By Chelsea McNerney-Martinez
MONTE VISTA— The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce met for their monthly meeting Thursday morning, April 26. The chamber discussed upcoming events through the rest of the year and into 2019. Office manager reports. The chamber unanimously agreed to host the liquor license for the Brother’s Keepers Motorcycle Rally at Stars and Strikes on June 16. It would cost the restaurant roughly $600 to extend their license through the parking lot and into the block the rally will close off, so the chamber agreed to assist with the license for outside of the building. The rally’s organizers will be providing private security and last call will be at 11:45 p.m. All proceeds for the event will go to the San Luis Valley Veterans Coalition.
The chamber agreed to donate coffee for the Colorado Commission on Aging’s Centenarian Celebration to recognize Valley seniors who turned 100 or older in 2017, which will be held May 18 at Adams State University. Office Manager Jerry Apker also noted changes were recently made to their facility use agreement for the visitors center, including disclosures about the use of the Wi-Fi and an additional $50 deposit and $20 daily use fee, in addition to the $100 facility deposit, for use of the projector and/or teleconference equipment. Apker also recently met with representatives from the Del Norte and Creede chambers of commerce to discuss joint promotion goals, including promoting events and outdoor tourism and recreation, like hunting, fishing, ATV/OHV opportunities and paddle boarding. The chambers will look at ways to effectively promote these via social media.
Apker has also been approached by a documentary filmmaker with the Telluride Film Festival about including Monte Vista in their Mountainfilms On Tour, which takes films from the Telluride Film Festival around the world. The tour would include educational outreach to local schools and is a big draw for tourists who want to see the outdoor-themed film. The booking fee is between $2,100 and $2,500 plus housing and food vouchers for representatives of the festival and filmmakers and the event can be booked anytime between August 1, 2018 and May 15, 2019. Apker noted the Vali Theater is a big draw for hosting the event and the board agreed to discuss it in more detail later.
Event reports
Chamber President Linda Burnett and Event Coordinator Ginny Silcox announced the Ag Conference dates are set for February of 2019 and a draft of the registration is almost ready. The committee will be looking at more outreach on social media and possibly YouTube for that event as well.
Wanda Hawman and Jim Poston discussed the Jessie May Olson Memorial Community Garden, which has the first round of seeds already planted. They recently had a productive work session, with Hawman noting “We had 26 people, about half of them were under the age of three,” which made it fun and educational, although some of the younger volunteers were dismayed to learn what fertilizer is made of. The garden now has a tiller, purchased from the sale of last year’s veggies at the farmers market, and they are looking forward to the Kids Connection volunteers who will come once a week. Work sessions are open to volunteers and are usually Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the garden at Huxley and Stallo.
Jim Clare reported progress on the Hot Rod Dirt Drags is going well, with them exploring options for a guardrail. The organizers are also looking for a community group who could host on a potato bake for the race participants.
New business
The chamber will be hosting a Meet the Candidates night for primary candidates for Rio Grande County sheriff and commissioner at 6 p.m. on June 12, as well as one before the general election on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.