6/8/2022

​Pres. Bob Noble started the meeting at 10 am.
 
Ruth Anna made a motion to accept the minutes as published from May and Tanya Davis concurred. Minutes accepted.
 
Susan Norton gave the Treasurers report. We have $2493.93 in checking, $6512.04 in money market and $30.00 in raffle. The Treasurers report was accepted by Nancy Hollmaier and Alec Fournier.
 
Larrayne Zygmunt of Membership committee announced our new members. They are Bob & Nancy Wirtanen from Farmington, Kim Briggs from Pueblo. Welcome all!
 
Pres Bob let us know that Jack Wheeler passed away about 3 weeks ago. A card has been sent out to Kathy his wife.
 
As always thanks to Les Slowik and Tizza Chace for some fantastic goodies! Where does she get these recipes?
 
Carolyn White, our webmaster and newsletter editor said there was nothing new to report on these items
 
Nile Leach of Armchair Travelers said the next year’s season is all set and ready to go in Sept! It runs through May except for a short hiatus in December.
 
Douglas Grodt who is our Hiking guru reminded us of the hike on the Mesa for the following day. He has been up there, says it is beautiful, no crowds, no mosquitos yet and should be a nice hike. They will meet at Coronado shopping center in Clifton and carpool up to the Mesa.
 
Nile Leach of Movie Club said he is continuing to get names for another movie club since the current one is at maximum capacity. Let him know if you would like to be added to the list.
 
Nile of Lunch and Tour (NIle you are a busy guy!) said the signup sheet were out for the upcoming tour of the Board of Elections on June 22 at 10:30. They will meet up about 10:15. Please remember to bring your ID. Lunch after will be at the Goat and Clover Tavern. Currently the tour is at maximum, however if interested put your name down. He might be able to get more folks in.
 
Linda Zimmerman also of Lunch and Tour informed us of the July 20th tour to the Food Bank of the Rockies in Palisade then off to lunch at Palisade Brewery. There is a limit of 25 and you can sign up at the July meeting.
 
Nancy Hollmaier of the Mah Jongg club said the club is now able to go back to the Pavilion. They do have to be out of there by 11:30 for the workers to eat lunch. They start at 10 am. There are folks there of all abilities so let her know if you are interested.
 
Ruth Anna announced, “she is not moving!” However she did her kids symphony seats so now she is selling some tickets she had. The only one left is for Oct. 16th at 3 pm. It is row 7 and the tickets are $75.00 for 2 seats. Let her know if interested.
 
Tanya Davis of the Dinner Club said they knew committee will be meeting at the end of the month to restructure some things for the club. It is a great way to meet new people on a more personal basis, enjoy some food and drinks and socialize.
 
Pres Bob announced our speaker for the day. Ashton Peternaus is with the Atomic Legacy cabin. A few bullet points she shared with us:
*. The Manhattan Project was developed in 3 areas - Hanford, WA, VA and Oak Ridge TN
*. They were testing the world’s first nuclear reactor underground at the University of Chicago
*. Grand Junction was involved in the production of Uranium
*. Atomic Energy Commission started after WWII to continue devoting uranium for stockpiles
*. The government was subsidizing this effort which caused prospectors and others in the “uranium boom”
*. The Atomic Age started after that and even had a “Miss Atomic Energy” contest - the prize being a 1-ton uranium ore which she sold back to the government
*. Atomic energy toys were created - fireballs, comics such as Amazing Hulk, Spiderman and Godzilla
*. in the 50’s private businesses were processing uranium such as Climax Uranium Mill
*. Las Colonias Park also had a mill which closed in the 70’s. Dept. of Energy did a “clean up” of 4000 properties in Grand Junction. This ended about 1998.
*. The Legacy Cabin is on the national registry and now a museum you can tour. It continues to look after these sites and monitor our water etc.
 
Thank you for a wonderful presentation! Make sure you tour this cabin in Orchard Mesa if you get a chance.
 
The raffle was held, followed by an auction of two tickets to the June 22 Music in the Grapevines concert. Nile Leach outbid himself for those.
 
The meeting was concluded at 11 am.
 
Suzan Fournier, secretary
 

5/11/2022

Pres. Bob Noble called the meeting to order at 10 am.
 
Ruth Anna made a motion to accept the minutes from last month and Tanya Davis concurred. Minutes were accepted by the group.
 
Treas. Susan Norton was not present at the meeting so Bob announced our financial situation. We currently have $2884.93 in checking, $6561.93 in money market and made $30.00 in the raffle. Bob said, “we have money!” He asked for a motion to accept the Treas. Report. John Mead made the motion and Alec Fournier 2nd the motion. Treasurers report was accepted.
 
Pres. Bob thanked Larry and Ruth Anna for getting everything set up for snacks and coffee. He thanked Tanya Davis for the wonderful goodies. Thanks to everyone!
 
Jean Greenfield of the Membership Committee announced a new member Debbie Marker. She moved here from most recently Las Vegas. Welcome!
 
We had Tim and Carol as visitors. They moved here from Washington. Tim said he was a paramedic/firefighter and most recently a nurse. Glad you visited!
 
Linda Ash of the We Care group said she sent out one card to Don Trowbridge to get well. Otherwise the group seems to be doing well.
 
Bob said Carolyn White was not at meeting but she said the newsletter and website had no new updates. Thanks for the recent new directory Carolyn and get better!
 
Stan Zygmunt of New Dimensions announced they will be offering a free one-hour class every other month on the 2nd Thursday of the month at the library. The June 7th lecture will be on the history of the national parks. You can go to the library website to register for that one. The next lecture will be someone from CMU.
 
Nile Leach said Movie Club was at capacity so he has been taking names of folks interested in adding another Movie Club group. When that group reaches 10 folks he will help get that group organized. You can contact John and Judy Neste for more information as well.
 
Nile updated us on Armchair Travelers that will start up again in Sept. They have all the months filled except May of 2023. If you know of someone that wants to share their travels let him know. Also if that month didn’t work out some of the folks are flexible so be aware of that.
 
Martha Potyondy reminded everyone of the next lunch and tour on May 18th. It will be at the CSU extension which is now called Research Station. It is at 31 3/4 rd and D 1/2 rd in Orchard Mesa. They will meet there at 9:30 and learn about the important work they do growing food. A lot of it goes to our local food banks. Afterword lunch will be at Las Marias. Contact Martha if interested.
 
Lois Leach let us know that on June 22nd, they will be touring the Mesa County Election Office. They will be meeting there at 10:30. Be prepared to show ID for secure areas and be enlightened on our election process. Lunch after will be at Goat and Clover.
 
Douglas Grodt is our Hiking guide for tomorrow at Echo Canyon in the Colorado National Monument. It should be about a 2-hr. hike with a slight climb of elevation.
 
Pres. Bob announced our speaker for today. It is Chuck McDaniel, who is Pres. Of City Council and known as our Mayor. There were many interesting things he told us so I am going to bullet point them.
 
*           GJ is a home rule city - power to adopt its own rules & regs which started in 1909
*           City mgr. is CEO of the city. Council makes the policies and staff carries those out.
*           City council has 7 members - there are 5 districts and 2 at -large. They are elected by voters and serve for 4 years.
*           Strategic priorities for 2021-2023 are:
Transportation & infrastructure, Economic Development, Housing, Public Safety and Quality of Life (which is parks & rec, community health, community center)
*           Marijuana Licensing - voters approved 4/21 election. Sales tax is 6%. Only 10 licenses are allowed.
*           Community center - survey showed residents largely supported building indoor Rec center, preference was for Matchett park
*           City got 10.4 million from the government to help fund projects.
*           Orchard Mesa pool will start getting renovation and brought up to date
*           24 & G rd. - creating new bridge which will have pedestrian underpass. That work will start in fall and probably last at least a year.
*           Bonsai biplane has gotten a location and set to finish that in early fall.
*           City has significant water resources for drinking water. Some water rights are in the rivers and haven’t been utilized yet.
 
            There were many great questions asked and answered. It was a good presentation about our Council.
 
Ruth Anna offered some of their symphony tickets for the upcoming year. Ruth said the tickets are $37.50 each and are on Sundays at 3:00. Get with her if you are interested.
 
The last concert for the season was at the Methodist church on White Ave. It is a 45 min . Concert and is free.
 
Pres. Bob asked for a motion to adjourn. Alec Fournier made the motion and Ruth Anna concurred. The group accepted the motion.
 
Meeting adjourned at 11 am!