"War of the Worlds" - Halloween in Ouray

"War of the Worlds", the classic Halloween radio drama will air tonight at 7 pm on 98.9 FM KURA. The War of the Worlds was first performed as a Halloween radio special on October 30, 1938. The original broadcast made history in when it was mistaken for an actual news broadcast and panic ensued.

If you enjoy radio drama, stay tuned; KURA plans to air our own homegrown adaption of "A Christmas Carol", to be broadcast live from the Wright Opera House. More info on this event is forthcoming.

KURA broadcasts from the Ouray School. Daytime programming and community bulletin boards are managed by our students at the Ouray School. I'm working on keeping the dinner time jazz (5-7 pm) and evening Rock and Roots shows rolling and helping out some of our community DJs.

-EF

Indian Summer in Ouray

I took advantage of our Indian summer yesterday to squeeze in some Autumn season hiking. On the left is a picture of the mines on Gold Hill. This was taken from the Silvershield Trail overlook.

-EF

Ouray Film Club

With the reopening of the Wright Opera House The Ouray Movie Club (OMC) is spinning up for a new season. Not to be confused with the equally interesting Friday Night Club (a children's series also at the Opera House), OMC will present a winter long series of cutting edge movies from the independent and art house film circuit. This will include films from festivals such as Sundance and Cannes.

OMC was very active a few years ago while the theatre was still operational. At that time we also presented a Sunday Cinema in Ouray series and filled the house for films such as TransAmerica, Cache, and Heart of Gold. It is good to be back.

-EF

Best of Ouray!

So, I have stumbled across "BestStuff" and Ouray is out there. I think everyone who enjoys Ouray should vote for Ouray! Hooray for Ouray!

Top 10 Reasons Ouray is the Greatest!

10. Scenic Beauty -- Duh, that is what gets you here... These are the reasons that you stay!

9. We have the worlds first ice park
8. The Smithsonian has ranked the Ouray County Museum as one of the best small museums in the country
7. The Ouray Trail Group is second to none in creating and maintaining hiking trails in and around Ouray!
6. Weehawken Creative Arts has brought so many fun and exciting classes to the community including dance, metal smithing, photography, drawing, painting... There are so many opportunities to explore your creative side
5. The Ouray Nordic Council takes care of all the cross country trails at Ironton ... all as a volunteer effort.
4. The Ouray Movie Club is starting to take shape again!
3. Ouray has the worlds best building for creating a haunted house. Just look at this picture from this blog. It is the Elk's Lodge looking all spooky.
2. Ouray has its very own glassblower in town and we also have our own Artisan Bakery that makes the very best of the best baguettes. How cool is that?

...

And the number one reason that Ouray is the Greatest???

1. Ouray has such a great group of citizens that make each and every day such a joy. The community is tight knit and very supportive, through thick and thin...

Vote for Ouray

New Film Club

With the re-opening of the Wright Opera House, it seems like the Ouray Movie Club is starting out again. You can read their latest plans at their new blog... http://ourayfilm.blogspot.com/

I like the look of their blog and I like the opportunity to see the less popular films in a theater like setting. What a great event.

I have seen some signs around town and it looks quite promising!

Creative Writing

Over the week end, Weehawken Creative Arts had a great workshop by David Mason called Dramatic Voices in Poetry. David teaches at Colorado College and traveled to Ouray with his wife, Anne Lennox. They were both terrific people. "The ability of the instructor couldn't be better" wrote one student. Another commented that "Dave was very well prepared, great handouts, and a great presentation" That evening, Dave gave a reading at Bulow's on Mainstreet. We were sorry to see them head back to Woodland Park.

Can't Wait for Winter Skiing

I just took advantage of our recent early season snowfall and did a few ski turns off of Red Mountain Pass. There may not be any snow left in town, but there was enough on Red to manage a few turns.

Red Mountain Pass is renowned for backcountry skiing. The area is now represented by a new chapter in the Backcountry Snowsport Alliance. Work has begun on signs and kiosks to designate the non motorized areas.

If you are in the backcountry in snow season, ALWAYS carry and know how to use Avalanche safety equipment. If you haven't been trained in avalanche safety, the Silverton Avalanche School will offer an excellent Level I course this January.

-EF

Happy Halloween

We started setting up for the Haunted House today over at the Elks Building. You can't appreciate how few electrical outlets are in that building until you need more than 3 of them. The theme this year is "Harry Potter". Too bad I have no clue about this story. I was just a simple worker bee. I climbed ladders and hung black plastic and that will be my claim to fame. There is still more work to do but it will be finished long before Saturday. The Haunted House will be from 6-8pm on Saturday night (Oct 27th).

I am behind on my Veterans Day invitations and I need to get those done by Wednesday, drop dead! Beth has done the work to get some ads running in the paper. Manette and I and hopefully others will cook the dinner and the breakfast. It will be free for any veteran. I think that is the least we can do to show our appreciation. I have also had the city of ouray agree that Active Duty military can have free admission to the pool on Veterans Day. As for other vets, I think we can probably get them in 1/2 price. We have to finish with Halloween before we can think about that event. I think it will be a very nice affair. Next time, I hope we can make it nicer!

Rich was shoveling snow from 8:00am this morning and then he helped them out over at the Vic. Their International Scout has a bad transmission so he gave them a helping hand. He certainly put a couple of cents into his karmic bank!

Tomorrow I am supposed to swim in the morning... brrrrrrr..... I wish I knew how cold the water was in the lap lanes. It turns out I really like the feeling of being in the water and working to stretch out and pull. I really need to get in that water. To heck with getting cold! Worst case, I will swim laps in the warm pool :-)

Weather is supposed to be sunny ... early morning should be spectacular if the sky is clear.


Karen @BCL

Fun Times!

We went out for a great walk today along the Ice Park trail. I love that trail cuz it is so close to town, easy, fast, and no one is ever there. On the way, we ran into Clint Cook at the bridge on Camp Bird Road from San Juan Mountain Guides. He had set up a zip line across the gorge and there was a nice family from Denmark enjoying their rides. Clint was out providing them with some beginning mountaineering instruction & some fun on a zip line. The Dad admitted that he was afraid of heights but as he had two layers of security he was feeling confident to let 'er rip! It is fun to watch. They were a really nice family.

Rich spotted a pheasant-like bird on the trail. We really have no clue what kind of bird it was but rest assured that we are sure it wasn't the run of the mill robin. It was the size of a small turkey but the noise it made didn't sound that way. It could fly too! It was a pretty bird. Nala was also amused with the sighting.

As usual, I forgot my camera (I will get better at that) but have decided to upload a cute picture I actually did take last week of Rich and Nala. It could have been taken today :-)

Yesterday, I got the latest holiday schedule of events completed and it was loaded onto the Chamber website. The schedule is looking quite full of activities and the committee is doing a wonderful job of pulling it together. Two events stick in my mind as extra special... The Nutcracker Sweets (little kids doing a dance recital) and the old time radio show put on by the Ouray County Players. Both should be quite extraordinary.

Bruce from Rocky Mountain Treasures & Gifts came by this morning and is going to print out the holiday schedule so that I can get it posted around. He has a colored laser printer and bought some legal paper yesterday. It prints out on legal sized paper and I ran out. I really like the way the business community is really working well together. It says a lot about this community.

All for now,

Karen @ Box Canyon Lodge

Fall into Ouray

What a beautiful day! It was 81 degrees & sunny yesterday. The leaves are falling & there's a crispness to the air in the morning. Weather can change when it wants to, but it's always so nice up here.

The pool is open & people are having a great time soaking in the hot springs. Jeep tours are still running & it's another wonderful day in Ouray!

Steve @ Ouray Chalet Inn

great weather in Ouray!

I just came in from my deck, watching the light change with dusk. What a great evening, brisk, yes, and the cool air feels fresh and alive. I love being here in the mountains. When I went by the hot springs pool earlier this evening I wanted to stop and soak. With the steam rising from the water I could almost feel the 105 degrees aginst my skin. I thought I had too much to do this evening to allow for soak. Standing out on the deck I have changed my mind. I am grabbing a towel and going to take advantage of that hot clear water that comes from deep in the earth. See you there....

Master Plans

Another BEAUTIFUL day in Ouray!

Master Plans for the Parks were presented last night at City Council and are at the City Hall for review. We all need to review and give opinions. Remember that if you set back and don't speak up, don't complain when you don't like what happens.

Women's Club meeting today at the Community Center, you will be able to meet the new candidates for City Council, also I believe that some of the County Commissioners will be there.

Fresh Snow~!

The snow was fantastic... My favorite type... It stayed up high so no shoveling~! You can see how clear the sky is today. We had a little cub at the homestead last night. He was stumbling around and opening cans. Momma bear is nearby but we didn't see her last night.

Today is supposed to be a nice warm day, should be in the 50s. I plan to go hiking on the Portland Trail. It should be very nice today. Computer work will have to wait until tonight as the day is just to beautiful. I just love the way that you can keep hiking so late in the season.

The Holiday Committee is meeting regularly so this December should prove to be a lot of fun. The old time radio show is a go and it will be happening on December 1.