A landmark between Salida and Poncha Springs -- indeed, a building that is older than either municipality -- has been preserved and will be made into a heritage center and museum.

The landmark is the original Hutchinson homestead, which got a pretty full treatment in our March 2003 edition (www.cozine.com/archive/cc2003/ 01090111.html). It was established in 1868 by Joseph and Annabelle Hutchinson -- great-grandparents of Dr. Wendell Hutchinson, who worked with his three children to donate the old ranch house and outbuildings to the town of Poncha Springs.

Poncha took possession on March 27, and leased most of the two-acre parcel back to Hutchinson for ranching. Work will start soon on adding a foundation and renovating the house's exterior -- improving the facade, restoring a missing balcony, and renovating the porch.

Salida Parks and Open Trails has received $160,000 from the state historic fund to get the work going. Future work will involve restoring the interior and constructing a visitors' center with interpretive materials about high-altitude ranching in Colorado.

Smoke signals

As of July 1, it will be illegal to smoke indoors at most public establishments in Colorado, and taproom owners in Leadville and Gunnison were less than pleased when interviewed by their local newspapers.

John Taliaferro, part-owner of Gunnison's first smoke-free bar, said he went that way because he thought it was a good business decision. But he doesn't like the law. "There are people who like to smoke and drink. Obviously, that's their choice if they want to go in there and die."

At the Gunnison VFW hall, about 75% of the patrons smoke, and the post commander said his customers "are just going to stay home and drink beer and smoke and we're going to be out of business."

In Leadville, a smoking Manhattan Bar patron said "If you're not wanting to be around smoke, go next door." Outdoor areas are exempt from the ban, but that's not much help in the Cloud City, where "there are only two months of patio time," according to Linda Duthie of the Grill Bar and Cafe in Stringtown.

Tim Hill, owner of the Groggy Bottoms bar, observed that "I don't like the idea of people smoking outside. We can't monitor trouble and fights out there."

Arting Around

Salida has an "Art Walk" every summer, and Westcliffe has hosted a "Gallery Gallop." Gunnison is apparently slowing things down with a "Gallery Crawl," which will be more like Salida's "Second Saturday Adventures in Art" than an Art Walk.

Gunnison's Gallery Crawl will happen on the first Friday of each month from May through September, and it will involve about a dozen galleries and restaurants that feature local artists.

If other towns want to do something like this, we can suggest some names: "Æsthetic Ambulation," "Sculpture Saunter," and "Picture Promenade." So far as we know, none of these has been taken.

Name that Street

Alma now has a Chisholm Way, named for "the fairy godmother of Alma," 75-year-old Marie Chisholm. Her work on the town's behalf started in 1987, when she helped get a grant to improve the water treatment plant and replace the mains. And in 1989, she helped raise $1.3 million for water and sewer upgrades.

This time around, Colorado's highest town had passed a bond issue to improve streets and sidewalks. But when bids were opened, the lowest was for $100,000 more than the town had budgeted. The town found the money, then learned that the Colorado Department of Transportation (which controls Highway 9, Alma's main street) wanted the town to expand the project. By 2002, it was a million-dollar job for a town with $400,000 for the work

Chisholm again donated her time and found some grant money. The town plans to break ground for new sidewalks on July 1. And one of the streets will be Chisholm Way in her honor.

Canceled elections

April is when Colorado's smaller governments -- like town boards of trustees and boards of directors of most special districts -- have their elections. And if there's only one candidate for each open seat, then these governments can save money by canceling the election.

It's kind of surprising that this happened in Buena Vista, where a former mayor, Clint Driscoll, once observed that "In Bjüni, politics is a blood sport." But it did, and so trustee Cara Russell became mayor without getting a single citizen's vote. Also gaining office were incumbent trustee Bill Woodhouse, and new trustees Joel Benson and Chris Montera.

The situation was similar in Silver Cliff, where there were three candidates for three board seats. So the election was canceled, and Randy Mashburn, Jeff Banning, and Janice King were named to four-year terms.

Westcliffe had four candidates for four positions, but held an election anyway. Jess Price was re-elected mayor, and Lynn LaGree got another four-year term on the town board. The two new trustees are Art Nordyke and Randy Wilhelm. The non-race didn't get much attention from Westcliffe's 339 eligible voters -- only 27 went to the ballot box on April 4.

Observations

"If you are absolutely overwhelmed by what has happened in the Colorado High Country ... move to one of the many dead and dying places in the West, to medicine Bow or Saguache, places that have been missed in the boom. Then, make certain no one is ever allowed to write anything about those places. Let no one come in and argue in favor of growth as salvation. Raise your flag in a place off the map, and stand your ground."

Spenser Havlick, professor emeritus of architecture and planning at the University of Colorado, quoted in the March 20, 2006, edition of High Country News.

Growing up with South Park's ground blizzards makes one familiar with "the terror of not knowing where the edge of the road stops and the cliff begins."

Jennifer Marvin-Letourneux in the Fairplay Flume, March 24, 2006.

"It's funny how we invite untold numbers of tourists to Gunnison County, but this mining operation will be the straw that breaks the camel's back when it comes to traffic."

Bob Weiss in the Gunnison Country Times, March 16, 2006.

"The future for ranchers in the San Luis Valley is poor. It's a good way of life, but you've got to learn to live poor."

Jim Coleman, quoted in the April 2006 edition of Coloradobiz magazine.

"Phelps Dodge's primary products, copper and molybdenum, are commodities, which means the market sets the price we receive for them. With so little control over price, cost-control becomes critical for us."

J. Steven Whistler, CEO of Phelps-Dodge, quoted in the February 2006 edition of Pay Dirt magazine.

"Last year was the first year on record, according to an annual study conducted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, that a full-time worker at minimum wage could not afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country at average market rates."

Ian Urbina in the New York Times, April 2, 2006.

"Guns and liquor make a bad combination."

Headline in the Leadville Herald-Democrat, March 23, 2006

"The Saguache County Commissioners will be awarding $5 for each pair of coyote ears on April 12, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Saguache County Courthouse south parking lot in Saguache, Colorado. This control reward is for Saguache County residents only."

Saguache Crescent, March 30, 2006.

"The double standard is if it [federal spending] goes to some other state, it's called pork. If it goes to my state, it's called economic development."

Former Sen. Ben Campbell in the Denver Post, March 27, 2006.

"Perhaps it's mud season or some other reason, but we've run across some surly Leadvillites in recent months, people who are taking things way too seriously."

Marcia Martinek in the Leadville Herald-Democrat, March 30, 2006