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50¢ Delight your family and friends with holiday home cooking
Vol. 126, No. 47 — November 25, 2009
www.deltacountyindependent.com
See special section in this week’s issue.
Crawford festivities kick off the holiday season
A home for the holidays By Randy Sunderland General Manager
See The North Fork Times on pages 1-5B.
The family of Mary Saunders will have a special Thanksgiving this week, thanks to the hard work and dedication of volunteers from Habitat for Humanity. On Saturday, Nov. 21, dozens of well wishers, Habitat for Humanity volunteers and family gathered at 910 Bluff Street in Delta to dedicate the new home for Mary Saunders and her children, Victoria, 13, and Dakota, 8. As they gathered in celebration, Perry Hotz, president of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, shared the story behind the home. About a year ago, Lorraine and Blaine Griffith contacted Hotz to donate their old house to Habitat. Normally, Habitat does not like to move and remodel older homes because of the time and expense requried to
Thanksgiving dinner to be served at Delta church Delta Christian Church is hosting the third annual community Thanksgiving Day dinner Thursday, Nov. 26, at the church, 1600 and I Road in North Delta. A traditional Thanksgiving dinner will be offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you can not get to the church for the meal, but would like a turkey dinner delivered to your home, call 874-8113. To learn how you can help, call 8744079 evenings.
Budget concerns force libraries to close Nov. 27
Delta County has counted its 11th hospital admission for flu this year. The patient, a 32-year-old adult, was not tested for H1N1 swine flu, the county health department reported Nov. 16. The county continues to receive shipments of H1N1 flu vaccine. Over 4,000 doses of the medicine have been received and distributed through the health department as of early last week. “Vaccine shipments continue to come in ‘dribs and drabs’,” county health and human services director Chuck Lemoine told the county commissioners early this week. “The H1N1 flu won’t be the big event that federal health officials have been beating the drum for,” he said. “There clearly is not going to be a pandemic outbreak in Delta County. We have not been overwhelmed with demand from the public.” See Flu, Page 3A
Chamber seats new directors, elects officers
By Willyn Webb Delta Opportunity School
Weekend Forecast
Mostly Sunny Nov. 17 .....47 Nov. 18 .....49 Nov. 19 .....52 Nov. 20 .....51 Nov. 21 .....54 Nov. 22 .....48 Nov. 23 .....43
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by John Cairns
Accent ................... 4A Activities ................ 4C Agriculture ............. 6B Business ............. 8A Church .................. 3E Classifieds .......... 1-4E Editorial ................. 2A
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Randy Sunderland/DCI
PASTOR RON HOWARD GATHERS Mary Saunders and her two children in a circle of prayer, to ask for God’s blessings on their new home.
Students launch pilot to feed hungry kids
The Delta Area Chamber of Commerce seated four new directors at its November board meeting. Directors include Randy Sunderland, board president, Delta County Independent; Kristi Attarian, first vice president, First Colorado National Bank; Tracy Wich, second vice president, Bank of The West; Donna Justin, Colorado Cabinetry & Interiors, Hayley Suppes, Brookstone Marketing & Design; Gynee Thomassen, Classic Computers; Kym Miller, Nokomis Ceramics; Bill James, Hometown Electric; Isaiah St. Peter, Edward Jones; Cathy Boyd, Paperworks Ink; Gordon Russell, The UPS Store; and Christie Falstrup, Bill Hellman Motors.
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See Habitat home, Page 3A
Staff Writer
The Delta Area Chamber of Commerce announces that applications for the annual Parade of Lights are due Monday, Nov. 30. The theme for this year’s event is “Christmas - A Time of Magic.” Entries are broken down into five categories — floats; motor vehicles; marching band/musical; equestrian/animal-ridden; commercial; and LED lights. A traveling judge’s choice trophy will also be awarded. Remember there is only one Santa, and he is the grand marshal. The parade begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, and will run from 9th and Main to 2nd and Main. Line-up begins at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the chamber office at 874-8616 or see the Wells Fargo ad on page 6B.
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pleasure for us to be involved in,” he said as Mary Saunders gave him a big hug. “We would do it again in a minute, without a doubt.” Also recognized for their contributions were Mountain Top Roof Coatings and Bailey House Moving. Hotz pointed out that Habitat helps people who help themselves. “This is not a free handout. Mary is expected to pay back,” he said. “She has worked on the house to get it to
By Hank Lohmeyer
Parade of Lights entries are due Monday, Nov. 30
Delta
work from a lot of volunteers, he estimated the value of the home to be double what was spent. Volunteers from Longmont-based Intrado Inc. played a big role in making this project possible. Last summer about 30 employees came to Delta and spent four days working on the house. They installed siding, painted interior walls, and donated appliances. Brian Davenport was on hand Saturday for Intrado. “This is a huge
County’s 11th flu case hospitalized
The Delta County Libraries may have a lot of books on how to manage money and stay out of debt, but the district is not immune to the challenges of budgeting in a recession. Because of districtwide budget concerns, library staff members will be taking a day off without pay the day after Thanksgiving. This means that the Delta County Libraries will be closed from 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25, through the end of Friday. Libraries will resume their normal hours on Saturday, Nov. 28.
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bring a home up to code is expensive. However, the Griffith home was in good condition and Habitat found a way to make it work. Relying on volunteers, including Mary and her family building “sweat equity,” the house was remodeled. Part of the work included adding a third bedroom and bathroom to the floor plan. Hotz explained that Habitat spent about $90,000 to make this project a reality. With the donations and hard
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by Bob & Shirley Lund
Legals ................ 2-4D North Fork Times 1-4B Obituaries .............. 7C School Zone ...... 2-3D Sports ................... 1D Surface Creek .... 1-3C TV Listings ......... 5-6C
Realizing that kids who receive free and reduced lunches at school may go hungry during the weekend, Delta Opportunity School students launched “Food for Thought.” The kids feeding kids program is operated out of Delta Opportunity School by the DOS students themselves. “It’s nice to be on the giving end of this,” one student said. “Most of the time I had to go to the food bank. It’s nice to give back.” The students of DOS understand, sometimes from experience, that you cannot learn when you are hungry or worrying about if there will be enough food on the weekends. They launched a nine-week pilot program with 10 students of the BELA preschool on Nov. 19. Backpacks of kid friendly, nutritious food for the weekend’s meals are being sent home with BELA preschool students who have opted into the program. The students of Delta Opportunity School embrace service. An ASTRA club at the school has the motto, “Counting our blessings, we choose to give back.” When Delaine Hudson came on board as principal a year ago she was so impressed with the school’s service emphasis, she put it on as a graduation requirement. With this awareness, she applied for a grant. Based on the students’ previous accomplishments in service, Delta Opportunity School received a service learning grant from the Colorado Department of Education.
Existing relationships made the establishment of this program a breeze. DOS students have a loving relationship with their BELA neighbors, last year providing activities for them in the courtyard between the schools. Additionally, many DOS students have been volunteering at the local food pantry for a couple of years. Sandy Dombroski, director of the Delta Food Pantry, has offered surplus food. She has attended ASTRA meetings to share her enthusiasm for the cause. When there are perishables that will not make it through the weekend, they will be given to the Food for Thought backpacks. Special pricing from the Food Bank of the Rockies will be shared by both programs. The additional needed food will be collected through food drives, donations, and the grant money. DOS students will plan the backpack contents according to availability of food, sales at local stores, and the food guide pyramid. They will sort the food, fill the backpacks, deliver them to the preschool on Thursday, collect them from the preschool on Monday, and start over. According to Kirsten Delaney, a sophomore at DOS, “I think it is so cool that our school can give to other schools, other kids because we never give up!” During the pilot program, the DOS students will be making presentations to local organizations and churches to gain the support necessary to sustain the program and hopefully expand it to all of the schools. See Food for Thought, Page 3A
Pat Sunderland/DCI
DELTA OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL STUDENTS have been making a positive impact in many area schools, retirement homes, and local events for the past three years. Last week they took their service to a whole new level with the kick-off of Food for Thought. Above, Layna Siminoe, Chelsea Patton and Anthony Gazzillo fill backpacks while Trae Moews holds a poster detailing the meal plan the students developed.