January 31, 1975 – Ouray's first Centennial- Bicentennial event took place Monday night this week in a "gentle blizzard," a somewhat appropriate setting in mid-January that failed to dampen the spirits of the approximate 200 persons who attended the ceremonies at City Hall. Of those 200 people, over 40 were from our neighboring city of Montrose. Ouray now has its centennial flag and its bicentennial flag and bicentennial community designation. Earlier last year, it was designated an honorary state capital by the then-Governor John Vanderhoof, for celebrating its centennial the same year as the state of Colorado and the bicentennial of the nation in 1976. The only real disappointment of the evening was the announcement that the lieutenant governor of Colorado, George Brown, had been unable to fly to the Montrose airport because of weather conditions. This also took out the winner of the contest to design the Ouray centennial flag, Rob Pudim, who had planned to hitch a ride over with the lieutenant governor. It was a good evening, however, and everyone agrees that it went well.