I would like to thank all of the volunteers that supported the American Red Cross, Sound the Alarm smoke alarm installation event.

We had a good group of local volunteers as well as Rec Cross volunteers who came from Grand Junction and Alamosa. We also had a large contingent of volunteers from AmeriCorps. Their presence was a tremendous help.

In just a little of 2½ hours on Saturday, we were able to install 136 smoke alarms in 51 homes. This is 51 families that now have a much better chance of being safe should a home fire occur.

I would like to extend a special thank you to Chief Jay Balfour and all his crew at the Cortez Fire Protection District. They provided us with space at the main fire station to sign up volunteers and then deploy to install the alarms. And if that was not enough, they then allowed us to utilize the barbecue facilities so we could have an end-of-event celebration food fest.

Once again, thanks to all the help and thanks to the city of Cortez for being a great place for families to live.

Dick Simmons

Mancos