The Cortez Retail Enhancement Association wraps up the summer season with the last Third Thursday celebration featuring the Gasoline Lollipops. Guided tours will be offered this fall on several wilderness study areas in Southwest Colorado, and celebrate orchard country with the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project. This story is sponsored by Keesee Motors and the LOR Foundation
Explore remote wilderness study areas in Montezuma County with guided tours and get your dancing shoes ready for the last third Thursday celebration of the year. You're watching the Local News Roundup brought to you by Keesee Motors and the LOR Foundation. I'm Wendy Graham Settle. Celebrate the end of summer and welcome fall during the final Third Thursday celebration from 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, September 15th in Montezuma Park. Admission is free. The Gasoline Lollipops, an alternative country band from Boulder, will perform. Food, drinks, vendors, and giveaways along with the Cortez Downtown Market will be on hand. To learn more, visit shopcortez.com/third-thursdays. Explore the remote wilderness study areas of southwest Colorado this fall, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The Cahone Wilderness Study Area Tour on September 28, will include a four-mile round trip on a dirt road to visit a walled-in spring to observe unique species of rabbit brush and to visit historic and prehistoric archeological sites. The tour departs from the Pleasantview Post Office at 9:00 AM and will return by 3:00 PM. The Cross Canyon Wilderness Study Area will be the destination of a tour on October 22. Tour guide Chris Barnes, a board member with the Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance, will discuss the history, management and differences between designated wilderness and wilderness study areas. The tour leaves from the Lewis Post Office at 9:00 AM and returns at 4:00 PM. For both hikes, bring plenty of water, lunch and sun protection. To reserve a spot on the hikes, call 970-882-5600 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Saturday. The Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project and the Nature Conservancy will celebrate accomplishments in orchard country with an orchard social from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday, October 8. The event will include live music with The Lindells, beverages from Eso Terra and Fenceline Cider, local food vendors, and a farm stand. Other activities include heritage apple tree sales, a cider pressing demonstration, a homegrown apple show, a ribbon cutting for a juicing facility, and orchard tours. All events will be at the Orchard Hub, 13751 Road 29 in Delores. Visit montezumaorchard.org for more information. Former District Attorney Will Furse is the new judge serving the 22nd Judicial District. He was appointed to the bench by democratic governor Jared Polis. He follows Chief Justice Douglas Walker, who retired in January. Furse served as District Attorney in the 22nd Judicial District for two terms, from 2012 to 2020. He next worked in the District Attorney's office for a year as an assistant DA before leaving to go into private practice. Furse has served as a state public defender in the 6th and 22nd Judicial Districts and for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The 22nd Judicial District covers Montezuma and Dolores Counties. Thanks for watching this edition of the Local News Roundup. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.
