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Here’s your roundup for the quiet Thanksgiving holiday week of November 24th, 2024:
We had some new snowfall earlier in the week—probably about 4” to 5” at my house. With that, on Wednesday November 27th Star Valley Ranch (SVR) Trail Crew volunteers were out breaking snowshoe trails on Vista-Prater #3050, Valley View #3051, and Maple #3052. Thanks to the SVR Trail Crew these trails (known collectively as the Green Canyon Complex) along with Cedar Creek Trail #3078 were all prepped for a holiday weekend of snowshoe recreation! Thank you SVR Trail Crew for this terrific early winter season work. Now, let’s get some more snow!
Note that trail conditions are still somewhat variable with the deepest snow (10” or more) currently in Cedar Creek Canyon and on the north facing slopes of the Vista-Prater trail. Other tree-covered areas have considerably less snow as do the sunnier southwest facing aspects.
On Thursday, November 28th, the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) announced the ice skating rink at Cedar Creek Park is open for the season and it’s bigger and better than ever! Hurray! Thanks SVRA!
On Saturday, November 30th the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) Riverton released the following forecast for Wyoming stating “the beginning of December will be warmer than normal with temperatures trending up through midweek. Precipitation chances will remain low.” See the graphic below for NWS Riverton predictions for west of the Continental Divide. Seems like a repeat of last winter so far—not that I’m complaining too much!
Other news and notes from the week:
A bit more minor activity at the Middle Branch Bridge location on Wednesday of this past week with representatives from the construction firm currently under contract as well as Lower Valley Energy perusing the work site. Thanks to the resident who provided this update and the photograph! I’ll continue to follow progress on this project and keep folks updated.
[Photo courtesy of J. Daniels.] As a result of the early week snowfall, roads around town were plowed and treated by the Public Works Department. That said, it’s still pretty slick out there in spots so please get into your winter driving mode and try not to be in a hurry. Thanks!
One lone calendar item I am aware of for next week:
Friday, December 6th, starting at 4pm the SVRA will host Santa on the Ranch at Cedar Creek Center. And, I believe there will also be ice skating with Santa at Cedar Creek Park starting at 6pm. Fun!
Final thoughts—I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We’ll be having leftovers at our house tonight—yum! Now that December is upon us, I would like to offer up a couple of quick suggestions in the event you may be considering making any local charitable contributions this season. And, with Giving Tuesday happening next week on Tuesday, December 3rd, the timing seems apropos. While, I know there innumerable places that could undoubtedly use the help, here are two organizations doing yeoman’s work in Star Valley—one you are undoubtedly familiar with, the other perhaps not so much.
Lucky’s Place—is our local, private, independent no-kill shelter run by the Animal Humane Association of Star Valley, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization; they’re located just outside of Thayne. There are lots of ways to help Lucky’s, you can become a member, provide a one-time monetary donation, volunteer, be part of their Support a Buddy program, or even help by purchasing items off of their Amazon Wish List. You can also visit the Lucky’s Place Facebook page to keep up to date on all of the organization’s happenings as well as for an opportunity to see the pets hoping to find their forever homes.
Ringtails Unleashed—this privately-owned animal rescue organization in Freedom takes in unwanted farm animals as well as wild animals in need of rehabilitation and rehoming. I visited Ringtails Unleashed for a tour when my granddaughters were with me over the summer and was completely blown away by the scope of work being done by owner/manager/jack-of-all-trades Lois Voss. While raccoon rescue and rehabilitation are what got Lois started down the road to animal rescue in 2019, she now has horses, mules, goats, pigs, skunks, and more! In addition to monetary donations, Lois also has an Amazon Wish List you can peruse to help ease the burden of caring for all those critters. She also maintains a shop with lots of fun gifts. You can peruse the shop online or visit it in person at her location in Freedom. You can also visit the Ringtails Unleashed Facebook page to follow all of the work Lois is doing.
Thank you for thinking of these two local organizations this holiday season!
That’s all for today—hope you enjoyed the read. And thank you for being a subscriber! If you have Star Valley Ranch news or photographs to share, please drop me an email at close2home307@gmail.com. And, if you find this weekly email useful, please invite your neighbors, family, and friends to check out Close to Home 307. Your support and feedback are very much appreciated!
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