Fraser Pedestrian Improvement Project slated to start May 13th

The Town of Fraser has installed two mobile message boards at the north and south ends of the US40 Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project. The signs will advise travelers of the upcoming construction and encourage caution. Construction is planned to commence on May 13th. While there will be lane restrictions during phases of the work, no detours or significant delays are anticipated. All intersections will remain open during the work, and information is being sent directly to properties along the corridor by the contractor.

To learn more about the project and view the project map, visit: frasercolorado.com.

Rural Interpreting Services Project comes to Grand County

Come learn about this FREE program offered by our partners Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind on Wednesday, May 8th from 10:30 – 11:30 am at Granby Town Hall – Zero West Jasper Avenue.

The Rural Interpreting Services Project (RISP) will arrange for and provide sign language interpreters in rural areas of Colorado at NO COST to consumers or service providers. Rural communities will have access to quality interpreting services for a variety of needs, including: medical, legal, community, or work-related situations.

RISP provides interpreters for:

Medical: Doctors, Dentists, Mental Health Services

Legal: Municipal Court, Attorney-client meetings, Law Enforcement (Police, Sheriff, State Patrol)

Work: Job Site Meetings, Interviews, Training

Other: Meetings, Events, Presentations, Trainings, Government Services & more.

Film Festival in Granby May 10th

The Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the East Grand Middle School Fly Fishing Club would like to invite you to our Film Festival on Friday, May 10th, at the Middle Park High School auditorium in Granby. Doors open at 6 pm and admission is free. Donations are appreciated, with all proceeds benefiting the Middle School Fly Fishing Club. We will be showing some fly fishing films from all around the world, including films that showcase our beloved Fraser River (with some familiar faces, too). We will also have a Q&A with prizes! Please come out to support our youth and our rivers. Hope to see you there!

Fencing Needed

The High Country Stampede Rodeo is in search of new or used corral fence panels or gates to be donated or borrowed for a temporary pen for horses on July 6th. Please reply to info@highcountrystampede.com. Thank you!!!

Call for nominations for the 2019 Award for Excellence in Health Service

Do you know someone who exemplifies service to the local health and whose contributions to Grand County need recognition?

The Grand County Rural Health Network is accepting nominations for the 2019 Award for Excellence in Health Service. The criteria are simple: in at least 500 words, please tell us about someone who best personifies service in the health field and would be a worthy role model to be emulated by others.

Our goal is to honor modern-day health pioneers every year who truly impact the health and lives of individuals and our community. Past award recipients include: Heather Bentler, RN and John Nichols, MD in 2018; Wade Walker, RPh in 2017; Val Lind, RN in 2016; Hannah Foley, NP and Ray Jennings in 2015; Mary Jo Hargadine, RN in 2014; and Therese McElroy, RN in 2013.

Future award recipients should be in the health field, either professionally or as a volunteer. They do not have to be a healthcare provider, but someone(s) who has significantly contributed to the local health field – because health is more than healthcare. Nominees are voted on and selected by the Network’s Board of Directors. Recipients are honored at the 7th annual Bulls, Boots, and BBQ fundraiser on August 15, 2019 at B Lazy 2 Ranch in Fraser Colorado.

Award nomination forms are available at gcruralhealth.com/Bulls,BootsBBQ. Nominations are due by May 24, 2019.

Advocates’ Taste of Spring Fundraiser

For nearly a decade, Advicates have held their annual fundraiser in the fall. This year, they are excited to change the time of year to host the Taset of Spring. Enjoy wonderful food, drinks, live music and unique auction items at this year’s event on Friday, May 17th at the Headwaters Center in Winter Park. Doors open at 5:30 pm. Tickets are advanced sale only – to get your tickets, visit: gcadvocates.org.

Help us understand adolescent vaccination in our community

Grand County Public Health is seeking rural parent leaders who have adolescents ages 11-17 to participate in a 30-45 minute interview with a trained researcher. Interviews will take place by phone. We will discuss topics of resources and opportunities for adolescent vaccination, barriers to adolescent vaccination, and how rural parents think about their communities. Participating parents will receive a $30 gift card for their time.

This CDC-funded project led by doctors from Colorado Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado School of Medicine seeks to understand and address adolescent vaccination in rural communities. This three-year project will first seek to understand the differences in vaccination rates among rural adolescents, then will engage communities in developing interventions and messages to improve vaccine uptake locally, and finally test those interventions for increasing adolescent vaccination rates.

If you are interested in participating in an interview as part of this project, please email or call Catie Perreira at cathryn.perreira@ucdenver.edu or 303-724-8400.

Help save the Fraser River

The Colorado River Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited is planning a willow harvesting and planting project along Ranch Creek, near Tabernash. The dates are Saturday, May 4, for harvesting, followed by May 18 and 19 for planting. To learn more about the project and to volunteer, visit coheadwaters.org.

Fishing Report from Bernie Keefe

The ice is either off the larger reservoirs or very close to coming off. Fishing should be excellent along the shorelines for everything. Suckers and rainbows will be in the creeks, worms on the bottom will be an excellent choice for both species. Tiny doll flies under bobbers will catch rainbow, a little chop helps move the jig. Brown trout will be eating minnow and crawdad style baits near rock piles. Lake trout will be eating minnow, small fish and crawdad style baits.

Williams Fork is ice free and the ramp is scheduled to open May 11th. Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain are scheduled to open May 17th. Lake Granby is scheduled for May 17th, but they will open the gates as soon as the ice comes off.

The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand county for over 25 years. For more information, visit: fishingwithbernie.com

May 4th is “Wildfire Community Preparedness Day”

Wildfires across the United States have taken more than 100 lives and cost more than $25 billion dollars in property losses in just the last two years. You can help promote wildfire safety by encouraging residents to work together on a project or event.

Participation helps create a sense of community, where neighbors begin to look out for each other. Wildfire Community Preparedness Day projects can also help strengthen relationships between residents and the local fire department, land management agencies, community leaders, and elected officials. To learn more and get involved, visit: nfpa.org.

Presidential Primaries set for Super Tuesday 2020

On Tuesday, Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that Colorado’s presidential primaries for both parties will be held on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020. The change from a caucus nomination system for presidential nominees came after Colorado voters passed Proposition 107 in 2016, re-establishing presidential primaries in the state and opening them up to unaffiliated voters.

Wolves may be on Ballot

For the first time, voters could decide on the fate of gray wolves in Colorado. Our state’s love/hate relationship with gray wolves stretches back to before we were even a state, though it reached a fever pitch in the early 20th century during the decades-long range war that effectively eradicated the canines from the entire West. But as other states have slowly brought back the natural predators, Colorado’s Western Slope is seen by advocates as the keystone to connect a new population from the Arctic to Mexico. Colorado wildlife officials are reluctant to OK gray wolf reintroduction. So advocates want voters to do it.  With the federal government ready to remove the gray wolf from endangered species protection, a ballot proposal submitted to the Secretary of State last week hopes to enlist Colorado residents in finalizing the long effort to restore wolf populations in North America come November.