It is 7 a.m. on the 27th of June. The sun is warm, the sky is blue and it is mountaintop quiet, even if it is Monday morning. Our work force surely must be struggling to get out of the house and not be late to work. Not everyone must commute to Telluride daily because there are business people right here in Rico who are doing very well.
Good news! The Rio Grande Southern water tank spout has come home to Rico at last. According to someone who knows (Frank Polzin), the Rico children of yesteryear were swinging on the spout that was dangling dangerously close to the ground, having been abandoned years before. According to Frank (a member of the Polzin family who has had a cabin here in Rico for generations), he managed to free the spout and asked the museum down in Dolores if they could find a safe spot for the monstrous water spout; they readily obliged.
Now, several years later, it is home and resting at the base of the water tank at the bottom of depot hill. Mike Curran and Mike Lesem brought it home this week.
Curran (the president of our Rico Historical Society) and Lesem have worked over the past three years or so to convert the old fire house into a fine museum that we can be proud of. Many others also made the venture possible. We need to thank Denise Bowyer, No. 1 friend and staff of the Galloping Goose Museum in Dolores, for her thoughtful and patient work on assisting Rico with the moving project. She certainly has the patience it takes to carry on with these occurring problems and, we thank the Goose Society for allowing us to use their facilities for so long!
The Milsteads of Rico and Yuma, Ariz., just pulled into town and are settling in for the summer. Now, if Ginger Hinton and her family will get up here, we will be totally happy. She and her family have had a home here for more than 50 years. The family began their happy times here in Rico 50 or 60 years ago and in the beginning lived in the tin house across the street from the home they live in now. Anyway, the family is making a brave effort to restore the tin house, and it is looking good!
It looks like the Rico Fire Department might have to water down the mountainside up where they do the fireworks. We usually luck out when we need the rain to come, but if it doesnt, the volunteers haul water up to the site and wet down the forest hauling up the water tank who knows how many times and using those heavy hoses. It takes strong men and women to carry on their various community duties, not even including their search and rescue roles, caring for accident victims and others who require life-saving medical aid for one reason or another. We cannot thank them enough!
Marlene Hazen has lived in Rico for two decades. An active member of the community, she participates in organizations such as the Rico Womens Club and Rico Historical Society.