The Catholic Church

By Aaron Hackett

Hi. Aaron Hackett here telling you about the history of the Catholic Church. It was built in 1902. It was always a church. Some churches were turned into different buildings. It partly burned down in 1970. They closed it down while fixing it. But, they opened it back up. You can't tell it burned down. They actually named it Lady of Victory. The preacher's name is Father Pat. That is the history of the Catholic Church. No no the history of the Lady of Victory.

The Cortez Rec Center

By Hazel Smith

The Cortez Rec Center is a beautiful place to play, swim, workout, and enjoy the world around you. In my opinion, the Rec Center is about the most fun place in the world. There's a 2,600 square foot pool where a diving board rests. You can swim laps, there's a lazy river, a duck slide, and a water play area. In the front area, there is a climbing wall, fireplace, day-care, and $1.00 fruit. I've been there before and I really loved it. It is tons (maybe even gallons) of fun! The park where it's at is nicknamed "Parque de Vida" or "Park of Life." The Cortez citizens approved a bond issue in 2001 about 12 years ago. The Rec Center is so cool!

Dolores Star

By McKenzie Sackett

Click Click - Click Click. This is the Dolores Star newspaper. Have you ever wondered what reporters do? Well, on Monday they do the typing. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday they do reports and photos. Thursday they do the stories. On Friday they print and deliver. Also, the news that it covers is local news, comics, ads, and so on. If you were wondering who told me this I'll tell you. Her name is Shannon Livick. She is the writer and editor, she takes pictures, and does classified ads. That is the information I learned at the Dolores Star.

Frank Lopez

By Cody Farias

Frank Lopez! He is my school's maintenance man. Now to the facts. Frank lived in Dolores for 48 years and still lives here. Frank had 7 sisters and 4 brothers. Wow! What he did when he was young was he caught frogs and rode his bike. Over by the lumberyard he built jumps and he had a fantastic time doing these things. Frank's chores were to chop fire wood and wood for cooking for his mom. He had to raise his fluffy rabbits, which means feeding, petting, watering and building rabbit houses. Also, he had chickens. His mom was a housewife and his dad worked at the lumberyard. Dolores had a lot of businesses in use when he was a kid like a hardware store, car dealers and a lot of others. Frank's favorite subject in school was science. It was science because he could take apart things and put them back together. That is why he is a maintenance man in our school. Third grade was good to him. He liked to go down slides backwards. Also, the teachers would whip him with a wooden paddle. The exciting things I Frank's life were climbing, fishing and biking. I was starting to notice that Frank Lopez is an interesting person.

The Galloping Goose

By Wyatt Koskie

The Galloping Goose is galloping away, watch out, stop. I think it listened to me before I get started, I am writing an article about the galloping Goose. Do you want to hear it? First thing is first. The Galloping Goose is a train not a car. The Galloping Goose was built with what kind of motor? It was built with a Buick motor. To travel to Ridgway and Durango and Dolores, how many miles would it take? It took 163 miles to go to all of these places. The galloping Goose was important because people rely on the train to travel to and from places. Though the Galloping Goose would take mail and a little freight. The Galloping Goose stopped running because it did not have enough money to pay the state. Now, the Galloping Goose is kept at the Galloping Goose museum in Dolores. The old depot got torn down and a new one was built on top of the old one. Some of the things the museum has are books about the Galloping Goose and a gift shop. The original Galloping Goose was built in 1933. There are seven Galloping Geese. We have the fifth one. You can ride the Galloping Goose at Escalante Days. You should take a gallop on the Galloping Goose.

June Head

By Kira Messier

Have you ever met June Head? She lives in Cortez. June has one brother. She rode the Galloping Goose down to the river to go fishing. She had a lot of chores. Here are two. She had to get wood for the fire and feed her chickens and goat. June used to live in Cortez where McDonald's is now. June liked to ride her bike. If you want to know more, ask June Head.

Larry

By Hunter Hite

Let us go search and rescue when people get lost. The K-9 unit started in 1984. The doghouse has nine dogs and 22 workers. K-9 units are in 12 states in America. One guy that works at the doghouse and that I know is Chuck Melvin and his new dog Kevlar. Kevlar only understands German commands. There are three kinds of search dogs: No. 1 tracker, No. 2 trailers, and No. 3 air scent. Chuck's old dog Axle got hit by a horse and had to be put down. My dad did most of the radio work in the doghouse. Now you know about the K-9 in Dolores. My dad Brent Hite knows a lot about being in the doghouse . my mom Debbie sends him there a lot!

The Rio Grande

By Avery Wright

Today I visited a really old hotel called the Rio Grande Southern. The Rio Grande Southern was built in 1893. I have to tell you an amazing fact. That amazing fact is that Theodore Roosevelt (the past president) stayed at the Rio Grande Southern! Do you know that the Rio Grande Southern is the longest running business in Montezuma County? Well, now you do. The person who built the Rio Grande Southern is called E.T. Willbur. Well, he did! Now, I am going to tell you a funny fact. That funny fact is when all third graders were sitting outside of the hotel and a lady who worked at the Rio Grande Southern looked out of the door and looked at the third graders! Oh shoot! I forgot to tell you that the hotel is a café and has food. Have you ever eaten there? Would you like to? Just to let you know they have excellent food. That's the Rio Grande Southern.

The Sheriff's Department

By Jolie Brisbin

Here are some simple facts about our town's sheriff. He helps when there is a crash. The sheriff at the crash gives the person that caused the accident a ticket. The sheriffs make the roads safer by giving tickets to people that are speeding. Some sheriffs are school sheriffs like Kris Berry. They make sure everybody in the school is safe by locking down the school if something dangerous is in town. The best part is if you need to talk to a sheriff you always can. All you have to do is tell them your problem and they will try to fix it. Sheriffs are always there to help you when you need them.

The Ginger Jar

By Jackson Johnston

The Ginger Jar is not a railroad track or warehouse now, but it was. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1910. The warehouse was used to store flour, feed, grain and seed. Mail was dropped off and picked up by the train to go to other towns. Shoes sold for $1.00. The owner was Curt Carlson and his initials are on the building. Ginger's grandfather owned the building. The Ginger Jar is now a unique gift shop. It is a great place to shop!

The Water Treatment Center

By Layne Mattausch

My class went to a spectacular place called the Water Treatment Center. The guys name is Randy. There is a river pipe that goes to a cement box, ponds and then inside. The Center was built in 1985. Water goes to the Center. The reason the fish need clean water is that they would die if the water is dirty. I'm thankful for this place because if this place weren't built, we wouldn't have clean water. You don't have to train for this. Inside there is a filter that cleans rock and dirt out. I liked the Water Treatment Center.

Baptist Church

Ashaunee Begay

When I went to the Baptist Church there was a lot I learned. The building was built in 1898. Back then the trains use to run through town. The building did not have enough money to buy the stain glass. Instead the people painted it with oil cloth. The Baptist Church use to face Central Ave. Then the building was picked up and turned one quarter turn. I definitely want to got into the church to see what it looks like.

Mayson Hackney

Exon Mercantile

When Shirley took us to the Exon Mercantile it was new to me. The year the Mercantile was built in 1906 so it is 107 years old. People could buy dry goods and boots there. The Exon Mercantile was used for a meat shop too. Later it was used for Dolores Star Newspaper. But now it sells Antiques. There is a line-o-type machine in the front of it, from the old Dolores Star. A gas station was built in the 1950s right across the street. I'm glad Shirley took us on that field trip to learn about Dolores.

Dolores Search and Rescue

Shane Potter

My class went to Dolores Search and Rescue for a field trip. The search and rescue team do a lot of things like they get to raise the dogs. Most of the dogs need 600 hrs. of training. They have nine dogs to help them find people. One of the dogs is Kevlar. He is an air scent dog. That is a dog that searches an area. At nine years old you can join but a parent had to also join because they do not want to baby-sit. Search and rescue I important because they find you and help you find others.

Galloping Goose

William Taylor

If I could go back in time I would go back to the Galloping Goose. The Galloping Goose is eighty years old. It was built in 1943. It started running when the Rio Grande Southern ran out of money, so they made a Galloping Goose to replace it. When the Galloping Goose train was built they tested it, so it wouldn't fall apart. The Galloping Goose carried people, mail, and small freight. Sometimes they even carried sheep! The Galloping Goose would have been fun to ride to Durango.

Post Office

Annabel Baldwin

About two weeks ago our class walked to the post office. The first thing that happens to the mail is that it gets delivered by the mail truck. A lot of mail trucks come in every day. After they come in the post office workers sort them into carts. They sort them by address and size. People who live in town go to the post office to get their mail. When they come to the post office they pick up their mail. If the mail gets too crowded in the mailbox they will give you a yellow card and you can pick it up at the front office. Now that you have learned these facts you know that the post office is an interesting place to be.

Galloping Goose

Savannah Story

One month ago, my class went to see the Galloping Goose. The Galloping Goose traveled to Telluride, Lizard Head, Dolores, Mancos, and Durango. It cam after the Rio Grand Southern went broke. The Galloping Goose carried freight, people, and mail. Freight was in the back, and people were in the front. The Galloping Goose stopped because they didn't have enough money to pay the employees. "Couldn't run if they couldn't pay the employees", said Lew. The Galloping Goose may have stopped but it's still important to Dolores.

Frank Lopez

Allie Kibel

When I met Frank Lopez he was nice. For fun he wrapped his fishing pole string on a frog and the chicken would try to chase it. He would cast it out and pull it back. He got in a lot of trouble! He's lived in Dolores for 48 years. He use to live by the 4th street bridge. It was nice that he could play with his friend at the river. He liked science so much that so much that he knows a lot of science stuff now. In fact, I know a lot about Frank Lopez since our interview.

Dolores Star

Ben Shafer

The Dolores Star is our town's newspaper. The editor writes the news. The editor's name is Shannon Livick. The editor writes all the newspaper and exciting news. Shannon has worked for 4 years at the Dolores Star but the Dolores Star has been around for 114 years! The Dolores Star has been around a very long time. People stuffed newspaper in their walls for insulation because back in the old days there was none. I definitely think people should learn a lot from the Dolores Star newspaper.

Colorado State Parks

Faith Gates

A few weeks ago we went to the Colorado State Parks Office. Scot Elder told us a lot. The Colorado State Parks started a long time ago. Scot's office opened in March 2001. Part of his job is to catch rule breakers, and help injured animals. He helps injured animals to make sure they don't have any kind of disease. He catches rule breakers to teach them respect for the park. So Lone Mesa and Mancos State Park stay safe and protected. If you want to go camping at Ground Hog you can get a map at Scot's office to help you find a good camping area. As you can see Colorado State Parks and Wildlife job is difficult but can also be very fun.

Dolores Town Hall

Nayana Wilderson

When I went to Dolores Town Hall I learned a few interesting things. The mayor, Val Truelson, knows a lot about Dolores. One thing he knows a lot about is the train. He told us the town hall building use to be the fire department and the jail! The first town board was formed in 1901. That's when Dolores became a real town. The mayor helps the town become a better place to live for everyone. Town hall is an awesome place to visit.

Water Treatment Plant

Josh Ricca

Our class went to the water Treatment Plant. The treatment plant was built in 1985. Randy McGuire runs the plant. He makes sure all the pumps are running. There are 3 ponds. First the water from the river goes into a tank where it cleans the water. Then it goes through the first pond which is 4 feet deep. It flows into the second pond so more sediment can settle. Then the third pond is the holding pond. Fish live in the third pond so if something like poison is in the water the fish die. There are two filter tanks. One of the tanks holds 300,000 gallons of water. On the computer, if any thing is wrong it calls Randy. I am defiantly am glad that we have a water treatment plant in Dolores.

Sheriff's Department

Gabe Allred

If we have trouble, we call the Sheriff's department. Sergeant Alcon and Deputy Barry help the school and the community stays safe. Deputy Barry is our S.R.O., which stands for School Resource Officer. They keep us safe by getting to know people. Deputy Barry works at school for 8 hours a day so he is here for us all day at school. He has a lot of equipment like a Taser, gun, bat and flashlight. He only uses these tools to keep people from hurting others. I am happy to have Officer Barry at our school.