If you missed spring cleaning, you can get a jump on it for fall as the Town-wide Cleanup is slated for Oct. 3 and 4.
The public works shop at 300 S. Monte St. is offering free disposal of your unwanted items from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Make other arrangements for hazardous and e-waste items, as they will not be accepted. Yard waste disposal is also available at the yard waste dropoff site at Road 39 North, on Saturday Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Common Press gearing up for presentation
The Mancos Common Press is gearing up for an Oct. 17 lecture led by director of the University of Pennsylvania Common Press Matt Neff. Neff, a skilled artist, printer and educator, lives in Philadelphia and was instrumental in getting the Mancos Common Press off the ground. The lecture will be held at the Mancos Community Center, and Neff will be presenting a slideshow as well. After the lecture, attendees are invited to cross Grand Avenue to the Mancos Common Press headquarters for an open house and refreshments. The Common Press also will host work days and needs volunteers who aren’t afraid to get a dusty. Keep an eye on the Mancos Common Press website for details.
Potters’ wheels turning at Painted Turtle
Attention aspiring and experienced potters: the Painted Turtle is starting Wheel Throwing classes for beginners and intermediate clay enthusiasts.
The six-week session begins Oct. 13 for beginners and Oct. 14 for intermediate potters. After School Art Classes are being offered this fall at the downtown Mancos studio with the first class beginning Oct. 7. The After School Classes run every Wednesday from 3:45 to 5 p.m.
Scholarships are available, according to the Painted Turtle’s Facebook page. Enrollment has started so call the studio for more information.
Mt. Lookout Grange offers engine help
The Mt. Lookout Grange is holding its first Monday monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.
Ted from Holgates will be giving a workshop on small-engine maintenance and repairs, knowledge that becomes especially handy in the winter months that seem to ravage engines. The workshop will include common mistakes that cause machines to fail, trouble shooting difficult start, winterizing small engines, as well as some of the more basic topics for absolute beginners like the difference between two-and-four stroke engines.
In other Grange news, the basement is ready to serve as a winter root cellar for anyone looking for safe storage for veggies. The Community Root Cellar space is available to members of the Grange. The fee will be $20 plus six hours of volunteer time in exchange for six months use of one of the shelves in the cellar. If you’re interested in sharing the space, contact the Mt. Lookout Grange for membership information and a rental agreement.
Mancos Valley Distillery presents Stanley Maynard
Guitarist Stanley Maynard McNeil will appear at the Mancos Valley Distillery on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Doors open at 5 p.m., and music starts at 7 p.m. It’s $3.
McNeil specializes in the blues, and acoustic/electric folk, with enough rough edges to make things interesting, covering Muddy Waters, John Prine and Neil Young and adding his original material.
McNeil sometimes breaks out a bottle neck slide, not only for the blues but for artists like Warren Zevon, and John Denver. He also plays electric mandolin and ukulele.