The Durango High School football team has already made history with its quarterfinal and semifinal victories in Colorado’s Class 3A football playoff competition this fall.
Saturday, the team will do something it hasn’t done since 1988: Compete for the class championship.
Durango’s two playoff victories were by wide margins, 47-6 against Lutheran on Nov. 21 and 34-14 over Holy Family on Nov. 28. Those scores were a tribute to a strong offensive line, very good quarterbacking and a solid defense. The team has a quarterback who can score through the air and on the ground, and tough and nimble running backs. And there’s that great defense.
At one point, it didn’t look as though there would be high school football played in Colorado this fall; COVID-19 was too threatening. But with thorough and disciplined procedures, most teams across the state have been only narrowly impacted. Players and coaches have had to take the limitations seriously and be alert. That has been true in all activities at DHS.
The threat of the virus has caused a multitude of adjustments in training and practice, with an emphasis on caution. Fans haven’t been able to fill the stands, either, in the Friday evening fall tradition.
With the school district struggling to hold academic classes safely in person, it was not consistent to convene a crowd in the stands, even outside. The state has decided that 75 fans is the maximum for playoff games, which will permit some but not all family members and friends to view the play this weekend.
Good luck to the Demons on Saturday against Roosevelt. We look forward to a horn-honking parade up Main Avenue in celebration of a victory.
But no matter the game’s outcome, we can celebrate the fact that the Demons have again made it to the state championship – for the first time in 32 years.
We’ve got even more to celebrate: The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s whistle is back, on locomotives pulling the popular holiday Polar Express.
The whistle was noticeably missing this summer.
The state’s strongly recommended limitations because of COVID-19 led the railroad to limit capacity to 50% and run a shorter-than-usual excursion, between Rockwood and its wye on the other side of Cascade Canyon, this summer and early fall. A spring washout above the wye prevented the train from reaching Silverton at all this summer. Because the train wasn’t making its regular round trip to and from Durango Depot, no whistles were heard in town.
Now, the Polar Express is making four trips a day. Safety measures include open windows in the heated cars, and holiday treats, usually served on the train, are served at its terminus. (During the trips, one passenger car at a time can visit the concession car.) When passengers debark after the 35-minute excursion, they walk in household groups through the themed displays, where costumed characters including Santa Claus will delight young and old – from safe distances.
In other words, railroad management has done an imaginative job reconfiguring the Polar Express trips to make them safe during these times. This was no small feat; while restaurant and retail store owners can learn from one another how to implement this or that adaptation to the virus’ threat, passenger railroad companies have a much smaller network.
The railroad’s usual five-hour Winter Cascade round trip, from Durango Depot to the Cascade Canyon wye, is also underway.
We look forward to the return of the full Durango-to-Silverton runs that normally are underway in the spring.
In the meantime, it’s good to hear to whistles of the Polar Express.
(and a spring washout above the wye prevented the train from reaching Silverton at all this summer). Railroad cars, especially narrow-gauge cars, require very limited passenger capacity in order to maintain safe public health practices. The result was shorter runs through the canyon.
Because of reduced train capacity, the Polar Express now is making four daily trips instead of the usual three. The excursion goes from Durango Depot to just north of 32nd Street, where it reverses for the return. That translates to more whistles. A few car windows are open even in cold temperatures – moving air challenges transmission of the virus – and to minimize human contact, holiday treats are available after the ride rather than during it. At the Polar Express terminus, passengers will walk in household groups through the themed displays, where costumed characters will delight – from safe distances.
In other words, railroad management has done an imaginative job reconfiguring the Polar Express trips to make them safer than they would be otherwise. While restaurant and retail store owners can learn from one another how to implement this or that adaptation to the virus’s threat, it is a much smaller networking world for passenger railroad owners.
We look froward to the return of the full Durango-to-Silverton runs that normally are underway in late spring.
But in the meantime, it’s good to hear the whistles of the Polar Express.
