Events

: Snow of 1919; A large snowfall in Mesa County, Colorado. According to game warden John Duncan Hart, the Winter of 1919-20 was hard and severe on wildlife. The harshness of the weather meant that the Department of Fish and Game had to make arrangements for the feeding of the California quail, only recently introduced to the state of Colorado. Even so, hundreds of quail died. Thanksgiving Day saw snow so deep that several trucks with chains were abandoned between Grand Junction and the Durham Stockyards.

: Social Justice march on Grand Junction City Council, June 3, 2020; 400 demonstrators marched into a meeting of Grand Junction’s city council and demanded that council people let them speak. According to activist Shannon Robinson, with the organization Right and Wrong that organized the march in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Right & Wrong had contacted a city councilmember and let it be known that they would be marching on the meeting. Yet several council members were surprised at the large crowd of people of color. City council person Philip Pe’a later made a controversial comment about the demonstration, saying that he wondered at the time if he should have brought his gun. Robinson helped diffuse a potential disturbance outside of the meeting, channeling the energy of protesters away from the chambers’ doors and into chanting and displaying signs along the street. Inside of the meeting, several protesters and some counterprotesters spoke. Bishop delivered the demands of the local African-American community, asking for changes in education, the creation of a community oversight community, partnering with police to end harassment, and the removal of Walter Walker’s name from the Colorado Mesa University soccer field. At the following meeting, some community members came armed to the meeting in counter-protest.

: Strawberry Days Bicycle Race; A round trip bicycle race between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, held in the early Twentieth century. The prize was somewhere between $25 and $50. The event was sponsored by the Strawberry Days Committee in Glenwood Springs. As to the route: After crossing the River at Palisade, it closely followed Plateau Creek to Atwell Bridge, went up the hill into De Beque, across the bridge to the north side of the river, through De Beque’s Main Street, past the cemetery, and up the hill to Glenwood Springs. Participants included Mesa County residents Wynn and Harry Gardner, and Baird Campbell.

: Strawberry Days Festival; An annual event celebrating the strawberry harvest of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It began in 1898, and is ongoing. According to the Glenwood Springs Visitor’s Center, it is the longest continually held civic celebration west of the Mississippi River. It began as an agricultural festival. At one time, a bicycle race between Grand Junction and Glenwood was held as part of the festival.

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