Pine River Times – The Durango Herald

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Torrential rain floods Bayfield homes, prompting demands for improved stormwater management

Town Board examining storm management plan

DATE: Jul 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bayfield High School graduates 72 seniors in Class of 2022

Music, memories and an eye to the future mark this year’s commencement

DATE: May 16, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bee Thrifty: Young entrepreneur opens store in downtown Bayfield

Kira Wennerstrom is a confirmed thrift-store junkie. She began working for a local estate sale company when she was just a teenager. In college, she made money by taking thrift-store finds a...

DATE: May 8, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Town of Bayfield, seniors spar over use of Pine River Senior Center

Residents say the facility has not been operated properly since opening in 2021

DATE: May 5, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Local farms producing crops for Pine River Shares

Produce is part of Field to Fork program

DATE: May 3, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Ascent Classical Academy to host informational meeting

Ascent Classical Academy is opening a new tuition-free, K-12 charter school in the Durango area. The academy will host a community informational meeting at 5:30 p.m., Jan. 13 at the Durango...

DATE: Jan 4, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bayfield seeks additional members to grow town’s ‘tree board’

Group helps inventory flora in public places, makes recommendations

DATE: Dec 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Could a small grocery store be coming to Bayfield?

Town annexes 16 acres for commercial development

DATE: Nov 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bayfield Marshal’s Office releases identities, details of domestic violence shooting

Robert Lyon suspected of shooting his wife twice before turning gun on himself

DATE: Nov 15, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bayfield Middle School principal placed on administrative leave

School district is still working out who will serve as the principal in the interim

DATE: Nov 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Veterans, descendants gather at Pine River Cemetery in Bayfield

About 20 U.S. military members and their relatives mark Veterans Day

DATE: Nov 11, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County Fair is off and running

La Plata County Fair schedule of eventsThursday8:30 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA breeding swine, market swine. 9 a.m.-8 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.9 a.m.: Judging open class home economics, horticulture, floriculture, creative arts.9 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA and open class fleeces.9 a.m.: 4-H poultry judging followed by open class.1 p.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA goat show, all classes followed by open class goat.5 p.m.: Fair Royalty speeches and modeling.7 p.m.: Talent contest, patio.7 p.m.: Livestock verification swine, poultry, goat, general project cards due.

Friday9 a.m.-8 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.9 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA rabbits.10 a.m.: 4-H/FFA breeding beef, beef showmanship.1 p.m.: 4-H/FFA market beef, grand champion and reserve grand champion market beef, champion selection.2 p.m.: Dairy cattle, all classes.3:15 p.m.: Pee wee showmanship.4 p.m.: 4-H/FFA livestock round robin, all-around showmanship.7 p.m.: Asleep at the Wheel concert.7 p.m.: Livestock sale verification rabbit and beef cards due.

Saturday9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public. 9 a.m.: 4-H dog show.9 a.m.: Judging open class beef all classes.10 a.m.: Rooster crowing contest.10 a.m.: FFA showmanship.11 a.m.: Open class dairy cattle, all classes.12 p.m.: Demolition Derby.12-4 p.m.: Community 4-H barbecue cook off (senior center lawn).2 p.m.: Rabbit costume contest.2 p.m.: Poultry costume contest.5 p.m.: Silver steaks, silver loin and silver chop award presentation.5:45 p.m.: Fair Royalty crowning.6 p.m.: Junior livestock sale pavilion.9 p.m.-midnight: Fair family dance.

Sunday8 a.m.: Cowboy church. 8 a.m.: Carcass animals loaded.9 a.m.- 2 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.1:30 p.m.: 4-H/FFA Catch-It contest.2-3 p.m.: Payment of premiums. 2-3 p.m.: Exhibits released in all departments. 2-5 p.m.: Booths taken down.2-5 p.m.: Poultry and rabbit exhibits released.2 p.m.: Animals released.Beer garden is open Thursday through Saturday.

La Plata County Fair schedule of events Thursday 8:30 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA breeding s...

Patriotic drone show unfolds above Durango’s night skyAbout 1,200 people watched production from city Transit Center

One hundred forty drones took to the skies above Greenmount Cemetery at 10 p.m. sharp Saturday in a glowing and patriotic spectacle featuring vibrant images colored red, white and blue against the black backdrop of night.About 1,200 people gathered Saturday at the Durango Transit Center to watch the city’s premiere drone show produced by Verge Aero after a street dance and band performance by McCurry Trio and Desert Child for Independence Day celebrations.Spectators were treated to drone depictions of the American flag, star patterns, a soaring bald eagle and a homage to the city with drones flying in formation to spell out “Durango” to close out the street dance that started at 6 p.m. Across the valley from Greenmount Cemetery, the headlights of cars shined from Rim Drive near Fort Lewis College where more spectators watched.

Ellen Babers, Durango community events administrator, said the show went well. She heard “Ooh’s” and “ah’s” from the crowd when the drones transitioned from one image to another.She said a segment that consisted of stars rotating at various intervals, shrinking into smaller stars before expanding into the shape of a larger star, appeared to be a crowd favorite.“People really liked the Durango part,” she said. “When it spelled out Durango, people seemed surprised. Like, ‘Oh, this isn’t just a generic show, this is about us.’”Other images included an outline of the continental United States, the letters “USA,” and a spinning globe shape that gave the drone show a 3D feel.

The drones were laid out earlier in the evening in a square grid, with each drone placed 4 feet apart. Peter Smiatek, pilot and designer of the drone show, worked with a crew of about six people, including volunteers. Saturday evening at Greenmount Cemetery where the drones launched and landed, Peter Smiatek, pilot and designer with Verge Aero, and his crew of about six people, including volunteers, had laid all the drones out on the grass in a square grid. Each drone was placed four feet apart. Smiatek synced the drones to a GPS and radio tower in preparation for the evening’s show. Six minutes before takeoff, a deer wandered straight past the drone grid, narrowly avoiding stepping on them.“That could have been a disaster,” Smiatek said as his crew scanned the nearby area with flashlights. No other deer were visible.Two minutes before takeoff, the crew’s portable generator shut off – out of gas.

“We have double secure power,” he said. “The generator fell off two minutes before the show started. It’s like Murphy’s law, anything that could happen will happen. So it’s best to be prepared.”During prep, the crew ran several tests with the drones. The drones shot up 3 to 4 meters, hovered for about one second and then dropped back to their designated grid space on the grass.

Smiatek worked from a makeshift command station where his laptop and transmission tower were perched.“The base station is the heart of the show,” he said. “It’s a computer and it’s a distribution system connected to radios and an antenna. And that’s it, basically. Very flexible and a good system.”Chris Lutts, vice president of sales at Verge Aero, said he thinks Durangoans enjoyed the performance. From Greenmount Cemetery, he could hear the cheers and whistles of the audience at the Durango Transit Center.“The people we’ve been working with have been great,” he said. “Clearly, the city enjoyed it, so that’s awesome. That’s why we do this. It’s no different than any other entertainment, man. You love that feedback. It’s validation that what you’re doing is something that people really like.”cburney@durangoherald.com