Protection District, 30 N. Ash.
Blood drive
United Blood Services will hold a blood drive on May 30 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ute Mountain Casino Hotel Bingo Hall, 3 Weeminuche, Towaoc.