Happy Earth Day to you all; what great weather we are having for all you spring celebrations. As mud season passes and the melting snow is finally revealing our yards, we’re in the start of our spring and summer cleanup. Hallelujah, after a year of closure the burn pit opened back up this weekend, volunteers will be on site from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm every Wednesday and Saturday. Only wood products are accepted (Please remove nails and metal parts).  If you have been holding off taking slash to the burn pit now is the time to get busy, we’re in an early fire season and we expect the pit to start filling up quickly due to the closure last year. 

As you may have noticed there was an upgrade to the trash compactor, new trash cards are now required to enter the new gate next to the bulletin board. While this seems like an inconvenience to collect the new card it is well worth it, the new gate was positioned to be safer while walking in and out.  As we are transitioning through the distribution of cards, please make time to get to the Ranch Office to get yours activated, it is best to call the office, Wednesday-Sunday, to make sure John is available to give you the new card (719) 836-2079. Also, a reminder, the compactor is intended for household trash only. If you have non-household trash and it’s not appropriate for the recycle trailers or burn pit, set it aside and bring it while we have the open top dumpster coming Memorial Day weekend, collection site will be announced soon.

 As the summer approaches we have so many things going on here on the Ranch. We’re planning more activities down at the pavilion so please come and enjoy our community. Coming up soon, our Ranch Manager has invited everyone to a Cinco de Mayo party on May 5th starting at 1 PM at the Pavilion. It’s a potluck of your favorite Mexican or Latin dishs.  Plates, bowls, silverware, and napkins will be furnished. Please RSVP with John Adams by May 1st 2019. So many things are happening in our area, events will be posted on Nextdoor, our Facebook group and bulletin boards.

In case you were wondering about the fishing reservoir, unfortunately it will remain closed this year.  We’re working on making repairs to the reservoir caused by last years flooding.  The water is currently uninhabitable for fish so it’s not being restocked this season, work will be going on to the area throughout the summer. If you see people going in and out of the reservoir area as you drive by this summer it doesn’t mean it’s open, crews will be in working to get our damage repaired, waters cleaned up and ready for fishing. I suspect once the lake is ready we’ll be having a re-opening party and you’ll all be invited.

If you’re wanting to get out of the house and enjoy this beautiful area we have a group of residents (full time and part time) that plan hiking events during the week throughout the summer. This year due to the heavy snowfall some areas are late to open so there is still time to get on the mailing list of upcoming hikes, for information contact Harry Konen via email at mtnharry@gmail.com.  I went on a hike a few years ago while I was on vacation here; it was the most beautiful day.  The hikers that I went with were incredible, we walked a moderate hike up to Hagerman Tunnel; it was so nice to see our area from places you can’t get to by car.  Our group had great conversation, we stopped together and sat and ate our lunch and just had the best time exploring. I highly recommend making time to be a part of the group; the hiking trip I made still stays with me to this day.

Get outside, enjoy the warming weather and have a great spring.

Niki Griffin
Member at Large