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DELTA COUNTY
MAY 24, 2017 VOL. 134, NO. 21
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INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
DHS Class of 2017: Believe, achieve, succeed Believe, succeed, achieve! This motto has been ingrained into the minds of Delta High School’s Class of 2017 since middle school, and that is what they have done. They believed they could succeed in academics, athletics and other extracurricular activities, which led them to many honors. On Sunday, May 21, Derek Carlson, Delta High School’s principal, wanted to recognize the Class of 2017 not by “quantifiable measures like test scores and number of championships,” but more importantly by how much grit, character, and work ethic this class has shown. The salutatorian addresses, given by Emily Nortnik, Shelbi Ledesma and Hannah Branson, took the Class of 2017 back through the last 13 years of their lives. There were good times and there were challenges, but together they faced life’s ups and downs while unknowingly making cherishable memories. Valedictorians Lily Lockhart and Elizabeth Ward graduated with GPAs above 4.3. The valedictorian address began with Lily sharing a few quotes from the book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. Elizabeth shared a story of a
small stone that had a perfect life in a little river where the view and environment were beautiful. The stone had no idea what beauty lay outside the waters until the stone was plucked from the river by a boy. The boy had a determined look on his face and when the rock looked across the field he saw a giant. The little stone was scared, but the boy confidently put the stone in his slingshot and spun it around and around until releasing the stone. The stone hit the target with a thud and the giant fell. Elizabeth said the stone is each of the graduating students, the comfortable river is Delta High School, the slingshot is the teachers and parents, and finally, the giant is life. Elizabeth concluded that while life can be intimidating, the Class of 2017 has been placed on a course for success. The commencement address was presented by Bill Musgrave, an NFL Denver Bronco coach. His speech showed how life is the ultimate team sport, and your teammates are the people sitting beside you. The points he emphasized to the Class of 2017 were: don’t be afraid to ask for help from the teammates sitting beside you, remember that
asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness but strength, always be a lifelong learner and teach in the positives. As an example of teaching in the positives he said don’t tell them what they did wrong, tell them how to do it better.
“Instead of saying don’t trip, [say] pick your feet up as you go through the hole.” With the closing of Coach Musgrave’s speech, Cheri Reece read off the names of the graduates, DHS counselor Holly Teyler-Crowder read the
student awards and future plans, and school board member Jill Jurca handed students their diplomas. Off stage, the students were congratulated by superintendent Caryn Gibson and assistant principal DHS GRADUATION TO A7
Photo by Kaylee Dunham
DHS grads jubilantly toss their caps into the air following commencement ceremonies at Panther Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Fruit crops are hit or miss in Delta County BY TAMIE MECK Staff Writer
Colorado’s fruit and vegetable industry provides some $300 million to the state’s economy, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Delta County, where more than 1,000 farms produce crops ranging from greenhouse plants to cattle feed, fruit growers have been on high alert this spring, losing sleep, closely monitoring temperatures, and doing all they can to protect their valuable crops. A representative of the USDA Farm Services Agency office in Delta said they’ve had a few loss claims submitted, but it’s just too early to
tell what the total losses will be. At Orchard Valley Farms and Black Bridge Winery just north of Paonia, owner Lee Bradley was busy preparing the market for this Friday’s season-opening. They lost most of their stone fruits — cherries, plums, peaches — about three weeks ago when early-morning temperatures dipped well below freezing for about three hours, said Bradley. There may be some fruit left on the branches, he said, but not enough to ship to market. Bradley also grows a large crop of wine grapes, which were doing great following last Thursday morning’s
snowfall, said Bradley. But a dip in the temperature to 30 degrees or lower could wipe them out. Between crop insurance and the Orchard Valley Farms Market where they sell a large selection of their wines and fresh vegetables grown in their one-acre garden, they’ll get through the season, said Bradley. Just down the road at Delicious Orchards on Highway 133, Jeff Schwartz said the fruit crop is looking really good. “We have a bumper cherry crop, and plums look great,” he said. Interestingly enough, they are also his two most sensitive crops, and they look the best. The sweet cherries are loaded, he said. A
rare, “20 to 40 year crop.” It’s been a pretty long and sustained spring, “but just on the good side” of freezing temperatures, said Schwartz.
BEST grant awarded for DMS construction BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Delta County Joint School District #50 has received preliminary notice of a $10 million BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant to be used for replacement of the sixth grade wing and the cafeteria at Delta Middle School. Other improvements are geared toward student and staff safety. The school district will provide a match of just over $3 million. During the next school year, school superintendent Caryn Montrose County’s share of Gibson says the bandroom the school. area in the Performing Arts In 2005, the name of the Center will be remodeled to school was changed to Delta- temporarily accommodate the Montrose Technical College. sixth graders. At the same DMTC is one of just three time, the school district will technical colleges in the state, finalize architectural designs Gibson said, and the only one and begin the bid process for located in a rural community. construction. The college offers 22 postIn the 2018-19 school secondary certificates and six year, the sixth graders will secondary certificates to high be moved. The existing sixth school students from Delta grade wing will be demolished and Montrose counties. Con- and construction and remodtinuing education and special- eling will begin. The target ized industry training are also date for occupancy will be the offered. beginning of the 2019-2020 NAME CHANGE TO A3 school year.
Governor makes name change official for DMTC BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Governor John Hickenlooper made a brief stop in Delta Saturday afternoon to sign the bill renaming DeltaMontrose Technical College. The new name — Technical College of the Rockies — better reflects the broader community served by the technical college, said Michael Klouser, the new director of the technical college. “The name change will help not only the college, but also the community, by highlighting what we have to offer,”
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A9 Agriculture ................... C7 Back Page ................... D6 Business .........................C8 Church ............................C6 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ......................... D3-4 North Fork Times ........B1-5 Obituaries ..................... A8 School Zone ............... A6-7 Sports ..........................B6-8 Surface Creek News ...C1-3 TV Listings ..................C4-5
he said. “This is a very exciting and special day for us,” said school superintendent Caryn Gibson. Before the governor put pen(s) to the bill, she provided a brief history of the college. DMTC is a public institution and was established by Colorado statute as an area vocational school in 1977, she said. Delta-Montrose Area Vocational-Technical School was initially owned jointly by Delta County Joint School District and Montrose School District. In 1984, DCSD purchased
Memorial Day services Lee Marts Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3571 and its Auxiliary of Delta will perform two memorial services in honor of deceased veterans on Monday, May 29. Post and Auxiliary members, assisted by Delta High School JROTC cadets and Civil Air Patrol cadets, will do a short memorial service at Mesa View Cemetery at 9 a.m. at the entrance by the flagpole. A second memorial service will follow at 9:30 a.m. at the Delta City Cemetery, in front of the veterans memorial. All community members are invited to attend the services. For more information, contact Post Commander Louis “Corky” Ware at 872-3327 or Auxiliary President Jennifer Wright at 640-7720.
Between the cool nights and the two to three inches of snow that fell on the orchard last week, “It’s a perfect storm. FRUIT CROPS TO A3
The project includes construction of new sixth grade classrooms, two special education classrooms with a shared restroom, a spacious music room with a divider, a locker room for band instruments and a replacement cafeteria that will connect to the main building. The sixth grade wing was built in 1965; the stand-alone kitchen/cafeteria was erected a year later. Safety improvements include campuswide replacement of fire alarms and intercoms, science lab hoods, security doors and new dropoff points for students. The gym will see new doors, lighting, restrooms, handicap ramps and more secure access. The goal is to bring the whole building together, to eliminate the need for students to cross campus to get to the cafeteria or the band room. Established by the state legislature in 2008, BEST funds can be used for the construction of new schools as well as general construction and renovation of existing school facility systems and structures.
County trails plan is tonight’s topic
On Wednesday, May 24, the Delta County Planning Commission will officially begin work on the county recreational trails master plan process during a business meeting which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the courthouse. Work on a county trails master plan will coincide with the county land use master plan that is also in process. Two different consulting firms, both from Durango, are working on the plans. The trails plan work has been awarded to DHM Design. The company’s principal staff are Jayson Jaynes
and Jeremy Allinson. The Board of County Commissioners awarded the $115,540 contract for the trail plan project at its meeting on May 1. The recreational trails master plan project will aim “to identify expectations and understand future use pressures and public priorities for other improvements.” DHM projects a four-month-long process that includes group meetings, community open house and public outreach initiatives. The May 24 meeting is open to the public.