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Vail Daily Hits and Misses

the Vail Daily Editorial Board

Got a quick Hit or Miss about issues, decisions or goings-on in the valley? Send yours to editor@vaildaily.com to be included.

HIT: From a reader to “Lana Gallegos, who with the town of Gypsum and volunteers from Kaw Prairie Community Church of Lenexa, Kan., took it upon themselves to make long-needed improvements to the neglected Gypsum post office. The group spent several days in intense heat to not only clean and paint the inside of the building, but also performed outside cleanup which included resealing and painting the parking lot, pulling weeds and laying rock, planting and pruning shrubbery and trees. Way to go group! We appreciate all your hard work!”

HIT: To the various farmers markets in Vail, Minturn and Edwards. These have really bloomed in recent years.



HIT: To the return of the New York Philharmonic to Bravo! Vail Their part has become the very cornerstone of the concert series.

MISS: To Traer Creek Metro District for prizing whatever empty victory remains in the ridiculous legal war with the town of Avon over safety. Lack of upkeep generally has reflected poorly on the developers who own the Village at Avon and control this metro district. Failing to keep the streetlights working is a moral indictment highlighted by two accidents on a recent Sunday evening at the U.S. Highway 6-Post Boulevard roundabout. Whether a factor in these crashes or not, they put a bit of lamplight on less than the best management of an important thoroughfare.

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HIT: To bats in our belfries and caves, not to mention eaves and possibly even attics. Rabies aside, these creatures perform a valuable service in our environment, not to mention helping keep the mosquito population in check.

HIT: To Josiah Middaugh and other hardy souls who compete in limit-mocking events such as the Xterra triathlon. There’s surviving these races, and then there’s going all out.

HIT: To the towns of Avon and Eagle making a priority of their trail networks. While their focus seems a mite heavy on mountain biking, and most residents and visitors are hikers, the leaders are following high constituent interest at a modest price.

HIT: To real estate trends slowly, hesitantly and inexorably improving across the Colorado mountain communities. Recover in this market bear with them longstanding challenges with affordability and availability, along with population growth in a very desirable place to make a life. There’s also a potential boom lurking as these improvements take hold. Still, positive economic trends are much better than the other way, as we’ve learned well.

HIT: To the Eagle County Fair & Rodeo, providing 75 years of classic rural Americana through distinct eras and into a time when most residents are city refugees and visitors have decidedly urban instincts. Still, cowboys are cowboys, much as they were in 1939.

HIT: To SOS Outreach’s 100-mile bike ride to raise funds for the group that for a couple of decades now serves at-risk youth through outdoor sports and rigorous attention to personal values.

HIT: To the Youth Foundation for the same reasons as SOS Outreach and similar groups in the valley. This year’s Star Dancing Gala might just have been the pinnacle on the star of fundraising events.

HIT: To synthetic turf for hardier surfaces for sports played on athletic fields, also allowing for play earlier and longer periods bracketing the dominant season in the valley.

HIT: To the Hoffmann family breathing new life into the care-worn core of Avon. The effort so far has been impressive, and plans for a new movie theater in the core are intriguing. Not everyone is pleased. Some residents at Chapel Square have been put out at landscaping work they view as removing trees they liked, lots of new flags and “Bavarian blinds” they didn’t like. And a restaurant is engaged with its landlord in a legal dispute. The preponderance of positive impact so far is obvious, however.

HIT: To the fundraising effort for the Castle Peak Senior Care Community nearing the goal. At last look, it’s just $134,000 away.

HIT: To the Vail Valley Partnership’s Vail Valley Business Forum last week. The countywide chamber put on an interesting and relevant program, and attracted a full house. Of particular interest to the attendees was ongoing I-70 congestion, although traffic actually has decreased a mite in the past several years.

MISS: To state and local agencies, various experts and coalitions yammering on about all the problems that congestion brings at key periods through the year, generally on weekends, without doing anything of true consequence about it for decades now.

HIT: To the Vail International Dance Festival, an annual two-week celebration that continues the momentum for classical culture in Vail where the Bravo! Vail music festival leaves off.

HIT: To American innovation, a quality we ourselves downplay between one generation to the next, yet it rises to greater and greater heights with each passing generation, too. Ironic, isn’t it?


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