From the Ouray County Herald, Ouray County Plaindealer and the Ridgway Sun

October 25, 1973 – Ouray’s star runner did it again. Last Sunday, 25-year-old Rick Trujillo left 97 runners in the dust in Aspen’s annual six-mile marathon. He recently won the annual Pike’s Peak marathon. According to the newspaper, Aspen Today, Rick ran with “effortless ease” and “easily led the pack for both laps of the six-mile course to turn in fastest time overall and win in his age class in 27 min., 59 secs.” The newspaper ran a fine photographic feature, including three pictures of Trujillo that we wish we had been able to borrow in time for reproduction in this issue. Kim Hartman took second place, but the papers didn’t give his time.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Hartman happened to be that newspaper’s Snowmass representative, and we suspect Rick was so far ahead of him they were embarrassed about going into details. We hope this small comment will in some way compensate for Aspen Today’s comment on their photo page: “Just where is Ouray, Colorado, anyway?”)

40 YEARS AGO

October 27, 1983 – The Wiesbaden Spa & Lodging here in Ouray has been chosen by the Wolff Tanning Machine distributors as a Tanning Center. The Colorado distributors have been guests at the Wiesbaden and decided it would be one of the selected locations for their machine. Some of the other selected locations are Neiman-Marcus, MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Saks 5th Ave., and Harrods of London. The tanning machine was designed by Dr. Fredirick Wolff at the School of Medical Technology and Photo Biology in West Germany.

It was originally intended for the treatment of skin disorders such as acne and psoriasis. The machine has been in use in Europe for eight years and is now a billion dollar business there. It came to the United States three years ago. At this time there are over 500,000 machines in use worldwide. The Wiesbaden owners, Bill and Linda Pohnert, are very pleased to have been selected for placement of this machine which they say is the finest of its type in the world.

30 YEARS AGO

October 28, 1993 – Hers is a life in which Halloween never ends. For Shirley Nelson, ghosts walk the earth every day.

“It’s like playing a little game, seeing and feeling what they feel,” said Shirley from her home in Arizona. “The feelings can also come in visions.” Shirley is a psychic. Her specialty is feeling the presence, and communicating with those who have passed on. And she will be joining the town of Ouray for its Halloween celebration. Shirley will turn her attention and her gift toward Ouray this Halloween but it won’t be the first time she has been to town. On her first visit last year she stayed at the St. Elmo Hotel where she encountered numerous ghosts. She has said she could never live in Ouray because of the number of occurrences. “I wasn’t here for half an hour before they let me know they were here.”

20 YEARS AGO

October 24, 2003 – County commissioners meeting with county department heads agreed to look at alternatives to their “draconian” proposal of closing down the government for one day a month in 2004. Under the trial balloon plan floated this week, county workers would get an additional 12 days off the job next year, but the added time off would be unpaid. The payroll savings would help the county cover an anticipated deficit of about $52,000 in 2004. Commissioners Monday sought to convey the seriousness of the financial trend. BOCC Chairman Don Batchelder said the county is caught in a financial trap caused mostly by two state tax restrictions that have limited property tax growth to less than 1%, in the face of the growing need for services. “The county is going to be reducing services,” said Batchelder. Dipping into county reserves was not viable, he said, because there is no end in sight for the budget trends of flat revenues and growing needs. Thus, commissioners, who proposed that their health insurance benefit be pared in 2004, came to the October department head meeting with a “share the pain” message.

10 YEARS AGO

October 24, 2013 – Three weeks ago, construction began on a new dog kennel at Second Chance Humane Society located north of Ridgway on County Road 10; however, fundraising for the “Dog Den Project” is ongoing. The new 3,300-square-foot building will house up to 25 dogs in a clean, low stress facility designed specifically for sheltering dogs.

If fundraising goals are met, completion is expected in the spring of 2014, just in time for SCHS’ 20th anniversary. The new building will feature large outdoor dog runs, communal indoor dog housing, and isolation and quarantine facilities for taking in new dogs. A visiting room will allow for greater interaction between adoptable dogs and potential owners. “It’s going to be awesome,” remarked Assistant Shelter Manager April Case.