RR Mayors Column
By Linda Calhoun, Mayor of Red River
After a record-breaking Labor Day weekend, everyone is taking a deep breath and getting ready for our fall events. We hosted the Enchanted Circle EMS conference the weekend of the 10th with a lot of training and courses by medical professionals from around the state. This is a great opportunity for our EMS providers to get some required continuing education training. There was a special appearance by CareFlight 16, who was able to land in Brandenburg Park. The conference gave us a chance to show off our newly installed audio/visual equipment in our Conference Center.
Along with the new equipment, we have new microphones and cameras in our council chambers to make our council meetings more accessible through zoom and in person.
This past weekend, the 17th, the Enchanted Circle Fire Association held the annual Mini Fire Training Academy at our fire training facility. We had 19 firefighters attend. This is always an incredible opportunity to get our local folks from around the circle certified.
After a 2-year hiatus, Faith Mountain Fellowship Church and the town hosted the 27th Mountain High Camp for brain injured adults. There were a total of 275 attendees, including 63 campers and 212 support staff that consist of doctors, nurses and family members. Besides the Sunday night Hoedown, Monday’s talent show and the big dance on Wednesday, the campers filled their days with fishing, shopping and just enjoying Red River and each other’s company.
Our next special event is Aspencade and the Red River Folk Fest starting Thursday September 22nd. With the trees beginning to change and fall in the air, it should be a fun weekend with lots of vendors and good music.
We have finally finished our skatepark, pump track and resurfacing the tennis courts at Mallette Park. We are planning a ribbon cutting for September 30th at 2:00. Our special guest will be Mariah Duran who is an Olympian and gold medalist at the X games. She will be riding the park and giving autographs. We would love to invite everyone in the area to join us.
There are a lot of orange cones on Main Street. We have started our waterline replacement in preparation for our sidewalk project, which should start next summer. Hopefully, the project will go quickly, without a lot of inconvenience to our residents and guests. Be patient with us as we navigate the detours for the construction.
To switch gears, we are still dealing with clean up from the big storm last December. Adam Ladell, our district ranger, has begun having monthly meetings with the community to keep us updated on things that are happening with the forest service and with the cleanup. The main priority right now is to work at Bobcat Pass and the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area. They suffered major damage, and we are hoping to see contractors in the area before it snows, to clear those trails and get them ready for the ski season. The forest service will also be working with the Red River Ski and Summer area to access Goose Lake and begin clearing there. This is going to require special equipment for the steep slopes and there will be some road closures going up to the lake. Hopefully this will happen next spring, and our trails will be ready for guests by summer.
It’s never too soon to start thinking about ski season. Hopefully, the wonderful rain we’ve been receiving will turn to snow and we will have another successful season.