Potato Days volunteers
Be a part of history by helping pull off the 117th annual Carbondale Potato Days, the longest-running tradition unique to the town. Volunteers are needed the day of the main event, Saturday, Oct. 3, in Sopris Park for Peace Patrol, Green Team, bartending, breakdown and more. To sign up to lend a hand, visit tinyurl.com/PotatoDaysVolunteer or email kat@westernmosaic.com
Candidate forum
The regional candidate forum hosted at The Ute Theatre in Rifle on Monday evening, Sept. 28, is available to view online at rifletv.plus The Spanish-language interpretation recording will also be available soon at the same website. Democrat and Republican candidates for Colorado House District 57, Senate District 8 and for Garfield Board of County Commissioners seat participated in the forum.
General Election
Garfield County will begin mailing out General Election ballots on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to registered voters. Ballot boxes will be open the following day, Oct. 7, to receive ballots and will remain so until 7pm on Nov. 3, the night of the election. Register to vote at govotecolorado.gov and find ballot updates, including when one’s ballot is received and counted, at garfield.ballottrax.net/voter Early voting centers at the Glenwood Springs Community Center and South Hall of the Garfield County Fair Grounds in Rifle open on Monday, Oct. 19. Visit garfieldcountyco.gov/clerk-recorder/elections for more voting information.
‘Thrill the World’
The Bonedale Flashmob is looking to recruit more dancers for “Thrill the World 2026,” a worldwide synchronized dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” here in Carbondale on Oct. 24 at 4pm on 4th and Main streets. This year, the Carbondale troupe is raising funds for the Safe and Abundant Nutrition Alliance, more commonly referred to as SANA. Rehearsals are from 5:30 to 6:30pm on Tuesdays at the Carbondale Library. To sign up or for more information, call or text 970-379-2187.
Fashion show
Throw your hat in the ring to be a designer or dancer in the Carbondale Fashion Show, which will run March 11-13, 2027. Designer registration opened on Tuesday, Sept. 30, and will remain open until Dec. 2. Dancer registration opens on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and will remain open until Nov. 11. Details and applications at carbondalearts.com/fashion-show
RFV bear grants
The Roaring Fork Valley was among Colorado locales that received the state’s Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Community Grant, which will provide $1 million to aid 17 bear-conflict efforts. Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that the Valley was awarded $48,550. All Valley Resources will use the funding to “upgrade existing waste storage in the Roaring Fork Valley to self-locking containers, reducing access to attractants such as cooking oil and food waste.” The organization will also purchase 70 self-locking containers. Along with the Valley as a whole, Snowmass Village was also among the 17 areas to receive grant funding and is slated to receive $56,250 to replace a dumpster enclosure.
Road closure near Marble
Nearly 2 miles of road east of Marble will be closed from 8am to 4pm daily, beginning Monday, Oct. 5, until Tuesday, Oct. 13. The roughly 1.75-mile closure will run from the intersection of National Forest System Road 314 (Crystal River Road) and National Forest System Road 315 (Lead King Basin Road) to the top of Devil’s Punchbowl. Crews will strengthen embankments, remove rock slides and rock hazards and more.
Connection 5k results
|Nearly $6,000 was raised for the Connection is the Medicine Foundation, True Nature’s nonprofit arm, at the Inaugural Connection 5k on Saturday, Sept. 20. The race saw 60 people register. Carly Dominick-Sobol took the win in the women’s category with a time of 24 minutes and 48 seconds, followed by Mariana Rodriguez and Alicia Webb, while Jeffrey Colt finished first in the men’s category with a time of 17 minutes and 31 seconds, followed by Max Peterson and Brian Williams.
Maroon Bells
The Forest Service is soliciting comments regarding its proposal to issue a special use permit for Pitkin County to manage the Maroon Bells Scenic Area. “We want to ensure the Maroon Bells Scenic Area continues to be effectively and sustainably managed,” said Aspen-Sopris District Ranger Jennifer Schuller. “We have been partnering with Pitkin County at the Maroon Bells Scenic Area for 50 years, and this is a natural expansion of that partnership.” For details and to comment, visit tinyurl.com/PitkinBells Comments must be submitted by Oct. 9.
They say it’s your birthday!
Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Wes Engstrom, Mark Grice, Heather Hicks, Blake Lockard, Daisy Salinas and Mike Waski (Oct. 1); Ray Alexander, Josh Behrman, Tracy Kallassy, Bill Rice, Meddi Shaw, Megan Webber and Renee West (Oct. 2); Cole Fenton, Shannon O’Gara, Daniella Stanley Kline, Kate Schwerin and Kevin Steuben (Oct. 3); Matt Koenigsknecht, Jill Rubin and Mac Scott (Oct. 4); Lisa Girardot, Jessi Rochel and Tami Stroud (Oct. 5); Bill Anschuetz, Christi Couch and Matthew Roeser (Oct. 6); Bob Burns, Iliana Rentería and Camille Vogt (Oct. 7).