Moffat Road Railroad Museum Opens New Exhibit

The Moffat Road Railroad Museum’s very large O scale 1,100 square foot Model Train will be open on President’s Day Weekend.

The exhibit will open on Friday, February 16th, from 2 – 8 pm; Saturday, February 17th from noon – 6 pm; and, Sunday, February 18th from noon – 6 pm. The museum is located on CR 574 in Granby, next to Kaibab Ball Fields.  

The exhibit provides “Great family fun” with 5 trains operating at once, small-scale landscape features such as ski lifts, tunnels and scavenger hunts round out a fun visit. Call (970) 281-9094 for more information.

Pole Creek Golf Club Recognized with Several Awards

2018 looks to be a great year for Tabernash’s Pole Creek Golf Club. In their Best of 2017 poll, Golf Advisor ranked Pole Creek as one of their Top 50 golf courses in the US. They received over 150,000 reviews from 92,000 golfers, and, 3,400 golf courses with 10 or more reviews were eligible for inclusion in this year’s ranking, so achieving Top 50 designation is quite an accomplishment.

Colorado Avid Golfer also awarded the Club with their 2018 CAGGY designation as the Reader’s Choice Best Mountain Course and identified the Ranch course’s Number 7 hole as the best Par 3, Ranch Number 4 as a Staff Pick for best Par 4, and, Ridge Number 9 as the Best Par 5. Their Spring 2018 issue will feature all the winners, including our own Pole Creek Golf Club.

In winter, Pole Creek Golf Club opens the course once a month for Full Moon skiing and snowshoeing. Their restaurant, Bistro 28, is open Thursdays through Sundays for dinner. Visit polecreekgolf.com for more information.

 Senator Baumgardner steps down from Chair Seat

Amidst allegations of sexual harassment, Senator Randy Baumgardner (R) of Hot Sulphur Springs stepped down from his role as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday. A recent external investigation had been conducted and found evidence supporting the harassment claims. Baumgardner denies the legitimacy of the complaint, citing the investigation’s report was inaccurate and provided biased information. In addition to stepping down from his role as chair, he also agreed to attend sensitivity training by March 16th.

Colorado Senate Agriculture Committee passes SB18-042

National Young Farmers Coalition applauds Colorado Senate Agriculture Committee passage of bipartisan legislation to help build agricultural workforce

SB18-042, the Agricultural Workforce Development Program, cost-shares the expense of hiring on-farm interns with farm and ranch business owners. On February 1, the Senate Agriculture Committee of the Colorado General Assembly voted 9-2 in support of a new bill to increase agricultural apprenticeships in Colorado. SB18-042, the Agricultural Workforce Development Program, would reimburse qualified agricultural businesses up to 50 percent of the cost of hiring a farm intern. The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) applauded the continued bipartisan efforts in support of the measure.

“In Colorado, young motivated people are struggling to break into the agriculture industry, and with an aging agricultural workforce in the state, the lack of skilled labor is a serious concern,” said Alex Funk, Western policy director for NYFC. “Establishing resources for workforce development will provide an opportunity for attracting new people to Colorado’s agriculture industry while allowing them to acquire important skills and techniques necessary to build long-term, successful careers in agriculture.”

The bill is now headed for the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate bill’s prime sponsors are Senator Larry Crowder (R-Alamosa) and Senator Kerry Donovan (D-Vail).

“This bill focuses on the future of agriculture in Colorado by connecting new agriculturalists with seasoned experts,” said State Senator Kerry Donovan. “I’m thrilled to be constructing a pathway for young and beginning ranchers and farmers to develop skills and hopefully start successful careers in agriculture.” In 2017 Senator Donovan initiated the formation of first-ever Young and Beginning Farmer Interim Study Committee, where this bill first passed unanimously with bipartisan support.

“This is a good bill,” said State Senator Larry Crowder. “Colorado’s agricultural industry requires an experienced workforce to remain competitive. This program will help attract new people to the industry and provide farmers and ranchers with a pool of trained employees to help manage their operations.”

SB18-042 comes at a critical time for agriculture in Colorado. The average age of farmers in the state is 59, higher than the national average, and Colorado farmers over 55 outnumber farmers under 35 by 12:1. About two-thirds of working lands will need a new farmer in the next twenty years. How that land and water change hands will impact Colorado agriculture for generations.

Young farmer drive-in at the Capitol was set for Tuesday, February 13th.

CLIF Bar® Named Official Energy Bar of Alterra Mountain Company

Alterra Mountain Company announced the first corporate partnership for the newly-formed company. The new partnership names Clif Bar as the official energy bar of 11 Alterra Resorts.

The new strategic partnership provides Clif Bar with various assets throughout the 11 destinations with branding opportunities including resort trail maps and signage, sampling dates for providing energy and nutrition bars to resort guests, and signature elements such as terrain park features and sponsorship of events. This year, Clif Bar will be present at the Mini Rail Jam at Winter Park Resort (CLIF Kid), handing out CLIF bars to skiers and riders. CLIF Kid snacks will also be sampled by young skiers during Ski + Ride School.

 Clif Bar has been a strategic partner of Stratton and Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows for two and six years, respectively, and the partnership will now expand to reflect current strategic plans. Clif Bar nutrition will also be available for sale throughout destination-owned food and beverage outlets.

Ribbon Cutting at the Alley Bar in Winter Park

The Winter Park Fraser Chamber of Commerce is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for this new local business addition. Opa! Charlie’s Gyros, a Greek influenced restaurant specializing in traditional gyros and fusion of amazing flavors, has extended their service and space, adding the Alley Bar next door in downtown Winter Park. All are invited to attend the ribbon-cutting celebration featuring drink specials, giveaways and live music on Wednesday evening, February 21, from 5 – 7 pm.

Hot Sulphur Springs Library Re-opens

After several months of closure for repairs and remodeling, the Hot Sulphur Springs Library reopened their doors for a soft opening on February 14. While there are still some finishing touches to complete and boxes of books to get back on the shelves, the library is once again open to the public. A re-opening party will be announced later this month.  Visit gcld.org for more information.

Pregnancy Resource Connection

LIFE, LAUGH, LOVE  was the theme for the Pregnancy Resource Connection’s14th Annual Fundraising Banquet. Thank you to everyone who attended on Friday, January 12, 2018.  PRC has had its doors open for 36 years because of our generous supporters.  The Young Life Crooked Creek Camp graciously hosted this event with over 240 people in attendance from Grand County as well as the Denver Area. We would like to extend a big thank you to Christian Comedian Mike Williams for providing us an evening that was definitely filled with lots of Laughter hearing about Life and Love.  To learn more about Mike Williams please visit www.MikeWilliamsComedy.com.

The evening also included a wonderful time of updating on some of our clients, the Kremmling Rotary Club running a raffle for a case of beef, pork and lamb, and a game of Heads and Tails for a ¼ beef, that was generously donated by the Wood Cattle Inc. and The Linke / Krempin Family.

Thanks to Grand River Assembly of God for the use of their church van and James Gregory for shuttling guests back and forth from the parking lot on a snowy night. Thank you to The Perk & Rocky Mountain Roastery, for providing the Italian Soda Bar. Finally, thanks to Kopy Kat for printing our flyers to advertise for the banquet and to McConnell Design and Printing Co. for printing all of our programs for the evening.

PRC is grateful for the numerous hearts and hands involved in making this annual event successful! We had 60 volunteers who spent countless hours to make our event possible this year!