Archive for Sunday, August 17, 2008
Looking back for Aug. 14, 1958
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A $50,000 investment by the Fish and Game Department will open up another great fishing area in the high country between Hahn's Peak and Columbine.
The site, located by Bud Hurd, local Fish and Game conservationist, will afford an excellent natural area for sportsmen to enjoy. Lodgepole pine abound in the many hills surrounding the lake. Willow Creek will be dammed to make the new fishing area.
The lake itself will cover 37 acres - the dam will be some 245 feet across and 40 feet high. Beaver ponds holding about 16,000 trout will be opened up and additional stocking by the Fish and Game Department is planned.
This is another effort by the Fish and Game Department to bring good lake fishing to sports enthusiasts who flock to the area for the abundant trout and whitefish in our streams, rivers and lakes. Some big trout are anticipated, and the fish will be jumping at the new site for anglers next spring.
Hurd said the lake should be filled with water by the spring runoff and ready for anglers next spring, although the best fishing will be during the 1960 season and thereafter. In conjunction with the project, the Routt National Forest plans a bridge across the old placer flume at the south end of the lake. It will lead up to a campsite with a picnic area and facilities on the southwest side.
Town Board asks parents' help in local trouble
The continuance of vandalism in Steamboat Springs, causing a substantial amount of property damage, has initiated a request from the Town Board for all parents to help control the situation.
Eldon Brummett, chairman of the committee on public safety, said several incidents have brought on the requests. One of them was the tampering with the town Caterpillar near the reservoir and the release of the low-boy, which nearly resulted in smashing the chlorinator, seriously endangering the town's water supply.
Another is the smashing and stealing of flare pots during the recent road construction, Brummett said. Baseball sacks have been stolen at the ballgrounds, the windows have been knocked out at the ski lodge, lights at the tennis court have been broken and signs have been torn up, he continued.
"These are the major incidences of vandalism these past few months," the safety chairman said. "We ask the parents to assist in curbing the destruction if at all possible." The Town Board does not wish to exercise its police powers, but it will be forced to clamp down if such incidents continue.
Oak Creek man dies in crash south of town
A coroner's jury determined William Oran Heddy, 33-year-old Amis Construction Company worker, was drunk when he met his death in a two-car collision early Sunday evening four miles north of Oak Creek.
Heddy apparently died instantly from a broken neck and crushed chest incurred when he crashed his car into a new Cadillac while traveling at a high rate of speed. Robert Madison Williams, 52, of Fort Worth, Texas, was treated at the Steamboat hospital for bruises and released the next morning, but his wife, Clothena, 51, had seven fractured ribs and body bruises and has remained at the hospital for treatment.
State Patrolman John Wright said Heddy was apparently traveling on the wrong side of the road when his car met with the Williams automobile on a curve on Highway 131 outside of Oak Creek.
Pilot Opinion: Takes more than money
Some sources say tourist travel is decreasing in Colorado this year, but others claim there are more visitors. In Rocky Mountain National Park, where there is an accurate count, the number is down from last year.
Many reasons are being given, and immediately there is a cry for more funds to increase the national advertising to attract more people to Colorado.
We always have favored a large appropriation for the state travel and publicity department. We think a large sum must to spent to tell about Colorado's many wonders and attract both summer and winter visitors.
But there are many factors that enter into the travel picture that money cannot cure.
When one tourist is overcharged or thinks he has been victimized, the word travels like wildfire, and no amount of advertising in pretty magazines can cure that condition.
There still are spots in the state where visitors are nicked. It is true that in many resorts the season is short and it is necessary to get a high price for accommodations and meals - but there is a difference between a high price and robbery.
There are many small towns where the officers seem to delight in arresting traffic violators and giving them heavy fines. A few more warnings and less fines would leave a lot better taste in a lot of tourist mouths and probably be just as effective in bringing safety to the highways.
There are no laws to regulate the treatment of tourists and protect them from exorbitant charges. But it creates a condition that no amount of national advertising can overcome.
When visitors are treated fairly and with courtesy, when they are welcomed with true Western hospitality, the story spreads, but it only takes a few instances of mistreatment and the story spreads faster.
We think Steamboat Springs has a good record in regard to tourist treatment, but what others do in various parts of the state can damage every part of Colorado.

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