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here are a few photos that I took while out with friends last week. 

Dramatic “Roots of Rock” Biopic this Weekend
Cadillac Records screens at Beaumont Hotel

The Ouray Movie Club will present the sixth in this season’s series of award winning cinema. Cadillac Records, screens at 7 p.m.  this Friday March 20th at the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray. This period piece chronicles the rise and fall of influential R&B record label Chess Records. Chess launched the careers of Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. Leonard Chess scoured the South, checking out the various blues scenes and selling records from the back of his Cadillac in this exciting and turbulent tale.

The film was nominated for a 2009 Golden Globe award and stars Beyoncé Knowles, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, and Mos Def. It runs 109 minutes and is rated R.

The Ouray Movie Club brings artistic and award winning cinema to Ouray on the first and third Fridays of the month throughout the winter and spring seasons. The movie is open to the public at $7.50 per ticket.  2009 Ouray Movie Club members may use their punch card. A pre-screening dinner will be available starting at 5 p.m. at Bulow’s Bistro in the Beaumont Hotel. For more information, visit the club’s website at: www.ourayfilm.com.

For more information about the Ouray Movie Club please call Eric Funk at 970-318-1291, e-mail Eric at eric@redmountainradio.com, or visit ourayfilm.com.

CHILI COOK-OFF

Saturday, March 21 at the

Ouray Elks Lodge

Hot & Mild Green, Hot &

 Mild Red, Vegetarian,

Cornbread, Salsa & Pie

No Fee to Enter!

Bring entries to the Lodge by 4:30 pm

CASH PRIZES!

HOTEL STAYS!

OTHER PRIZES!

Judging by popular vote of diners!

Adults $10 • Kids $5

Doors Open to the Public at 5:00 pm

For More Info: call Jill at 970.325.4944

Check ou the great article from the DenverPost.  Malcom and the Crew from Paradox Sports, plus a bunch of Ouray’s Locals ran a great program this year!!

Disabled athletes ascend to remember – The Denver Post.

Greetings one and all!

Pending approval from the city, you will soon see the 2009 Raffle Jeep on the streets! This year there is a slight modification in the price structure to be: 1 for $5, 3 for $10 or 7 for $20.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more please contact the Ouray Chamber at 800.228.1876.

A sample of the 2009 poster is below.

I hope all is well!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Loshaw, Director

www.ouraycolorado.com

800.228.1876 / 970.325.4746

jeep-raffle-2

check out this nice little article about last season climbing here in Ouray.  The conditions are still pretty good, so come on down and check out the Ice Park!

Oklahoma City Adventure Travel Examiner: Why look at a waterfall when you could climb one?

Posted using ShareThis

Contact: Joyce Linn 325-4235 316-0028

An economic stimulus targeted specifically to Ouray County is being announced this week, after several months of planning and preparation. This stimulus does not require local residents to buy anything and it adds to the economy without adding to the tax burden. However, they can help the local economy significantly by suggesting groups who might consider having their meetings here. A volunteer committee of the Ouray Marketing Committee is ready to take it from there to contact the groups and work with them for their planning.

“Bring Your Meeting Home” has become the 2009 mantra of the Marketing Committee. And, in the spirit of everyone pitching in to help the local economy, the committee is seeking assistance from the community to “recruit” more group business such as meetings and conferences, weddings, reunions, training sessions, etc. During the past several months, the committee, led by OCRA President Karen Avery, has studied other “group” destinations to determine how Ouray County can compete with them. They then comprehensively researched local spaces and found 45 venues throughout Ouray County suited for various kinds of group activities, and created a directory of those with functional details about each– even including how many electrical outlets each has.

The Marketing Committee has created a new team of staff and volunteers and developed procedures, including some free services, to accommodate the needs of meeting and event planners. And, they have initiated a pro-active sales campaign to find potential group business.

“We know that many people in our community go to meetings elsewhere, some have brought meetings here already, and most probably have good ideas about other group business opportunities through their professional, volunteer or social connections. We hope they will share their suggestions. It will help us add more leads to those we are already following. Their personal knowledge about groups will add much to the success of our sales efforts,” Karen Avery notes.

“Reports from those who have found Ouray, mostly on their own, for their meetings typically have rave reviews of the experience here. Instead of waiting for them to find us, it is time now for us to take a pro-active initiative to seek groups that are of the size and dynamic we can graciously accommodate.”

The addition of two meetings a month, averaging 50 participants, would add almost $1million annually to the local economy based on just minimal meetings needs, and not including any shopping the participants might do. Avery adds, “We can comfortably accommodate from 2 to 200 for meetings, meals, and lodging. Depending on their needs and the season, we can accommodate even larger groups. We can provide some basic services free for groups, and can direct them to local meeting planning services if they need that assistance.”

To suggest a group, please contact Jennifer Loshaw, Executive Director of the Ouray Chamber Resort Association at 325-4746, 800-228-1876 or meetings@ouraycolorado.com.

The following was provided by Sara Coulter of the San Juan Corridors Coalition. Thanks Susan!

The Uncompahgre River including the Ridgway Reservoir offers some of the best fishing in the area, providing brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout in good numbers and some very large sizes. Dan Kowalski, CDOW Aquatic Biologist, will provide information about these fisheries in the next Living with Wildlife presentation, Thursday, March 12, 7 p.m., Ridgway Community Center, Railroad Avenue, Ridgway.

Dan Kowalski is responsible for the management of native and sport fish in the Gunnison, North Fork, San Miguel, and Uncompahgre River drainages. His area includes the rivers, lakes, and streams from the Grand Mesa south to Telluride and from the Utah line to Crystal Reservoir. Before starting this job in April of 2003 he was a seasonal employee for the DOW in the Northeast Region and held numerous research jobs in Colorado and Pennsylvania. He received his Master’s degree in Fishery Biology from Colorado State University in June of 2002. At CSU he studied whirling disease on a project funded by the DOW and the National Partnership on the Management of Wild and Native Cold Water Fisheries. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at The Pennsylvania State University in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences with a Forestry minor.

Sport fishing generates considerable income for the tri-county area. According to CDOW data from 2002, the expenditures for fishing in Montrose County were $4,930,000; in Ouray County, $1,140,000; and in San Miguel County, $2,480,000.

All the trout in Colorado are descendants of Pacific or Atlantic salmon, but only one, the cutthroat trout, arrived here by itself to become the only native trout in the State. According to the CDOW, “the cutthroat trout is thought to have migrated up the Columbia and Snake river basins to the Green and Yellowstone river basins over the past two million years. They arrived in Colorado within the past 20,000 years, crossing the Continental Divide during the most recent Ice Age!” The rugged terrain of their habitat has led to isolation and the development of subspecies, three of which evolved in Colorado: the Colorado River cutthroat trout in drainages west of the Continental Divide, the Greenback cutthroat trout in the South Platte and Arkansas River drainages, and the Rio Grande cutthroat trout in streams that drain into the San Luis Valley. All three of these species have either been petitioned to be listed or are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act because the introduction of non native trout, especially rainbow trout that hybridize with cutthroat trout, and brook and brown trout that tend to replace them in streams and rivers, has dramatically reduced their numbers. The CDOW is participating in a Cutthroat Trout Recovery and Conservation Team.

Non-native species of trout—rainbow, brook, lake, and brown—were introduced into Colorado between 1870 and 1890 by settlers who brought them in containers from their home areas. Rainbow trout are native to the Pacific Northwest and descended from Pacific salmon. They are now the most common trout in Colorado and a favorite catch of anglers. Brook trout and lake trout are native to the tributaries of eastern North America and descended from salmon in the western Atlantic. Brook trout tend to overpopulate and out compete other species. Lake trout are native to the upper Great Lakes and other northeastern lakes. Brown trout are native to Europe and descended from salmon in the eastern Atlantic. Brown trout are widely distributed and well established in Colorado in every lake and mountain stream between 6,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation.

A non-native species of special interest in the Ridgway area is the kokanee salmon, a land-locked Pacific sockeye salmon that attracts eagles to the bridge in Ridgway during their fall spawning run. The DOW Roaring Judy Hatchery is another location to observe these fish in the fall when they travel 25 miles from Blue Mesa Reservoir back to their birthplace.

In managing the fisheries in Colorado, CDOW conducts regular fish and stream surveys to “track fish population trends, evaluate the effectiveness of management actions such as stocking and regulations, and establish realistic management goals for a given lake or stream.” High priority and brood waters, such as the Gunnison River, are surveyed annually while smaller, more remote lakes and streams are surveyed once every 5-10 years. CDOW has recently started publishing this data to provide the public with the most up-to-date information available.

Whirling disease has become a particular concern for the survival of young trout in Colorado, especially rainbow trout, brook trout, and all the species of cutthroat trout that seem to be susceptible. Whirling disease is spread by a parasite that has two hosts—adult fish and Tubifex worms. It attacks the cartilage of young fish causing deformities of the skull and spine. Most infected young fish die within 3-6 months. Currently, there is no cure, and the parasite can persist indefinitely in the wild. Anglers are asked to avoid spreading the disease by thoroughly rinsing mud and weeds from vehicles, boats, trailers, anchors, axles, waders, boots, fishing equipment, and anything that can hold spores of mud-dwelling worms. In addition, anglers are asked not to transport any fish or aquatic plants from one body of water to another and not to dispose of fish entrails into any body of water.

Doors for this presentation will open at 6:30. Refreshments will include homemade cookies, coffee provided by Mountain Market, and tea provided by Cups.

SJCC sponsors the Living with Wildlife presentations featuring wildlife topics of interest to the community on the second Thursday of each month throughout the year.

For further information and to offer suggestions for this series, please contact Sara Coulter (626-4496, scoulter@towson.edu) or Shirley Jentsch (240-1319, sjentsch@montrose.net).