The Cortez Journal encourages people to submit announcements about upcoming events for the Community Calendar. Send announcements to news@cortezjournal.com. Items submitted at least two weeks in advance will have a better chance of getting published; items submitted several days before the event might not get published. For more information, call the Journal at 565-8527.
SWMH will offer lecture on understanding medical bills
As part of Southwest Memorial Hospital Foundations Staying Healthy lecture series, Understanding Your Medical Bills will be presented from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the hospitals annex building, 20 S. Market St., Cortez.
Attendees will hear tips on reducing medical costs, learn how to read and understand medical bills and insurance forms, find out how to spot errors on bills, and learn when and how to challenge a medical bill or insurance payment. Experts will be on hand after the lecture (until 8:30 p.m.) to review participants specific medical bill concerns. Refreshments will be served at this free event. No registration is necessary.
For more information, call Susan Thomas as 564-2156.
Pinon Project begins two Incredible Years parenting class series
The Piñon Project will offer two 14-week Incredible Years parenting classes, facilitated by Lindsay Havran, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. One class will be held on Tuesdays beginning Sept. 27, and one class will be held Thursdays beginning Oct. 6. All classes will be held at The Piñon Project, 300 N. Elm St., Cortez.
Dinner and childcare will be provided. There is no cost to participants.
For more information, contact Lara at 564-1195.
DRD, Lower Dolores Plan Working Group will meet
The full Dolores River Dialogue will meet in a combined meeting with the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the offices of the Dolores Water Conservancy District, 60 S. Cactus Street in Cortez.
The agenda items include updating attendees on the A Way Forward project and resulting actions (A Way Forward is an inquiry into native fish on the Lower Dolores River).
The website for the DRD is http://ocs.fortlewis.edu/drd/default.asp. The site has, among many features, meeting minutes for the DRD-Steering Committee; the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group; and the newly released A Way Forward scientists report.
Everyone is welcome, but those attending the meeting should RSVP by Monday, Sept. 26, to Marsha Porter-Norton at 759-3110 or porternorton@bresnan.net in order to plan for seating, food and handouts.
Music of U2 will be part of U2Charist event in Cortez
Music by Bono and his famous U2 rock band will be the feature of a multi-media worship service to be held at the Cortez Parque de Vida pavilion at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29.
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church will host this nontraditional service titled The U2Charist. It is free and open to the public, but a free will offering will be taken.
All monies donated will be used locally to assist a mother who is now studying, or wanting to study, early childhood education. This support will be in the form of a tuition scholarship for her child to attend the pre-school of her choice, enabling the mother to pursue her education. Applications for this scholarship will be available at the event. Empowering women and promoting primary education are two of the Millennium Goals actively supported by Bono and his band and by churches around the world.
For more information, contact Leigh Waggoner at 565-7865.
Librarys September Storytime theme is I Love to Read!
I Love to Read! is the September theme of Storytime at the Cortez Public Library, located at 202 N. Park Street. Storytime is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. for preschool-aged children and every Saturday at the Farmers Market beginning at 10:30 a.m., weather permitting. The Farmers Market is located on the corner of S. Elm and Main streets. Older children are welcome to join for the craft at 11:15 a.m. Thursdays. The Saturday Storytime will follow the same theme as the preceding Thursday.
Storytime will wrap up the month with I Can Write & Draw at the Same Time!: Jack Ezra Keats on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1.
Storytime offers songs, stories, crafts and silliness and uses the Early Childhood Literacy Initiative program.
For more information, contact the library at 565-8117.
Hospice of Montezuma offers Suicide Survivors Group
Anyone touched by a suicide is invited to attend a Suicide Survivors Group to be held from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at Hospice of Montezuma, 1345 S. Broadway in Cortez. Going forward, this support group will continue to meet regularly on the last Thursday of each month at the same time and location.
This support group is offered as a free service to the community by Hospice.
For more information, contact Sunny Bossenmaier at 565-4400.
Mobile blood drives will be held in region
United Blood Services will hold several mobile blood drives in the area beginning with 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, in the gym at Mancos High School, 355 W. Grand Ave. On Thursday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Ute Mountain Casino Hotel and Resort will host the drive at their Bingo Hall, 3 Weeminuche Drive in Towaoc, and from 2:30 to 6 p.m. the same day the blood drive will move to the conference room of the Pleasantview Fire Department, 15529 County Road CC. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Kinder Morgan will host the bloodmobile from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 17801 Hwy. 491 in Cortez. On Thursday, Oct. 6, from noon to 6 p.m., donors can give at First United Methodist Church, 515 North Park St., in Cortez.
Any donor that wishes to donate can call to set an appointment or get more information at 385-4601, or may sign up online at www.bloodhero.com.
Rock art expert will present lecture on oldest art in the Americas
At 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, David Whitley, a principal with ASM Affiliates and a leading authority on rock art, will present Petroglyph Dating and the Peopling of the Americas: Recent Advances in Chronometric Techniques from the California Desert as part of the Four Corners Lecture Series. The presentation will take place at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, 23390 County Road K, near Cortez. This lecture is free and open to the public.
Whitley will discuss recent Mojave Desert rock art dating research that has yielded evidence for the oldest art in the Americas petroglyphs greater than 11,000 years old, with some examples potentially 15,000 years of age.
For more information, call 565-8975 or 800-422-8975.
For Pets Sake accepts donations
of items for fall yard sale
For Pets Sake Humane Society will have its annual fall yard sale Friday through Sunday, Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, at the Cortez Christian Church Family Life Center on the corner of Empire and Colorado Highway 145. This is expected to be the humane societys biggest sale yet. The hours are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from noon 2 p.m. Sunday.
The humane society still needs lots more treasures for the sale so it can help the dogs and cats in Montezuma and Dolores counties. (No computers, monitors, printers, or other computer accessories, tires, or televisions.)
Bring donations to the center from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, or call 565-PETS (7387) and leave a message if you need to drop off items at a different time, or if you have a large item for pickup.
Masonic Lodge will sponsor pancake fundraiser for chorus
The Mancos Masonic Lodge 100 AF&AM is sponsoring a fundraising pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at 141 E. Montezuma Ave. in Mancos, home of the Mancos Senior Center. This breakfast will benefit the Mancos Valley Chorus.
The breakfast includes not only pancakes, but eggs, sausage, coffee and orange juice. Tickets are $5 per person; children under 12 eat for free. Tickets are available from any chorus member and at the door on the morning of the breakfast.
For more information, contact Sarah at 533-9165.
Silent auction, dinner will raise funds for Fresh Start Horse Rescue
Fresh Start Horse Rescue will hold its first annual silent auction and Navajo taco dinner fundraiser Saturday, Oct. 1, with the silent auction to go from 4 to 7 p.m. and the dinner to go from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. There will also be a PowerPoint presentation on Fresh Start from 5 to 7 p.m. The event will be held Empire Electric Associations Calvin Denton Room, 801 N. Broadway, Cortez.
Fresh Start invites people to come for a night of fun, food and door prizes.
For more information, contact Tara at 739-6799.
Family Walk, Run For Hope will raise funds for free mammograms
The Seventh Annual 5K Family Fun Walk and Run For Hope will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, at Joe Rowell Park in Dolores.
Sponsored by the Womens Cancer Coalition, this event raises funds for free mammograms for local uninsured and underinsured women. Put the day on your calendars to walk or run or just support your friends with a cheer!
For more information, call Patsy at 560-2922.
Southwest Singers will offer open house, invitation to singers
The Southwest Singers invite one and all to an Open House at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, at the United Methodist Church, 515 N. Park St., Cortez.
In preparation for the Christmas concert, and hopefully to entice some of you to join the singers, the group offers cake, cookies and soda. Now, that may not be enough to entice you into the chorale, but the warbling may. Listen to some music, eat some cookies, and consider how you can contribute to the sounds of Cortez. All voices and levels of talent are welcome. Choir director Ruth was able to take a musically-challenged bass and turn him into a musically-challenged singing bass. Hows that for results? You could be the next miracle. Come see if becoming a Southwest songster is your destiny. The group rehearses every Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the church. Rehearsals are going on now ... all are welcome to attend to see if this might be for you.
For more information, call Larry Tradlener at 565-7804 or Ruth Wilson Francisco at 882-3970.
Cole will discuss rock art
of Basketmaker II community
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society will present Sally Cole to discuss Rock Art at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St.
Cole will discuss her ongoing research into the chronology and social identity of the Basketmaker II Falls Creek Rock Shelters community near Durango. The community was first excavated and written about by Earl Morris in the late 1930s. It was also where Zeke Flora discovered Esther one of several named mummies found at the community.
Sally Cole is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Anthropology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, research associate with the Utah Museum of Natural History, and a consulting archaeologist working on the Colorado Plateau for more than 30 years.
For questions about this or other lectures, contact Bob Bernhart at 739-6772.
Wildlife biologist Freels will present talk on wildlife migration patterns
The Mesa Verde Backcountry Horsemen will present Eric Freels, U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist for the Dolores Public Lands Office, who will speak about wildlife in the area and their migration patterns, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Elks Lodge at 2100 N. Dolores Road, Cortez. Arrive early at 6:15 p.m. for buy your own Taco Tuesday.
For more information, call Howard Thomas 533-9135, or visit our website at www.mesaverdehorsemen.com.
Library will show A Screaming Man at monthly film event
The Independent Film Series at the Cortez Public Library continues at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, with the film A Screaming Man, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, from Chad and France. The library is located at 202 N. Park St.
Adam, a former swimming champion in his 60s, is a pool attendant at a hotel in Chad. When the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son, Abdel, leaving Adam humiliated and resentful. Meanwhile the country is in the throes of a civil war. Rebel forces are attacking the government and the authorities demand the people contribute to the war effort with money or volunteers old enough to fight. Adam is constantly harassed for his contribution, but he is penniless. In a moment of weakness, Adam makes a decision he will forever regret.
For more information, call the library at 565-8117.