Historical Society holding annual meeting
The Pine River Valley Historical Society will have its annual meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Pine River Library. The meeting is open to all members and visitors. The board will review its 2014 financial results, elect officers and directors as needed and discuss any other topics brought up.
Town trustee to hold office hours
Bayfield Town Trustee James Sanders will hold office hours to meet with residents and business people on Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pine River Library conference room 115. He invites people to come with their interests, questions, and concerns. Sanders intends to do this monthly.
Time bank introduction set for Jan. 13
Hour Exchange La Plata (HELP) will host an introduction to time banking on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, East 3rd Ave. at 9th St. in Durango. The free introduction will be at 6 p.m., followed by a potluck at 7 p.m.
Earn time credits for attending, bringing food to share, and bringing new guests. Time bank members earn hour credits when they provide a service to another member. They can draw on those credits when they need a service. A computer program tracks credits and who can provide or who needs whatever services. For more information, call 884-9330.
Weight Watchers holding information session
There will be a free information session for Weight Watchers at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12 at 871 CR 501 in Bayfield (across from Bayfield High School).
Weight Watchers features powerful group support and access to a variety of weight loss tools. Registration will be available. For more information, contact Elaine at 769-0811 or bayfieldpilates@gmail.com
Radon detection classes offered in Bayfield
How safe is your home? Radon could be lurking underneath your home, posing potentially serious health risks. The naturally-occurring, radioactive gas is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.
In January, the Pine River Library will hold a free class on radon. The class will be offered at the library twice, and all participants will receive a free radon testing kit.
The class will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 and again at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Advance registration is required, as the number of kits is limited. To register, visit the library's online calendar at www.prlibrary.org or call the library at 884-2222, ext.10.
CDOT to host meeting for project vendors
Colorado Department of Transportation will host a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13, for large and small contractors interested in bidding on CDOT projects for 2015.
The meeting will be 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the CDOT Region 5 maintenance facility, 20581 Highway 160 west in Durango.
The event is open to all current and prospective contractors interested in learning what projects are planned this year in Southwest Colorado. There will be interactive workshops designed for prime contractors or DBE firms and other small business contractors.
Participants should bring a laptop if they can. Some laptops will be available at the event. The morning presentations will explain CDOT's new on-line systems for certification, renewal, and vendor registration.
There will be a forecast of anticipated bid opportunities, a networking lunch, and prime contractor team building training.
RSVP or get more information at 719-587-6589, on-line at http://tinyurl.com/cdotdurango, or e-mail monica.vialpando@state.co.us.
BookMarks Book Club holding annual tea
Looking for a book club to expand your literary experiences?
Pine River Library's BookMarks Book Club is open to all adults in the Pine River Valley. The library provides the books, the discussion leader, and a place to meet each month.
On Wednesday, Jan. 14, interested readers are invited to take part in the annual BookMarks Book Club Tea. Participants will help choose titles for the 2015 BookMarks program. Area book clubs are also invited to be a part of the Book Club Tea, as BookMarks Book Club Kits are available for free at the library. After the books are used by the library, the kits (containing six copies of each title) are available for month-long checkouts.
Currently, the library has 20 book club kits available.
The BookMarks Book Club Tea starts at 6 p.m., with free refreshments and tea.
Advance registration is not required, but is helpful. To sign up, visit the library's online calendar (www.prlibrary.org) or call the library at 884-2222.
Internet privacy to be discussed
Ignacio Community Library will hold a class on Internet privacy at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13.
The Internet can be a scary place. Participants will learn how to keep themselves and personal data secure and what other people and organizations are doing with their data.
Please call 563-9287 or visit www.ignaciolibrary.org to register.
Forest Service holding vendor fair
The U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Procurement Technical Assistance Center will hold two free workshops on Thursday, Jan. 15, for small businesses interested in providing construction and/ or facilities maintenance services, also for businesses interested in providing wildland firefighting support services, for the San Juan National Forest.
Small businesses currently doing business or wanting to do business with the Forest Service are invited. Topics will include how to register and do business with the Forest Service, and how to respond to solicitations.
The sessions will be at the San Juan Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Court in Durango. The first session from 9:30 to 11 a.m. will be for construction and service vendors. Services and equipment needed include plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, carpentry, earth moving, horizontal and vertical construction, etc.
The second session from 2 to 4 p.m. will be for wildland fire vendors. It will include updates on regulations, contracts, the ordering and payment process, and types of services needed to support crews, such as meals, copiers, heavy equipment, refrigerated trailers, ice, hardware, showers, toilets, hand washing stations, and lodging.
For more information contact Ginger Domingos at 385-1245 or gingerdomingos@fs.fed.us.
LPEA open house helps scholarship applicants
La Plata Electric Association will hold an open house on Jan. 22 for high school seniors and their parents seeking college scholarships through LPEA. The session will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at LPEA's headquarters in Bodo Business Park, 45 Stewart St. in Durango.
Staff will be available to answer questions, and scholarship application forms will be available. All high school seniors, including home schoolers, whose families receive electricity from LPEA are eligible to apply for four-year LPEA scholarships or the two-year John Voelker Memorial Scholarship; as well as scholarships from Tri-State Generation/ Transmission and Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
LPEA will award two four-year scholarships (140 credit hours) for students attending any college or university beginning with the 2015-16 academic year. LPEA will cover tuition, books, and fees, up to $28,000 over four years as long as the recipients maintain minimum qualifications.
The LPEA/ John Voelker Memorial Scholarship recognizes two students attending accredited vocational or technical schools or junior college. It covers fees, books, tools, and supplies, up to $10,000 over two years per student.
Funds for these scholarships come from unclaimed capital credits, when LPEA is unable to find members to whom the credits are due. LPEA supports training and educating local young people for jobs they might ultimately get at a rural electric cooperative, though this is not a requirement of the scholarships.
The application deadline is March 2. Attendance at the Jan. 22 open house is not an application requirement.
Red Ball Express coming
The four Rotary Clubs in La Plata County, including the Pine River club for the Bayfield and Ignacio areas, now have ball adoption tickets available for Red Ball Express, which will happen Feb. 7 at Durango Mountain Resort. Tickets are available from club members and several participating non-profit organizations, including Bayfield's BEEP pre-school.
The ball adoptions are a chance to win $5,000, $2,000, or $1,000. Big red exercise balls will be rolled down the bunny hill at DMR. Each has a number. Winners are determined by the number combinations of the first and second, third and fourth, and fifth and sixth balls into a chute at the bottom of the hill.
Red Ball is a primary annual fundraiser for the Rotary Clubs, which use the money for their community service projects. Participating non-profits use their ticket proceeds for their programs.
