Hello! I hope that your day is as beautiful as ours is up here. That early snow is lingering in the shadows and, combined with the orange, red and gold of the forest, the leaves that still cling to the aspen makes for a refreshing start to the day.
The first rifle season for deer and elk begins today. Hopefully, the fairly heavy snow up higher caused the migration of the game to come down to a lower elevation for their food source.
The Rico Fire Department meets every Tuesday of the month. This week, Chief Todd Jones arranged for our team to fine-tune their procedures for working with a helicopter in a rescue scene. The bird came over from Durango. We have been fortunate this summer that there have not been too many motor vehicle (or motorcycle) accidents. We have seen more motorcycles this summer than ever before. Some are lone travelers, and we also see many clubs and organizations with dozens of riders. Sometimes it sounds like bees in a beehive when they come through town.
The next time any of you drive through Rico, take a left turn at the Enterprise Bar and Grill, travel down Depot Hill and turn right at the bottom of the hill. There stands Ricos 50,000 gallon Rio Grande Southern water tank that was restored several years ago by our Rico Historical Society, with funds mostly from the Colorado Historical Fund in Denver. That tank is huge. Large chunks of wooden legs holding up a massive tank. Imagine the work in constructing this piece of history. All these years since the 50s possibly the willow bushes have taken over the site, both inside the safety fence and around the site. Mike Curran, the best, hardest working historical society president in the whole world (!) talked friend Mike Lesem into helping him clear the bushes (miniature trees). They used chain saws, axes and whatever to clear the troublemakers. To complete the project, they brought in gravel for the parking area. Interpretive signs for our three historical sites the water tank, Atlantic cable and Van Winkle head frames should be arriving in the next few days. By then, Mr. Winter will be taking over and Mike and Company can take a break until next early summer.
There are new hours for the Rico Hotel and Argentine Grill. This is our usual slow season before ski season starts, and the restaurant will be closed until Thanksgiving. The hotel will remain open most of the time and will be operating full-time beginning with Thanksgiving week. Call 970-967-3000 for reservations and information before arrival.
Ricos own weatherman, Duane Holt, reports that on the 3rd and the 5th of this month, we received more than 2 inches of precipitation. With Duanes setup, it was too difficult to measure the amount of snowfall, but we received 4 or 5 inches as near as we could tell and it did not melt off immediately. A friend was up scouting recently and reported more snow up there than he anticipated, so that should be encouraging for our hunters.
Marlene Hazen has lived in Rico for two decades. An active member of the community, she participates in organizations such as the Rico Womens Club and Rico Historical Society.