Our quaking aspen leaves have been falling because of a slight breeze, and our streets and yards are covered with gold — leaves, that is. Actually, we are more fortunate than our neighbors way back East when it comes to the falling leaves in late autumn. We see scenes where children are playing in the gorgeous, massive piles of leaves that the parents are trying to collect before snow makes for a real problem of cleaning up the yard! We do not have the many different varieties of hardwoods that make for the beautiful, colorful fall cleanup, at least not where we live.

We enjoyed a visit with our town crow this week. He has been around for several years and knows where he can find a square meal. One of his wings was injured long ago, but he is still able to hop and flap up to the big feeder and knock the other invaders off. He is a survivor.

Hello to Jeanette and Dick Daves from downvalley. We had the pleasure of meeting this interesting couple recently while having lunch at our new restaurant, Dew South. Jeanette’s mother, Nelda Carlson, taught school in Rico generations ago. Her family lived in a little white house somewhere on the right side area off of Main Street, down by the present school (driving south). I recognized Jeanette’s mother’s name from historical notes, etc. Also, I believe that she was a member of the “Home Demonstration Club” that our Betty Pellet organized back in those days.

Note: When we moved here back in the late ’80s, we were fortunate to become friends with the wonderful old-timers who were able to remain in Rico, retired. The ladies were still active in Rico Women’s Club and we played “500” after each RWC meeting. I miss the Ferandos, Lucy Fahrion, Dee and Myron Jones, Grandma Jessie Jones, “Doc” Hinton, Ruth Benham, Freda Engel, Margaret Milstead, Audry Osborn, Lonnie Cole, and numerous other “long-time old timers.” These people helped make beautiful Rico what it is today.

The weather has been cooperating this past week, and we see that some hunters are faring pretty well during this first rifle season. It is below freezing each morning, but as soon as the sun comes up, it (thankfully) begins to warm up. It is not an easy sport, harvesting your game. We know of a friend who was bow hunting last month, and sat down to rest somewhere up there on the mountain near what looked like a watering hole. He decided to just stay right there and, finally, sure enough, a nice cow elk appeared. He grabbed an arrow from his pack, and the rest is history. I need to add a beautiful touch to this story. As a Father’s Day gift years ago, his son crafted said arrow by hand, fletching it with turkey feathers. Not until that day last month did the hunter know if it would fly true to its mark. That is a Father’s Day story (for hunters, especially) that is hard to beat.



Marlene Hazen has lived in Rico for two decades. An active member of the community, she participates in organizations such as the Rico Women’s Club and Rico Historical Society.