Firefighting Santa’s

I just read a very heartwarming article at GJSentinel.com entitled, “Firefighter give and shop in support of Toys for Tots”. According to this article, several members of the Grand Junction Professional Firefighters Local 2088 went to Target on Tuesday morning and spent $2,198.88 of the $8,500 donation they made to Toys for Tots. They spent the remainder of the money yesterday at Toys For The Fun Of It where the received a 25% discount on all of their toy purchases.

According to Toys for Tots coordinator Greg Merschel, Toys for Tots donations are at an all-time low. What with our national economic problems, it is not hard to understand why. And, with the rising number of folks who have lost their jobs, it is not hard to understand why demand is also at an all-time high. Merschel also stated that Toys for Tots would be accepting donations through December 23.

I cannot imagine how it must feel for a child to know that they will not be receiving any gifts come Christmas Day. Though many of us may have grown up with very little, I am sure that not too many have known what it feels like to not receive anything on Christmas. I will definitely be taking some time out of my schedule to buy a new toy and drop it off at our local fire department, and while I am there I think I will personally thank some of the fine men and women who serve our community.

I for one would like to salute these brave and caring firemen and women who have chosen one of the most dangerous professions possible. I commend their dedication to this community and support their efforts to ensure that children, who would otherwise not have received anything on Christmas, receive a nice gift. It is things like this that make Grand Junction a real community and not just the city where we live, work and play.

5K run to benefit Children With Hope

Who does not like doing something to benefit those children who need and cannot do for themselves? Well, if you enjoy running, there is a great way to help homeless children in Kenya. According to an article that I just read in the gjsentinel.com entitled, “5K run benefits Children With Hope home in Kenya” there is a way that local area runners can enjoy their favorite sport and help these poor children in Kenya at the same time.

Those who are interested in participating must register at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday June 27 at Canyon View Park at the Gunnison Shelter. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. There is also an online registration form at www.childrenwithhope.com. Winners in each age group will receive authentic Kenyan prizes. Those who do not wish to participate, but would still like to make a monetary donation, can do so by sending their contribution to Children With Hope, 627 24 ½ Road, Suite D, Grand Junction 81505. If you would like to find out more about how you can sponsor a child, please call 256-1610.

Children With Hope is a local-area Christian charity that was started in 2003 by Thom and Shari Seagren. The couple purchased a home in Kenya last year where 10 children went to live with foster Parents, Horace and Phyllis Leister. The Leisters are originally from Idaho and had been foster parents to more than 150 children before they moved to Kenya to help Children With Hope.

Thom and Shari Seagren are in the process of trying to raise enough money to buy a second home for 20 more children and in the future, they hope to be able to open a school as well. The cost of providing for each child living at the home is approximately $150 and most of the children living at the house in Kenya are under the age of 3 and have been orphaned because their parents have died, either from AIDS or other tragedies.

This is a great way to get out and enjoy a 5K run, and at the same time, help Kenyan children who otherwise would suffer homelessness.

Grand Junction – Mesa County June 2009 Events

• June 12, 2009 – Elam Classic Tennis Tournament, located at Canyon View Tennis Courts.  Western States Men’s professional tennis tournaments, for more information call 970.242.1490 or visit the Elam Classic Annual website.
• June 12, 2009 – Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Music Festival, located at Riverbend Park in Palisade.  Music, local wines, food and dancing, for more information call 970.464.5602 or visit the Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Music Festival website.
• June 13, 2009 – Colorado Quarter Horse Show, located at the Mesa County Fairgrounds Covered Arena in Grand Junction for more information on this fun event call 970.255.7100.
• June 16, 2009 – 2009 Jazz among the Grapevines, located at Two Rivers Winery in Grand Junction, come out and listen to great jazz and enjoy local wines.  For more information on this event send an email to sally0516@gmail.com.
• June 19, 2009 – Movies under the Stars – “Bridge to Terabithia” located at the Glade Park Volunteer Fire Station in Glade Park. There will be live entertainment, games, rides and food, for more information call 970.216.9116 or visit the Glade Park website.
• June 20 and 21, 2009 –  34th Annual Car Show-AutoFest 2009, located at Lincoln Park, come and check out vintage, domestic and foreign cars, hot rods and motorcycles, fun for the entire family.  Call 970.434.2262 or visit the Colorado West Chapter of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America website.
• June 21, 2009 – 15th Annual Bicycle Tour of Colorado, call 303.985.1180 or visit the 2009 Bicycle Tour of Colorado website for more details.
• June 25 to 28, 2009 – Country Jam USA Music Festival, call 800.7800.JAM to fine out the lineup, ticket information, camping, guest services and more information about this great event.  Visit the Country JAM website for more details.
• June 27 and 28, 2009 – 4-H District Horse Show, located at the Mesa County Fairgrounds Covered Arena, call 970.255.711 for more details on this event.

Grand Junction – Mesa County May 2009 Events

• May 7, 2009 – Wind Symphony Concert at the Robinson Theater Moss Performing Arts Center, call 970.248.1954 for more information or visit the Mesa State Events website.
• May 7-9, 2009 – Ecology – Black Ridge Trail to find out more information on this great event and to get info on the starting point call 970.858.3617 x364. 
• May 8-10, 2009 – 21st Annual Downtown Art & Jazz Festival to find out locations and schedule for this even call 970.250.4133 or visit the Downtown Grand Junction website. 
• May 8-10, 2009 Dressage Society Horse Show at Mesa County Fairgrounds, for more information on this event call 970.255.7100 
• May 8-9, 2009 – Mammoth Marathon & Palisade Bike Festival, the race will commence at Palisade Town Center Plaza, register at Peach Street Distillers in Palisade and hour before the race.  Visit the Mammoth Marathon website for more details. 
• May 10, 2009- Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast – Fundraiser for the Orchard Mesa Lions Club, the event will take place at the Mesa County Fairgrounds at 7 am.  For more inflaming call 970.255.7100. 
• May 14-16, 2009 – Cactus Walk along Gordon Trail – for reservation and starting point call 970.858.3617 X364. 
• May 15-16, 2009 – Mike the Headless Chicken Festival – Call 970.858.0360 or visit the Mike the Headless Chicken website for more information on this fun event. 
• May 16-17, 2009 – Spring Barrel Tasting, located at Two Rivers Winery – there will be 8 wineries featuring their current releases, drawings, foods and fun.  Call 866.312.WINE to visit the Two Rivers Winery website for more details. 
• May 22-25, 2009 – Memorial Day Weekend Festivities – call 970.931.2458 or visit the Gateway Canyons website for the latest details. 
• May 30, 2009 – 10th Annual Girl Scout Golf Challenge located at the Adobe Creek National Golf Course in Fruita, great event for the entire family.  Call for fees and schedules at 970.242.4461 or visit the Girl Scouts of Colorado website.

Grand Junction going to the dogs?

I was just reading the Grand Junction Sentinel online when I saw an interesting article entitled, “Animal control spending more time chasing loose dogs: owners are to blame“.  According to this article, up to 42% of the Mesa County Animal Control’s caseload in 2007 involved chasing down loose dogs: In 2008, that number rose to 48%.  Mesa County Animal Services attributes this to one thing, irresponsible dog owners who do not contain their pets.

Loose dogs are a problem for any community.  They can cause auto accidents by running in front of motorists and they can attack and kill livestock and wild animals.  Loose canines are also a nuisance in general because they can harass residents who are walking their pets and worse of all; they do their business in public, which is both unsanitary and generally disgusting.

As members of a community, all of us have responsibilities and one of the most important is to respect each others’ rights.  Those irresponsible dog owners who are not confining their animals properly are disrespecting the rest of us in the community.  I would ask dog owners to exercise a little more responsibility and to their utmost to ensure that their dogs are not running rampant on our streets harassing those responsible dog owners who are out walking their dogs on a leash.  This is a nuisance that is easily avoidable.  Another reason that dog owners may want to be more proactive in the confinement of their four-legged friends is an economic one.  This situation is making up 48% of the Mesa County Animal Services’ case load, if we can reduce the amount of resources that they have to spend on controlling loose dogs on the streets, we can reduce the amount of taxpayer money that is needed to combat this problem.

If you own a dog that can get loose and roam the streets, I would ask you to try a little harder to keep your pet confined.  If you know someone who is guilty of letting their dogs escape, I would recommend sending them a link to this article so they can see why it is important for dog owners to be responsible.

Grand Junction – Mesa County April 2009 Events

• Fruita Fat Tire Festival – April 23 – 26, 2009 in Grand Junction. Mountain and desert rides, parties and an expo in downtown Fruita at the Civic Center Park, road rides through Colorado National Monument over Douglas Pass and wine country. For more information on this event call 970.244.1480 or visit 14th Annual New Belgium Brewing Fruita Fat Tire Festival presented by US Bank and supported by Shimano & the City of Fruita website. 
• Mesa County Foster Parent Association – Food Bank April 27, 2009 from 11 am to 1 pm. Located at 591 25 Road, units 36,37 & 38, for more information on this event or to volunteer to help call Suzann Cramer at 523.5110 or email her at s_cramer@mail.com  
• Spring Barrel Tasting – April 25-26, 2009 at Grand Valley Winery Association in Grand Junction.  Barrel tasting times are 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday for both events on the 25th and the 26th of April 2009.  For more information you can call Two Rivers Winery at 970.255.1471 or visit them at 2087 Broadway in Grand Junction.  
• Rabbit Valley Rampage – April 17-19, 2009 Rabbit Valley is known for the fun nature of its trails and lots of whoops, minor technical sections and fast tracking. This course best suits well-rounded riders. For more information on this event visit The Mountain States Cup website.  
• 29th Annual Peach Blossom Art – April 17 – 19, 2009 located at the Palisade Memorial Building at 120 East 8^th street. The Palisade Art Lovers Peach Blossom Art Show is one of the largest judged art shows in the Grand Valley. For more information on this event call 970.255.1553 or visit the Palisade Art Lovers website for times, parking and much more.  
• Earth Day 2009 -April 18, 2009 11am-5pm, located at the Mesa County Fair Grounds come out and check out the green products and services, many kids activities, food, fun, dancing. Celebrate the earth and our community! For more information call 970.241.0209 
• ArtSpace Tour Event – April 23, 2009 – May 03, 2009. Located at the Vectra Bank on Patterson, come out and see some of these great artists. For more information visit the Art Space Colorado website or call 970.640.8177. 
• SouthWest Arbor Fest – April 25, 2009 11 am – 5 pm, located at Lincoln Park, Food, Drinks, Music, free seedling trees from the Grand Junction Forestry Department, Williams Brothers Band Pineapple Crackers Chili Competition and much more.  For more information on this very fun event call 970.254.3866/3844.

Planned Pethood helping pet owners this week

I just read an article in the Gjsentinel.com entitled, “Clinic offers low-cost pet shots and sterilizations this week“.  According to this article, Planned Pethood Plus will be offering affordable pet shots and sterilizations from February 23 to February 28, 2009.

PPP is offering these low-cost services in order to help pet owners who may have been affected by the current economic problems facing many Americans.

Planned Pethood is the only low-cost veterinary clinic on the Western Slope.  It is dedicated  to providing low-cost spay and neutering services in the hopes of reducing taxpayers’ cost of capturing, impounding and destruction of stray animals.  It is estimated that the price of dealing with strays runs into the billions of dollars per year in America.  Planned Pethood was founded by Dr. Jeffery Young in 1990.  Dr Young’s goal was to help reduce the suffering of Animals by reducing the number of strays.

Currently, PPP only offers services for one week per month due to the fact that they have not yet been able to find a full-time Veterinarian.  PPP expects to extend the clinic’s services once they find a full-time veterinarian.

If you have a pet dog or cat and would like to have it spayed or neutered at a reduced cost, you can stop by the Planned Pethood clinic between 10 a.m. And 2 p.m., until February 28.  Planned Pethood also offers other veterinary services including, heartworm prevention, de-worming, testing and vaccination.  The Planned Pethood clinic is located at 502 28 1/42 Road.

Please click for a list of prices for spaying/neutering, vaccinations, testing and heartworm prevention.

Click to read this article in its entirety.

When the going gets tough…

I have just read an article in nbc11new.com entitled, “Demand at Grand Junction food banks skyrocketing”. With the economic situation across the nation worsening, even the tough are finding themselves in need of some extra help putting food on the their tables. According to this article the Food Bank of the Rockies has seen a 40% increase in food distribution and in the last six months demand has doubled at the Western Slope warehouse. People who previously would not have needed any help with paying their bills or feeding their families are now turning to food banks to help make ends meet. Many Colorado food pantries are reporting that there are a lot of first timers looking for help.

It seems that before we fell on economic problems, the majority of people who went to food banks were either poor or lower middle class residents. Over the last year, food pantries have seen more and more middle and upper middle class families in need of help. Now more than ever, our local food pantries need help in order to help those in need.

The Food Bank of the Rockies has many different programs that help people of all ages meet their nutritional needs including Kids Cafe, after school snacks for tutoring, Totes of Hope™-Children, Totes of Hope™-Seniors, Denver’s Table Food Rescue Program, Government-Subsidized Food Programs, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). If you would like to know more about the Food Bank of the Rockies or any of these programs, please visit their webpage. Please click to find out more about the Western Slope Food Bank and how you can help local Western Slope families in need.

At a time when things are becoming increasingly difficult, it is more important than ever for communities to come together and help those who will need a little extra help getting through these trying times.

Grand Junction in Top 20 most secure cities

I was just reaeding some articles at the Grand Junction Sentinel online when I ran across an interesting article entitled, “Grand Junction among Top 20 most secure places to live”. This is the fourth Annual Farmers Insurance Group’s Top 20 Most Secure place to live ranking and guess what, Grand Junction has done it again. For the second time in just four years, Grand Junction has made it into this important ranking, this time in twelth place.

The things considered in this ranking include air quality, crime statistics, environmental hazards, extreme weather, job loss number, life expectancy, risk of natural disasters and terrorism threats. A total of 379 U.S. Municipalities were judged according to their sizes, large metropolitan areas, mid-sized cities and small towns. Thanks to its health standard of living safety and security, Grand Junction has secured itself a strong position among small towns of similar size (less than 150,000 residents).

Those of us who live in Grand Junction have our own reasons for loving this area of Colorado such as the beautiful landscape, the warmth and friendliness of local residents and clean air and water but security is probably be one main reason many of us love it here.

Farmers Insurance Group uses data compiled by Sperling’s Best Places in order to rank the 379 cities in included in this ranking.

If you would like to read this article in the GJSentinel.com please click here.

If you would like to find out more about Grand Junction including an overview, demographics, median home costs, schools, unemployment and weather, please visit http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Grand_Junction-Colorado.aspx

Grand Junction in top 10 strongest real estate markets in the U.S.

While browsing housingpredictor.com today, I noticed that Grand Junction has ranked 7^th in their “Top 25 Appreciating US Markets” ranking. HousingPredictor.com’s Housing Forecast compares 250 real estate markets across the nation and lists the top 25 cities. Unlike the majority of cities in the nation, those cities that ranked in the top ten all showed strong sales and home appreciation and are expected to continue getting stronger in the future. In fact, Grand Junction was the only Colorado city to make it into this ranking and is the only market expected to grow. Housing Predictor is estimates that Grand Junction’s growth will be approximately 4% through the end of the year.

While the rest of Colorado is feeling the effects of record foreclosures Grand Junction’s energy boom has helped it maintain a steady rate of growth. Even though some fear the credit crisis could affect this area, Grand Junction’s job base is strong, which should help it meet the forecasted growth. With some luck, Grand Junction will live up to the expectations of the analysts at Housing Predictor by showing 4% gains by the year’s end. This will come as good news for folk who have been wondering whether to sell their homes now or wait until the nation’s real estate markets stabilize.

If you are interested in finding out more specific information about the Grand Junction-area real estate market, please contact me.

I would like to wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving.